[FM22] Overhauling SAD Franchise, (completed) and now Portugal. (Portugese edition). (Youth Only)............... Maybe!

[Jimbokav1971]

6 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

That’s a shame about the saving as it looked like you’d organised your team nicely.

Is the save ok?

Yeah seems to be. I have semi-regular crashes that seem to come and go. I just think it's 1 of those things. In the past I was not as good at saving regularly and I think in FM21 it cost me more than once and someone ridiculed me, (quite rightly), for my inability to save regularly. Since then I have learned my lesson, (or thought I had), and have been really good at saving on the 1st of each month. I then go back and delete them en masse at a later date, (keeping 1 from each season just in case). 

I don't think the save being corrupt is even a slight issue, (I shouldn't have typed that should I). 

[Jimbokav1971]

On 19/08/2022 at 14:20, Jimbokav1971 said:

Nov 2061. 

Liga Bwin. I'm really sorry but it's just so hard to type between sobs as the tears pour endlessly down my cheeks, so I will keep this brief. 

UEFA Champions League. We actually played quite well in Europa although it ultimately meant that we only qualified as Runners Up. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. We were completely annihilated. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Nothing this month at all. We were so rubbish that we didn't even win any penalties and then miss them. 

Finances. 

Nov 2061. (Take II).

When I have to re-play games that have already been played before, I don't try and get the same score or even the same result. I just play the games again and if the results are the same as before then great, and if they are better than before or worse than before, then that's fine too. I just accept the new result in exactly the same way that I accepted the old results. In this case it's more serious because there is a Cup Final involved, but a Cup Final is just another game and although we won the Cup Final before, (just before the crash), if we lose the Cup Final this time round we will just accept the result. 

Liga Bwin. The 1st time around we gained 1 point from these 2 games. This time around we took 3 points from these games It actually doesn't make any difference though because although we are 2 pts better off than the 1st attempt, Benfica are also 2 pts better off. (This is the reason I don't try to replicate the previous results, because even if I replicate our results, there is no guarantee that the other results will be the same and it just seems too messy to contemplate). 

UEFA Champions League. The 1st time around we drew 1 game and won 1 game, so we're 3 pts worse off than 1st time. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. We lost this Cup game the 1st time around but we won it here. 

Goal-scoring GK's. We've had a nightmare from the spot this month. 

 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

On 19/08/2022 at 22:18, Jimbokav1971 said:

Dec 2061. 

Liga Bwin. This is more like it and we're back on form after a shocking November. Benfica drew at home with EdA and it's given us a sniff. 

UEFA Champions League. The Reserves played really well in this game and were really unlucky not to win and top the Group. Unfortunately finishing 2nd means that we will play Spurs in the 1st Knockout Round. 

Allianz League Cup. A comfortable win, but perhaps not as comfortable as it should have been\ 

Youth Intake preview. A centre-mid and an attacking mid, (or so we're told). 

Goal-scoring GK's.

 

Finances. 

This is the biggest bid I have ever received for a player in FM I think. 

Dec 2061. (Take II).

Liga Bwin. Although our results in the league have been the same to Take I, Benfica have exceeded their Take 1 results so we trail them by 3 pts rather than by 1pt. 

UEFA Champions League. We have performed poorly in Europe in comparison to the original results and as a result it means we didn't qualify for the Knockout Stages of the Champions League like we did originally and instead drop into the Europa League,  (where we will play Austria Wien).

Taça de Portugal Placard. We were already out of this competition at this stage last season, so while things are tougher in the league and in Europe, they're better here.. 

Allianz League Cup. We're into the Semi's and we need to make it count. 

Youth Intake preview. AABCD in an "Excellent Intake" is better than the original AACCE "Average Intake".  In the original we had an MC and an AM but here we have an AM and 2x SC's.

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2062. 

Liga Bwin. The Sporting loss was costly and sees us 7 pts behind Benfica with a game in hand. Sporting might be 1 pt ahead of us, but we have 2 games in hand. 

Taça de Portugal Placard.

Allianz League Cup. We won this Trophy just before the crash, but on the 2nd attempt we let a 2 goal lead slip and lost on pens. That's a bit rubbish, but it's also just the way it goes. 

Transfers. Before the crash I lost (50l) Bartlett (ENG) * on a free, (at the end of the season), but this time round I made sure to get the deal done in time. 

I actually signed (44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * on a free, and the £15.25M was to allow us to sign him immediately rather than at the end of the season. It's a lot of money for half a season, but I'm happy to pay it. 

(47d) Fonseca (CPV) (POR) really isn't good enough, but I wanted to bring in a 3rd support striker. 

(51a) Marinho (POR) *** is a very good player. There is absolutely no doubt about it, but he just hasn't been performing as I would like and I had decided that if I could get £90M+ for him then I would let him go, (he had 18 months on his contract). When Man Utd offered £95M I jumped at the chance. 

These are the bids we have received in excess of £50M. 

Records.

Goal-scoring GK's.

 

 

 

 

 

Finances. 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2062. 

Liga Bwin. We were in good form, but Porto absolutely smashed us and it could have been more. No idea what happened. They just gave us a right hiding. They do seem to have improved this season though. Benfica are still top, but they lost to Sporting and drew with Porto this month so we still closed 2 points on them this month. 

UEFA Europa League. I'm still a tiny bit peeved that we're out of the Champions League. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 177 goals for a GK is a new record for me. I've never scored more than 176 career goals with a GK before. 

 

 

 

 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Mar 2062. 

What did the preview say? 1x decent AM and 2x decent SC's. 

What have we got? An MC & a SC. 

Squad by PA.

• (62a) has 2.0 CA and when you consider how good our players are, I'm expecting that to be very good. 
• A good mix of Nationalities with 3x (GNB) 2x (BRA) 1x (CPV)
• 3 players with really poor (Det) (62g) is 1 and definitely won't be signed. (62j) & (62l) are 3 and 5 and are both also (Unamb). 

Squad by Actual PA. 

• (62a) is very good, both in terms of CA and PA. (114 CA is the best I have seen come though in quite a while). #
• 2 very good (GNB) players who should make a significant impact on the (GNB) National side. 

(62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) is the start of the show. I love the look of his (Det) and workrate and he will definitely be a midfield workhorse rather than a playmaker. He's already a Liga Bwin standard player. 

(62b) Indjai (GNB)(POR) looks to be a good lefty clinical finisher.

(62d) Delgado (POR)(CPV) has such a poor CA that I wonder if (CPV) have a chance of getting him to play for them.

(62j) Sérgio (POR)(BRA) is a player I was unsure about signing because of his (Det) of 3 and (Unamb) personality, but the truth is that his CA means that I don't feel able to release him. 

(62c) Silva (POR) is starting from a decent point. 

[_Ben_]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) is the start of the show. I love the look of his (Det) and workrate and he will definitely be a midfield workhorse rather than a playmaker. He's already a Liga Bwin standard player. 

Really like the look of him Jimbo! Going to be a physical beast at 20. Please tag me when you revisit him in years to come as he is, for me and my FM style, the perfect midfielder. 

[Jimbokav1971]

46 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Really like the look of him Jimbo! Going to be a physical beast at 20. Please tag me when you revisit him in years to come as he is, for me and my FM style, the perfect midfielder. 

I'll update you every year on youth intake day. I'm the opposite. I like technical playmakers in midfield rather than workhorses. He does appear to be a hell of a workhorse though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2062. 

Liga Bwin. A good month, but we're still 2 pts behind Benfica having played the same number of games now. 

UEFA Europa League. The Reserves eased us through against Man Utd. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. A comfortable win away from home with an already rotated squad should mean that we can rotate players comfortably for the 2nd leg. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 176 was my previous record for career goals scored by a GK, (set with FM14), so it's brilliant to finally beat that after a long time trying. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2062. 

Liga Bwin. After we got smashed by Benfica at the start of the month, I decided that I was going to prioritise European and domestic Cup games ahead of Liga Bwin games because we were 5 pts behind Benfica and it seemed highly unlikely that we would be able to close the gap. It seemed like a good idea when we then lost to Braga, (after our morale took a hit in the aftermath of the Benfica game), but a weakened squad also failed to win against Estoril. Seems like I made the right decision right? Wrong.  Benfica drew 2 games this month, (dropping 4 pts), and had we beaten Braga and Estoril we would be just 1 point behind. They would still be favourites but we would at least have a chance with 2 games remaining. 

UEFA Europa League. You can see where our recent priority has been and we have a 2 goal advantage from the away 1st leg at Sporting to bring back home to the 2nd leg. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. We were already leading from the 1st leg so a weakened squad comfortably saw us through. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 16 goals for the season sounds great, (and it is), and with 4 or possibly 5 games still to play it could still be improved upon. But..... missing 7 times from the spot means that he could be on 23 goals for the season with 4/5 games remaining. (50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0" has had a poor season from the spot. 

In contrast, we have never previously had a B Team GK hit double figure goals in a season, so for (57f) Vercleyen (POR) (FRA) to have scored 11 goals this season, (having missed 3 pens so could be on 14 goals), is certainly progress. 

Finances.  Our Finances have taken a battering. Partly because I have been extending contracts, but also because of the deal to sign (44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * which saw not just £15.25M paid out in a transfer fee, but also £1M per month in wages and a £10M+ signing on bonus. It's fine though. Signing players to long-term contracts and having to pay them big loyalty bonus' is the equivalent of us paying transfer fees to other clubs, (because of our Youth Only transfer policy). 

[_Ben_]

13 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I'll update you every year on youth intake day. I'm the opposite. I like technical playmakers in midfield rather than workhorses. He does appear to be a hell of a workhorse though. 

Having a lot of fun with creative players much deeper - in the full back slots - and then wider - creating hybrid ball carrier/creator/wingers. He’d fit in perfectly as a CM(a) for me with a bit of work on Dribbling and Finishing. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2062. 

Liga Bwin. 2 more wins and 7 goals scored left us just 1 goal short of the 100 mark for the season, unfortunately we were still 6 pts behind Benfica who were worthy Champions, (again). 

UEFA Europa League. We did well to get to the Final, but our squad was really struggling with injury and fatigue by the end of the season and it was just a game too far. We had the better of the Final, but Chelsea scored and we didn't. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. Benfica were better than us in the Final and to be completely fair, a 2-1 loss was probably a fair result. 

Facilities. This is an expansion for the Jimb O'Kav Stadium which is the B Team stadium. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

 

 

Finances.  We've lost £74M this season and we also have £36.5M of a £61M loan still outstanding. The finances aren't disastrous at the moment, but they're not good either. I probably need to sell a few fringe players in the close season and also hope that the board invests some cash.

[Edit] Just 4 days later. 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

37 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Having a lot of fun with creative players much deeper - in the full back slots - and then wider - creating hybrid ball carrier/creator/wingers. He’d fit in perfectly as a CM(a) for me with a bit of work on Dribbling and Finishing. 

Yeah, CM(a) is my 2nd central midfield role, with DLP(s) on the left. At the moment 22 year old (55a) Mavioso (POR) *** is playing in the CM(a) role for our 1st choice team, but the long term plan is for him to move to the DLP(s) role. It's probably only due to the fact that I managed  to bring back (44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * that has delayed this from happening already. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Rankings. Jun 2062. 

European Competition rankings. If Liga Bwin was 3rd before, and has stayed in 3rd, how have the Premier risen from 3rd to 1st? We can't both have been in 3rd place? Does that mean we were in joint 3rd possibly? That's pretty unlikely isn't it? 

European Club rankings. I didn't realise we were already ranked 1st. Someone is going to have to go some to catch us because I think we've made European Finals in 4 of the last 5  years. 

Nation Club coefficients. We're pretty consistent now as a Nation and the big clubs are doing pretty well, but we're not all smashing it like England and the gap is pretty huge at the top. 

Qualification places. It doesn't really matter though. Whether we are 1st or 4th, it's all the same.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2062. 

GK's. 

1st Team. (50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0" has scored 183 career goals and has 4 years left on his contract which will take him to 31 years old. 
B Team. (57f) Vercleyen (POR) (FRA)
U23's. (58g) Rocha (POR)
U19's.
Loan. (51k) Diniz (POR) 6'4", (50f) Loris (LUX)(FRA) 6'0"
Sell.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2062. 

DL.

1st Team. (52b) Martins (POR) * & (50g) Martins (POR) (FRA) DL *.
B Team. (57b) Trindade (POR) * DL
U23's.
U19's. (60m) Lehner (POR) (SUI) *
Loan. (57d) Kravchuk (POR) (UKR) * & (57o) Chana (POR) * DL
Sell.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2062. 

DR. 

1st Team. (48c) Bronze (POR) 6'0" & (56a) Juromito (POR) *** DR.
B Team. (59e) Marques (POR) ** & (59c) Yufeng (CHN) 6'0" DR
U23's. (55h) Filipe (POR)
U19's. (62d) Delgado (POR)(CPV)
Sell. (58f) Abel. (POR) SELL & (56o) Sá (POR) DR SELL.
Loan. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2062.

DC.

1st Team. (48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" * & (54a) Fati (GNB)(POR) 6'1" ***. (57a) Lima (CPV)(POR) 6'2" *** & (45e) The Gimp (ENG) 6'3" **.
B Team. (59l) Cassamá (GNB) 6'0" DC * & (59d) Coxi (ANG) 6'1" *.
U23's. 
U19's.
Sell. (53k) Charrier (FRA) 6'2" SELL, (52o) Rivas (VEN) 6'1" SELL, (54g) Gomes (POR) SELL
Loan.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2062. 

MC. I really just try to pick 2 players for each position in the side, but in the middle of the pitch I'm going to leave 3 pairs in the centre of the pitch because we struggled there at times in terms of fatigue last season. 

1st Team. (44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * & (55a) Mavioso (POR) ***. (51j) Vicente (POR) * & (55c) Sousa (POR) *. (47k) Tavares (CPV) * & (49a) Odhiambo (POR) (KEN) *.
B Team. (60b) Costa (POR) &  (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR). (59b) Cruz (POR) MC & (57m) Pinto (POR).
U23's.
U19's.
Sell. (56c) Rodrigues (POR) SELL
Loan.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth Jul 2062.

ML & MR.

ML.

1st Team. (53b) Espínola (POR) *, (58a) Flores (NED)(SLV) & (49e) Madruga (POR).
B Team. (61c) Novak (PER) (CRO) & (56l) Morais (CPV) (POR).
U23's.
U19's. (61l) Soares (CPV) (POR)
Sell.
Loan.

MR.

1st Team. (55b) Cunha (BRA) *** MR &(54b) Soares (CPV)(POR) *** MR.
B Team. (60g) Vieira (POR) *
U23's. (57n) Djalo (GNB) (POR)
U19's.
Sell. (52e) Oliveira (CPV) SELL
Loan.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2062. 

SC. 

1st Team. (45c) Rosa (POR) * & (53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) ***. (50l) Bartlett (ENG) * & (44a) Simões (POR) *.
B Team. (59i) Fernandes (POR) (CPV) * & (61a) Mateus (BRA) (POR) SC. (61h) Fradinho (POR) & (60a) Farny (POR) (SUI) *.
U23's. (54f) Sales (POR) *, (53g) Lopes (POR)
U19's.
Sell.
Loan. (54f) Sales (POR) *, (53g) Lopes (POR)

[Jimbokav1971]

Quitting. Jul 2062. 

I'm personally delighted that 2 of our strikers have retired from International duty.

[Edit]

Edited August 24, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

2700 Up. Aug 2062.

[Jimbokav1971]

Summer Transfer window. 2062.

These are just the bids we have received of £50M+.

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2052.

Liga Bwin. We battered Varzim, but they scored from their own half while our GK was upfield and I'm just grateful we didn't lose. 

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. Any win against Benfica is a good win. It's even better when there is a trophy at stake. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2062.

Liga Bwin. The Benfica game was a real close one that was still 0-0 with 10 mins to go, but they scored the 1st goal and then countered us to death as we tried to get back on equal terms. They are such a good team at the moment and it's criminal that they don't do better regularly in Europe. Even ignoring the 3 goals we conceded against Benfica though, 6 goals against other teams in the league is just WAY too much when Benfica have only conceded 1. We need to be better defensively but we can't just go out and buy better defenders. 

UEFA Champions League. The Reserves produced a dominant win. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

Edited August 25, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Sonic Youth]

On 24/08/2022 at 09:25, Jimbokav1971 said:

Squad Depth. Jul 2062. 

MC. I really just try to pick 2 players for each position in the side, but in the middle of the pitch I'm going to leave 3 pairs in the centre of the pitch because we struggled there at times in terms of fatigue last season. 

1st Team. (44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * & (55a) Mavioso (POR) ***. (51j) Vicente (POR) * & (55c) Sousa (POR) *. (47k) Tavares (CPV) * & (49a) Odhiambo (POR) (KEN) *.
B Team. (60b) Costa (POR) & (60b) Costa (POR). (59b) Cruz (POR) MC & (57m) Pinto (POR).
U23's.
U19's.
Sell. (56c) Rodrigues (POR) SELL
Loan.

Not sure how the first pair of B team works 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Not sure how the first pair of B team works 

Good spot.  (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) is the missing name and he will be playing this season as 1st choice in the B Team despite being only 16 year old. You've actually done me a big favour because I hadn't moved him to the B Team squad so he kept getting picked for the U19's & U23's.

[Sonic Youth]

47 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Good spot.  (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) is the missing name and he will be playing this season as 1st choice in the B Team despite being only 16 year old. You've actually done me a big favour because I hadn't moved him to the B Team squad so he kept getting picked for the U19's & U23's.

I find it interesting to look through these things, looking at ages, positions can play in, who’s getting loaned/sold. Glad it helped 

Looks like I lost a post as well about the season/final/youth intake/new stadium/balance 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2062. 

Liga Bwin. 2 more wins keeps us in touch with Benfica, but they are still 3 pts ahead, (or will be when they play their game in hand). They have only conceded 2 goals in 10 games and Guimaraes are also looking solid at the back, having conceded 3 goals in 10 games. 

UEFA Champions League. The Reserves are doing well enough to keep us top of our Champions league Group. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. A comfortable win for the Reserves. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

[Sonic Youth]

11 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

2700 Up. Aug 2062.

What age is old man Jimb O’Kav now? 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Looks like I lost a post as well about the season/final/youth intake/new stadium/balance 

Lost as in I missed it and haven't responded, or lost as in it hasn't posted? 

[Sonic Youth]

Just now, Jimbokav1971 said:

Lost as in I missed it and haven't responded, or lost as in it hasn't posted? 

Lost as it vanished from my reply box when writing it 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

What age is old man Jimb O’Kav now? 

91 years young. 

[Sonic Youth]

37 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

91 years young. 

91 young 

Can you manage until your avatar is as old as a head in jar managing a team? Or way past 100?

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Lost as it vanished from my reply box when writing it 

That has got to be one of the banes of my life. Usually the forum remembers what you had written, but sometimes, (and there appears to be no pattern to it), it ether just doesn't remember what you had typed, or remembers something from about 5-6 posts ago that nobody cares about. Really frustrating. When I used to do seasonal updates I took to writing then on Word and then C+P them across. I lost sooooo many updates. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

91 young 

Can you manage until your avatar is as old as a head in jar managing a team? Or way past 100?

I can manage until Ako refuses to play for me any longer, or until FM23 comes out. (Whichever happens sooner). 

[Jimbokav1971]

European top league player development. Dec 2062. 

This caught my eye. Benfica are absolutely smashing this, (like everything except winning European competitions), and while we're doing well in 4th place with 53 players, the club that really stands out is A.D. Huracán of Spain. They're an affiliate of Club Atlético de Madrid, but they're not actually Club Atlético de Madrid U19's. The reason this is of interest to me is obviously because I'm interested in Youth Development, but also because it's looking possible/likely that I will be starting my main FM23 save in Spain. 

A.D. Huracán are based in the Canary Islands and although I've heard of them before, I know very little about them. 

Their 1st Team play in the Spanish U19 Division 1 league and their U19 side play only friendlies, (in the game). 

Unfortunately I've checked and there is some sort of error. None of the players on the above list are playing or have played in the Spanish top tier, (or any top tier). I've checked the PA of players they have produced and most of them are <50 PA. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2062. 

Liga Bwin. We only had 1 league game this month compared to Benfica who played, (and won), all 3. We now have a game in hand but are still 3 pts behind Benfica. We know they will drop points at some point and we just have to make sure that we stay in contention until that time. 

UEFA Champions League. We're top of the league and our last game in the Group Stage is against Feyenoord. I expect the Reserves to win that and for us to top the Group. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. A poor performance by the Reserves saw us crash out on penalties. I should be annoyed, but I'm far more concerned with the league. 

Allianz League Cup. A narrow win with a weakened side. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances.  Finances are becoming an issue. I still expect the board to provide a cash injection to help us out, but not sure how long they will continue doing so. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2062. 

I'm really hoping for a centre-half and possibly a left back or a left midfielder. 

This suggests that we're getting a GK, (that we don't need because I'm stopping this save when Ako is no longer available), 2 central midfielders, (no problem with that at all but it's certainly not a priority(, and a winger, (yes please). 

[Jimbokav1971]

AFCON Dec 2062. 

In previous issues  of the game I have never really noticed call-ups for AFCON being a huge problem. Don't get me wrong, they are always a little bit of a problem, but I've never had so many players involved at such an elite level before. Most of the time I have been playing Youth Only saves, and most of the Nations I've played in haven't generated that many Africans, (or if they did, didn't generate Africans of sufficient quality). 

Centre-half is the biggest problem for us because 3 of the 6 players are centre-backs. 

(57a) Lima (CPV)(POR) 6'2" *** has become 1st choice centre-half, (on the left), this season.
(54a) Fati (GNB)(POR) 6'1" *** has been 1st choice centre-back, (on the right), for a while now. 
(59d) Coxi (ANG) 6'1" * is the best young centre-half we have outside of the 1st Team. 

When I look at the depth at centre-half, things appear even worse than I feared. 

(48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" * will be fine to step up. He was 1st choice until the start of this season. 
(45e) The Gimp (ENG) 6'3" ** is starting to show his age, (his acceleration has been dropped into single figures), but he will be able to step up. 

After that we really don't have any other options, and if these players weren't available I would probably look to play a player out of position rather than play a younger/poorer centre-half. The gap in quality is just too big. 

Looking at how bad things are, (I really have been surprised), has made me wonder at what options we have in terms of players who have left the club, but whom we might be able to sign in January when the window opens. 

(50a) Amarante (POR)(CPV) 5'10" is a good player, but he's 5'10" and that's just too short for me. I couldn't get him to perform despite playing a higher defensive line. If he wasn't good enough for me then, he still isn't good enough for me now, (but never say never), but his valuation & wage suggests that he's not the sort of stop-gap player that I'm looking for. 

(49h) Ndlovu (POR)(RSA) 6'0" * is a player that I might be interested in buying in January 2063. Although he's South African, he has never been called up for them so he isn't going to be a problem at this AFCON. He's not playing regularly at Guimaraes, (and has asked to leave), so I don't want to spend too much on him. 

(47b) Santiago (POR) 6'0" is reasonable, but the fact that we're considering him suggests how desperate the situation is. 

(56f) Modesto (POR) 6'4" is younger than those above, but he's also just not as good. 

(47f) Santos (POR) 6'5" * is probably my pick of the players seen so far. I quite like him but he's just moved to Brazil for £4M to play for Clube Atlético Bragantino and it might be hard to prize him away. 

(53h) Alexandre (BRA) has agreed a £3m+ deal to join Sao Paulo in Brazil, so it's not going to be possible to sign him in this window. I quite like him. 

(46h) Carlos (BRA) (POR) 6'1" is really scraping the barrel, but he might possibly be able to do a short term job for us, (and is available on a free at the end of the season from Corinthians, so a nominal fee should sign him for us immediately). 

(51n) Varela (CPV) 6'1"  is below the level I would like to sign, (and I would only do so if none of those above were available), and there is also a small chance that he might be called up to AFCON himself. On the plus side he is currently not at a club so could be signed immediately on a free. 

(53k) Charrier (FRA) 6'2" looks decent, but I know we have only sold him recently, (for £4.6M to Nice), so re-signing him in January isn't very likely. I still may have to look to re-sign him anyway. I shouldn't have sold him in pre-season. 

There isn't really anyone else worth showing you, and already some of the above players are a little weak. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2062. 

Liga Bwin. We've had a decent month in the league, smashing in 24 goals in just 4 games. Unfortunately we've only kept 1 clean sheet though. The real good news though is that Benfica drew a 2nd game, (this time away to Porto), so assuming we win our game in hand, we're just 1 point behind them. 

UEFA Champions League. The Reserves eased past the Dutch as we topped the Group.

Allianz League Cup. This is our best chance of a 2nd piece of silverware this season and we're into the Semi's....... where of course we will play Benfica. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 13 goals by New Year is decent and we just need 5 to hit the 200 mark so should happen pretty quick, (fingers crossed). 

Finances.  We're still overdrawn at the bank, and I would like to see the board invest some cash to return us to the black. 

[Sonic Youth]

It would be good then if Centre Back is the big position to come through in the next youth intakes.

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

It would be good then if Centre Back is the big position to come through in the next youth intakes.

Yeah, it's unlikely to help us in the here and now, but I've only recently realised quite how weak we are there. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2063. 

Liga Bwin. 2 draws and only 8 goals scored across 6 games doesn't look good, but when you take into account that 1 draw was against Benfica and the other was with a weakened team against Braga, then that will do me fine. I'm frustrated that we haven't beaten Benfica in the league this season and it raises the possibility that they might go unbeaten, but there is still some way to go and they are looking far from invincible. They dropped 2 pts in the 2nd league game of the season, (against Guimaraes), and then in December, drew away to Porto to drop 2 more. This month however they have drawn 3 of their 5 Liga Bwin games, (Guimaraes, Sporting & us), only scoring 5 goals in the process. They might not be losing, but they are certainly not in form. As a result we are top by 1 point, despite drawing 2 games ourselves this month.

Allianz League Cup. I rotated the squad against Braga so we would be fit to go full strength in the 2 Benfica games. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Just 2 more goals required to hit the 200 mark.

Finances.  The money issue doesn't seem to be going away. There would have been a significant shortfall last season because we didn't make the Champions League Knockout stages as a result of the crash and the lost 3 months of game-play, but we would still be overdrawn I think. We probably need to sell a £100M+ player at some point. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Benfica. Feb 2063. 

I think Benfica are just about to implode and we just need to keep the pressure on and hang in there. They have crashed out of both domestic Cups and have dropped points in 3 of their last 4 league games. 

Liga Bwin. 

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.

UEFA Champions League. 

Taça de Portugal Placard.

Allianz Cup.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

January Transfer window. Feb 2063.

(49h) Ndlovu (POR)(RSA) 6'0" * was signed for an initial £2M fee with £20k per league appearance up to 50 appearances and £5M after 50 league appearances. I can guarantee that he won't me making 50 league appearances for us under any circumstances so at most we will be paying £2,980,000, (plus wages of £822,000 per year).  My initial reaction was I wonder if we can sell him for a tidy profit.... but of course this situation is going to happen again next season so we need him. He's already made his league debut and we won so I can'gt complain. 

(46h) Carlos (BRA) (POR) 6'1" was signed on a free and hasn't made his debut yet. I'm happy with the depth he offers though, (even if he is just for emergency situations). Allowing a 1st choice player to rest could be the difference between winning a title and going close because of how tight things are with Benfica. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2063. 

It might not be the double, but it is a double. 

Liga Bwin. With 10 games remaining, (for us), Benfica are ahead based on their head to head record against us. The good news is that they have played 1 game more though. 

Allianz League Cup.

UEFA Champions League. Failing to score in the 1st leg in Milan has put us at a distinct disadvantage. It means that we will probably require a 2 goal margin of victory to progress. 

Records. Posting this usually means that we lose the next game. (It wasn't the next game. It was the 2nd next game). 

Goal-scoring GK's. 200 career goals for a GK is a big deal. I have been trying to beat 167 career goals since FM14. 

Finances.  This is increasingly becoming a problem. 

[Thebaker]

I notice you don't let many players go, perhaps you need to, to save some wages. Or just sell off those youngsters who will probably never play for the 1st team. That balance is beginning to look scary, i'm guessing you are just paying out too much in wages.

[Jimbokav1971]

57 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

I notice you don't let many players go, perhaps you need to, to save some wages. Or just sell off those youngsters who will probably never play for the 1st team. That balance is beginning to look scary, i'm guessing you are just paying out too much in wages.

Yeah, it's a little bit of everything. I have 

I have plenty of wage budget and transfer budget left. I have been transferring transfer budget over to wage budget in previous seasons, (when we had money), and this seems fine, but now it all seems ready to come crashing down. We have a £100M transfer budget and we're only spending approx half of our £26M per month wage budget. 

Approx £8M of our £13.7M monthly wage budget is going on just 11 players and of those 11 players, ,many of them are likely to be leaving us at the end of next season.

34 year old (44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * 
33 year old (45c) Rosa (POR) *
28 year old (51j) Vicente (POR) *, (although I might need to keep him). Thinking about it, keeping him after the others have gone is a waste of time. 
34 year old (44a) Simões (POR) *

Rather than selling a good player for £100M+ and it just being swallowed up by the running costs of the club over a season, I think I would rather risk going into debt and the board propping us up by way of investments. We're nowhere near the level where we would enter administration and the more likely strategy is for the club to restructure the debt into a loan at some point. 

We've currently got 5 years left on our £60M stadium loan, (paying off at £700k per month), but I'm afraid that's small fry to the losses we have made recently, (largely because I have signed our best players to longer contracts). You have to remember that this save is primarily about Ako scoring as many goals as possible.

We haven't completely overhauled Benfica, (and I'm not sure we ever will), but we've won all 3 European Trophys, The Liga Bwin, both domestic Cups, the UEFA Super Cup, the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira and about every personal elite personal accolade in the game. If the save finished now I would happily call it a success, (even though Benfica are still better than us).

What I might try to do is sell everyone, (all the high earners at least), at the end of this season, and just restructure ourselves as a selling club where we only keep player to age 26 or something.