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

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2068.

GK.

1st Team. (50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0"
B Team. (64k) Sequeira (CPV) 6'0" *
U23's. (66o) Serrano (POR) 6'5"
U19's. (68m) Lafont. (POR)(FRA)
Sell.
Loan. (63c) Vieira (GNB) (POR) *, (61j) Monteiro (POR) 6'0", 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2068. 

DL.

1st Team. (57d) Kravchuk (POR) (UKR) * & (57b) Trindade (POR) * DL.
B Team. (60m) Lehner (POR) (SUI) *
U23's. (62j) Sérgio (POR)(BRA), (65m) Bettencourt. (POR)
U19's. (67d) Grave (POR), (66b) Sabino (POR)
Sell.
Loan. (64c) Rowley (WAL)

Edited September 24, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2068. 

DR. We're short of numbers in both full-back positions. 

1st Team. (56a) Juromito (POR) *** DR & (59e) Marques (POR) **.
B Team. (63n) Lourenço (POR) *
U23's. (62d) Delgado (CPV) 6'4" DC
U19's. (67j) Gonçalves (POR) & (68n) Meireles (POR).
Sell.
Loan.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2068. 

DC.

1st Team. (57a) Lima (CPV)(POR) 6'2" *** & (54a) Fati (GNB)(POR) 6'1" ***. (48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" & (59d) Coxi (ANG) 6'1" *.
B Team. (67a) Joab (BRA) 6'4" & (64d) Mahler (SUI) 6'2" ***. 
U23's. (65l) Kassoma (ANG) 6'1" * & (64f) Guerra (POR) 6'4".
U19's. (68a) Ferreira (POR) 6'3" & (66f) Sampaio (POR) 6'0" & (66n) Frias (POR) 5'10".
Sell.
Loan. (59l) Cassamá (GNB) 6'0" DC *, (65c) Téo (BRA) (POR) 6'2" DC

Edited September 24, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2068. 

MC. 

1st Team. (66a) Alves (POR) *** & (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) ***. (60b) Costa (POR) * & (55c) Sousa (POR) *.
B Team. (67f) Etxaniz (ESP) (BAS) & (63a) Bettencourt (POR) *. (65b) Delgado (CPV) (POR) * & (61g) Dumange (POR) (SUI).
U23's.
U19's. (68b) Jesus (POR) & (68g) Roche (FRA) 6'0" *. (66j) Rosário (CPV)(POR) * & (66g) Costa (GNB)(POR).
Sell. (59b) Cruz (POR) MC SELL
Loan.

I'm having a real problem sorting out who should play where and in what role. There are just too many players in the MC position and of course loads of other players in other positions can also play at MC so I'm going to separate them 1st into MC and not MC and then into the different squads by age and then move them by ability. 

1st Team. I only want 4 central midfielders in the 1st team so I have to get rid of 2 of these. The 2 players marked for SELL are the obvious choices. 

(66a) Alves (POR) *** & (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) ***. (60b) Costa (POR) * & (55c) Sousa (POR) *.

(62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) ***
(55c) Sousa (POR) *
(66a) Alves (POR) ***
(60b) Costa (POR) *

B Team. I also only need 4 players in the B Team so 1 of these has to go. 

(67f) Etxaniz (ESP) (BAS) & (63a) Bettencourt (POR) *. (65b) Delgado (CPV) (POR) * & (61g) Dumange (POR) (SUI).

(65b) Delgado (CPV) (POR) *
(63a) Bettencourt (POR) *
(61g) Dumange (POR) (SUI)
(67f) Etxaniz (ESP) (BAS)

U23's. I don't really care who plays in the U23's, but I don't want too many player here either. Anyone on here can really be loaned out. 

(67c) Dias. (POR)
(62k) Popó (BRA)(ITA)
(63d) Alves (CPV)
(65j) Davies (WAL)
(65h) Williamson. (ENG)
(67k) Gabriel. (BRA)(ITA) 6'2"
(67g) Samabaly. (FRA)(MLI)

U19's. (68b) Jesus (POR) & (68g) Roche (FRA) 6'0" *. (66j) Rosário (CPV)(POR) * & (66g) Costa (GNB)(POR).

(66g) Costa (GNB)(POR)
(68b) Jesus (POR)
(68g) Roche (FRA) 6'0"
(68l) Santos (POR)
(66j) Rosário (CPV)(POR) *
(66k) Amarante (CPV)(POR)
(68h) Moracchini (FRA)
(66p) Silva (POR)
(68p) Kleijn (NED)

Sell. 

(59a) Bari (POR) SELL
(59b) Cruz (POR) MC SELL

Loan. 

(61i) Lopes (POR)
(62k) Popó (BRA)(ITA)
(63d) Alves (CPV)

Non-MC players. 

(63i) Keita (SEN)(FRA) ML
(59l) Cassamá (GNB) 6'0" DC *
(60a) Farny (POR) (SUI) * SELL
(63b) Rodrigues (POR) MR **
(65a) Tomás (POR) * ML
(61b) Müller (GER) 6'2" DC
(65e) Rebelo (POR)
 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

B Team. Season Expectations. Jul 2068. 

Yeah, I can see how they might be unhappy with my performance managing the B Team.... 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2068. 

ML & MR. 

ML. 

1st Team. (58a) Flores (NED)(SLV) *** & (63i) Keita (SEN)(FRA) ML.
B Team. (65f) Costa (POR) ML * & (65a) Tomás (POR) * ML.
U23's. (63e) Canário (BRA)(POR)
U19's. (66e) Gabriele (ARG)(ITA) DL & (67h) Manneh (GHA)(ENG)
Sell.
Loan. (64c) Rowley (WAL)

MR. 

1st Team. (54b) Soares (CPV) *** MR & (55b) Cunha (BRA) *** MR.
B Team. (63b) Rodrigues (POR) MR ** & (63k) Maxted (ENG).
U23's. (63o) Freeman (ENG) MR
U19's. (68c) Costa (POR) & (67e) Barbosa (POR)
Sell.
Loan. (65e) Rebelo (POR), (64e) Lima (POR), (63o) Freeman (ENG) MR

[Jimbokav1971]

Pre-season has started ok. Jul 2068. 

We scored so many goals that we broke the game and it couldn't show the number of goals scored. 

[Edit] This is what it should look like. 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2068. 

SC.

1st Team. (64a) Conceição (POR) *** & (64g) Gonçalves (POR) *. (61h) Fradinho (POR) * & (59i) Fernandes (POR) (CPV) *.
B Team. (66c) Galvão (POR) * & (67b) Sanches (POR) *.   & (65g) Dias (POR).
U23's.
U19's. (68i) Bruno (POR) * & (68f) Ferreira (POR).
Sell. (60a) Farny (POR) (SUI) * SELL, (58c) Pires (POR) SELL
Loan. (63j) Sousa (POR), 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2068. 

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. It's always nice to get the 1st trophy in the bag early on. 

Liga Bwin. Had we beaten Leixões it would have been a perfect month with 4 wins from 4 with 0 goals against, but because Ako missed a penalty against Leixões, we don't have a 100% record, but we're still yet to concede a goal. 

Champions League Group draw. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 1 from 2 attempts from Ako this month. He's had 5 shots on target this month, all on target at 100%.

Finances. 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2068. 

Liga Bwin. We've conceded our 1st league goal of the season, but we're still unbeaten so there's that. Benfica have already lost, but Porto remain unbeaten with us. 

UEFA Champions League. Not the best start in Europe, and the Reserves are lacking a little. (Even more so when 3 senior players get injured and the Reserves get weakened further). 

Goal-scoring GK's. 11 shots taken by Ako this month, but only 3 of them on target and all 3 resulted in a goal.

 

 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2068. 

Liga Bwin. We've dropped 2 more points, but we're still unbeaten and we've only conceded 1 goal. Porto have now lost so we're the only unbeaten side left. 

UEFA Champions League. Chelsea gave us a right doing and we dropped points in Austria. We really need to improve from here just to qualify for the Europa League. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. A comfortable victory against a lower league team. 

Allianz League Cup. A victory against Varzim will be enough to top the Group. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

 

 

 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2068. 

Liga Bwin. Well there goes our unbeaten league record again.  3-1 flatters Porto, but they were probably worth the win so I can't complain really. The loss sees us drop down the table, but Benfica, Sporting & Guimaraes have all played 2 more games than us, Braga 1 more game and it's just Porto, (who are 2 points ahead), who are on a level footing with us. Of bigger concern to me than the loss are the 4 goals conceded. 

UEFA Champions League. We expected to beat Austria Wien, but how a weakened Reserve team beat Chelsea I will never know. Astonishing result. Our last game is against the Turks so I'm confidant that we will finish 2nd, but dropping down into the Europa League won't be a disaster either, (other than in financial terms). 

Taça de Portugal Placard. A good result moves us into the next round. 

Goal-Scoring GK's. 0 goals this month for Ako from 2 shots, 1 on target. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2068.

Liga Bwin. We're still decent defensively, but our young strikers struggle at times. We're just 2 points off top placed Braga with a game in hand. I'm happy with this because I think we'll be stronger in the 2nd half of the season. We've struggled with 3 injuries to key personnel and as our youngsters develop I expect us to finish the season strongly. 

UEFA Champions League. After a wk 1 battering by Chelsea, I would have taken this. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. a comfortable win. 

Allianz League Cup. We qualified and that's all that counts. 

Records. This was a big record. Now he needs to go and beat our all-time league goal-scoring record of 227. (He's currently on 196). 

* I'm not completely sure how accurate the above figures are but we will go with it for now. 

Awards. 

FIFA Ballon d'Or. We've won this award in 6 of the last 9 years. 
FIFA Best Men's Player 3rd Place. 
FIFPro Player of the Year. 

FIFA Best U21Men's Player. We've won this in 10 of the last 16 years. 

World Golden Glove. 
FIFA Best Men's GK.

African Footballer of the Year. 

European Golden Boy. Each player is only allowed to win this award once. It's now the 13th time one of our Academy products has won it. 

African Defender of the Year. 

Youth Intake preview. What we really need now are full-backs, but despite being given a "C" rating for full-backs, the description is simply that "there are a healthy number". When you look at the Intake Distribution however there are just 3, (with no additional wingbacks). If that there are 3 of them is the best thing to be said then..... 

Goal-scoring GK's. Ako took 9 shots this month, 6 of them on target, scoring 2 goals. 

 

 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

 12th Jan 2069.

A GK scoring a goal is a big deal. 

A GK scoring 2 goals in a match is a really big deal.

2 different GK's each scoring a goal on the same day for the same club seems a ridiculous think to say. 

The idea that 1 GK could score a hat-trick for the 1st Team in the Liga Portugal Bwin on the same day that another GK at the same club scores a hat-trick for the B Team in the Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG is mind-blowing, but it's happened. 

 

[Rikulec]

Wow, I can't even imagine how slim the odds would be.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Rikulec said:

Wow, I can't even imagine how slim the odds would be.

My 1st hat-trick in this save was quite recent. I've been waiting and waiting for it to happen for ages and then it happened a couple of seasons ago.

Then we go and do this. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2069. 

Liga Bwin. It was frustrating to drop points at Guimaraes, but all in all we can't be upset with our form in the league. It's always a good sign when you score so many goals that you break the page. This was the AFCON period again so I actually think we did really well and when you consider that 1 of the Leixoes goals was a set-piece and the other was from our attacking set-piece, (with the GK upfield), I really can't complain.

Taça de Portugal Placard. With players away at AFCON, I'm just happy to be in the next round. 

Allianz League Cup. This was tight and we needed a late penalty to win it, but win it we did. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Ako took 14 shots in 7 games this month with 7 on target scoring 5 goals. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Change of strategy. Feb 2069.

I have done this save as far as I'm concerned and the only reason I'm still playing is to see how many goals I can score with Ako.

With 1 eye on FM23 however, (where I won't be playing Youth Only), I want to learn a little about scouting and with that in mind I'm going to start scouting here and buying/selling players in this save. 

To those who have followed all this way and feel let down by this change of tactic, I apologise, but it certainly beats me just stopping the save now and starting a new one where I can scout and buy players, and of course there is the added bonus that Ako will continue to score goals. 

On the plus side, this is going to make it easier during the AFCON is being played right? Wrong. I'm only going to sign players who have either a Primary or a Secondary Nationality that is African, (remember, this is a test for my FM23 save). 

The truth is that I used to know the basics of scouting, but I haven't used it in so long that I no longer even know that and I understand that it's changed somewhat over the last few issues of the game. 

So let's delve in and see what we find......

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting. Feb 2069. #

To start with, although I only want to sign Africans, (or players with a 2nd Nationality that's African), I'm not just going to scout Africa. In my experience that's not where you will find the best African players. 

If I sort my club by International Caps then this is what we see. 

Now remember, this is a Youth Only save in Portugal, so this won't be like a normal save, (or at least shouldn't be). 

(50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0" is French and has 164 Caps, but he's actually also eligible for Guadalupe, which is...... South America(ish) I think. Nope, it's North America, (but I wasn't a million miles out). He was born in France though. 
(54a) Fati (GNB)(POR) 6'1" *** has 125 Caps for Guinea-Bissau, (although he has now retired from International football. He was born in Guinea-Bissau but was also eligible to play for Portugal. He joined our Academy at aged 12 and would have qualified for France that way. He's an African who was born in Africa, but who came through the intake at a European club. 
(48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" has 118 Caps for Portugal & no 2nd Nationality. 
(57a) Lima (CPV)(POR) 6'2" *** has 101 Caps for Cape Verde and was born there. He also joined the Academy at age 12 and again would qualified for Portugal that way. He's an African who was born in Africa but who came through the intake at a European club. 
(59d) Coxi (ANG) 6'1" * has 75 Caps for Angola and was born there. He joined the Academy at age 16, (on the day of the intake), and although he has Portugese as a 2nd Nationality now, he only gained it later on. He's an African who was born in Africa but who came through the intake at a European club. 
(56a) Juromito (POR) *** DR has 67 Caps for Portugal and no 2nd nationality. 
(62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) *** has 54 Caps for Guinea-Bissau and was born there. He joined the Academy at age 12 ans again would have qualified for Portugal that way. He's an African who was born in Africa but who came through the intake at a European club. 
(63i) Keita (SEN)(FRA) ML has 32 Caos for Senegal and was born there. He joined the Academy at age 13 and would have qualified for Portugal that way, except that he already had French as a 2nd Nationality so doesn't need Portugese). He's an African who was born in Africa but who came through the intake at a European club. 
(54b) Soares (CPV) *** MR has 31 Caps for Cape Verde and was born there. He joined the Academy at age 12 and would have qualified for Portugal that way. The only reason he doesn't have more Caps for (CPV) is that he was initially capped 30 times for Portugal at U21 level, but was never capped at Senior level and late in his career opted to play for (CPV). He's an African who was born in Africa but who came through the intake at a European club. 
(63c) Vieira (GNB) (POR) * has 26 Caps for Guinea-Bissau and was born there. He joined the Academy at age 12 and would have qualified for Portugal that way. He's an African who was born in Africa but who came through the intake at a European club. 
(65l) Kassoma (ANG) 6'1" * has 23 Caps for Angola and was born there. He joined the Academy at age 12 and would have qualified for Portugal that way. He's an African who was born in Africa but who came through the intake at a European club.

Looking further down....

2 Swiss players, (1 born in Switzerland & 1 born in Portugal). 
German player born in Germany. 
Dutch player born in Netherlands. 
2 French players born in France. 
A French/Malian born in Mali. 
5 Brazilians born in Brazil.

So without delving too deep into 2nd Nationalities, it would appear that at least in this save, African players can often come through the intakes at European clubs, (so that's where I should look for them). 

I've only been looking at my own club though. What I need to do is look at the African National Team Squads and see which Nation/Continent they came through the intake at, (and even club). 

[Jimbokav1971]

African National Team squads. Feb 2069. 

I don't really know where to start with this so I will start with what I know. The AFCON and the teams that have done the best in it in recent years. 

If we look at teh start of the save we will see that the following Nations were successful. 

Cameroon
Ivory Coast
Nigeria
Morocco
Senegal
Ghana

These are the Africans that start the game strongly. 

If we look more recently though, you will see some new names appearing, (and this will be down in no short part to some of the players that I have produced). 

Cape Verde
Mali
Guinea-Bissau

I'm absolutely loving the variety here. It's a real mix of winners. In the 24 years that the competition has been held, we have had a host of winners. 

Cameroon (2)
Ivory Coast (2)
Morocco (4)
Nigeria (3)
Ghana (3)
Senegal (1)
Guinea-Bissau (2)
South Africa (1)
Congo (1)
Mali (2)
Burkina flippin Faso (1) 
Eq. flippin Guinea (1) 

So I guess we will look at each Nation and see where there players came through the intake, although it's probably important that we remember that we only have Portugal, Spain and Brazil leagues loaded). I suppose I should start thinking about what leagues I want to load for FM23 and off the top of my head I'm thinking England, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, South Africa. I don't think I need Italy, Germany, Austria, Czech, Greece, Russia, Scotland, Hungary, Denmark, Croatia, SLovakia, Ukraine, Norway, Bulgaria, Sweden, Romania, Slovenia, Poland, Serbia bla bla bla. 

Does anyone have any thoughts on what leagues should be loaded?

Morocco. The problem here is that it's being completely influenced by the Nations I have loaded so there is no point doing this because I suspect that it will be completely different in the FM23 save with different Nations loaded. 

Spain Absolutely loads. 
France 2
Holland 1

So let's ignore what Nations these Africans are being produced by and instead look at a more basic level of scouting. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Basic Scouting Feb 2069. 

I started with a scouting budget of £49,000 and no scouting package, (because I cancelled it when money was tight). 

I have just increased the budget to £293,652, (which still seems pretty small to me), but maybe it's only at that level because it almost non-existent before. 

Let's just go with Portugal to start with and see how that goes. 

This seems to make complete sense. 

To start off with I think I'm going to delegate scouting to the Chief Scout or Head Scout or whatever he is. We're only looking at Portugal at this stage so it doesn't really matter. I just want to see what the AI does. 

I can't delegate "assigning scouts" or "handling scouting meetings" to anyone at the moment which probably means that we don't have a Chief Scout. 

I have delegated to, (the Technical Director I think), to sort out the Scouting staff issues and I will come back to it in a month and see where we are. 

I currently have 144 players on my shortlist, but these are all ex Academy products who have left the club. I want to keep this, but at the moment I can't find a way to create a 2nd shortlist, (for African players that I might to sign). I'm sure there must be a way to do it. 

Ah yes, here it is. 

I had 57 players on my recommendations so I am just going through them and discarding anyone who doesn't have an African Nationality as either Primary or Secondary Nationality. 

Of the 57 players listed, only 5 players remain based on the African criteria, and 3 of the 5 are products of our Academy that have since left the club. 

I'm also thinking that this might be a a good way to help resolve our financial issues, so with that in mind I need to think about the cost of the transfer, (including wages), because this change in strategy absolutely isn't meant to make the financial situation worse, (although I appreciate that there will be initial costs in terms of signing new staff and getting reports in). 

Foka (FRA) (CTA) is a bit of a ghost at the moment. There is loads of info missing and it's impossible to judge him at the moment. he could be good, but he could also be pretty rubbish. Because we only have 2 players on our list to scout at the moment I'm going to get a full scout report on him anyway, and we will have a look at him again when we can see more. 

Conteh (GAM) is a much better player/ he has 100+ Caps for Gambia and is valued at 100M+. That all sounds great, but he's already getting paid £455k per month, (which is £5.5M per year), and in my head when I think of the cost of a player I think of the transfer fee, + the wage cost over then full term of the contract, + any bonus payments that are likely to be made. If I was to sign this player for £100M on a 4 year deal on £500k per week with a £5M signing bonus the his cost would be somewhere in the region of £125M rather than £100M. These costs really do add up over the term of the contract. Although I quite like him as a player, I don't like his finishing, I really don't like his valuation and I also don't really like his wages, so we won;t be going any further with him. 

Although I don't want to sign Conteh (GAM), we did at least have him scouted to 98% so I wanted to look at what info was available that I hadn't managed to see on the previous player, (because I really am clueless at scouting right now). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2069. 

Liga Bwin. I'm not happy about this form at all. I don't actually mind the 0-0 draw away to Moreirense. We were away, fielding a weakened squad and kept a clean sheet so I can accept that, but I'm really annoyed about the home 1-1 draw with Nacional. We were at home and although I rotated the squad ahead of the Champions League game a few days later, we didn't keep a clean sheet and that cost us 2 points. Keep a clean sheet and we win here! (It was an 89th min goal too). 

Because we've only lost 1 game all season, we're still at the top of the table, but Benfica, Sporting & Braga, who have lost 5, 4 and 4 games respectively, are back in contention simply because we've drawn too many games. It's a risky strategy but while have been slightly prioritising Cup competitions so try and maximize not just our chances of winning them but also of winning trophies and on a more basic level, progressing to the next round. 

Allianz League Cup. While (55c) Sousa (POR) * got the MOM award, he was only playing, (as a CM(a) in a middle 2), because 1 of the 6 players who is still away on AFCON duty is our 1st choice CM(a) (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) ***. I suppose I should be happy that (54a) Fati (GNB)(POR) 6'1" *** has retired from International duty or we would have been 7 players down. 

UEFA Champions League. 3-0 in the 1st leg is decent, but it's not a big enough margin that the tie is over. We're still going to have to go there and do a job in the 2nd leg. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Ako only managed 1 shot this month, it wasn't on target and he obviously didn't score. That sort of typifies how below-bar we've been recently. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting. Mar 2069. 

We only had 1 scout last month when I started to look at scouting. I delegated the hiring of more staff so hopefully this will now be resolved, (or at least be on the way to be resolved). 

This doesn't look like much, but I promise you it is a big improvement. It looks like it is being resolved, (albeit slowly). 

I tried to Scout the AFCON competition and it seemed to work. 

But then I tried to scout the Portugese U19 system and that seemed to cancel the AFCON assignment. 

I then tried to scout the Portugese U23 system and that seemed to cancel the U19 assignment. 

When the AFCON ended I got a message saying that the AFCON assignment had ended, so it sounds like it hadn't been cancelled at all and I just couldn't see it because we only had 1 staff member at that time. It now looks like this. 

(32l) Lacroix. (POR) (FRA) was here already simply because he was a product of our Academy. It says he previous assignment was the AFCON but there are 0 reports, (which makes sense because it was ending just as he started scouting), His current assignment is Romania, (which I didn't ask for), and his next assignment is Portugese U23's, (which is the last assignment I created). 

We've since signed 2 more scouts. 

Silva (POR) (Det) looks a decent scout and this is his knowledge.  He's currently scouting FIFA World Cup Qualification, (because it appeared on a pop-up and I clicked yes or something). I think I need to start leaving things like that alone until I work out with the Chief Scout is doing or we have more scouts. 

Pedra (POR)(SUI) (Det) looks a decent scout and this is his knowledge.  Although I only have very basic knowledge of scouting, I do know that it's much more efficient to send scouts to areas where they already have some knowledge and initially I'm happy to just scout in Portugal anyway, (U19's and U23's mainly but also the Liga Bwin). 

I think in order to decide who goes where, I need to take control of scouting so let's do that now. 

It appears I'm still in charge of assigning scouts so.....

If I create a new assignment and add the Liga Bwin Portugal, don't filter out any type of players and ask Pedra, (who doesn't have an assignment), to do it on an on-going basis then maybe that will work? 

Ok, that did work. We seem to be getting somewhere. 

I know what Pedra is doing and I'm going to leave Silva on the FIFA World Cup qualifying and he can do individual players/games between that. 

I'm still not sure why (32l) Lacroix. (POR) (FRA) is in Romania, but fingers crossed he will get bored looking for Dracula and move on to Portugese U23's. 

We have 20 reports to look at from last month. I don't understand why it's 20 rather than 26, (15 from Silva + 11 from Pedra), but maybe they have scouted the same player possibly? 

Anyway, let's look at the list, discard everyone who isn't African or 2nd Nationality African and go from there. Hopefully we have some more detailed reports on that Foka from the last scouting update?

There was 1 African player in the recommendations, but I've lost him now and can't find him. 

I thought I would just look at the scout reports and because we only had 1 scout before and only have 3 now it should be easy to find. 

We have 340 scouted player reports and I'm not looking through all them.  

Oh hang on.  He will be on recent reports or something.  That's easier. 

This is what our African shortlist looks like now. 

The bottom 5 players are all products of our Academy, so let's leave them for the time being. 

Kamagaté (CIV)(GER) is the new guy and he looks great, but if anything he's too good and I don't want to be spending that sort of money on players right now. I want to get this type of player before they reach 21. 

Foka (FRA) (CTA) has moved from 8% to 16%, but I really need more than that. 
Conteh (GAM) is too expensive for us. 

I will keep looking. 

[Edit]

I've just worked out how to prioritise assignments though so hopefully that Foka will be well and truly scouted in the next couple of weeks. Wow scouting is even more in depth than I remember. No wonder I binned it off in favour of Youth Only. 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting continued. Mar 2069. 

When I look at the all scouted players list it gives me 340 players, but I've forgotten I can filter this. So let's filter this down to player up to 19 years old. 

Now we're down to 69 players, but of course many of these are not African. So let's add an additional column of 2nd Nationality and then filter by Nationality and request a report on anyone who is African, and then sort by 2nd Nationality and do the same again for anyone who's 2nd Nationality is African. 

Then, if I go to my original HG shortlist, and add everyone who's African to my African shortlist, I end up with this. 

Of course I can immediately take most of the HG players off the list, but at least it looks like a proper list now. 

Let's see what it looks like with a few more reports. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Mar 2069. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2069.

#

CA 140 PA 157 18 year old (66a) Alves (POR) ***.
CA 129 PA 136 19 year old (65f) Costa (POR) ML *.
CA 117 PA 134 18 year old (65b) Delgado (CPV) (POR) *.
CA 114 PA 171 17 year old (67a) Joab (BRA) 6'4".
CA 112 PA 138 17 year old (67b) Sanches (POR) *.
CA 109 PA 131 18 year old (66c) Galvão (POR) *.
CA 107 PA 133 19 year old (65a) Tomás (POR) * ML.
CA 101 PA 124 18 year old (66g) Costa (GNB)(POR).
CA 94 PA 134 16 year old (68i) Bruno (POR) *.
CA 93 PA 12117 year old (67d) Grave (POR).
CA 93 PA 131 17 year old (67f) Etxaniz (ESP) (BAS) *.
CA 92 PA 108 18 year old (66h) Adot (ESP)(BAS).
CA 91 PA 133 16 year old (68c) Costa (POR).
CA 90 PA 155 16 year old (68b) Jesus (POR) *.

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2069. 

Liga Bwin. 2 good wins against good teams send us 3 points clear of the chasing pack. 

UEFA Champions League. We were 3-0 up from the 1st leg so a 2-2 draw is plenty good enough to see us through to the next round. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. We had 18 players on International duty for this one and I was absolutely furious when we lost this. It's just not fair! Why do I have 18 players unavailable? I had the right hump, and then I remembered........ The Semi-Final of the Taça de Portugal Placard is played over 2 legs.  We're still in it and a full strength team should be good enough to see us through, (I hope). 

Goal-scoring GK's. Ako took 7 shots this month, 2 of them on target, but 0 goals scored. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting. Apr 2069. 

This is the most recent Africa shortlist.

Foka (FRA) (CTA) has now been scouted to 100%. I think I'm going to sign him, just to try and get the deal done. Nimes in France are in for him too so I don't want to hang around and lose him. If I'm buying a decent Liga Bwin player for £210,000 then it seems like a bargain. The report suggests that he might be injury-prone, but his injury history doesn't back that up. I can actually sign him on a free for no compensation, so this seems like a no-brainer. 

[Thebaker]

That must be the worst youth intake you have had, worse even than when you were a division lower.

Scouting is very long winded now, you need to spend months and effort to get a good understanding of a player and they are often wrong. Get the best scouting package so you will know more about the players before you start scouting them. Scouts also don't pick up  much knowledge of countries they don't know (less than 4%) so its best to send ones with a good knowledge already.

Most african players are often dual nationals from the top leagues but focus on the best clubs from the main african nations as most players will come from just 3 clubs in those nations.

Edited September 30, 2022 by Thebaker

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, Thebaker said:

That must be the worst youth intake you have had, worse even than when you were a devision lower.

Scouting is very long winded now, you need to spend months and time to get a good understanding of a player and they are often wrong. Get the best scouting package so you will know more about the players before you start scouting them. Scouts also don't pick up  much knowledge of countries they don't know (less than 4%) so its best to send ones with a good knowledge already.

Most african players are often dual nationals from the top leagues but focus on the best clubs from the main african nations as most players will come from just 3 clubs in those nations.

Yeah it seems to have changed an awful lot. 

Scouting England, France & probably Spain will be my main targets I think, as well as the AFCON tournament and qualifying if such a thing exists. World Cup Qualifying for Africa obviously a source too & aged Group Internationals for African Nations. 

I'm glad I'm doing this now rather than starting blind in FM23. It seems like I have a lot to learn.  

[Jimbokav1971]

5 hours ago, Thebaker said:

That must be the worst youth intake you have had, worse even than when you were a devision lower..

I missed this bit at 1st. Sorry. 

I didn't pay too much attention to it, (because we're coming to the end of the save), but I also didn't think it was that bad from what I saw. 

Let me have another look. 

I think it looks worse because I only posted the sort by PA view rather than the sort by Actual PA view. 

PA values of 132, 128, 126, 124, 123 & 121 are all reasonable if unspectacular. 

The CA value for these players is 62, 81, 57, 52, 60 & 61, and that's a little low actually, (and I hadn't taken too much notice of that, you're right. 

I still don't think it's that bad though. If we assume that nobody else below these 6 players will ever feature in the Senior team, then that still leaves us with 6 from 1 intake who will. That's ridiculously good. 

Let me show you some players who have a CA of 120-130. 

These are the players currently at the club who have a CA of between 120-130. 

(63n) Lourenço (POR) * is the starting right back for the B Team and the plan is for him to step up to the Senior Team next season because the 1st choice DR is unhappy and under-performing so I'm going to sell him. He's not great, but he will certainly do a job at his current level of ability. 

(65f) Costa (POR) ML * is a player who started off in the B Team this season but has forced his way into the Senior squad ahead of schedule. He's a more rounded player than many others I have and I quite like him as he is. 

(63i) Keita (SEN)(FRA) ML is a perfect example of how some of these "slow starters" might develop. He was left in the U19's to develop and then needed a season in Liga 3 before he was ready for the B Team, but now he has maxed out his PA of 129 and is valued at £10M+. He started this season as the 2nd choice ML. 

(63c) Vieira (GNB) (POR) * has probably had his development slightly stunted because there is no pathway to the 1st team here, (because Ako), and his value is lower because he has spent 2 seasons playing for the B Team rather than going out on loan in the Liga Bwin. He is well capable of that and I would expect his valuation to rise significantly when he does. 

(57b) Trindade (POR) * DL is our 2nd choice DL right now and although he has only played 6 league games, he's actually made 15(1) appearances in all competitions. He's not the sort of player you would go out and spend money on, but in a Youth Only save like this he's great. He's a bit limited and not great going forward, but he does a job. 

(61h) Fradinho (POR) * is another perfect example of what is possible with low CA. His CA is only 125, but I think you would agree he looks pretty decent, and he especially looks pretty decent for that left hand side of a 2 up front role that i use in this save. He's 2nd choice left sided striker this season and has 16 goals from 19(4) appearances. He won't be offered a new contract and I will probably sell him in the next couple of years, but I like him despite his limitations. 

(61j) Monteiro (POR) 6'0" is a decent GK who is plenty good enough for Liga Bwin and is even keeping clean sheets in Serie A at the moment. Like the previous GK there is no pathway to the 1st Team here, (because of Ako), so when they become too old for the B Team, they go out on loan or are sold. I think he's decent if not a top end GK. 

(64d) Mahler (SUI) 6'2" *** has a high valuation because of his PA so we can ignore that, but in terms of his CA I think he's decent already. He's a Liga Bwin standard player even if he's a little short of what I would like at this level. 

(61g) Dumange (POR) (SUI) is a player who I wasn't particularly keen on and is quite a long way down the pecking order in the middle of the pitch, not just in terms of CA, but especially in terms of PA where we have some much better players coming through. It's strange though. He;s developing really well, (and is now almost at his 124 PA so I'm delighted with the loan), but this is despite the fact that he hasn't been playing in Switzerland, despite being part of the National Squad. I know the green arrows make him appear better than he actually he is, but he's certainly decent as he is now. 

(63a) Bettencourt (POR) * is an upgrade on the previous player (imo), despite him being slightly behind in terms of CA. I really like him but see him as more of a grafter who can play than a proper playmaker. 

These players are all between 120-130 CA and I think it shows what sort of level we need to think of in terms of this new batch, some of them are pretty limited, such as the DL and the DC, but the SC for example looks way better than his CA suggests, (imo), so I think that's why CA and PA can be misleading and it's often better to simply ignore it and do what you can with what you have available. These players aren't going to win me the Liga Bwin or the Champions League, but they have been good enough to get us into the Knockout Stages of the Champions league and will hopefully be good enough to step in and keep us winning in the league when I rest our 1st choice players for the Knockout Stages in Europe. Players at this level are absolutely vital in a save like this. 

[Edit]

I've just played a Liga Bwin game ahead of a Champions League Semi 1st Leg. We were at home to Varzim, (who are doing quite well this season), and sit 6th in the league. 

Let me list some of the CA's of my squad for this game. 

130 (63n) Lourenço (POR) * is on the above list & started because 1 DR is injured and the other is being rested for the next game. 
115 (67a) Joab (BRA) 6'4" is a high PA youngster who we needed to step up because of injury to senior players while also resting others.
112 (63b) Rodrigues (POR) MR ** is a high PA youngster and we're short on the right flank. 
117 (65b) Delgado (CPV) (POR) * us usually only on the bench for the B Team so this was a big step up. 
129 (65f) Costa (POR) ML * is the well rounded player that I like. 
125 (61h) Fradinho (POR) * is the athletic striker that I like. (He scored 2 goals). 
123 (64d) Mahler (SUI) 6'2" *** is the young centre-half.
120 (61i) Lopes (POR) is the bottom player on the above list and I forgot to show you what he looks like. He's a reasonable rounded midfielder. 
129 (63i) Keita (SEN)(FRA) ML is the left winger who has maxed out his PA and is valued at £10M+
121 (63a) Bettencourt (POR) * is the grafting midfielder who can play, (rather than being a playmaker). 

I guess what this is meant to show you is while you can't win the league with these players playing every week, you also can't win the league in a save like this without them. 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Continuing on from last post......

The other I didn't mention and which I've just noticed is that of the 11 players at the Club with a CA of 120-130, 3 of them are already out on loan and all 8 of the others are wanted by other clubs. 

(63n) Lourenço (POR) * is wanted for Transfer by Atletico, Real Sporting & Varzim. 
(65f) Costa (POR) ML * is wanted for Transfer by Juve, Leganes, AC Milan & Real Betis.
(63i) Keita (SEN)(FRA) ML is wanted for transfer by Atletico.
(63c) Vieira (GNB) (POR) * is on loan at Rapid Wien. 
(57b) Trindade (POR) * DL is wanted for Transfer by Real Sporting.
(61h) Fradinho (POR) * is wanted for Transfer by Varzim.
(61j) Monteiro (POR) 6'0" is on loan at Juve. 
(64d) Mahler (SUI) 6'2" *** is wanted for Transfer by Real Betis.
(61g) Dumange (POR) (SUI) is on loan at Young Boys. 
(63a) Bettencourt (POR) * is wanted for Transfer by Real Sporting.
(61i) Lopes (POR) is wanted for Transfer by Chaves (Liga Bwin) and Anadia (Liga 2 SABSEG).

So even if they are not really at the quality I would like them to be at, there is certainly a demand for them and from teams who have decent money to spend. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2069. 

Liga Bwin. Continuing on from my recent discussion regarding what we deem to be "poor quality players" having an impact on the team. I can see from the goal-scorers here that I played the Reserves in 3 of the 4 league games this month, with the 1st Team only playing against Porto. With that in mind, 4 good wins without conceding a goal really is brilliant. With 3 league games left we lead Sporting by 3 points and the test will be if we can see of our 3 mid0-table opponents and secure another title. 

UEFA Champions League. We squeezed past Juve in the Quarters, but we've got a big task ahead of us to make the Final from 3-0 down.

Taça de Portugal Placard. After having 18 players unavailable for the 1st leg due to International call-ups we carried a 1 goal deficit into the 2nd leg, and despite battering them to 16 shots to 0 and an xG of 2.37 to 0.00, we couldn't score and they go through to the Final. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Ako managed 4 shots this month, 2 on target scoring just 1 goal. The goals have dried up a little since the hat-tricks and the truth is that we have been short on quality due to International call-ups, injury and fatigue for a while now. 

 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting. May 2069. 

I've had a few more scout reports returned on African players so I've added them to the list. 
I've also added a new column with the contract expiry date and this shows me that #2 on the list Sylla (SEN)(FRA) will shortly be out of contract and so will #10 El Ouali (MAR(FRA). 
I've asked for the top 10 players, (rated by PA), to be scouted to 100%. I will do the lower ones in the future. I don't want to ask for too many reports at the same time in case it slows the whole process down and we can't get anyone to 100% in the next month. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2069. 

Liga Bwin. We finished our league campaign in decent form with 2 more clean sheets, but significantly we still lost just the 1 league game earlier in the season, (a 4-1 battering by Porto), and conceded just 12 league goals all season. There doesn't seem to be a record entry for fewest goals conceded in a season, (which rubbish), but by going back manually over each season I can see the following. 

Porto conceded 12 goals in the 30/31 season and both ourselves and Braga have conceded 13 in previous seasons, so in modern times we have equalled the Liga Bwin best defensive record. 

UEFA Champions League. We trailed Villarreal by 3 goals after the 1st leg, and needed an injury-time OG to complete a brilliant come-back. The Final was a completely different matter as we completely obliterated Liverpool, scoring 4 1st half goals and then adding 2 more in the 2nd half for good measure. 

Records.

Facilities. Oh this is beyond a joke now.  This is the 3rd new stadium we have built and I've lost count of the number of expansion upgrades. 10-11 maybe? 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

 

 

 

Finances. 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Rikulec]

What a season.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, Rikulec said:

What a season.

I know. Absolutely mental but I feel cheated out of the Taça de Portugal Placard by the 18 players we had away on International duty for the 1st leg that we lost 3-2. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting Priorities. Jun 2069. 

I had previously worked out how to add individual scout reports as a priority, but I've just stumbled across something else, (that I assume you all know already). 

Using Scouting - Assignments - Scout Priorities I can drag the bar in the Priority column up and down to move the player up and down the priority list. 

Sylla (SEN)(FRA) and El Ouali (MAR)(FRA) will both be free agents shortly, so I need to get the reports done quickly because other clubs are interested. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting. Jul 2069. 

Our 1st scouted African has joined. This was a bit of a risk but what made up my mind was that he was available on a free so it initially seemed a no-brainer. 

When I had to pay him a £400k signing bonus + £80k per month over 3 years it seemed less of a good deal because it meant that my outlay over 2 year, (so selling him with 12 months left on his contract), was £400k + £1.9M = £2.3M For me to sell him and make a profit on him, (with our costs at £2.3M despite him signing on a free), wasn't something I was sure about considering the report, but I mainly did it because (A) he was free, and (B) because he was going to be my 1st African signing and I wanted to get it done. 

The good news is that he's worth £12.5M - £14.5M so I would say I have got a little lucky here, (assuming I can sell him for anything near that in a couple of seasons time). 

I wasn't sure I was going to look at his CA/PA but I think I will now after he has joined just so I can see what's what and compare his actual CA/PA with his scout report and his valuation.

His CA is 104 and his PA is 162 and that's surprisingly high to me. I didn't think he was going to be that good. We may have got lucky here. 

Our scouts found 1 more African to be added to our shortlist, but he was 28 years old and valued at £60M so I'm not hugely keen on looking at him immediately. 

There were 2 players I was looking closely at though. 

Sylla (SEN)(FRA) signed a new contract at PSG and I'm still waiting for a more detailed report. 

El Ouali (MAR)(FRA) has actually been released by PSG and because there were 4 other clubs in for him I offered him a contract because his demands were low and it seemed like a low risk situation.

El Ouali (MAR)(FRA) doesn't look great, but he's only 18 and has already made 9(1) appearances for PSG in Ligue 1, (and that's certainly something that has caught my eye). Again, because he's available on a free I'm taking a bit of a punt on him but because of his age his wage demands are much less so it's much less of a risky punt. If he's not very good then I don't expect to have risked as much as I did on Foka (FRA)(CTA). I can't remember how much it was but I'm thinking something like £15k over 5 years with a signing bonus of £40k-£60k or something similar, (so a total outlay of approx £115k-£135k). That's the sort of low-risk deal I'm looking for at the moment while I'm working this out. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfers. Jul 2069. 

The Summer window isn't close to closing so I'm hoping to see more players both come and go, but I just want to highlight the sale of (63i) Keita (SEN)(FRA) ML who was mentioned in a recent post in reply to @Thebakerregarding the discussion about the poor qualify of this years intake. 

@Thebakersuggested that the intake was pretty poor, (and he was right in the sense that it certainly wasn't great), but where it fell down was more CA than PA. Where as the best players didn't look great, there were no less than 6 players who had a PA of 120-130. I listed players currently at the club who had a CA within this range, and while some were better than others, the general point I made was that while they weren't of the quality that you would be looking to go and buy if you were in Liga Bwin, for a save such as this, they would be decent players for the Reserves and the Reserves are actually key to us because of the sheer number of games we have to play. Because of the recent financial issues at the club, and the fact that I was experimenting with scouting, (which means an increase to both staff and travel costs as well as possibly wages and transfer fees), I needed to find a way to source this money. (63i) Keita (SEN)(FRA) ML was maxed out at either 123 or 124 CA, (something like that but 100% between 120-130), so while he was never going to be a star, he could certainly bring in some income that would enable me to sign some potential stars. £15M is a decent chunk of change and importantly he played a key role win our "Reserves" who often stepped in as I attempted to rest Senior players for a domestic game against one of the Big Boys such as Benfica, Porto or Sporting, or a Champions League knockout game. 

I know the save probably won't continue that far, but if the 6 players from the recent intake can develop to the point that I sell them for an average of £10M, (never mind about the £15M I got here), then I will be a happy happy man. 

That he has 34 International Caps at 21 years old possibly skews things, but equally important is the amount of competitive football he has played. 

25 appearances. 1 full season in Liga 3. 
5(13) appearances. 1 half season in Liga 2. (part here, part out on loan).
34(43) appearances. 2 full seasons in Liga Bwin. 

That's 120+ competitive appearances by 21. That's a lot of experience for a player who isn't meant to be very good in the 1st place, (and he's really not that good!).

In my head when I confirmed the deal, I thought to myself, "that's 3x £5M African wonderkids right there", and that's the way I have to look at it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

FIFA Club World Cup. Jun/Jul 2069.

I've just realised that the Juve game appears twice here because it's on the day that the league swaps over so it's on last years fixture list and this years fixture list too. I promise you we only played them once. 

Just for the record, Ako's stats agree with that and he's showing 1 goal from 3 appearances this season and 17 goals from 60 appearances last season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting. Jul 2069. 

I was trying to get a bargain in signing El Ouali (MAR)(FRA) on a free. I lo-balled him thinking we would still get him because the other clubs in for him weren't as big as us, but Braga came in and gazzumped the deal when I wasn't paying attention.

I'm obviously not going to check his CA/PA because we might sign him at some point in the future.  

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2069. 

GK. There is only one Ako. His 17 goals last season and 1 goal already this season bring him to 976 career appearances and 322 career goals. His record of 522 league appearances is a club record and his 203 league goals for us is 24 short of (32g) Ramos (POR) who holds the existing record of 227 league goals. 

1st Team. (50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0"
B Team. (64k) Sequeira (CPV) 6'0" *
U23's. (66o) Serrano (POR) 6'5"
U19's. (68m) Lafont. (POR)(FRA) & (69m) Guerra. (POR).
Sell.
Loan. (61j) Monteiro (POR) 6'0"

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2069. 

DL. We've got 3 players in the 1st Team here because (60m) Lehner (POR) (SUI) * was already an overage player in the B Team last season and I don't want to keep him there for another season when I should be giving the opportunity to someone else. That probably means that 1 of (57d) Kravchuk (POR) (UKR) * & (57b) Trindade (POR) * DL need to go. They're both the same age, (27), having come through the same intake. (57d) Kravchuk (POR) (UKR) * is the better player and has an additional year on his contract, so it makes sense to keep him and sell (57b) Trindade (POR) * DL, but (57d) Kravchuk (POR) (UKR) * was very unhappy last season and I had decided to sell him, but the happiness has gone so now obviously I have a decision to make. 

1st Team. (57d) Kravchuk (POR) (UKR) *, (57b) Trindade (POR) * DL & (60m) Lehner (POR) (SUI) *.
B Team. (67d) Grave (POR).
U23's. (66b) Sabino (POR), (62j) Sérgio (POR)(BRA)
U19's. (66e) Gabriele (ARG)(ITA) DL & (69f) Burguette. (POR)
Sell. (64c) Rowley (WAL) SELL
Loan. (66b) Sabino (POR), (62j) Sérgio (POR)(BRA)

Edited September 29, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2069. 

DR. We've accepted £75M bids from Chelsea & Juve for (56a) Juromito (POR) who has been our 1st choice DR for a while now. He's in the last year of his contract now and at 28 I want to sell players at this stage to bring income in rather than paying them what will big the biggest contract of their lives.

1st Team. (59e) Marques (POR) ** & (63n) Lourenço (POR) *.
B Team. (69d) Thill (LUX)(POR)
U23's. (59a) Bari (POR).
U19's. (67j) Gonçalves (POR) & (68n) Meireles (POR).
Sell. (56a) Juromito (POR) & (59a) Bari (POR).
Loan.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2069. 

DC. As one of the best players at the club, it's frustrating that (54a) Fati (GNB)(POR) 6'1" *** is unhappy. He wants to play every week but I want to rest him for key games. He gets the hump when he doesn't play in the Champions League Group games and then in the 2nd half of the season when he plays in the Champions League Knockout games, he has to miss out on League games, so basically he's always got the hump. He's got 2 years left on his contract and at 31 years old he's not getting a new contract from us, so my plan is to muddle through with him this season and then cash in on him in 12 months time. But.......... 

One possible problem is that (48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" is 37 years old now and while he's no longer 1st choice, he's been instrumental in the excellent performances of the 1st Team when I pick the Reserves. He made 27(5) appearances last season, scoring 5 goals and averaging 7.32 He's in the last year of his contract now and I won't be offering him a new one because his physicals are in serious decline. What I'm concerned about is losing 2 such key centre-backs, (1 from the 1st Team and 1 from the Reserves), at the same time, effectively disrupting both teams. The other thing to consider is if I do get rid of (54a) Fati (GNB)(POR) 6'1" *** now, and then 37 year old (48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" struggles physically this season and I have to replace him, then I'm changing 2 players this season anyway. 

The last thing to consider, (surprisingly), is that we actually have quite a few centre -backs now. Don't get me wrong, they're not amazing, but we have a young group coming up that are decent and should see us stay competitive near the top. I'm thinking now that I should sell (54a) Fati (GNB)(POR) 6'1" *** now and promote (67a) Joab (BRA) 6'4" from the B Team.

1st Team. (57a) Lima (CPV)(POR) 6'2" *** & (67a) Joab (BRA) 6'4". (48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" & (59d) Coxi (ANG) 6'1" *. 
B Team. (65l) Kassoma (ANG) 6'1" * & (64d) Mahler (SUI) 6'2" ***. (66n) Frias (POR) 5'10" & (64f) Guerra (POR) 6'4".
U23's. I've got 4 centre-backs in the B Team and 2 of them should be able to play for the U23's.
U19's. (68a) Ferreira (POR) 6'3" & (66f) Sampaio (POR) 6'0".
Sell. (54a) Fati (GNB)(POR) 6'1" ***
Loan. (65c) Téo (BRA) (POR) 6'2" DC, (69f) Burguette. (POR) & (67k) Gabriel. (BRA)(ITA) 6'2".

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2069. 

MC. We've got loads of central midfielders and I need to sell a few and loan out loads. 

1st Team. (66a) Alves (POR) *** & (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) ***. (63a) Bettencourt (POR) * & (55c) Sousa (POR) *.
B Team. Foka (FRA)(CTA) & (68b) Jesus (POR) ***. (65b) Delgado (CPV) (POR) * & (67f) Etxaniz (ESP) (BAS) *.
U23's. (61i) Lopes (POR) & (61g) Dumange (POR) (SUI). (62k) Popó (BRA)(ITA), (66p) Silva (POR)
U19's. (68g) Roche (FRA) 6'0" * & (68l) Santos (POR) *.
Sell. (60b) Costa (POR) *, (63d) Alves (CPV), (59a) Bari (POR), (59b) Cruz (POR) MC
Loan. (61g) Dumange (POR) (SUI), (66p) Silva (POR)

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2069. 

ML & MR. We really haven't got much depth here and I need to look at some central midfield players who can play wider and also maybe look at some athletic strikers. 

ML.

1st Team. (58a) Flores (NED)(SLV) *** & (65f) Costa (POR) ML *.
B Team. (65a) Tomás (POR) * ML
U23's. (63e) Canário (BRA)(POR)
U19's. (69c) Valverde (POR)
Sell.
Loan.

MR.

1st Team. (55b) Cunha (BRA) *** MR & (63b) Rodrigues (POR) MR **.
B Team. (68c) Costa (POR)
U23's. (63k) Maxted (ENG)
U19's. (69g) Casimiro (POR) (67e) Barbosa (POR)
Sell.
Loan.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2069. 

SC. I think we've got quite a few decent strikers at the club and with a number of sales already made/in the pipeline, there is no pressure to sell any of them for financial reasons. What I find interesting is that we only have 2 strikers at the club who are over 22 years old and they are only 26 and 24, so we have a very young strike-force at the club. 

1st Team. (64a) Conceição (POR) *** & (64g) Gonçalves (POR) *. (61h) Fradinho (POR) * & (59i) Fernandes (POR) (CPV) *.
B Team. (68i) Bruno (POR) * & (67b) Sanches (POR) *. (65g) Dias (POR)
U23's. (66c) Galvão (POR) *
U19's.  & (68f) Ferreira (POR).
Sell.
Loan. (66c) Galvão (POR) *, (63j) Sousa (POR)