[FM21] A right Royal mess. Scandinavian Journeyman save starting in Faroe Islands. Very biased towards Youth Development. Possibly 100% #YouthOnly

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, shimera said:

Look at those coefficients! Portugal is #4 while Denmark, Norway and Sweden are pretty tight on Top 10!

The reason that the Scandi Nations are ranked so highly is probably because they are the only leagues loaded. 

I don't plan on activating any other structures. 

[shimera]

1 minuto atrás, Jimbokav1971 disse:

The reason that the Scandi Nations are ranked so highly is probably because they are the only leagues loaded. 

I don't plan on activating any other structures. 

Well yeah, that's kind of expected considering how far you are into the save, still Portugal rising to Top 4 is surprising! I wonder if there's new big clubs aside the usual big 3 (Benfica, Porto and Sporting)...

[Jimbokav1971]

45 minutes ago, shimera said:

Well yeah, that's kind of expected considering how far you are into the save, still Portugal rising to Top 4 is surprising! I wonder if there's new big clubs aside the usual big 3 (Benfica, Porto and Sporting)...

Benfica and Porto have won each title since the save started and no other team has even finished Runners Up. 

Only 5 different sides have finished 3rd, (Sporting, Braga, Rio Ave, Nacional & Vitoria). 

Benfica won the Champions League in 2054, the Europa League in 2029 & 2046 and the European Super Cup in 2029, 2046 and 2054. 

Porto were Runners Up in the Champions League in 2041, won the Europa League in 2031 and were Runners Up in 2022, 2028, 2032, 2040 & 2056. They were Runners Up in the European Super Cup in 2031.

Sporting won the Euro Conference in 2057. 

[Edit] @shimera

Benfica don't have any Scandi players at the club. 

Porto  don't have any Scandi players at the club. 

Sporting have 1 single Scandi player, a 24yo Norwegian, who they signed on a free from Porto this year. He's not worth showing you. 

As luck would have it, (not sure whether it's good or bad luck yet), we play Sporting in the Champions League Playoff this month. 

Edited March 22, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

A step up in class. Aug 2058. 

When you consider that Sporting were Runners Up in the Euro Conference just last season, this result certainly came as a surprise to me. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2058. 

Allsvenskan. 2 clean sheets is a little unusual in that we usually score freely but also let a fair few in. As it would happen, we went full strength in the Champions league games and used a rotated in these 2 league games. That might suggest that while my 1st choice strikers are performing well, our back-up defenders might need to be given more of an opportunity. 

Champions League. I thought we had blown it after the 1st leg against Groningen, but we managed overcome a 1st leg deficit from the home leg. 

It's great that we have qualified for the Champions League Group stage, but it's an absolute pig of a group with Man Utd, Juve and AC Oulu, and while you would think that AC Oulu from Finland would be an easy opposition, of course they are my old team who I built into a bit of a behemoth. 

Svenska Cupen. All this does is get us through to the Group Stage, but we bottled it last season so it's far from guaranteed. 

Scandinavian Royal League. Unbeaten and we will try and keep it that way. 

[turnip]

Getting drawn in a pig of a group is fine, though. 

If you're going to get smashed in 4/5 out of the six games anyway, there's no reason not to just play the backups and let the good players win your league games.

[Thebaker]

i think you did your job with FC Oulu too well, have they actually improved since you left or does it just seem like that?

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2058. 

Allsvenskan. We've been doing ok in the league, but we've been hammered by injuries to our wide players recently and have suffered as a result. 

Champions League. I went with a strong team against my old club because I wanted to see how we match up against them. The answer was to be expected and we fell a little short. 

Scandi Royal League. I went with a very young squad in this game and am happy with a draw. 

Clauses. After receiving £10M for the initial sale of Joakim Eskilsson *, we are in line for approx £2M now after he was sold to FC København despite not ever playing for Inter. It's a strange one really. He was good for us and there is lots to like about him, but not really if you're Inter. The whole thing just seemed strange at the time and now they have sold him for a loss even before they give us our cut.

Poached players. We've had 3 players poached from our Academy, but none of them were particularly special. The only clause we have on any of them is a 5% sell-on clause which seems a little tight. 

David Bladh HG.

Tomislav Jolic HG.

Benny Kristiansson HG. I like the look of Benny at least, but he has a Scout Summary rating of just 55 so I'm guessing his PA is not high. Actually I have just checked and his PA is said to be 3.5 so..... I might consider signing this bloke back. 

Youth Intake Day. The preview said Golden Generation and while this only says "most gifted", 1x 5.0 and 2x 4.0 players is decent so I can't complain. It's interesting, (at least to me), that even in a Nation such as Sweden, (relatively high ranked in Europe coefficients now), the top 2 players in this intake don't have Swedish as their Primary Nationality and 1 of them doesn't even have it as their 2nd Nationality. 

(58a) Aimilios (CYP) * looks decent, but he's still very much all about PA than CA. 

(58d) Tobi Åkerlund is the 2nd player with 1.5 CA and I think I actually prefer him. He looks good, (but only has 3.5 PA). 

[Jimbokav1971]

19 hours ago, turnip said:

Getting drawn in a pig of a group is fine, though. 

If you're going to get smashed in 4/5 out of the six games anyway, there's no reason not to just play the backups and let the good players win your league games.

Yeah. Absolutely. I played a strong line-up in the 1st game away to AC Oulu, but that was just because of our history. My plan is to play fringe players in the Champions League but if it looks like we can finish 3rd if we strength the squad selection then I might look at that. The only way that will happen is if AC Oulu starts taking points of the 2 big boys though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

18 hours ago, Thebaker said:

i think you did your job with FC Oulu too well, have they actually improved since you left or does it just seem like that?

There is absolutely no doubt about that and it's pretty simple to work out why. I left them in rude health, (good health), with lots of money, loads of potential in young players throughout the squad and excellent facilities. They have been able to sell players for big money and are no longer hampered by our Scandi-only transfer policy. 

I left towards the end of the 2051 season, so with the exception of a blip in 2054 when they lost 5 league games, they have never lost more than 2 in a season since I left, (twice going unbeaten in the league). They won the Euro Conference in 55/56 and the Scandi Royal League in 53/54.

In terms of transfers they have often made a profit. 

2051 £10M profit.
2052 £10M profit.
2053 £79M profit (they sold Sigurðarson (ISL) * to Inter for £31.5M and Uusitalo * to Benfica for £15M amongst other transfers).
2054 £22M profit.
2055 £20M profit.
2056 £54M profit (they sold a young Bulgarian to Juve for £34.5M after signing him for just £93k). Wow. What a signing that was.  
2057 £23M profit (they sold a young Brazilian to Benfica for £32.5M after signing him for £3.6M).
2058 £4M profit (currently).

So although I left them good player and a good set-up, they have more than held their own since my departure. 

In 2051 they got to the Qtr Finals of the Euro Conference. 
In 2052 they got to the Group Stage of the Europa League. 
In 2053 they got to the Qtr Finals of the Europa League. 
In 2054 they got to the 2nd Knockout Round of the Europa League.
In 2055 they got to the Champions League Group stages. 
In 2056 they won the Euro Conference, (beating Newcastle 1-0 in the Final).
In 2057 they got to the 2nd  Knockout Round of the Europa League. 
In 2058 they got to the 2nd Knockout Round of the Europa League. 

I think both the transfers and the progress in Europe is really impressive for a Finnish club managed by the AI, (even with what I've left behind). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2058. 

Allsvenskan. We've been in really good form in the league, and a draw, (even at home), against IFK Göteborg is as good as a win. The only reason that it's not ourselves and IFK Göteborg vying for the league title is because Djurgårdens IF, (who have a brilliant defensive record this season), didn't qualify for the Group stage in the Europa League so their fixture list has been far less demanding. Our last game is against Falkenbergs FF, (who are 10th with nothing to play for, and remember they're the club that has poached no less than 3 (THREE) of our youth players). Djurgårdens IF play Örebro SK in their last game, (who are already relegated). It would seem that the chances are winning the title on the last day are slim in the extreme. 

On the plus side, assuming we win our game and IFK Göteborg finish 3rd, that should encourage them to have a good run in Europe. 

Champions League. 2 tough games this month and the league table suggests that we will have to finish above AC Oulu to qualify for the knockout stages, (which is unlikely but we will give it a go). 

A single player scoring 5 goals against us in 1 game is worth of a mention, so allow me to introduce to you Kim Jae-Sung (KOR) ***** who looks mighty impressive in the flesh. 

Transfers. I'm still looking for a pacey striker, (ideally a left-footed poacher), who will replace Stahre *. I've got some good young players at the club, but they are more rounded players most suited to the DLF role and I'm looking for a quick clinical finisher. I'm also looking for another Giant centre-half and I don't really care which foot he prefers. 

If I specify that I'm looking for a Poacher then I just get 2 players on the list and I'm not overly keen on either at this early stage. The scout reports are old though so let's get a more up to date report on each and then look again. 

If we change the role to "Any", then it gives us a few more players to target. 

I've got a maximum age of 21 that I'm looking for, and I'm also filtering out players who are not interested in transfer, (although maybe I shouldn't be doing that because it will ignore young players newly signed to their current clubs). This has 2 of 4 specified attributes, (acceleration, pace, dribbling and finishing), at minimum of 11. 

Including the players who currently aren't interested and the list increases from 11 to 13 with Bleart Sinani, (valued at £24.5M) and Petter Sundberg  ***** the new players.

The player that jumps out at me from this list is Marcus Grahn *. I need to scout him more for a better report, but there must be a reason that IFK Göteborg paid money for him. At the moment his PA is 5.0, but it could be significantly lower so I'm not really in a position to make a bid yet. 

When I look for a centre half, (who is interested in a transfer), then it returns me 15 options. When I rank them by height, (Giant remember), then our old friend Lyoulou-Moukouko 6'5", (who is a product of the AC Oulu Academy), is top of the list, but look at how old most of the reports are. Some of them are really old and whatever else has changed, the asking price certainly will have changed. I could have signed Peter Jønsson on a free according to this report, but the report is 119 days old and he's now at a new club.

There is lots to like about Lyoulou-Moukouko 6'5", but there is also a fair bit that concerns me. I'm not sure that he is what we're looking for at all, but our best defender had a min fee release clause in his contract and will be on his way at the end of the season, so I need someone else. The truth is that I just don't think he's good enough and I'm worried that at 20 years old even if he has decent PA, we may have missed the window to get him there. 

[turnip]

55 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Transfers. I'm still looking for a pacey striker, (ideally a left-footed poacher), who will replace Stahre *.

Have you heard of this guy called Kim Jae-Sung? 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, turnip said:

Have you heard of this guy called Kim Jae-Sung? 

Would you be even a little bit surprised if I told you I have already checked to see if he had a Scandi 2nd nationality? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov & Dec 2058. 

Allsvenskan. I hadn't realised this, (Falkenbergs FF), was a derby for us, (and explains why they have poached our youngsters).

We battered them, but sneaked the actual result thanks to a 1-0 GK pen win. Djurgårdens IF were 4-0 up at HT in their game and strolled to a win with ease so we were Runners Up rather than Champions, but we finished ahead of IFK Göteborg and ensured Champions League qualification next season. 

Champions League. 

Scandi Royal League. 

Squad by appearances. 

Land of the Giants. 6'4" might be stretching the bottom end of the Giant scale, but Jacobsson 6'4" scored 12 goals from centre-half so I couldn't leave him out. He won't be here next season though as FC Augsberg met his min fee release clause (FGN clubs). I would usually have refused such a modest clause, (£3.6M), but we signed him on a free and he wanted to use us as a stepping stone and that still seemed like a good deal to me so no complaints at all. His absence is just an opportunity for someone else. Ali Azar (ISL) (LIB) 6'6" * will step into his place unless I can find someone else between now and the beginning of the season. 

Goal-scoring GK watch. Experienced Faroese GK Odd Mikkelsen (FRO) SELL is leaving in close-season on a free, (to Lillestrom in Norway), and will not add to his 35 goals for the club. Bubacar (GAM), (who is also Swedish by the way),  has already scored 17 goals in a season and a half where as Odd Mikkelsen (FRO) SELL and his 35 goals were scored over 7 and a half seasons. Some GK's just put the ball in the net better than other GK's. 

Scouting for Stahre * replacement. The great man himself has agreed to renew his contract and I have managed to agree a 5 year term without him even mentioning a minimum fee release clause.  He's 24 years old so that will keep him here until he is 29 if he sees his contract out. He's scored 141 league goals for us in 138(8) league appearances and 36 goals in 56(2) appearances in domestic Cup and European competitions to being him to 177 goals in 194(10) appearances in all competitions. When you consider that he's a decent penalty taker and we have probably scored about 50 penalties while he has been on the pitch, he could be on as many as 227 goals by now. 

I'm really keen to work out why Stahre * is so prolific. Of course he is good, but he is performing way above and beyond his abilities for us, but also it should be noted for the Swedish National team where he has scored 3 goals in 9 appearances. 

If I use Stahre * as a template, these are his prominent attributes according to the game. 

When I filter out non-Scandi's it gives me 11 players. 

If I filter out players who are 21 or below then we are down to 8 players. 

Mads Basse (DEN) ***** is a wonderkid at FC Midtjylland and isn't going to want to join us even if we could afford him. 

Christian Throndsen (NOR) * is a full Norwegian International but valued at £26.5M is unlikely to be signing for us anytime soon. 

Ronnie Gram (DEN) * is the player that stands out for me simply because of his tender age of 17. 

Player Awards. 

Record Breakers. 

Thomas Green (DEN) * has been a fantastic signing and providing 20 assists in a season as an 18 year old is way beyond my wildest expectations. I splashed £10M on him because I thought he looked great, but I think he would be a bargain at double that price. 

Finances. £210k pw is loads for a wage budget considering we are currently only spending £106k pw. The £20M transfer kitty is loads because I expect to have clubs come in for some existing players before too long. (How Stahre * is still here I have absolutely no idea). 

Facilities. We're due to move into a 25,566 capacity stadium in Dec 2060, (current capacity is 15,500), but I must have missed the announcement. Can't tell you anything about the cost of the stadium, but we took out a £45M loan in Dec 2057 so I think it's safe to assume that that's what it cost. 

I've splashed out £10M for the last 2 levels of Facility upgrade, (I think). We really need to concentrate on getting our reputation up now. 

Transfers. 

Tracker. 

[Rikulec]

Thomas Green looks absolutely amazing.

[Jimbokav1971]

8 minutes ago, Rikulec said:

Thomas Green looks absolutely amazing.

You can see why I splashed £10M on him. 

He's only just turned 19! 

I'm guessing that he won't continue to develop or someone else would have been in for him, but he's currently only showing 3.5 CA and 5.0 PA so you never know. 

Actually, scratch that. 

I've just set his asking price to £50M. That should keep them off him for a while. If it doesn't then he's just paid for our new stadium. 

[Sonic Youth]

Lots happening in a short amount of time.

Getting there in both the league and Europe, but might need better depth (?). Another bunch of Champs money next season is nice 👍 

More disruption to your backline. Not been settled for a few seasons with players staying.

Curious about the Gram player needing scouting as possible replacement for Stahre. What’s his interested clubs page look like (what you did for Green)?
 

[Jimbokav1971]

6 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Lots happening in a short amount of time.

Getting there in both the league and Europe, but might need better depth (?). Another bunch of Champs money next season is nice 👍 

More disruption to your backline. Not been settled for a few seasons with players staying.

Curious about the Gram player needing scouting as possible replacement for Stahre. What’s his interested clubs page look like (what you did for Green)?
 

We're certainly lacking in depth at centre-half. I'm working hard to fix that but we are also losing our best centre-half which makes things even worse. I'm just struggling to find duitable replacements. 

Ronnie Gram (DEN) * isn't wanted by anyone at the moment. 

[Sonic Youth]

4 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Ronnie Gram (DEN) * isn't wanted by anyone at the moment. 

Sorry, I didn’t write that properly. I meant Stahre’s interested clubs page.

[Jimbokav1971]

10 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Sorry, I didn’t write that properly. I meant Stahre’s interested clubs page.

I think it's completely blank but let me just check. 

Yep. Nobody interested at all. 

[Sonic Youth]

I’m shocked! Not even with any asking price set. Nice 

[Jimbokav1971]

5 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

I’m shocked! Not even with any asking price set. Nice 

I have commented earlier in the thread that it's surprising that nobody has come in for him. After his 2nd full season with us, (where he scored 26 goals), I was sure that he would be gone, but although I have a sneaking suspicion of refusing a bid for him in the early days, I don't think anyone has shown serious interest and thrown proper money at him because I think I would have accepted because we needed the money. Now I'm not sure I would want him gone for £20M or possibly even £30M. We've got £20M in the bank and I'm struggling to find player to sign so what good is another £20M?

After the 2057 season though, (where he scored 41 league goals in 29 appearances at the age of 22, it's ridiculous that someone just didn't spend big on him. 

[Pompeyboyz]

Wow.....how can you not be getting even a tickle for Stahre??

With how he is being so amazing and you trying to find a replica too, why is none of the big clubs sniffing?

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Pompeyboyz said:

Wow.....how can you not be getting even a tickle for Stahre??

With how he is being so amazing and you trying to find a replica too, why is none of the big clubs sniffing?

It doesn't make sense to me. 

I'm sure there was some interest at some point, but nothing really serious that I wasn't able to turn down. You have to remember that while we might not need the money now, we certainly did a few years ago. Even this season the board injected £5M in to help with the running costs because although we had £10M in the bank, we had planned upgrades that were going to cost £10M. So Even now I would sell my best player. We've just taken out a £45M loan that needs to be repaid so the sooner we have £50M in the bank the better as far as I'm concerned, (not that he's worth £50M but you know what I mean). 

Maybe that's why it's so hard to find a replacement. He has a "particular set of skills" as the saying goes. He even agreed to sign a new 5 year deal relatively recently. It's all a bit strange. 

[Pompeyboyz]

16 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

It doesn't make sense to me. 

I'm sure there was some interest at some point, but nothing really serious that I wasn't able to turn down. You have to remember that while we might not need the money now, we certainly did a few years ago. Even this season the board injected £5M in to help with the running costs because although we had £10M in the bank, we had planned upgrades that were going to cost £10M. So Even now I would sell my best player. We've just taken out a £45M loan that needs to be repaid so the sooner we have £50M in the bank the better as far as I'm concerned, (not that he's worth £50M but you know what I mean). 

Maybe that's why it's so hard to find a replacement. He has a "particular set of skills" as the saying goes. He even agreed to sign a new 5 year deal relatively recently. It's all a bit strange. 

Wonder if that's an under the hood effect that has cooled all interest for now?

Maybe in 6 months or a year, you might be getting more interest?

[abulezz]

He's had one hell of a career so far. Maybe his Loyalty attribute is high?

[Jimbokav1971]

19 minutes ago, abulezz said:

He's had one hell of a career so far. Maybe his Loyalty attribute is high?

I've wondered that too but don't want to peek until he leaves or retires. 

[Sonic Youth]

Can the loyalty attribute increase?

[Jimbokav1971]

4 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Can the loyalty attribute increase?

That's a very good question and not one I have ever tracked I'm afraid. 

I think what I will do is look at some rubbish players that have come through the intake, go back to old saves to see what they were like when they came through, (in terms of loyalty), and then see what they are like now. 

I want to use rubbish players because if I'm looking in the editor I don't want to see other stuff about them. 

Actually, if I go back and look at the player produced by my old clubs after I've left then that might be a better idea. 

Thinking about it though, you would expect that loyalty would be variable rather than static because just about everything else is variable isn't it? 

I signed my 1st contract here at Halmstads BK on 10th Jul 2051 so let's load up a save as close to there as I can and see what's what. I've got one on 1st Sep 2051. 

If I go back to AC Oulu then this is the last intake that came through before I left, (and for some reason it appears that I didn't sign the (50o) and (50p) players. That could have been on purpose but it could have been an accident. I can't remember. 

I'm going to record what their loyalty values are now, and then I'm going to return to 2059 and look again and then compare the results. 

Sep 2051. 11, 15, 14, 12, 11, 12, 12, 10, 13, 10, 8, 11, 12, 11, 12, 12. Just 1 under 10. That's higher than I was expecting.  

Jan 2059. 11, 14(-1), NA 12, NA, NA, NA, 10, 13, 10, 8, 11, 12, 11, 13(+1), NA.

(50b) (-1)

(50o) (+1)

So in answer to your question IF loyalty is variable, then yes it absolutely is, (although in a sample size of 11 players over 8.5 years, only 2 players changed their loyalty attribute. 

As for why, it's a tiny sample size to draw any conclusions at all from, but what stands out is that the player who dropped loyalty has never made a senior appearance and has been loaned out, where the player that has gained loyalty has played in the senior squad at 3 of the 4 sides he's been at. Just an observation. Not saying the 2 things are linked. 

[Sonic Youth]

Interesting, not as much change as I thought. Still change did happen and as you mentioned, developing loyalty looks possible (even if it’s by a point or two) by playing them. Though how loyalty is affected when a bigger club comes calling is a different question.
Also curious was how one honest personality is 15 and the other is 8 

Thanks for looking 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Interesting, not as much change as I thought. Still change did happen and as you mentioned, developing loyalty looks possible (even if it’s by a point or two) by playing them. Though how loyalty is affected when a bigger club comes calling is a different question.
Also curious was how one honest personality is 15 and the other is 8 

Thanks for looking 

That's not really a surprise at all because loyalty is NOT one of the defining attributes within the Honest personality. 

Personalities with priority. 

So basically, as long as it fits the above template, then it doesn't matter what the loyalty is. It's like saying that their Ambiton, Pressure, Temperament, Leadership or Controversy might be different. Of course they will. The only things that WON'T be hugely different, (and actually Honesty could still be 15 different and Determination could be 8 different within the Honesty personality anyway and they are part of the template).

We need to get away from grouping all same personalities together because it's REALLY not the case. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan , Feb & Mar 2059. 

Svenska Cupen. We're in the Final. Now to win it. We're playing against BK Häcken. 

Scandi Royal League. I'm really frustrated to have not made the final but there were enormous mitigating circumstances. First of all there was an U19 friendly on the same day as the 1st leg against Vålerenga  and the squad I had to pick from was shorn of many of our best young players. We also had an early sending off. In the 2nd leg we had loads of players away on International duty and again were forced to field an under-strength team. We beat them, but couldn't overturn the deficit. 

Transfers. 

Stephen Watson (ENG) (SWE) * was signed sealed and delivered by the DoF. I was ready to cancel the deal, (like I do to so many of the deals he arranges), but it actually looks like he has pulled off a corker. He's not quite a 5.0 PA player, but 4.5 is pretty good. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2059. 

I've been away for about 3 weeks and am a bit confused upon loading the game up again. 

2 loans each of £45M, not for a new stadium, but new facilities. 

We haven't actually paid out £45M or £90M though. 

We do have a loan that was initially for £45M, (for a new stadium), but we've been paying that off for for about 18 months. 

I'm not really sure what's going on here at all. Corrupt file? 

[Pompeyboyz]

When were the facilities Loan messages compared to the bank balance?

Does it take a month to fully kick in?

[Pompeyboyz]

Oh and welcome back

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Pompeyboyz said:

When were the facilities Loan messages compared to the bank balance?

Does it take a month to fully kick in?

It was all on the same day. 

We're a few weeks on now and nothing on Income or Expenditure so all good I think. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Pompeyboyz said:

Oh and welcome back

Thanks. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Swedish National Team production. May 2059. 

(54a) Ollikainen (FIN) * is going to be shown in the end of month post so I won't bother showing him now. 

Joakim Eskilsson * is now playing in Denmark for FC København after earning us a £10M transfer fee. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr & May 2059. 

Allsvenskan. With the exception of the Mjällby game, (where I played a 5'9" right back at centre-half for some reason), we have been in pretty decent form in the league. 

Svenska Cupen. 

I'm happy to win this Final because we have under-performed in this competition since my arrival. 

(55a) Nassim (MAR) * had only scored 1 goal this season before the Cup Final, so the fact that he scored a hat-trick in the final might suggest that he performs well in big matches, (although there is no mention of it in the coach report). 

Records. I'm not completely sure what happened here. I had 3 of my starting centre-backs unavailable and we seemed short of options so started 1 centre-half and a right back in the heart of our defence. I think it's safe to say that it didn't work. Looking back, the right back is only 5'9" and it was an awful decision. I think I need to be looking for a new centre-half. (It's possible that I already was and have just forgotten). 

Transfers. This is a mistake. I don't want this player to go at all. I've offered a new contract but he has insisted on a min fee release clause, but at least it's higher than it is now, (£15M), so fingers crossed it works and will give us more time with him. 

I've managed to get him to sign a new contract and not only is there a min fee release clause, (with an expiry date), but it's only for clubs in the Champions League. #GoodJob 

One possible reason for our shortage at centre-half is that we sold Jacobsson 6'4". I think I must have been planning to sign a replacement centre-half and the deal either fell through or it just slipped my mind. A centre-back is top of my shopping list though. I've had a little look back over recent posts in this thread and I can't tell what I was thinking when I sold him. Seems a strange decision in hindsight. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Rankings. Jun 2059. 

European Competition rankings. 

European Club rankings. It's time to start doing better in Europe. We are ok for money now, so the next step is actually winning games rather than just being content to qualify for the Group Stage of a competition. 

Nation coefficients. We've had no message about this which means we haven't moved up or down. 

Qualification places. The league Champions go straight into the Group stage now. I can't remember if we won the league last season but after checking it appears that we were Runners Up for the 3rd time in 4 seasons and haven't won the league title since I arrived. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2059. 

Allsvenskan. We've still got our noses in front at the top of the table. 

I'm still looking for a centre-half, (or even 2), but nothing done so far. 

[Sonic Youth]

Welcome back.

Nice start, and tight at the top.

As to a CB, I think you were looking to go younger. Is there a mid who could fill in?

[abulezz]

CDs are apparently a rare find in this version of FM!

[Jimbokav1971]

45 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Welcome back.

Nice start, and tight at the top.

As to a CB, I think you were looking to go younger. Is there a mid who could fill in?

I think that must have been it too, but it seems a little strange in hindsight. I've got about £18M as a transfer kitty so would be willing to splash £10M on a good youngster. Would probably also have to bring in a bit of a stop-gap too if the youngster is going to be very young. 

Although I don't have a MID who can fill in, (I like them to be ball-players), I do actually have 4. It's just that I had 2 injured and 1 suspended as at the time. All 4 are fit and available now so it's not an issue, (hence the 7 goals against being very much a one-off).

This is every centre-half we have at the club and only Lassagård 6'5" *, Ali Azar (ISL) (LIB) 6'6" *, Sigurbjörnsson 6'0" and Winberg 6'5" are in contention for selection. 

[Jimbokav1971]

39 minutes ago, abulezz said:

CDs are apparently a rare find in this version of FM!

I think it's harder for me because of my Scandi only restriction. I don't actually see a shortage of good players. I just see a shortage of good players that I can afford. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2059. 

Allsvenskan. Another unbeaten month and we're top of the league by 6 points, (albeit having played a game more). Stahre * had been out of favour, but I threw him back in against IFK Göteborg and as we smashed them 3-0 I left him in and we followed that up with a 4-0 three days later. He doesn't look as good as Big Wilhelm 6'7", (and he's half a star behind in terms of CA), but that doesn't seem to matter. Stahre * just delivers. 

Scandi Royal League. This competition isn't the biggest, but it was a key reason for this save so it means more to me. As I have mentioned already it's actually in the database as a youth competition so we can't play our strongest side and we're still lacking a little behind the likes of FC København.

Transfers. Big boys IFK Göteborg came in with a £16.25M bid for Eric Eliasson * but he has another couple of years on his contract so I'm not keen to sell. At £20M+ I might be tempted to accept with the right add-ons, but not at this stage. 

Edited April 22, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Thebaker]

welcome back. I managed to sign the very opposite of your preferred CB, namely one with with 14 heading and 2 jumping.

I thought i could increase the jumping but managed to somehow overlook his height -5' 4" which meant i could not increase it beyond 3 in jumping according to my coaches. Needless to say even with good pace, he was still rubbish.

[Jimbokav1971]

30 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

welcome back. I managed to sign the very opposite of your preferred CB, namely one with with 14 heading and 2 jumping.

I thought i could increase the jumping but managed to somehow overlook his height -5' 4" which meant i could not increase it beyond 3 in jumping according to my coaches. Needless to say even with good pace, he was still rubbish.

I would like to say that I have found success in a big league with a "Cannavaro" style player, but the truth is that it just doesn't work, (for me) in FM, even on cover duty. (By the way, I'm not saying that it's not possible to get a short centre-half playing well at a high level in FM. I'm just saying that I haven't managed it). 

[turnip]

The problem with short-arse defenders (as a short-arse myself) is that a real manager would have the sort of granularity of control to say "Okay, if they start doing little tricks out on the wings, then [HULKING MIDFIELDER] you come in to the penalty area to defend the high balls in while [DWARF DEFENDER] looks to close down any pockets of space".

Whereas we, the Football Manager, have to cross various appendages and hope the ball doesn't inevitably home in on whichever lanky **** has inevitably ended up being marked by your team's token Liliputian.

That said, I've found I can get away with a DC with 12 or so for Jumping Reach as long as he's on a Cover duty and is, ideally, partnered by someone who creates their own rain shadow.

[Jimbokav1971]

8 hours ago, turnip said:

The problem with short-arse defenders (as a short-arse myself) is that a real manager would have the sort of granularity of control to say "Okay, if they start doing little tricks out on the wings, then [HULKING MIDFIELDER] you come in to the penalty area to defend the high balls in while [DWARF DEFENDER] looks to close down any pockets of space".

Whereas we, the Football Manager, have to cross various appendages and hope the ball doesn't inevitably home in on whichever lanky **** has inevitably ended up being marked by your team's token Liliputian.

That said, I've found I can get away with a DC with 12 or so for Jumping Reach as long as he's on a Cover duty and is, ideally, partnered by someone who creates their own rain shadow.

I'm using the offside trap so obviously 1 defender on cover duty and 1 on defend, (or stopper), doesn't work, (imo). 

What gets me is that the game just exploits this so effectively. If you have a centre-back who can't jump then sure as eggs is eggs the AI will deliver bombs to rain down accurately on him, (as they did when we conceded 7 goals), and the rest of his game then also seems to go to pot because he's having a mare. 

I will keep this in mind though and maybe at some point in the future stop playing offside and see if I can get a shorty working at the back. The trigger for this would probably be having a good shorty centre-back coming through the intake.