FM21 Global (Less England) Small Club to Big Club Challenge

[Biscotti]

Underestimating your opponent is a dangerous thing to do

[jmarchand]

I think it's called dominating the league when 15 of your players are in the top 17 for average rating for the league... 

[GreyedOutMan]

Here we go then! I've used the name and nationality of one of my biggest ever FM legends from a few years ago but he is Sunday League rep as required!

[Thebaker]

2037

Squad | Table | Transfers

 

Started quite poorly but picked up to mid table before tailing off with just 1 win in the last 7 to finish just out of relegation.

In last seasons swedish cup the team got out of an easy group but then lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw away to Orebro in the quarter final.  In this seasons swedish cup the team reached the group stage again. Another easy group was navigated with 3 wins and the team faced Orebro in the quarter final this time at home. After dominating the match the score ended 4-4 and the team lost on penalties.

I lost Thongbai which was a loss and brought in a lot of players who were only partially successful or ones for the future. I also got rid of some experienced back up players in Martin (281 apps in 2 spells), Klarstrom (105 apps, 5 goals), Ilarionov (166 apps), Johnsson (171 apps, 90 goals) and Hashani (164 apps, 25 goals).

Finances continued to look ok even after another training facility upgrade.

Hoxha was my best player even though he is a bit limited.

2038

Squad | Table | Transfers

 

Started this season with a lot of draws but was able to turn some of them into wins so that by halfway the team were in 5th and just outside the European spots. I sold my 4th choice CB and then my 1st choice CB was sold as his min fee was met.

After that the team struggled with 15 points from the last 15 games and conceded a lot of goals in the last few games to finish midtable.

In the swedish cup the team again reached the group stage where a 3-0 win against Goteborg meant the team won the group to reach the quarter finals. They faced AIK away and were well beaten 0-3.

Finances have gone down a bit this season as wages take up a lot as i have a lot of staff and quite a few decent youngsters who all cost a lot for pro contracts (min 300p/w). I did get a youth training upgrade but the board are very reluctant to increase anything further.

My youth facilities are amongst the best in the nation and i have had a couple of 5 star players come through in the last few years with a couple featuring in the first team. This years intake was the best yet as the overall standard of the squad has improved and a player capable of going straight into the first team.

Marcelo broke my goal scoring record for most goals in a season, club legend Hoxha (224 apps, 78 goals) left the club after becoming 4th choice striker.

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2033

Premier

14th

2nd Rd

N/A

Johnsson, (19)

Hoxha (7)

2189

Adequate

Poor

Good

Exceptional

2034

Premier

14th

Group St

N/A

Johnsson, (18)

Bardiqi (7)

2390

Adequate

Basic

Good

Exceptional

2035

Premier

14th

Group St

N/A

Johnsson, (13)

Lind(8)

2396

Average

Below Average

Good

Exceptional

2036

Premier

7th

Qtr-final

N/A

Marcelo (20)

Thongbai(10)

2475

Average

Below Average

Good

Exceptional

2037

Premier

13th

Qtr-final

N/A

Hoxha (17)

Marcelo (9)

2470

Good

Below Average

Excellent

Exceptional

2038

Premier

9th

Qtr-final

N/A

Marcelo (26)

Hoxha (9)

2670

Good

Adequate

Excellent

Exceptional

 

 

[Biscotti]

I've just had a player named in the World Team of the Year. This feels like a brand new experience for me.

[jmarchand]

On 26/07/2021 at 14:45, Biscotti said:

I've just had a player named in the World Team of the Year. This feels like a brand new experience for me.

Great news! Looking forward to read on how it translated in your season results! 

[jmarchand]

Season 16 - 2036-2037 | Domination Victory (yes, I play Civilization too)

After a somewhat disappointing exit in the Champions League semi-final last year, the team was back at it. 

We went through a somewhat calm transfer period, mostly loaning youngsters left and right and buying the occasional lottery ticket. I am explicitly favouring transfers with EU nationality. The only big transfer that came in is Luiz Fernando, coming from Brazil, but with a French second nationality. Coming in January, he jumped into a starting role in our defence pair. Same for Pablo Lani, who came in to field a weakened left-back position and also has Italian second nationality. 

Many people going out on loan at both of our feeder clubs. Sesvete actually got promoted to the First League, but didn't get to stay up. Kustosija just qualified for the playoff between First and Second Leagues, I hope they win. Of interest is Ollie Francis, a promising defensive midfielder on loan at Dinamo, Kresimir Horvat, who scored 7 goals at the First League level, a big target man and Ivo Grbesa, who helped Orijent 1919 into a very respectable 4th place. The loan army is looking promising. 

 

 

 

Competitions

Croatian First League

Starting with the league this year, as it has been a record-breaking year. Yes, at this point we're really not afraid of falling anything below first place, but a goal difference of almost twice the amount of goals for of the second most offensive team (Rijeka) was quite the feat. A total of 138 goals obliterates our previous record of 121. We actually went undefeated for most of the season, but lost one on the 35th match, against Istra 1961. 

This domination made it that 16 of our players were in the top 20 for average rating in the league. Next objective in the League, stay undefeated for a whole season: we were sooooo close this year! 

On a bonus note, this 11-0 dismantling of Hajduk, who had a rough season this year. There used to be a time where I was fearing this matchup. 5 goals and 1 assist for Luciano Leon, 3 goals and 1 assist for Daniel Matas and 3 goals for Menéndez. Not a bad day at the office... 

 

 

Champions League

We were drawn with a hard group this year, playing along with Man City and it wasn't quite a walk in the park. one loss and one draw against them gave us second place in the group. 

 

We then drew Chelsea straight away in the knockout round. We got a close 1-1 tie at home, but then in the second leg, we weathered a storm of epic proportions... At the 89th minute, Luciano Leon intercepted a very bad backwards pass and rounded the keeper, which would have gotten us through. But we let one through at 90+3 (an unstoppable shot) and we were out to extra time. Leon again played heroes, but Chelsea put one in the back of the net at the last minute. That was somehow enough to send us through on away goals. Not a match we deserved to win, but we got it anyways...! 

 

 

 

After that, we got drawn against Roma and Salzburg, in a way to balance out the karma of the draw, while Liverpool, Manchester United and Barcelona were getting eliminated in the other side of the table. The final against PSG was a close match, but a strong first half got us through. 

 

It's been a pretty good run in the last few years...! 

 

 

Croatian Cup

It's hard to lose the cup if we don't allow a goal. 

 

The stars of the show

With only half a year, Luiz Fernando quickly became our top center back. IN the middle of the park, we rotated quite heavily between Dalic, Gonzalez and Francisco Walison, to great effect. 

Up front, in an embarrassment of riches problem, promising youngster Jakov Maretic didn't play much, but got many appearances in the midfield and as a sub up front. 

 

Luciano Leon - 36(3) apps - 48 goals - 12 assists - 11 PoM - 23 international goals in 14 games - 7.92 avg. rating

The best striker in the world, period. Yes, he's playing in the Croatian First division, but got 13 goals in the Champions League and sometimes played very efficiently in a Shadow Striker role, behind Matas and Menéndez. He's been whining a bit when I have been turning away bids for him, but in his case, he's permanently wanted by Man City, Liverpool, Man Utd, Barcelona and PSG. But there is no way he's leaving. In the past 2 seasons, he pouted a bit, but in the end came back to his senses and stayed home with us. Only valued at 51M€, though, probably held back by the standard of the Croatian First League. 

 

Oh, and he won a couple of awards... 

 

Daniel Matas - 20(16) apps - 31 goals, 17 assists, 7 PoM, 7.69 avg. rating

Each time I think that Matas is on the decline and on its way out, he seems to pick it up and come back. Across all competitions, he has a formidable track record of 394 goals in 417 matches and is super close to my heart. I signed him on a 5 year deal at the beginning of the year, and got his agreed playing time diminished, so hopefuly he stays happy and comes in as a super sub and good mentor for the youngsters coming in. 

 

Other News

- On the international scene: 

• Dinamo: Against all odds, finished 4th last year, so they only qualified for the Euro Cup II. Easily won their group, but lost in the semi final against LOSC. Their best European run since forever (they got 16 points on the coefficient list!)
• Hajduk: Tough year for them. Finished 3rd in their EURO Cup group, won in their ECII 1st knockout round against Anji (Russia), but then lost against Feyernood. 
• Rijeka: Not a bad showing, finished 2nd in their ECII group, won against Besitkas and then was well beaten by Dynamo Kyiv (who went on to lose in the final)
• Osijek: A long overdue return in the European stage for them, qualified as 2nd in their ECII group behind Kyiv and then lost on away goals against Anderlecht. Good job! 

 

Plan for next year

- Give some first team experience to youngsters

- Get as close as possible to an undefeated season in the league

 

[rlipscombe]

@jmarchand - just back from a weeks holiday.  Wow another great season, and close to perfection in the league.  That goal difference is insane.  congrats on another CL title - that semi against Salzburg must have been crazy.  Luciano Leon is indeed a star - quite how he is still with you and not kidnapped by one of the big clubs in the 'big' leagues is impressive.  i am sure that his valuation is hampered by playing in Croatia - in Spain he'd be valued well into nine figures.

 

Good luck for next season - fingers crossed for the perfect season.... 

[jmarchand]

 

One of these Dinamos is not like the other. Gotta love the first round of the Croatian Cup, sometimes. 

[jmarchand]

On 01/08/2021 at 16:28, rlipscombe said:

@jmarchand - just back from a weeks holiday.  Wow another great season, and close to perfection in the league.  That goal difference is insane.  congrats on another CL title - that semi against Salzburg must have been crazy.  Luciano Leon is indeed a star - quite how he is still with you and not kidnapped by one of the big clubs in the 'big' leagues is impressive.  i am sure that his valuation is hampered by playing in Croatia - in Spain he'd be valued well into nine figures.

 

Good luck for next season - fingers crossed for the perfect season.... 

I am really thinking that this is my last year with Luciano. At the moment, he doesn't want to renew his contract (2 years left) because he now mentions that he wants to play in a league of higher standing. Over the last few seasons, he's been attracting bids from the biggest clubs which I've been rejecting because they weren't even close to what he's really worth.

Astoundingly, in 2039, for the first time in this save, playing in Croatia hurts me a bit. I'm surprised it took that long.... Now, I might want to sell him this winter, as I've been generally getting higher bids after his performances in the Champions League and my outlook of singing him are getting slimmer as I go forward... At this point, if I get a bid of ~80M€, I might be tempted to go for it instead of taking the gamble of maybe losing him for nothing. 

[rlipscombe]

19 hours ago, jmarchand said:

I am really thinking that this is my last year with Luciano. At the moment, he doesn't want to renew his contract (2 years left) because he now mentions that he wants to play in a league of higher standing. Over the last few seasons, he's been attracting bids from the biggest clubs which I've been rejecting because they weren't even close to what he's really worth.

Astoundingly, in 2039, for the first time in this save, playing in Croatia hurts me a bit. I'm surprised it took that long.... Now, I might want to sell him this winter, as I've been generally getting higher bids after his performances in the Champions League and my outlook of singing him are getting slimmer as I go forward... At this point, if I get a bid of ~80M€, I might be tempted to go for it instead of taking the gamble of maybe losing him for nothing. 

as much as it would hurt, i'd cash in while i could too....

[Britrock]

I took a few months off this challenge and FM due to frustration, but I started up again recently and at the 4th time of asking I finally won the Europa Conference League! I also finished 3rd in the league so I get a chance to finally qualify for the Champions League next year. I might do a proper catch up review at some point (I've done a couple of seasons since my last one) but this was too good!

[aldojags]

@jmarchandloving catching up on your save! What a team! 
 

my save, still playing in my Pleven save, but with my own team Partick Thistle - think i told u all this! Im in 2050, have won 4 Scottish premierships, and im a regular in the knockouts of the CL now. And the save came full circle, as I beat Pleven home and away in the groups last year! This year I loaned them my 3rd choice left back and he’s playing every week for them! 

[Biscotti]

This one has been a long time in coming - my FM playing has really slowed down of late

Francisco | Sestao River Club | Spain | 2048/49 (Season 28)

My personal goal for this season was to consolidate our Champions League qualification from last season - prove it wasn't a fluke. The media has me down as still being a mid-table side. I don't know what exactly has conspired to narrow the balance in La Liga, but last season was the first time in the entire save that the points total to win the league was below 85. This season was no different, but it was our strong form through the winter which saw us leading the pack. Despite having losing records to both Barcelona and Sevilla, we were still able to beat them to the title with two matches still to play. For the Champions League, we had a strong start - winning our first 3 games - but we couldn't maintain that and finished second in the group. We were subsequently knocked out by PSG in the first KO round. Luckily, as league winners, we should get a first-seed draw for next season and I hope to do better. This season also saw us lift our first Copa del Rey to make it a domestic double.

Competitions | Transfers 1 & 2 | Youth Intake | Fixtures | New Records/PotS | Finances | Best XI (All-Time)

I teased before that one of my players was selected in the World XI for the year, and I can now tell you it was none other than Juan Manuel. There's been a couple of times when I've considered selling him, but no team has ever come in with a reasonable offer, but quite glad I haven't really. The only stat he didn't dominate in was saves/90, which is as much down to us barely allowing that many shots! At the other end of the pitch, Simon Carter finally started to repay my faith cutting in from the left wing, and about halfway through the season I thought he was going to come out as top scorer, ending with 22 goals. Replacing the outgoing Gimeno for £28.5m was the man who did score more goals than Carter - Alex Galeano. His 24 goals (plus 15 in 12 for Paraguay) were essential in our great season and I'm looking for more of the same next year.

The only academy graduate to feature in the first team this season was Gorka Saizar (YP24) who is definitely an able deputy, but is unlikely to ever become first choice. The only player from this year's class who caught the eye is Rubén Barasoain (YP28), but a distinct lack of pace means I'm not entirely sure where best to train him - maybe a mezzala-type CM?

Basque count: 5 players (At least 10 starts, or 20 games overall) 

Edited August 15, 2021 by Biscotti

[rlipscombe]

congrats on the title @Biscotti.  With regards to Barasaoin it's a tricky one.  Might be effective as a winger but doesn't have the physicality to be a striker or AMC i would say.  Might work as a Mezzala.

[Djecker]

Manager | Club History

Starting this challenge in Germany, with Weiche from near Hamburg (where I lived, long ago). The female manager named Helena is a nod to the Norwegian series Home Ground (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7766104/) which I watched during lockdown.

I've never done a challenge like this. I've tried to familiarise myself with the rules in the opening post, but someone let me know if I do something naughty.

Edited August 16, 2021 by Djecker

[rlipscombe]

welcome @Djecker  -  good luck in Germany.  I always find some sort of bond to a club helps.  looking forward to seeing how you get on

[Djecker]

12 hours ago, rlipscombe said:

welcome @Djecker  -  good luck in Germany.  I always find some sort of bond to a club helps.  looking forward to seeing how you get on

Thanks.

A quick overview of where we're at the start. Board expectations are pretty standard - obviously we want to avoid relegation (which is what the preview has us doing). The current squad is bigger than I had expected - I was thinking it would be more bare.

Facilities are about what I did expect, glad to see we are moving to our own stadium in a little while. Obviously we'll be upgrading the facilities as we go.

Key players at the moment include Kramer, Hajtic, Empen, Akyol and Paetow

I'm not sure what system I want to play yet, either a 4-4-2 with a target man/poacher combo or 4-3-3 with a DM. I assume teams will come at us, so we'll look to play on the break.

Right, time to crack on finding loans and trialists!

 

[jmarchand]

Congrats on the big league title, @Biscotti! Sestao has come a long way in a very competitive environment, it's great to see that you've reach that at long last!

Edited August 18, 2021 by jmarchand

[Thebaker]

@Biscottiwell done on your first title.

[Thebaker]

2039

Squad | Table | Transfers

Started the season well before a spell of  indifferent form but ended with a flourish as the team won 7 and drew 2 before narrowly losing the last game of the season to finish 4th. Goteborg beating Norrkoping  in the swedish cup final meant european football for the first time.

In the swedish cup my reserves beat Gefle 8-2 in the 2nd rd to make the group stage. The team then lost to Hammarby to go out at the group stage after finishing 2nd in the group.

Finances stayed steady as Hansen was sold by the board as an offer too good to refuse. My best youth so far he made 115 apps with 4 goals playing in midfield.

The money went into improving the training facilities.

Player performance was high with Pavlovic providing the assists for Ba and Gashi, although Gashi wanted to leave.

2040

Squad | Table | Transfers

Started the season with a series of draws and then losses. By 11 games the board gave me a points ultimatum to keep my job of 6 points from 4 games. 3 wins and a loss in a game I should have won staved off the sack.

European games meant a lot of rotation and the league form suffered slightly with the team tailing off towards the end of the season.

In the Swedish cup the team beat Gefle 3-0 in the 2nd Rd before easing through an easy group. In the Qtr final the team won 1-0 against Djurgardens  before overcoming Varbergs 4-2 in the semi final.

In the final the team won 2-1 against AIK to win the cup for the first time and qualify again for europe. I became a club legend after the cup win.

In europe the team beat AZ in both legs before beating turkish Basaksehir 4-0 at home. My reserves lost 1-2 away.

In the final q rd the team lost 0-2 away to Ukrainian Zorya but won 2-0 at home only to lose 3-4 on penalties.

Finances massively increased due to player sales with Gashi leaving as his min price was met along with Pavlovic who only became a wonderkid after leaving. the 50% sell on for pavlovic i cashed in several months after for £7.5million. My backup goalie also left.  Tigana was signed as a record purchase.

Club favorite Navarrete  (351 apps, 35 goals) and Lind (181 apps, 56 goals in 2 spells) both left the club along with Jallow (104 apps) a youth player who had been a back up.

Ba finished as league top scorer.

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2035

Premier

14th

Group St

N/A

Johnsson, (13)

Lind(8)

2396

Average

Below Average

Good

Exceptional

2036

Premier

7th

Qtr-final

N/A

Marcelo (20)

Thongbai(10)

2475

Average

Below Average

Good

Exceptional

2037

Premier

13th

Qtr-final

N/A

Hoxha (17)

Marcelo (9)

2470

Good

Below Average

Excellent

Exceptional

2038

Premier

9th

Qtr-final

N/A

Marcelo (26)

Hoxha (9)

2670

Good

Adequate

Excellent

Exceptional

2039

Premier

4th

Group St

N/A

Ba (21)

Pavlovic (11)

2827

Great

Adequate

Excellent

Exceptional

Qualified for Europe

2040

Premier

8th

Winners

4th Q Rd - Euro Cup II

Ba (29)

Janssens(12)

2826

Great

Adequate

Excellent

Exceptional

Swedish Cup Winners

 

[Djecker]

With seven games to go, we're in the hunt for promotion. Squeaky bum time!

Our finances aren't great, which means I've been knocked back from going from my first coaching course three time. Kinda annoying when my junior coaches get to do theirs. Hoping to fix that over the end of the season.

Spoiler

 

Interesting definition of EU you got there, Germany

 

Spoiler

 

[Djecker]

So before I dive into how the last few weeks panned out, let me give a quick overview of how we had gotten here. The first half of the season had been dicey - after a lot of triallists had been and gone, I had signed a few. But the team was unsettled, and I wasn't helping as I tinkered between formation (trying out a 4-3-3 and 4-4-2). The friendlies against mostly lower league opposition hadn't helped as I had used them to consider triallists as opposed to bedding in a tactical approach. The main striker in the squad, Christopher Kramer was a target man, and I have never used a target man successfully before. With loans and triallists covering for other positions in the squad, he was going to have to do. The 4-3-3 was built around him and his strengths, but it left us vulnerable down the flanks. The results were decidedly mixed approaching December, with a run of three straight defeats at one point leaving us in the relegation zone. The wins had mostly come against fellow promoted sides and relegation strugglers. December looks good on paper, but Aschaffenburg were rock bottom and really bad and the other two wins had come against the run of play, with us nicking goals and then grimly hanging on as the xG climbed in our opponents favour. 

I read, I researched and I looked for inspiration. On the Tactics and Training forum, someone espoused the flexibility and solidness of the 4-1-4-1 over the 4-3-3, noting it didn't ask as much of your wide players (especially the wingbacks). In the 3.Liga, quality in those positions was of short supply and I kept conceding from play down the flank. I pulled my attacking midfielders back (playing Nico Empen, our top scorer as an IW-A on the left, initially out of position) but kept the central trio of Turkmen (DLP) - Kilo (CM-A) - Paetow (Anchor man) and suddenly it all started clicking. Empen raided and roved from the left, Weber provided width and crosses from the right and Turkmen and Kilo surged from midfield to assist Kramer when he got the ball. A new centre-back partnership also settled in after Wirlmann forced my hand by demanding play time - I didn't want to, but he and Hajtic were suddenly solid as a rock at the back. My fullbacks, now playing with less ground to cover, started to own their areas of the pitch too. Team Bonding and Tactics training sessions were sprinkled in liberally.

The wins started piling up - and proper wins too, with us dominating chances and possession, rather than just nicking the points. Suddenly, the even nature of the league was counting for us, and we were in red hot form. Karlsruhe, recently demoted from the 2.Liga and looking to go back up as the best team in the division came to visit and were promptly spanked 4-1. Our destiny was in our own hands if only we could hold our nerves. The key game was against fellow promotion hopefuls Hallescher...and it started with a bang as one of their players went in two-footed within a couple of minutes and got promptly sent off. They'd cracked, and the game was ours for the taking - which we did, coolly and professionally. In the end, it was a procession, with promotion sealed as we won at home over 1860 Munich while Hallescher and Dynamo Dresden fell away. Our dominance in the second half of the campaign was incredible, aided by a lack of injuries and suspensions (the squad was not deep at all) and the promotion ultimately fully deserved.

A big, big challenge awaits!

 

Edited August 23, 2021 by Djecker

[Biscotti]

Spain has an interesting definition for what counts as EU as well:

 

[Djecker]

Yeah its interesting to investigate these rules, some of them are quite unique. Our promotion to the 2.Liga has already rendered our new stadium too small, for instance as stadiums are required to have a capacity of 15k in that league.

Although the good thing about the stadium not being finished is that you can change the design...

 

Spoiler

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Djecker

[jmarchand]

Season 17 - 2037-2038 | The end of an Era

"Thank you for attending this extraordinary press conference. You all know that I normally press the Send Assistant Manager button, so you can correctly guess that I have important news to tell you. I would like to announce my resignation from the position of manager of GOSK Dubrovnik." 

Audience gasps, flashes fired, manager starts crying a bit, Lionel Messi style.

"After 17 successful seasons, taking the club fresh from a promotion to the Croatian Second League to the highest ranked team in Europe, getting 4 Champions Cup, 1 EURO Cup, winning the Croatian First League in the 7 past seasons and 9 domestic cup titles, it's time for me for a new challenge. I know it might come as a shock to the supporters of GOSK Dubrovnik, but I also can't get past the disappointment of our performance in the Champions League this year and for that, I'm resigning effective today. My only regret is that I did not manage to win the Club World Championship, reaching the final once." 

 

"Domagoj Tomasevic, The Croatian Football Daily: but what are you going to do next?"

"I have been approached by FC Fleury Coeur d'Essonem in Bondoufle and could not resist the opportunity of working with such a group of talented individuals. They were just promoted to the National division, so they need a manager to match their ambitions."

Audience snickers, I go along my merry way in my new home of the Parisian suburbs.

 

This Season

Transfers

As hinted in previous messages, this is the year which I cashed in, sometimes to my great regret. In December, it was becoming clear that regardless of what I would be doing, I would not have enough money to pay what Luciano Leon would be asking next years, so I decided to start listening to the offers that came in. In the January transfer window, Liverpool showed more interest than the others and sent 89M€ our way for him. And off he went, to the despair of the fans. The board was not as unhappy as money was raining down on them. 

The January transfer window also saw Francisco Walison go away, to Borussia Dortmund. He was becoming unhappy after I rejected a silly bid from Manchester City and his performances both in matches and in training declined sharply. I would be having none of that and 52M€ later, he was gone. The deal also includes a 20% of profit from next transfer, which might become handy later.

In the offseason, our star midfielder Camilo Gonzalez was sold to Real Madrid for similar reasons, but with promising youngsters behind him, I figured it wasn't too bad. 

 

Carlos Reina is likely going to be a very good asset for the future incarnation of GOSK Dubrovnik and was bought quite cheaply from Boca in Argentina. 

 

Croatian First League

Dominating the league once again, but this year mostly through defence. With only 14 goals allowed, it's by far the least ever allowed in Croatian First League history. One thing to note also is that Kustosija has secured survival in the league. In the Second league, our other feeder club Sesvete has won the league, so GOSK Dubrovnik will have two feeder clubs in the First League in the next year. Perfect for the loan army. 

Champions League

A disappointing year in the Champions League. We topped our group (with Inter surprisingly not qualifying!), again with a very strong showing by our defence, but then completely collapsed against Bayern Munich. A very disappointing exit in the wake of previous successes in the competition. 

It is also interesting to note that Dinamo have qualified from their group this year (for the first time ever in this save!) and they even shocked Manchester City in a surprising 1-0 win before losing to Milan in the Quarter Final. This is the best finish from a non-GOSK-Dubrovnik side in Europe since forever. 

 

Croatian Cup

Not much to write home about here, we won again, but notable is our biggest win ever against poor Medjimurje, who got clobbered 13-0. 

 

Overall Best XI

I present you the overall best XI from my whole time at GOSK Dubrovnik. Let's look at a couple of highlights. 

 

Daniel Matas (YP25) - ST - 409 goals in 449 apps

As mentioned numerous times earlier, I cannot overstate the impact that Daniel Matas had on this save. At the tender age of 17, he single-handedly transformed GOSK Dubrovnik from a middle-of-the-pack First division club to a league champion and is by far, the most exciting youth product that my academy has produced, through all my FM saves. He scored important goals at every stage and has won numerous awards even on the European level. An absolute legend in my book, but somehow he's only listed as an Icon for the club. I'll certainly be naming my manager in FM22 after him so his legacy lives on. 

 

Leon Sipos - ST - 140 goals in 207 apps

In the pre-Matas era, Sipos was the man who helped us survive and then thrive in the Croatian First League. A youth product from Dinamo, I signed him on a free from Spartaks Jurmala in Latvia and broke the First League scoring record on the next year. He ended up finishing his career in Solin in the Third League, before I gave him an honorary scout job with GOSK Dubrovnik. He doesn't have great attributes, but at least he's home. 

 

Luciano Leon - ST - 184 goals in 170 apps

The clear star in the latest period in my tenure at GOSK Dubrovnik, he is an impressive striker which I hope will do great at Liverpool. Signed for a song from River (8M€) and sold back 89 M€ 4.5 years later, he impressively scores a ton at the international level. I really hope that he doesn't rot on the bench at Liverpool. 

 

Other News

- I leave the club with a very healthy balance and a good mix of players, I hope the future owner will be able to take care of this in a responsible way. 

 

 

- Croatian Club performance in Europe:

• Dinamo: As seen above, they reached the Quarter Final of the Champions League for the first time ever. They were even named overachievers of the competition.
• Rijeka: Qualified from their EURO Cup group, 1 point behind Arsenal, then lost badly against LOSC in the First Knockout Round
• Osijek: Won their EC II Group ahead of Sparta Prague, Genoa and Mladost, then lost in the Second Knockout Round against Tel Aviv. 
• Lokomotiva: Lost in the ECII qualifying rounds
• Hajduk: Surprisingly, had not qualified for Europe at all this year. It's the first time this happened in forever. 

 

Here is a snapshot of the top 20 clubs in Europe in 2038

 

I will also be following the future of GOSK Dubrovnik in future updates, but not in as much details... 

[jmarchand]

First press conference from the new FC Fleury 91 manager after a couple of friendlies. 

- Man, they suck. 

Storms out. 

 

Looks at the list of players that want to join the club: there are exactly 17 folks lined up, either aged 16 or over 40. So not that I'll have lots of choices... 

Edited August 24, 2021 by jmarchand

[Djecker]

Season 1 Recap - SC Weiche Flensburg 08

Club | Transfers In and Out | Manager | Competitions | League Table | Squad

 

So I gave an overview of the season a few posts up here, so not too much to add to that. The team was a mix of young players released from bigger clubs like the MASSive Juhi Kilo from Hamburg SV and Cem Turkmen from Leverkusen and some Weiche players who were good enough for the 3 Liga, like Hajtic, Empen and Kramer. There isn't a lot of money in the 3 Liga, so despite our good result we will still be operating on a tiny budget next season. Our end of season awards recognised the key players, and there was league-wide recognition for Helena and Hajtic.

One of the ongoing frustrations with the board (apart from lack of funding for coaching courses for the manager) is their inability to find a senior affiliate. In the 2 Liga of course we will do well to simply stay up and continue to repair the financial damage at the club, and we're going to get a tiny transfer and wage budget to do so with. Back to triallists ahoy!

Key players

Nothing special here, I always have problems getting too attached to lower-league players who perform for me and I stick with them past their level. Will have to careful of that.

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

Youth Intake

Was rubbished, signed them all anyway because had no other players in my U-19 squad.

Elsewhere

Bayern comfortably won another league title, while we won't get to play against Hamburg, Wolfsburg and Union Berlin as they all went up. Dortmund had some consolation as they won the cup. Man City won the CL, Everton won the Europa League and Atalanta the Europe Conference League.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Djecker

[Djecker]

15 hours ago, jmarchand said:

Here is a snapshot of the top 20 clubs in Europe in 2038

 

I will also be following the future of GOSK Dubrovnik in future updates, but not in as much details... 

Amazing achievement, well done!

[jmarchand]

15 hours ago, jmarchand said:

First press conference from the new FC Fleury 91 manager after a couple of friendlies. 

- Man, they suck. 

Storms out. 

 

Looks at the list of players that want to join the club: there are exactly 17 folks lined up, either aged 16 or over 40. So not that I'll have lots of choices... 

Looking at this, it's probably going to be problematic and coming from the database my save itself (who is rich in croatian players, but not in French players...). I'll see if I can find a way forward... @aldojags, how did you manage that when you moved over in Scotland? (sidetracking the thread a bit here).

 

[Djecker]

Ooh

 

Spoiler

 

Ahh well, anyway...

 

Spoiler

 

[Djecker]

Season 2 Recap - SC Weiche Flensburg 08

Club | Transfers and Released Players | Fixtures 1 & 2 | Manager | Competitions | League | Squad

 

This season was inconsistently consistent, which was fine by me. We were never really in a relegation battle, but we never threatened promotion either. The morale boost from a successful season last season carried over, and some of the young players dealt well with making the step up to the 2 Liga level. Of course we brought in a ton of players, which helped too. Key acquisitions included Mehicevic on loan (and we've been able to snag him on a free for next season as Kramer is on the way out), Sane on loan (one I spotted playing well last season in the 3 Liga against us), the Brazilian Rezende who joined after a trial and Strauss, while Hajtic, Hernandez-Foster, Kilo, Stawecki were amongst the ones to make the step up successfully. Still no license yet for Helena, but finally some prize money to repair the club finances means she should be able to start doing some coaching courses and may even be able to afford some transfers that cost money.

Tactically, we stuck with the 4-1-4-1 from last season, which I have enjoyed watching. Good interplay and some nice goals while being decent defensively. Nothing outstanding at the end-of-year awards, though six of Empen's 10 goals for the season came from two games - next season will be about finding consistent goal scoring from our target man and midfielders. Results wise we were up and down, generally good at home and poorer away. A late season flurry of wins adds some polish to our league standing but honestly we probably deserved to come in around 8-12th bracket, so we're about right. Not a bad season, given how heavy a favourite we were to go straight back down.

Key players

Apart from the ones already listed in this post and the first one, here's a few others

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

Youth Intake

Slightly less rubbish, but still signed most of them. Would like to start investing in my youth facilities and training soon - European qualification is the goal of the challenge after (or more than qualification, in fact!)

Elsewhere

Portugal won the World Cup, where Ronaldo burnished his record (that's how I noticed he was a free agent). Dortmund knocked Bayern off their perch, Haaland firing them to the title. Hoffenheim won the cup, while 2 Liga and 3 Liga ended up like this. Real Madrid won the CL, Chelsea the Europa League and Leicester went back to back in the Conference League.

[Thebaker]

2041

Squad | Table | Transfers

Started the season in very inconsistent form and only really seemed to find form when the European games started to put together a winning run even with rotation required in many games . Finished fourth but only clinched a euro spot after the cup final. The team seemed to really struggle against teams at the bottom of the table.

Reached the swedish cup final again and easily beat Djurgardens 3-0.

In europe the team were much better than last year getting to the euro cup II group stages. What looked like a tricky group was swept aside to finish top.

In the KO stages the team produced some great away performances to beat PAOK and then Nice before then squeezing past Bilbao even though the team was 2nd best in the matches. In the Final which took place 3 days after the swedish cup final i had to rest some players and it showed as the team lost to fellow swedish club Orebro.

The other good thing was that sweden moved up 11 places in the euro coefficients to get an extra team.

Finances continued to look healthy with a youth and training upgrade. Kobon was sold by the chairman, a few other fringe players were moved on, Marcelo (176 apps, 76 goals) was released.

Gjasula is my first youth product wonderkid and was capped by Sweden, i managed to protest the chairman selling him. Tigana and Kuzmanovic also had good seasons. Jansson missed a lot of the season and Strand stepped up.

 

2042

Squad | Table | Transfers

Started with only 1 win and 4 draws in the first six games before putting a winning run together to move into title contention. With 8 games to go the team was still 6 points behind Malmo, however they imploded to finish way off and my team went unbeaten in the last 15 games to win their first ever top flight title with a game to spare. Unlike previous years the team was not prolific in goals scored or conversion rate but instead had the best defense.

In the swedish cup the team reached the semi final but put in a poor performance to lose  2-4 to Norrkoping.

In europe the team made hard work of any easy qualifying route to scrape into the euro II cup group stages. An easy group also proved tricky as they were considerably better than the other teams but couldn't score the goals. They did manage to just finish top.

Due to the fact i lost loan players for the KO stages and could not register new players as they were signed too late, my team was considerably weaker than the team which finished the group stages. As such they did well to reach the semi-final but were outclassed by Valencia in both legs.

AIK lost to Valencia in the final but the great performances by swedish clubs meant that Sweden went up 6 places to 6th in the coefficients and gained 2 automatic spots in the CL group places and an extra euro place overall.

Finances went up by a lot due to prize money and  transfers. They funded 2 youth and 2 training upgrades to almost max out facilities.

The board announced a new ground at the end of the year but took out a loan when the money was in my account . It was bigger than the existing 3000 capacity but smaller than i was hoping for as i got crowds of up to 7000 in the euro games.

The chairman sold Tigana and i happily accepted a bid for Jashari as he had hardly played for me and wasn't in my plans really. Andoh was a record signing but the scouts were clearly wrong as they showed he had 5 star potential.

Gjasula kept getting injured and just didn't perform. Luckily Ba had a record breaking season and was  supported by loan signing Corriera. Janssens has had several good seasons and really did well with his goals this year.

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2037

Premier

13th

Qtr-final

N/A

Hoxha (17)

Marcelo (9)

2470

Good

Below Average

Excellent

Exceptional

2038

Premier

9th

Qtr-final

N/A

Marcelo (26)

Hoxha (9)

2670

Good

Adequate

Excellent

Exceptional

2039

Premier

4th

Group St

N/A

Ba (21)

Pavlovic (11)

2827

Great

Adequate

Excellent

Exceptional

Qualified for Europe

2040

Premier

8th

Winners

4th Q Rd - Euro Cup II

Ba (29)

Janssens(12)

2826

Great

Adequate

Excellent

Exceptional

Swedish Cup Winners

2041

Premier

4th

Winners

Runners up- Euro Cup II

Gjasula (38a), Ba, Tigana (19)

Strand (37a) (10)

3125

Excellent

Average

Exceptional

Exceptional

Swedish Cup Winners

2042

Premier

1st

Semi Final

Semi Final - Euro Cup II

Ba (44)

Janssens(15)

3443

State of the art

Great

Exceptional

Exceptional

League Champions

 

 

 

[jmarchand]

Great progress, @Thebaker! it's impressive to see other Swedish sides doing so well on the European side and the league progress that gets you more qualifications pots. Feels like you've turned a corner in the last few seasons and we can only hope for great tings to come! 

[Djecker]

New stadium

[Thebaker]

57 minutes ago, Djecker said:

New stadium

i'm jealous, its the size i hoped my stadium would be rather than half that

Edited September 3, 2021 by Thebaker

[Djecker]

23 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

i'm jealous, its the size i hoped my stadium would be rather than half that

Yeah got pretty lucky they were already building the stadium when I joined the club.

[Djecker]

FM giveth and FM taketh away. One of my key players

[Djecker]

It's tight heading into the final few weeks. Can an unfancied Weiche squad hold their nerve?

[Djecker]

All comes down to the last game of the season against the already-relegated Darmstadt

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

Feels like we're nailed on for being "FM'd" here...

[Djecker]

We couldn't quite manage the win. Lost points at the end of the season to already relegated teams was a bit of a bugbear to be honest as we also drew away to Dresden. I guess Sandhausen did us a favour there too, nice of them.

Spoiler

That left us facing a tough relegation playoff against Hannover, with a few names standing out on their team sheet.

 

Spoiler

and we were simply not good enough, easily outclassed over two legs.

Spoiler

Very annoying, but it was probably a little too early to go up again as we're clearly not ready for the BuLi. I'll reflect some more in my end-of-season wrap post.

Edited September 8, 2021 by Djecker

[Djecker]

Season 3 Recap - SC Weiche Flensburg 08

Club | Transfers and Released Players | Fixtures 1 & 2 | Manager | Competitions | League | Squad

 

Ultimately, I'm satisfied with this year. While it is frustrating to let promotion slip from our grasp at the end, the reality is that we're not there yet. The board has only just started to invest in our facilities and our club reputation is only slowly climbing to point we're attracting players at our level, as is our manager's (finally some licenses). Also, we were cruelled by injuries this year and I'm hoping more injury luck next season will let us actually win promotion outright as opposed to through the playoff process. We had big improvements in our defence as we set a record for clean sheets in the 2 Liga and that was in big part due to Silveira in goal (on loan from Bochum, who finished well below us) and free agent signing Vujacic. He was an interesting one - I signed him as depth as Ruth was going to start alongside Hajtic this season, but he came in and made the centre-back position his own. Love the consistency and hidden attributes here - look at that match rating over the season! It makes recruiting at this level so random, as I actually paid a transfer fee for Ruth, who rode the bench all season. Our biggest "name" signing was Karim Bellarabi, the former German international winger, but he never produced for us and is retiring at the end of the season. I do like bringing in the odd veteran with a good personality so we may try again if someone like that pops up and is willing to take a low wage.

Our big problem was scoring goals- up front our marquee recruit was Pronichev, who had an okay season. This was definitely at least partly my fault as I never settled on a tactic that seemed to get the best out of him. Our strong second-half of the season was based on a 4-4-1-1 where he played as a shadow striker, but he still only flickered in the role as opposed to shining brightly. Mehicevic our target man was injured a lot, and I never really had cover for him which was on me. Luckily Tade and Mujakic turned into effective players from either wide or up front. Pronichev did at least score our goal of the season with an absolute peach, while Strauss had another solid season and was chosen in the team of the season. I definitely would have chosen Vujacic over Ruth as signing of the season!

With some effective, targeted recruiting and a more settled team, I think we can definitely go up in the next season or two. I'm definitely going to ease off from the wholesale changes as I'm far more satisfied with the quality in the squad now.

Youth Intake

Nothing much to look at here again, but we're getting choosier over who to keep.

Elsewhere

Dortmund did the cup-league double, despite losing Halaand to PSG. Braunschweig and 1860 are coming up. Spurs won the Europa league, Slavia Prague the ECL and Real Madrid beat Man City in the CL final.

Edited September 8, 2021 by Djecker

[Djecker]

An absolute belter, the kind of FM game that makes you punch the air when then winner goes in!

 

Spoiler

 

[Djecker]

Is this the season?!

[Britrock]

I haven't updated here in a while for various reasons, and I've cheated by adding 19 other leagues to my save in the last few seasons, but I finally won the Greek Super League with Veroia in 2038.

I also reached the semi finals of the Champions League where I only lost to Chelsea because of away goals

[Djecker]

Great work! Especially in the CL, that's a good run for sure!

[Djecker]

A tough 1-0 win against Union Berlin sealed promotion!

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Then we welcomed Bochum to Weiche Stadium with the championship on the line

Spoiler

And it was ours!

A dour 0-0 saw Weiche finish top of the 2 Liga and seal the championship.

Spoiler

 

[Djecker]

Season 4 Recap - SC Weiche Flensburg 08

Club | Transfers and Released Players | Fixtures 1 & 2 | Manager | Competitions | League | Squad

 

Promotion! I knew from last season we weren't too far away and so it proved. A revamped left hand side of our team with Iberian duo Pastrana and Henrique were key acquisitions and was Polish journeyman striker Musiolik. We started the season well with our 4-4-1-1/4-4-2. Raschl really settled into his DLP role this year, creating from midfield for the wide players and strikers. None of his 12 assists for the season came from set pieces, I believe. But it was really defence that was the bedrock of our success, with Vujacic and Hajtic imperious at the back. A new DM arrived on loan in the January window to further secure our dominance in midfield, and we went back to the 4-1-4-1 that had previously served us so well after a little blip of 3 losses in 5 games in the Feb/March period.

Of course it will be a big challenge to stay up next season, but the steady improvement in our team quality is noticeable and I'm confident we'll make a decent fist of it. Trimming players like Kilo, Turkmen and Mehicevic who aren't good enough to make the step up and replacing them with either quality loans or youngsters who work out will be key. The club's board is continuing to invest in facilities and youth recruitment, and I've had a steady stream of youngsters poached before they even arrive in our youth intake, which at least shows that our efforts are having an impact. Very pleased to see our defence and revamped left side make the team of the season, while Pastrana won the fan's player of the season and our Brazilian attacking midfielder Arthur (leaving the club when his contract expires this off-season) won goal of the year.

Key Players

Musiolik came in on a trial and I immediately signed him up, loving the physicals. He turned out to be more than I hoped for, banging in the goals and leading the line in our championship winning season. I haven't really played with target men before so I'm really enjoying refining my sense of good ones. I'm hoping for 10+ goals out of him at the top level next season.

Spoiler

Vieira was one we actually had on trial last season after he got released by Vitoria Guimares but he chose to join Mainz instead. Fair enough - bigger contract and they got promoted while we didn't. Still he didn't play much so we were able to get him on loan for the second half of the season where he played a key part for us. Hoping to either buy or loan him again for next season.

Spoiler

Henrique and Pastrana were both free signings (from Augsburg and Union Berlin) and formed an effective left-footed partnership. Pastrana especially scored more goals than I thought he would, which was a welcome surprise. Both will be key players in our bid to avoid relegation next season.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Youth Players

Still pretty meh, but I hope Dirkner can turn into something if I can get his mentals up.

Spoiler

Elsewhere

RB Leipzig won the cup, while Bayern returned to the top of the Bundesliga. Essen and Darmstadt get promoted to 2 Liga, while Man City beat Dortmund handily in the CL final. PSV Eindhoven were too good for Frankfurt in the ECL final and Man Utd beat Monaco on penalties in the Europa League final.  Tough year for German clubs in Europe.

[Djecker]

The scale of the challenge

Spoiler

First job interview, declined of course.

Spoiler

 

[DazRTaylor]

To compliment my Youth Only save, I am trying this again in The Netherlands.  Due to no relegation for the first three seasons, I have holidayed until the summer of 2024 to enable a promoted club to become playable.

Club Introduction

VV IJsselmeervogels

The Manager

This is me.

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications     Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                 1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Basic                Basic             Fairly basic          Fairly basic     Basic              Regional   (1.50*)

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage     Time At Club
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transfer Purchase Record

Date               Player                    Position               Club Purchased From          Country                   Transfer Fee
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transfer Sale Record

Date               Player                    Position               Club Sold To                 Country                   Transfer Fee
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------



Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     TOTO KNVB Beker                    Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------