[FM20] HNK Cibalia - A slow build to Croatian success

[metallimuse]

Youth Intake 2025:

I must say, this HOYD is gooooooooood, have a looksie...

Some really good talent in amongst that intake and in particular that striker oooooo eeeeee!

Clubs will be sniffing around him straight away I expect.

Even the Development Centre view is more in line this year with regards to PA.

[metallimuse]

March 2024/25:

A solid month for the club as we performed well.

My apologises as we have one game of April in this report as well as I got distracted chatting to the missus and played the extra game.

With six games to go we are looking very much like we have a strong chance of going back up and at this point I'm actually hoping we can top the league and get some silverware. 

 

[metallimuse]

April 2024/25:

A mixed bag this month with two wins and two losses and after the good season we've had we're at risk of bottling it and throwing it away at the last.

We lost a stormy encounter against bottom side NK Croatia Zmijavci and then dominated mid-table Zadar but failed to put the ball in the back of the net.

With three games to go we're still top of the table and assured of at least the playoff spot but let's hope we can get back on course and finish as champs.

[metallimuse]

May 2024/25:

A stuttering end to the season means we will have to navigate our way through the playoffs if we are to return to the Prva HNL.

Our final two games were always gunna be tough as they were against two B teams and we just couldn't get going and weren't clicking.

[metallimuse]

The Playoffs 2024/25:

Another year in the Druga HNL it is for us.

We were terrible over the two legs and had barely any shots over the two games.

We've really let ourselves down over the past month and it's been a real shame after the season we've had.

[metallimuse]

End of Season Review 2024/25:

Well we were predicted for 3rd and achieved 2nd.

The board requested a top half finish and we finished 2nd.

So from these points of view it was a good season and it actually was a good season. I created a tactic that worked and we played some good football over the course of the season.

It was of course disappointing to fall away in the second half of the season but our young squad will keep improving and hopefully with more experience next year we can keep our form over the full season.

 

 

Most of the squad has had improvements over the past 12 months which I would expect considering how young they are.

You'll notice that Zlatko Cipric isn't there. His relegation fee was met in January which I had forgotten to highlight in the thread so my one experienced defender left, this is probably why our promotion hopes were dashed and the reason for our drop in form.

Our two deep laying midfielders were the in form players over the course of the season and young Vilim Jancic started finding the net this year which was a relief. 

The personalities are very disappointing within the squad but with such a young squad I'm finding it hard to mentor the bad out.

 

 

Panadic was absolutely the best player this season and deserves all the plaudits from the fans.

 

 

I've managed to bring the youth recruitment up to excellent this year which is a step in the right direction but the club will no longer spend any more money on facilities so I'm hopeful I can get promotion next season or we may have to start becoming a selling club far sooner than I wanted to.

 

So overall it's been a good season but obviously a disappointing way to end it.

 

All Time Best XI:

Cipric managed to do enough by January to make it into the all time Best XI but other than that no change to the starting eleven.

 

[metallimuse]

In-Depth Player Analysis 2024/25:

So as I created a working tactic this season which was used in full we can now have another in depth player analysis for this season.

 

So let's have a look at the keepers...

We have an abundance of strong keepers at the club but Jurica Nevistic is still my number one.

I switched to a regular keeper this year rather than a sweeper keeper which was very beneficial and offered a lot more security as I wasn't asking the keepers to do things they weren't comfortable doing.

 

 

My four central defenders are all still teenagers and are very raw but their suitability for the role has increased over the year and a couple still have PA to burn so hopefully they will increase again over the next 12 months.

 

 

I was shocked to see Andrej Milicevic dip over the year as he's been a solid performer for me in games.

Sasa Bosnjakovic is definitely one to watch over the next few years though and I'm pleased he's improved over the year along with Matej Jazvic who is now club captain.

 

 

Marijan Culjak has been a revelation this year in this role and Panadic has played here also and been immense.

Next season Pavle Markovic may get some game time here next year as well as defence.

 

 

Panadic and Aljosa Tomasevic were used here on the whole with Panadic excelling and Tomasevic sadly not performing as well as I would have hoped. It's his favoured role as well so I'm very confused as to why he isn't performing well.

 

 

Toni Karimovic had the game time this year and is now playing at his full potential. There has been a see-saw between him and Rene Saric over the years to see who would be top dog and Toni is starting to come out on top.

Dogan and Anto Vrgoc will fit for this role next year as I look to mould them into stars.

Saric may leave over the summer as he didn't get much game time last year and came to me wanting more football that I just can't give him.

 

 

All the raumdeuter's this year have performed well and chipped in with goals and assists so I've happy with this role this year.

Dinko in particular has been very impressive with goals and finished as joint top scorer along with Vilim Jancic.

 

 

Speaking of strikers...

First thing that you may think is "where's Dom Dogan?"

Well with the young strikers in the under 19's coming of age to play for the first team I decided to let him leave the club in January as he couldn't find the net, he had only a handful of goals in two seasons so I sent him packing.

Young Vilim Jancic managed to start scoring this year and looked very comfortable in the starting 11.

Ilija Duspara has bags of potential but is struggling to find the net at the moment at this tender age so he will make most appearances next year from the bench in the hope we can relax him into scoring and playing comfortably. 

 

[metallimuse]

Season 2025/26 Preview:

The bookies have made us favourites to go up which is a new feeling, we've not had such lofty expectations before.

The board are still only requesting a top half finish so my job should still be safe regardless of where we finish as I can't see us not managing that.

So as I look ahead to the season I'm going to side with the bookies and expect us to make a title push.

I've got a few clubs circling around after my players but I don't think I will be forced into selling any of them but it may be that come January some of them will sign pre contracts at other clubs as the better ones do want to leave which I can't blame them for seeing as I'm not in the Prva HNL. Yes it would make business sense to sell but I'd rather get myself back up into the top division then become a weaker team at this point. 

"Ovo je naša godina!"

[metallimuse]

August 2025/26:

A strong pre-season has given way to a very tough first month in the league.

1 win in 4 and 2 losses.

Dominated possession but failed to register many shots over the course of the month, very frustrating to watch.

[metallimuse]

September 2025/26:

A far better month this month for the club as we went unbeaten.

It's seen us shoot right up the league table and given the lads a boost in morale.

Ilija Duspara has finally got his first goals for the club up front so hopefully he can go on a run for us over the next few months.

[metallimuse]

October 2025/26:

We started the month strongly but tailed off towards the end sadly.

Knocked out of the cup in our usual 2nd round spot to Prva HNL side Sibenik.

Ilija Duspara is really on form now with 7 goals in 10 games and I've managed to tie him down to a new deal to ward off the interest in him.

Young Stjepan Ilic from last years intake has now been called up from the under 19s to be his understudy as he has come of age.

[metallimuse]

November/December 2025/26:

A horrendous run of form over the period has really left me scratching my head and wondering if we should be ranked as favourites to go up.

We've again dominated possession but chances are few and far between still. Could be that I need to start modifying my tactic again as clearly something is not clicking.

As we head into the winter break we are have no chance of topping the league I would say and currently hay 4 points off the play-offs.

[metallimuse]

Youth Intake 2026 Preview:

Full backs I'm pretty stacked with but I hope the wingers promised are of note.

Could really of done with a stand out CD but we'll take what we're given and work with them.

[metallimuse]

Youth Intake 2025/26:

So here's what the Head of Youth Development has to say...

...and here's how they look in the development centre...

...and here's how they look with regards to their PA...

A very exciting bunch and the money put into our youth set ups is definitely paying for itself.

We've managed to get an Austrian midfielder come through, not quite sure how that's happened.

Really enjoy the Croatian winter break after a few season's getting used to it. No sooner do I have my preview of the newgens then I'm actually getting them which is lovely.

[metallimuse]

March 2025/26:

An unbeaten month but far too many draws and I think any hope of promotion has now gone at this point.

I'm going to rotate the squad around and give game time to some of the squad still some way off their PA to try to help them develop with the idea that next season we will have a much improved and stronger squad with regards to their CA.

The improvements to my junior coaching and youth though have meant that we are now starting to haemorrhage money and we may find ourselves having to sell a few players in the summer to keep the club in a healthy position which will of course make any promotion push tougher.

 

[metallimuse]

April 2025/26:

A steady month this month as we gave more game time to the squad players seeing as promotion is over which saw us only lose 1 game in the month and pick up 2 wins, best return we've had in months actually! 

Three games to go and hopefully we can stay top 7 at least.

[metallimuse]

May 2025/26:

A damp end to this campaign as we lose the last 2 games although did claim a win this month beating 12th placed NK Varazdin.

We do indeed manage to finish the season in the top 7 as we finish 6th.

 

I'll have my usual end of year reviews posted up later tonight/tomorrow.

[metallimuse]

End of Season Review 2025/26:

Well, that was a very disappointing season.

We were tipped for the top, literally, and failed to live up to that tag spectacularly as we were mid-table for the majority of it.

For a team that was expected to finish top we lost far too many with 9 loses and we again failed to score enough goals with only 34 which was the 4th worst return, the flip to that is we had the 5th best defence so we are doing something right.

 

 

Despite our lack of goals Ilija Duspara actually finished as our best performing player which to be fair is just as he did get a decent return of 12.

Josip Panadic was again a star and Toni Karimovic is fast becoming the talisman and heart of the club.

I've added a new column into the overview this year and started a wage cap as we are losing money but it's clearly not due to this as we are far below budget and all players other than Karimovic are within the caps.

A few players were let go over the season. Antonio Stupar, Dinko Matosevic, Mateo Bukvic and Rene Saric all left either as we had younger talent with better PA coming through, contracts up this year or wanting game time I couldn't give.

 

 

I'm very surprised that Panadic didn't make the best 11.

 

 

Our junior coaching has gone up a level and the good youth set up is clearly where I'm losing money.

 

Overall, as I've said, a disappointing season. Again, I could say that we do have a very young team and inexperienced team so I'm keeping faith that we can produce next year with a bit more experience after this season.

 

All Time Best XI:

Aljosa Tomasevic has broken into the all time 11 which is surprising as he only played 16 games with an average of 6.88.

[metallimuse]

In-Depth Player Analysis 2025/26:

So lets have a look at how the players have improved for their roles over the course of the past 12 months...

 

 

Jurica Nevistic has improved slightly over the past 12 months and was again ranked as the best keeper in the division.

Sadly I can't give Jakovljevic enough game time to really see much improvement, I'm finding it difficult to juggle keepers due to only having 1 domestic cup competition.

 

 

 

Jure Mrdesa was the rock of my defence this year but he's close to his full PA and it's Nikola Kurtovic and Kresimir Brecic who have made the biggest strides this year. Both have the potential to be better than Mrdesa so the will become my starting pair next season.

Pavle Markovic is a handy back up as he can also play in midfield at a push but he's the most likely to make way next time a good newgen pops through for CD.

 

 

Club captain Matej Jazvic has come along the most in the full back role this year and he still has bags of PA left so hopefully he continues on his upward trajectory.

Sasa Bosnjakovic and Andrej Milicevic are interchangeable at right back and both are fighting it out to make the position their own.

 

 

Josip Panadic and Marijan Culjak are the main men for this role and continue to be so this year. No complaints here at all.

 

 

Panadic was the main starter here with Aljosa Tomasevic rotating in. Both did well but I'm still waiting for Aljosa to hit the heights he promises.

 

 

Exactly what I said about Aljosa Tomasevic just above is how I'm feeling about Mladen Dogan and Anto Vrgoc. Both got bags of talent and PA but neither are taking the bull by the horn. My man Toni Karimovic though, as I've said in my last post, is the heart of the club. The team will be built around him.

 

 

With the emergence of the newgens up front Vilim Jancic has dropped back to the left wing.

None of the boys are really impressing and I don't think I'm getting the best out of the lads.

I'm in a conundrum as with no money it's hard to improve this role and I think if after next year we are still struggling with the lads available in this role I might have to have a revamp of my tactics and shape.

 

 

Well, the 2 stars of the club are Ilija Duspara and Stjepan Ilic. Bags of PA and stats already that make them destined for the Prva HNL if not abroad somewhere. I only play with 1 striker but I'm giving thought to possibly switching to 2 if I still have a hold of them both at the end of next season if my raumdeutars are still misfiring, if not earlier in the season if things aren't going well.

[metallimuse]

Season 2026/27 Preview:

Predicted for second by the bookies but as we saw last season, that doesn't mean very much.

We've had a blistering pre-season though...

I've also been playing a new tactic with no wide men and two up top to great success. Called this young lad up from the under 19s...

...and he really put a few shifts in and linked play up beautifully so I decided to go 4-1-3-2 with him as a target man.

 

Ove the summer period though we did lose 1 player and that was Mladen Dogan who left for the Hungarian top division after his £950k release fee was met.

 

I'm quietly confident about the season ahead and I'm really hopeful that we can go back up via whatever means as I think these young lads by the end of this season would be ready for the Prva HNL.

 

"Moћemo mi to!"

[metallimuse]

August 2026/27:

A decent start to the season considering the opposition we faced.

We beat Dinamo and local rivals Osijek B teams and drew with recent Prva HNL side Sibenik away which were all great results and then lost to lower half of the table NK Junak .

Playing our new formation and we're looking good in games and I've got confidence at the moment so let's see how it plays out over the next few months.

[metallimuse]

Summer Transfer Window 2026/27:

Disaster as on transfer deadline day the board take things into their own hands and sell last season's top scorer Ilija Duspara from under me.

I said previously he was too good for this level but it's sad to see the sale go through. The season has now got tougher. 

[metallimuse]

September 2026/27:

More of the same this month as we win more than any other result but still record a loss and a draw.

The games have been tough this month and we are by no means romping games or playing games at a canter and my confidence is a bit depleted but we'll keep going.

Sadly we went out of the cup on penalties, our worst showing since I took over.