FM17 Youth Academy Challenge

[QSF25]

Why is my squad losing determination so fast? Almost all players are losing that attribute.

[MCPlay]

@Shakes The first intakes for my Haverfordwest-team were very misleading. Think i had 10+ 5 star prospects in the first intake and not a single one made it as a regular first teamer for us. The intakes looks incredible but in my case at least it was mostly down to the quality of the squads being so incredibly bad in the first seasons

@Braumiller Well done on 2nd place in your second season, you are well ahead of my pace at this point!

[Shakes]

Pontassolense - Season 2 - 2019/20 Campeonato de Portugal Prio

First Phase | Relegation Stage | Taça de Portugal | Squad | Transfers

I had a bit of a tinker during the pre-season and eventually settled on a 4-3-1-2 formation. I no longer had the same surplus of wide players - one had retired and with the best two turning 32 during the season and slowing I felt it wasn't wise to depend on speed down the flanks. We didn't really have the ideal team to pull off the style I wanted, but past experience suggests if you pack the central midfield you can often make up for in quantity what the players lack in quality. Besides my first time around at Pontassolense I spent most of the time in this formation so it felt right.

During the first phase I wasn't so sure of my decision, we often had a lot of the ball but didn't really do enough with it and when we lost it the crosses were killing us. In fact with 3 games to go in that stage I decided the formation had one last chance before I settled back into the 4-4-1-1 that we used last year as the lower risk option. It was only that we'd made it to the 4th round of the cup that I even persisted as long as I did.

That must have been the point when the tactic familiarity kicked in because we went on a brilliant run, 13 games undefeated with 11 wins! Complacency eventually set in when we'd well and truly made survival a non-question and we lost one looking very listless, but we bounced right back to record another couple of wins and a draw and top the relegation group.

Youth Intake

We'd asked the board for a junior coaching upgrade and surprisingly they relented. Given finances in Portugal that will probably be the last upgrade we get before we reach Europe (we made a decent profit this year but it was boosted by the board injecting 180k to tide us over until the prize money came in) so it's good to see the intake come in with better current ability. For many in this challenge this would be a bad intake, but I'm very happy with it for my situation. I don't think there's anyone who is going to star and carry us to the top tier, but 4 very solid players who will form a core to slowly build around. With a few players getting older we needed some prospects who we could rely on and we got it. All of them have had at least some game time already.

• (20a) Marco Aveiro - AML - A difficult one, as he's not good enough to build a tactic around and he doesn't quite fit what I'm now doing. I decided that support striker was my weakness and despite his finishing he might do a job there. Scored and assisted as a sub his first time out to lead a dramatic 5-4 comeback win, and scored a couple in the first game he started to make the starting spot his next year.
• (20b) Marco Pestana - DM/MC - A hard working defensive mid. Needs to get faster for sure, but otherwise looks like he'll do a job for me.
• (20c) Rolando Bernardes - MC - A play making mid who doesn't completely suck defensively is another hole our squad had so I think he has a role to play in our team.
• (20d) Eduardo Pinho - DC - Not the greatest prospect but the aggression and bravery can't be taught.

Youth Watch

Not a huge deal to report on yet as outside of Tito the other players in last year's intake only played minor roles when injury and suspension left us without other options.

• (19a) Tito Câmara - MC - A bit of a mixed bag to report here. While Tito played quite well, he's not really developed at all, and his max potential is down to 4.5 stars.
• (19b) Célio Gouveia - GK - On the other hand this guy is developing nicely and has been solid when forced into action due to injury. Doesn't have the potential to become first choice but it's nice to have a backup.

Next Season

Can we make a sneaky run at the promotion stage? If we can come out the way we ended the season I don't see why not. There is the temptation to tinker ... given the players we're playing at striker withdrawing the striker pair to see what would happen seems like it should work. But I think I'll probably give it another year with our current setup and see if we can mix it with the top teams.

	Division	League	Cup	Goals	Assists	Rating	Profit/Loss
2018/19	3rd	10th / 5th	2nd Round	Anton (14)	Anton (8)	Nova (7.26)	23,270
2019/20	3rd	6th / 1st	4th Round	Anton (17)	Paim (15)	Gonçalves (7.18)	251,592

 

[Shakes]

Wow, never had this work before ... board wanted to increase scout wages (why? we don't employ any!) so I took a punt and asked for youth recruitment instead, expecting it to be laughed at like it usually is.

Looks like asking for the young player philosophy in my contract was a good choice. 

[XaW]

10 hours ago, Shakes said:

 

@XaW If you don't need any of those kids send them my way!

Heh, I want them all! Well, except a few of the lower rated ones. Like the other striker with horrible stats (1 finishing among others). Good to see you avoiding relegation once again, and even winning the relegation stage. You might be pushing for promotion in a season or two.

10 hours ago, Braumiller said:

Trust me I am by no means a tactical manager....  I got lucky 3 or 4 years ago with a strikerless formation that clicked and I have struggled since.  My current tactic is 90% someone elses, with tweaks to take into account how poor my players are compared to those that the tactic was created around

At least I remembered correctly that you where the one with the 4-6-0 formation or something like that. Can't believe I've played this challenge for so many years now. Anyway, good season for you. TNS will soon face a contender in Welsh football!

[Sanno11]

Good season @Shakes, very unusual to get the youth recruitment upgraded so early, I am trying to imagine what that would look like for a team based on an island in the Atlantic ocean, I expect maybe more youths from mainland Portugal and Europe?

Good luck in Europe @Braumiller

Great first season @XaW, Impressive intake, Carvalho looks brilliant.

The overall low determination of youth players seems to be a worrying theme for everyone attempting this challenge. It will be many years until my squad can turn it around.

[Shakes]

@Sanno11 - I don't imagine we've increased it enough to draw from the mainland given our recruitment started at basically the minimum possible. I'm just hoping we can reach outside of Ponta do Sol to other parts of Madeira. It's baby steps over here, this club isn't a quick fixer upper.

[MadCatPT]

18 minutes ago, Shakes said:

@Sanno11 - I don't imagine we've increased it enough to draw from the mainland given our recruitment started at basically the minimum possible. I'm just hoping we can reach outside of Ponta do Sol to other parts of Madeira. It's baby steps over here, this club isn't a quick fixer upper.

Ponta do Sol is just 26km from Funchal where Cristiano Ronaldo was born. 

[Sanno11]

@MadCatPT That's a very good point, I was in Funchal a few weeks ago but didn't find time to visit the CR7 museum

[smp20]

After even starting a save in Northern Ireland and completing a season - and enjoying it somewhat - I've decided to put it on hold for now. I miss signing players and I've got an idea in mind of a save that's been niggling away at me. Watch this space though, I will be back!

[Tush]

What a way to start a season

[darren1983]

Wow, lots of updates in here recently, my playing time right now seems to go from one extreme to another, I either get to sit and play all day or not load the game for days (think I last played on Friday) but fingers crossed my current season should be done tonight.

@Sanno11 well done on the promotion, always nice to see a fellow manager in England achieve.

@Velodromè I don't think the youth intake affects the club personality, from what I know it's the coaches and (maybe more Importantly) the Head of Youth Development's personalities that affect the youth intake, so with them having good ones should see your youth payers come through with good ones which in turn improves the clubs one. If that makes any sense?

@XaW good season there, I'm the same though when it comes to tactics, does kinda feel a little random and when I find one that works a bit I tend to not touch it for fear of messing it up.

@Braumiller Nice season there, 2nd place already is good progress.

@Shakes another solid season there, really interested in seeing how far the recruitment will go on an island. Also Tito looks like he's had a tough childhood  

 

[Quacky]

I know this is a little off topic but this thread is full of people who are experts on this aspect of the game.

Have they changed something with the effectiveness of tutoring regarding personality changes?

I got this 4 star potential rated goalkeeper in my youth intake and wrote him off with his 5 determination as never going to make it but gave him a tutor anyway.

My 39 year old first team gk, retiring to become a motivational speaker at the end of next year. I have never seen anything so fast and effective in terms of tutoring before.

[Braumiller]

Loving a) my day off of work to play and b) a chance to read through updates as they come in (work has this site blocked )

@Quacky lovely progression there via tutoring.  I have seen similar instances before, but that is right up there with the best outcomes!

Side note, do not write players off just because of low determination.  Granted, low det does not help at all, but they can still come good (thank goodness, as my youths are currently coming through with lower than ideal determination on the whole).  I have even tutored a couple of 4-5 Det kids with my poor tutors who have 7-9 Det.......  It all helps (is what I am telling myself! lol)

[Pippadoc]

Grenoble-Foot 38 - End of Season Review 2017/18

Squad - Table - League Results - French Cup Results - Transfers - Finances

Championnat National - 8th

We met expectations in the league this year by earning a top half finish, so we can't have too many complaints with how the season as gone.

As I expected we had a slow start whilst I played around with player roles and team instructions to get a 5-3-2 formation to work. Once I found a good balance we hit some decent form, managing to take our chances whilst allowing the opposition to have more of the ball but forcing them to shoot from range. We did seem to struggle if we went behind in games as our tactics and personnel don't really lend themselves to a high scoring strategy. 

I was feeling confident going into the second half of the season and hoping we could end up with a comfortable top half finish. Unfortunately, our lack of depth up front was exposed when Nicolas Belvito missed time with a pulled hamstring and the poor results really set us back. By the end of the season we were back on form and in the end managed to meet expectations in a very satisfying season.

French Cup - Knocked out in 10th Round

We exceeded the board's expectation of reaching the 10th round, but in the end it's a case of what might have been. 

We had some great draws all the way through, having only played non-league and CFA sides. We faced CFA side, Balma, in the 10th round and I fully expected we would move on to the 11th and another chance at a big money tie. We lost in a game we dominated, but without Belvito we lacked the finishing touch in front of goal. The loss particularly hurt as Balma ended up beating another CFA side in the 11th round before earning a big money tie against St-Etienne.

Top Performers

Brice Maubleu (GK) - He really is a class player, who my assistant manager thinks would be a good player in Ligue 2. He had a fantastic year for us and even earned the Goalkeeper of the Season award. He's now attracting interest from Ligue 2 sides, but we need to keep hold of him if we want to make the step up in the near future.

Maxime Spano (DC) - Spano is the cover defender in the middle of 3 central defenders. At 23 he should be a staple in the first team for years to come, although perhaps he won't be able to meet his full potential. 

Hugo Cianci (WBR) - Cianci is the more attacking of my two wing backs and has been fantastic all year long. He has been attracting interest from Eupen on and off all season, so hopefully we can hold onto him or at least earn a big pay day. He's one of the stars of the squad, and again my assistant manager thinks he is a good Ligue 2 player.

Nicolas Belvito (ST) - As I mentioned earlier Belvito is by far the best forward at the club and essential to our success, at least until Amestoy can develop. Despite playing as a Target Man (Support) he lead the club in goals with 19 in 36 games.  By comparison, the rotating cast who played the Advanced Forward (Attack) role had 10 goals all season. Again, he's another player with interest I will need to fend off. 

Club Overview

Financially, it wasn't the best of seasons although there is still league prize money and squad bonuses to be sorted which should add a bit more money to the club. Unfortunately, we are already spending relatively little on wages so I expect us to struggle until (or perhaps if) we earn a promotion. That means we probably won't be able to turn professional any time soon and upgrades are likely out of the question. On the plus side I did manage to get a junior coaching upgrade early in the season to put us up to an average level.

Goals for Next Season

The board expectations remain the same as last year, I will be able to earn a top half finish again next season while we develop some of our promising youngsters. In the French Cup I'd love to earn a big money tie to try and get us into profit next season.

[Velodromè]

@darren1983 It does. Excited about my next intake, just hired a new resolute HoYD. The previous one was only fairly pro. Now my senior staff is model pro, determined and resolute. Youth staff is fairly determined and fairly pro, so I have high hopes for the future. 

[Sn00gle]

@smp20 I think the hardest place is Poland anyway say what you want but  And im not saying it becouse im from Poland

[darren1983]

@Velodromè that's a very nice crop of personalities there, should produce some good ones.

[Shankly84]

Right I'm going to give this a go. I've started in the Belarus league, I loaded players from the league below the payable leagues. But now I've started I don't have a full team. Am I allowed to play 'grey' players in the needed positions until I get my first intake?

 

[XaW]

XaW - Imortal - 2018/19

First Phase | Promotion Stage | Squad | Transfers | Finances

My second season as a faux Portuguese, and once again I'm happy with the way things went. In the first phase we started good and took an early lead in the group. I'm starting as many youth players as I can to give them game time and to allow them to improve. This of course led to some sudden horrible results, but we still did more than enough to qualify for the promotion stage again. At the promotion stage we once again had a rough time, and we fell quite short of promotion from here. All in all though we had another good season, and I hope we can continue to improve next season. I also managed to get youth coaching improved this season, just before the youth intake, so I expect that to help out in the seasons to come.

In the Taça de Portugal we lost at the first hurdle against Anandia FC in the 1st round.

The youth:

The youth intake this season wasn't as amazing as last year, but we still got some good players.

New players:

Emerson Cordeiro (YP19a) - A very promising left back. He have already been part of the main squad.
João Pita (YP19b) - Versatile winger/striker I have high hopes for.
Bruno Jerónimo (YP19c) - Pacey winger who can play on both sides. We are getting a lot of them now, so he will have to work hard.
Fernando Mendonça (YP19d) - Well rounded central defender.

First intake:

João Carvalho (YP18a) - First choice and does well. Improved his stats amazingly.
Régis (YP18b) - Second choice all season, but might get more matches next season.
João Hugo (YP18c) - Getting better, but still only a backup.
Duarte Pita (YP18d) - First choice in the defensive midfielder role. Breaks up the opponents game, and does it well.
Hélder Rodrigues (YP18e) - As our only striker he was first choice, but he had an amazing season for us, and are progressing a lot.
Franclim Carriço (YP18f) - Greatly improved stats, but don't play well enough. Still, he is young so I hope he will do better.
Selton (YP18g) - Expected him to be backup, but he bullied his way into the main team. Does good.

 

Season	|         League	      |     Position	   |    Europe	  |         Top scorer             |    Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18	| Campeonato de Portugal Prio |     2nd/7th	   |      N/A 	  |       Ivo Candelas (7)         |   Reached the promotion stage
2018/19	| Campeonato de Portugal Prio |     1st/6th	   |      N/A 	  | Hélder Rodrigiues (YP18e) (17) |   Reached the promotion stage

[Tush]

So, after failing miserably and getting one point in first 15 games of the season, I can't see my team staying up, and thus I'm now going to choose another country and post starting update soon

[Shakes]

@Shankly84 - Yes, you will have to use the grey players when you don't have a full 11.

@MadCatPT - I knew we were close to Funchal but only 26kms? As an Aussie I look on the map and the distances being so small don't click.  Still I don't think we've quite boosted far enough to attract the next Ronaldo ... yet.

@XaW - Carvalho looks like a beast. You continue to get great intakes there, I knew Imortal starts with good facilities but I didn't realize they'd manage to snag that many good players given the number of clubs in Portugal competing! Promotion is a chance for you once the young guys click but 3 out of 80 is the crappiest odds of any division in the world I think?

[Shankly84]

@Shakes Thanks for the quick reply. Can't wait to get going.

[darren1983]

My team is falling apart. We've gone from this form

 

To this 

and I'm like Alan Pardew in that I have no idea how to run around poor form like this  

[Shakes]

At least you're still scoring. Eventually you'll win one like that and it will turn around. It's when the goals dry up that the tail spin becomes fatal.

[MCPlay]

Season 19

League Table | Transfers | Season Review

Dafabet Welsh Premier League

14 in a row. 84 points and 2 losses. Not a great season by any means.

Cup runs

We reclaimed the MG Cup after two years failure. We also won the Welsh Cup for the 14th time.

Europa League

Fixtures

We drew FC København in the play-off to the Champions League. Feeling very nostalgic I started Huw Price 4A in both games, which didn't turn out to be a masterstroke, but I'm still happy with my decision. He had every right to walk out on the field in Copenhagen, where he made himself a legend. We drew 1-1 at home, and 0-0 in Copenhagen, and was as such demoted to the Europa League.

A 2nd seed in he group draw was a pleasant surprise, and we drew a managable group of Galatasaray, Rostov and Sparta Prague. 8 points was enough to secure 2nd place in the group and advancement. We lost in the first knock-out round to Fiorentina, after a disappointing 0-3 loss at home, and a 1-2 win away.

 

Youth Setup:

Youth Intake

This makes it 3 bad intakes in the last 4 years, but a great intake in one sense. We got our first international player, Ablaye Niang. At first glance I thought I had gotten a son, but alas I was mistaken. I must've brought my entire extended family over to Wales, as he is half welsh. He wasn't a great prospect, but I will try to mould him into a squad-player, purely because it's pretty cool to have a non-welsh player.

Big Fat Goalie Challenge:

Owen 14B had a monster season. He scored 9 goals, including 6(!) free-kicks. It was a down year from the spot, scoring 3 of 5. We need to produce more penalties for Davey.

Dave Owen 14B - 36 Goals. 9 this season.

 

Longevity Challenge:

The aim in this Challenge is to get players to 1000 appearances for the club. We're currently playing just over 50 games a season, so it will require an incredibly injury-free player 20 Seasons to do it.

Most appearances:

Huw Price 4A - 564 appearances - 14 this season

Dafydd Davies 7A - 529 Appearances -  54 this season

Ones to watch:

Callum Hart 12A - 298 Appearances - 47 this season

Peter James 14A - 158 Appearances - 53 this season

 

Danny Roberts Challenge

The aim in this Challenge is to get a player to score 1000 goals during his career, national team goals count.

Most goals:

Jacob Davies 10D - 357 goals in 317 games. 37 goals in 54 games this season. Jacob was moved to a supporting role this season, as I am prioritizing Matthew as our new Danny Roberts hope. Jacob still grabbed 37 goals, which is pretty damn good.

Matthew Rees 18A - 49 goals in 47 games. 47 goals in 42 games this season. Great first season for Matthew, unfortunatly he got a 1 month injury when he was in his richest scoring form, but for him to score more than one goal per game is awesome. He didn't turn 17 untill the end of january, so he did it mostly as a 16 year old. He was named Welsh Footballer of the Year, which is no mean feat as a 16 year old at the time.

[darren1983]

18 minutes ago, Shakes said:

At least you're still scoring. Eventually you'll win one like that and it will turn around. It's when the goals dry up that the tail spin becomes fatal.

That's true, I did just get the steam achievement for scoring in 20 straight games. Just baffled how my keeper/defence go from being solid to letting in every shot on target. Still been a good season anyway with some good progress with some youngsters and a pretty good intake.  

[phnompenhandy]

9 hours ago, Quacky said:

I know this is a little off topic but this thread is full of people who are experts on this aspect of the game.

Have they changed something with the effectiveness of tutoring regarding personality changes?

Yes, absolutely - it's crazy now; one tuition can raise a kid's DET from 3 to 19.

I've taken full advantage of this even though I regard it as an exploit. In my youth academy challenge I found my whole squad had very low DET, maximum 5. It was very noticeable that when we went behind the whole team's heads dropped. What I did (that you can't do in THIS challenge) is bring in old warhorses with high DET on non-contract back-up terms. They'd tutor my kids without ever playing, thus for free, generally sticking around for a year (2 kids tutored) before hanging up their boots. More than half I drafted in couldn't tutor due to rep being too low, but I just release them without ever paying a penny.

[XaW]

11 hours ago, Shakes said:

@XaW - Carvalho looks like a beast. You continue to get great intakes there, I knew Imortal starts with good facilities but I didn't realize they'd manage to snag that many good players given the number of clubs in Portugal competing! Promotion is a chance for you once the young guys click but 3 out of 80 is the crappiest odds of any division in the world I think?

Thanks! My coaches think he might have potential to play in the top tier, so I hope I can keep him. There are som clubs from all three levels sniffing around my best players, but I've managed to keep them at bay so far. I don't know how we get the talents we get, but we have a better youth recruitment than most clubs at this level, so I'm guessing we get first pick from the scraps of the top clubs or something. I was hoping we might compete for it this season, but the kids are to inconsistent so far. I can go from dominating games to barely getting a shot on target, but this is to be expected when I try to give so many youths their chances. 

If we get lucky and find form at the right time, then we might have a chance in the next couple of years.

[Pippadoc]

Got a tough decision to make. Westerlo came in with a low ball offer for my top WBL. I negotiated it to £250k up front and £250k over 2 years +40% of next sale (he's currently valued at £130k)

My next best WBL is only half a star worse, but he is 37, and the youth players may need some time to develop. Financially it makes a ton of sense and would probably guarantee we make a small profit this season, but it may set us back a little bit in terms of gaining promotion.

[Sanno11]

@Pippadoc I think you could make a case either way and the large sell on clause has potential for a future lump sum. However I would prioritise your promotion aspirations and that amount of money isn't going to change much now, but losing him could set you back a season or two at worse. How long does he have left on his contract?

 

[Sanno11]

Had an interesting couple of days as Ilkeston boss. Notice the dates.

 

 

 

Offered an interview for the vacant Yeovil job a day before our FA cup match, trying to mess with me!

[Shakes]

My general rule is never sell anyone you want to keep until forced. The only way selling makes sense is if they have not much time left on their contract, wont renew and you know the money you get can be put into an improvement. If it's just going to patch up the balance sheet because you're making a loss I wouldn't do it, the board will cover any losses so let them pay!

[MadCatPT]

1 hour ago, XaW said:

Thanks! My coaches think he might have potential to play in the top tier, so I hope I can keep him. There are som clubs from all three levels sniffing around my best players, but I've managed to keep them at bay so far. I don't know how we get the talents we get, but we have a better youth recruitment than most clubs at this level, so I'm guessing we get first pick from the scraps of the top clubs or something. I was hoping we might compete for it this season, but the kids are to inconsistent so far. I can go from dominating games to barely getting a shot on target, but this is to be expected when I try to give so many youths their chances. 

If we get lucky and find form at the right time, then we might have a chance in the next couple of years.

One explanation is that the south of Portugal is devoid of top teams, the biggest Farense was bankrupt and only now is trying to get up the ladder again.

Portimonense and Olhanense are on the Second League, but it's 224km from the most southern team in the top league and Albufeira.

This in a country that is roughly 650km from top to bottom.

If your facilities/network are better/bigger than most of all the other teams from Algarve in your league you may get very good players.

It would be nice to see from which cities is your intake and the facilities/network of your Algarve rivals.

 

[Pippadoc]

@Sanno11 @Shakes Thanks for the advice guys! He's contracted for the next 3 seasons, so I will take your advice and keep hold of him. You're definitely right that the financial benefits of promotion would out weigh £500k. He doesn't seem to have been fussed that I rejected the offer either, so hopefully I would have to deal with the squad getting annoyed about it.

[Braumiller]

Season 03 - 2019-20

The Season As It Happened....

Preseason
So this first qualifying round business is new.... and VERY VERY early!  We drew the professional Norwegian outfit of Sarpsborg 08 who were in the middle of their season and fully fit.  We are a semi pro outfit, 7 weeks from the start of our season and some of our players at 75% fitness after playing against our u18s 10 days ago...  It went as well as you are expecting!  A 0-5 loss in the away leg and then a
face saving 0-1 loss at home.  So we are still looking for our first European goal of this new era....
Then it was on to our usual preseason and the search for fitness!
Finances from our very short European adventure were great though.  We totaled 271k in 'prize money' from it, which when put alongside our total income from the whole of last season (328k) is awesome.  Tempted to ask for our first facility upgrade, but going to keep it in the bank and hope to use it to our advantage to ask for Professional status the next time that option is available with the board!

August 24th 2019
The league starts with a bang!  7-1 hope win over Cefn Druids with Rob Martin 2018-B bagging 4!!

October 19th 2019
Our unbeaten start to the domestic season comes to an end in dramatic fashion.  We were 0-3 down away at Bala and pulled it back to 3-3, before a Bala winner in the 92nd minute broke hearts.

January 26th 2020
The MG Cup adventure comes to an end with a 5-3 extra time defeat in the final to TNS...  3-3 after full time, we went down to 10 men for a 2nd yellow card and never stood a chance .  The first of 5 games in 12 days, we could have done without the extra 30 minutes of play.

February 16th 2020
Achilles injury #2 at the club!  After Michael Shrimpton 2018-A suffered it last year, Jamie Latham had just done his  5-6 months out, so he may be back by the start of next season.  Another tough one, as Jamie had reestablished himself and the #1 MC.

February 29th 2020
My yearly 1st choice goalkeeper injury....  Liam Coleman 2018-E is injured in a fall during training and out 9-10 weeks!

March 11th 2020
Youth Candidates 2020!  The increases in Junior Coaching are starting to show, with the starting ability of the kids now being noticeably better.  An interesting bunch, with some good potential, not great determination and the odd need for retraining.
Ross Fisher 2020-A - A central midfielder equally adept with both feet.  Due to only playing one MC and having a lot of options currently, I will retrain him to be able to fully play at DM and AMC to give options
Mark Heyes 2020-B - I really like the look of this kid as my future ML and oddly he does not play there currently, even though he can play WBL and AML.  Retraining!
David Dyer 2020-C - A good looking youth GK
Rob Edwards 2020-D - An AMC with poor finishing and composure  Unambitious to boot
Daniel Fisher 2020-E - A pacy wideman with flair.  So far so good.  However, 1 Determination and a personality of Easily Discouraged.....
Matthew Evans 2020-F - Left sided midfield
Kevin Lloyd 2020-G - Right sided midfielder that will have a fight on his hands for first team chances
James Pugh 2020-H - Decent right back, but I have options there already he will have to battle through

May 5th 2020
Final game of the season away at champions TNS and a very creditable draw.  The downside though is that Bangor City scored a 90th minute winner in their game to slingshot past us and secure 2nd place at the death.  Not quite on the 'Agueroooooooo' level, but 'Stewaaaaaart' did cost us an automatic Europa League place.....

May 15th 2020
We announce our first affiliate club link with Pontypridd.  Just a simple deal for us to loan players to them.

May 15th 2020
European Places Playoff Semi and it was a nail biter.  Llandudno took a shock lead in the 2nd minute before we equalized from the penalty spot on 8.  Mark Heyes 2020-B then made me look a fool by getting a straight red on 37 and we were up against it.  I had started Mark due to good form instead of Thomas Silva, who I had to bring on after sacrificing a shadow striker.  We played the better even with 10, but no
more goals meant we went to penalties, where we won 3-1 thanks to their inability!

May 23rd 2020
European Places Playoff Final against Bala.  I cannot take much more of these!  A very even game, as would be expected but then we lose our heads again and Michael Shrimpton 2018-A gets a straight red card on 51 minutes.  Again we sacrifice a shadow striker and keep the rest of our shape intact.  This time no more action until extra time, when we concede in the 100th minute.  We immediately go attacking and manage an equalizer in the 104th.  Back to normal and we hit the woodwork in the 118th minute!  And then penalties for the 2nd straight week.  We hit the back of the net with all 5 of ours and with them missing their 3rd spot kick means we won!  As it turns out both Bala and ourselves qualified for the Europa League, so it looks like the game was just for fun!.....

Random Notes / Thoughts
So I think next season I am mixing it up at the club.  To date I have not signed up for the Reserves league but have for the u18s.  Time to activate the reserves and move the more promising kids into the reserves.  The main reason here is that the reserves play on Tuesdays, whereas the u18s play on Saturday which is the same as 90% of our first team games.  So if I have kids on the fringe of playing I either have them play in the u18s or sit on the bench of the first team and lose fitness.
We improved our points total, goals scored and goals conceded over last year, so the drop in finishing position is not too much of a concern.  Bangor City, though, may prove to be.

End of Season Screenshots
League Table
Results - League / Cups
Transfers
End of Season Awards
* Player of The Year 1st Place - Thomas Silva (61%)
* Player of The Year 2nd Place - Jordan Martin 2018-D (15%)
* Player of The Year 3rd Place - Rob Martin 2018-B (14%)

Season 04 Targets
* Regain the mantle of best non-TNS team in Wales
* Score our first European goal
* Continue the retirements of the old guard

 

[XaW]

1 hour ago, MadCatPT said:

One explanation is that the south of Portugal is devoid of top teams, the biggest Farense was bankrupt and only now is trying to get up the ladder again.

Portimonense and Olhanense are on the Second League, but it's 224km from the most southern team in the top league and Albufeira.

This in a country that is roughly 650km from top to bottom.

If your facilities/network are better/bigger than most of all the other teams from Algarve in your league you may get very good players.

It would be nice to see from which cities is your intake and the facilities/network of your Algarve rivals.

Good input. I'll check when I get home (damn work taking my FM time). If most of the players are from Albufeira/Algarve then that might explain it. I'm not that familiar with Portuguese football, or geography other than as the (south)westernmost part of the Iberian peninsula. I've never holidayed in Portugal myself, the closest would be my trip to Gibraltar a few years ago.

A quick google search gave me a list of teams from Algarve/Faro, and as you stated Portimonense and Olhanense is the biggest along with Farense. A few 3rd tier clubs are also in the mix (Quarteirense, Louletano and Lusitano), but other than that we are down to lower tier clubs. According to google Portimonense are based in Portimão, some 40 km west of Albufeira, while Olhanense are based in Olhão 55 km to the east just past Farenses city Faro. So while no one is based very close, those are in the same general area. Quarteirense and Louletano are somewhat closer, while Lusitano is from Vila Real de Santo António almost on the Spanish border.

Based on that I'm guessing Quarteirense and Louletano are my closest rivals to talents. I'll check their facilities and recruitment when I open my game. Louletano are my rivals as well, if I remember correctly, so it would be some hard fighting for talents there.

Checking a bit further, Beja is the only bordering region to Faro, and it seemingly don't have any major teams. Only a few 3rd tier clubs other than lower league. So this means there should be fewer teams close by who can steal the local talent.

[Shakes]

Pontassolense - Season 3 - 2020/21 Campeonato de Portugal Prio

First Phase | Promotion Stage | Taça de Portugal | Squad | Transfers

Another solid showing of improvement from the team. We started out crazy hot, going 8 games undefeated to put us in pole position to qualify from our group. From then on we spluttered a little, teams started taking us more seriously and giving us less chances to counter and we did find it a bit hard to break down more conservative sides. We already had the points on the board though and despite more draws than I'd like we had the first phase group wrapped with a game to play! Into the promotion stage, which was great news. It's always more fun to play to go up than play to not go down!

Unfortunately the promotion stage was hard going for us. Similar to the problems we had against teams playing us conservatively, we also had problems beating teams who were just better quality defenders. At one point we didn't score in 5 games, not really helped by the fact our main man up front, Anton, who had been scoring at around a goal a game to start the season went down with a virus and seemed to come back having forgotten how to kick. That we lacked an alternative route to goal is very worrying given I had to promise him I'd accept a bid if it came for him and even though none did he doesn't want to sign a new contract. I have a year to get to work on him.

Anyway he - and the team - eventually found ways to score and we finished on a high, closing out on a nice little run of 2 wins and 2 draws to pull ourselves off the bottom of the group.

Youth Intake

The youth recruitment improvement didn't seem to have much effect, one pretty average keeper from Funchal, the rest still from Ponta do Sol. Still our best prospects did kind of come from further afield - Brazilian and Chinese for second nationalities.

• (21a) Altimar Tabach - AMC - I was complaining about needing to be able to break down defenses and the AMC playmaker in the 4-3-1-2 is the guy to do it, so hopefully this can be the one. A couple of minor injuries delayed him but he ended the season getting a chance in the first XI and took to it well, not showing signs of nerves.
• (21b) Li Guotao - DC/DL - With his pace he's a fullback for me, not a centre back. Our captain at DR is in his 30s now so hopefully Guotao can be trained to be his replacement.

Youth Watch

Making some progress in introducing the young guys to the team, which should only accelerate as we get more that are worth playing!

• (19a) Tito Câmara - MC - 32 apps - Mixed bag. Showed a bit of a development burst over the pre-season, stalled for much of the year then started to grow again towards the end. I doubt he'll be the star he looked like he might be when he first arrived, but seems like he should continue to be solid.
• (20a) Marco Aveiro - ST - 31(1) apps, 13 goals, 9 assists - A brilliant first year as the support striker, leading the team in assists and chipping in well on the scoreboard. Probably should have had more assists but for Anton's rough patch.
• (20b) Marco Pestana and (20c) Rolando Bernardes - MC - 16(12) and 16(7) apps, 1 assist each - These two didn't set the world on fire as they were nursed into the team, taking much of the season to get over their nerves. But they seem bedded in and ready for more responsibility next year.

Next Season

I feel like we've proven that we're good enough to stay away from relegation, I hope we can do it by qualifying for the promotion stage again. I think we're a couple of years worth of development on our midfield players away from having a squad with enough quality to go up though. Hopefully we don't lose Anton and get left having to figure out who will score the goals.

	Division	League	Cup	Goals	Assists	Rating	Profit/Loss
2018/19	3rd	10th / 5th	2nd Round	Anton - 14	Anton - 8	Nova - 7.26	23,270
2019/20	3rd	6th / 1st	4th Round	Anton - 17	Paim - 15	Gonçalves - 7.18	251,592
2020/21	3rd	1st / 7th	2nd Round	Anton - 20	(20a) Aveiro - 9	Silva - 7.17	-10,318

 

[darren1983]

Dulwich Hamlet - Vanarama National - Season 2021/22

League Table - FA Cup - FA Trophy - Transfers - Squad - Finances

 

League - a bit of a rollercoaster here this season, at the back end of last season I adopted a 4-4-1-1 formation that seemed to suit our best players so I continued to use that this year tweaking things depending on who we were playing (going counter & dropping deeper against the top sides, going control at home to the bottom sides, that kind of thing) and on the whole it worked well. Our form was very streaky, as you can see from the position graph, we'd go unbeaten for a while then not be able to find a win anywhere. We set a new club record of 12 unbeaten which saw us move up to 2nd and within 2 points of the then leaders Chester with 10 games to go, we would then only win 2 of the final 10 games but somehow managed to finish 4th and secure a playoff place. In the playoffs we had a Tranmere side that was one of the 2 wins in our run in and in the home leg we picked up from that game and ran out 3-0 winners. This Dulwich team doesn't like to make things easy for me and the 2nd leg showed this. Tranmere took an early lead but on the 60 minute mark we levelled things up & meant they needed 3 goals just to get extra time, with 15 to go I was getting confident but then a couple goals from Tranmere had me nervy for the final few minutes nut we held on to book our place in the final winning the tie 4-3. In the final we played a Chester team that had the top scorer in the league (scored 39 in 44) but that we had beat twice in the league without conceding. The final as a nervy affair but a late goal from our top scorer Carr (who refound his form this year after 2 seasons of injury and poor form to score 26 goals in the league) saw us win 1-0 and be promoted to the football league! As a result we turned professional which means I can get better training for my youth players.

Cups - the FA Cup saw us lose to a 92nd minute goal at home to league one Fleetwood but the FA Trophy defeat to Hungerford came during one of our out of form times but was really frustrating.

Finances - on paper they look bad but after the playoff final at Wembley we had nearly 500k in the bank so I pushed for junior coaching upgrade and a youth facility upgrade so we took a hit.

Youth Development

Vangelis Bosganas YP01A - the move to 4411 was designed with him in mind as wanted to get the best out of him. He had his best season to date with 7 goals (slightly down on last season) and 7 assists (up on last season) and has played 160 games at the age of 20. 

James Daly YP02C - Made the right back berth his own this season. Injury right at the end of the season meant he missed the run in and the playoffs but am happy with him.

Kevin Williams YP03C - breakthrough season for Williams who ended the season with 10 assists from the left (most at the club) and pretty much nailed the left wing role for the foreseeable future.

Greg Brown YP04C - got a quick run in the team when Daly was injured, played the playoffs and didn't look out of place.

 

Youth Intake

Pretty happy with this one, gave us some players where we needed.

Danny Reed YP05A - A striker! Happy with this guy, good finishing, decent acceleration, some work needed but solid potential here.

Kris Bird YP05B - AMC, bit of work and should be ready to compete with Bosganas for this role

Courtney Hall YP05C - another striker, not as good (on paper) as Reed but a 6'3 target man provides us with a different option should we want/need it.

Ashley Roles YP05D - a much needed MC, some decent starting stats and with some work could be a decent option for out box to box role.

Career Overview

Season		League		Position	Achievements

2017/18		VNS		1st		Champions
2018/19		VNL		7th		
2019/20		VNL		14th 
2020/21		VNL		15th
2021/22		VNL		4th		Promotion via playoffs

Next Season

50 points! Staying up next year is all I care about.

[darren1983]

@Braumillergood solid season there, annoying to drop to 3rd but am sure it'll be a one off. Like the look of Heyes 2020-B, decent dribbling and acceleration as well as not bad crossing,

@Shakes Another solid season there. Sounds like you just need that striker to come through to lead your line for a few seasons. Tabach looks good, I like his teamwork and bravery as well as his technique and work rate. With that personality as well he should thrive once he gets going.

[MadCatPT]

@Shakes Could Marco Aveiro be from Ronaldo family? (Ronaldo full name: Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro)

Funchal is home to two teams from the top league, Nacional and Maritimo, Nacional usually fights for an european spot, Maritimo is also a strong team, a third team União da Madeira played last season on the top league but was relegated.

There are some Brazilians and Chinese living in Madeira.

Can't wait for the next update.

@darren1983 Congratulations on the promotion, after 5 years I'm on my way to maybe brake the club lowest position ever in the Vanarama North.

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

I tried to do the dafuge challenge this year, but buying players is not as fun as making it with your own players, so I'm back here.

In case anyone cares/remembers, I did this on FM15 with Real SC in Portugal and then I didn't get FM16 till like 4 months ago, so I was halfway through a save in Poland on my own time.  Anyways, I got FM17 now, so I'm back here and holidaying in a few countries to see if I can find a fun looking team.

 

And great job to everyone who has been taking the challenge on this year. Smp20 and MCPlay have stood out to me, but I've read through everyone's progress. KUTGW.

[makovn]

SC Bacau- season 2017/18 Romanian Liga II

schedule part 1 | schedule part 2 | League table | squad | transfers

The League: i chose this club for two reasons A) it was previewed to finish higher than the other promoted teams. B) it has a real badge in game. And what a choice this has been because i inherited a good squad. The season started magnificently as we had a perfect September, it continued inconsistently but we got the important wins and managed to stay clear of the relegation zone and challenge for promotion. When i took over we were previewed to finish 16th the last relegation spot as the season started we were previewed to finish 17th an by January we were finishing 20 by the "dynamic odds" although being  in contention for promotion all season long.

Cup:  Knocked out in the first hurdle

Youth intake: Not an amazing intake, some useful players but not good enough and except the first three no one was moved to the senior squad immediately

• Catalin Pitaru 18a: a real prospect opened some games and in two seasons time he will probably be my starter ( if i will still play with RB then) 
• Cristinel Cifor 18b: will get more chances next season as Alexandru Corban is making a fuss about leaving.
• Valentin Prisaca 18c: Needed a LB and he is being trained there.

Other Screenshots and awards:

• Romanian second league player of the year
• Romanian second league young player of the year
• Head Coach of the year
• Romanian second league team of the year
• Romanian Second league top goalscorer
• SC Bacau Awards
• Season review
• Gabriel Boghian- Fans and Manager player of the season
• Alexandru Corban- fans and manager young player of the season

Upgrades: We got  junior coaching  upgrade and youth facilities upgrade

Next Season: i want another  top half finish as players are gonna leave and me trying to give the three players from the intake some first team opportunities. i except a tougher season next time around so lets hope the board doesn't get to greedy.

   

[makovn]

@darren1983 Great season and congrats on promotion. Danny reed looks pretty good for the fifth tier (now fourth). i am in a dire need for a striker, any striker as Gabriel Boghian isn't going to be here forever

[Sanno11]

@darren1983 Congrats on the promotion, great progress and Danny Reed looks like a fine prospect.

I don't usually share as often on here but this, I couldn't keep to myself. I have never been this far in the FA cup and hopefully we get enough money for an upgrade.

[Pippadoc]

@darren1983 Congratulation on getting promotion! I think the National League is the toughest league in England.

@Duroliponte Great second season, and great to see some youth players in key roles for you already. Good luck on the promotion charge next year!

[Braumiller]

@darren1983 congrats on getting into the football league!  Excellent progress in only 5 seasons

I hate the Welsh fixture computer, that is all

 

[Sanno11]

Last update from me today.

I have never experienced anything quite as spectacular whilst playing this game, literally jumped out of my seat.

[Braumiller]

Just now, Sanno11 said:

Last update from me today.

I have never experienced anything quite as spectacular whilst playing this game, literally jumped out of my seat.

 

Amazing!  And now for some gate receipts from an Old Trafford replay...... 

[MADA]

@darren1983 which hairpack are you using? Actually looks good!