Using Attribute Analysis to Bring Success to Minor UEFA Nations - Albania (Chapter Six)

[shaunvamos]

2064 Youth Intake

 

Another pretty strong intake, with decent personalities and determination.

 

 

 

 

[shaunvamos]

March 2064

 

 

Despite less than stellar form (the loss to Borac comes to mind) we've decreased the gap to 5th by one point with 8 games to go. We also play Zeljeznicar in the cup semi, a tough ask.

[shaunvamos]

April 2064

 

 

We can wave goodbye to a high finish in the league after some poor results, but we're in the cup final against Velez, a team I'm confident we can beat. But we can't keep relying on the cup, we have to better next season.

[shaunvamos]

 

 

 

We ended up winning the cup comfortably, which is just as well because our league form was atrocious. Hopefully this was just a blip, but we'll have to recruit a lot better for next season.

 

Best XI

 

Mladen Cufurovic  -  Pavle Jeftic  -  Uros Ostojic

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record Breakers

None this season.
 

 

Bosnian Teams in Europe

 

FK Sarajevo

 

 

 

Zeljeznicar Sarajevo

 

 

 

Siroki Brijeg

 

Velez Mostar

 

 

Previously Managed Teams in Europe

 

Zalgiris Vilnius

 

 

 

Club Rank: 55th (+1)

Nation Rank: 19th (-2)

 

Wexford

 

 

Club Rank: 40th (-12)

Nation Rank: 14th (-1)

 

 

Schifflange

 

 

 

Club Rank:  56th (+5)

Nation Rank: 30th (+1)

 

 

Dinamo Tbilisi

 

Club Rank:  64th (-33)

Nation Rank: 18th (-7)

 

Progress

 

[shaunvamos]

Preseason 2064

 

A prefect preseason, especially in the Europa League with a huge win over a Turkish team. We play St. Mirren for a spot in the group stages.

 

Transfers (In)

 

We bring in a couple of laonees, but they'll mostly be used for backup. Vukmanic is our new starting LWB, Ivic slots into CM, Avdic anchors the defence and Kresic will try his luck at RWB.

 

 

 

 

 

Transfers (Out)

 

 

 

 

Predicted 7th, but I want at least 5th.

[shaunvamos]

August 2064

 

 

We get off to the worst possible start in the league, a flogging from Siroki Brijeg and then a true FMing by Vitez. We're also in the Conference League groups.

 

 

A good group, 2nd is definitely possible, but West Ham should be untouchable.

 

 

 

 

More upgrades, which need to continue so we can start to challenge.

[shaunvamos]

September 2064

 

 

 

A much better month, and a stoppage time goal sees us tie with West Ham.

[shaunvamos]

October 2064

 

 

 

We lose to the teams we were supposed to lose to in the league, but the stakes just rose after a terrible performance knocks us out of the cup. We also blew a 3 goal lead in Slovakia but are still in a strong position in the Conference League.

[shaunvamos]

November 2064

 

 

 

A pretty good month, with the only loss to Zeljeznicar. At this point we'll still be out of the top 5 even if we win our games in hand. On a more positive note however we've qualified from our Conference League group with a game to go.

[shaunvamos]

December 2064

 

 

 

An unbeaten month before the winter break, and we're 5 points off 5th. It's definitely within reach, but we need to keep this same vein of form. We face Greek side Asteras Tripolis in the Conference League knockouts, a team we beat 5-0 in a friendly in 2063.

 

 

A golden generation! How exciting

 

[shaunvamos]

February 2065

 

 

A good month, and assuming we win our game in hand we've shortened the gap to 5th by a point. We're also through to the next round of the Conference League after a comfortable win against Asteras. We face Lithuanian side Panevezys next, which I definitely view as winnable.

[shaunvamos]

2065 Youth Intake

 

Yep, this is a golden generation alright! What an intake!

 

 

 

 

[shaunvamos]

March 2065

 

 

An excellent month, and we're finally in 5th place! Velez Mostar have one foot in the cup final though, and only FK Sarajevo can stop them. I'm actually really shocked at Sarajevo too, I didn't even notice they're in 3rd place. An awful season by their standards. Speaking of Sarajevo, guess who we play in the Conference League quarter finals? There will be one Bosnian team in the semi finals, and I don't think it will be us. Of the 92 times Tuzla City have played Sarajevo, they have won twice. The last time was that 4-3 win at the end of the 2063 season, and the first win was way back 2021 in the cup.

 

 

 

 

I signed a new contract, and immediately went for some upgrades.

[shaunvamos]

April 2065

 

 

We've opened up a gap to Velez Mostar, so 5th is all but ours. But we really need them to lose the cup to Sarajevo to make it into Europe. Speaking of Sarajevo (I seem to be talking more about them than us), they beat us in the Conference League but we gave them a good fight. 

[shaunvamos]

 

 

Sarajevo won the cup, allowing us to be in Europe again next season. But could their reign of dominance be coming to an end?

 

Best XI

 

Boris Mihajlovic  -  Uros Ostojic  -  Dragan Jagic

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record Breakers

 

 

Bosnian Teams in Europe

 

FK Sarajevo

 

 

 

Zrinjski Mostar

 

 

Siroki Brijeg

 

Zeljeznicar Sarajevo

 

 

Previously Managed Teams in Europe

 

Zalgiris Vilnius

 

 

 

Club Rank: 67th (-12)

Nation Rank: 21st (-2)

 

Wexford

 

 

Club Rank: 36th (+4)

Nation Rank: 13th (+1)

 

 

Schifflange
 

 

 

 

 

Club Rank:  48th (+8)

Nation Rank: 25th (+5)

 

 

Dinamo Tbilisi

 

 

Club Rank:  73rd (-9)

Nation Rank: 20th (-2)

 

Progress

 

 

[shaunvamos]

Preseason 2065

 

Couldn't have asked for a better preseason, as we power past a potentially difficult side in Bohemians. We play Danish side Fredericia for a spot in the group stage.

 

Transfers (In)

 

We went on the heaviest and most expensive recruitment drive yet, bringing in both first team and depth options. Vargec is probably the best player brought in, although Pavic and Cufurovic are pretty decent too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transfers (Out)

 

A keeper that never played. I also released a few players too old for the U21s and not good enough to make the 35 man registration squad.

 

 

 

Predicted 7th again, but I want 5th. Can we perhaps mount a challenge to Bosnia's big 4 this season?

[shaunvamos]

August 2065

 

 

We get off to a good start in the league, and are safely through to the group stages. We're drawn with a German team I've never even heard of, but I think we can beat Derry and AaB. We're joined by Bosnian sides Zeljeznicar and FK Sarajevo, and this could be the season our coefficient rises into the top if we all have a good run. Pretty cool to see 3 Icelandic clubs in the groups, as well as former club Dinamo Tbilisi. Schifflange are in the same group as Zalgiris in the Champions League too which is pretty nostalgic.

 

 

 

Transfers (Out)

 

Jovivic had fallen down the pecking order at RWB, and we were able to make 125k profit from him.

[shaunvamos]

September 2065

 

 

 

Our strong start in the league continues, but Derry defeat us in the opening group stage game.

[shaunvamos]

October 2065

 

 

 

FK Sarajevo brought us back down to earth with a resounding defeat, but apart from that we've been really good. We've beaten both Siroki Brijeg and Zeljeznicar already, so if we keep this up top 3 is definitely possible.

[shaunvamos]

November 2065

 

 

 

We've opened up a small gap to Zrinjski, and a draw with Lotte will see us into the Conference League knockouts.

[shaunvamos]

December 2065

 

 

 

We got the required draw against Lotte, and will now play Radnicki of Serbia in the knockouts. We're also now a win ahead of Zrinjski heading into the winter break.

 

It's not a golden generation, but it still looks like a good crop of players.

[shaunvamos]

January 2066

 

Just the one cup game.

 

Transfers (Out)

 

[shaunvamos]

February 2066

 

 

We were absolutely decimated player wise in February, with 7 first team players out due to suspension or injury but we managed to hold Radnicki off and beat Borac BL. Our Conference League will be over in the next round as we play Arsenal.

[shaunvamos]

2066 Youth Intake

 

Not as deep an intake as we're used to, but there's still some decent guys here. Dedic for one rates pretty highly as a WB and will be retrained to play there.

 

 

 

 

 

[shaunvamos]

March 2066

 

 

We predictably lost to Arsenal but fought well, and we still have an advantage in 2nd place. Sarajevo have really come back with a vengeance this season, and are pretty much untouchable.

[shaunvamos]

April 2066

 

 

We're out of the cup, but we're on the verge of a Champions League qualifying place.

[shaunvamos]

 

 

 

We drop two of the last four games, but who cares, we're in the Champions League qualifiers! With our U21s winning the league and our Reserves finishing 3rd, we've got a bright future. 

 

Best XI

 

Uros Ostojic  -  Dorjan Vukmanic  -  Petar Ivic

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record Breakers

 

 

Bosnian Teams in Europe

 

Zrinjski Mostar

 

 

 

Siroki Brijeg

 

 

FK Sarajevo

 

 

 

Zeljeznicar Sarajevo

 

 

 

 

Wow!
 

Previously Managed Teams in Europe

 

Zalgiris Vilnius

 

 

 

Club Rank: 77th (-10)

Nation Rank: 22nd (-1)

 

Wexford

 

 

Club Rank: 32nd (+4)

Nation Rank: 13th (-)

 

 

Schifflange
 

 

 

Club Rank:  47th (+1)

Nation Rank: 24th (+1)

 

 

Dinamo Tbilisi

 

 

Club Rank:  106th (-33)

Nation Rank: 16th (+4)

 

Progress

 

[shaunvamos]

2066 Preseason

 

An absolute dream run in the Champions League, beating Fenerbahce comfortably and then beating a strong team in Porto. We face Serie A runners-up Catanzaro in the playoff.

 

Transfers (In)

 

We actually had a few transfers lined up, but ran out of money so I had to prioritise where to strengthen. Horvat becomes our new No. 1, Derdemez is our experimental DM and Mujic joins Ostojic up front. Fun fact about Derdemez, he was actually poached from us by Zeljeznicar, so we received some money from them when Napoli bought him for 2.3M. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transfers (Out)

 

 

Up to 4th!

[shaunvamos]

August 2066

 

An outstanding month. I can't believe we beat Catanzaro so easily! We also get a really tough group, but I think we should beat St. Mirren.

 

Transfers (Out)

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by shaunvamos

[Pompeyboyz]

Think of the money £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

[shaunvamos]

September 2066

 

 

 

We're still unbeaten in the league, but so are Zeljeznicar and Radnik, who've gotten off to a flyer. I've also probably beaten a personal record with a 19-0 win in the cup 

[shaunvamos]

46 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

Think of the money £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

Oh yeah, the money's gonna be put to good use let me tell you.

[shaunvamos]

October 2066

 

 

We easily beat Radnik, but they continue their amazing start to the season.

 

 

Up to excellent now.

[shaunvamos]

November 2066

 

 

 

Radnik continue to impress, which is frustrating for us. We also need a win to go into the Europa knockouts, but it'll be close.

Edited August 2, 2021 by shaunvamos

[shaunvamos]

December 2066

 

 

 

A great month. We still haven't passed Radnik, but we've shortened the gap enough that if we bet them we pass them. A good finish to the end of the Champions League as well and we're off to Glasgow to play the Rangers in the Europa knockouts.

 

 

We've gone from a golden generation, to excellent, and now good. So hopefully we still get some decent players.

[shaunvamos]

February 2067

 

 

We've hit top spot, but Sarajevo are breathing down our necks. Radnik appear to be running our of steam too, they haven't won a match since we got back from the winter break. We now face AZ in the Europa League, and while I'd be confident normally, we're having serious injury problems. Our starting WBs, DM and a CM are all out.

[shaunvamos]

2067 Youth Intake

 

A great intake, and we get someone described as promising! Shame he doesn't qualify as Bosnian, and he'll have to be retrained, but we have some other good looking players too, especially Buinac.

 

 

 

 

[shaunvamos]

March 2067

 

 

I thought we were gone against AZ, but then we pulled out a 5-0 win in the Netherlands and we're through to the quarter finals against Tottenham. Surely it ends there? I'm really shocked that we flogged Sarajevo too, but I'm definitely not complaining. We're now 7 ahead with 8 games to go. It'll be tight.

 

 

This is also a first. Sarajevo really should've asked for more than 1.3M for him. Despite this, he's not considered a wonderkid, but the other two in this picture are.

[ucdark]

This is the season! Go Tuzla!

[shaunvamos]

April 2067

 

 

Unceremoniously dumped out of the Europa League, but we've almost sealed the league win which is more important at this stage. With 3 games to go and 8 ahead, it's ours to lose.

[shaunvamos]

 

 

Champions    

 

Best XI

 

Mirko Vargec  -  Dejan Djordjevic  -  Uros Ostojic

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record Breakers

 

 

Bosnian Teams in Europe

 

FK Sarajevo

 

 

 

Zrinjski Mostar

 

 

Zeljeznicar Sarajevo

 

 

 

Siroki Brijeg

 

 

Previously Managed Teams in Europe

 

Zalgiris Vilnius

 

 

 

 

Club Rank: 64th (+13)

Nation Rank: 15th (+7)

 

Wexford

 

 

Club Rank: 26th (+6)

Nation Rank: 11th (+2)

 

 

Schifflange
 

 

 

Club Rank:  49th (-2)

Nation Rank: 25th (-1)

 

 

Dinamo Tbilisi

 

Club Rank:  174th (-68)

Nation Rank: 18th (-2)

 

Progress

 

 

Edited August 6, 2021 by shaunvamos

[shaunvamos]

 

 

Well, you know what this means...

 

 

It's kind of a shame really, I would've liked to manage the national team for a bit, but I think I've set Tuzla up for continued success. There's a new stadium being built, and the training/youth facilities are being upgraded. 

 

 

Of course the analysts like me 

 

 

The next nation in the rankings is Montenegro, currently ranked 30th. The other three nations are Albania (16th), Iceland (17th) and Northern Ireland (26th). They're all great options, and I have no idea where I'll end up. 

[shaunvamos]

Chapter Six: Balkan My Resume Up v2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The managerial position for KF Tirana opened up as their current manager accepted a job with new EPL side Peterborough. Tirana haven't been experiencing the kind of success they've been used to, only winning two of the last 10 league titles. Whilst for many teams this could be considered a good run, Tirana actually won 21 straight league titles from 2024-2045. So it'll be up to me to stop the newfound dominance of Vllaznia. 
 

Albanian clubs in Europe to date:

 

It's not even close. Tirana have the best record, with 16 Conference League appearances, but Vllaznia have gone nearly as far.

 

 

A pretty strong starting point, but it's going to get better. I'm trying a new experiment as well: Rate all the players in one big group (except GKs) and pick them based on that, and retrain them accordingly. Here's what it looks like now:

 

 

The height has been added in there for positions like CB where it's important.

 

The foreign player rules are interesting too. I'm only allowed 4 foreign players, and the only countries deemed as non-foreign are Kosovo and North Macedonia (looking at you @Pompeyboyz). I'm not even going to bother looking for other players, so this team will be made up of players of Albanian, Macedonian and Kosovan nationality/2nd nationality. Hopefully we can pick up some guys from the bordering countries with second nationalities, which are Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia & Greece (land borders), as well as Croatia & Italy (maritime borders). Those leagues will be added as playable.

[Pompeyboyz]

Getting closer 

[shaunvamos]

51 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

Getting closer 

They’ve been made playable as of next season, so it’ll be interesting to see how they develop!

[shaunvamos]

July 2067

 

Thrown straight into a competitive fixture, and we managed to beat Mouscron and go through to the next round of qualifying. So far, so good for the squad.

 

Transfers (In)

 

A couple of expensive transfers, but they've definitely added to the strength of our team. Almost all of these guys are retraining experiments. Cuculi was actually a member of Tirana 2 seasons ago, so buying him was a little cheaper as we were refunded a bit of money via a sell-on clause. Skenderi had a release clause, so we'll probably lose money on this deal, and Arslani is also an ex-Tirana player, having been bought for 10M 6 seasons ago, then sold to Celta for 2.1M. Astonishingly poor piece of business there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transfers (Out)

 

[shaunvamos]

August 2067

 

 

 

St Mirren beat us on penalties as we struggled with a few key players missing for various reasons, but we are rewarded with a fairly generous Europa League group. Aside from Schalke I think we will do quite well.

 

Transfers (In)

 

Ujka comes in as a backup wherever he's needed.

Transfers (Out)

 

Our starting CB had his release clause activated, so we're now scrambling to find a replacement at late notice.

[shaunvamos]

September 2067

 

 

 

A decent start in the league, but pretty disappointing so far in the Europa League.

 

Transfers (In)

 

Ymeraj is our new starting CB, hopefully to fill the void left by Posso. He's a big boy!

 

 

[shaunvamos]

October 2067

 

 

 

We faltered a little bit in the league at the end of the month, but we're still in a strong position. We need to get ahead of Derry, I think I may have underestimated Rosenborg.

[shaunvamos]

November 2067

 

 

 

We keep dropping key points in the league, but at least we've proven we can beat Vllaznia. I think we've qualified for the Conference League too, unless Derry pull off the impossible against Schalke.