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

[karanhsingh]

1 hour 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. 

 

There's a lot of youth ratings that don't make sense tbh, including the likes of Colombia and Mexico in South America. 

Here I'd argue turkey is way too high, this is close to the likes of England and Belgium isn't it? 

Recently I've been using an edited file for this. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Pre-season. Jul 2022. 

Friendlies. 

Expectations. I told the squad I just want a top half finish, (no pressure), but the board want a top 3 finish. I want to win the league with a bit to spare. 

Season preview. I was a bit confused when we were shown as favourites to win the league, but it appears that we have been shunted sideways from the Federation of BiH First League that we played in last season, to the Republic of Srpska First League which is at the same level, (Tier 2). We certainly wouldn't have been favourites in the other league so this might be a bit of a result. 

Transfers. Not interested in spending any money and anyone coming in will have to be decent, but happy to sell anyone for a bit of cash. Lots of replacements available on a free I think. 

Although this says that there have been no cash sales this season, there were 2 more sales that were made at the beginning of the close-season that were included in last season's transfers. 

You had already seen the Mujagić deal to Sarajevo, but they have also signed someone else. 

Dodig (SRB) 5'11" * was a player I didn't want to sell, but they offered £20k rising to £60k so away he goes. (Needless to say we also get 25% of his re-sale value and a friendly. 

TV rights. The TV cash doesn't stretch very far in this league. 

Edited June 19, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

9 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

There's a lot of youth ratings that don't make sense tbh, including the likes of Colombia and Mexico in South America. 

Here I'd argue turkey is way too high, this is close to the likes of England and Belgium isn't it? 

Recently I've been using an edited file for this. 

Yeah, I know you're not alone. I'm not convinced though. 

You are changing just 1 thing, (Youth rating), based only on the quality of players you think should be generated, despite the fact that Youth rating isn't the only thing that impacts on the generation of youth players. When I looked at this I decided that until the time that either I or someone else could come up with a better way to do the whole package, (because that's what we're after), then I would leave it as is. Each to their own though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Aug 2022. 

Republic of Srpska First League. We've started the season strongly and we're finishing games very strongly. Of the 13 goals we have scored so far this season, 10 of them have been scored in the 2nd half of games, 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Sep 2022. 

Republic of Srpska First League. I can maybe accept losing away from home, (especially when we were 4-0 down at one point), but we can't be losing at home if we want to win the league.

[Jimbokav1971]

Job Interview #1. NK Zvijezda Gradačac, Bosnia. Oct 2022.

So they basically think I'm the cheap option? 

NK Zvijezda Gradačac sit 6th in the Federation of BiH First League. Their wage budget is less than ours though so why on Earth would I join them? I'm not at all interested in this job. 

Interview declined. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Oct 2022. 

Republic of Srpska First League. We're really inconsistent at the moment and I think it comes from having young players across the back 4. We are fine going forward, but we are just conceding too many goals. I need to fix this before we lose the chance of the title. 

Bosnian Cup. No problem in the 2nd Round of the Cup. 

[hrmantovani]

Nice concept, will definitely follow this one! Might even start a new save like this one. Do you think the lack of bigger playable leagues would be an issue regarding transfers in a far future?

[karanhsingh]

The league system is really confusing. There are two parallel second divisions? 

[Jimbokav1971]

7 hours ago, hrmantovani said:

Nice concept, will definitely follow this one! Might even start a new save like this one. Do you think the lack of bigger playable leagues would be an issue regarding transfers in a far future?

Thanks very much. 

I've played long term saves with single Nations only such as Iceland and Gibraltar so I don't think it's going to be an issue. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

The league system is really confusing. There are two parallel second divisions? 

Yes there are and I didn't notice at first. 

Based on my experiences so far, (I beat 1 club from the league above and lost narrowly to losing finalists and the Cup winners finished below us in the 2nd tier), I think there is very little difference in quality between the tiers, (at this stage). Obviously as the save progresses I expect this gap to widen. 

[Jimbokav1971]

I realised that I forgot to mention a few things. 

1. I'm using the FM21 Rensie Dark Skin which can be found on Steam. There are a couple of tiny little things that I don't like about it, but all in all it's brilliant and obviously utilises an IR button. 

2. The edited database's I'm using in this save were all created by Riddler and so far I have no complaints and they seem excellent. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

I wouldn't mind but the keeper was hardly even off his line. That's an absolute belter! 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Nov 2022. 

Republic of Srpska First League. I'm really not happy with how things are going in the league. We're just not "clicking" and I can't quite put my finger on why. We're poorer at the back when I think we are actually stronger than last season, and we're not as good up front despite adding more quality. I think I need to make some changes. 

Bosnian Cup. When you concede a goal like this, there isn't really an awful lot to say. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Dec 2022. 

Republic of Srpska First League. This is a little better, but we probably need to go close to unbeaten between now and the end of the season. 

Youth Intake preview. We're not going to get anything good until we get our facilities up. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Jan & Feb 2023. 

Republic of Srpska First League. 4 wins on the bounce is enough to fire us back to the top of the league, but they are narrow wins despite the fact that we're dominating games. We need to be more clinical or we're going to slip up. 

Facilities. Our bank balance was in credit again so I asked to upgrade both the Junior Coaching and the Youth Recruitment. 

I tried to get them to change their mind on both; and although I didn't have any luck with the Junior Coaching, I had success of sorts with the Youth Recruitment. 

Something happened that I hadn't experienced before and at the end of the conversation they asked me to prove myself to them by giving opportunities to Young Players in the 1st Team, and in return, (if I was successful), they would agree to upgrade the Youth Recruitment. The only problem, (and I'm afraid that I don't have a picture), is that they told me that my job would be at risk if I wasn't successful.  

It doesn't appear as part of the club vision of 5 year plan though, so I'm not really sure what's going on. 

Something else I've noticed is that we are currently trying to get planning permission for a 1,520 seat stadium. 

As we already have a 3,000 capacity stadium that seems a little strange, but maybe it a standing/seats thing. I've just checked though and terracing is allowed in both the Tier 2 leagues and even the Top Tier so really not sure what's going on. 

Transfers. 

I had a number of teams come in for Adi Zuna. 6'2" and the "." after his name tells you that I don't see a future for him here and am happy to let him leave. With that in mind I'm astonished that while 4 of the offers were to sign him on a free, 1 of them was for £225k rising to £600k.  That's absolutely ridiculous. It would have been ridiculous if it was £25k rising to £60k!  It just doesn't make sense and must be some sort of bug. 

I know there is a way to try and persuade the player to accept 1 offer over another, but I don't feel comfortable doing this because it's just a ridiculous bid. 

I see that he is a 4.5 PA player now, (he certainly wasn't before), and I wonder if I have made the wrong decision about him. Either way my mind is made up and he's going, one way or another.

Now I've just had this one go through. 

Shkodran Bytyqi. (KVX) 5'11" is another player with a "." after his name indicating that I didn't think he had a future here. 

He's just been signed by a club from Kosovo and we have received £215,000 in compensation possibly rising to £575k. (We get £7k for each of 40 league appearances!) 

5.0 PA players. We've got 4x 5.0 PA players at the club and what I really like is that they are all U21 players. 

4.0 CA players. We've got 5x 4.0 CA players and what's brilliant is that even 2 of these are U21 players. Zuna * was also an U21 player last season. 

Kovačević (SRB) 6'6" * L.Throw is one of my favourite players at the moment. The problem with him though is that I can't work out of he's a full back or a centre-half. Don't get me wrong, I know he's 6'6" and better at jumping than running, but we play better when he plays at left back than we do when he plays at centre-half. The long throw thing is a biggy for me but I still haven't managed to teach him the linked PPM. He might well end up as a centre-half, but for the time-being he's a left back. 

Müller (AUT) (BIH) 6'0" * is the full-back on the opposite flank and another I really like. We're lacking a little in Determination levels within the squad, so having both our young full-backs with Det 15 is a real plus. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Mar 2023. 

Republic of Srpska First League. We're unbeaten in 10 league games now, but it's not enough to stop us falling to 3rd in the league as Modrica made it 11 wins and a draw in 12 games and Zvijezda 09 have made it 6 wins from 6 as we have dropped points with 2 draws.

We play Zvijezda 09 on the penultimate game of the season and then Modrica on the last day of the season, but unless we can win our 3 games before that, even victory in these head to heads won't be enough to clinch the title. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Apr 2023. 

Republic of Srpska First League. Well we've got as far as the last 2 games of the season, (and are back on top), and now we play our 2 closest rivals in the last 2 games of the season. If we beat Zvijezda 09 in the penultimate game then we can afford to draw against Modrica in the last game. 

Youth Intake day. I had resigned myself to the fact that we simply wouldn't get any decent players through the intake until I upgraded the facilities, and then whammo along comes (23a) Miftari (BIH) (MKD) and surprises the hell out of me. 

(23a) Miftari (BIH) (MKD) is top of both CA and PA piles but it's frustrating because I'm really not keen on him despite the fact that I should be delighted. He's 6'2 and looks like he will make a good TM, but I don't use a TM and I'm not really sure how I can squeeze one into the current tactic. I'm obviously going to have to try though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. May 2023. 

Republic of Srpska First League. We nearly bottled it after losing to Zvijezda 09, but after taking 36 points from a possible 44 points, winning 11 and losing just 1 of 15 matches in the run-in, we were just about good enough and held our nerve to clinch my 2nd trophy in 3 years. 

Facilities. It might have been risky, but it seems to have worked. Our Youth Recruitment has popped from Fairly Basic to Adequate. 

 

[karanhsingh]

Those are some strong offers for some very average looking players!

[Jimbokav1971]

End of Season summary. NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. May 2023. 

Republic of Srpska First League. We've been promoted to the top tier in Bosnia at the 2nd attempt. I don't really know what to expect from the top tier in Bosnia, but with only the bottom 2 of 12 teams relegated, I'm hopeful of staying up no matter what. 

Bosnian Cup. We were beaten in the Cup by a wonder-goal.

Squad by Appearances. 

Awards.

Top Goal-scorer.

Plojović (SRB) has been good, and scored 1 more league goal than last season, but he still isn't physical enough for me and I will gladly sell him if someone comes in with some cash for him. It remains to be seen whether or not he can score enough goals to keep us in the top tier next season. 

Most Assists. 

This was Zuna *'s 1st season as a non-U21 player and although he dreads playing in big matches, he was consistent throught the season. 

Fans Player of the Season, Young Player of the Season, Signing of the Season & Goal of the Season. 

Anes Mašić (BIH) was a good signing this season, but it was only when I dropped him that we went on our title-winning run-in to clinch the title. I think his lack of vision in the DLF role is the problem. 

Finances. We  may only be £24k worse off at the bank than we were at this stage last season, but there was £111k invested by the owners and we also brought in £225k via player sales, so in effect we ran at a £260k loss. 

Transfers. The £215k that came in by the Kosovan club paying us compensation for a player I was happy to leave on a free was a nice little bonus. 

Facilities. We have had a Youth Recruitment upgrade that is showing now as Adequate, (but hasn't been "popped" from level 8 yet. 

Tracker. 

[Jimbokav1971]

38 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Those are some strong offers for some very average looking players!

Only 1 of them went through. The 1 that I described as buggy didn't go through in the end because he chose to sign for a club who wanted him on a free, (which makes sense as he would have commanded a much higher salary).

The 1 that did go through was to Kosovo and they have stricter FGN player restrictions than we do here and it was to a top tier team so..... It still seems a little off, but far less off than the ridiculous bid we had from what was only a Semi-Pro Bosnian side in the 2nd tier. 

It is of course possible that he's just better than I thought. His PA had risen to 4.5 since I decided to offload him. 

Edited June 21, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

New stadium. May 2023. 

What madness is this? 

The stadium costs £1,214,156

Less £95k we got for selling the old ground, (we were robbed). 
Less £600k sponsorship for the new stadium.
Less £85k grant from the authorities. 

Leaves us with a £434,156 shortfall. 

Yet we're taking out a £1M loan when we are already running at a consistent loss. 

How on Earth are we going to pay £14,250 per month? 

[Jimbokav1971]

New contract. May 2023.

On the plus side our wage budget has jumped from approx. £27k to £114k, (which is ridiculous in my opinion), but on the down side we have been tasked with repairing the financial damage that the new stadium and the ridiculous wage budget will surely cause. 

Unless of course we are going to earn loads of money in the top tier of Bosnian football that is....... No, I didn't think so. 

[Pompeyboyz]

Good luck with that burning fire you have been dumped with 

[Jimbokav1971]

35 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

Good luck with that burning fire you have been dumped with 

Honestly, thank God this is a Journeyman save because it really is ridiculous. 

I've had some dodgy deals done on stadiums in the past, but this is by far the most silly. We've gone from a 3,000 capacity, (that we're not even close to selling out), to a 1,500 stadium and we've paid £1M for the privilege. 

The only positive news is that the season hasn't even ticked over to the new season yet and the board are already digging deep. 

I'm honestly not sure how the finances are going to work moving forward. 

£14,250 per month is "only" £171,000 per year which really isn't a big deal at all if we expect to be playing in Europe and winning prize money soon, but it's £171k more than we should be paying and £171k that could be invested elsewhere. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Not quite as bas as I thought? Jun 2023. 

I've just offered a contract to a free agent and these were the clauses he asked for. 

A min fee release clause of £190k and a relegation release clause of £115k. That seems like a lot of money in Bosnia to me, so maybe if we are going to be able to generate that sort of money in regular sales then things are going to be looking ok. 

I wonder what sort of fees have been generated in Bosnia by the bigger clubs? 

So there is a little bit of money knocking around as far as Bosnian player sales go.

[Jimbokav1971]

European Competition rankings. Jun 2023. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Pre-Season. NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Jul 2023. 

Finances. TV money of £228k is more than I was expecting actually. 

Poached. This is not good news. We need to get our reputation up.

I can't imagine exactly how we worked this out, but it's something along the lines of 200 PA divided by 20 star ratings, (5 silver ratings + 5 gold ratings x2 because of half ratings = 20 ratings). So this means that the above player with 3.5 silver stars has a PA of 61-70 except that I think we worked out that we had to add 1 level for accuracy, (don't ask me why, just go with it), so in fact this player actually has a PA of 71-80. I think that means this player is pretty decent for our club. 

This player has 4.5 silver stars = 81-90 and then we bump that up to 91-100. 

This player has 4.0 silver stars = 71-80 and then we bump that up to 81-90.

Silver 0.5 01-10
Silver 1.0 11-20
Silver 1.5 21-30
Silver 2.0 31-40
Silver 2.5 41-50
Silver 3.0 51-60
Silver 3.5 61-70
Silver 4.0 71-80
Silver 4.5 81-90
Silver 5.0 91-100
Gold 0.5 101-110
Gold 1.0 111-120
Gold 1.5 121-130
Gold 2.0 131-140
Gold 2.5 141-150
Gold 3.0 151-160
Gold 3.5 161-170
Gold 4.0 171-180
Gold 4.5 181-190
Gold 5.0 191-200

Talking about CA/PA again for a minute, I'm going to have a look at the Bosnian National side now and look at their CA/PA. I expect most of them to be playing abroad and there being very little chance of us signing any of them ever, so it really shouldn't make a difference. 

CA in the (BIH) squad ranges from 115-152.
PA in the (BIH) squad ranges from 122-165
Valuations of players in (BIH) squad ranges from £17,000 to £23M. 
Only 1 player plays in Bosnia and he's the 3rd choice GK. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Jul 2023. 

M:tel Premijer Liga. I don't know what all the fuss was about. This Premijer Liga thing is a piece of cake. 

Rudar finished 10th last season and 6th the season before, so they are not exactly one of the big hitters in the league but still...

Finances. We are leaking money like a big leaky thing with holes in, and the board have already injected £435k into the club this season and we've only played 1 game. I hope they have deep pockets because they're going to need it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Aug 2023. 

M:tel Premijer Liga. I'm absolutely ecstatic to still be unbeaten 2 months into the season after 7 games. Surprised but really really happy. We've been a little lucky with the fixtures in that of last season's top 4, we've only played 2 of them, (Borac and Tuzla). At this early stage it looks as if Zrinjski are going to be VERY hard to beat, having already played 8 European games this season. Everyone else seems to be a little way off if I'm honest. 

Finances. That's £652,670 invested already this season. I wonder how much they're allowed to invest before the breach FFP? 

Records. Nobody had ever scored 4 goals in a M:tel Premijer Liga match before. They have now. 

Long Throws. It seems silly not to make use of the fact that Kovačević (SRB) 6'6" * L.Throw has a Long Throw attribute of 17, (and is playing at left back rather than left centre-back at the moment). I fully expect him to develop into a centre-half, but for the time being he's doing well at left back. This could offer us a new dimension because although I understand that Long Throws have been dialled down in the game, I think I'm right in saying that it hasn't been diluted for a player with this ability of technique + PPM. Time will tell. I will report back. 

This is me reporting back. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Sep 2023. 

M:tel Premijer Liga. We drew against the 2 strong teams and then went and lost against the so-called weaker sides. I'm not hugely concerned about our form or the number of draws. NK Vitez are starting to fall away so all we have to do is finish above 1 other side and we should be more than capable of doing that.

Records.

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Oct 2023. 

M:tel Premijer Liga. The top 2 seem to be getting away at the top and we need to try and create a gap between us and the chasing pack.

Plojović (SRB) may have scored 13 goals in 12 league games so far this season, but he's been very hit and miss and 10 of his 12 goals have come in just 3 matches as he has scored 2x hat-tricks and a FOUR.  

Only 3 clubs definitely qualify for Europe based on league performance, (with the 4th being either the Cup winner or 4th place finisher). We need to secure 3rd place. 

You can see that the league prize money isn't great, so it really will be all about the European prize money.  

Finances. Speaking of money, El Presidente has now invested £816,770 into the club this season. This surely can't continue like this. 

[karanhsingh]

The finances are very interesting, even your wage for that matter is more than double what my manager is making at one of Hungary's best clubs! 

Not to mention the stadium funding as you pointed out. No wonder the club is hemorrhaging money.

[Jimbokav1971]

29 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

The finances are very interesting, even your wage for that matter is more than double what my manager is making at one of Hungary's best clubs! 

Not to mention the stadium funding as you pointed out. No wonder the club is hemorrhaging money.

I can't work out what's going on. 

This next picture is sorted by income for last season, highest to lowest. 

The "other" entry for this season is the loan being given. 

Last season El Presidente only invested £111,720 and already this season, (not quite half way through), he's already invested £816,770 and there doesn't seem to be a reason for it as we have £528,798 in the bank. 

[Edit]

There does indeed seem to be a fair bot of money knocking around in Bosnia. 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[karanhsingh]

8 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I can't work out what's going on. 

This next picture is sorted by income for last season, highest to lowest. 

The "other" entry for this season is the loan being given. 

Last season El Presidente only invested £111,720 and already this season, (not quite half way through), he's already invested £816,770 and there doesn't seem to be a reason for it as we have £528,798 in the bank. 

Looks like you have a money laundering business on your hands, and you are clearly being paid enough to play along . Getting distinct Ozark vibes!

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Looks like you have a money laundering business on your hands, and you are clearly being paid enough to play along . Getting distinct Ozark vibes!

Look at the league salary spends I've just added above. 

It's madness. 

[Fudal]

El presidente definitely has some shady dealings going on in the background . I wonder what the main criminal enterprises in Bosnia do, just better hope you keep producing results or else things might get a tad scary

[Jimbokav1971]

19 minutes ago, Fudal said:

El presidente definitely has some shady dealings going on in the background . I wonder what the main criminal enterprises in Bosnia do, just better hope you keep producing results or else things might get a tad scary

I'm guessing as it's Eastern Europe it will be people Human Trafficking and that's fine as long as some of them are exceptional footballers and they traffick them in rather than out. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Nov 2023. 

M:tel Premijer Liga. We gave Tuzla City a 4 goal head-start and could only pull 3 goals back. We're doing ok but I think there is still more to come from us. We're obviously conceding too many goals, but while we have the 3rd best goal difference in the league I can't really complain.

Bosnian Cup. We have a little more depth to the squad now, (in all areas other than central midfield), so the fringe players play in the Cup and are doing ok so far. 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Dec 2023. 

M:tel Premijer Liga. I should possibly be annoyed at 2 draws, [thanks @Pompeyboyz], (despite an unbeaten month), but when one of the losses is against Zrinjski you have to just accept it as a good result. We have at least stopped conceding quite so many goals and I was astonished at the clean sheet against Zrinjski. We're 4th in the league and in contention, but it's pretty tight both above and below us. 1st have lost 2 of their last 5 games. 2nd have drawn their last 3 games. 3rd have drawn 3 of their last 5. Nobody is taking advantage of the others slipping up. 

Youth Intake preview. The risk I took, (unknowingly), by playing Youth before we got the upgrade seems to have paid off as the upgrade has worked and this appears to be a better intake. ("This is a good group of players coming through").  

Full back - Plenty of promise. 
Centre-half - Promising. 
Attacking Midfielder - Keep a very close eye on. 
Forward - Fine prospect. 
Striker - Caught the eye. 

Job Interview. FK Velež Mostar are in 1 of the leagues below and they have offered me and interview. 

They have a bigger reputation than us. 

But there is no way I'm going back down a league. The only way I would move to another Bosnian club is if  of the clubs playing Europe wanted me, or a club who usually plays in Europe but had missed out. 

Their budget is much more than mine was down there. 

But their Youth Recruitment has caught my eye. (We've just moved ours from 8 to 9 and I had to risk losing my job to force it. 

Finances. El Presidente has coughed up another £110,000 to make his total investment this season £931,700. 

I think what's happening is that El Presidente is putting cash into the club to support the agreed wage budget of £109k per month, (£110k injected this month), but of course we're not spending all our budget and are actually only spending £34k at the moment, (meaning that there is a surplus of £66k every month). That means that our bank balance has risen to a whopping £588,300. 

I'm not sure how sustainable this is, or long it will last, but I think I should take advantage while I can. As a result I have tried to get the board to invest in our facilities. 

Facilities. 

They refused my request to improve the Youth Recruitment again, but I managed to get them to change their mind, (again)

They've also agreed to upgrade the Junior Coaching. 

These are 2 little steps in the right direction, but there is obviously a long way to go. 

I don't think the new upgrades are included in this yet. 

Edited June 22, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Pompeyboyz]

Being harsh on yourself if you think those draws are losses 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Pompeyboyz said:

Being harsh on yourself if you think those draws are losses 

Draws on paper. Obviously losses in my head. 

[OlivierL]

Good luck in the balkan !

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, OlivierL said:

Good luck in the balkan !

Thank you very much. 

Plan on catching up with your thread at the weekend. Hope you're smashing it. 

[OlivierL]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Thank you very much. 

Plan on catching up with your thread at the weekend. Hope you're smashing it. 

Thank you , i'm slowing down in the save but we are doing good. Let me know what you think

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Jan & Feb 2024.

M:tel Premijer Liga. Only 1 league game this month and we eked out a good 1-0 win against a strong Željezničar  side. 

Bosnian Cup. I continued to rotate the squad in the Cup and they dragged us through another round. 

Transfers. The fees paid here were modest compared to the cash in the bank so although they were players that we were due to sign on a free at the end of the season, I was happy to pay these nominal fees to bring the deals forward to now. They could be the business between qualifying for Europe at the 1st attempt and not. 

Đurković (MNE) 5'11" is older than I want to sign at 25, and shorter than I want for a centre-half at 5'11". That being said, I like the look of him and he will improve us. My goal is to be playing European football next season, and with that in mind we need a bigger squad. 

Ilievski (MKD) is a 19 year old with 4.5 PA and I like the look of him. We appear to be losing our 1st choice right back on a free, so I wanted to bring in 2 replacements. 

Ćirković (SRB) is an ideal candidate to sit on our bench because he can cover both positions on the left hand side. 

Janković (SRB) 6'3" is a big centre-half who will definitely improve us immediately. When I add that he is only 19 and has 5.0 PA then you can see why I was so pleased to sign him. 

Nešović (SRB) is a 3rd 19 year old as I plan in advance for next seasons U21 quota. He will be eased in this season with the idea being that he will be our starting DLF next season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NK TOŠK Tešanj, Bosnia. Mar 2024.

M:tel Premijer Liga. We were doing really well and had just returned to the top of the league when we missed not 1 but 2 penalties against Borac, (and their goal was obviously a penalty). Why oh why oh why is my GK not on penalties? #Idiot 

Bosnian Cup. The Reserves once again came up trumps for me in the Cup. 

Records. 

Poached. This is the 4th player we've had poached since the last intake. It's starting to get a little concerning now. 

1. Jure Filipovic. DM. 3.5 silver stars. Expected PA 71-80.
2. Adnan Sabanzovic. GK. 4.5 silver stars. Expected PA 91-100.
3. Samir Sedjovic. DM. 4.0 silver stars. Expected PA 81-90.
4. Armin Alic. DC. 3.5 silver stars. Expected PA 71-80. 

While it actually shouldn't make too much difference in the long run, (because these players are not going to be good enough to stay with us for a long period), it's still a little demoralising because these would have appeared as decent players in the next intake, (or at least players with decent PA), and instead we might actually get very little. Also, 5% is a pittance. The sooner we get our Youth Facilities up so that we get a higher % compensation the better. 

Job Interview #3. This is the 2nd time that we have been offered an interview because the club are "scaling back their vision for the future", and presumably want someone who can work with a limited budget. We still don't have any qualifications yet, (I will try again at the end of the season), and I obviously started with Sunday League rep, so I think it's a mix of this and my performance significantly under budget that is catching their eye. 

Željezničar are 6th in the league and were predicted to finish 5th, so it's a little strange that the Manager has been sacked. (Win % of 48% with 13 wins, 6 draws and 8 losses). They have only won 1 of the last 6 though and when we beat them at the start of that poor run, they had been unbeaten un their previous 9 games. 

They have a wage bill of £61,500 pm, (compared to ours of £50k), and their facilities are certainly appealing. 

In fact their facilities are really appealing. Really really appealing. I mean REALLY appealing. 

We are a million miles off that and if it wasn't for the fact that we were competing at the top of the table I would jump ship now. Even if we win the league, (or not), next season will be my 1st in Europe in the save. This is such bad timing, but it's also exactly the sort of move I want. 

I think what I'm going to do is attend the interview and try and get the job, but if I'm asked if I want it I will say I'll join them at the end of the season. It will at least give me some time to make a decision anyway. 

The only thing I would say is that I seem to have a Chairman with very deep pockets at the moment. I think the demands on me might be higher elsewhere and the money not quite so freely given. There doesn't seem to be much info available about Presidents/Chairmen, but I think I've got a good one at the moment. On the other hand, with facilities like that I would presumably pumping out quality youth players left right and centre and would be in a position to generate our own income. This is how I want to operate, so it seems silly not to join a club that suits me. 

I've attended the interview and we will just have to see what happens. The more I look at it the more I want to join them, and the only problem in staying on here until the end of the season, (and challenging for the title), is that might be the difference between my new club playing in Europe next season or not. I know I told them that I wouldn't be able to join them until the end of the season, but I think if I get the chance to move immediately I will jump at the chance. 

Damn. I should have told them I would start immediately. Damn damn damn damn damn! 

Youth Intake. "most gifted player to bla bla bla bla bla". I don't want to be here anymore.  We have rubbish facilities AND 4 of our players have been poached from this intake. How good can it be? (Not very). 

Edited June 23, 2021 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Gutted. 

In my head I had moved already. 

[Pompeyboyz]

Pretty sure Željezničar are one of the more historically successful teams in Bosnia if you look at their trophies as I really recognise the team name.

If I was you, I would have taken the job from the off.