[FM20] - Disappointment and defeat and good times in the Ukraine.

[scarp]

Unlucky! Hopefully you will bounce back stronger than before 

[DaneBramage]

On 14/11/2020 at 09:34, scarp said:

Unlucky! Hopefully you will bounce back stronger than before 

Thanks, but I think it will be tougher this time. We benefited with a promotion when everyone else fell apart last time, and I don't really feel like we've strengthened since then. But we'll see how it goes.

[DaneBramage]

VPK-Agro Magdalynivka

Season Review 2026/27

Splawski dominated the awards again, but the low numbers tell the real story. Not going to achieve much if you're not playing well, not creating many goals, and not scoring many goals.

[DaneBramage]

[DaneBramage]

Ukraine

2026/27 Competition Winners 

  

A double for Dynamo and they increase their lead further.

Edited November 20, 2020 by DaneBramage

[bamb00zle]

Unlucky mate. Interesting read.

Thinking about doing an FM 21 save with Chernomorets. Big club with a lot of potential. Should be at the top end of the Prem competing with Dinamo and Shakhtar.

Just wondering what the league rules (e.g. foreign players, loans etc) are for the Persha League and Prem. Could you do a screenshot? Can't find on the internet.

Seems there's no money about, that true?

[DaneBramage]

VPK-Agro Magdalynivka

Summer 2027

A lot of players were on their way out this summer. Shchurov, Ryabinin, Prykhod'ko, and Tereschenko were all young players bought in by my chairman last summer who weren't good enough to make the senior squad. Melnychuk was a young jack of all attacking trades, master of none, who I was sure must have played at some point but his history says no appearances. Must have just been on the bench loads.

In terms of senior players, Virt had a been a regular on the left wing but his influence had been waning and he didn't make the cut in the Premier League. He also wanted too much money to stay. Wages were also the stumbling block for Melashenko who had been my first choice keeper. We couldn't afford to keep him but (24a) Burdiyan is ready to step up and take the number 1 shirt. Makarov and Terekhov were a pair of midfielders who weren't playing much so it didn't make sense to keep them. Terekhov also wanted to leave, and I'm surprised we found someone willing to pay for him. My first sell for any cash in this save, it looks like ODEK went pro a few years ago in the second division and then ran out of cash this year. They sold their youth facilities and were suddenly flush with cash (and are valued at over £3m, over 20 times as much as we are).

Not many players brought in this time, as I'll give the players we already have a go and use youngsters to plug any gaps. Aleksandrovich is in for cover and experience in midfield, Gheorghe will fill the vacant left wing spot, and Zozulya will slot straight in at centre back.

  

I'm surprised the expectations were so low. I'm not convinced we can bounce straight back up to the Premier League, but mid-table was the higher of the options the board offered. Their first call was just to avoid relegation. If we get back-to-back relegations I'm retiring from FM forever. 

Edited November 20, 2020 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

5 minutes ago, bamb00zle said:

Unlucky mate. Interesting read.

Thinking about doing an FM 21 save with Chernomorets. Big club with a lot of potential. Should be at the top end of the Prem competing with Dinamo and Shakhtar.

Just wondering what the league rules (e.g. foreign players, loans etc) are for the Persha League and Prem. Could you do a screenshot? Can't find on the internet.

Seems there's no money about, that true?

Thanks. There's been ups and downs, but it's definitely going better at VPK than it ever did at Tavriya. 

Persha League - being able to use five subs is nice, but only three foreign players can limit your options. I don't think there's any loan restrictions.

Premier League - more foreign players, less subs. 

There's very little money around, both clubs I've been at have been operating at a large loss and are kept going by investments from the board.

Here are the top transfers for the Persha League this summer. Only eight involving cash, the biggest two are sales out into other countries, then five smaller signings into the league, and my sale of a player to a rich second division club.

[bamb00zle]

Jesus that prize money is a shocker.

I notice that you loaded up all the other Eastern European leagues, are you able to get many on frees there? Was thinking about loading the Brazil leagues in the background as endless Brazilians go to Ukraine. Any work permit rules do you know?

A matchday squad of 23 sounds excessive for the 2nd tier. Guess you mainly bulk that with youngsters?

Either way, it'll be a massive challenge getting Chorno-Sinie back up with the big boys. Take it Shakhtar/Dinamo are splashing some cash at least in game?

Edited November 20, 2020 by bamb00zle

[DaneBramage]

There's a few frees from abroad available, but with only three foreign players allowed it's not really a priority to focus on. My best player is a Polish striker, but he was already at the club.

I have had a scout checking out Brazil, but they all want much more in wages than I can offer. I imagine it would be good a Premier League club with a proper budget though. I don't think there are any work permit problems, when in the second division Brazil was the only other country I was allowed to scout so that link is built into the game.

Some youngsters make the squad but probably not enough. With the lack of cash improving the facilities has been very slow, so it's difficult getting them good enough to play. And with three games regularly being scheduled in a week I pretty much need two strong teams at all times.

Shakhtar and Dynamo have been selling clubs, a lot of movement out of the Ukraine this summer. The top 11 transfers involving Premier League clubs are all out of the country.

Looking at Dynamo Kyiv they've spent about £90 million in the last eight years... but have sold players for around £430 million.

Shakhtar have spent more (£245 million), but also sold more too (£550 million).

[DaneBramage]

VPK-Agro Magdalynivka

July-November 2027

After the first three matches I thought this would be easy. Three wins, great start, we're laughing our way back up to the Premier League. There was a hiccup against Hirnyk, but this was followed up with two more league wins so everything was still on track.

Then our good form disappeared. It simply vanished. Goals became a collector's item and we couldn't buy a win. From six games we picked up just five points. The silver lining is that we only lost once in that time, but even that was to bottom club Avangard Kramatorsk.

Just as I was ready to launch my laptop out the window we smashed HKR, and I used that as an opportunity to hold a team meeting. For once I managed to pick the right option and lift the player's spirits, and although we didn't win either of the next two games, after that we won three out of four to go into the winter break on a high.

Despite the poor run in August and September we've just about managed to keep pace with the top runners. There are a load of draws going on in this division, so no-one is running away with the league and we're just two points off top spot. Currently we're in the promotion play-off place, though with everything being close there are a number of clubs hovering ominously just below us. I'm annoyed with our losses so far this season, against teams in 8th, 9th, 12th, and 16th. They're games we should be winning, or at the very least getting a point.

The board are chuffed, we're massively outperforming their expectations. As ever though, finances are a mess.

[scarp]

Fingers crossed that you bounce back up immediately. Shakhtar & Dynamo must be floating with cash. Will be interesting challenge to overcome these too (if you choose to).

[DaneBramage]

4 hours ago, scarp said:

Fingers crossed that you bounce back up immediately. Shakhtar & Dynamo must be floating with cash. Will be interesting challenge to overcome these too (if you choose to).

Yeah, overcoming those two is definitely the (long-term) plan, whether with VPK or someone else. Easier said than done of course with such a huge gulf between them and everyone else.

Shakhtar are the top valued club at £129m, then Dynamo at £105m. The rest of the Premier League is valued between £24m and £344k. And a long way below there's us, down at £127k.

[DaneBramage]

VPK-Agro Magdalynivka

December 2027

I've been asking for a senior affiliate on a regular basis, the board agree for the need but then never find a club to be linked with. At about the eighth time of asking they finally found a club to partner with. The annual £20k won't do anything for our finances, I doubt the friendly will do much either, but if they could send a potential Premier League star our way that would be appreciated.

 

Edited November 21, 2020 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

VPK-Agro Magdalynivka

December 2027

Oleksandriya were predicted to finish 5th in the Premier League this season, but after a run of just two wins in eleven games they've given Ostap Markevych the boot. Am I the man to replace him? I quite fancy it, I'm going to the interview. 

Forget about that then, they went for someone with more Premier League experience.

Something to look forward to instead then is the youth intake. Or two players with potential anyway, a goalkeeper and a centre back.

Declined this one. Valued at £11 million they're a massively bigger club than us, but they're struggling in the First Division, 8 places and 11 points below us.

Edited November 21, 2020 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

VPK-Agro Magdalynivka

March 2028

Aleksandrovich's loan expired so I had to pick up a new midfielder. At 30 Dzieciol is older than players I would normally sign, but with the perfectionist personality he's going straight into mentoring duties.

The preview promised a goalkeeper and a centre back, and that's what we got. Not much else though, there's not much potential to be found here and a lot of poor personalities on offer. For the first time I haven't bothered offering contracts to everyone, given that our poor facilities are stopping youngsters for the most part from ever getting to the senior squad I've only signed the top two players.

[DaneBramage]

VPK-Agro Magdalynivka

March-April 2028

We returned to action with four points from two games, which saw us jump above Chayka into 2nd place. We played them next, a proverbial six-pointer, and a late Dzieciol strike clinched the points for us to build a small gap over them.

Of course we then threw away that advantage as quickly as possible, losing next time out after not scoring despite having 20 shots. Not scoring enough was a bit of a common theme in this run, just eight goals in seven games, summed up by Splawski being on a goal drought of over 12.5 hours without hitting the back of the net. But our defence was playing very well with four clean sheets during this time, and after victories over two sides in the relegation area we received notification that we'd avoided relegation ourselves (yeah, thanks for that).

Four games left and it's still all to play for. Olimpik have drawn their last three, allowing us to reduce the gap to them and if they slip up further we're poised to strike and go up as champions. If we slip up we have a little bit of breathing room over third and fourth place, but we're not guaranteed of promotion yet.

[DaneBramage]

VPK-Agro Magdalynivka

May 2028

Game 27

  

16 shots, no goals. Absolutely pathetic. Two wins and two draws for the clubs around us leaves us still in second place, but looking slightly precarious.

Game 28 

  

Idiots. Complete and utter idiots. A vital six-pointer and we decide to give away an injury-time goal to the team that are chasing us down. Two players were fined a week's wages for poor performances. We've fallen into the play-off spot.

Game 29

  

Brilliant, now we're out of the promotion places entirely. Absolutely fuming at the sheer incompetence of this last month.

Game 30

No words.

 

[DaneBramage]

Edited November 21, 2020 by DaneBramage

[bamb00zle]

That was one hell of a choke!

Go for a bigger club next time with better facilities. Regret not taking the Lviv job?

[DaneBramage]

3 hours ago, bamb00zle said:

That was one hell of a choke!

Go for a bigger club next time with better facilities. Regret not taking the Lviv job?

Yeah, hindsight's a brilliant thing, but I didn't imagine we'd collapse so poorly. It's lucky I live by myself as I spent all last night sulking.

That being said, eight months later they're still interested...

[DaneBramage]

August 2028

Boom! Back in business. The club are ambitious and want promotion straight away, and that's understandable given their recent history. With £1.6 million in the bank though and a transfer budget of nearly £1 million, there's so much more cash to play with than at any other time in this career.

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

August 2028

Here's the current state of play. The poor start to the season saw the ex-manager given his P45, but results had improved over the last few games.

The league position is suitably underwhelming, but it's only five points off the play-off spot and six points off automatic promotion, so there's plenty of time left to (hopefully) catch up.

There are a lot of gaps in the squad, so first order of business will be filling those. In particular the defence needs major reinforcements, whoever was in charge of recruitment and managed to leave them with just three defenders has had a right 'mare. One name I recognise is Danylo Koval, I had him on loan previously at VPK-Agro.

Facilities are a bit rubbish, hopefully with the cash we have improving these at some point will be an option.

Edited November 22, 2020 by DaneBramage

[bamb00zle]

Good move with that cash to spend but the facilities are a big minus. I'd be looking to spend to go up, consolidate in the Prem and then improve the facilities. What set up are you using?

[DaneBramage]

On 22/11/2020 at 19:35, bamb00zle said:

Good move with that cash to spend but the facilities are a big minus. I'd be looking to spend to go up, consolidate in the Prem and then improve the facilities. What set up are you using?

I'm not much of a tactics person, especially as this is my first real game on FM20 (or any modern version of FM). I've been playing FM07 all this time, so the new player roles are a little bit beyond me (I have no idea what a mezzala or a carillero is...).

But for better or for worse, this is what I'm using going into my first game as Rukh Lviv manager.

  

Okay, it's fair to say that went well. 

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

September 2028

I joined with a week left in the transfer window, so it was a bit of a scramble to bring in some bodies to pad out the defence. Vivcharenko, Chapko, Davydenko, and Zorya are all defenders, I don't know yet which of them will likely be starters and which will be be the backups, but at least we have some options now.

Kitayev has come in as a backup striker.

I have plenty of attackers who can play up front, but only two dedicated strikers. One of them is injured, and the other is 17 and wants to leave to a bigger club. Dmitry Kuznetsov looks pretty damn good, so I don't want to lose him any time soon. Luckily he has a release clause set at nearly £20 million, so it's pretty safe to keep offering him out to keep him happy, without a huge risk of actually losing him.

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

September 2028

Let's get the bad out of the way first. We got completely FM'ed by Agrobusiness. Bossed the game, loads of shots, didn't score. They did. Whatever.

Otherwise though, perfect. Five league wins and progression in the cup. Some of the games have been a struggle, but look at the time of the winning goals against Kremin (89 minutes) and Mykolaiv (90+3 minutes). You've got to enjoy a late winner.

Dmitry Kuznetsov has been on fire with six goals in this time, plus he got the assist from a free-kick against Mykolaiv.

The new manager bounce has certainly done the trick. When I joined we were nine points behind top spot, now it's down to just one.

Also, pleased to see VPK-Agro Magdalynivka struggling down in 11th. I'd have been annoyed if they'd suddenly have been doing well without me. We don't play them until April.

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

October + November 2028

Not the worst couple of months on paper but in reality this is a pretty disappointing set of results. Seven points dropped against teams in 9th, 10th, and 12th is weak, we should be picking off those kind of teams easily. All three of those matches were away fixtures, and it turns out we actually have the worst away record in the league. That's definitely something that needs rectifying.

We remain 2nd as we go into the winter break, although there are now new leaders above us. VPK-Agro Magdalynivka have gone on a good run to rise up to 5th.

The board are happy, and I use this as an opportunity to get a couple of improvements.

  

Edited November 24, 2020 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

December 2028 + April 2029

Not much to get excited about here. Could do with a striker though so that's good.

As suggested, the best prospect is a Montenegrin striker. Top seven players have been signed.

Edited November 24, 2020 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

April 2029

A ridiculous game in the cup quarter-final. This was on the 1st April, we play VPK-Agro Magdalynivka on the 4th then another league game on the 7th, so this cup match was the lowest priority and I put out the second string. Despite getting an absolute battering and going down to ten men we still managed to take the game to extra-time before conceding.

  

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

April 2029

We started April with another away loss, against the worst possible opponents. Last year the useless muppets at VPK-Agro Magdalynivka ruined my aims of promotion while I was their manager, are they going to ruin my aims of promotion at Rukh Lviv as well?

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

March + April 2029

The big disappointment of the month was obviously the VPK-Agro Magdalynivka game. The inevitable loss returning to an old club, but still so annoyed by that. A draw against Minaj meant we couldn't catch up with them, but we broke our away day hoodoo with a big win over Koryukivka before winning two more to go into the final month with a bit of form behind us.

Almost an identical situation to last season. Last time we were 2nd with four games left, and completely blew it to end 5th. If that happens again I think I'm giving up.

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

May 2029

Game 26

  

Yes! Exactly what we needed. A win over 3rd place puts a little bit of distance between us. Even more good news as Minaj drew, so we reduce the gap to them.

Game 27

    

Absolute dominance, 22 shots to one. The only disappointment is we didn't score more. None of the three teams below us won, and having beaten Cherkaschyna twice already this season, we're promoted because of a better head-to-head record! The only question remaining - can we overhaul Minaj to go up as champions?

Game 28

  

Cracking away win. Minaj also won so there's no change at the top.

Game 29

  

Minaj drew! We go top! And VPK-Agro Magdalynivka's chance of grabbing the play-off spot over!

Game 30

  

Well that's annoying. Dmitry Kuznetsov was missing as he'd been called up to the under-20 World Cup, and without him we were toothless up front. Minaj drew and that was enough for them. 

Obviously happy with being promoted, but the league was ours to win so we're ending the season on a damp squib.

[scarp]

Good job with the promotion! What does your best player look like?

[DaneBramage]

8 hours ago, scarp said:

Good job with the promotion! What does your best player look like?

Thanks! I lucked out really with the best team in the division wanting to hire me, not managing promotion this time would have been a travesty.

These are probably my three best players - an 18 year old that wants to leave and a couple of over 30s. So hopefully will convince Kuznetsov to stay, otherwise a big rebuilding job will be needed soon.

 

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

Season Review 2028/29

First of all there's a couple of signings I forgot to show from the winter transfer window. 

Our first choice keeper was 36 years old, with 2 star CA, and retiring this summer. Rum'yantsev was brought in as his replacement and has been a big upgrade. 29, 3.5 star CA, and a bargain at only £150 per week. He went on to manage 8 clean sheets in 12 games, only conceding 6 times. Luiz was an upgrade at left-back, and is the first player I've signed from Brazil. I've activated the Brasileiro so hopefully this will be the first of many.

Kuznetsov and Pikhalyonok swept the awards, and did well at a league level too. Pikhalyonok had the highest average rating in the Persha Liha, and Kuznetsov was the joint top scorer.

[DaneBramage]

[DaneBramage]

 

Ukraine

2027/28 and 2028/29 Competition Winners 

  

                   

A couple more league titles for Shaktar, and another cup for Dynamo. But more interestingly there's finally been a trophy won by another side with Dnipro-1 taking this year's cup. The Ukrainian hall of fame is expanded to include a sixth team, and that's another on the list for me to try and overhaul.

Edited November 27, 2020 by DaneBramage

[scarp]

Kuznetsov looks absolutely fantastic! 

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

Pre-season 2029

Three players were released at the end of their contracts, none of them are much of a loss. Makharadze had been replaced by a much better, younger, counterpart in goal, Zorya was one of the defenders brought in when I was desperate for players but didn't se much gametime, and Kovalyov is a youngster who wasn't going to make it.

Quite a lot of players were brought in to strengthen the team for the Premier League. The marquee signing is Everton Felipe, a Brazilian centre back and by far the most expensive player I've bought in this career. He'll be a definite starter. Andriy Tkachuk is a striker to provide competition for Kuznetsov, and if he does end up leaving, hopefully he'll be good enough to replace him too.

Kostyantyn Vivcharenko is a left back who was on loan with us last year, so when his contract expired I snapped him up. Vitaliy Konovalov will be a rotation option on the left-wing. Denys Pedchenko was brought in by the DoF and is in the under 21s for now.

On to the loans. Richard Petro is nothing more than defensive cover, he won't play much. Valery Sedov will likely see plenty of gametime, able to play centre back, defensive midfield, or central midfield. Goalkeeper Rum'yantsev tore his hamstring in training after the first game of the season, so Andras Domokos was a last minute loan signing to take his place between the sticks.

Our bank balance has quickly disappeared, although the decline was lessened with a £550k payment for an ex-player who had met 50 games for his new club.

  

Edited November 26, 2020 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

August 2029

Yeah, it's pretty fair to say I'm chuffed with this start to the season. Ten points already on the board, a draw with Dynamo, a rotated team progressing in the cup, and we handed out a spanking to Prykarpattya. 

Currently above Dynamo, end the season now!

[DaneBramage]

First player poached away. Their youth set-up is better than ours so not sure why they're looking at our academy, but will be worth keeping an eye on to see if he amounts to anything. 

I assumed we'd have a rivalry with Lviv for the obvious reason of being from the same city, but apparently not.  

[DaneBramage]

Some good news here. In the last two windows there's only been one offer for him (under £1 million), so the lack of interest coupled with our promotion means Dmitry Kuznetsov no longer wants to leave and has extended his stay.

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

September 2029

Not the most action-packed month as we were limited to one goal four matches in a row, but when that produced two wins and progression in the cup I will happily take it. Penalties were our friend, with two scored in normal time and then four more in the shootout victory over Cherkaschyna. We ended the month with a big win, a brace from Andriy Tkachuk showing that signing him was a good bit of business.

Still early days of course so there's plenty of time to go wrong, but this is a very good looking league table. Much better than I could have imagined and we're still above Dynamo.

[DaneBramage]

9th in the Premier League. I have no intention of moving on at the moment but I went to the interview anyway. Immediately afterwards I was given a new contract by Rukh Lviv instead.

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

October-December 2029

Our form over the last three months can be described in one word: inconsistent. Which has its plus points; the longest we've gone without a win is only two matches. And also its negative points; the longest we've gone unbeaten is also two matches. 

We lost as expected to Shakhtar, but only narrowly in a close game. We responded well with two wins, but weakened the team too much for a cup tie and crashed out. Losing to a fellow promoted side in Minaj was disappointing, but we made up for that by defeating Oleksandriya to keep us above them in the table.

We were this close to beating Dynamo, one kick away as we missed an 86th minute penalty, but we instead picked up our second draw against them this season.

Lovely stuff. If I'd been offered this at the start of the season I'd have snapped your hand off. I know it could go wrong at any moment, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts, and if we keep going at this rate we could well be in contention for a European place at the end of the season.

The board are loving it, and I got them to improve the junior coaching. Hopefully this will have an effect quickly, because this year's new crop of youngsters doesn't look like it'll be up to much.

Edited November 26, 2020 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Didn't even know this was in the game, nice touch for a bit of diversity.

Wondered then if this had any effect or whether it was just for representation purposes, then this popped up. Any extra cash is always appreciated.

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

March 2030

Not a huge amount to be impressed by here. The PA tops out at 3.5 stars, plenty of poor personalities, and the 'good young striker' is all the way down at 11th. Only signing five players from this batch. 

One player who won't be coming through a youth intake though is this fella, poached away by Volyn. They're in the league below us, but are top by six points and on track for promotion.

A good month. We won three home games comfortably, and lost two away games narrowly. Dnipro are one of the teams above me so that was expected, but losing to Desna was a disappointment. We're having a great season, but perhaps I was getting a little ahead of myself and that brought me back down to earth.

Still going extremely well. We're only behind the big two and Dnipro, and with 8 games left and a decent lead over 5th, European qualification is definitely within our sights.

Edited November 27, 2020 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

April 2030

Another academy player stolen away, this time by another Premier League side. That's three now in less than a year.

Not a great month with just the one win, and a lack of goals. Both Dmitry Kuznetsov and Andriy Tkachuk are in a bit of a slump, each of them over eight hours without scoring. We should have beaten Olimpik but Najeeb Yakubu missed a penalty.

The top three have all pulled away, keeping up with them wasn't sustainable, but we maintain a good gap over 5th place.

I think 4th place qualifies for the Europa Conference, but which round is determined by the cup winner. If Shakhtar win the cup then 4th place will go in at qualifying round 3, if Obolen-Brewer win then qualifying round 2.

[DaneBramage]

Rukh Lviv

May 2030

Appalling. Complete and utter bottle job. Bunch of gutless cowards. Properly pathetic. Dmitry Kuznetsov and Andriy Tkachuk are now 12 and 13 hours without a goal, I will be doing my best to get rid of both of them this summer.

Obviously I'd have taken this at the start of the season. It's still a great result, mainly on the back of defensive stability and the second best record in the division. But to collapse so badly in the final couple of months and throw away top four is unforgivable, players will be axed for this. We now go into some European qualification play-offs with 5th-8th apparently, but on this kind of form we may as well not bother.