FM17 Youth Academy Challenge

[Tush]

I decided to try this challenge in Norway, looks like it's going to be fun, because there's the following structure:

4 groups of 14 teams, 4 get promoted into higher league, and 7 teams from each division get relegated, that's 28 clubs getting relegated from 56 

EDIT: Seems like the game played me up, because the drastic structure changes after first year into two groups of 14 teams with 3 relegations...but that means those 2 divisions were filled from surviving clubs and no club from lower league got promoted  gotta holiday for another year to start the challenge

[Vevi]

@Sanno11 and @darren1983 nice to see someone fighting in Eng with this challange  

@Sanno11 this will boost your morale fr some time

[darren1983]

@MadCatPT Cheers, 5 years in National North, ouch. Couple reason's I went with Dulwich was their rep meant they signed some good players in the holiday season, plus the squad was young (my eldest player now is only 30 & only had 2 players over that age in 5 years) plus being London based gave me (I felt anyway) a wider range of potential players to bring in even with all the clubs in the area. Blyth are a tough challenge as where they are based will find it difficult to attract kids from further afield and the best will go to Newcastle/Sunderland, keep at it though, have a feeling once you break out of the National North you'll fly through the National league.

@The_Gato_In_Goal Welcome back, I too tried Dafuge's challenge this year but much prefer developing players these days. Good luck wherever you pick

@makovn Cheers, yeah a good striker can make all the difference. Congrats on a good season, pushing close to those promotion spots.

@Sanno11 Cheers, am excited by Reed, now I'm professional have got him on a 3 year deal training every day. Well done on the draw with Utd as well, that replay should set you up for some upgrades.

@Duroliponte Good season there, so close to promotion, good luck next year.

@Pippadoc & @Vevi yeah England can be tough, but once established in the poem the money should mean lots of investments into facilities.

@Braumiller Cheers, yeah 5 season's to the football league was a couple earlier then I hoped (and 5 earlier then I planned for) not sure where this years form cam from (a striker getting close to 30 was a massive help) so we'll see how I adapt to full time football now

@MADA I use a couple of face packs that I've used in the last couple of years. Got them in the skining forum, issue is the beards don't line up this year so some players look very odd. These are the 2 I use though 

 

[makovn]

seriously FM!?!?!  two years in a row!?!?! just what makes me hate FM

[darren1983]

Best coaching in the league  

@makovn ouch, that's harsh. As a Brentford fan it reminds of of Scott Hogan, came on as a sub for his debut and done his cruciate in, was out for 8/9 months then in one of his first training sessions he done it again. On the same knee. Missed nearly 2 years of football for us, making uo for it this season though  

[MadCatPT]

@darren1983 I started playing FM2017 with this save, so got me the two first seasons find my footing, I could have done much better those first years.

I really like these saves where I struggle strangely, I have adapted to the talent I can get, finally got a GK and in his second game made a save that I didn't saw the old one do in 4,5 seasons.

Just four non youths on my starting eleven, so maybe I'll just go up when I have all youths. 

[Tush]

Stålkameratene

Manager | Club | Facilities+Stadium | Squad

 

Stålkameratene is the club I've decided to go with, they have nice facilities from start which I'm sure will help greatly. The squad has good depth, so that's also satisfying.

Let's do this!

 

@Braumiller Norway's league reset date is January 13th 

[XaW]

It seems you might have a point @MadCatPT, since all my youth are born in Albufeira. I've added "place of birth" into my squad view, so in the future it will be obvious to see.

@Shakes - Another good effort to get promoted! You'll get it soon.

Great promotion @darren1983! Way to get into the football league!

@makovn - Solid season there. Possible promotion next season?

Very close to a promotion there, @Duroliponte. Next season for sure!

[MadCatPT]

@XaW Living in Portugal and my mother being from the Algarve seemed to help with insight. 

I'll also check where my youths are from.

[makovn]

@XaW sadly I think that not this time my best cm Alexandru Corban has a minimum release clause and it had been matched by a team from liga I . With out him our midfield is much poorer

EDIT: scrap that, he is still with us as he rejected the contract offer. the window is not over yet but i hope no other club come for him

[XaW]

1 hour ago, MadCatPT said:

@XaW Living in Portugal and my mother being from the Algarve seemed to help with insight. 

I'll also check where my youths are from.

Heh, yeah, that would give you a certain insight into the Portuguese geography and football. I must say, this is one of the amazing things this game can cause for me. The investigation of local geography around Albufeira isn't something I would check without game, that I can assure you.

I can only bring the same from Norway should anyone have any similar question.

[Velodromè]

Førde IL season 4: 

Intake - Squad - Prediction - Fixtures - Table - Review

Youth Intake:

Good potential, but bad personalities. Theis Nordvik could have been "The One" up front, but the personality might stop him from fulfilling his potential. That might also be the case for Remi Ytterhus, who would be a potential replacement for Markus Attila if his determination had been around 10. Stig Tore Dæhlie on the other hand, got a good personality and might get a few chances in the first team during the season. Most of the players with determination above 10 got promoted to the first team as an attempt to change the squad personality, but it seems like the experienced players still dominate the group.

The squad: 

The process of phasing veteran striker Myrkaskog out of the team startet at the end of last season and would continue this season. The plan was that Nordvik, Holtvik and Dyrstad would be the candidates for the job, and the idea during pre-season was to play two up front, since the individual quality isn't that good. At the back things stayed the same with Lillevik, Attila and Zetterdal running the show with some more inexperienced fullbacks. In midfield Bernt Kvam would be the leading player for most of the season, until he got sold to Jerv for about £90k+50% of next sale. The money from the sale were invested in junior coaching, so hopefully it will help us in the long run. 

The season: 

As stated above, the plan was to play two up front, something that worked okay the first few matches, apart from the game against Alta. Then my inner idealist got the better of me and I decided to try and dominate/control most of the matches. This lead us into a string of bad results we struggled to fight our way out of, and for a while we were dangerously close to the relegation zone. Fortunately we managed to turn things around, some of it thanks to Bernt Kvam, who, according to my assistant, showed potential to be a Premier Division midfielder . His performances led to some interest from bigger clubs, and this interest again led to him wanting to leave. Originally I wanted to keep him at all costs, but when I got almost £100 000 for him, I decided to sell. He decided to go to Jerv in the Premier Division, only to be put in the 2nd team upon arrival and will only play training matches in the future. Good decision by him. His departure led to a change in formation, from 4-1-4-1 to 4-4-1-1, with Theis Nordvik as the new advanced playmaker and Martin Holtvik as a poacher. Despite his not very poacher-friendy finishing skills, Holtvik scored quite a lot of goals, and with his determined nature I have hopes for him in the future. The season itself turned out pretty good in the end, with us snatching the play off spot after a win against Fløy in the final game. In the play off I was a bit too optimistic and started with control in the first home game, only to concede after 10 mins and struggle from there on in. We lost 1-4 over the two games, but I am not in a hurry to get promoted. This season we also got through to the 3rd round in the Cup, only to lose against Tromsø. Still we ended up with over £100 000 in prize money, so that is something we will try to do again. 

 

[Shakes]

Great to see all the activity!

@Braumiller - You're tearing it up with that goal difference even if some unlucky results meant the points didn't go your way. Point differential is more indicative of future performance than wins, so you have every chance to be challenging for the league next year.

@darren1983 - Wow nice promotion. And even better getting a result against Man U, did they underestimate you and send a weaker side or are you just that good?  I need a striker like the one you got, I barely have anyone with finishing higher than about 5 in the entire youth setup.

@MadCatPT - No indication he's any relation to Ronaldo but I bet he tells people he is when he's trying to impress them. 

@XaW - Most of what I know about European geography I learnt from Football Manager, Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis!

@Velodromè - Personality matters, but attributes matter more, so don't write Nordvik off. Especially this year where personality seems to change a lot just by being around the squad.

@makovn - That's a solid starting season, don't write down your intake, I know some people have been getting unbelievable ones but any intake with a 5 star potential player who starts with more than 1 star is really good.

@Duroliponte - I love those seasons when any number of teams could win it with a bit of luck. This less aggressive thing, what is that? I like to tell my teams to butcher opponents, I'm proud of us setting the record for worst discipline. Good to be first at something! 

[darren1983]

29 minutes ago, Shakes said:

Great to see all the activity!

@darren1983 - Wow nice promotion. And even better getting a result against Man U, did they underestimate you and send a weaker side or are you just that good?  I need a striker like the one you got, I barely have anyone with finishing higher than about 5 in the entire youth setup.

Cheers but it was @Sanno11 that got the result against United. I had the promotion and good striker (easy to miss with so much activity these past few days) 

[Braumiller]

On 11/21/2016 at 21:03, MCPlay said:

 

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

Trust me @MCPlay, I don't think I will be matching your excellent exploits any time soon!

On my list of things to do tonight while relaxing is to go through all of your season reports to get a feel for when you hit major milestones so that I can try and plan and manage my expectations 

I am so desperately craving that Professional status!  (Minor spoiler alert, I have been turned down again for it after my next mini windfall since my season 03 update earlier)

[Shakes]

Haha sorry I did mentally confuse the two England attempts! I got to the end of reading and obviously thought you just went on and smashed a team in the cup the season after being promoted when thinking back what I'd read. Hopefully it's a prediction for you?

[makovn]

@Shakes after writing the review I found out that there is a rule in Romanian Liga II that you to have 3 u-21 in your first 11 so I see it in diffrent insight now as they look more useful because of the rules. Just wanted to say that catalin Pitaru 18a didn't develop that well and my older RB is still opening. So we will see but I did underestimate how important it is to have 3 good prospects in your first team now knowing the rules.

 

[Muttley84]

Wow, great job everyone.  Had some serious reading to do at breakfast to catch up with everyone's progress, looks like the topic has really blossomed. Unfortunately not that much time for me to play my Greek Youth Adventure and update, hoping to do that in the weekend

[Dan BHTFC]

SELKIRK FC - SEASON FOUR - 2021/22

Scottish Cup - Betfred Cup - Challenge Cup

 

League Table:

We improved but it wasn't a big step, we desperately need to get out this division so we can increase our attendances and improve facilities.

 

Squad:

The young players are improving but not quick enough..

 

Transfers:

Finances:

We need a cup run soon to boost our money so we can start upgrading.

 

Youth Intake:

Some good prospects but nothing special.

Season		League		Position	Achievements

2017/18		SPFL2		10th		
2018/19		SPFL2		9th		
2019/20		SPFL2		8th 
2020/21		SPFL2		10th
2021/22		SPFL2		9th		

 

 

Youth Watch:

Gerry Noble YP21a is probably one of the best prospects to come out our Youth system, some Championship clubs have been interested but it will take a decent bid for me to sell him.

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

Not sure when they added in promotion/relegation in Holland, but I can now confirm the reset date is July 7th. Took charge of SV Spakenburg, but with the holidays here in the states it might be a while until my first season is over.

[JWVG]

44 minutes ago, The_Gato_In_Goal said:

Not sure when they added in promotion/relegation in Holland, but I can now confirm the reset date is July 7th. Took charge of SV Spakenburg, but with the holidays here in the states it might be a while until my first season is over.

Ha, a coincidence!

I just wanted to start in Holland, was a bit weird, I simulated at first but forgot to add players to the teams, simulated the season again and suddenly there was no promotion. So I had to do it a 3rd time... lol

And now, finally I can take part in the challenge. My first time here on the forums.

- Manager Profile

Say hello to Jan Jansen, the new manager of the Amsterdamsche Football Club.

[Sanno11]

Good luck in Holland @The_Gato_In_Goal and @JWVG. The money is very good in the Jupiler league, you just need to survive a couple of seasons first.

[MCPlay]

Season 20

League Table | Transfers | Season Review

Dafabet Welsh Premier League

15 in a row. 87 points and 1 loss, it was a 3-0 beating to boot. Any league season we don't go unbeaten is a poor one at this one

Cup runs

2 of 2, just keep rackin' up those trophies.

Champions League

Fixtures

After beating Sparta Prague 4-3 on aggregate in the play-off we drew a very hard CL-group consisting of Man Utd, Juventus and Sporting. We need a much kinder draw than that to be able to grab a third place, and in the end we only got 2 points from these 6 games. It seems unlikely that we will get a better seed in the foreseeable future, so we need to get real lucky with a draw to gain some momentum.

 

Youth Setup:

Youth Intake

Kevin Johnson 20A

Kevin Johnson 20A looks like he could have the potential to become a starter at right back. The second best player in the intake is a goalkeeper, who will probably at best become a second choice.

Big Fat Goalie Challenge:

Decent season for Dave. He got 7 goals, but only 2 free kicks. He also missed 4 of 9 penalties which is very poor.

Dave Owen 14B - 43 Goals. 7 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 - 587 appearances - 23 this season

Dafydd Davies 7A - 558 Appearances -  29 this season, tore his ACL in December which could be fatal at 30 years old

Ones to watch:

Callum Hart 12A - 345 Appearances - 47 this season

Peter James 14A - 253 Appearances - 42 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 - 391 goals in 354 games. 34 goals in 37 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 - 79 goals in 86 games. 30 goals in 39 games this season. His sophomore season didn't match his rookie season, but it's still decent. He is progressing nicely, and looks poised to become our best player. Was named Welsh Player of the Year for the second year running, and got his national team debut at 17 years old

[JWVG]

31 minutes ago, Sanno11 said:

Good luck in Holland @The_Gato_In_Goal and @JWVG. The money is very good in the Jupiler league, you just need to survive a couple of seasons first.

Thanks, could be a short adventure though, 2 points from the first 5 games...

[TottenhamFan101]

Just a fair warning to anyone, check no make sure your team doesn't have 'no youth recruitment' before you start, just wasted a whole season before discovering why I wasn't getting any youth through.

[makovn]

@JWVG you have plenty of time to turn it around. Good luck!

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

43 minutes ago, JWVG said:

Thanks, could be a short adventure though, 2 points from the first 5 games...

I'm still joint-bottom, but as long as you're not last, you won't get relegated.

[MCPlay]

20th Season Anniversary Update

After 20 season at the helm of Haverfordwest County I felt it was time to give a little summary of my time in Wales. Provide some info on my best players through the years, the best moments and other semi-interesting stuff that has happened throughout the years.

 

The Managers Choice Awards

Here I will award the best players from the different positions throughout the year. Being named the best player of the last 20 years is a great achievement and although some players will be disappointed to be overlooked there can only be 1 winner of each award.

 

Best Goalkeeper

Dave Owen 14B - Career Stats

Dave Owen 14B has surpassed all expectations after coming through the academy. At the intake he was seen as a good, but not great prospect, and I mainly thrust him into the first team because of his good free kick ability, which fit in nicely with me trying the big fat goalie challenge. I never thought he would turn out this good, as he is a extremely dependable shot stopper in addition to his amazing goal scoring feats. He has established himself as my only sure-fire starter in the national team, and has racked up 11 games over the last year. He has scored 43 goals in 269 matches. This season he set a Welsh Premier League record by securing clean sheets in 9 straight games! He is contracted to us for 4 more years, with an option for 2 more, so he will definately be here long term.

 

Best Defender

Gary Griffiths 11A - Career Stats

When Gary came through the intake it wasn't immediately clear to me where I was going to play him. My tactic at that point didn't include a right winger, and it hasn't since. He had great pace and dribbling ability, and very poor defensive instincts. In another world, where I wasn't so overloaded with striker choices, he would have definately been made a striker, and I'm confident he would have been a great one. However, we decided to turn him into a right wing back. This has proven to be very succesful, and he is bombing up the flank time and time again. He leaves quite a bit to be desired defensively, but his contribution on the offensive end outweigh the bad by an incredible margin. An average rating of 7.82 in 307 games, with countless assists and some goals is streets ahead of any other defenders rating. This is of course aided by his attacking prowess, and some of the unsung heroes in the heart of defense should be credited for enabling his attacking.

 

Best Midfielder

Dafydd Davies 7A - Career Stats

Dafydd has been our captain and driving force in the centre of the park for over a decade. He allways performs, ratings of 7.40 + for 10 years straight. To have such a dynamic player in the middle inspires the rest of the guys to greatness. He unfortunately ran into a ACL-tear this year, which could be a big problem given that he is 30 years old. But if anyone is going to overcome such an injury is this guy, he has a mind of steel. He has played 558 games for us which is the second highest of anyone, and scored 90 goals. When he retires he will surely be our leader in games played.

 

Best Attacker

Huw Price 4A - Career Stats

There was never any doubt about this one. Sure Jacob Davie 10D has been great, and Tom Coates 6A might be the greatest talent we have produced, but there could be only one. We can list the stats, which are all amazing: 587 games, 405 goals. 386 league games, 289 league goals, 126 league assist. All this numbers lead our club. His career avg. rating is 7.63.

But all of these numbers don't matter when matched up with another number, 7. The 7 goals Huw scored in Copenhagen is a moment I wont ever forget. By a country mile it is the greatest moment I have experienced playing CM/FM for 15 years. He then scored a hat-trick in the second tie, before suffering a heroes "death" and tearing his achilles. He led us to that first CL-group stage, the basis that our entire club is built upon. It is all because of him.

 

Probably the greatest footballer to ever live

Rico Duck - Career Stats

The german sensation has put Ronaldo and Messi to shame. He has won the CL 9 times and World Player of the year 9 of the last 10 times with one runner-up. 130 goals in 160 matches for Germany is pretty decent aswell, but international success eluded him untill the last Euros where he final put Germany over the top at the ripe age of 35. He is 36 now, and isn't really showing signs that he will slow down. An amazing player, maybe we will never see his like again.

 

Academy Graduates Out In The World

There are only two of our graduates that have gone abroad, Tom Coates 6A and Dylan Rees 11B. Jacob Davies 10D is likely to join them, as his contract is now up and he won't renew. They are both playing in the championship for Blackburn and Bolton. Neither has lit the league up, but they are consistent championship players, and we are happy for their success. Tom Coates 6A is probably the best player we have produced in my opinion, but I think there is a chance that Matthew Rees 18A could overtake him.

Our Standing In The World

We are now rated as the 55th best team in europe. We have been hovering around 70-60 for qutie some years, the leap further up will require us to make some real progress in the CL or Europa League. I think our best chance of getting the coefficient up could actually be to qualify for the Europa League, as we were seeded 2nd there last time around. Advancing from the group, and hopefully winning a tie or two could give us a bit of a nudge toward not being seeded last in the CL draw. The Welsh Premier League is now rated as the 36th best league in europe which is nice given that it started out at around 150th I think.

Semi-Interesting stuff:

Manager Stats | Manager History | Club Information | Trophy Cabinet | Club Records | Best Overall 11 | Finances | Facilities

[TottenhamFan101]

Meet the New Manager of Ballymoney United

Manager Profile - Facilities - Finances - Squad

[darren1983]

Safe to say we've not adapted that well to league football 

 

[MCPlay]

@darren1983 Ugh, thats a rough season for sure. Keep your chin up, even if you go down you'll be more prepared for that level of play next time around. Or maybe mount a great escape in the second half of the season? Crazier stuff has happened #Leicester2016

[Braumiller]

Good luck @TottenhamFan101

@darren1983 how are others doing.  Just like in nature or a horror movie, you don't have to be the fastest, just faster than a couple of others!

Excellent write up @MCPlay - I was scouring the screenshots for info for future use   Future wage bills, comparative attribute levels etc  

Now, I only have another 6+ hours over here at my in-laws until I can get home and play....  Approx 4-5 weeks until Youth Candidate day!

(Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate it!)

[Velodromè]

Førde IL season 5: 

Intake:

Fell a sleep at the wheel in the beginning of the season, so forgot to take screenshot of the youth intake among other things, so I will post pictures of the best ones. I had high hopes for this intake, with a new HoYD with resolute personality, so with that in mind I was somewhat disappointed with the ones that came through. Looking at potential they were great, but the best ones were all very low on determination. Still, they were signed up and will get their chance, if they progress in training. Frode Sunde will get the left back and, provided he improves his attitude to training, I'm hoping that his potential will increase and that he will a reliable left back for years to come. Jørgen Nergård is one of too many deeplying striker types this year. He has a lot of potential, but his personality might hold him back a little. This is also the case for Kristoffer Helland and Brede Fretland, but if the keep improving in training they will get a chance. The third deeplying striker is Brede Dvergsdal, who has the personality, but not the same potential as the others, but I hope we can change that with training and playing time. In addition to these offensive players, we got Skjeldestad and Gjengedal, who will have to do well in training before they reach the first team squad. Skjeldestad is promising, but he needs more pace if he's gonna replace Attila in the future.

The season:

Things were looking grim early on and I had to change my "determination trumphs skill"-mindset and try to do something about the lack of quality in midfield. The solution was to retrain Dvergsdal as a CM and get rid of the determined, but unskilled players from the beginning of the season. This, and a great number of goals from set pieces and goalkeeping mistakes turned things around. After 18 games we even topped the table, only to do as we tend to do and fail to win the next four matches. This allowed Åsane to get away from us, and again we had to concentrate on getting second. Ahead of the last game it was us agains Fløy, as it was last year. This season we had lost both games to Fløy and to be honest I'd be happy with third. Still, we gave it a go and needed a win against Raufoss, something we got. I checked the update from Fløy's game, which read 0-0, and concluded with 3rd place. After I clicked on and read the news, I read that we had clinched the play off yet again. Mo had scrored in 90+3 and sent us up to 2nd place. It's a game, but that made me feel a bit bad for Fløy, losing the play off spot in the last round two years running. Bærum was second in the other group and would be tough opposition, but we decided to give it a go yet again, in a more careful fashion this time. We started away this time, and thanks to a solid defensive showing, won 2-0 with goals from Nordvik(pen) and Zetterdal(set piece). In the home game we took a defensive stance once again, ready to storm on the counter when possible. Bærum took the lead after 5 mins, but from there on in we passed them to death(according to my social feed) and when Zetterdal got another goal from a set piece, it was game over. In the final we got familiar faces in Nest Sotra and again we started away. Nest Sotra lined up in a 3-4-3 formation, which allowed us some space down the flanks. They took the lead early on, but midway through the first half winger Myklebust equalized from a cross, and allowed us to go home with a draw. As away goals isn't a thing in Norway, we still needed a goal at home to get promoted. Theis Nordvik had chance from the penalty spot, but missed it after 68 mins, allowing the game to go to extra time. In extra time we got another penalty and this time Nergård converted it to the joy of his manager. Straight afterwards winger Reksten sealed the deal with two goals, meaning Førde will play in the Obos Liga next season. 

Review - Stats 

The future: 

After the promotion the board announced a new stadium, meaning we have to play next season home games at our rivals ground in Florø, about an hour away. I'm not very optimistic about next season, much due the lack of quality up front and in midfield. The defence and goalkeeper is okay, as is the right winger, but the rest of the team need improvements. Thankfully the squad personality has changed from Very Loyal to Professional after Myrkaskog departed the club, but determination keeps dropping across the board. Still, if we manage to defend well and get to run some counter attacks now and then, we might be able to stay up. 

 

 

[Peter G]

On 21/11/2016 at 20:51, Pippadoc said:

@Peter G they came up in my save. Here's the link. 

If you fully load up the CFA then the games will be played out as the season goes on, so you would need to fully holiday a season again to get new teams. That save is the day before the leagues reset, so holiday for a day and you'll be able to take control of Sannois

Thanks!

[darren1983]

@MCPlay am hoping for a Leicester turn around here, stay up then win the league next year 

@Braumiller there's currently 2 points between the bottom 4 then a gap of points. So if I can sort my tactics out (have spent the journey home on the train with my notepad writing down ideas in the hope of doing something) I could still be OK. 

[JWVG]

AFC - Season 2017/18

League - We survived but we were poor. Couldn't find consistency, switched from 4-1-4-1 to 4-1-2-3 to 4-2-3-1.

Squad - My best player is rated "decent" for the league. I really need some midfielders.

Transfers - One guy left us.

Youth Intake - Pretty bad.

Top 3 Senior Players

Pepijn Kluin - Topscorer with 7 goals. Says everything about our attacking qualities.

Johan Kulhan - Probably our best player. Although very injury prone (that red sign!), he only had one bruised thigh.

Jordi van Gelderen - Club Captain and only decent defender.

Top 3 Youth Players

Ruud van Dijk - The only decent youth prospect. Oh, and he broke his leg.

Dennis Ababio - I'm not sure he will ever be a quality fullback, but at least he has some potential.

Sem Roorda - He makes it into the Top 3 just because the others are even worse.

Career Overview

Season   | League           | Position   | Achievements        
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18   Jupiler League      18th         survived!

Club Overview

Season | Est. Value | Stadium | Training Fac.| Youth Fac. | J. Coaching | Recruitment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18    €2.3M       2,000       Poor          Basic        Basic         Basic      

 

[Shakes]

@darren1983 - Brutal but even if you do go down at least you'll still have the professional status out of having been there.

@Dan BHTFC - Scotland is for masochists, the youth intakes are terrible.

@JWVG - Have to love any system where the 6th placed team out of 20 gets relegated?!?!

[XaW]

XaW - Imortal - 2019/20

First Phase | Promotion Stage | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Ever had a season where everything goes better than you could ever hope for? This was one of those for me. The season started great as we went the first 15 games without a single loss. Actually, the loss in the 16 league game was the only league loss we had all season. The other loss this season was in the Taça de Portugal were we lost to Sporting CP from the top tier. The rest of the First Phase was a walk in the park and we qualified for the Promotion stage for the 3rd time in a row. In the Promotion stage we continued our amazing run, going through the whole thing without losing a single game. We clinched the top spot with 4 games remaining and fielded even more youngsters in the final games, drawing 3 and winning one. After winning my group the final match of the season was the championship match were we got matched with Desportivo das Aves who comfortably won the other Promotion group. In a hard fought match we made sure to keep a clean sheet and getting a single goal to win the whole thing. We are the champions!! of the third tier, granted, but still. A very good season. After the season we turned professional! We also are buying the stadium and expanding it at the same time.

In the Taça de Portugal we won against Sertanense FC and União de Madeira before losing to Sporting CP in the 3rd round.

The youth:

The youth intake we had this season was a good one. We needed a talented goalkeeper and we got one.

New players:

Pedro Araújo (YP20a) - A talented goalkeeper. Second choice next season.
Paulinho (YP20b) - Strikers aren't what we have most of, so this one will be useful.
Luís Antunes (YP20c) - Well rounded central midfielder. Part of the main squad.
Jamie Bernardo (YP20d) - Unsure about him, but defensive midfielders are a spot I lack backup.

Second intake:

Emerson Cordeiro (YP19a) - An amazing season from the young left back. Assisted a lot and played amazing.
João Pita (YP19b) - A good season on the right wing. Scored quite a bit.
Bruno Jerónimo (former YP19c) - Poor progress, so I'm removing his tag.
Fernando Mendonça (former YP19d) - Horrible progress, removing the tag.

First intake:

João Carvalho (YP18a) - A good season from our young playmaker. Good stat increase as well.
Régis (YP18b) - First choice and plays well.
João Hugo (YP18c) - Still a backup, but gets some matches.
Duarte Pita (YP18d) - Still our defensive alibi, but even goes forward on occasions and scores a couple.
Hélder Rodrigues (YP18e) - Another fantastic season from our topscorer.
Franclim Carriço (YP18f) - Also an amazing season. Teams from all over Portugal are watching.
Selton (YP18g) - Keeps growing in the midfield role. A very good season.

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
2019/20	| Campeonato de Portugal Prio |     1st/1st	   |      N/A 	  | Hélder Rodrigiues (YP18e) (25) |   Promoted as Champions

[Shakes]

Amazing season there @XaW, early-ish days for me in my season but I feel safe in saying you've well and truly taken the lead in Portugal!

[Braumiller]

Congrats @XaW!  A great season on the field and subsequent great season off the field!  

[Shakes]

This season, I don't even ... after having only two 0-0 draws in my 3 seasons before, I now have 4 in my last 7 games. But in between there's been a 0-5 loss and a 4-0 win. I can't work this team out right now.

[TottenhamFan101]

League Table ~ Facilities ~ Finances ~ Transfers ~ Player Ratings

Uneventful season, managed to stay up and bring through some decent youth.

Top Goalscorer ~ Player of the Year

Youth Intake ~ YP01a ~ YP01b ~ YP01c ~ YP01d ~ YP01e ~ YP01f ~ YP01g

All around decent potential, but the current ability left a little to be wanted. YP01a is already a starter though, and YP01f brought up as a sub while the rest remain in the U18s.

 

P.S. - Sorry to @smp20 for shamelessly stealing your format!

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

4 hours ago, Shakes said:

Have to love any system where the 6th placed team out of 20 gets relegated?!?!

If I had to guess, they probably got relegated because Utrecht's first team got relegated to that division.

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

XaW - Nice job on promotion. If I remember correctly, the 3rd division in Portugal was the hardest to get out of, so hopefully smooth sailing from there on.

TottenhamFan - McNeill looks like a nice little player to start with, good luck!

[JWVG]

@Shakes @The_Gato_In_Goal Exactly, Utrechts first team got relageted from the Eredivisie, so their 2nd team got relegated too.

[makovn]

@XaW well done on promotion and good luck in the Portuguese second division (?)

 @JWVG nice job at staying up. van dijk looks decent for that level too bad he broke his leg

[XaW]

Thanks guys! Had a great season.

Didn't want this to happen, but didn't have much choice given the amount...

[Shakes]

Pontassolense - Season 4 - 2021/22 Campeonato de Portugal Prio

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

A very up and down season that looks better in hindsight looking at our final positions than it felt in play. Started out with 3 good wins and I thought we were just going to pick up momentum and roll into a qualification spot. Then the reality of having let go a couple of vets and playing a young midfield set in, we couldn't create anything for a while and we scored one goal in our next 5 games. A brief burst of 4 goals, then a couple of scoreless draws. Eventually we'd only won 2 games in 12 and although we were in touch things were not heading in the right direction. Somehow we picked ourselves up, won the last 3 games and qualified from the group in 2nd place. Didn't feel like we deserved it, but the table read only two fewer points than last year.

I didn't have many hopes for the promotion phase, any results there were basically found money to me, and the first two games were big losses. Over the next couple of games we lost both our strikers, but somehow our form went in the right direction despite that and we managed to sit on 10 points through 7, and close enough to second place that if we beat them we would have to take our chances of promotion seriously. We lost 1-0 and I could finally shut the season down. I took the chance to try out a strikerless tactic I'd had sitting there being learnt but never used in a competitive game. It didn't product the results I hoped for, but at least now I know it's not the answer.

A confusing season, adding up our points earnt between the two groups we ended up with exactly as many as we did last year, yet we were clearly worse. The only really positive thing to happen was that Anton finally dropped his transfer request and signed on for another couple of years, after waiting over a year for an 18k bid that never came.

Youth Intake

One really good prospect with a lot of potential and a good base.

• (22a) Hernâni Jardim - DR/MR - Right back who is already solid all round and could play further up the pitch. My captain who plays at right back is 32 so this is perfect timing for a replacement to come through.
• (22b) David Paiva - ML/MR - Will be more useful if we see a return of wide players to our tactics. Right now probably not quite good enough to make it in the middle.
• (22c) Hernâni Gonçalves - DL - I already have a good young player at left back, but the backup at that position is getting on so he may see some play down the line.

Youth Watch

I wish I had better news to report here on my best couple of prospects.

• (20a) Marco Aveiro - ST - 25(1) apps, 8 goals, 2 assists - What a shocker after showing so much promise last year. Unable to get involved in the game for much of the season, learning the striker position seems to have topped out at competent, and tore his calf muscle to end his season early.
• (21a) Altimar Tabach - AMC - 32(1) apps, 3 goals, 4 assists - Developing nicely attributes wise, but really didn't have the impact on the pitch I'd hoped.

At this point I have to question my tactics, these are my best two prospects (along with the newly arrived Jardim) and if they're not thriving in the current system then perhaps the system needs to change.

Next Season

We're doing OK but I want to find a way to push on, and to do that we need more from our best players. We've just got a bit of an awkward mix at the moment, a midfield that's more combative than creative, and an attack that has a single finisher, it all makes us a bit one dimensional. Feels like at this point I'm waiting for the right player to show up in an intake, but I have to keep perspective - if we'd won instead of lost our two games to the 2nd place team in the promotion group we're in a playoff. The groups are short seasons and plugging away and getting hot at the right time can happen.

	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
2019/20	3rd	2nd / 5th	4th Round	Anton - 12	Luís - 5	Gonçalves - 7.11	33,487

 

[Bubbles_DK]

Hi guys,

I've been reading this thread from the beginning and followed the challenge thread in FM16.

Now I finally got around trying it for my self :-) 

I've chosen Scotland and East Stirlingshire as my first attempt at this!

Manager profile

The squad doesn't really have a lot of players, so the first season will be all about survival :-)

Here are the transfers and finances when I took control of the club.

[Braumiller]

Welcome and good luck @Bubbles_DK