The Realism Thread

[Johnny-Trotter]

3 hours ago, Junkhead said:

After some opinions, guys;

Having used the team picker at https://www.the9llamas.com/, it looks like I will be taking over a French side with strong  Affiliate links to a top level team in Portugal.  As well as the link, their DOF & entire management & coaching team are Portuguese.

In my mind, for the sake of realism, I have two options;

1- Use the editor to kill the link and remove all Portuguese staff to allow for a realistic backstory for my incoming French manager - the Portuguese era is over and we have a clean slate.;

2- Give my manager a Portuguese nationality & use the link to it's fullest, keeping the staff to allow for a smooth transition.

It's the sort of little thing that triggers my OCD, this - which is why I am interested in what others would do.

I suppose there is a third option to just chill out, but this is highly unlikely 

There is a a large Portuguese community in Luxembourg - roughly one sixth of the population in Lux has Portuguese heritage - and with the strong football & sporting culture, the Portuguese guys show up fairly prominently in football. This is why you'll see clubs in Luxembourg named RM Hamm Benfica, Sporting SC Steinfort and ASL Porto. 

 

If your French club is in the north east near Luxembourg there, there is a chance of 'spill-over' of the Portuguese community and the owner and players looking to the football club for community. Thus, I would say it makes total sense for you to go with Portuguese nationality (and maybe French or Luxembourgish second nationality) and develop the back story that way.

[Brother Ben]

6 minutes ago, Johnny-Trotter said:

There is a a large Portuguese community in Luxembourg - roughly one sixth of the population in Lux has Portuguese heritage - and with the strong football & sporting culture, the Portuguese guys show up fairly prominently in football. This is why you'll see clubs in Luxembourg named RM Hamm Benfica, Sporting SC Steinfort and ASL Porto. 

 

If your French club is in the north east near Luxembourg there, there is a chance of 'spill-over' of the Portuguese community and the owner and players looking to the football club for community. Thus, I would say it makes total sense for you to go with Portuguese nationality (and maybe French or Luxembourgish second nationality) and develop the back story that way.

My guess is he's talking about US Créteil-Lusitanos, a suberb of Paris but you make some really interesting observations about Luxembourg.  I didn't know any of that. 

You've made me want to do a review of a Luxembourg expansion for the9llamas.  It's low quality no doubt but it would add a nice level of completeness to the region in the game.  Maybe include Andorra Liechtenstein and San Marino for a European minnows type journeyman

[JR866Gunner]

1 hour ago, Brother Ben said:

The fact that you remember it shows how rewarding it was, I personally doubt anyone can get the same level of satisfaction from using other peoples tactics etc.  It's harder to do these days as there's so much youtube FM content etc that it's impossible to avoid spoilers entirely. 

The way I try approach it is to apply what I see in real football or read in tactical analysis of real football.  Inverting The Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson is an excellent read.

Thanks, I shall look for that piece on inverting the the pyramid. 😁

[Junkhead]

2 hours ago, Brother Ben said:

I'm assuming what Junkhead means by clean slate is to go against the club culture and attempt to ride out the wrath of the chairman.

This, but also I find it somewhat unrealistic when you take over a club and the assistant who is clearly closely linked to the manager. Wish they could all go when you take over.

[Brother Ben]

45 minutes ago, Junkhead said:

This, but also I find it somewhat unrealistic when you take over a club and the assistant who is clearly closely linked to the manager. Wish they could all go when you take over.

I think you can mutually terminate pretty easily but then you have to wait for people to apply for the job so you're kind of blind when it comes to evaluating your squad

[Junkhead]

4 hours ago, Johnny-Trotter said:

There is a a large Portuguese community in Luxembourg - roughly one sixth of the population in Lux has Portuguese heritage - and with the strong football & sporting culture, the Portuguese guys show up fairly prominently in football. This is why you'll see clubs in Luxembourg named RM Hamm Benfica, Sporting SC Steinfort and ASL Porto. 

 

If your French club is in the north east near Luxembourg there, there is a chance of 'spill-over' of the Portuguese community and the owner and players looking to the football club for community. Thus, I would say it makes total sense for you to go with Portuguese nationality (and maybe French or Luxembourgish second nationality) and develop the back story that way.

Love this kind of info - thanks. Will be adding the Luxembourg league prior to starting my save 👍

[Junkhead]

3 hours ago, Brother Ben said:

My guess is he's talking about US Créteil-Lusitanos

Spying on me 

[Brother Ben]

1 minute ago, Junkhead said:

Spying on me 

The llamas know everything  

[WilsonJuve]

Hey guys hoping to have an update out pretty soon on my first venture into Colombia! A combination of work and real life problems got in the way recently so I haven't had the time I would have liked to press on with my career. One interesting thing I have noticed in the Colombian league is its split into 2 parts opening and closing stage which I know is pretty common in that part of the world but your league position can make a massive difference to the standings for example the top teams can end up playing 46 league games and some teams only 30 games. Thats a lot of points to be missing out on if you don't make it that far. Hope all you guys are doing well and keeping safe  

[WilsonJuve]

On 23/01/2021 at 14:58, Junkhead said:

Love this kind of info - thanks. Will be adding the Luxembourg league prior to starting my save 👍

FM22 will be out before you are settled at this rate . 

[Junkhead]

11 minutes ago, WilsonJuve said:

FM22 will be out before you are settled at this rate . 

That's what usually happens tbh 😂

[Platinum]

Started what I believe will be my main save with Oxford City in National League South. I'll be putting my updates in this thread!

[Junkhead]

I have this evening started what I hope will be my main save (although you know what I am like) with Créteil in the French third division, given to me by the Grey Llama....

Should be interesting, they have a part Portuguese owner and a fair amount of Portuguese staff and a few players.  They have a link with Boavista & I am looking forward to seeing if I can get the odd gem from there on loan or on the cheap!

I have added some South American leagues to complete the complement there, the top two divisions of Japan & the top two divisions of Luxembourg due to it's proximity to France & apparent high Portuguese population.

I will also be delegating a lot of the duties relating to hiring/firing staff to the DOF & heads of to see how that goes, maintaining control only of the coaching team.  I am hoping to stick with this club a while, so am hoping whomever I delegate youth staff hiring/firing responsibilities to does a decent job.

I will be updating here and am determined to stick with this one!

[southside]

Bit strange in my spurs save just now, Harry Kane isnt being picked for England squads in the 2nd season, he got an injury just before the preliminary squad for the Euros. He would have made the actual start date of the tournmanet so in real life would have been selected surely. But then the whole next season(im in march) he hasnt been in a single squad despite being fit and banging goals in all over the place(tony mowbray is. Now england manager aswell)

[Junkhead]

14 hours ago, southside said:

Bit strange in my spurs save just now, Harry Kane isnt being picked for England squads in the 2nd season, he got an injury just before the preliminary squad for the Euros. He would have made the actual start date of the tournmanet so in real life would have been selected surely. But then the whole next season(im in march) he hasnt been in a single squad despite being fit and banging goals in all over the place(tony mowbray is. Now england manager aswell)

Not convinced you've posted in the right place unless I've missed something...

[southside]

18 minutes ago, Junkhead said:

Not convinced you've posted in the right place unless I've missed something...

A put it here because it states fm21 realism thread, its about as unrealistic as you can get in football so id say its in the right place mate

[Tyburn]

I think it needs to go into the unrealism thread. Otherwise known as the “Official” feedback thread  

Edited January 27, 2021 by Tyburn

[Junkhead]

3 hours ago, southside said:

A put it here because it states fm21 realism thread, its about as unrealistic as you can get in football so id say its in the right place mate

It is unrealistic, I agree. However the thread is intended for people who play the game in a "realistic" style to talk about their saves and share ideas. 

Of course you're welcome here, but I reckon you need to post in the feedback thread re. How unrealistic that is.

 

[Captain Krakatoa]

On 26/01/2021 at 02:47, Junkhead said:

the top two divisions of Japan & the top two divisions of Luxembourg

whose editor data you used for this?

[Junkhead]

5 hours ago, Captain Krakatoa said:

whose editor data you used for this?

Dosukoi's Japanese file & Weiry's Luxembourg - top two divisions only. Both from editors hideaway on these boards 

The Japanese file also includes players.

[Rino72.]

6'2 Goalkeeper Robbie McCrorie is apparently the next "Scottish Legend" Pat Nevin. 

Pat Nevin is a 5 foot nothing pasty midfielder.

[Platinum]

23 minutes ago, Rino72. said:

6'2 Goalkeeper Robbie McCrorie is apparently the next "Scottish Legend" Pat Nevin. 

Pat Nevin is a 5 foot nothing pasty midfielder.

Hey have a look at the first post in this topic

Edited January 29, 2021 by francis#17

[WilsonJuve]

On 28/01/2021 at 08:17, Junkhead said:

Dosukoi's Japanese file & Weiry's Luxembourg - top two divisions only. Both from editors hideaway on these boards 

The Japanese file also includes players.

 How is the save going so far? Im around 8 games from finishing my season in Colombia. I have enjoyed it but had to deal with some financial problems and losing players because it. Also came across this on Reddit and thought it might be interesting to a few people here.
 

He is using a Hard Coded amateur team. I can only imagine the drama he has been through. 

[bazhsw]

I have a real life soft spot for Corinthian Casuals - this is fun to see!

[Junkhead]

1 hour ago, WilsonJuve said:

How is the save going so far?

It isn't because I'm so hammered for time at the moment 🙁

[WilsonJuve]

Well the season has finished and to put it mildly it was very eventful......as far as strengthening the squad for the season goes we didn't sign a single player. The main reason for this is I don't like to rush into deals without knowing the strengths of my squad. How can I know I need a player if I haven't seen them play? The league is split into 2 halves the opening stage and the closing stage. We managed a respectable 6th place position in the opening phase (The top 8 teams go into two groups of 4 where 6 games are played, the winners of the groups play in 2 leg final to decide the winner) but we didn't give a good showing in the group stage finishing 3rd. The closing stage of the season was a completely different matter after promoting a few players from our under 20's team we went on a fantastic run managing to finish in 1st place 2 points ahead of our nearest rivals. The group stage would also be a lot better seeing us top the group and go onto the final. A 2-1 defeat away from home in the first leg had me doubting the teams chances but we managed a fantastic 5-0 win in the return leg to be crowned closing champions. Now the winner of the opening title would play us (closing champions) in a 2 legged affair to be crowned overall champions and gain automatic promotion......Deportivo Quitdio were the team we needed to beat but we struggled to a 2-2 draw at home. Onto the away leg and again the team played amazingly 3-0 up after 35 minutes and 5-2 up on aggregate  they managed a consolation goal in the 75th minute but as the game came to an end confidence was high. However a 90+2 minute goal made me slightly panic and as soon as the highlight finished another began YES a 90+3 minute equaliser and the full time whistle blew 5-5 on aggregate onto penalties we went missing the first penalty we went on to lose 5-4  a crushing blow. Not been familiar with the rules in Colombia we now went into a promotion playoff against the next closest team in the league. Another two legged affair. This time we had the home leg first and the players were still down from the previous defeat and we fell to a 3-1 defeat. The return leg was a tense affair we led 1-0 they scored to make it 1-1 just as I thought all hope was over we managed to score 2 goals to take yet another tie to penalties. The first penalty we  miss.....again.....and continue to go on and lose 5-4 yet again on penalties. As much as we weren't expected to perform as well as we did this season to get sooooo close twice and lose it twice on penalties is really hard to take. Got some big decisions to make going forward. There was a lot of positives overall some of the players have really impressed me and one of the young players I promoted from my youth team has really left an impression on me. Shanghai Shenhua are currently interested in him which shows just what a job he has done he went from being a 16 year old nobody to a valuable starter playing in 28 out of our 44 games 18 as starter 10 as sub. Our first youth intake is due to arrive in the next couple of weeks hopefully some good news will arrive to pick me up from this painful low. 

[Brother Ben]

Awful season at Stalybridge.  Kept thinking we’d turn a corner but never happened.  Just got sacked too.

off to the job centre for me

 

[Junkhead]

1 hour ago, Brother Ben said:

Just got sacked too.

In the spirit of our yellow friend, I've just had a look at what you might want to do whilst you're awaiting your next job.

Apparently Stalybridge has the pub with the longer name in Britain, so pop into The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn.

Or not, because it's closed.

[Brother Ben]

Love it but I don't think I'm welcome anywhere anymore after I got them relegated , especially if they have rifles!

I've added N. Ireland and Wales on for next season as I don't think it would be particularly realistic to rock up at a club at the same level

Edited February 4, 2021 by Brother Ben

[twattyatkins]

Hey all, a little update on my save.

You may recall I left Llanelli Town for Bath City half way through the 22/23 season as it was closer to home (and more wonga). 

I managed to keep them up fairly comfortably in the end, finishing 19th (the bottom 4 were woeful and there was about a 15 point gap between them and safety). So 23/24 starts with expectations of reaching the playoffs which looked good to be happening until January time until I was offered the job at Tranmere Rovers (now in the National League). I thought I'd take it as it's a move into full time football, but not until the end of the season as I wanted to stay loyal to my contract at Bath, and try and see the job through.

Unfortunately the second half of the season didn't go so well and we ended up finishing 13th before I scarpered off to Merseyside. I'm now in the close season with Tranmere feeling like I've winged it a bit after a disappointing end to my Bath career. 

Should I feel bad?

[Daveincid]

Am 4.2.2021 um 19:09 schrieb Brother Ben:

Awful season at Stalybridge.  Kept thinking we’d turn a corner but never happened.  Just got sacked too.

off to the job centre for me

 

Oh boy....Maybe the Job centre will advice you to epand your horizon? Maybe Volleyball? Tennis? Or something with art?  Informatics? Benchmarking or something like that 

[Ricobran]

Crazy game!

[Brother Ben]

38 minutes ago, Daveincid said:

Oh boy....Maybe the Job centre will advice you to epand your horizon? Maybe Volleyball? Tennis? Or something with art?  Informatics? Benchmarking or something like that 

Volleyball?  At my age?   

Thankfully Rhyl have taken pity on me, the fools

[Brother Ben]

51 minutes ago, twattyatkins said:

Hey all, a little update on my save.

You may recall I left Llanelli Town for Bath City half way through the 22/23 season as it was closer to home (and more wonga). 

I managed to keep them up fairly comfortably in the end, finishing 19th (the bottom 4 were woeful and there was about a 15 point gap between them and safety). So 23/24 starts with expectations of reaching the playoffs which looked good to be happening until January time until I was offered the job at Tranmere Rovers (now in the National League). I thought I'd take it as it's a move into full time football, but not until the end of the season as I wanted to stay loyal to my contract at Bath, and try and see the job through.

Unfortunately the second half of the season didn't go so well and we ended up finishing 13th before I scarpered off to Merseyside. I'm now in the close season with Tranmere feeling like I've winged it a bit after a disappointing end to my Bath career. 

Should I feel bad?

Nah, it's all about career progression and you were matching expectations so its fair to say from a realism standpoint you earned the move.

I get too sentimental in my saves, I've taken 5 of my Stalybridge lads to Rhyl with me which is madness really when you consider how badly I did

[Daveincid]

vor 11 Minuten schrieb Brother Ben:

Volleyball?  At my age?   

Thankfully Rhyl have taken pity on me, the fools

Kazuyoshi Miura: Hold my beer

[twattyatkins]

1 hour ago, Brother Ben said:

Nah, it's all about career progression and you were matching expectations so its fair to say from a realism standpoint you earned the move.

I get too sentimental in my saves, I've taken 5 of my Stalybridge lads to Rhyl with me which is madness really when you consider how badly I did

Yeah, I'm not sure if the Tranmere board were starting to regret it though 😂

I know what you mean sentimental wise, I tried to take a few of the Llanelli players to Bath with me but there was only one that wanted to come. I always try and drag the same staff around with me too.

[Brother Ben]

On 07/02/2021 at 14:59, twattyatkins said:

Yeah, I'm not sure if the Tranmere board were starting to regret it though 😂

I know what you mean sentimental wise, I tried to take a few of the Llanelli players to Bath with me but there was only one that wanted to come. I always try and drag the same staff around with me too.

Turns out dragging my players along for the ride was inspired as they've been great. 

Might not get sacked so quickly this time.

[Domoboy23]

On 04/02/2021 at 18:09, Brother Ben said:

Awful season at Stalybridge.  Kept thinking we’d turn a corner but never happened.  Just got sacked too.

off to the job centre for me

 

Is that Lowestoft there I see in the North section of the Vanarama?

[Brother Ben]

18 minutes ago, Domoboy23 said:

Is that Lowestoft there I see in the North section of the Vanarama?

Yep and Gloucester, crazy really 

[Junkhead]

On 09/02/2021 at 16:04, Domoboy23 said:

Is that Lowestoft there I see in the North section of the Vanarama?

Bishops Stortford were in the North a few years back - they were fuming if I remember rightly 

[Brother Ben]

15 minutes ago, Junkhead said:

Bishops Stortford were in the North a few years back - they were fuming if I remember rightly 

Yeah there's just such a large concentration of clubs in the south it's inevitable that some will be annoyed.  At level 7 & 8 there are always disputes 

[bazhsw]

I seem to remember King's Lynn getting lumped in the North one year, that's a bit of a trek for some!

[Brother Ben]

On 04/02/2021 at 18:09, Brother Ben said:

Awful season at Stalybridge.  Kept thinking we’d turn a corner but never happened.  Just got sacked too.

off to the job centre for me

 

 

Finished 3rd (1 promotion spot) in Cymru North with Rhyl which is superb considering how badly I did at Stalybridge. 

Took half a dozen players with me as I didn't have a scout to start with and I had to wait a couple of months for someone to apply.

Three of my players were a revelation at Rhyl.  My main striker buzz-cut sadly carried on where he left off at Stalybridge and didn't offer much but my midfield combo of combover and fringe and young striker bouffant were excellent at this level and are young so should improve. 

I'm absolutely made up that I've done so well and it's been a nice tale of redemption for a few players too.

Only issue is all of my players are on non-contracts so the situation is a bit volatile so I may look to move on as I feel I've earned a move back to England

[Hav3n_The_Hero]

Maybe this is too broad but in my lower league save how do I make every signing meaningful? When I sign while playing my semi-pro side they just kind of all feel like they are just filling numbers in the squad. Even though I know they ultimately probably won't stay. I would like feel like I cared about these players somewhat. Does anyone know what I mean?

[Brother Ben]

8 minutes ago, Hav3n_The_Hero said:

Maybe this is too broad but in my lower league save how do I make every signing meaningful? When I sign while playing my semi-pro side they just kind of all feel like they are just filling numbers in the squad. Even though I know they ultimately probably won't stay. I would like feel like I cared about these players somewhat. Does anyone know what I mean?

Good question.  Are we talking players on non-contracts that other teams can snap up?  Or just generally about lower league players?

Edited February 18, 2021 by Brother Ben

[Hav3n_The_Hero]

Most of the players I sign I put on to the wage budget so they do not eat into the overall balance, so part-time contracts.

[Brother Ben]

Just now, Hav3n_The_Hero said:

Most of the players I sign I put on to the wage budget so they do not eat into the overall balance, so part-time contracts.

I'm not overly sure what it is you're asking but i'm assuming you want to know about how to make the players feel more than just numbers on a screen?

in which case,

I always give all players a fair crack in the first season and sign nobody. 

I'm the exact opposite as yourself as I get way too attached to players and hate bringing in replacements of players I'm fond of even if they are pretty crap.  I held on to one guy because he'd twice headed off the line to secure vital victories and I took him to a couple of other clubs with me when I moved.

[TokyoWanderer]

hace 2 horas, Brother Ben dijo:

I'm the exact opposite as yourself as I get way too attached to players and hate bringing in replacements of players I'm fond of even if they are pretty crap.  I held on to one guy because he'd twice headed off the line to secure vital victories and I took him to a couple of other clubs with me when I moved.

I do this as well and it usually provides the best moments with FM for me. In FM 19 I won promotion to the Vanarama National and kept an injure prone striker who I randomly liked, even though he could never perform at the level below. This guy was on a non-contract, so I kept him along for the ride as an emergency third striker. An injury crisis later, this guy is the only striker healthy on the team (excluding the awful u18s), so he gets to start for like a month. It turned out that from his first match, this emergency backup was absolutely clinical, scoring almost every match from just one or two chances created. I think he ended up that season as the striker with the most goals and appearances in the team.

[Brother Ben]

12 minutes ago, TokyoWanderer said:

I do this as well and it usually provides the best moments with FM for me. In FM 19 I won promotion to the Vanarama National and kept an injure prone striker who I randomly liked, even though he could never perform at the level below. This guy was on a non-contract, so I kept him along for the ride as an emergency third striker. An injury crisis later, this guy is the only striker healthy on the team (excluding the awful u18s), so he gets to start for like a month. It turned out that from his first match, this emergency backup was absolutely clinical, scoring almost every match from just one or two chances created. I think he ended up that season as the striker with the most goals and appearances in the team.

Exactly this!  Little stories that make the game so good.  Love it when players surprise you too

[Junkhead]

National League north and south = null and void with no promotion/relegation.

Conflicted here because hoping the league is still active after the winter patch, but if there is promotion and relegation then that's unrealistic. Interested to see what happens.