[FM21] Going Barmy in Balmy Balkans with help from Riddler.

[Jimbokav1971]

I've been interested in the history of this area for a while and it seems like it's an under-used part of the World in FM terms.

My starting point is pretty low in terms of what I know, and I expect much of what I think I know is probably wrong. 

Welcome to Sarajevo 
War
Srebenica
Slobodan Milošević
Dimitar Berbatov
Hristo Stoickkov
Bontcho Guentchev, (who played for Hendon).
Mirko Vučinić, (who my son "discovered" in FM before I heard of him in real life).
Ancient Greece
Ottoman Empire
Greece 2004 Euro Champions. 
A whole team of blonde Romanians who's names all ended in ...scu. 
Yugoslavia
Bulgarian as a language appears to be similar in style to Russian, (Cyrillic I think in terms of style).
Dracula
Hagi
Hakan Şükür
Goran Pandev, (has just had a goal ruled out for offside against Ukraine)

The above is about the limit of my Balkan knowledge. (I said I was interested and not that I was knowledgeable). 

I know that there is a fair bit of animosity between people who live in this part of the World so if at any time I say something offensive.... (1). feel free to tell me what I have done, and (2). please accept my apologies in advance. I know/think that there are some touchy subjects so I will try to tread delicately where I can. 

There will be a lot of "learning as we go" in this save. I've never managed in any of these Nations before in any version of CM/FM, (although I did manage the Turkish National side in an online game with my son). 

[karanhsingh]

Love a good Balkan save! Where are you planning to start off? 

[Jimbokav1971]

39 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Love a good Balkan save! Where are you planning to start off? 

I've got as far as the message telling me I have taken over a club, but I have changed my mind so many times I'm not completely sure which Country I'm in but Albania was a strong favourite this Afternoon. I know that we are playing in blue and that's about it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Welcome to Sarajevo, I mean Gjirokastër, Albania. Jul 2020. 

I'm female, English with Bosnian as 2nd Nationality and was born in Srebrenica, (simply because it is the most infamous place in the Balkans). If you have never heard of Srebrenica before then perhaps you should do a little research. (I'm not going to be talking about that here). Let's just say it's not pretty. 

In my Scandi save I started win the lowest rep Nation and moved up in ranking order. This save is going to be far more fluid, largely because I don't really know what order the Nations are ranked in and can't be bothered to check. It will be a Journeyman save, (like the Scandi save), and at some clubs I will sign players while at others I will be 100% Youth Only. 

Gjirokastër, is a City in the South West of the Balkans and as well as being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is known as a "rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman Town. The City appears in records as far back as 1336 when it was part of the Byzantine Empire. (It's only the 1st few posts of the thread and I have already managed to get Ottoman Empire, Byzantine Empire and UNESCO World Heritage Site). Go me! 

I have no idea what to make of the squad at this stage. I'm not even 100% what level we play at but I "think" it's the Albanian 3rd tier, (which has surely got to be a rubbish standard right?) Right? 

There are no nicknames as yet and "Development advice", is a new column for me. 

We're weak at right back, but oh my we have some quality in the squad. Maybe we're not playing in the Albanian 3rd tier after all. 

Romario, (yes that's a nickname right there!) is going to be our 1st choice DLP. I've managed clubs at VERY respectable levels with players this good. 

Mario Morina looks like he could do a job in a number of different roles up front. 

Mikel Canka is another very good option up front. The 2 strikers haven't got that explosive athletic ability that I like, but they are very decent. 

Visions and Expectations make a little more sense now. They expect us to win the league. 

Overview.

Facilities. 

Finances. 

Budgets.

Strategy for this season. I didn't really want to sign any players at my 1st club, but the not having a right back might be the difference between Champions and Runners Up. I will see what the DoF can find for me. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Damn. It would seem that we were relegated last season and while we could field FGN players in the league above last season, this season we are playing in a league where no FGN players are allowed. As a result our 1st choice left back is unavailable for league games. He's a 37 year old Brazilian so I'm not sure how much interest there will be in him and I can't afford to pay him but not play him. 

So I guess we need a left back as well as a right back. 

[Edit]

Thankfully there are a few clubs interested it seems. 

Edited June 17, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[john1]

Good luck  

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Good luck  

Thanks. I've been looking forward to playing in this part of the World for a long time. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Records. Nov 2020.

I couldn't understand why some of our players were so good and why we were winning with such ease, but all makes sense now. 

It appears that the club was relegated 2 Divisions at the end of the 2019/20 season and the creator of the database knew enough to relegate them, but not the name change, (which possibly happened later). I actually knew none of this and didn't even check the ability of the players before taking them. I chose them simply based on their facilities, (which were obviously better than other Albanian Tier 3 sides. This isn't ideal at all bit it's too late to worry about now. 

In other news the Albanian National side are also setting records themselves. I know the level of competition isn't strong, but as well as 6 consecutive clean sheets, Rey Manaj has scored 6 goas in his last 4 games. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake Day. Mar 2021.

Our HoYD has picked out a Russian youngster (21l) Khalinbekov (RUS) as the one to watch which is frustrating when he can't play at this level and I'm not sure about the level above. 

The top ranked player, (by PA), is (21a) Dervishi. He looks ok, but is possibly lacking physically. 

(21e) Gripshi is probably my big of the intake though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

End of Season Summary. 

We were offered a new contract in March but I'm already thinking of jumping ship at the end of our 1st season. We will either do so with free will as Champions, or we won't be Champions and the decision will be taken out of our hands. I'm not happy with my starting club and I don't think we are a good fit. 

A possible stumbling block might be that I started with no badges and only Sunday League experience and haven't improved either yet, so even if we win the league I might not find it that easy to find a new role. 

Kategoria e Dytë. Group A. The pressure was on to win and I was half expecting us to lose 1 of the last 3 games but we managed to hold firm. If anything I'm quite pleased that we didn't go unbeaten because it would have felt cheap doing it in this situation. 

Kupa e Cup. We were drawn against away to a top tier side so when I rotated the whole squad I wasn't expecting much, but the fact is we ran them close and I think our best team would have strolled it.

Goodbye. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Where next? May 2021. 

I definitely don't want to move to a big Nation, and in fact I might even be willing to stay in Albania. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Welcome to Sarajevo, I mean Tešanj, Kosovo. Jul 2021. 

If I drive 11.5 hours North, out of Albania, right through Montenegro and into Kosovo and then past Sarajevo I come to Tešanj. Built on and named after the river Tešanjka, the Town itself only has a population of just over 5k, but I'm encouraged that it has produced at least 2 International footballers in the shape of striker Edin Šaranović, (who was capped for Bosnia in 2001), and right back Avdija Vršajević, (who gained 17 Caps between 2012 and 2017 and who now plys his trade in Turkey). 

The squad don't seem to have quite the top end talent that we had at my last club, but that was an unusual situation there and I am glad to be out of it if I'm honest. While we might not have the same level of CA, we seem to have a better depth of PA spread throughout the club. In particular we have 2x 5.0 PA players.

Saša Ristić is out on loan after coming through our Academy.

Stanislav Panić is a little short but looks reasonable. Both have poor Det though.  

The Club Vision suggests that the board have more conservative expectations than my last club. I have absolutely no issues at all with selling players for a profit and wonder about the quality of players we might be able to produce ourselves. 

Overview. 

Facilities. 

Finances. 

Budget. 

Strategy. We don't have a transfer kitty to spend, but we do have just over £5k per month wage spend available. This period of the save is going to be about slow and steady development after the instant gratification of the early silverware last season. I'm just going to sign young players, improve them and sell them on. Hopefully they will help us win a few games while they are here. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Tracker. Jul 2021. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Save style changing depending on club. 

In the 1st season I didn't control any training at all. I basically just selected the match squad and then generated the result using the IR button. I didn't scout any players and the only players who we signed were signed by the DoF. The only player we sold was sold above my head by the board. I was really just using it as a springboard to get us started. 

Now though, at the start of the season I have already taken control of all individual training including the training of PPM's and will be looking at scouting players, (with a view to signing and selling on young players for a profit). Where as I was only ever planning on staying at Luftëtari for 1 season, I think it's likely that I will be at TOŠK for a few years, (assuming I don't get sacked or poached), so I need to plan accordingly. 

Money is a problem, (we are overdrawn at the bank), but our highest valued player, Mujagić is valued at £56k and is wanted by Sarajevo, (in the top tier), so if they show me the money then they can have him. He only scored 10 goals in 26(5) appearances last season and I think his lack of physicality is holding him back a little. I would be quite happy to let him go and replace him with a speedier version, (hopefully after he scores us a few goals). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Signing policy. 

In my Scandi save I restricted myself to Scandi only players and I think it's sensible that I do something similar in this save in that I limit player signings to those who have either primary or secondary Nationalities of a Balkan Nation. 

The only way I can see me breaking this rule is if I have a FGN Chairman who wants me to sign players from his home Nation. 

[karanhsingh]

14 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Welcome to Sarajevo, I mean Gjirokastër, Albania. Jul 2020. 

I'm female, English with Bosnian as 2nd Nationality and was born in Srebrenica, (simply because it is the most infamous place in the Balkans). If you have never heard of Srebrenica before then perhaps you should do a little research. (I'm not going to be talking about that here). Let's just say it's not pretty. 

Wow I have just read about this  Had no idea...

Anyhow, that is a good (and predictably quick) first season there. Good luck at the new club.

[karanhsingh]

29 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Signing policy. 

In my Scandi save I restricted myself to Scandi only players and I think it's sensible that I do something similar in this save in that I limit player signings to those who have either primary or secondary Nationalities of a Balkan Nation. 

The only way I can see me breaking this rule is if I have a FGN Chairman who wants me to sign players from his home Nation. 

BTW which specific nations are you including in this?

[Jimbokav1971]

16 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Wow I have just read about this  Had no idea...

Anyhow, that is a good (and predictably quick) first season there. Good luck at the new club.

Yeah, everything about Srebenica is pretty sobering. 

I basically pressed continue a lot and didn't do much else. The DoF signed a couple of left backs on loan, (1 of whom was recalled when I played him at right back). 

I hate the 1st season. I just want it done asap, 

[deltablue]

That's a short title by your standards

[Jimbokav1971]

17 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

BTW which specific nations are you including in this?

That's a very good point because I have some Nations loaded that while they are not really "Balkan", part of their area is.

I was boring and took my lead from Wiki. 

Nations who's borders are completely within the Balkan Peninsula are a complete no-brainer for me. They had to be included. 

Nations who are only mostly or partly within the Balkan Peninsula were a little different in that only a tiny part of Italy, (0.1% of total land mass), is within the Balkan peninsula. Turkey are next lowest, (at 3%), and then Romania, (at 5% of total land mass). The easiest thing to do, (and probably the most accurate), was to exclude these 3 Nations, and Slovenia and possibly Croatia, (who are all below 50% of land mass within the Balkan Peninsula), but while I was happy to exclude Italy, I was really surprised that so little of Slovenia is Balkan and to a lesser degree Croatia. I definitely wanted to keep these 2 Nations in. Serbia is mostly Balkan, (65%), so they were in and Greece were also in for the same reason. The tougher question was Romania & Turkey who, like Italy only had a very small Balkan area, but I have never managed in these Nations so I thought what the hell. 

Albania. In. 
Bosnia & Herzegovina. In. 
Bulgaria. In. 
Croatia. In. 
Greece. In. 
Italy. Out. 
Kosovo. In. 
Montenegro. In. 
North Macedonia. In. 
Romania. In. 
Serbia. In. 
Slovenia. In. 
Turkey. In. 

The 1 other error I made was that in my head, (and I think that of many others, Slovenia & Slovakia sort of go hand-in-hand, so I automatically included Slovakia incorrectly when I included Slovenia correctly.  I think I will just keep them in now and pretend that they are a Balkan state. 

Slovakia. In.  

I thought that Hungary were a Balkan state before I started looking at things, but they aren't. It's a shame because I wanted to play there. They are Balkan in my head. 

I wanted to use the @Timo61 databases all together, but I got a message saying that they weren't compatible with the most recent database and I couldn't load them. Instead I went with the Riddler databases which can all be found on steam. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, deltablue said:

That's a short title by your standards

You know it will get changed once I get something good. 

Maybe I will just list all the Nations I manage in or something. 

[karanhsingh]

20 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

That's a very good point because I have some Nations loaded that while they are not really "Balkan", part of their area is.

I was boring and took my lead from Wiki. 

Nations who's borders are completely within the Balkan Peninsula are a complete no-brainer for me. They had to be included. 

Nations who are only mostly or partly within the Balkan Peninsula were a little different in that only a tiny part of Italy, (0.1% of total land mass), is within the Balkan peninsula. Turkey are next lowest, (at 3%), and then Romania, (at 5% of total land mass). The easiest thing to do, (and probably the most accurate), was to exclude these 3 Nations, and Slovenia and possibly Croatia, (who are all below 50% of land mass within the Balkan Peninsula), but while I was happy to exclude Italy, I was really surprised that so little of Slovenia is Balkan and to a lesser degree Croatia. I definitely wanted to keep these 2 Nations in. Serbia is mostly Balkan, (65%), so they were in and Greece were also in for the same reason. The tougher question was Romania & Turkey who, like Italy only had a very small Balkan area, but I have never managed in these Nations so I thought what the hell. 

Albania. In. 
Bosnia & Herzegovina. In. 
Bulgaria. In. 
Croatia. In. 
Greece. In. 
Italy. Out. 
Kosovo. In. 
Montenegro. In. 
North Macedonia. In. 
Romania. In. 
Serbia. In. 
Slovenia. In. 
Turkey. In. 

The 1 other error I made was that in my head, (and I think that of many others, Slovenia & Slovakia sort of go hand-in-hand, so I automatically included Slovakia incorrectly when I included Slovenia correctly.  I think I will just keep them in now and pretend that they are a Balkan state. 

Slovakia. In.  

I thought that Hungary were a Balkan state before I started looking at things, but they aren't. It's a shame because I wanted to play there. They are Balkan in my head. 

I wanted to use the @Timo61 databases all together, but I got a message saying that they weren't compatible with the most recent database and I couldn't load them. Instead I went with the Riddler databases which can all be found on steam. 

Nice one. I like the thought process.

I love how Italy is showing up on Wikipedia with a whopping 0.1% of their landmass included.

I am actually just about to embark on a Hungarian adventure myself, do keep an eye out  

[Jimbokav1971]

Rules. Jul 2021. 

I remember falling foul of league rules in my Scandi save and I'm afraid it's going to be no different in the Balkans. 

Last season we had a Brazilian full back, (with no 2nd Nationality), and I was unable to field any FGN players at all. He was 1 of my highest earners and he only played 1 Cup game all season. 

We might have moved from Albania to Bosnia, (apologies by the way, but Bosnia is easier to write than Box & Herz), but we still have FGN rules to follow in the Federation of BiH First League. 

We can only have a max of 5 FGN players in each match squad and we already have 5 at the club. 

Yeah, this isn't going to be a problem at all. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

19 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Nice one. I like the thought process.

I love how Italy is showing up on Wikipedia with a whopping 0.1% of their landmass included.

I am actually just about to embark on a Hungarian adventure myself, do keep an eye out  

I will make a point of it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Pre-season and squad building. Jul 2021. 

While I really sped through the 1st campaign, this has been painfully slow going because I expect to be at this club for a while and there is lots to sort out. 

El Presidente sold our best player, (but I'm not that bothered actually and won't bother to even protest or ask him to negotiate). I had already negotiated and £56k + 25% + a friendly is plenty good enough for me. This was a slow but good striker remember. 

You have to keep in mind also that one of the things we are being judged on is selling players for a profit. Well Mujagić was signed on a free and we have sold him for £56k+ so it's a decent start. 

This next bit is just for me so I know what positions I no longer need to sign players for because I'm getting carried away. 

GK. 

Kršić
Aleksa Stupar

DL.

Dodig (SRB) 5'11" *
Janković

DR.

Vulić 6'0"
Edin Kovačević

DLC.

Panić (SRB) 5'11" *
Vrhovac 6'0" (1st choice right back). 

DRC.

Ivanović 6'4"
Hukara 6'4"

ML.

Šehić
Kenan Delić/Kahrimanović

MR.

Kažić (MNE)
Hadžibulić (SRB)

MLC.

Dubačkić (SRB)

MRC.

Zuna *
Popović (SRB)

SLC.

Plojović (SRB)
Klarić
Stipić (CRO)

SRC.

I need to find a DLF. What about a loan? 

Why do Montenegrans want so much in comparison to other Balkan Nationalities? Is Montenegro posh Balkan? 

Transfers. We signed no fewer than 15 players on free transfers. I won't show you all of them, but I will show you the 3 whom I signed who are showing as 5.0 PA. 

Pre-season. The 1st three games were played before my arrival. 

Expectations. All I care about is staying away from the bottom. 

91-1 on?  Have they got Messi & Ronaldo playing for them? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Goal-scoring GK's in this save. 

I had my GK on pens in the 1st season in Albania, (I think he scored about 6), but I'm actually not going to at this club. 

The main reason is that I am trying to sell players for a profit and the difference between a striker scoring 15 goals with 0 penalties and 20 goals with 5 penalties might be quite a lot. When I'm trying to generate interest and sell the players on this could be the difference. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Rules. Jul 2021. 

I remember falling foul of league rules in my Scandi save and I'm afraid it's going to be no different in the Balkans. 

Last season we had a Brazilian full back, (with no 2nd Nationality), and I was unable to field any FGN players at all. He was 1 of my highest earners and he only played 1 Cup game all season. 

We might have moved from Albania to Bosnia, (apologies by the way, but Bosnia is easier to write than Box & Herz), but we still have FGN rules to follow in the Federation of BiH First League. 

We can only have a max of 5 FGN players in each match squad and we already have 5 at the club. 

Yeah, this isn't going to be a problem at all. 

 

I really must pay more attention. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2021. 

I worked really hard in pre-season and this is my early reward. 

Federation of BiH First League. It's early days yet, but things are looking ok so far. Astonished to be sitting top of the pile at this stage. It will surely never last. We have a few issues in the squad that will take some ironing out and although we have decent players in most positions, there are a few square(ish) pegs in very round holes at the moment. 

Special mention should go to Kahrimanović who hasn't started any of our 4 games, but has appeared off the bench in all of them, scoring a late leveller against Orašje and then grabbing an even later winner against NK Vitez. He's very much a fringe player and is actually on the bench and in the squad as our left sided option, (despite being a righty). I don't like inverted players but I have had to make do with him. He's rewarding my..... faith shall we call it? Desperation is probably more accurate. 

[Jimbokav1971]

4 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Rules. Jul 2021. 

I remember falling foul of league rules in my Scandi save and I'm afraid it's going to be no different in the Balkans. 

Last season we had a Brazilian full back, (with no 2nd Nationality), and I was unable to field any FGN players at all. He was 1 of my highest earners and he only played 1 Cup game all season. 

We might have moved from Albania to Bosnia, (apologies by the way, but Bosnia is easier to write than Box & Herz), but we still have FGN rules to follow in the Federation of BiH First League. 

We can only have a max of 5 FGN players in each match squad and we already have 5 at the club. 

Yeah, this isn't going to be a problem at all. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I really must pay more attention. 

You wouldn't believe it, (ok, you would believe it), but I have just fallen foul of the rules again. 

1. You can only have 6x FGN players in a match squad. 

2. You need to have 3x U21 players in the match squad. 

3. You actually have to have 2x U21 players in the playing XI.  (I'm not sure if this means just the starting XI, or if when I try to take off an U21 player and replace him with an older player it will stop me). I love this rule and I really wish England would introduce something like it to help develop HG players. 

4. OMG!  You can use all 5 subs!  

[Edit]

While I really like these rules, (and the sub rules too), and it should greatly benefit us in the future as we start producing our own youngsters, at the moment it's a problem that we have to manage and overcome. 

Edited June 18, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[karanhsingh]

The U21 rule is there in the Turkish league as well, a recent addition. I agree with you, quite like it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2021. 

Federation of BiH First League. Our unbeaten run came to an abrupt end against pre-season favourites Sloboda Tuzla. This period coincided with us struggling with injuries and in particular struggling with fielding 3x U21 squad players and 2x U21 starters. We were significantly weakened but it's early days in the journey and it's to be expected. We're still over-achieving as far as I'm concerned. Anything that keeps us clear of a relegation battle is fine by me. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Oct 2021. 

Federation of BiH First League. After we lost last month when fielding a below-par team, we have bounced back with 13 from a possible 15 pts this month. 

Bosnian Cup. I rotated the whole squad for this Cup game, (the league is the priority at the moment), and we still ran out comfortable winners. 

The player I really want to highlight this month is Plojović (SRB) who scored 6 goals in 5 league games, (after only scoring 2 goals in his previous 8 games). He's still not quick enough for my liking, but he's more like the type of striker that I want to play on the left. He will certainly do a job for the time being. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Nov 2021. 

Federation of BiH First League. We're doing really well to be hanging in there, but we suffer our 2nd loss simply because we don't have strength in depth and when our decent youngsters are unavailable we just really struggle to cope. 

Bosnian Cup. I rotated the squad again in the Cup and we won more comfortably than 1-0 suggests. Wen have been drawn against a Tier 1 side, (we're top of Tier 2), so it will be interesting to see how we do up against them. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Dec 2021. 

Federation of BiH First League. We've really been struggling and have now lost the last 3 games. 

Transfers In. This is a perfect time to sign new players. Not in terms of injecting some some new blood into the squad, (which of course is much needed), but because it coincides with our run of 3 successive losses, caused directly by our best U21 players being injured and their replacements simply not being up to the standard needed for us to win games. I don't really know what level of player we will produce here via the intakes, (either now or after the facilities are improved), but the fact that the Youth Intake preview calls them "a very poor crop of players", probably gives us a decent indication. 

Marjanović (SRB) * is 19 and has 5.0 PA. I don't know if he will be good enough to feature in the Senior squad as an U21 player, bit I would certainly like to think so. He is 20 in Feb so I think he will just have next season to make an impact. I'm not completely convinced that we can develop him to the required standard by then. 

Kovačević (SRB) 6'6" * is younger at 17, so there is more time to develop him. He is of course another 5.0 player and what really makes him stand out is his 17 attribute for long throws. I am obviously training him in the possesses a long flat throw PPM. There is absolutely no question that this player is going to be good enough to feature for the Senior squad as an U21 player. To be honest, the required level is not very high at the moment. 

U21 players. 

It's not really good enough to look at these U21 players and simply judge them on PA as I normally would. I mean that's all well and good if they develop later, but what I'm looking at here specifically is players who will be able to play for us before the are 21, (because of the league rules). It's possible that players who might never develop fully will still be able to help us as U21 players. It's quite a new way of thinking because I can no longer just look at the end result and how to get there, but I also now need to consider where they will be at younger ages. 

I've listed the U21 players by CA and have broken them down individually. When "rating" or "judging" young players, all I usually care about is PA, but you can see here that now when I have to start looking at CA, they appear to be coming up a little short. 

Zuna * is brilliant and obviously well capable of playing senior football now. He has 4.0 CA and nobody at the club is rated higher. 

Dodig (SRB) 5'11" * has 3.5 CA and the only real issue is that he is lacking physicality. He's still well capable of stepping up though. 

Kovačević (SRB) 6'6" * is a new signing. 

Marjanović (SRB) * is a new signing. 

Bogdanović (SRB) is a little short of the required level, but he is also a left back and that makes him the 3rd DL in order of CA. I can only play 1 DL at a time. 

Darko Bujak. is a player who has a "." after his name indicating that I don't think he is ever going to be good enough to feature for the senior team. The thing is though, while he might not be good enough to feature in terms of CA, I might be forced to play him as an U21 player so I need to view him differently. 

Ristić (SRB) * is a player who was out on loan and who I recalled as soon as I knew what was going on with the U21 squad selection. His 5.0 PA means that even the old way I used to think makes him a player who would have been on my radar.

I'm not going to go further down the list, but you get the idea. I'm hoping that as we get a few seasons into the save at this club I will have a steady stream of players on the conveyor belt ready to make the step up. If you look at the above list, we only have 1x 21 year old, 1x 20 year old &1x 19 year old. If I can just get it to 2-3 players worth keeping each season then it should have an enormous impact on us even in the short term. 

Youth Intake preview. 

[Pompeyboyz]

Shame you had to lose the Scandi save but nice to see you back in the saddle again.  And in an area dear to my heart, specifically the Bulgarian area after my (in)famous FM Documentary appearance for the Bulgarian Honeymoon 

I was close to starting a new save in a similar style yesterday while watching Sweden vs Slovakia, and starting in Slovakia, but got drawn back to Tanks 

Looking forwards to seeing how you progress here 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Jan & Feb 2022. 

Federation of BiH First League. After losses in the league on the bounce, (albeit over a period of 4 months), we bounce back win a much needed win that somehow fires us back level on points with FK Sloboda Tuzla and HNK Orašje at the top of the table. 

Bosnian Cup. FK Velež Mostar are struggling in the top tier of Bosnian football, (the league above us), and are just outside the relegation zone. I changed my usual strategy and went with a full strength squad for this game because I wanted to see how we would do against a team from the M:tel Premijer Liga. (It turns out we did not too badly at all!) In the next round we play HNK Orašje who sit level with us on points near the top of the table. 

Edited June 19, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Mar 2022. 

Federation of BiH First League. We seem to have just run out of steam at the business end of the season. I can't really complain because I started the season saying I would be happy with anything that kept us away from a relegation battle. It's just a shame to be at the top for so long and then see it all fade away. 

Bosnian Cup. We strolled past HNK Orašje in the 5th round, but FK Željezničar Sarajevo, mid-table in the M:tel Premijer Liga were just too strong for us. Getting to the Qtr-Final while not playing in the top flight is a better than decent accomplishment though. 

Injury. Our 1st choice GK is out for the rest of the season and I think it means the end to not only our outside hopes of doing something ridiculous in the Cup, but also any hope we have of winning the league.  On the plus side, all 3 potential replacement keepers are U21 so it takes up 1 of our starting slots. 

His replacement Aleksa Stupar (SRB) came in and after only conceding 1 goal in 2 games, (a penalty), he was also ruled out.  We're now down to our 3rd choice GK. 

[john1]

Not doing too badly  Hopefully you can get a good youth intakes.

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Apr 2022. 

It's the 1st intake and I have no idea what to expect. 

It's not good. 

(22a) Guzijan (BIH) is top of the PA pile as far as PA is concerned, and while he's not great tackling, determination and jumping all decent is a good start. 

Top of the CA ranks is (22j) Vukomanović (BIH) (SRB) and he really doesn't look great. 

At least we know what the standard is now and we know we have to invest in the facilities. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Not doing too badly  Hopefully you can get a good youth intakes.

Yeah, better than decent start in the league that has fallen away. 

The less said about the intake the better I think. 

[Pompeyboyz]

Well the Youth Intake could have been a lot worse though 

Did you do much with your staff that might impact what their JPA and JPP ratings are?

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, Pompeyboyz said:

Well the Youth Intake could have been a lot worse though 

Could it? 

Seems pretty rubbish to me, but I suppose I was used to managing clubs in Scandiland who had pretty decent facilities. 

I've just looked and the Youth Rating is.... (hidden in case you don't want to see it). It's shown below if you do want to see it. 

In fact I think I will look at all the Youth Ratings so I know what to expect, (because at the moment I haven't a clue). 

Balkan Youth Ratings. (hidden for those who don't want to see).

Spoiler

124 Turkey
100 Serbia
98 Croatia
94 Greece
91 Romania
80 Kosovo
79 Slovakia
78 Slovenia
78 Bosnnia & Herzegovena 
72 Bulgaria
65 Albania
64 North Macedonia
60 Montenegro

I'm surprised that Kosovo is so high.
I'm also surprised that Montenegro us so low. 
24 point gap between Turkey and Serbia. That's enormous. is that right? 

 

[Pompeyboyz]

I think the default Youth Ratings are a little off and someone made a data file to make them a little more realistic. 

I'd imagine the YR in Scandi were a bit higher for the better nations. 

[Jimbokav1971]

22 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

I think the default Youth Ratings are a little off and someone made a data file to make them a little more realistic. 

I'd imagine the YR in Scandi were a bit higher for the better nations. 

Last year I spent a fair bit of time looking at the Youth Ratings. In the end they seemed more obviously flawed than the original SI ratings. It's a very subjective area. 

It's not just the Youth Ratings though, the facilities in Scandi are FAR better than Balkan clubs at a similar level, so if Youth Rating what is possible and facilities are 1 of the areas which allow you to get closer to what is possible, then obviously Scandi seems more conducive to generating decent players, (at lower levels at least). 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Apr 2022. 

Federation of BiH First League. With 2 games left it appears as if FK Budućnost are all but Champions. They are 6 points and 6 goals ahead of us and it's not even theoretically possible for anyone else top catch them. Runners Up is the best we can hope for, (but more than we dreamed of). Now let's see if we can clinch it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

End of Season Summary. NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. May 2022.

Federation of BiH First League.

Bosnian Cup. 

Squad by appearances. 

Awards. 

Top Goalscorer. 

Plojović (SRB) scored 16 goals in the season. 

Top assists. 

Erak (SRB) created 10 assists from the DLF position on the right of a front 2. 

Fans Player of the Season & Young Player of the Season. 

Ivanović 6'4" was a commanding presence at the back.

Finances. We lost approx. £91k this season, but only because there was approx. £300k invested into the club by the owners, (suggesting that there would have been a loss of approx. £400k this season). We're a little over our wage budget, but not by very much and it's not something I'm concerned with. 

Transfers. Only 1 player sold for a fee of £23,500. I will look to improve on that next season, (no matter who the player sold is). 

Facilities. 

I did try to get the coaching & recruitment upgraded, but the board weren't keen. 

Tracker. 

[Jimbokav1971]

European competition rankings. Jun 2022. 

Compare the above with the previously posted Youth Ratings, (which are again hidden for those of you who have no wish to see them). 

Spoiler

Turkey seem to not be as high as I would expect. 
Kosovo on the other hand should be higher. 

Obviously this doesn't count for FGN players at all which will obviously have an influence. 

 

[Pompeyboyz]

2 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

European competition rankings. Jun 2022. 

Compare the above with the previously posted Youth Ratings, (which are again hidden for those of you who have no wish to see them). 

  Reveal hidden contents

Turkey seem to not be as high as I would expect. 
Kosovo on the other hand should be higher. 

Obviously this doesn't count for FGN players at all which will obviously have an influence. 

 

I think that shows a bit of where a nation is more likely to import better players to improve the quality of the teams/leagues. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Reputation. Jun 2022. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, Pompeyboyz said:

I think that shows a bit of where a nation is more likely to import better players to improve the quality of the teams/leagues. 

Exactly. Just like the ranking of the English Premier League is a reflection on the Worldclass FGN talent that comes to play here, and in contrast there will be Nations with strict FGN player registration rules who don't.