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

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, Pompeyboyz said:

Your job search is more exciting than some careers 

 I was starting to think that I wasn't going to get another one. 

I was surprised that Zrinjski didn't want me back again. 

[Pompeyboyz]

4 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

 I was starting to think that I wasn't going to get another one. 

I was surprised that Zrinjski didn't want me back again. 

I bet Arad would have you back though 

[Jimbokav1971]

Interesting. Dec 2035. 

I was a tiny bit surprised that I didn't get the Lokomotiva Zagreb job and then really surprised when I didn't get the Zrinjski job. I was pretty surprised when I then also didn't get the Sutjeska job, but to not get the FK Inđija job is astonishing.  I've done well everywhere I've been and I now have a Continental A Licence. 

Although I have done quite well, @rrozek93pointed out recently that I have had some tough competition and in actual fact haven't won that much silverware. I've also not been managing at a level where I could hope for European success. 

All I've won is the following. 

Kategoria e Dytë (Albanian 3rd Tier). I thought it was the 2nd Tier at the time but it was actually the 3rd Tier. 
Republic of Srpska First League (Bosnian 2nd Tier).
Kup Bosne i Hercegovine (Bosnian Cup)
M:tel Premijer Liga (Bosnian Top Tier). 

I did really well in Romania, (I think), but ultimately choked when we had the chance to win the league and never won any silverware at all. 

I think I need to collect some silverware. 

[Jimbokav1971]

9 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

I bet Arad would have you back though 

I'm not completely sure. I really was surprised that Zrinjski didn't want me back. Finishing 2nd, 1st and 2nd there is the best that they have done in in the last 13 years and now they are rubbish and sit 9th. (I'm almost tempted to go somewhere else in Bosnia just to stick it to them). It doesn't really make sense to me, but maybe that's the cost of the resignation, and actually I have now resigned from 5 clubs. There were quite a few questions about me resigning when I was out of work. 

[Johnny-Trotter]

Is it possible that because you have resigned from the last few jobs, that clubs are thinking they might be 'next' for your resignation, even if you would be a good fit? I think I recall that resignations give a manager a reputation 'hit' and can make it harder to find the next job.

[Jimbokav1971]

10 minutes ago, Johnny-Trotter said:

Is it possible that because you have resigned from the last few jobs, that clubs are thinking they might be 'next' for your resignation, even if you would be a good fit? I think I recall that resignations give a manager a reputation 'hit' and can make it harder to find the next job.

If you had asked me yesterday I would have said that it makes absolutely no difference, but I think you might be right. 

There were lots of questions about my many resignations while I was unemployed so I think whatever kudos I have earned is also slightly reduced by each resignation. Having said that, if resigning has a negative impact, then I think that being sacked will have a more significant impact. The only thing that might not have this sort of impact is leaving when you are approached by another club. 

It doesn't make sense to me that I would get the Zrinjski job in 2029/30 but then, after guiding them to 2nd, 1st and 2nd, (as well as a Cup win and completely overhauling the finances and the facilities at the club), I then don't even make the shortlist in 2035, after finishing 2nd, 2nd, 2nd and 4th in Romania. 

In fact, let's test this out right now. 

• 1. Save game. 
• 2. Look at my reputation. Apologies but I don't know the difference between Current reputation 5,928, Home reputation 6,547 and World reputation 6,128. 
• 
• Resign.
• Look at reputation again. 
• 
• There is no change in reputation so let's progress 1 day and look again. 
• Progress 1 day. 
• Look at reputation again. 
• 
• So however it's affecting things, (if indeed it's affecting things), it's not linked to any of the 3 reputation values at all. To me that suggests that it's not affecting things. 
• My loyalty figure is still showing as 15 and that doesn't change. 
• I'm not sure what other ways the game has of recording things like this, but just as your record of media handling follows you about, this does too, (in my opinion). 
• Alternatively, maybe it's as simple as we appointed you before and you left, so the Chairman/Club has a negative personal score towards me, (that might impacrt my disliked/favoured status as a result of that.

No answers I'm afraid. Just more questions. 

[Pompeyboyz]

Maybe you need to progress further than just a day to see a change

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Dec 2035. 

They want me to reach the Playoffs rather than win the league as previously shown, (thank God). 

3 promotions and 4 relegations since the save began suggest this is pretty reasonable. 

"The Playoffs" means 2nd in this league, because the Playoffs are against the 2nd bottom team in the league above. 

When I delayed accepting the job 1 week ago we were 5th, but we have won since then and teams placed 3rd, 4th and 5th have all dropped points. 

Finances are ok but not great. We have a transfer kitty of £760,000 and are spending £39k of a £45k wage budget. 

The Facilities need some investment, but are probably decent for the level of club we are. 

CA. We have 3x players with 4.0 CA.

All 3 players are products of our Academy, (which is a good sign), and even better is that 2 of them have 5.0 PA. I don't understand why (31) Miran Ribič (SVN) * is loaned out if he's one of our best players, but maybe he's improved over the course of the season so far. 

PA. We have 9x players with 5.0 PA. 

6 of the 9 are products of our Academy which shows that we can produce quality, but 2 of the 3 that aren't from our Academy are 17 and 17 years old so there is obviously some decent scouting going on here. 

GK's. There are no less than 8 GK's at the club and as we only have a senior squad and an U19's squad, that's a bit overkill. I don't use a GK on the bench so I just don't need this many players. If they are young players we can loan out and sell for a profit further down the line then great, but if not then the wages are just wasted to my mind. 

DL. There are only actually 2 left backs at the club so I might need to look at what I can bring in. 

DC. We have a few centre-backs so it seems strange that we have one in on loan, (although he is better than our own). I can't send him back at the moment, and I think I will probably keep him until the end of the season because the deal has already been done and you never know, it could be the difference between finishing 2nd and 3rd. We won't be having any loans after this season though.

MC. We've got a few different options in the middle of the pitch and it's interesting that we have loaned out our best midfielder. I can only assume that he has benefitted from significant development while out on loan, (where he has played 17 games in the league above).

ML. I mentioned previously that we were short at left back and it would see that we are also short further forward. There are 5 on the list here, 2 of whom are "righties", and another of which, (31) Adrijan Brodnjak (SVN), who I might re-train to play at left back. 

MR. We're short on the right flank too at the moment. Čeh, Rozman, Horvat, Strajnar & Zupančič are strikers and Marinič  is a central player. That leaves just Bračko, Šabec and Dolinar, the latter 2 of which are injured. The good news here is that Šabec is inverted, (and looks decent), so when he is fit he might be important. 

SC. All the strikers are HG which is astonishing, (but I'm delighted). I will try to retrain some to fill the gaps out wide, but we do seem to have a few options here. 

[Jimbokav1971]

48 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

Maybe you need to progress further than just a day to see a change

Another good point. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2035. 

This isn't good. 

I was hoping for quite a lot better than that based on the HG talent that we already have at the club. I guess we will just have to wait and see what we get. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Jan & Feb 2036. 

Mid-season break. I know that friendlies don't mean anything, but it's still nice to see so many goals flying in. 

2. Slovenska Nogometna Liga. For a change I remembered to see what the rules were for this league. 

5 from 9 is great, but how do you get extra time in a league game, (but I suppose it means the Playoffs). 

It's not so good that U17's can't play though. 

On the plus side we're unbeaten, but we gave up a 2 goal lead against Rudar Velenje. 

Transfers. Nothing of any significance. The DoF signed 1 that I didn't veto and I sold 1 for £10k. 

Finances. 

Edited August 14, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Youth Intake Day. Mar 2036. 

It's really not a good intake. 

Edited August 14, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Mar 2036. 

2. Slovenska Nogometna Liga. 2 wins and 2 clean sheets keep is 2nd in Liga 2. 

Edited August 14, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Apr 2036. 

2. Slovenska Nogometna Liga. 2 more games and 2 more wins, but 2 goals conceded rather than 2 clean sheets this month, mean that the gap between us and top is now just 2 points. 

With 3 games to play, Tabor Sežana's form has dropped off a cliff and they have only taken 6 points from a possible 15 over the last 5 games. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. May 2036. 

2. Slovenska Nogometna Liga. Since I arrived we've remained unbeaten and won 9 of 11 games, taking 29 from a possible 33 points. Despite that, it wasn't enough and Tabor Sežana have hung on to pip us to the title by virtue of....... [goes to check]....... results between teams. They beat us 1-0 and 2-1 before my arrival. 

We're into the Playoffs, (which was the target when I took over).

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije Playoffs. In beating the team that finished 2nd bottom in the PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije, (both home and away I might add), it suggests that we should be quite capable of avoiding relegation from that league next season. There are no guarantees, but I'm quietly confident, even without a Summers worth of recruitment that will hopefully improve us. 

Records. We actually won 10 in a row. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper. End of Season Summary. May 2036. 

2. Slovenska Nogometna Liga. We took over during the Winter break and didn't lose a game after arriving. We missed out on the title by virtue if having a poorer head to head record, (both games played before my arrival), after finishing level on points with Tabor Sežana. We can't have done much more though. They took 19 points from a possible 33 after my arrival. We took 29 points over the same period. We closed a 10 point gap in just 11 games and it still wasn't enough. 

Squad by Appearances. 

3x 4.0 players. 

9x 5.0 players. 

Records. 

(25) Tomaž Rozman (SVN) is Mr Consistent in that he has hit double-figure goals in no less than 6 seasons, but he has still never really been prolific, with this season's 14 being his highest return. He will still be an important player for us as we try to develop young players around him. 

Finances. Money is tight and I expect it to get tighter still until we're playing in Europe. We've been given a modest budget for next season in the PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije and we will have to generate our own income by player sales between now and then. As our facilities aren't great, it could mean signing young players on a free and then selling them on for a profit and re-investing the money in facilities. 

Facilities. Our facilities aren't awful, but they are not going to allow us to compete with the big boys either. Let's say they are a decent starting point. 

Club culture/vision. 

• Develop players using the clubs youth system. This is my preferred way to play the game so absolutely no problems there, other than I'm not sure our facilities are currently good enough to produce many players capable of playing at the top level in Slovenia. HG players being given opportunities isn't going to be an issue. The level of their performances might be. 

• Play defensively solid football. We only kept 5 clean sheets from 13 games since my arrival. I think we have some work to do here but luckily it's importance is only favoured. 

• Play direct football. It's a good job that this is only favoured, because there is absolutely no way that we will be playing direct football. It just isn't going to happen.

• Play counter-attacking football. We're more of a counter-press team than a counter-attack team. We will attack, but I'm pretty sure that counter-attack is not something I will have ever said to the players. Again, it's a good reason it's only preferred. 

• Work within wage budget. This is a given. I rarely if ever over-spend and with money so tight and this "required" I won't be taking financial risks. 
• Grow the clubs reputation. This isn't something I prioritise, (although it is something I keep an eye on). It's something that happens if other things are successful. 
• Avoid relegation. I'm pretty confidant that we'll be able to do this based on the ease with which we navigated the Playoff games, (winning home and away).
• Develop the best youth system in the country. This is something that I can really get my teeth into over a number of seasons. 
• Work to becoming an established 1.SNL team. I don't think this will take long at all. 

Tracker. I changed the colour-coding on the chart to highlight how often my teams had finished as Runners Up in a competition and it's quite striking when that is shown with a yellow background. I also changed the way that my Resignations were being shown so that they stood out from Qualification for Europe/Promotion. It's open for debate whether this amount of coming close to winning yet still narrowly losing is a good or a bad thing. I personally think that almost all of it is each club over-achieving and we did well to even finish 2nd, (where as he 4th placed finish in 2034 was absolutely a complete and utter #BottleJob where we should have won the league. 

There has been a recent conversation about the relative merits of resigning without having a new job to go to and I have done that on a few different occasions in this save. I will be staying at this club until such time as I either get sacked, or I'm offered a new role while still employed here. I will not be resigning without already having secured another job. 

[Johnny-Trotter]

8 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

There has been a recent conversation about the relative merits of resigning without having a new job to go to and I have done that on a few different occasions in this save. I will be staying at this club until such time as I either get sacked, or I'm offered a new role while still employed here. I will not be resigning without already having secured another job. 

 

I find there is usually no harm in letting your contract run down/expire - unless you are really underperforming. Clubs will tend to keep you on a rolling contract and then if you do see a job you want to go for, there will be no compensation for the new club. You will also be poached rather than resigning which I think is the basis of the reputation hit I was referencing before.

[Jimbokav1971]

European Competition rankings. Slovenia. Jun 2036.

[Jimbokav1971]

Strict. FC Koper, Slovenia. Jul 2036. 

This seems a bit extreme doesn't it. 

1 yellow. 
2 yellows. 
3 yellows 
4 yellows. 1 match ban. 
5 yellows.
6 yellows. 
7 yellows. 1 match ban. 
8 yellows. 
9 yellows. 1 match ban. 
10 yellows. 1 match ban.
11 yellows. 1 match ban.
12 yellows. 1 match ban.
13 yellows. 1 match ban.

(22) Darko Želko (SVN) 6'1" received 10 yellows last season, so was banned on 4 occasions. 

The most in the whole league was also 10, from 27 appearances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Reputation Jul 2036. 

5,940 Maribor 
5,531 Mura
5,451 Olimpija
5,171 Domžale
5,114 Bravo
5,039 Aluminij
5,035 Celje
5,011 Nafta
4,721 Koper

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad depth. FC Koper, Slovenia. Jul 2036. 

GK. Seniors.

Alen Vörös (SVN)
Matevž Zupan (SVN)
(33) Uroš Bokal (SVN)

GK. Not needed. 

(32) Bojan Pušnik. (SVN) SELL
Andraž Vidaković. (SVN) SELL

GK. U19's.

Goran Kondić (SVN) *
(36f) Avbelj (SVN)

DL. Seniors. 

Lirim Bekteshi (SVN) (KVX)
Jožef Rogač (SVN)

DL. Not needed. 

DL. U19's.

(36i) Vučković. (SVN)
(36n) Mesarič. (SVN)

DR. Seniors.  I really don't need 4 right backs in the senior squad, but I have a little project going on at the minute with the 4th player and long throws.

Željko Kalinić (CRO) 6'1"
Boris Marinič (SVN)
(33) Aleksander Nemec (SVN)
Jože Cener (SVN) 6'5" L.Throw

DR. Not needed. 

Anže Vidovič (SVN)

DR. U19's.

(36j) Leskovar. (SVN)
(35) Andraž Prelec (SVN) 5'10"

DC. Seniors. 

(25) Seb Horvat (SVN) 6'4"
(22) Darko Želko (SVN) 6'1"
(32) Nejc Lenošek (SVN) 6'7"
(30) Janez Krajnc (SVN)

DC. Not needed. 

Damjan Horvat (SVN) 6'0"
(31) David Mohar (SVN) 6'1"

DC. U19's.

(33) Tadej Gasser (SVN) 6'0"
(36c) Vidmar. (SVN)
(36h) Košnik. (SVN)

MC. Seniors. 

(31) Miran Ribič (SVN) 5'9" *
(26) Andrej Pušnik (SVN)
(30) Matic Sreš (SVN)
Andraž Eržen (SVN)
Žiga Marjanović (SVN)
(33) Roman Pörš (SVN) *

MC. Not needed. 

(29) Mario Marinič (SVN)

MC. U19's.

(35) Branko Magdič (SVN)
(33) Matej Čeh (SVN)
(36a) Prelec (SVN)
(34) Črt Lesjak. (SVN)
 (34) Vanja Kanalec (SVN)
(36d) Krivec. (SVN)
(36k) Vučković (SVN)
(35) Aleš Mlinarič. (SVK)
(35) Chris John. (SVN) (NGA)

ML. Seniors. 

Tadej Peša (SVN)
Matija Kuzmič (SVN)
(31) Adrijan Brodnjak (SVN)
 

ML. Not needed. 

ML. U19's.

(33) Marko Kuzma (SVN)
(35) Miha Ljubec (SVN) *
(36o) Dobaj. (SVN)
(36g) Gobec. (SVN)

MR. Seniors. 

(32) Petar Bračko (SVN) *
(34) Denis Šabec (SVN) *
David Dolinar (SVN) *
(29) Nick Strajnar (SVN) MR

MR. Not needed. 

MR. U19's.

(36b) Kovacevic. (BIH) (SRB)

SC. Seniors. 

(32) Anej Čeh (SVN) *
(25) Tomaž Rozman (SVN)
(30) Gašper Potokar (SVN)
(32) Danijel Krajnc (SVN)
(30) Adam Vinko (SVN)

SC. Not needed. 

SC. U19's.

(34) Igor Zupančič (SVN)
(36l) Horvat. (SVN)
(36p) Vörös. (SVN)
(36m) Jerič (SVN)

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Jul 2036. 

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. I've spent a lot of time winning in this save, (60% win rate & 20% draw rate), so losing isn't something that I have had to get too used to. The 2 teams we played at home this month finished 1st and 2nd last season and the other game was away and I don't expect to win too many of them this season. Key to our success, (of not finishing bottom), is winning our home games against those around us. So that means against Tabor Sežana, Bravo, Aluminij, Nafta and Celje. We play eachother 4 times, so just beating each of those 5 teams twice will give us 10 wins and 30 points. 26 points would have been enough to not finish bottom last season and 30 points enough to not finish bottom in each of the last 8 seasons. Any time we lose at home to one of these 5 teams, that's points we need to win somewhere else. 

On the plus side we scored in all 3 games and the 1st 2 games were quite close. All in all I'm quite happy despite the 3 losses. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Sep 2036. 

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. Before the season started I looked at the fixtures, (we play each team 4 times), and decided that beating the poorest 5 teams at home, twice, would give us 30 points and 30 points should be plenty good enough to finish 2nd bottom and take us into the relegation Playoff, which is the board expectation. Although I say 30 points from 10 home games, it's really just a guide and I expect us to fail to pick up points in some of these games and pick up games in others. 

While that all sounds great on paper, when you lose all 3 games in August and then lose the opener in September, I would be lying if I didn't start to worry. 

The 1st of these highlighted 10 games came against Tabor Sežana and luckily we had earned our 1st point in the previous game with an away draw against Olimpija. While we didn't manage to get our 3 points against Tabor Sežana, a draw and then a 3rd draw in succession in the following game against Nafta meant that we were still on schedule for our 30 point haul. The crunch came in the last game of the month where we would play another "targeted" Home game against Celje, 1 of the 5 expected to struggle, and we responded with our 1st win to again keep us right on our 30 point target, (with 6 points from 2 targeted games). 

It takes us out of the bottom 2, (on goal difference), but we're the 2nd top scorers in the league after 8 games, (with 13 goals), so if we can just shore things up at the other end we should be laughing. Either way, we've gone from 4 losses at the start of the season, to 4 games without defeat, so things are certainly looking up. 

Transfers. 2 players left as their contracts expired and then 2 more left for nominal fees. (33) Marko Kuzma (SVN) I was happy to keep, but also wasn't going to turn down £100k for him. He's a right footed left winger who wasn't the best youngster so I decided to cash in on him. 

Tadej Peša (SVN) came in on a free because I thought he would improve us. 2 goals and 2 assists in 8 assists suggest that he's done just that. 

(30) Matic Sreš (SVN) was signed on a free, largely because he was a product of our Academy if I'm honest. 

The DoF kept trying to make loan signings close to deadline day and after vetoing about 6, I suddenly thought I quite liked the look of young Sacer (BIH), so accepted the deal. He rewarded my faith by coming off the bench and scoring the opener in our 1st win of the campaign. 

Blaž Papež (SVN) is a 2nd DoF loan signing who came in on deadline day. I basically looked at his physicals, said "you'll do for me", and he scored the 2nd goal to secure our 1st win of the season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

National Team production. Sep 2036. 

This suggests that Maribor have most of the players coming through their Academy, but I wonder if the players come through at various Academies and then get bought by Maribor so show as being HG at club there? 

These are the 9 they have produced. 

In actual fact Maribor did actually produce 8 of the 9 from their Academy, and it was only Branko Zupan who came through elsewhere and was then signed by them. That's pretty dominant from them. I wonder what their facilities are like. 

That's a tough challenge to overcome, but that's the goal.

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Sep 2036.

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. We collected our 1st away win of the season against 2nd placed Mura, (obviously not a targeted game), before winning our 3rd targeted game against Bravo. (Bravo indeed!) It means that we're up to 7th in the league, with 12 points when the target is only 9.

Hervis Pokal (Slovenian Cup). Brinje are in the 3rd tier so we were expected to win. There will be tougher tests to come. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1. SNL Player Development. Oct 2036. 

While we might not have produced many Internationals, our Academy certainly seems well capable of playing at the top level here in domestic competition. (We will ignore the fact that most of these 30 are still at the club and if truth be told probably not good enough for this level).

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Nov 2036. 

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. We were absolutely hammered by Maribor and how Domžale only scored 1 goal is one of life's great mysteries, but we bounced back in style to take all 3 points at Olimpija which wasn't a targeted game. As a result we finish the month in 7th place and have 15 points when the target is only 9.  We have 2 targeted games next month and in fact all 4 are against targeted clubs, (although we are not targeting away games for points at this stage). 

Hervis Pokal. I mentioned that Domžale battered us in the league and they really did despite it only being 1-0. I opted to rest the whole squad, (including GK), because 3 days later there is an away trip to Tabor Sežana who pipped us to the league title last season. We're away so I'm not expecting any points, but I have a sneaking suspicion that we might just get some. There will be plenty of time to be competitive in the Cup in the future. This season is all about the league and survival. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Nov 2036.

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. Although the aim this season was always just to avoid relegation, I was always hopeful that at some point we might be able to look upwards rather than downwards. With 4 wins from 4 this month, (from only 2 targeted games), I think we can put to bed any lingering concern over relegation and admit that there is a slim possibility of a European position finish. The 5 clubs I had targeted are the bottom 5 in the league now, but I think it's pretty competitive between that middle group of Tabor, Aluminij, Olimpija and ourselves. We've lost to Tabor this season, (and they pipped us to the title last season), but we have also beaten 2nd placed Mura too. We lost our opening 4 games of the campaign, and it took us 8 games to record our 1st win, but we've won 8 of 11 since winning and are the form side in the league. 

Next month we play 4 games and 3 of them are against the top 3, so it will be interesting to see where we sit after that. Either way, I'm pretty sure we don't have to worry about relegation anymore. 

[RoguPL]

3 points gap from 3rd to 7th so anything is possible. European football is on the cards this season, as well as 7th . 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, rrozek93 said:

3 points gap from 3rd to 7th so anything is possible. European football is on the cards this season, as well as 7th . 

I'm sure we won't keep winning, (next month we play the top 3), but I'm quietly confidant that we will turn over the weaker teams and at least be in the mix. Olimpija are the team that worries me most. 

Again though, after a tough start we're doing well, but again there is going to be no silverware on the cards. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Dec 2036. 

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. I knew it was going to be a tough month, but I wasn't expecting only 1 loss. I think I'm correct in saying that we have beaten every team in the league now, (other than Maribor who we have drawn with). 

Youth Intake preview. I'm not overly bothered which players come through good at this stage, just so long as some do. 

This suggests that it might be a Golden Generation and in particular we might have a full back, and a DM. 

New contract. They are offering me a new 3 year contract, (which is great), but the idea that we can build the best Youth System in the Country by the end of next season is ridiculous. Even if I had an unlimited supply of money, the upgrades just don't happen that quick. 

This is where we are right now. 

There is where we have to get to. 

It's just not possible to get there by the end of next season. 

[RoguPL]

Nice, Looks like Olimpja is a threat for EC place now. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Jan & Feb 2037.

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. We have struggled after the Winter break and taken just 1 point from 2 close matches. As a result we have dropped to 5th behind both Olimpija and Domžale.

Mura & Maribor seem to be having a competition between themselves at the top. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, rrozek93 said:

Nice, Looks like Olimpja is a threat for EC place now. 

Assuming that the Cup is won by 1 of the top 2, all I have to do is finish ahead of just 1 of either Olimpija or Domžale.

The 4 above is are the 4 in the Semi's. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake Day. Mar 2037. 

We were teased with the suggestion of a Golden Generation but of course it's nothing of the sort and I'm significantly underwhelmed. Yeah we've got 1x 5.0 player, but I think we have to take that with a pinch of salt. Additionally, the CA of our best players isn't great at the moment so the level against which these players are being judged is quite low. We desperately need some upgrades. 

1x 5.0 PA player and 1x 4.5 PA player. 

The top 2 players from the intake have been shown. They're not completely rubbish, but they're not great either. 

Club vision/culture. This is a bit of a mixed bag. We're conceding too many goals and we crashed out of the Cup, (I fielded a weakened side to concentrate on the league). 

We're in the middle of a tough spell on the pitch but we've just beaten Maribor away so I'm nor sure how they can be disappointed with results on the pitch. 

In any case I think we're doing well and I'm going to try and force through another couple of upgrades. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Mar & Apr 2037. 

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. Just 2 losses in 2 months from 9 games puts us in a really strong position in the league and we find ourselves with a mammoth 15 and 16 point gap over Domžale and Aluminij in 5th and 6th. With just 3 games remaining, you would think that European football is all but secured, but because Domžale are in the Cup Final against Maribor they will take the 4th European spot if they win the Final. We have to beat Olimpija to 3rd to be sure of European football. 

U19's. I'm not managing the U19's so this isn't a big deal, but it does act as an interesting way to track our Youth development. The suggestion based on the league is that we're doing ok, but we've just lost in the Cup to a team 4 places below us. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. May 2037.

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. We won our last 3 games to secure a brilliant 3rd placed finish, but actually the pressure was off as Maribor beat Domžale in the Cup Final so the 4th European spot went to the league. 

[RoguPL]

18 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

FC Koper, Slovenia. May 2037.

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. We won our last 3 games to secure a brilliant 3rd placed finish, but actually the pressure was off as Maribor beat Domžale in the Cup Final so the 4th European spot went to the league. 

Very nice.

The table is well split with the points. 11 points between 2nd and 3rd.  13 points between 4th and 5th. 10 points between 6th and 7th. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. End of Season Summary. May 2037.

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. I am absolutely ecstatic to finish 3rd. It hugely exceeded my expectations. When you consider that we lost the opening 4 games, and had 0 wins in the opening 7 games, the truth is that our form after those 7 games was title winning form!  We took 3 points from a possible 21 at the start of the season and after 7 points Champions Mura were already on 16 points, (so 13 points ahead). They only finished 13 points ahead of us at the end of the season so that's the gap. I Know we will be playing in Europe next season so will have to rotate, but I can't see any way that we don't qualify for Europe again even trying yo prioritise Europe in the early stages. 

If you remember back to the start of the season, my points target to finish 9th, (2nd bottom), was 30 points, and this has been shown to be spot on as Celje finished bottom on 20 points. Thankfully we didn't have to worry about that after we found our feet. 

Hervis Pokal. I prioritised the league and make absolute no apologies for doing so. I doubt we will be doing so again next season though. 

Squad by Appearances. It's great that the 2 players who played the most games for us are products of our Academy, but I'm not sure that we're producing players of their quality at the moment so we need to invest more in the infrastructure. 

(26) Andrej Pušnik (SVN) really came of age as he returned assist figures that were double his previous best. 

2x 4.0 CA players.  It's brilliant that the 2 best players at the club are both products of our Academy. Love it! 

(32) Anej Čeh (SVN) * alternated between AF on the left and DLF on the right depending on which other strikers were available. His strength is his sheer athleticism and his dribbling ability. 

11x 5.0 PA players. 7 of the 11x 5.0 players at the club are products of the Academy and there seems to be a little bit of a production line starting to form if we can just give it a helping hand by boosting the facilities. 

Records. I know (25) Tomaž Rozman (SVN) is the club all-time record goal-scorer and has finished as top goal-scorer at the club 8 of the last 9 seasons, but I think we can do better in his position. I'm not going to just cast him off immediately, but I will be looking to improve and this is 1 area I have targeted. 

Finances. 4 of the 5 best selling shirts are for products of our Academy. We're desperate for European prize money though. 

The board appear to have cut the wage budget from £73,142 per week, (or £3.9M pa), to £71,500 pw. (or £3.7M). When I will need a bigger squad to try and compete in Europe, this isn't ideal but I can understand their thinking because of the financial situation. We will have to generate our own money. 

Facilities. We can't ask for Junior Coaching or Youth Recruitment upgrades because it's too soon after the last upgrade, and we can't afford Youth Facilities or Training Facilities so instead I have asked that they send me on my last coaching course and find us an Affiliate club. 

They are searching for a Junior Affiliate but wouldn't agree to me doing my final Coaching badge. Maybe after I have stuck around a little longer they will change their minds. 

Club culture/vision. This doesn't make sense to be. The goal was to finish 9th in the league and we somehow finished 3rd and qualified for Europe. How can our reputation not have been boosted by this? 

If I hover of "failed" this is what I see. 

So it's telling me that we have failed, but they are actually delighted with me because it has risen? 

I know I recorded our reputation so let's see what it was in Jul 2036, (almost 1 year ago). 

And what is it now? 4,833 (a rise of 112 which is quite decent actually when you consider that we binned off the Cup and weren't playing in Europe). So anyway, let's ignore that. 

Tracker. Really pleased with the progress made this season. Not sure what my expectations should be for next season. Certainly qualifying for Europe again, but not sure how far we might progress in the Euro Conference. It really depends how kind the draw is to us. 

Edited August 18, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

9 hours ago, rrozek93 said:

Very nice.

The table is well split with the points. 11 points between 2nd and 3rd.  13 points between 4th and 5th. 10 points between 6th and 7th. 

Yeah, I think the gaps might be bigger than we would normally see because any differences in quality are highlighted by the fact that we play eachother 4 times rather than twice. 

The salary per annum suggests that things probably should be closer, but with HG players generally costing less in terms of wages, the clubs with better Youth Facilities might be benefiting in the long term. 

I often quite like looking at the "Net transfer spend", (the SPEND column). A red figure means that we have brought in more than we have spent, (we have saved which is the opposite of spend so it's in red), and it;s interesting that only 2 clubs have spent more than they have brought in. Tabor Sežana were promoted as Champions so you might expect that this was them attempting to improve the squad to stay in the Division, (and it worked). NK Celje on the other hand might have brought in £3.1M in profit from tranbsfers, but they also finished rock bottom of the league. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Jun 2037. 

European Competition rankings. 

European Club rankings. 

Reputation. 

We're up to 6th from 9th. 

This it what it was. 

This it what it is now. 

5,895 Maribor (-45) Finished 2nd in the league and won the Cup as well as getting to the Group stages of the Europa League. 
5.690 Mura (+159) League Champions. Knocked out in 3rd Qual Rnd of Euro Conference. 
5,427 Olimpija (-24) Knocked out in 4th Qualifying Round of Euro Conference. 
5,280  Domžale (+109) Runners Up in the Cup and knocked out in 4th Qualifying Round of Euro Conference. 
5,048 Aluminij (+9)
5,008 Koper (+287) That's a pretty impressive increase when you consider that we weren't playing in Europe last season and we threw the Cup in the 2nd Round. 

Sponsorship. 

Edited August 18, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad depth. FC Koper, Slovenia. Jul 2037.

I'm planning on running a bogger squad this season to cope with the European campaign. It's a bit of a risk because the European campaign could be over pretty quickly, but as long we we stay under budget then I'm fine with whatever happens. I will be trying to buy teenagers as usual, but especially at centre-half we're pretty weak and could do with quality no matter the age. 

The whole squad management thing is a little more awkward here in Slovenia because we only have an U19 squad and a Senior squad. There is no Reserves or B Team or anywhere else to play. The problem with this is obviously that often players are not ready for Senior football at 19 and even if they have high potential, they need somewhere to play to allow them to develop that potential into ability. Of course we can loan these players out, but there are only 10 teams in the top tier in Slovenia and another 16 in the 2nd tier, (so 26 teams in playable leagues). What I'm getting at is that there is a barrier between youth football and senior football, and not just at our club but across the whole of Slovenia. The best players will of course be able to go straight from U19's to Seniors, but the late developers will be stunted at best and at worst..... 

The rules are pretty strict for the U19's league and you aren't allow to play anyone over the age of 19. Even if you could, would you want to? Every time I would select an overage player in an U19 squad, I would effectively be stunting the growth of one of the next generation. 

GK Seniors.
Alen Vörös (SVN)
Kondić (SVN) *
(33) Uroš Bokal (SVN) LOAN
Matevž Zupan (SVN) LOAN

GK Not needed. 

GK U19's.
(37b) Stanković (SVN) *
(36f) Avbelj (SVN)

DL Seniors.
Lirim Bekteshi (SVN) (KVX)
Jožef Rogač (SVN)

DL Not needed. 

DL U19's.
(37e) Milić. (CRO) SELL
(36n) Mesarič. (SVN) SELL
(36i) Vučković. (SVN) SELL

DR Seniors. 
Željko Kalinić (CRO) 6'1"
(33) Aleksander Nemec (SVN)
Boris Marinič (SVN) Remove PPM
Jože Cener (SVN) 6'5" L.Throw (Has L.Throws 15 + L.Throw PPM).

DR Not needed. 
Bulut (BIH)
Anže Vidovič (SVN) SELL

DR U19's.
(37c) Kurež (SVN)
(36j) Leskovar. (SVN)

DC Seniors.
Prenga (ALB) (CRO) * 6'0"
(25) Seb Horvat (SVN) 6'4"
Jasmin Sikira (BIH)
Milan (SVN)
(28) Robert Vršič (SVN) 5'11"
(22) Darko Želko (SVN) 6'1"
(30) Janez Krajnc (SVN)

DC Not needed.
(31) David Mohar (SVN) SELL

DC U19's.
(37g) Kralj (SVN)
(36h) Košnik. (SVN)
(36c) Vidmar. (SVN)
(37f) Horvat. (SVN)

MC Seniors.
(31) Miran Ribič (SVN) 5'9" *
(33) Roman Pörš (SVN) *
Žiga Marjanović (SVN)
(30) Matic Sreš (SVN)
(26) Andrej Pušnik (SVN)
Andraž Eržen (SVN)
Kljajić (SVN)

MC Not needed. 
(29) Mario Marinič (SVN) SELL
(34) Vanja Kanalec (SVN) LOAN
(33) Matej Čeh (SVN) LOAN
(35) Chris John. (SVN) (NGA)

MC U18's.
Zoran Božič (SVN) *
(36a) Prelec (SVN) *
(37a) Pfeifer (SVN)
(37l) Žižmond (SVN)
(35) Branko Magdič (SVN)
(35) Aleš Mlinarič. (SVK)
(36d) Krivec. (SVN)
(36e) Oblak. (SVN)
(37p) Benkovič. (SVN)
(37k) Kozar. (SVN)
(36k) Vučković. (SVN)

ML Seniors. 
(35) Miha Ljubec (SVN) *
Tadej Peša (SVN)
Božič (SVN)

ML not needed.
Matija Kuzmič (SVN) (33 years old and out of contract). 
Dušan Belec

ML U19's.
(37o) Potočnik. (SVN)
(37m) Zupan. (SVN)
(36g) Gobec. (SVN)
(37n) Hozjan. (SVN)
(36o) Dobaj. (SVN)

MR Seniors. (Inverted).
Blaž Papež (SVN)
(34) Denis Šabec (SVN) *
(32) Petar Bračko (SVN) *
(29) Nick Strajnar (SVN) MR

MR Not needed. 
David Dolinar (SVN) SELL

MR U19's.
(37j) Macura (SVN)
(37h) Zupan. (SVN)
(36b) Kovacevic. (BIH) (SRB)

SC Seniors.
(32) Anej Čeh (SVN) *
(30) Gašper Potokar (SVN)
(25) Tomaž Rozman (SVN)
(32) Danijel Krajnc (SVN)

SC Not needed.
(30) Adam Vinko (SVN) SELL

SC U19's.
Romeo Doda (MKD) *
(36m) Jerič (SVN)
(37i) Brumen. (SVN)
(36l) Horvat. (SVN)
(36p) Vörös. (SVN)

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Jul 2037.

Pre-season.  We only had 1 friendly scheduled for a 2 and a half week pre-season so I crammed 2 proper games into that and then squeezed in 3 more games against our U19's. The problem with that is that when the Senior Team plays, there is no training on that day for anyone in the senior squad, so there is a balance between gaining match fitness and actual training. If you are playing Mon and Wed, (and then have a league game at the weekend), then there is almost no time for training, and the key as we know is to have enough of both. This happened last season to and I assumed that it was my fault and that I hadn't been paying attention, but it happened again this season. I will have to be careful at this stage next season to see how I can manage the situation better. We simply can't afford to give away points early in the season and of course it has a disastrous impact on our European form.

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. We started off ok with an away win and a clean sheet, (albeit against weak opposition), but then we suffered 2 losses against stronger opposition. The reason for our early season struggles is that we're not getting a proper pre-season on so aren't physically up to it in the early games. 

Europe. We crashed out at the 1st hurdle to the Bulgarians. We weren't really even that competitive

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Aug 2037.

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. We lost to Maribor, (as you would expect), but other than that we had a much better month, largely against weaker opposition. I'm hoping that we should be up to speed now as far as squad match fitness is concerned. 

We're up to 5th  in the league, (with a 4 point gap to 6th), and I hope we'll really push on now for the rest of the season. 

Transfers. We only paid a fee for 2 players and both of them are U19 players for the future. 

Finances. We only have a small amount in the bank after spending £350k on young players, but we still have a transfer budget of £740k that I probably won't be spending in order to keep us in the black. I'm still waiting until I can upgrade the Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment, and I don't want to upgrade the more expensive Facilities until we can afford it. 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Sep 2037.

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. We scored 10 goals in 3 games, (which is brilliant), but we also conceded 10 goals in 3 games, (which is less brilliant). I suppose I should be glad that we didn't just get 3 draws. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Oct 2037. 

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. Losing to Maribor isn't a huge deal, but losing to Rudar Velenje is a flipping enormous deal. Not happy at all. We're now 5 points behind Olimpija and Aluminij. 

1.SNL player development. We're not selling many HG players to other 1.SNL clubs, but I expect that to change over the next few years. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Job Offer. Nov 2037. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Nov 2037.

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. AN unbeaten month, but not a good month. We've dropped to 6th and are 6 points off 2nd.

[Jimbokav1971]

FC Koper, Slovenia. Dec 2037.

PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije. We're really blowing hot and cold at the moment. I feel like there is some aquaplaning going on and I'm just getting through to when I can upgrade the facilities and then the next intake.

Youth Intake preview. A Golden Generation? I will believe it when I see it. 

[Thebaker]

looking like slovenia could be a tough place to manage