FMCU Joint Save

[OldManGravz]

6 hours ago, andychar said:

I’d move away from Europe. Build a team up across the pond. 

Actually that is a thought, I hadnt considered adding some leagues maybe. I'll have a look when I get in

[noikeee]

Yeah my vote would be for a move to South America to conquer that continent next, but probably none of the leagues are loaded. But please don't load too many leagues otherwise those of us with weaker laptops are gonna have trouble when it's our turn... 

 

I'd vote for Paris FC whilst removing one or two of the leagues and adding one or two South American leagues for the next challenge once we conquer Paris. But we're just influencing - the next move is entirely the manager's individual choice so feel free to choose whatever you want to play the most! 

[OldManGravz]

Righteo, well I will remove Oz and Croatia and throw in Brazil and Argentina top divisions? In the meanwhile we can head to Paris to try and topple the french second division?

[OldManGravz]

So..... a different job caught my eye when it popped up, and......

 

[noikeee]

That'll do, too.  

[Makoto Nakamura]

Great choice!

[Rikulec]

Can't say I really like it, but okay.

[OldManGravz]

Big news from the World Cup!

[rodesire]

All hail Louis Nutt

[OldManGravz]

Looks like it'll be a miracle just to survive our first season in Bundesliga (The squad actually finished first in the second division so I have no idea why they have parted company with their manager) but I believe we have a squad capable of achieving at least survival

 

[rodesire]

Hipster football, here we come!

[OldManGravz]

I do apologise for the disjointed nature of these posts, I have, up to now, just been posting random snippets from news stories during preseason. Now that the friendlies are over and the season is about to begin, my updates may be a bit more sporadic and focussed.


So the friendlies went well, I think. Ignore the Esbjerg fB draw as I was trying a new formation up until about 70 minutes when they took the lead and I changed it back to what I had used in the first friendly. The scoreline flatters Murcia in the penultimate game of the season as we had the majority of our 20-odd shots on target but their 'keeper was in phenomenal form. The proximity of those final two matches meant we started the Werder game with numerous first team players on the bench also, but it was only a mistake from our back-up RB in the final 15 mins that caused the loss against a solid mid-table Bundesliga side, to get a gauge of where we should be at this season.

Not sure when the transfer window closes but I'll shot a quick update of the ins and outs then and it'll probably be a quick whizz through to the new year before another update

[OldManGravz]

Summer Transfer Window Roundup

So a busy summer transfer window, despite the originally slated budget of just £3.5m. The squad had a lot of filler and the two best defenders from the promotion winning side had both been on loan! I have done what I can, but I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew so... sorry guys!

So the only real departure that affected us was Pfeiffer, but once Leipzig came in for him he had his heart set on moving and I couldn't change his mind! The other big money move, Adeyinka, wasn't actually that good so I'm not sure how he was one of our highest value players. Plus I had already secured a solid replacement in Robertson, who I had brought in on loan from Man City.

On the incoming side of things, I re-signed both of the defensive players from last year who were on loan. Rajic was re-loaned from Hoffenheim for another season, while my first priority this window was grabbing Tuasama on a permanent deal!

The free transfers that came in were all signed for my B team, and the rest of the players signed are mainly squad players to cover areas in which we were either lacking numbers or quality, as the team was very top heavy.

Edited May 2, 2020 by OldManGravz

[OldManGravz]

Winter Break Update

It has been a bit of a wild one so far this season but I am really enjoying the challenge. Some new signings have hit the ground running (looking at you, Martin Robertson!) but the top performer is a St Pauli player who was here when I started, Heiner Elmbach. 2 goals, 5 assists and the man is pulling the strings from centre mid.

We are currently sitting 9th in the league, in between Stuttgart and RB Leipzig, with a steady if not spectacular WLD record of 5-5-6. We've scored 18 and conceded 14 in the league so far, with Robertson being our highest scorer, hitting 7 goals in 14 matches up to now.

Stand out fixtures? I have to say we ended the year on a high, and honestly the 4-0 scoreline over Fortuna Dusseldorf actually flattered them a little bit. Beating Local Rivals Hamburg 2-0 also went down well with the fans, and the 3-4 loss against Eintracht Frankfurt on the opening day of the season was great for the neutral. We had actually lost out main 'keeper, Beihl, for 4 weeks a few days prior to the start of the season, and with a decent reserve not available the gloves were handed to his not very good deputy. I honestly think if we had Beihl in goal, or the 'keeper I brought in just after that game (who I couldn't get over the line in time for the first match) that we would have started the season on a high as we were more than a match for them. After the Schalke match I decided I was going to switch up tactics against bigger teams, going to a counterattacking 5212 with wingbacks instead of our regular 4231 system. While not yielding many shocks, this has enabled me to be a bit more competitive against the large teams, earning draws against Dortmund, Werder and Bayer Leverkusen. The only team to beat us by more than one goal since the implementation of this two-tactic system is Bayern, and in that game I actually forgot to change tactics from the Hoffenheim game, and was two goals down before I realised and managed to change it over.

I have a few positions I want to strengthen come January but I am quite happy with the squad so far, so if I can't find the right deal I will keep the team as is.

Edited May 2, 2020 by OldManGravz

[Mandy42]

Hero, were not very heroic!

 

[OldManGravz]

January Transfer Window Update

Two in and two out in this window. There was no loss to our main squad in the outgoings, we sold a below-par B team player for a couple of grand to Paderborn , and let one of our more promising youngsters, Novelli, head out on loan, also to Paderborn.

On the incoming side of things, I had already arranged the signing of Teco on an end-of-contract deal, who will come in and provide good cover in all 4 attacking positions. The man has already scored an absolute peach on his debut in an otherwise disappointing defeat to Schalke, where I got the tactics so wrong!

Our other signing was forced upon me on deadline day. After already losing one of my two dedicated left backs for 2-3 months only a week before the window ended, I had decided to soldier on without another signing as we have centre backs who can cover there in the worst case. However at 4.45pm on deadline day, with the window shutting at 6pm, we received the devastating news that first choice left back Regali had sprained his ankle ligaments and was going to be out for a month! A hurried search through the loan market led be to signing Daniel Borja from Coruna, who will (hopefully!) not get injured in the next 4 weeks.

 

 

I have also lined up a few Bosman's for the end of the season, who should improve St. Pauli and cover the positions we currently have loans in - whether or not we are here next year!

Edited May 3, 2020 by OldManGravz

[OldManGravz]

I may have this done tonight, who is next up?

[wynter]

@andychar will be next iirc

 

Also some nice loans there 

[henri.melo00]

Congrats on the UCL, @TheLutterworthFox. Great season, reforcing my concept that with a little less crazy tactics, we'd have won it before. But great work all around.

And good choice, @OldManGravz. And also, very solid campaing in Bundes.

[OldManGravz]

Season Review!

A solid first season back in the Bundesliga, finishing just 4 points outside of the European places when we were being tipped to battle bravely against relegation! Close rivals Hamburg finished dead last which I'm sure made it all the more sweeter for our fanbase. £50m in prize money was awarded for finishing 9th, which was a welcome boost for our coffers - which were looking a bit bare in all honesty! If whoever is next up DOES decide to stay in the end, I think we have a solid base to build on to hopefully achieve European football next year. We were knocked out of the cup quite early, but we did come up against Mochengladbach in the second round while we were still finding our feet, both in formation and performance.

Both PoTS and YPoTS awards were picked up by Martin Robertson's strike partner Bajrami, but the surprise award winner is our Signing of the Season, Yann Pele, a 20-year old English striker who was picked up on a free transfer and spent the season in the B team. Personally I don't think he's ready for the first team but whoever is next up may want to have a look at him.

We did happen to break two records this season - One for the highest ever finish for St Pauli, which we confirmed with 8 games to go, and the other was for worst discipline in the Bundesliga. We weren't even a particularly dirty team, there were no fines for not controlling players or any major injuries. We just seemed to get stuck in - which I am more than happy with!

 

Finally, the fixtures for the second half of the season! Highlights included the 5-2 over Leipzig, completing the double over Hamburg, and Bajrami's wonderful hatty against Mochengladbach. The batterings at the hands of both Bayern and Schalke must go down as really low points. We played the second half with ten men in the last game of the season at Wolfsburg, AND had a goal disallowed for offside (albeit correctly). After the Bayern game we were only 4 points outside of Europe so we really were battling all the way to the end.

I've grown quite attached to this team, it will be a real shame to pass it off to someone else! but Here is the file for whoever is next. @wynter has told me he thinks it is @andychar - https://www.mediafire.com/file/lscpza12ps1y8pa/Joint_Save_St_Pauli.fm/file

Edited May 3, 2020 by OldManGravz

[andychar]

If we are back at the start it’s actually @wynter up next and then me. 

[andychar]

1. Wynter <———- We are here 
2. Andychar
3. Rikulec
4. Noikeee
5. Mandy42 
6. Jimbokav1971
7. Makoto Nakamura 
8. Smp20 
9. Manutd1 
10. Benjoe
11. Deisler26  
12. henri.melo00
13. TheLutterworthFox
14. Oldmangravz

So we have come full circle. This is the current list. 

If anybody wants adding or taking off let me know. 
 

It means up next is @wynter. Are we staying in Europe and Germany or is it time for pastures new?

[wynter]

Whoops 

1 hour ago, andychar said:

1. Wynter <———- We are here 
2. Andychar
3. Rikulec
4. Noikeee
5. Mandy42 
6. Jimbokav1971
7. Makoto Nakamura 
8. Smp20 
9. Manutd1 
10. Benjoe
11. Deisler26  
12. henri.melo00
13. TheLutterworthFox
14. Oldmangravz

So we have come full circle. This is the current list. 

If anybody wants adding or taking off let me know. 
 

It means up next is @wynter. Are we staying in Europe and Germany or is it time for pastures new?

I'll get started tonight. 

[noikeee]

****ing hell that was quick @OldManGravz 

[Mandy42]

Very spritely for a man of advanced years! 

[OldManGravz]

1 hour ago, noikeee said:

****ing hell that was quick @OldManGravz 

I got really into it haha! 

I'm also working 12 hour shifts all this week so was wanting to get it finished

[wynter]

First Major Signing

Juan Manuel Gonzalez

Not the most impressive signing but we're being a little experimental here. 190cm he'll be playing out right, cutting in as an inside forward. Amazing technicals, decent mental and physicals but what really swayed me was the height. We're going to have a 190cm Striker lurking at the back post and terrorising fullbacks 

 

[wynter]

And we have a new job

Mexico are currently 6th in the Global Standings, quite a dominant team Continentally, coming off multiple Gold Cup wins and even a Copa America in 2032. 

The World Cup though has been dismal failure, after dismal failure.

Let's make them Champions.

[henri.melo00]

10 hours ago, wynter said:

And we have a new job

Mexico are currently 6th in the Global Standings, quite a dominant team Continentally, coming off multiple Gold Cup wins and even a Copa America in 2032. 

The World Cup though has been dismal failure, after dismal failure.

Let's make them Champions.

Nothing different than real life.

[wynter]

Transfers

Big Window... Huge Turnover

I'll start by crediting @OldManGravz with Markus Holscher

Dude is a beast, and slots straight into the Attacking Hook role that is the heart of any tactic I make.

I then built on that with some free transfers 

Cuny and Day

Day may have been a Gravz signing, honestly forget but he adds some defensive steel while Cuny was a potential back-up/rotation for Holscher but I have an eye on putting him in my Mezzala slot in the midfield. 

What am I playing?

Latest tactic I've been experimenting with that's been getting good results.

Supplemented with Changing Lanes to make sure our strikers still actually get gametime (Tactic I used in Colombia won't repost)

Why was what I'm playing important? Because when recruiting I had an idea... And that idea has given birth to

The Unholy Trinity

AML, AMR and the Mezzala slots are our primary goalscorers, all of them charge into the box from varying angles and all need high finishing/OTB movement to succeed. Then I had another idea/experiment and I decided to add height as qualifying factor for our signings.

The Inside Forward and the Raum will drift into the box by default, they might be picked up by centre backs... Or ideally, they're going to be picked up by their man marking fullbacks and our opposition is going to have to deal with 187+ Tall aerial assassins swarming the box.

Gonzalez, Haas and Gutierrez

We have an armada of mobile, technically skilled Peter Crouches terrifying our opposition and it's going to be Champagne Stoke Football 

Major Signing

Our last signing was forced on Deadline Day, Wolfsburg came in for Victor and when I was able to negotiate to 12mil I decided to let him go and seek better options.

Paco Tenorio

Not a Giant, but a killer Regista and DLP he'll be the fulcrum that connects the Defence to the Attack, the man that keeps the engine ticking over so Holscher can put it into Hyperdrive.

Let's Go!

[wynter]

Last Two Signings

Two players I forgot to mention but definitely worthy of praise.

Andreas Lettner

Right Wing Back on loan from Bayern, standout in his position and significant upgrade to our backline.

Luka Vanneste

Loan signing, we'll be covering all his wages at a hefty 45k p/w but he's miles away the Best CB we have at the club and a solid season out of him to push us forward will allow us to bring in more players of his calibre in the future.

[wynter]

We've hit the ground running in the Bundesliga, a tough first month where we had to navigate awful morale because of sales, changes in captaincy and other factors which almost led to a fulll squad revolt had be survived but after we started winning everyone stopped complaining and got on board.

Our last game we slipped into Changing Lanes and Robertson put on a clinic with 1 goal and 4 assists two of those a cross to the backpost where our Giant Gerhard Hass headed in like it was child's play. Bundles of goals and we haven't been defeated in competitive play either.

 

[wynter]

We battled away against the top teams for the last two months. Dortmund, Bayern, Leverkusen and Monchengladbach among the number we faced off against.

We ALMOST came away with our unbeaten streak in tact. Bayern were a step too far though and we were never really in the game.

Doing good, Top 5 and a shot at the CL or Europa League, hanging with the top end of the table and staying a result or two above the Middle of the Pack.

And coming up to January we decided to Bolster our Goalkeeping Stocks

Igor Safranko

Edited May 7, 2020 by wynter

[wynter]

Winter Break survived and dominated. Only thing that stopped us from winning every match was Bacchin getting himself sent off right after half time with a shocking tackle. Legitimately threw himself in from like 3 metres out. T'was not a happy time.

If Bayern were only slightly more awful this year we'd have a chance. 

Edited May 8, 2020 by wynter

[andychar]

I just want to prepare everybody...

I have no intention of staying in Germany, or even Europe.

[Makoto Nakamura]

9 minutes ago, andychar said:

I just want to prepare everybody...

I have no intention of staying in Germany, or even Europe.

England it is then, I hear you loud and clear.

[andychar]

8 minutes ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

England it is then, I hear you loud and clear.

 I thought I’d give us a base at Tier 10

[rodesire]

2 hours ago, andychar said:

I just want to prepare everybody...

I have no intention of staying in Germany, or even Europe.

Classic EU4 move

[wynter]

Will have this wrapped up tonight @andychar

[andychar]

2 hours ago, wynter said:

Will have this wrapped up tonight @andychar

I’m ready! I’ve taken a mini break from FM so I didn’t get burnt out ahead of my turn. 

[wynter]

This might be St. Pauli's last season... But there's a chance of a miracle.

[wynter]

Nevermind lads...

[wynter]

Just simmed the last couple of months to keep things moving. Post-Bayern there was no chance we were dropping 2nd and 1st was out of reach.

File sent to Andychar

And if you guys want to take a look see around

St Pauli

Unemployed

Board begged us to stay, was quite sad actually.

Overall I had fun, the stupid idea I had gave birth to some hilarious goals/moments and the football was pretty entertaining. I do think moving out of Europe and chasing the remaining CL's is a worthwhile venture though and hope Andychar finds us a good club! I might be tempted to keep play Saint Pauli in my own time though.

Disclaimer: Any concerns re the leagues Andy let me know his plans when I was starting the season, so played with additional ones for a year and shredded a few European ones to bring South America/South Africa into the mix, Andy will be cutting more out as he grabs the file to reduce numbers and improve performance 

Edited May 9, 2020 by wynter

[andychar]

I shall be downloading, jumping on and trimming the fat of the leagues. God I hope my laptop can handle it. 

[andychar]

So first of all...sorry if I've annoyed anybody by moving.

I just didn't see the point in staying in Europe when we had already won the big prize. There are still 3 parts of the World we are yet to venture to.

We are of course not fully unemployed as we are the manager of Mexico. So i will still have updates.

I've also made the somewhat bold move of getting rid of Europe altogether! Leave means leave! I've added all the top divisions from South America. Basically removed 6 leagues and added 3.

Ive applied for a few jobs in South Africa. 

And a few in the US of A. 

If I had to choose it would be USA.

I've also decided to take control of the Mexico U23's in the Olympics. I also have the Copa America! It's going to be busy before I've really started!

The Olympics were drawn. Very tough group.

My first match back on this save will be the North American Nations League. We are in the Semi Final and face USA. It has the feel of winner of this wins the lot.

 

 

[Makoto Nakamura]

USA would make the most sense since you're also managing Mexico but South Africa has great youth players, although I doubt it matters much since we're going to win all 5 CL's anyway.

[wynter]

28 minutes ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

USA would make the most sense since you're also managing Mexico but South Africa has great youth players, although I doubt it matters much since we're going to win all 5 CL's anyway.

If only we loaded Oceania 

[andychar]

North American Nations League

So it wasn't a surprise we were leading candidate for all jobs we applied for.

But it was San Jose who got in first.

If we beat USA it will be Costa Rica in the Final.

Because the squad was selected ahead of me joining it will have been selected based on this tactic so I haven't changed it. I will however be rocking with the same tactics I use at Fulham going forward. I will also be using this tactic for the Copa America.

The Mexican FA don't seem to care so I will take it at face value. Despite the man disadvantage we destroyed them really. We just didn't take the chances we created. In regards to the sending off, there was no way in the World it was a red. Ref has really screwed us here.

Not like me to be salty I know.

Great start!

We will play Canada in the most pointless 3rd place playoff in the history of football.

Well the Copa America has changed since I last saw it! I assume Top 4 and then Quarters. We have to think we can get out of that Group.

I'm angry. I want to absolutely thrash Canada.

Well it wasn't a thrashing but it was a straight forward win. Got to be happy. 

Here's to cheering on Costa Rica!

Damn.

[andychar]

Mexico 

Copa America

No time to rest the Copa America starts for us in 6 days time. It's the same squad as the previous tournament. I'm happy with the tactic to be honest. 11 v 11 against USA we would have crushed them. 

I'm expected to get to the Semi Final. I think it's fair but it will depend who we draw.

We start off against Bolivia. Probably the easiest team we could have faced. Be nice to start with a strong win.

Damn that actually would be an interesting choice, if only England wasn't being removed in a matter of days!

Nothing out of South Africa yet. Its interesting both Nashville and San Jose are 13th in their conference yet both want me to win the MLS.

Nashville wasted no time. 14.25m is a nice tidy sum. I'm going to delay for a week and see what happens with the others.

Job done against Bolivia. Great performance where we created 41 chances! 4 doesn't seem a lot now.

A bit of a different game next as we take on Argentina. It will be a good test to see where we are.

The future is certainly there!

San Jose have come in for us but the transfer budget and wage budget is less so its a no straight away. Not that I can be bought (I can totally be bought).

Great win in a very cagey match. Very few chances but we took one. We are looking good in the group heading to the half way stage.

Paraguay up next. Surely we have enough about us to beat them.

That's it. I'm not playing anymore.

[andychar]

Mexico

Copa America

I wanted to leave the last post on a joke, plus I didn't want a massively long post!

Historically with Fulham I normally followed up a huge win with a disappointing game....

This isn't Fulham. Pretty standard win. Nothing impressive or shiny. Just job well done. 

Its a win that sees us progress to the Quarter Final, just where we will finish in the Group and who we will face is yet to be seen.

Uruguay next who are sitting 4th with 3 points. It's going to be a very unimpressive amount of points to qualify for the Quarters here.

Nashville have come again. I can't delay once more so a decision has to be made...

The facilities are what convinced me. I think we could have a good few seasons here. Because the season has already started I will finish it and move on. Mainly because by then I will have taken part in 3 International Tournaments so I don't feel like I've missed out. It will also give the next person a full season and full transfer windows to build and improve.

This is me done for tonight. Hopefully I'll get my teeth into the save tomorrow and show you exactly where we are and what the rules are for MLS. Also fingers crossed we can pick up International Silverware!