The FM21 Youth Academy Challenge

[djsterry]

lovely stuff

[hyrule_king]

Are we allowed to offer the greyed out players contracts?

[djsterry]

17 minutes ago, hyrule_king said:

Are we allowed to offer the greyed out players contracts?

No I dont think that is allowed

[hyrule_king]

6 minutes ago, djsterry said:

No I dont think that is allowed

I am pretty much fighting a losing battle then as i only have 12 players.

[Marazola]

Intake day.

Not as good as last year in my opinion but another very solid intake. This HOYD has done a superb job.

This is the best guy from the intake.

I also like this guy.

[Marazola]

End of season.

An absolutely disgusting year. We got relegated again.

Luckily my job isn't in danger, but that's very annoying.

[vikeologist]

9 hours ago, hyrule_king said:

I am pretty much fighting a losing battle then as i only have 12 players.

You can still use / play them. 

I'd still use any real player (even a rubbish backup goalie in midfield) than a grey player, but you are allowed to use them, and I think most of us have to for the first year.

Did you 

Quote

add the highest unplayable leagues for your country, as this will help make sure the promoted teams (you will be taking control of) have players?

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by vikeologist

[karax268]

 

Manager Profile | Save Setup

 

A bit late to the party but I'm diving into this challenge. Let's see how far I can get with ijsselmeervogels

[Elsjorro]

Nice to see lot's of people playing this challenge. 

I tried it once before in FM17 or something like that with Wrexham. Couldn't make it past Championship.

 

At the moment i'm playing the challenge with FC United. Season 2033-2034 and just completed first season in the PL. I'll try to update regularly here. 

[Morpheus13]

After reading the storys of you guys, I decided to give this a try. I will try this in China and took over the club: Beijing Chengfeng

Club overview

Great Stadium and should finish 9th, which indicates that the squad is already pretty good.

Lets go 

[Marazola]

Intake day.

Terrible intake compared to the previous two, but I suppose you're not always going to get quality. An off year isn't the worst thing.

[Marazola]

Season done.

Another year in the 2nd tier it is. Ashdod and Shmona just went mad this year and there was no catching them.

Shlomi Mizrahi sadly is leaving to China. I couldn't match his wages and before I tried to offer another contract, a Chinese club snapped him up. The end of an era. He scored 34 goals to close his time here.

[darren1983]

South Shields Season 2030/31 Review - League One

League - After missing out on the playoffs on GD thanks to a 93rd minute OG in the final game I was aiming for one better this year. The main plan though was, as always, 50 points first then see where we were. We started with a win, a draw and a loss so I thought it would be same sort of season as last year but then we clicked, we won 11 of our next 13 games (drawing the others) to go top and we battled there all season. First with QPR, then old rivals Sunderland and finally with Hddersfield but even when we did drop off the top a couple times we regained it pretty quickly. Our form was incredible as from the start of December we only lost twice in the league and one or those was the final game of the season when we were already champions. Key reason for our season was the partnership of Bortolotti and Hammond at the back. Bortolotti became first choice CB back in our final season in the National league and has become our rock (he, like me, is now a club legend) and has been League One player of the season 2 years in a row now. Hammond my coaches think could play in the Premier League one day but for now they're ours. Special mention to Slane as well, coaches keep thinking he's peaked (he probably has) and younger options are better but for 4th season out of 5 he's hit over 20 league goals for us (and in the other he got 17) so I'm loath to replace him right now

FA Cup - Made it to the 3rd round again and got a Premier League side, we didn't disgrace ourselves and the 300K was nice

League Cup - beat Championship side Blackburn on pens before losing to Championship side Barnsley on pens

EFL Trophy - Again used for fringe and younger players. Made it out the group, I'll only care about this when our U23s are in it (if we ever get a U23s teams)

Transfers - the 2 big sales at the end of last season helped which meant only sale this year was Neal. This sale annoyed me as at the time I was talking with another club and getting close to agreeing a deal for 2m upfront and nearly 2.5m in installments. West Brom then bid 650k plus add ons and the board couldn't say yes fast enough, I tried protesting but to no avail. Offered him out for 3m cash and had 5 teams match the offer so of course the little ***** picked West Brom. hate him now.

Squad - Again a nice spread of goals, the younger players are stepping up right now but there's an obvious weakness down the left side where both left back and left winger have been with us since my first season. We've replaced them a couple times but the players get sold and they still do a job so keep in side

Finances - better. The idea of getting transfers in instalments seems to work. Hoping the step up to Championship should allow me to start building the academy again

Youth Intake - another really solid one, still getting good ones. 

Mark Campbell 31A - Excited by this guy, looks a good striker, coaches rate him 2nd best at the club already
Phil McDonald 31B - attacking option, think he could be trained as a IF from the right
James Aziz 31C - a 2 footed CB, needs some work
Russell Booth 31D - added depth at CM if he trains well
 

Career Overview

Season		League		Position	Youth Recruitment	Youth Coaching		Notes & Achievements 

2021/22		VNLN		5th 		Adequate		Adequate		First coaching badge
2022/23		VNLN		2nd 		Adequate		Good			Promoted via playoffs, FA Trophy runners up
2023/24		VNL		16th 		Average			Excellent 		2nd coaching badge
2024/25		VNL		12th 		Average			Excellent		3rd coaching badge
2025/26		VNL		6th 		Average			Excellent		Promotion via playoffs
2026/27		League Two	1st 		Good			Exceptional		Promotion as champions
2027/28		League One	11th 		Good			Exceptional
2028/29		League One	14th 		Good			Exceptional
2029/30		League One	7th 		Good			Exceptional
2030/21		League One	1st 		Good 			Exceptional		Promoted as champions. Completed all coaching badges

 

[Marazola]

Holy crap!!!

[keeper#1]

Farnborough 2028-29 Season Review

Fixtures 1, 2,3: Another season of choppy form.  We struggle with playing two matches in a week.  Our guys just get so tired that I have to rotate them out of the squad.  Then, we have a bad result.  That turns into a bad run of form and I'm looking at the schedule to see when we have a string of one match weeks to get our footing and morale back.

Vanarama National League Table: A proper race for the title with four teams that had a chance to claim the title on the final day.  York City will be going back into League Two while Chesterfield, Wrexham and Northampton fall into the playoffs.

Playoff Tree: Second place Chesterfield will be joining York City in League Two next season.

FA Cup: Our primary source of income is FA Cup runs and ping pong balls bouncing our way.  During FA Cup season, I put a strong emphasis here since we are usually out of the title and playoff race and use the cash to upgrade the facilities so I can build the club from the bottom up.

FA Trophy: I put very little emphasis on the FA Trophy.  If we ever got hot and made a run maybe I would but not when we are going one or two and done.

xG General Performance: Not many shots.  A leaky defense.  A learning season for our young players at the club.

xG Expected-Actual: We score a lot of low percentage goals thanks to some set piece shithousery from corners and long throws.  We struggle to create chances from the run of play but when we done we score.  This helps us overperform in terms of points and league standing.  We should be getting relegated with these kind of stats.

xG Attacking Efficiency      xG Defensive Efficiency

Stats 1     Stats 2

Youth Intake Preview     Youth Intake     Youth Intake DNA      Tieba Haidard 29A     Michael Kemp 29B     Neville Levy 29C      Richie Davey 29D      Mike Johnson 29E      Bo Joseph 29F      Andrew Coffey 29G

Transfers

Moments to Remember      Best XI      Accolades

Player and Rookie of the Year Carlo Davies 28D - Yes our goalkeeper who allowed over 1.50 goals/game is our player and rookie of the year.  Without him, we would have been in a much worse position.

Almanac

[AlwaysNalah]

So I have a problem I have not decided how to fix yet. In season one we got promoted and have started this year well, unbeaten in the first 4. However.... I have been getting a LOT of messages about players losing determination. The first intake we had contained 5 fortuna liga potential players and they all had good determination and 3 had professional based personalities. So having read @_Ben_ 4 threads over the last week it has made me think. See the picture below from our hierarchy there are 8 players with 9 or below det who are going to drag down the youngsters, which will then have a knock on effect when they become team leaders in a few years on the next generation. We are not playing poorly enough to be fining players regularly. 

 

So the options - live with it 

 Sell some of the team leaders who are also our best players and probably get relegated.

I know its early on into the game and could be fixed down the line, but I feel the decision I make here could make a big difference for the next 15 years of the team.

 

[vikeologist]

@AlwaysNalah Quick answer. Fine players for poor performances. (Not me who discovered this)

6.5 warning

6.3-4 1 day fine

6.2 or below 1 week fine.

It won't take you long to see why I'm telling you to do this.

Thank me , (or rather the instigator) later.

 

Also, don't get too hung up on determination. Things like professionalism and (cough) work rate might be more important.

Now, go hence, and be a total and utter b******.

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by vikeologist

[XaW]

Well, I've decided I want to start a new save when the next, and most likely final, version comes out, but I'm very torn about what I want to do in the mean time. I've fallen out of love with Holland, but I'm reluctant to starting something new when the new version is not very far off. Perhaps I'll start somewhere where I won't take it very serious and don't update in here. Just for anyone expecting anything from me. If anyone has any suggestions to somewhere to have a strange little try, I'm open for suggestions.

[keeper#1]

2 minutes ago, XaW said:

Well, I've decided I want to start a new save when the next, and most likely final, version comes out, but I'm very torn about what I want to do in the mean time. I've fallen out of love with Holland, but I'm reluctant to starting something new when the new version is not very far off. Perhaps I'll start somewhere where I won't take it very serious and don't update in here. Just for anyone expecting anything from me. If anyone has any suggestions to somewhere to have a strange little try, I'm open for suggestions.

Uruguay?

[XaW]

1 minute ago, keeper#1 said:

Uruguay?

I've actually been thinking about South America.... I might load up all the leagues and have a look at the rules and see if anything looks interesting. I've never managed in Uruguay before, don't they use some average points over a few seasons shenanigans or something?

[keeper#1]

2 minutes ago, XaW said:

I've actually been thinking about South America.... I might load up all the leagues and have a look at the rules and see if anything looks interesting. I've never managed in Uruguay before, don't they use some average points over a few seasons shenanigans or something?

No idea.  South America outside of Brazil or Argentina was my only logic.

[Marazola]

3 minutes ago, XaW said:

I've actually been thinking about South America.... I might load up all the leagues and have a look at the rules and see if anything looks interesting. I've never managed in Uruguay before, don't they use some average points over a few seasons shenanigans or something?

Try Chile. I find them to have the most manageable rules in the continent for a European point of view (I am South American, so maybe I'm just biased)

[Cheez3y]

4 minutes ago, XaW said:

I've actually been thinking about South America.... I might load up all the leagues and have a look at the rules and see if anything looks interesting. I've never managed in Uruguay before, don't they use some average points over a few seasons shenanigans or something?

Yes, an average points table between two seasons.

 

I will start in Uruguay in couple days.

[XaW]

6 minutes ago, Marazola said:

Try Chile. I find them to have the most manageable rules in the continent for a European point of view (I am South American, so maybe I'm just biased)

Actually, looking at Chile, I think that could be fun! Uruguay looked a bit confusing to me, while Chile looked easier to get a hold on.

I'll run a save, and I'll see how much I post here, perhaps I'll just have a short update every season, but not as much as I usually do.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!

[keeper#1]

My U18s are finally in a league!

[keeper#1]

Do I sell this clause or not?  I sold Amrani 25B to Wednesday for 170,000 Euros.  His current value is 59,000 Euros and only Middlesborough are interested in a transfer and four Vanarama National League clubs are interested in bringing him in on loan.  

I'm leaning to selling the clause as I don't think Middlesborough's interest is serious and he will need to be bought for 1,150,000 Euros to get a similar return on the sell on clause.

[keeper#1]

11 minutes ago, keeper#1 said:

Do I sell this clause or not?  I sold Amrani 25B to Wednesday for 170,000 Euros.  His current value is 59,000 Euros and only Middlesborough are interested in a transfer and four Vanarama National League clubs are interested in bringing him in on loan.  

I'm leaning to selling the clause as I don't think Middlesborough's interest is serious and he will need to be bought for 1,150,000 Euros to get a similar return on the sell on clause.

Yep.  I gonna sell it.  He has played a senior match in two years at the club.  Not even a cup match.  This is probably the high point for his career has he just isn't developing at Wednesday either.  Take the money and run.

Edited March 3, 2021 by keeper#1

[Marazola]

Intake day.

Exactly as bad as last years. Hope next one is better.

[djsterry]

1 hour ago, XaW said:

Actually, looking at Chile, I think that could be fun! Uruguay looked a bit confusing to me, while Chile looked easier to get a hold on.

I'll run a save, and I'll see how much I post here, perhaps I'll just have a short update every season, but not as much as I usually do.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!

Looks like your set on South America but I have to say so far turkey has been fun, the standard is low so you don't have to produce the best to compete the finances are very tough though I've kept the weekly wages below 10k and still lose money 

[XaW]

8 minutes ago, djsterry said:

Looks like your set on South America but I have to say so far turkey has been fun, the standard is low so you don't have to produce the best to compete the finances are very tough though I've kept the weekly wages below 10k and still lose money 

Yeah, I'm going for Chile now. I have played in Turkey before, a few versions ago, and I enjoyed it then. So it's a good suggestion!

[XaW]

So, I'm doing a try in Chile and I took over Club de Deportes Valdivia, or Deportes Valdivia for short. Here is my profile.

The club have decent setup.

We don't have much of a squad, so I'm waiting for our first intake and hope it's good!

Wish me luck!

Oh, and @darren1983, the reset day is January 10th. I saved on December 1st and that gave me different teams.

[hyrule_king]

Ignore

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by hyrule_king

[Padders]

Season Review 2117/18

9th!

An awful start and sat 19th after 20 games

Then a turnaround in form with 3 defeats in last 18 games

Hoping Carl Howe turns into a class striker. Haven't had one since Crepaldi. Howe got 26th in his full first season

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 20th Folkestone Intake Report (and 16th Intake Review)

No point mincing words. This intake is bad.

Whereas last year I offered contracts to (and tagged) 13 kids, this year it might be just 4, and 20a is a goalie which I hardly need.

Andrew Horgan 20a – My starting goalie has held the spot for 9 years and is only 26, so it’s tempting to think that nobody will surpass him any time soon, but he’s only 3 stars. With Horgan, 3 of my young goalies have a lot more potential. My money would be on last year’s Russell Dalling 19c, but you never know.

Momodou Ceesay 20b – After years of no good centre backs, I’ve had quite a few come through in recent years, so Ceesay has a few between him and a starting place. Unflappable media handling, and not ambitious, but I’ve had that type before and it came to nothing.

YP16 Review

Stuart Harding 16a – A goalie currently on loan and starting in the Conference North, and finally developing well, but again, I think Dalling 19c is the goalie to watch.

Oskar Misiak 16b – Central midfielder on loan at the same club as Harding, and making some sub appearances, but hasn’t progressed at all and I’ll be releasing him this summer.

George Cornish 16c – Has been my third string striker for a few seasons, but is not in the same class as my 2 starters, and I’m pretty much ready to give upon him.

Martin Faltusz 16d – Another striker, but he has never amounted to anything and is set for release.

6 other players have already left and are all playing in the Conference North or South. None of them are any good.

So, really this was a bad intake. Looking back at my report from the time, I didn’t expect much. The only surprise is just how bad Misiak turned out to be.

On the other hand 10 of them could end up having playing semi-pro for a few years. They’re just not good enough for where we are now.

[OlivierL]

Aalst - First Senior international - Season 4

 

 

[hyrule_king]

Portuguese attempt begins with Sobrado.

 

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by hyrule_king

[vikeologist]

@OlivierL He's not an international yet. 
I haven't had a single player earn an international cap while at the club (One of my guys has picked up a lot of caps for Hungary since leaving, and if he's ever sold, we'll pick up a nice payday).

In my Palermo save I had a son. A real son, not like my make believe nephew in this save. He was a regular in the Scotland squad.  He even made it to the World Cup squad, and that squad made it all the way to the World Cup final, but my son never made an international appearance. Not in friendlies. Not for the final couple of minutes of a match. Nothing, Never, Nowhere.

So don't assume he's an international just because he's in the squad.

Honestly not sure if any of my Folkestone players have been included in an international squad.

Edited March 3, 2021 by vikeologist
Removed all foreign words in case that's why it had to be reviewed by a mod.

[JLAB]

One of my players just got called up for the preliminary squad for the World Cup. Don't see him playing in the 2034 World Cup though.

[OlivierL]

15 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

@OlivierL He's not an international yet. 
I haven't had a single player earn an international cap while at the club (One of my guys has picked up a lot of caps for Hungary since leaving, and if he's ever sold, we'll pick up a nice payday).

In my Palermo save I had a son. A real son, not like my make believe nephew in this save. He was a regular in the Scotland squad.  He even made it to the World Cup squad, and that squad made it all the way to the World Cup final, but my son never made an international appearance. Not in friendlies. Not for the final couple of minutes of a match. Nothing, Nunca, 无处.  (Mods; 无处 is Mandarin for nowhere. Am I not allowed to use Mandarin in a post?).

So don't assume he's an international just because he's in the squad.

Honestly not sure if any of my Folkestone players have been included in an international squad.

Well u are right, he didn't came of the bench in two friendlies.. i jinxed it   I'm sure he'll feature soon.. but i won't jinx it anymore

Do u have a screenshot of your son and fake nephew ?  

[Marazola]

Season done.

Went back up, albeit barely.

Will do a squad update very soon I reckon. The 2nd generation has ended as only Harel and Avliav start for us now from that specific generation.

[UnkleTass]

ACN Siena 1904 Season 2033/34 Review

So we are heading back to Serie B as expected, but we put up more of fight than anticipated, we were sent packing on the last day of the season by virtue of head to head record, finishing on the same points as Chievo who pipped me to the Serie B title the year prior. All in all its been a successful season as I was able to secure my financial future for at least the next 5 years thanks to the TV money from my one season in the big time. Fingers crossed for a bounce back next year.

This is it, the season coming will be Farcas' first on the bench as I go full academy and start Christian Rocchi 28G as our new left back. Also looking like a tasty intake this year, we've been told to whisper it quietly but it could be a Golden Generation. 

The TV money allowed me to upgrade my facilities for the first time in 9 years and I have enough in the bank to go again next year as we push towards 'State of the Art'

I was finally able to start my last coaching badge and I should have a Pro Licence for the start of next season, and also got another job interview for a Serie A club in Sampdoria still not top tier but my reputation in the game is growing. I also officially became a Club Legend for Siena #Proud

Challenge: Squad League Table Transfers

Key Players: Adriano Mutti 24C* Luca Lenzi 27E* Yari Colombini 25B

Youth Intake: Preview Actual Golden Generation

Manager: Profile Attributes Coaching Badge Legend

Jobs: Job #1

Extra: Finances Moments to Remember TV Rights Relegation Scrap Touchline Ban

[OlivierL]

 

SC Eendracht Aalst - Youth intake - Season 4 (2024/2025)

Some good personalties but no real talents..  we get some nationalties ! I think this is the 'shortest' intake ever (height).

Spoiler

Best of Class 2025

 

McConnell 25-1 could push for a bench spot as IF. Mulenda 25-4 is an average DC with potential and Atkinson 25-5 seems to be the best prospect and our AMC gem that was promised in the preview.

Kosovo, Poland, Jamaica , Usa and Senegal joins the list !

Not a good intake, the first of our new hoyd.. i hope the next one will improve.

Edited March 4, 2021 by OlivierL

[OlivierL]

4 hours ago, XaW said:

Well, I've decided I want to start a new save when the next, and most likely final, version comes out, but I'm very torn about what I want to do in the mean time. I've fallen out of love with Holland, but I'm reluctant to starting something new when the new version is not very far off. Perhaps I'll start somewhere where I won't take it very serious and don't update in here. Just for anyone expecting anything from me. If anyone has any suggestions to somewhere to have a strange little try, I'm open for suggestions.

Malta database seems fine , something u didn't use in here , i think ?

[XaW]

19 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

Malta database seems fine , something u didn't use in here , i think ?

Yeah, I think that could be really fun, but I don't want something that's that long term, since I have a plan for after the next update.  

[XaW]

Honestly, any intake will be good, but this actually looks promising.

[OlivierL]

23 minutes ago, XaW said:

Yeah, I think that could be really fun, but I don't want something that's that long term, since I have a plan for after the next update.  

What update will that be ? new patch  ?

[hyrule_king]

Now Teach them your ways El Legend

 

[XaW]

7 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

What update will that be ? new patch  ?

Yeah, the one that SI said would come a few weeks after the last one, so based on that it will be in not too long. So I'm waiting for that to really start.

[djsterry]

Finally 2025 and I get my first upgrade approved by the board

[hyrule_king]

Portugal is alot of fun so far, just had one of the under 19s covering for my senior lb who is injured score a 30 yard volley top corner.