The FM22 Youth Academy Challenge

[libbyshuss]

Vanarama National league North

2022/23 (season 1)

Season Summary

Much to be expected really, managed to comfortably stay up which at this stage of the challenge has to be a massive win. I once went 29 league games without a win once. I only kept going that long as it was kinda weird it took them that long to sack me

League - we started brillianly. 5 wins in the first 7 games! after back to back 4-0 and 5-0 wins we went second and I started lamenting how easy FM22 was. And then we went on a winless run of 8 games. And that kind of set the pattern for the season. Terrible results punctuated by inexplicable runs of good results. But in the end we stayed up and that was all I was concerned with really

FA Cup - A good cup run is the dream in these early seasons. We didn't get it, losing to Stafford Rangers in the 3rd qualifying round

 

Players

Not a bad bunch to be honest. I've definitely had a lot worse. We could put out a full XI which really helped and actually the legacy players I inherited were not bad for this division.

 

Youth

This is what we're all here for! so what was my first preview like?

This new preview page might take a little getting used to but I quite like the ratings system thingummyjig. and the intake distriubtion is kinda interesting. Anyway, on to the intake proper!

All those yellow stars look very nice! shame I can't view their personalities on the report screen anymore but what can you do? Still, I think this is more a reflection on the quality of my squad at the moment than the quality of my youth players. But at least I now have some cover in the squad and a half decent left back by the looks of it too

 

Finances and Upgrades

This early on in the save it's a case of Finance Manager as much as anything else. I need to at least break even to give me any chance of persuading the board to give me some upgrades. I kept up my side of the bargain, they wouldn't even give me so much as a coaching upgrade. I will keep on at them and break them in the end. I always do!

Career

Realistically I can't look any further than consolidation next season. Maybe bring a couple of the better looking youths through. Not physically, these new newgen faces are scary and i can't get newGAN manager to work so I'm stuck with the constipated fools for a while

[iacovone]

Okay this is good news. A goalkeeper is absolutely essential so I'm looking forward to bringing him straight into the team, and as I've said before we don't have a recognised striker so this prospect will also be welcomed with open arms. Shame there's no wingers coming through but can't have it all.

[Makoto Nakamura]

2024/25 Youth Candidates

This is not looking like a good intake on paper, I guess they could all have 1* PA instead. 

[iacovone]

I like the look of Mason Jones @Makoto Nakamura!

[andreidvb]

 

FM 21 Kingstonian FC

Season#2 2022-2023

18th place - Vanama National League South

 

Season 2 Summary: We started very well and half way through we were chasing for a play off spot, but we had a terrible run during the second part of the season and finished 18th

 

Transfers

Youth Intake: Nothing special unfortunately, singed the players who looked to have a decent potential

Stadium expansion announced by the board

End of season squad: No breakthrough so far from any youth intake player from last year

Tactics Currently using 4-1-3-2 with mixed results

 

Club Vision: Avoiding relegation is the objective for the next season

Club info: Stadium expansion is the only highlight so far

Summary so far

Season	Division	Position      Training Facilities	Youth Facilities  Junior coaching  Finances	Stadium						
21/22	VNL South	14th	      Basic                     Poor              Basic            19k          2700
22/23	VNL South	18th	      Basic                     Poor              Basic            116k         2700 (expansion of 1000 to be completed in 6 months)

[Makoto Nakamura]

14 minutes ago, iacovone said:

I like the look of Mason Jones @Makoto Nakamura!

Mason should've worked his way into the first team next season, if he's good enough, he's old enough!

[Makoto Nakamura]

That's right, I'm actually playing a game and not using instant result, we finished 8th in the league but we made it to the Welsh Cup Final where we face Bangor City, who finished 2nd to TNS in the Premier League.

Somehow, we've only gone and done it! Two shots on target, two goals, one of which was disallowed and we'll be making our continental debut after finishing 8th in the JD Cymru South!!

[Makoto Nakamura]

2024/25 End of Season Review

A poor season in the league but that is proabbly because 6 of our starting 11 are aged 18 or under so we'll no doubt get better in a few seasons, as long as we can keep hold of players.

All doom and gloom.

  

 

Overall Best XI

2024/25 Best XI

Jack Williams

Louis Andrews (YP2b) - Danny Crofts - Gareth Llewellyn - Adam Brown (YP2a)

Kevin Jones (YP2i)

Ross Long (YP1c) - Nathan Jones (YP1f)

Nathan Hooper                                      Rhodri Davidson

Keiron Bailey (YP2k)

[Bartrcm]

Meet the new manager of Racing Mechelen. I had to holiday 5 seasons to get them up to playable league. They start in the 5th league. In real live our plan is to reach the third division in the next 4 years, so we are 1 year behind schedule. I also show you the history, so you can see that the team is eligible for this challenge. We still have 5 players in the first team that are playing for us this season in real life. It will be a very hard challenge.

 

During the holiday 1 tycoon take over took place, and the lucky team is Patro Eisden. Let's see how far they can move up.

[Padders]

Oh dear, looks a poor first intake

I don't need a striker either as only playing one up front and he is decent and and 27yrs old so got a few years left in him

Could do with the central midfielders as already retrained a winger to central

Need defenders though and doesn't look like any 

[fries]

My first intake looks promising.

A golden generation with two good players on the two positions were my team lacks depth. I hope they are not too far from first team level when they arrive.

 

[Padders]

12 minutes ago, fries said:

My first intake looks promising.

A golden generation with two good players on the two positions were my team lacks depth. I hope they are not too far from first team level when they arrive.

 

I see yours and compare it to mine 

[Makoto Nakamura]

@Padders Does this make you feel any better? Supposedly an excellent intake but I'm finding it very hard to believe that.

[Weed07]

2 hours ago, Padders said:

Oh dear, looks a poor first intake

I don't need a striker either as only playing one up front and he is decent and and 27yrs old so got a few years left in him

Could do with the central midfielders as already retrained a winger to central

Need defenders though and doesn't look like any 

If it makes you feel any better yours looks better than mine as i have 1 A rating attacking midfielder which is a position i rarely use and the rest is E or worse

[Padders]

Absolute joke run of form, relegated on the last day

TWO wins in 21!

We go again!

[Makoto Nakamura]

2025/26 Youth Candidates

I wasn't expecting that, this is actually surprisingly good! 

[Rainbowz]

Novara Calcio - Italy | 2022-23 Season Start

Been a while since I gave a youth academy challenge a go. Hopefully it goes well.

History

In 1908, a team called Football Association Studenti was formed in Novara. They, along with other student teams, combined their best players to form Novara Calcio who would enter the Italian League in 1912. They played their first game against Torino, winning 2-1. In the 1920's and 30's, Novara would merge with Pro Vercelli, Alessandria and Casale, saying in the top flight of Italy until the 1950's. This is largely thanks to the goalscoring exploits of club legend Silvio Piola, who has the club's stadium named in his honour after his death in 1996. In 1958 however, the club was relegated to the Serie B for the first time, then the Serie C five years later. The club bounced around the 2nd and 3rd tiers, enjoying some success in the former, however by the 1980's, they had slipped into the Serie C2, Italy's 4th tier. They would climb back into the Serie C in the 90's, but would be relegated straight back down in the following season.

Eventually by the 2000's, they'd consolidated themselves as a 3rd tier side. In the 2009-10 season however, they finally managed promotion back to the Serie B after 33 years. Even more incredibly, they achieved back to back promotions, beating Padova in the playoff finals to reach the Italian top flight for the first time in 55 years. In their first game back, they stunned giants Inter Milan with a 3-1 win. However, this would prove to be the club's peak, as they were relegated with a whimper that season, and would not make it back into the Serie A, losing in the first round of the promotion playoffs to Empoli. The club would then regress terribly, finishing 19th and losing their relegation playoff, being demoted into the Lega Pro just 2 seasons after being in the top flight. They would make it back into the Serie B and almost be promoted again, but lost out in the playoffs to eventual winners Pescara. They would then be relegated a couple of seasons later, only to be re-admitted into Serie B to fill a vacancy, only to be relegated twice back down to the 4th tier.

I'm hoping to lead this club back into the top flight, though I've had patchy experiences with Italy.

The board clearly don't have lofty ambitions. Survival is my only goal.

The Squad

Not the worst I've ever dealt with. Luckily most of our top players are still rather young so we won't face a crisis immediately. Still, a couple of good players are older than I'd like, so developing replacements is going to be key. 

Facilities

We're blessed with some excellent facilities for this level. Our finances are expected to be steady too, so I'm certain we can build on these already strong foundations.

League

We've got some good teams in with us. Juventus' u23s are always a pain as they can call on some incredible players, especially when they start producing regens. We could be here a while.

 

[davenumber40]

23 hours ago, DazRTaylor said:

Unfortunately it doesn't count.  Must have a minimum of two playable tiers to be eligible.

Ah, I had forgotten about that requirement! Thanks

[Makoto Nakamura]

2025/26 End of Season Review

Why couldn't we perform like this all season? A great final two months and we make our way right up to 5th!

  

 

Overall Best XI

2025/26 Best XI

Jack Williams

Dave Page - Danny Crofts - Gareth Llewellyn - Adam Brown (YP2a)

Kevin Jones (YP2i)

Ross Long (YP1c) - Nathan Jones (YP1f)

Nathan Hooper                                      Rhodri Davidson

Keiron Bailey (YP2k)

[Makoto Nakamura]

We've had a guy poached by Man Utd!

[DazRTaylor]

I am really struggling to get into a save this year.  Nothing wrong with the game at all, it is me.  I really want to go in Scotland but that bug is irritating.  I may have to holiday for numerous years to see if I can fix it.

[Nottingham Forest]

Sacked as Tamworth boss with 5 games to go. Was two points off safety.

[Nottingham Forest]

Annoyingly checked the youth candidates and had a 3 star CA 15 year old RB.

[thomas_e]

4-9 months 

 

 

[DazRTaylor]

Ok so here is what will happen.  I can’t fix the bug in Scotland (in your first year, you are not in the League Cup, nor do you get a youth intake, despite getting a preview) so I will play one season with this restriction as it is fixed for season two.  So no intake in year one!

I will start tomorrow.

[iacovone]

Högaborgs BK Season 2023 Review

After a very poor start we found our feet, found a tactic that worked for us and climbed the table to safety. We badly need reinforcements from the academy so pleased to introduce you to the first batch of graduates:

The new keeper:

The new No.9:

And the overall view of the intake. It's a good first one for sure and means I'll actually have a bench to use next season! 

And the Admin:

Will add more bits as an edit later at some point but pleased with that first season and think I'll be improving on 10th next year. Onwards and upwards!

[Rainbowz]

Novara 2022-23 Youth Intake Preview

Kinda good/kinda bad. We desperately need wide options, so a good winger would be a massive help. Central midfield is the one area I don't have problems in, so having 3 players there is annoying. Would've loved a striker or a good CB, but no luck. Still (apparently) it's a 5* intake, so hoping we can get at least one first-team calibre player.

Edited October 24, 2021 by Rainbowz

[Nottingham Forest]

Basford United have come up. Lesser expectations.

[Rizz0therat]

49 minutes ago, DazRTaylor said:

Ok so here is what will happen.  I can’t fix the bug in Scotland (in your first year, you are not in the League Cup, nor do you get a youth intake, despite getting a preview) so I will play one season with this restriction as it is fixed for season two.  So no intake in year one!

I will start tomorrow.

Crap, I am playing as Spartans and I have no left or right back. Was really looking forward to a youth intake, but my converted wingers are doing well. I might just keep going because I'm enjoying it so much.

[OrToDaRy282]

I took over Lokeren-Temse in Belgium. My local and favourite club after my failings in FM21, another try!

Belgium: Save april 2nd to get different teams. Date = 30 june.

Edited October 24, 2021 by OrToDaRy282

[Dan_987]

2 hours ago, Nottingham Forest said:

Sacked as Tamworth boss with 5 games to go. Was two points off safety.

That would have been good to see if you could pull it off.

Was the board expectation - Avoid Relegation, rather than Battle Bravely to Avoid Relegation? 

[spela_alan]

Just read about this and registered here to take part. Sounds like a fun way to play the game.

 

[Nottingham Forest]

13 minutes ago, Dan_987 said:

That would have been good to see if you could pull it off.

Was the board expectation - Avoid Relegation, rather than Battle Bravely to Avoid Relegation? 

Avoid relegation. Only won like 4 games out of 30 after a great start. We were playing Kettering who were two clear in the next game as well.

[spela_alan]

[spela_alan]

Just chose the oldest of the promoted clubs.

[Rainbowz]

Novara Calcio 2022-23 Season Review

Well we beat the expectations set by the board, but it wasn't pretty. Thankfully we had a few teams below us who we could beat quality-wise, including a massively underperforming Juventus u23 team. The teams above us are just too strong however. Barring a miracle season, it'll take a while to bridge the gap.

Youth Intake

Didn't screenshot the rest as there's no-one really worth seeing (all 3 star or below PA). Signed a couple with high determination but that's it.

Prospect 1 - Andrea Pepe

Pepe is a really interesting case as he's a bit of a blank slate. I could probably train him to play anywhere fairly well. His standout stats have lead me to train him as a LWB though, as I feel he's good defensively and not too bad offensively. Maybe it's a bit of a weird move, but with so many good CM options, I need to make the most of my versatile players.

Prospect 2 - Oscar Losi

Losi definitely has potential to be a great CB in future. Pretty raw technically and very raw physically, his mentals have me really excited though. It'll take some work, but he can definitely be a key CB for me going forward.

Prospect 3 - Andrea Perrone

The game seems confused as to whether Perrone is a CB or a LB, but to me his lack of ability going forward makes him a CB all day. There's definitely a good player here, but it'll take some work to get him to where he needs to be. Could be the pick of the bunch, though.

Manager's Thoughts

The season was a bit of a slog, as I couldn't nail down a tactic that seemed to work. I finally settled on something that clawed me some wins and am now focusing on a tactic that will get our youth players into the first team. We're not going to achieve success overnight, so I'm settling in for the long haul. Hopefully we see some development sooner rather than later, as this league has already shown how tricky it's going to be.

 

[ANGL]

AS ARAPIRAQUENSE - START

So, for my first try this year, I travel to Brazil to manage AS Arapiraquense from Arapiraca, a 200k population city in the northeast of the country. The club was founded in 1952, has won 6 times the Alagoas Country championship, and was usually between Série B and Série C until 2017, in which year they were relegated to Série D. ASA plays at home at Coroacy de Matta Fonseca Stadium, with a 12.500 capacity and owned by the council.

And with the little introduction, there I go. I've had some problems with my internet conection so the screenshots are done with some games played.

 

A lookup of the first team:

 

And the facilities:

 

In this first season, we will be competing in Alagoas State championship, in Série C, in Copa de Brasil and in Northeast Regional Championship (in which I've already managed to be knocked out ):

[WhiteCat33]

RAAL La Louviere 

In the last few months before this year's release I stumbled upon this challenge and lurked last year's post to get an idea of how to experience my first new FM in a while as I've still been on FM19. There I've just finished taking AFC Telford to Champions League glory and of course because SI focused on how much work they did to make deadline day engaging I decided on a challenge that makes that irrelevant. Having played in the UK primarily I was interested in a continental save and for no particular reason decided on Belgium.  Suffice to say I got really lucky with RAAL in Belgium and with a slow weekend here have finished the first two seasons already. From what I've gathered online RAAL is the modern result of several merges, separations  and re-merges of clubs in La Louviere. One of these clubs was RAA Louvieroise, which had a strong 2002-3 season where it won the Belgian Cup and was promoted into the First Division. However, this success was short lived when in 2006 the board, managers and players were involved in a gambling scandal that forced resignations, suspensions, relegation and loss of Football License. The team went from a mid-table First Tier side to a Tier 3 team in financial trouble and in subsequent years a fall into Tier 4. Two merges later and RAAL comes to be and the hope is this will be a run of redemption for squandering what could have been in the 2000's!

Proof of Promotion from Tier 4 (unplayable)

My Manager:

Starting Situation:

Legacy Squad Players:

Squad-wise they started with a full selection of Pro B caliber Attacking Midfielders. Notice also how young they all are, which is a huge bonus: 1 dual winger, 2 AMC and 3 all Utility AM + Striker. This fills out a full attack while having a winger sub and a dedicated AMC sub, only big glaring hole is a dedicated Striker. Additionally the side has a solid young Goalkeeper and a solid DLP in either CM/DM, as well as 2 adequate CBs. This for the most part is a full starting squad better than the average for the division. For the other positions you can see my below average options there but sufficient players to field a full team + Subs. Much better than I was preparing myself for. This is the perk of playing a country that starts at Tier 3 instead of in England.

Because this is a legacy club SI see RAAL as having basically pro level facilities. Note the timing on that Stadium rebuild right before the scandal...ouch.

Also another perk was the club started with 4 high potential Regens and one medium one, none first team ready however.  

As should be pretty obvious this is basically an ideal start for a YAC challenge. Now to not mess it up!

 

2022/23 Season: Belgian First Amateur Division - Year 1

              

Season 1 Champions by the skin of our teeth! For the entire season I went with a 4-2-3-1 Wide AM Tiki-Taka so we could leverage our AM depth while not getting too over extended to get beat up on the counter. For the 3 Utility AM they included my two best players and I played the best crosser/passer at AML-IW (N. Azevedo: 32 Apps, 3 Gls, 11 Asts, 5 POM, 7.42 Av R) and the better scorer at AMR-IF (M. Soumare: 33 Apps, 18 Gls, 9 Asts, 9 POM, 7.31 Av R). They dominated while the 3rd of the utility (F. Gobitaka) at striker had a mediocre season (30 starts - 10 goals). Luckily for us there wasn't an attacking dominance in the league so our defense held to just 25 goals allowed. The losses for the season came during heavy congestion when rotation wasn't sufficient. Ties were from mostly wasteful shooting.

To get out of the division you have to win as there is only 1 promotion slot. For those not familiar: Season is split into a regular season and then a playoff where the top 4 teams play each team 3 times. For points in the playoffs you start with 50% of your regular season total and then its standard points for Wins and draws. We barely made it out and only because we entered with a 2 point advantage, which we just held onto. Good thing we did because financially the club was a wreck at the end of the season. Balance was about -500k and then the board injected over 600k as well as took out a 575k loan to bring us back into a secure position. This loss happened even though I was way under budget. The salaries were way over what the league could fund. Only player we lost due to Non Contract shenanigans was our 2nd Goalkeeper who wouldn't enter contract negotiations until he got bids from other clubs and then didn't take our part time contract. Not a huge loss really. Only have two 31 year old players who are my LB and CB. Both are fast enough they should last till my regens can make it through. The RB now can play Left as well  coming on as the sub and the Utility AM is making subs on at CM.

2022/23 Youth Intake - Year 1
 

   

Lots of High Potential here but of course no one who is first-team ready. Biggest disappointment is the second guy A. Dennis is supposed to be my A tier striker and he only has 5 finishing! But really this is a good first batch of players to begin filling out the youth squad. With how young and strong my legacy team is it's not crucial that I get these guys into the first team. Second season I was looking to slowly integrate these better one's in the second half of the season after giving them a good 6 months in the U21 to develop. I forgot to take screenshots right when they generated so here are a the best two from about halfway through season 2, which has let them develop a bit but is still close to their initial stats.

   

Here are the best regen the club came with:

  

 

Side-note: not sure if it's common for the Belgian clubs but I am enjoying all the second nationalities my YI is displaying. Looking at their hometowns a lot are actually from La Louviere, just have the second nationality. Also could be my experience so long in FM19 as there even at max reputation my YI was almost entirely English with barely a shred of second nationalities. Only way I got anything foreign was from affiliate clubs.

 

2022/23 Club Development - Year 1

We were broke all year so about zilch for development. I only got 1 coaching course for myself and interestingly they agreed to let my 30 year old LB get a coaching course but denied me a second one? Go figure. Would be nice to get a decent cheap coach there. Coaching wise right now most are 2.5-3 star and not good really. Got a ways to go but at least I won't have to worry about facilities for along time. Also I was able to keep all my YI around through the transfer windows. There was one instance where the board almost scalped me on Renard (hence why you see the 1.5M asking price) but I was able to protest it and they backed off. 

And that's it for Year 1. I'll put together Year 2 in a bit so you can see how we handle the bump up to Pro League B.

Edited October 24, 2021 by WhiteCat33
screenshot adds itself at end...

[Weed07]

First Season with Barwell is complete and we just survived by 1 point. It was tough but we got through it. You can read all about it here sparkomarcogaming.wordpress.com/2021/10/24/football-manager-2022-beta-youth-only-challenge/

Heres some pictures:

Youth intake was better than in the preview:

Best youth player doesn't look that good and neither do the others:

Club Vision:

No Transfers:

[WhiteCat33]

RAAL La Louviere 

 

2023/24 Season: Belgian Pro B - Year 2

     

We not just stayed up, but almost made it to the promotion Playoffs! I kept the formation the same this year and possession-wise and defense-wise we maintained our performance. Where things were a struggle was getting the ball into the net. At the start with Tiki-Taka we would have high xG but our conversion was abysmal. This translated into only winning 1 of our first 10 games with 5 ties, all of which could have been victories had we matched our xG. Luckily though 5 of the other 7 teams had the exact same issue and we made it to winter break with everyone from 2-7 within 3 points. Over winter break I switched in Renard 22a the utility AM regen into the second CM slot as he was ready and changed from an AF to a DLF-S to see if that helped. Not sure what did it but we came back storming going 5-2-0 in Jan and Feb. And then the player I played as Striker picked up a 2 month injury. This then brought up the bad finishing A. Dennis into a rotation with a subpar reserve striker and he started picking up a couple assists, but never a goal. However Renard 22a actually picked up 2 goals this season with 18 starts and 5 sub appearances with a 6.93 average rating. Not bad for an 18 year old.

Also I can confirm the fine 1/wk for poor performance gives the +1 Work Rate. I'll do my best not to exploit it...maybe.   

  

This time I remembered to screenshot the data-hub while it's still the current season. Going from no analytics to this has been really cool imo and am excited to start learning how to correctly tweak my strategy to address failings showcased in the data. You can very clearly see I was underscoring compared to what my xG was saying and though we put a ton of shots on target our accuracy could use some serious work and even then it seems likely I'm not putting up that good of chances. The Defense graph is pretty wacked with my tiny tackle and clearance numbers while conceding more goals and giving more fouls than the majority of teams in the league. 

     

 

Looking at the xG table I performed on target defensively but struggled in front of the net. According to this if I can actually finish the ball as I ought to next season I should be able to win the league (depending who gets sent down from Tier1).

 

2023/24 Youth Intake - Year 2
 

   

Actually remembered to take a screenshot of everyone on trial when they pop into the U-18. Trick is to use the filter to hide everyone who is selected in the squad and all the newgens will appear. While the first set of YI was good this is significantly better. Here are the top 5:

    

 

   

2022/23 Club Development - Year 2

Randomly my first Youth International was my Belarusian CB who is a poor player but I just picked up to start filling out the youth teams. Something I've noticed coming from FM2019 is now its not forced Youth Contracts and ALL of the good ones won't take Youth Contracts. Because I'm semi-pro its suicide to leave these guys on Non-Contracts so I'm forced to bump them to part time contracts. I pay more (Usually 14.75k a year) but lock them in to a 3 year contract with a 3 year optional extension by club. As long as I can keep the board from scalping them that's a solid amount of time before i have to renew, or realistically sell them to European clubs. I loaded top flight England, Spain, France as well as top 2 for Germany and Netherlands so I should get realistic pressure to snap up my best talent. Can't let it be too easy.

                                     
                                        
 Finances are in the toilet again, but apparently they want me to spend 25% more on payroll budget? Hard pass. I already will be dropping 2 old backups who are now replaced by these past two years of YI. Then hopefully I can unload 2 more who will have one more year on their contract. That should be able to get the wage bill down another 60-100k, maybe I'll be able to unload some more deadwood as well. I think if I can get the wage bill to 800k finances should start balancing out. I have 250k sponsorship, 320k TV rights and if i can have a decent cup run I can get a lot for filling the stadium. We lost the cup in the 6th round,1-3 home draw against Standard.  We sold out the stadium (12.5k) and made 150k for that match alone. 

Hopefully next year I can make a title challenge!                                    
                                        
                                        
                                        

 

[WhiteCat33]

Random Q: How do i stop it from posting a random screenshot at the end of the post? It's done it for both my entries now and I have no idea how to keep it from happening. 

[keeper#1]

Just now, WhiteCat33 said:

Random Q: How do i stop it from posting a random screenshot at the end of the post? It's done it for both my entries now and I have no idea how to keep it from happening. 

Is it a screenshot that you didn't use? If so, it dumps the unused screenshots to the end of the post.

[WhiteCat33]

Nope I used the screenshots. He's one of the regens showed above and in the first post it was the initial legacy squad. Oh well.

[keeper#1]

Nantwich Town 2023 Youth Intake

Lots of projected "elite talents."  We will see how this translates on the field.

Mean determination of 7.00 isn't great but can be improved upon.  The personalities are awful but this HOYD still nears another year or two to get his players through the academy and into the youth intakes.

 

[Winski]

Hmm, I just can't get into the save with East Stirlingshire. So I'm looking for a new challenge.

[DazRTaylor]

So here we go.  The Spartans.  I am not expecting a youth intake in the first year due to the bug in Scotland.

Club Introduction

The Spartans

The Manager

This is me.

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications     Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                 1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Adequate             Adequate          Adequate              Good             Adequate           Regional   (1.50*)

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage     Time At Club
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transfer Sale Record

Date               Player                    Position               Club Sold To                 Country                   Transfer Fee
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Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
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Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
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Cup Competition Victories
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Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     F.A. Cup                    League Cup        Achievements
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Edited October 25, 2021 by DazRTaylor

[Rizz0therat]

@DazRTaylor I'm managing The Spartans too, good luck! The hardest thing is there are no wing/full backs, and more worryingly the Polish goalkeeper isn't getting his work permit approved for a contract renewal for me, he still has a year left though so I'm hoping that will resolve itself. Luckily it's only 1 relegation spot so if you have to do a half season with a grey goalkeeper it might just be doable.

[libbyshuss]

England

National League North Division

2023/24 (season 2)

Season Summary

A brilliant season! 

League - we started with three 1-0 wins and then 2 defeats and a draw which put us in the top half. We stayed there or thereabouts until mid-December when a run of 7 wins and a draw took us up to 3rd. Then February hit, with only one win in 7, including a defeat agaisnt bottom of the table Rushall who had only won once all season, and I figured it was a regression to the mean and we'd finish mid-table again. 

But then we scraped a win, and a drawm and another win, and a draw and suddenly we were off again. March and April saw us play brilliantly again, only losing once in 13 games. We qualified for the play offs in excellent form

Finising third put us straight into the play-off semi-final at home. We beat Boston United 5-2 with one of our best performances of the season and headed into the final full of confidence.

As Kidderminster beat Chorley in the other semi-final and we'd finished above them in the league we had home advantage again as well. It was a tense game but...

We did it! an unlikely promotion! way before we're ready as well!!

 

Players

Much the same squad, the only difference being the depth of the squad meaning i could rest players now and again. That first season often saw me play exhausted players, which noramlly I don't like doing. Keeping the squad fit really paid off this season. 

Being a strict disciplinarian is paying off. Bradley Fewster is now a much better pressing forward than when I took over. That 20 work rate is lovely to see! Every time I fined him he responded the right way; I love a good professional personality!

 

Youth

Fewster was the only striker in the whole squad so when he was injured I was playing random nonsense up front. I could really do with a striker in this intake. The preview came in and...

I got one! only a B rating but as of yet I haven't worked out how good or bad that is so I'll take it!

The intake gave us a lot of elite talents, which is nice, with at least two ready for the first team

Michael Gallagher is the striker I wanted, even if he's a natural AMC. He looks ideal to retrain as a pressing forward though so that's the plan

 

Finances and Upgrades

Well, the board at least funded me for my first two coaching badges which is nice. But even though I got them promotion and a nice payoff from the playoff gates they still won't give me any more upgrades! 

 

Career

So the next challenge is survival. it'll be tough but if we get a good start who knows?

 

[DazRTaylor]

1 hour ago, Rizz0therat said:

@DazRTaylor I'm managing The Spartans too, good luck! The hardest thing is there are no wing/full backs, and more worryingly the Polish goalkeeper isn't getting his work permit approved for a contract renewal for me, he still has a year left though so I'm hoping that will resolve itself. Luckily it's only 1 relegation spot so if you have to do a half season with a grey goalkeeper it might just be doable.

Thank you.  Fortunately, I have a really good goalkeeper and the Polish lad is the backup.  He has also been turned down for a work permit.

[jstu9]

The Magic! Season 2!

After 8 games, we were 4-2-2. Solidly mid-table, nowhere near relegation. Actually I was starting to look at the top of the league. Yep, those thoughts ended quickly as I went on 0-2-9 stretch. After miraculously winning two in a row, we proceeded to go 0-1-7 after before winning the final game. So we ended up 3-3-16 after a solid start. Actually pretty much the same as last year.

A number of the "vets" from the first season would not re-sign for me, which was fine since I really need to integrate the youngsters into the squad. Just looking now, I did still depend pretty heavily on the original players this year while still trying to get a decent number of minutes for the youngsters. And just like last year, some of the '24's got some playing time.

The youth pull looks pretty good with a couple of them already getting minutes.

I've had two players poached already. One was on a non-contract but I'm not too worried about him. The other was a '23 who looked to have some promise. He turned 17, I gave him a pro contract but could only sign him to the end of the year. And Uthongathi (who is now my bitter rival!) poached him on an end of contract. I suspect this will be happening frequently unfortunately.

My finances are horrible. I generate maybe $800k a year. My expenses are about $800k if you don't count player or staff salaries (and I'm spending about 250k on each of those). Of that 800k, my youth setup is about $300k a year but I can't downgrade that since that is the only thing that we keep me going. So, I'm losing about 500k a year. So, I don't see improving my facilities again for a long awhile. But I'll keep on asking, you never know.

They are Good-Average-Good-Good so I can't complain.