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[FM20] United We Stand


Constantine
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FM20: Jedinstvo Ub - United We Stand

Hello there. Been in this parts of forum few times. Lately with short lived Enfield Town FC save, which went down the drain after my HDD went bust on New Year's Day. Struggled to get into a save after that and it took Rikulec's excellent Unia Janikowo story to remind me that there's no place like home.

So back to home i went. Jedinstvo Ub. One of the two clubs from village town where i spent my childhood. Definitively a bigger one since another, Radnik, is relatively new. I lived 5 minutes away from their stadium. Went on runs there when i was younger, up and down the stairs on their stands. Heck, during their glory days (and i use term glory very loosely here), when Jedinstvo played in Serbia&Montenegro' Second Division, i was a bag boy for Bosko Jankovic and Dusan Basta, former Genoa and Lazio players who were here during their developing years.

Ub is where Dragan Dzajic, arguably the best Yugoslavian player was born. Jedinstvo Ub is where he made his first steps into football. If you haven't heard of him, i wouldn't blame you. One of the most underrated players in history. He was ridiculous back in the days. “Džajić is the Balkan miracle – a real wizard, I’m just sorry he’s not Brazilian because I’ve never seen such a natural footballer.” Words said by none other than Pelé, right after the two played against each other in 1968, if i'm not mistaken. Look him up on Youtube, even today he would be among the greatest, his technique, dribbling, crossing, devastating left foot... Out of this world.

But he wasn't the only one. Dusan (Dule) Savic, another one born in Ub, started his career at Jedinstvo before going to Crvena zvezda and becoming one of their legends and cult hero.

In recent times, we had Radisav Petrovic, current Almeria player, who went from Jedinstvo to Partizan to Blackburn, before starting his merry-go-round loan spree after signing for Sporting Lisbon.

And at last, but not least important. Maybe you've heard of him. Current Manchester United player. Nemanja Matic.

He isn't exactly that much connected to Jedinstvo as some of previously mentioned. At least during his earlier years. We'll get to that soon. Matic was born in tiny village near Ub called Vrelo. He played a bit for their side before going to trial in Partizan and Crvena zvezda. As neither found him talented enough to sign permanently, he went back to Ub, signed his youth contract with Jedinstvo where he spent year or two before turning pro at Kolubara, his stop-gap to Kosice and later Chelsea.

Now, how is he connected this story, how is Matic intertwined in all of this and how he got me to start this save?

Bear with me and this wall of text, we're getting there.

Jedinstvo went through hard times after their former player Dragan Dzajic, back then president of Crvena zvezda, resigned and Jedinstvo's link with Serbian biggest club was canceled. With no talent coming from Belgrade on loans, they dropped like a stone as far as current Serbian Fourth Division. They yo-yoed between 3rd and 4th rank, desperately trying to get back where they were and few business practices/couple wrong transfer decisions away, Jedinstvo were at the brink of extinction. Tale old as time...

In comes Nemanja Matic. Now Manchester United first teamer, he had means and will to help save the club where he spent his formative years. Basically, he took over Jedinstvo, paid their debts, restored our stadium, renamed it from Gradski Stadion to Stadium Dragan Dzajic and since he can't be here full time due to his career, Matic delegated pretty much everything to his brother Darko, now acting chairman of Jedinstvo Ub.

Their aims: Financial stability, giving local kids a chance to shine and eventually going after promotion to Serbian top flight.

So, long history lesson aside, that's where i come in.

We'll make it a Youth Only save, giving talented kids from Ub and surroundings the opportunity to prove themselves.

And maybe, just maybe, produce another such magician as Dragan Dzajic once was.

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Fun fact: Captain Dejan Mladenovic and I were childhood pals, we played together as toddlers in parks and stuff. :D

Vice Captain Rakic i know from school.

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Facilities aren't exactly fitted for youth development but we'll get there. Our journey starts with healthy sum on our bank accounts but since Matic expect us to be self reliant (and since i played with Jedinstvo before), we won't be getting extra funds and will have to find money to fund our own endeavors.

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Club vision will need tweaking as we won't be signing anyone. It's reflected pretty accurately actually, as official word is that Jedinstvo looks to sign kids and young players from surrounding areas.

But in FM terms, for what we're going for, board will be disappointed as we won't stick with club culture as it is.

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Squad is large. And rather old. Some trimming will be done. More about that later one. First things first, we have to renew some contracts, see who'll stay with us in coming season.

Loans will be cancelled though. Both of them are really great players that could improve us massively but we'll stick to our own.

Edited by Constantine
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  • 2 months later...

I'm gonna reboot this one. Same club, same target in mind.

 

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Jedinstvo Ub

(2020/21)

Board expectations

Prva liga Srbije: Fight bravely against relegation // We're aiming for top half. This bunch is good enough to be competitive at this level.

Kup Srbije: Don't be outclassed // Sound easy enough...

Finances: 120,923€

 

Transfers (at the time of writing):

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Meet the squad:

Mirko Curguz

Aleksandar Radovanovic :: Stefan Trajkovic :: Nikola Radojicic :: Milos Panic

Djordje Ivljanin

Goran Potkozarac :: Ademin Hadzic

Nemanja Ratkovic                                                                   Kristijan Djurdjevic

Lamin Jobe

Subs: Rakic, Rajovic, Gavrilovic, Sajic, Simjanovski, Radovic, Stamenkovic, Mladenovic, Zoric, Andric, Bozovic, Radojicic

As per league rules, we need to have two u21 players in first eleven for duration of first half (at least) and two more on the bench. That's why Trajkovic got into team ahead of Gavrilovic or Sajic. Maybe there's a case for Rakic to be our #1 but Curguz is my personal preference.

 

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Friendlies went well. No injuries, luckily, so we're ready and raring to go.

Prva liga, here we go!!

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August 2020

Prva liga Srbije

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Decent showing in our first few Prva liga games. Our strikers struggled but seems to recalibrated their aims after away defeat at Smederevo. Long it may continues...

 

Kup Srbije

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Disappointing fail at the first hurdle. I did mixed things up a bit (so did our opponents) but it was overall bad day at the office. Andric was the only one who showed up for work.

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Class of '21

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Not sure what to think about it but it does seems and feels a bit underwhelming...

 

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Our top prospect. There's a lot to like about him but also few things to worry about... His personality. And that awful Aggression/Decisions combo. I see a lot of red cards in his future.

 

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No, they aren't brothers. I checked. Though it would've been cool.

I fancy Vladan a lot less than Milutin. Lots of weak spots in his game. Hopefully we'll fix some of them along the way.

 

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Decent, well rounded fullback.

 

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Not as good as Grcic but physically far superior.

 

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Not sure why HoYD rated him that low, he looks pretty alright to me.

 

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One decent-ish striker in this year's intake though he might be more fit to play on the wings.

 

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Somewhat better than Bradic. Might get some minutes, now that Ratkovic is out of commission.

 

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This one is a headscratcher... Not tall enough to play in defense, not technically good enough to be in that hole between midfield and defense. But with Ivljanin out, we needed some cover so i grabbed him.

 

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With only two goalies on our payroll, i had to sign him up. Aside from physicals, doesn't look that bad, honestly...

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March 2021

Prva liga Srbije

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Yup, we struggled badly without Ivljanin... He shielded Trajkovic and Radojicic, making up for obvious shortcomings of the former but we have no player in our squad who can do what Ivljanin can, and as well as he did.

Terrible month but we're still somehow on top...

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April 2021

Prva liga Srbije

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Improvement!! We still cling on to that #1 spot. It's all coming down to last 4 games of the season. Indjija, Javor, Zlatibor, Macva. Can we hold them off??

Have to mention it, one of the lads from last intake got his name on the scoresheet. Slobodan Berecic. First of many, i hope...

Edited by Constantine
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May 2021

Prva liga Srbije

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Well, that was fracking dreadful... Four losses, one goal scored and we've just narrowly missed out on direct promotion.

Onto the play offs we go, where we'll be facing one of Super liga sides.

In this case, Radnik Surdulica.

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Frack me... We did it!!!

Early goal by Jobe changed everything. We could've sit back, sit tight and hit them on counters. And for one, our strikers did their job.

This was tougher than expected. Played with this club multiple times and always got promoted rather comfortably. But two long term injuries, first to Ivljanin, later Ratkovic and we struggled like hell.

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Two Prva liga sides in, two Super liga teams go down.

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And for the last piece of good news...

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Season Review 2020/21

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Prva liga Srbije: Got what we were after. Two injuries to our key players put us into turmoil and only thanks to our brilliant first part of the season, we limped over the line.

How we'll fare in top tier? Well, it's gonna be painful, judging from my previous experiences. Especially without Ratkovic.

Kup Srbije: Shockingly early exit. We have to do better.

Finances: 34.071

And it isn't gonna get much better, as we have contracts to renew as we go pro. Wage budget is gonna blow up.

 

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Some of them underperformed. Some of them really surprised me (Milos Panic, i'm talking about you, son). But when they get you into Super liga, well, i can't really complain. As a team, they were great.

 

Key Players:

Lamin Jobe - Our top scorer. He struggled after the break but Lamin broke the ice when it mattered the most and got us through play off finals.

Goran Potkozarac - Winger retrained as center mid. And he was brilliant together with Hadzic, even ended up leading assists charts. Haven't expected him to have such an impact.

Nemanja Ratkovic - Our finest before doing his ligaments. Road to recovery is gonna be long and painful but we will need him if we're to survive in top tier.

 

Career Summary

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Jedinstvo Ub

Season 2021/22 - Preview

Board expectations

Linglong Tire Super liga: Fight bravely against relegation // It's gonna be tough as hell, especially with hectic schedule that WC in Qatar brings but we've done it before, we can do it again.

Kup Srbije: Don't be outclassed // Let's get past 1st Qualifying Round. Then we'll see...

Finances: 13,245€ // Not a cause for a concern. Yet.

 

Transfers

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Two out on loans, six released. This time we'll actually make some money. It's not much but it helps. Every euro counts.

 

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Squad is considerably younger this time around. Not exactly what you want when you're expected to fight for survival but i'm big believer in trial by fire.

Sink or swim, laddies...

 

 

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July 2021

Linglong Tire Super liga

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Not exactly the start i imagined... One goal scored, from set piece. We are struggling to score. Chances are there, we're just failing to put them away.

Hopefully that's something that'll fix itself. Or else we're gonna be in trouble...

 

Edited by Constantine
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September 2021

Linglong Tire Super liga

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Our binary form continues... Hard fought victory away at Zlatibor allowed us to overtake them, placing us at the border between two worlds.

Wouldn't mind to remain in this spot come end of the season.

 

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Another one done. Both Coaching and Recruitment are now Adequate.

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October 2021

Linglong Tire Super liga

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Terrific month for us, despite the fact that Crvena zvezda blew us to kingdom come. Two wins, both secured in overtime, pushed us few places up the table and we currently sit in safe haven.

Can we remain here? Probably not. But we have to keep fighting. Every point count.

 

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February 2022

Linglong Tire Super liga

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And we are back with a bang. Two wins in three post WC break, with one devastating loss for good measure. My fault that one, due to incoming (winnable) fixtures, i threw younglings at Europe-chasing Cukaricki.

And they have eaten them alive.

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Class of '22

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Oh, i really like this year's crop. All those upgrades were worth it. Despite putting us in the red. Some lovely kids we've got.

 

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Another left back, a welcome competition for Panic and Andjelkovic.

 

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Star of this year's intake IMO. Great spread of attributes, lovely personality. Ivljanin won't have secure place in starting XI anymore.

 

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Starts as midfielder but looks more like a striker to me. We have some retraining to do.

 

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HoYD pointed him out as outstanding player from this generation. Looks great, not gonna lie. He'll be in rotation starting next season.

 

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Another midfielder to add into mix.

 

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And another...

 

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And another... Though this one seems like all flair, no substance.

 

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Decent-ish striker. If he could up his physicals, Aleksandar Bradic might have to fear for his place in starting lineup.

 

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Inside forward in the making.

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Season Review 2021/22

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Linglong Tire Super liga - We survived rather comfortably. First season in top tier is usually struggle so i'm happy we avoided getting caught up in relegation dogfight. Our lack of experience would've surely made it harder.

More of this next season. Please.

Kup Srbije - It's laughable how bad we are in the Cup... Once more falling on first hurdle.

Finances - 109,605

We need some source of income. And we need it fast.

 

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The Boys did what they could. It wasn't always pretty but it kept us in Super liga.

 

Key Players:

Goran Potkozarac - Our creative, driving force. Ended at the top of our assists chart.

Kristijan Djurdjevic - Top scorer for the season.

Nemanja Sajic - The least worst part of our defense. He even chucked few goals in.

 

Finest Younglings:

Ilija Andjelkovic - Best of the bunch. He did decent enough job as our starting fullback. Physicals improved massively while his technical attributes remain... Lacking.

Aleksandar Bradic - Due to league rules, Bradic took over Jobe's role as spearhead for our attack. And i guess he did decently, eight goals in his first ever season. In top flight.

Milutin Simeunovic - Our best prospect in the heart of defense. Had his slumps, share of dumb mistakes but he's still growing...

 

Career Summary:

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And that's the first player getting into our The Janissaries shortlist (one i'll use to track our prodigal sons).

He was so young, haven't even signed full time contract with us. Vojvodina was going hard after him and Milutin Simeunovic but since we lack central defenders, i've decided to let Luka go hoping they'll give up on Milutin.

So far, they did. Still, long time till window closes...

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Goodbye Luka. Work hard. Train hard. Have a good career.

We need that 50% of your next sale. :D 

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Preseason

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Shortest preseason ever. Not by choice though, there's some bug where we get just two weeks to prepare for new season. I really hope this will fix itself down the line when/if we get into Europe.

 

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Three perma exits. Andric wanted to leave, we had bunch of kids on his position waiting for a chance to shine so i let him go. Zoric can tell a similar tale.

A lots of loanees going out. We'll get peanuts but every penny counts. We have no other source of income. Even this will help a lot...

 

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Much, much younger squad this year. Sink or swim, kids...

 

Edited by Constantine
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Season Review 2022/23

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I've been multitasking a lot during FM sessions so i've forgot multiple times to do a monthly updates so i settled on doing one final review when season's all wrapped up.

Linglong Tire Super liga - Second consecutive 7th placed finish in Superliga. Not even close to European places, though it is too soon to think about that. Us ending up this high was really in question, especially during nightmare February  when we nosedived down the ladder but the boys pulled it together.

Kup Srbije - Progress!! Our league' final position last year meant we override dreaded qualifications. And we actually won in the Cup. Didn't made it any far but... Baby steps.

Finances - 48,027

Not great, not terrible...

 

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Considering how young some of these guys are, as team they did as well as expected. We had some defensive blunders, finishing could've been a lot  better but those are things that'll iron out with experience.

 

Key Players:

Goran Potkozarac - Still our best player. Currently unhappy as he want new contract, which i'm willing to give him but not as long as he would've liked, nor with humongous salary he desires.

Ademin Hadzic - Our most important player

Nemanja Ratkovic - Top scorer, despite being a lot more sluggish this time around.

 

Finest Younglings:

Damir Filipovic - Knocking on the door to our first XI. He's already better than Ivljanin and with Potkozarac issue i'm facing, he might just break into it come next season.

Elvir Bajrovic - I'll bite the bullet and promote our first international (debuted for Bosnia u19) to Jedinstvo's new #1.

Rade Vlaskalic - All of our upcoming strikers, including Bradic and Boric benefited from extended playtime but i've decided to showcase Rade because... Teacher's pet. I like him the most of the bunch. Sue me.

 

Career Summary:

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Note: Hasn't forgotten about new intake. That's coming in the next post.

 

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Class of '23

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Eight players signed this time.

 

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Coaches say this is our brightest prospect and i agree. He's brilliant and i'll definitely will consider him (at least) as rotation option during next season. Only downside is his volatile personality but even that could help him to develop better.

 

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Central defender is what we lack but with one comes with few obvious weaknesses...

 

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This one is looking much better.

 

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Another fella with Professional personality. Hopefully he'll develop as well as Damir Filipovic did. Nenad isn't a lot worse than our current RB backup so he might get some games off the bench.

 

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Nice spread of attributes, looking really good in all the right places.

 

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Same can be said for this young Croatian Serb. Abundance of lovely looking defenders in this year's intake...

 

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Third intake, third goalie signed. Mostly for personality but he isn't looking that bad...

 

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Yet another fullback to finish of this year's intake. Love his mentals, he has decent personality and we'll try to work on technical.

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Third player to grace The Janissaries shortlist after Milutin Simeunovic left us for Vojvodina in 150k deal (no percentages).

Sadly, it was long coming. Partizan and Zvezda battered us with offers ever since transfer window opened and eventually our board cracked under pressure.

Protested the transfer but as we needed money, all they would accept was to renegotiate for a better offer.

That latest intake must be something special, as we've got this bid for our fullback from Montenegro.

I'm both happy and sad with this development but playing this challenge taught me not to get too attached to players, especially this early on into the game.

Still, it stings...

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