(FMT19) Fallen Empires Are Ruling (or is it running? Still can't work those lyrics out!:) A 30-year plan to depose Bayern & PSG

[withnail316]

I've now found my BWM, so unless I have to sell one of my starters, I think I'm done in terms of bringing players in. I have a key midfielder in the last year of his deal and currently unwilling to negotiate, so I'll see where that goes over the summer.

I do have a bit of deadwood to shift between now and September, too. 

[withnail316]

Youth intake 2020

Again I got the "golden generation" tag with the intake, but there was only really one player worthy of the tag.

I do have three or four youngsters who I'd like to think can make an impression in the next couple of years, although the oldest is just 16, so it'll be a couple of seasons yet. 

[withnail316]

Hertha BSC
Bundesliga (20/21)

Media expectation: 8th
Board expectation: qualify for the Euro Cup

Transfer budget (remaining): €10.75m
Wage budget: €1,154,000p/w (€60,000p/w under budget)

A busy summer so far, and the new season is just about here. There's no real news from the club in terms of updates or upgrades, although the club did offer me a double-your-money contract offer until 2022, which I happily signed. The club's expectations are very similar to my own this year, a top-6 finish is a must otherwise I'll feel like we're going backwards. The board also expect us to get through the group stage in Europe, which is pretty reasonable as far as I'm concerned. 

I've had to shell out a substantial amount of money to renew some important contracts, the most important was for last year's top scorer Davie Selke, who had a pitiful release clause of €21m. I've had to up his wages from €75,000p/w to €120,000p/w to get rid of that, while a couple of other players have had their wages doubled. It's not a shock that our wage bill has increased to over €1m a week as a result, although that's still way behind the other top clubs. Bayern, for example, have a wage bill worth more than €4m a week!

I've not wanted to do too much in terms of players out the club, so we've only raised about €4m in transfer fees. Winger Matthew Leckie had spent last year on loan with Caen, and he signed permanently for €3.5m. I've also sold a couple of youngsters for €250,000 each, and I'm still considering letting a couple of others leave between now and the window closing.

I have spent a decent chunk of the money made available to me this summer though, although I fought the temptation to splash the entire €40m. In total, we've spent €24.5m on four players, and I'm pretty hopeful that all of them will improve us. The first arrival was goalkeeper Julian Pollersback, who was an improvement on what I had available and had a clause in his deal at Hamburg allowing top-flight clubs to sign him for €1.9m. A similar clause allowed us to get defender Kaan Ayhan from Fortuna Dusseldorf for €7.75m, who I think is better than my scouts reported. As a ball-playing defender, it now means three of the four centre backs are all comfortable on the ball, which is exactly what I'm looking for. The big money deal was for winger Cristian Pavon from PSG, who came in for €9m. I'd originally planned on loaning him, but PSG's demands made the transfer look more attractive, and it's especially useful he is just as comfortable on either flank. Finally, midfielder Weston McKennie wanted out of Schalke, and was a bargain at €6m. All in all, I'm really happy with how the squad is looking. 

Edited November 7, 2019 by withnail316

[rodesire]

Pavon for 9m looks like a hell of a deal, McKennie is a blinder too, awesome transfer window 

[withnail316]

7 minutes ago, rodesire said:

Pavon for 9m looks like a hell of a deal, McKennie is a blinder too, awesome transfer window 

Thanks, man. I'm really chuffed with our business. 

[kidthekid]

McKennie is the real deal at only 21. Great piece of business there

[withnail316]

6 hours ago, kidthekid said:

McKennie is the real deal at only 21. Great piece of business there

Yep, all hail my scouts for that one. 

[withnail316]

Pre-season & August

More than pleased with pre-season, we're safely through in the cup, and two very comfortable 1-0 wins in the Bundesliga. Quite happy. 

The board expect us to get through this Euro Cup group, and tbh so do I. 

[withnail316]

Must say now that I am a couple of years in, there was a big part of me that thought I'd absolutely despise FMT. I thought I'd be missing out on so much of the game, but in truth I'm really enjoying it.

It probably helps that I haven't been playing more modern versions of the full fat game than FM13, but the ease of being able to switch between my laptop and iPad more than makes up for any missing features. 

[withnail316]

September & October

Very happy with how things are going in the league. There's no chance that we're ready to challenge for the title just yet, but if we can squeeze into the top four, that will be absolutely brilliant season. It's nice that we're still involved in the cup too, especially as I've been using a lot of fringe players for the competition. 

Europe

Four wins from four in the "Euro Cup" (I'm sticking with that name while we don't have the official badges, soz.) Safely through, and I'll be going all out to try and win the group. 

[withnail316]

Winter break

Really can't grumble with how our league form has gone. That's a lovely gap opening up on 5th and 6th, so maybe qualifying for the Champions Cup is a genuine target now. 

Steady progress in Europe too, we'll meet PAOK in the first knock out round, with the first leg to be played in Salonika. 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by withnail316

[deltablue]

Looks good both in the league and in Europe.

[withnail316]

I haven't had a chance to jump on the laptop for a proper update, but I can show a couple of things:

We're into the QF of the Euro Cup, but look at the state of those dates! I'm probably going to have to pick two different teams, which definitely reduces our chances of progress. 

More generally, here's how things look. Really happy with the league, and with both BVB and Bayern out the cup, we have a good chance of a first trophy. 

Edited November 14, 2019 by withnail316

[withnail316]

I may start doing a few more of those "rough" looking updates with a photo from my phone rather than a screenshot, just so I can update the thread more often. Most of my FM time is on the iPad at the moment, so it makes sense. 

[withnail316]

One more update before the end of the season.

Sadly, Liverpool's front four were just too good for us. The dates of the games didn't help, but they beat us 3-0 at Anfield to overturn our 1-0 win in Berlin. We are though into the final of the DFB-Pokal, which is played on our own ground, plus qualification for the Champions Cup is within touching distance. 

Edited November 14, 2019 by withnail316

[withnail316]

Here's how we finished, then:

Miles behind Bayer, but 3rd in my first full season is hugely encouraging. Our European run was brilliant too, and picking up a first trophy with the German Cup is the cherry on top of the cake. 

Edited November 14, 2019 by withnail316

[withnail316]

Hertha BSC - Season summary (2020/21)

Apologies that this is going to be brief as again I'm not on my laptop, but this has been an excellent season. We only lost six games all season across the three competitions, and finished closer to champions Bayern than to 5th place Borussia Monchengladbach. I have to be pleased with that. Davie Selke was top scorer again this year with 20, and his 19 Bundesliga goals meant he won the golden boot. Dawid Kownacki, Olexandr Zinchenko and Cristian Pavón all hit double figures too. 

The board have once again awarded me with a new contract, while our youth facilities are being upgraded for the first time this summer. I'm anticipating having about €60m to spend this summer, and have two deals lined up. Zinchenko's Man City deal was due to expire, so we have got him on a permanent basis on a free, and Ajax's Danish international Viktor Fischer will join us for €18.75m in July, too. 

Next year I'm hoping we can split the big two, but I do believe the Champions Cup games will make that very difficult. 

Competitions
Third in the Bundesliga, Quarter finalists in the Euro Cup, winners of the German Cup.

Finances
€141.5m in credit

 

Edited November 14, 2019 by withnail316

[kidthekid]

Amazing season. Congrats

[withnail316]

1 hour ago, kidthekid said:

Amazing season. Congrats

Thanks, man.

[withnail316]

Turns out I vastly overestimated my board's generosity. Despite us having €141.5m in the bank, the board have made just €32m available to be spent on transfers, of which I have already spent €22m of it. I had targeted three more players, two who would probably cost €20m each and another for about €7.5m, all easily affordable. 

Disappointing. 

[noikeee]

Whaaaat, not FM13? 

Go get those arseholes in Munich. Halfway there, a couple more seasons and it's done.

[withnail316]

13 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Whaaaat, not FM13? 

Go get those arseholes in Munich. Halfway there, a couple more seasons and it's done.

Good to see you in these parts, man.

Yeah, finally moved on. I have the iPad to thank, I think!

No such thing as "done" with Bayern, but if I can spend twenty years driving them into the muck, I shalll!

[withnail316]

Just dived onto my laptop to update with the summer transfer window, and I've managed to do some really good business despite my earlier frustrations. No fewer than eight reserve players left the club at the end of their contracts, while goalkeeper Thomas Kraft joined Hamburg on loan until the end of the season (and they have an option to sign him for €2.2m.) Also leaving on loan for Hamburg is winger Dennis Jastrzembski, who scored 15 goals in the 2 Bundesliga in a loan spell last year. Defender Florian Baak is off to Paderborn for €240,000, and midfielder Julius Kade is also leaving for a deal that could rise to €1.1m in future. However, the big deal out of the club is for South Korean international Lee Jae-Sung, who joined us for €4m in my first transfer window. He's gone to Schalke for a guaranteed €18m, which could rise to €19.75m in future. That would be a record transfer for the club. 

I've brought five players into the club, which will cost us a total of €38.7m. The first signing is a familiar face, as winger Olexandr Zinchenko joins on a free from Manchester City, after spending two years with us on loan. Goalkeeper Alexander Nubel was transfer listed at Schalke for €3.7m, and is at least as good as our current number 1, so he'll be our cup keeper this season. The biggest deal was for forward Viktor Fischer, who will play for us just behind the main striker. He'll cost us a club record €18.75m from Ajax. Midfielder Yangel Herrera spent last year playing in Germany for Schalke, but we nipped in before they could on the day the transfer window closed, and we picked him up for a cut-price €10m. And speaking of cut-price, defender Thilo Kehrer went to PSG from Schalke for €37m in 2018, yet they've sold him to us three years later for €6.25m. Really can't complain at that. 

[withnail316]

Hertha BSC: season preview 2021/22

Media expectation: 5th
Board expectation: qualify for the Champions Cup

Transfer budget (remaining): €15.5m
Wage budget: €1,600,000p/w (€58,000p/w under budget)

Just about ready for the new season, then. I'm quite happy with what is expected of me, and the club looks to be in good shape. Thankfully, the board don't expect too much from us in Europe, but with a good draw I'll be aiming to squeeze into the Euro Cup after Christmas. 

With the transfer window about to close, we have about €120m in the bank, and the squad is considerably stronger than last year. Since my last update, we have done a little more business (images to follow) as a couple of players were not happy with their roles in the squad. Kaan Ayhan had slipped to 4th choice centre back, so he'll be kicking his heels in the reserves until January, when he joins Sampdoria for €11.5m, while Dutch midfielder Riechedly Bazoer demanded a move on the eve of the Super Cup. He was unhappy with our depth in midfield, so he joins PSV for a deal that could rise to €11.75m. Also leaving is defender Robin Koch, he joins Hannover for €4m.

We used some of that cash to strengthen at right back, so Davide Calabria joins from Bayern for €9.5m, and then two loan signings. Billy Gilmour arrives as a spare midfielder from Chelsea for the season, and PSG youngster Loic Mbe Soh provides cover at centre back. 

Edited November 17, 2019 by withnail316

[withnail316]

As far as hoping the Champions Cup draw is kind goes, it most certainly was not:

Edited November 17, 2019 by withnail316

[rodesire]

16 hours ago, withnail316 said:

As far as hoping the Champions Cup draw is kind goes, it most certainly was not:

Oooof, maybe the roughest draw I've seen this year

[deltablue]

Wow, that draw!

[withnail316]

Hertha BSC: winter break 2021/22

It's weird how much faster I seem to play on the iPad compared to the laptop. We're suddenly at the winter break and I've just realised I haven't updated this season yet!

In short, things are going absolutely brilliantly...and yet we still aren't top of the league. Sure, it's only goal difference, but I can't see the second half of the season being as strong (we've been lucky with injuries etc) so I expect Bayern to pull away, but I will enjoy this while it lasts.

As for Europe, well, that was simply incredible. We'll meet Roma in the last 16.

The board have finally decided to release some cash my way too, so I might try and add a couple in January. My biggest issue this month though will be hanging on to Cristian Pavon, the Argentine signed from PSG for €9m at the start of last season. It would be fair to say his performances have been noticed across Europe, as his suitors include Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United and Monaco. 

 

Edited November 17, 2019 by withnail316

[withnail316]

A little transfer update. 31 year old Czech international midfielder Vladmir Darida was unhappy with the amount of minutes he was getting in the team, and as his stats were gradually starting to drop, I decided to get rid of him. He's joined Wolves for a guaranteed €15.5m, although that could increase to €19m (and become a record fee) over time. 

We replaced him with a fellow Czech, who had a buy-out clause at Sampdoria for €26m. We've now spent €74m this season. Mental. 

(I'm really not used t spending all this money, but there's so much of it available I may as well!)

[withnail316]

FWIW, Bayern have spent €126m in this window alone...

[withnail316]

Spring

It's all getting extraordinarily tight. We are top of the league by a single goal with 7 games to play, and I'm sorely tempted to play a reserve side in both the German Cup and the Champions Cup, just to keep my best players as fresh as possible. 

[rodesire]

You only have bayern to play out of top 6 in the run-up, so your idea sounds more than sensible.

[withnail316]

Well. Things appear straightforward now. If we win our remaining four matches, we'll be champions of Germany.

A few disappointing results in here. Naturally it hurts getting knocked out of the Champions Cup on penalties, while Bayern absolutely smashed my second XI in the cup semi final, but it's the draw with Bremen that stings most. We were two up with 6 to play, but a howler from our keeper gifted them a point at the death.

[withnail316]

Really being put through the emotional wringer here, look at the timings of the last two goals:

[withnail316]

There we go then. All we have to do is go to Munich and avoid defeat.

[withnail316]

So we didn't get a point

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE GOT THREE!!!!!!

[withnail316]

Have some thinking to tonight. In normal saves, I'd be looking at star names to sell off to generate the funds for a stronger squad, but we have €180m in the bank! It's preposterous. 

The question is, do I stay here and build Hertha into one of Europe's elite sides, or do I say "job done" and jump off for more of a project? 

[kidthekid]

congrats on the league win. Incredible result away at Bayern

[rodesire]

Get in, mate!

A sneaky idea would be to take over at Bayern and slowly destroy them from within..

[Jimbokav1971]

On 14/10/2019 at 23:32, withnail316 said:

Having played Touch for a while now, I think my biggest issue is the lack of player interactions. I like to use it generally to boost morale, or to warn players who are slacking off in training/in poor form, or even to sort small issues out, like player status in the squad.

I can't do any of that in touch, so I have several players who have slight concerns I can't addres, players who are out of form I can't motivate, and several players stats dropping through the floor who I can't threaten with a transfer. 

It's definitely frustrating.

I've never managed a full and proper swap to FMT for a save, but I think the time is definitely coming.

My step-son started had his 1st look at FMT at the weekend and it seems a bit mind-blowing to him, (he's only 10), but I think he is ready to step up from FIFA. Interestingly, his FIFA team recently was none other than..... 1860 Munich. 

When I was thinking of moving to FMT I thought about how I would work around some of the issues you mentioned and while I usually have a HUGE squad, the way to 'manage' these issues might be with a much smaller 'compact' squad. Another way would be to manage a team with a Reserve squad in a competitive league and also just to keep really busy with out-going loans. 

Mentoring/Tutoring whatever you want to call it is nowhere near the force it once was so wont be missed, but control of individual training is something I would miss. Reacting to training performances is something I do once a month but the answer then is to motivate them by games or just loan sell them, but either way they need to go. 

Interested to see how you get in with Youth Intakes in Hermany with good facilities on FMT. I already want to kill whoever's is responsible for the magic sponge though. 😂

Decent start. Good luck. 

[withnail316]

2 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I've never managed a full and proper swap to FMT for a save, but I think the time is definitely coming.

My step-son started had his 1st look at FMT at the weekend and it seems a bit mind-blowing to him, (he's only 10), but I think he is ready to step up from FIFA. Interestingly, his FIFA team recently was none other than..... 1860 Munich. 

When I was thinking of moving to FMT I thought about how I would work around some of the issues you mentioned and while I usually have a HUGE squad, the way to 'manage' these issues might be with a much smaller 'compact' squad. Another way would be to manage a team with a Reserve squad in a competitive league and also just to keep really busy with out-going loans. 

Mentoring/Tutoring whatever you want to call it is nowhere near the force it once was so wont be missed, but control of individual training is something I would miss. Reacting to training performances is something I do once a month but the answer then is to motivate them by games or just loan sell them, but either way they need to go. 

Interested to see how you get in with Youth Intakes in Hermany with good facilities on FMT. I already want to kill whoever's is responsible for the magic sponge though. 😂

Decent start. Good luck. 

Cheers Jimbo. 

It's all about being able to play on the iPad for me. I can see a time not too far ahead where top of the range tablets can handle the full game, so maybe at that point I will switch back to full-fat. 

As for the youth, my biggest issue is not FMT itself, it's more that I can't throw 16/17 year olds in the first team thanks to league restrictions. I have two I'd pick now, but I'm not able to do so in Germany, so to an extent they get forgotten about. 

[withnail316]

37 minutes ago, rodesire said:

Get in, mate!

A sneaky idea would be to take over at Bayern and slowly destroy them from within..

The German David Moyes...

[withnail316]

Just the eight players in the team of the year. My striker, one of those unlucky enough to miss out, with just have to console himself with the golden boot.

[withnail316]

All my incoming transfer business done by 1st July. It doesn't get more efficient than that. Details to follow, but €27m on a German international defender, €24.5m on a Brazilian wonderkid CM, and a third choice striker on loan for the season.

Job done.

[deltablue]

Yay, nice one!

[davehibb]

KUTGW mate. 

I do love a Bundesliga save and I've often been tempted by FMT but the few times I've tried it, it hasn't really stuck. Can you import faces and kits and badges? I'd be playing it on a laptop as opposed to tablet.

[withnail316]

On 20/11/2019 at 09:28, deltablue said:

Yay, nice one!

Cheers. I've almost played all of the following season, I've just not been able to get an update in. 

On 21/11/2019 at 09:28, davehibb said:

KUTGW mate. 

I do love a Bundesliga save and I've often been tempted by FMT but the few times I've tried it, it hasn't really stuck. Can you import faces and kits and badges? I'd be playing it on a laptop as opposed to tablet.

Cheers mate. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to add badges and kits etc on a laptop, although my understanding is it's very difficult on a tablet. I could be wrong, though.  

[withnail316]

I'm struggling with the regular updates at the moment, so apologies for the thread slowing down. I'll have to write a detailed post at the end of the season, which should be finished at some point today. 

[withnail316]

Hertha BSC 
Season summary 2022/23

Phew. This is going to be a long one. Apologies about that. 

Pre-season
The board were fairly relaxed with their demands before the season started. Even though we'd won the title last year, all they expected was a top four finish, while their European demands were even more modest: they didn't even expect us to get out the group. 

I made two permanent additions before the season started. With loanee central defender Loic Mbe Soh returning to PSG, we only had three centre backs in the first team squad. I filled that slot by signing Germany international Niklas Süle, who was kicking his heels as a back up in the Bayern squad. They'd listed him for €27m, which looked like a bargain to me. I also wanted another central midfielder to add a little more competition, and my scouts identified Brazilian wonderkid Wanderson, who was available for €24.5m from Gremio. The only other addition was a young striker from Arsenal, who came in as emergency cover for the year on loan. We sold a couple of back up players just to keep the squad relatively trim, but only for around €4m in total. 

The season
The league season started in fine style, as Bayern visited us on the opening day. We swept them aside 3-0, which came swiftly on the back of us picking up another super cup in Munich. We started the season so well that we actually won our first 12 competitive games, although Real Madrid tore us to shreds at home in the Champions Cup to end that run. We followed that up by throwing away a two goal lead away at Dortmund to draw 2-2, and then Bayern knocked us out the German cup in the second round. We were then beaten at Schalke as we hit a real wobble, but we followed that up with a point in Madrid, while Inter and Club Brugges were both beaten home and away, so we sailed through the group stage alongside Real Madrid with 13 points. 

By the end of the first half of the campaign, we were sat 9 points clear of second place Leipzig, while Bayern, Schalke and Dortmund's coaches were all in hot water with their club's boards. All three would be relieved of their duty before the season ended. 

I hadn't wanted to make any changes in the winter, but midfielder Jakub Jankto was unhappy he wasn't first choice in our midfield. He only arrived last winter for a then-record of €26m, but I agreed to sell him to Borussia Monchengladbach for €30m in January. I might have a look at a centre midfielder in the summer, but we'll see what's available at the time. 

Our Champions Cup draw wasn't kind for the last 16: we'd meet Barcelona, with the first leg at our place. I needn't have worried. We absolutely tore them to shreds in the first leg, with Davie Selke helping himself to a couple of the four goals we scored...but we did concede twice. Fortunately, we were even better in the second leg, where we beat them 2-0. Our league form suffered a little around those two games, where we were beaten by both Borussia Monchengladbach and Werder Bremen, but we managed to keep our noses ahead of the chasing pack. Next up in Europe was a return to Real Madrid, and once again they tore us to bits. We were 2-0 down with 11 minutes to play in the first leg in Spain, but Dawid Kownacki and Zinchenko scored a peach each and we got out with a 2-2 draw. We finished the job at home, beating them 2-0 to progress to the semi finals. Those 11 minutes were perhaps our best of the season, and we went on a run of 7 straight victories immediately after. They included a win over RB Leipzig in our 31st league game of the season, which secured the league title with three games to play. 

Those games also included the home and away semi finals against Liverpool, who were beaten 3-0 at Anfield in the first leg and 2-1 in Berlin, and suddenly we were into our first Champions Cup final. Our opponents? Manchester City, who had won the competition twice in the last three years. To make matters worse, we'd play them in Manchester, albeit at Old Trafford.

City were much the better side for an hour, but somehow we were only one goal down. Winger Jaivaro Dilrosun, who had signed for us from City (although he'd never made a first team appearance there) rifled home a leveller with twenty to play. That goal forced extra time, and City swamped our box for pretty much all of it. Somehow we held firm, and forced a penalty shoot-out. WHICH WE WON!!!!

A terrific season then, and there's no doubt about who was the star. Davie Selke was simply unplayable, he scored 35 goals in all competitions, with 29 coming in the Bundesliga. 

[withnail316]

Despite the fact we have over €200m in the bank, I'm not planning on going too crazy in the transfer market this summer. I've already secured three deals, and that might be yet be us done. 

The most expensive deal of the summer is on Dutch wonderkid Sjoerd de Jong, who will join from Feyenoord for €25.5m. Striker Fiete Arp was a target last summer, but Bayern wanted €30m for him from another German club, so Spartak Moscow nicked him for €11m. We've now got him for €18m, which is good business for us. He'd scored 20 goals in Russia, and should be a really good option for us. Finally, winger Alphonso Davies joins on a free from Bayern.