FM22 Global (Less England) Small Club to Big Club Challenge

[jmarchand]

Il y a 3 heures, uroszila a dit :

@rlipscombe can I write into this thread even if I'll be playing on the old version of the game (FMT21)? Unfortunately FM22 won't have the Touch version this year and since I'm lacking time, I'm only playing on Touch...

I suggest that you use FM21's thread for that and we'll gladly follow you there too.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Game is live on GamePass here
I am loading up to start a game save rolling through the dates.

[Edit]: Game closed and now won't relaunch, back to saying coming soon.

Edited November 8, 2021 by Lower Leagues Rule

[rlipscombe]

1 hour ago, Lower Leagues Rule said:

Game is live on GamePass here
I am loading up to start a game save rolling through the dates.

[Edit]: Game closed and now won't relaunch, back to saying coming soon.

be good to see you back...  saw Miles had said go for launch

[Lower Leagues Rule]

11 minutes ago, rlipscombe said:

be good to see you back...  saw Miles had said go for launch

We're moving here....

[rlipscombe]

1 hour ago, Lower Leagues Rule said:

We're moving here....

viva Espana... 

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Lesson 1 for today:
Reloading from July 9th and holidaying to July 10th (Reset Date), does not change the teams that come up... (Loaded 3 times, identical teams)

EDIT: Spain Update Details

Holiday through to June 19th and SAVE the game. 

Then Holiday through to July 10th and check the teams that came up. (If you want different teams reload to June 19th)

I tested June 20th and it doesn't work, so that is the date the teams are decided.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Lower Leagues Rule

[aldojags]

I've loaded up my gamepass version - still reading bottom left corner "this is a beta version", should I wait for tomorrow do u think?

 

I may just go in and have a look around.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

LLR's Mallorquín Adventure

A New Beginning July 2022

Club | History | Squad | Facilities | Hired | Manager

 

I have decided to head to the island of Mallorca and take on the management of Club de Fútbol Platges de Calvià, a team with an interesting double history, they absorbed another club in 2016, took their place in the league, and their former league spot became their B team. Founded in 1976 as Club Deportivo Cade Paguera, they first gained promotion to the Tercera División in 1987, three years later following a merging of 3 clubs, they were renamed CF Platges de Calvià. Other than a short spell in 2007-2013 they have spent the last 3 decades at that level of Spanish football. In 2016 they absorbed Club Deportivo Montuiri, a club founded in 1942, who took until 2000 to cement their position in the Tercera División. In 2015/16 the original CF Platges de Calvià finished 18th and was relegated, but during the offseason they absorbed CD Montuiri (9th) and took their place in the division, while the newly relegated club became their B team. The club spent the next six seasons in the Tercera División before gaining this promotion into the new Segunda División RFEF. 

So I take over a small club that plays in Magaluf on the island of Mallorca, this is the highest they have ever been in the league system, and I am aiming to take them much higher. 

The Club expects me to fight bravely against relegation, I am hoping to get further up the league than that this season.

Edited November 10, 2021 by Lower Leagues Rule

[Mahzun_Savas]

I have taken over C.D. Pamplona in Spain. I will post my manager profile tommorrow with more details.

[Britrock]

4 hours ago, Lower Leagues Rule said:

LLR's Mallorquín Adventure

A New Beginning July 2022

Club | History | Squad | Facilities | Hired | Manager

 

I have decided to head to the island of Mallorca and take on the management of Club de Fútbol Platges de Calvià, a team with an interesting double history, they absorbed another club in 2016, took their place in the league, and their former league spot became their B team. Founded in 1976 as Club Deportivo Cade Paguera, they first gained promotion to the Tercera División in 1987, three years later following a merging of 3 clubs, they were renamed CF Platges de Calvià. Other than a short spell in 2007-2013 they have spent the last 3 decades at that level of Spanish football. In 2016 they absorbed Club Deportivo Montuiri, a club founded in 1942, who took until 2000 to cement their position in the Tercera División. In 2015/16 the original CF Platges de Calvià finished 18th and was relegated, but during the offseason they absorbed CD Montuiri (9th) and took their place in the division, while the newly relegated club became their B team. The club spent the next six seasons in the Tercera División before gaining this promotion into the new Segunda División RFEF. 

So I take over a small club that plays in Magaluf on the island of Mallorca, this is the highest they have ever been in the league system, and I am aiming to take them much higher. 

The Club expects me to fight bravely against relegation, I am hoping to get further up the league than that this season.

Magaluf? I expect to see plenty of "<Newgen> seen stumbling out of a nightclub last night and will miss the match today" storylines in a few years then!

p.s. your image links aren't loading for me, I get errors clicking on them

Edited November 9, 2021 by Britrock

[Lower Leagues Rule]

4 hours ago, Britrock said:

Magaluf? I expect to see plenty of "<Newgen> seen stumbling out of a nightclub last night and will miss the match today" storylines in a few years then!

p.s. your image links aren't loading for me, I get errors clicking on them

Yeah I am expecting some trouble from the local scene. 
I'll try to fix the images (I tried just using the forum upload), I'll put them somewhere else instead

[corinthiano]

Good luck in Spain @Lower Leagues Rule and @Mahzun_Savas!

My new laptop is sitting in a warehouse in the middle of California, in theory it gets here today so hopefully I can get started at some point this week.

[Britrock]

2 hours ago, Lower Leagues Rule said:

Yeah I am expecting some trouble from the local scene. 
I'll try to fix the images (I tried just using the forum upload), I'll put them somewhere else instead

Instead of linking to them, I just paste them into spoiler tags. That way they're not taking up loads of space on screen and you don't have to go through the whole rigmarole of imgur etc.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

4 minutes ago, Britrock said:

Instead of linking to them, I just paste them into spoiler tags. That way they're not taking up loads of space on screen and you don't have to go through the whole rigmarole of imgur etc.

Oh that would be a great idea. Might use that in future. 

[Lower Leagues Rule]

A quick update

It took me nearly 2 weeks to actually get an assistant on board, coaches came, scout team took even longer. BUT some good news, I managed to get a squad of 30 trial players in to test them out, signed 2 of them so far, and also signed a pair of Belgians that were suggested by my new Chief Scout. Combine those with the 3 best players we started with, and with 1 month tilthe season starts we have 7 starting roles set up.

[_JHTB_]

Donegal Celtic

Season 1 – Lough41 Premier Intermediate League 2^nd – Playoff Winners

Transfers – Squad – Key Player – Hot Prospect

 

Overview

As is often the case with the first season, there was a lot of transfers in the summer, but we could only offer non-contract terms so none were really on secure deals. In all, there were only a couple positions that were not actually replaced. I think because of how low down the league system we are it was quite easy to drastically improve our team to be one of the better teams in the league and I settled upon a possession based system to try and achieve our goals.

Our league season started out with 4 straight wins which did in general set the tone for the season as a whole. Though we were far from perfect, we maintained a strong momentum throughout the season finding ourselves in a 2 way battle for the title with the eventual champions Bangor. We did of course have the chance to win the league ourself, but just missed out on goal difference. Which left us to settle for the playoffs against 2^nd bottom of the league above. Any worry that we’d blown our promotion chances by not scoring more (or conceding less) goals were short lived as we won the first leg 5-2 to allow us an easy second leg and secure promotion in our first season.

We also competed in four cup competitions this season, 2 we were knocked out by divisional rivals, 1 a team from the league higher, but the final one, we went all the way and won the whole competition. It was a cup for our league and below (plus some reserve teams) but a cup win nonetheless.

Next Season

I’m unsure what the quality difference between the league we were in and the one we’ve been promoted to is, but I at the very least hope we’re not anywhere close to relegation. I’m also hoping that we can offer at least part-time contracts next season which will allow me to get some security for our better players.

Overview

[aldojags]

Great first season @_JHTB_congrats on the promotion, can't beat a heavy first leg win just to relax and take sting out the 2nd leg!

 

Young quality players there I'm sure you'll be fine with the step up!

 

Is this our first promotion of the thread?

[corinthiano]

Congrats on the promotion @_JHTB_! Are you Amateur or Semi-Pro? Also, that's a lot of cup competitions to keep you distracted haha

[Tyer]

I believe I did this correct, starting in the Polish 2nd division with a newly promoted team I cannot pronounce to save my life!  (Let me know if I didn't set this up correctly)

 

 

[aldojags]

 

Manager Profile - League Season Preview - Squad View - Facilities - Club Vision

I have taken over in the third tier of Germany, with Carl Zeiss Jena. They are just promoted from German 4th tier.

They were formed in 1903, associated with the Carl Zeiss optical company, who made various optical devices such as microscopes. They were a good team in East Germany from 60's-80s, and were actually runners up in what's now known as the Europa League in 1981, losing to Dinamo Tblisi. They won East Germany's main title a few times as well as their version of the FA Cup. This older cool past history makes them attractive rebuild for me, getting a club for a challenge like this who have been to a European final was too good to turn down. I love the fact that since German unification they've never made it to the Bundesliga however, which will make it all the sweeter when I eventually win it.

 

Media has us finishing 16th, I strangely have a decent wage budget (54k per week, with only 37k being spent), so this is I think a fairly well off club for this lower down the leagues, I feel like I'm kinda cheating choosing them, but as I say their history got me interested minute I read about them so I am going with them!

Star player is this winger on 3 grand a week, which when I normally do these challenges I normally have 3k per week for my whole squad, so this will be slightly different but a challenge none the less!

 

Anything I've missed let me know, excited to be back in this challenge, think this will be a good year!

 

 

Thinking of keeping a table such as below, can you think of anything extra that'd be good to know?

 

I'm also going to keep tabs on regens too just for nationalities and 2nd nationalities etc.

 

 

Season	League	Position	Cups	Ave Att	European Comp	WC/Euros	ECC	EC	EC2

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by aldojags

[aldojags]

Excellent, welcome in @Tyerand yeh that is some team name!

 

Congrats on beating Wesley Sneijder to the job!!

[Tyer]

3 minutes ago, aldojags said:

Excellent, welcome in @Tyerand yeh that is some team name!

 

Congrats on beating Wesley Sneijder to the job!!

thanks!  I'm shocked to find out the club is professional!  Didn't think I'd have to focus on training like that for a while.

[corinthiano]

@Tyer - good luck in Poland, that team name certainly is a mouthful, would love to hear the fan's chants haha

@aldojags - great choice with Jena, East German clubs have certainly not performed since unification (unless you have Red Bull financing) so it does create a really cool story. I think you have covered the main things in your table, unless you want to track Germany's coefficients?

My laptop just arrived so am preparing for the wive's eyeroll when I tell her I am going to bed late tonight

Do any of guys load additional nations/leagues when you set up the game? Back when I used to do these challenges you weren't allowed to, but now that we are I am debating whether it makes sense or will just slow my game down.

[Tyer]

I figured it out.

Edited November 10, 2021 by Tyer

[Mahzun_Savas]

3 minutes ago, Tyer said:

Well, I've run into a problem.

 

 

I do have a 20 year polish guy in my starting 11, but it's not letting me play??

I'm confused, does it have to be a capped international under 21?

Sounds like a bug to me, I would be reporting it as such.

[Mahzun_Savas]

Manger Profile

As I said before I have taken over C.D. Pamplona and it looks like a difficult challenge. Definitely have the worst team in the league, my assistant does not rate any of my players as being good enough to play in the league. I need to improve the squad a lot if I can attract better players.

The good news is we a paying next to nothing on wages and I have plenty of room in the wage budget to bring in players. I even have a small transfer budget.

I started with no staff so the first job has been signing staff, got an assistant and the rest of the staff should come in soon.

So off to look for new players.

 

[Tyer]

What happened is one of these guys w/ the U21 tag needs to be in the playing 11, although I'm unsure why these 20 year olds don't have that tag...who knows.

Maybe a bug?  Maybe they turn 21 during the season?

 

[Lower Leagues Rule]

4 hours ago, _JHTB_ said:

 

Season 1 – Lough41 Premier Intermediate League 2^nd – Playoff Winners

 

What a great first season @_JHTB_, solid cup win, even against the bottom teams, also 4 cups in a single league is insane. Good luck after the promotion.

I admit I was looking at McCann and wondering from his stats why he was your key player, then saw just 16, he's an amazing youngster. Wondering if you missed that the two links are the same.

3 hours ago, Tyer said:

I believe I did this correct, starting in the Polish 2nd division with a newly promoted team I cannot pronounce to save my life!  (Let me know if I didn't set this up correctly)

All looks good @Tyer Good Luck in Poland, that team name is crazy

2 hours ago, corinthiano said:

Do any of guys load additional nations/leagues when you set up the game? Back when I used to do these challenges you weren't allowed to, but now that we are I am debating whether it makes sense or will just slow my game down.

Excellent @corinthiano, yeah my wifde would do the same. This time around I added just the top league of the Germany, England, France, Portugal, Italy (Feel like I am missing one), but it definitely slows down processing time, and not sure if it will be worth it until I get to the top and play against them I guess.

33 minutes ago, Mahzun_Savas said:

Manger Profile

I started with no staff so the first job has been signing staff, got an assistant and the rest of the staff should come in soon.

So off to look for new players.

 

Good luck @Mahzun_Savas, this was the same state I found myself in, luckily I had a couple of players who should be able to play at this level already. Getting there, will share pictures when I pass the preseason

[Lower Leagues Rule]

18 minutes ago, Tyer said:

What happened is one of these guys w/ the U21 tag needs to be in the playing 11, although I'm unsure why these 20 year olds don't have that tag...who knows.

Maybe a bug?  Maybe they turn 21 during the season?

I would guess there is a DATE that they set for what is Under 21, and that will be those ones will be 21 at that date. (Should be able to see it in the league rules screen)

[Britrock]

@corinthiano I loaded the top 10 countries by UEFA coefficient, with whatever the default number of leagues is for each when they're selected (e.g. England was loaded down to league 2). I think it took longer to holiday the first season but the rest of the time theres no difference in processing time imo, you just get a load more players to choose from (once you can scout them anyway!)

[Mahzun_Savas]

Not required any more

Edited November 10, 2021 by Mahzun_Savas

[aldojags]

8 hours ago, corinthiano said:

@Tyer - good luck in Poland, that team name certainly is a mouthful, would love to hear the fan's chants haha

@aldojags - great choice with Jena, East German clubs have certainly not performed since unification (unless you have Red Bull financing) so it does create a really cool story. I think you have covered the main things in your table, unless you want to track Germany's coefficients?

My laptop just arrived so am preparing for the wive's eyeroll when I tell her I am going to bed late tonight

Do any of guys load additional nations/leagues when you set up the game? Back when I used to do these challenges you weren't allowed to, but now that we are I am debating whether it makes sense or will just slow my game down.

I didnt load any leagues but i did build out the database a bit with central european players. Now you’ve mentioned it i wish i’d premiership/la liga/serie a as view only just as an interest 

[_JHTB_]

16 hours ago, corinthiano said:

Are you Amateur or Semi-Pro

We're Semi-Pro, but, we're only able to offer non-contract deals at the moment, think it's combination of league reputation and club reputation as there are very few players in the entire league (and the one above really) who have players on part-time deals.

 

13 hours ago, Lower Leagues Rule said:

I admit I was looking at McCann and wondering from his stats why he was your key player, then saw just 16, he's an amazing youngster. Wondering if you missed that the two links are the same.

For the Key Player/Hot Prospect I just took what the game said on the general info screen for the club where McCann was listed both as hot prospect and key player. His stats as you say aren't massively stand out, but he was playing in defensive midfield as a ball winning midfielder, so not judging him too harshly on goals and assists contributions (Plus he had to learn how to play in DM as previously was only natural in CM)

Edited November 10, 2021 by _JHTB_

[Gizmo7]

11 hours ago, Tyer said:

starting in the Polish 2nd division with a newly promoted team I cannot pronounce to save my life! 

Awesome, love Poland - good luck!

Oh, and it's pronounced: Hoy-knee-chanka Hoy-knee-se 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Gizmo7

[_JHTB_]

Already a wanted man, a top candidate as well - obviously turned down the interview but can only be seen as a positive.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

LLR's Mallorquín Adventure

Preseason Update -September 2022

Friendlies | Season Tickets | Squad | Transfers | Finances | Dynamics

Overview

It took a long time to get going in this pre-season, starting with no staff at all. Luckily I had 22 days from when I started (July 10th) until the players returned (Aug 1st), we signed a good group of staff, and brought in some huge numbers of players on trials to get to know them. I have used my entire wage budget to get the team up to scratch, I may have made an error that I missed that I didn't have a quality right back, so have brought one in on loan at the end. 

Friendlies

Date	Comp	Opposition	H/A	Us	Opp	W/L	Goalscorers	Att.
01.08.22	FRN	UD Arenal	-	3	1	W	Afkir (60), Ramos (66), Sánchez (86)	133
05.08.22	FRN	CD Paguera	-	6	1	W	Mertens (8), Banegas (35), Pesca (43), Gori (56), Jou (58), Ramos (61p)	196
09.08.22	FRN	UD Alcudia	-	4	1	W	Pérez (20), Botía (41), Ramos (48p), Juanma (67)	125
13.08.22	FRN	UD Son Verí	-	4	1	W	Lorenzo (9,40), Pérez (34,36)	132
15.08.22	FRN	FC Cartegena	-	1	2	L	Botía (45+1)	303
20.08.22	FRN	Mallorca B	-	0	0	D		1434
27.08.22	FRN	CD Santanyí	-	3	0	W	Gori (14), Ramos (42), Mertens (47)	84

I generally use the Friendlies to test out my players against some weaker opposition and then hope to get momentum and some good run ins. Also had pre-arranged games against Cartegena, where we took them all the way, they sdcored in added time to take the victory, a very good result. Mallorca B on the other hand is in our division, this result was not what we wanted, but will work on it. (Players in green were on trial at time of their goals)

Transfers

Transfers In
Date	Player	Pos	From	Fee
28.07.22	Imanol Castilla Rubia	GK	Free	€0
30.07.22	Doran Gilis	GK	E. Mechelen	€0
31.07.22	Alec Mertens	ST	Rapid Leest	€0
03.08.22	Víctor Banegas	MC	Free	€0
05.08.22	Nico Cañizares	DC	Free	€0
06.08.22	Álex Pérez	AML	Free	€0
08.08.22	Raúl Botía	AMRC	Free	€0
10.08.22	Ander Dufur	MC	Free	€0
13.08.22	Bright Owusu	AMLC	Free	€0
13.08.22	Richard Tei Sorgbodjor	ST/AM	Free	€0
16.08.22	Miguel Ángel Prendez Pérez	AMRC	Free	€0
18.08.22	Nico	MC	Free	€0
18.08.22	Riad Chakroun	AMRL	Free	€0
18.08.22	Théo Chendri	AMRLC	Free	€0
19.08.22	Óscar Lorzenzo	ST	Free	€0

 You can see the transfers started after I had a core staff together, needed at least some evaluation tools.

Our Defense was pretty solid before I came to the club, so only signed a single Central Defender to improve it, the midfield started with no central players, and only a pair of wingers, so this was my major focus. I made some Important signings, Nico who will lead the midfield pushing forward a little bit to feed the attack, Raúl Botía who plays as an Inside Forward and will look to cut inside a lot to help around goal and Álex Pérez who plays provider from the left wing as well. Banegas, Dufur, Owusu, Chendri & Chakroun provide excellent depth to help as the season goes, it is possible one of the others may step in on the left after they settle, but Pérez will start the season there. The striking closet was also bare as we headed into the season, we added Alec Mertens and Óscar Lorzenzo into the squad as a combo, they play slightly differently and I will work them both in depending on how the opposition is likely to defend. 

Loans In
Date	Player	Pos	From	Wages
21.08.22	Monir Abdeleselam	ST	UD Logroñés	€0
28.08.22	Adrián Zorrilla	DR	CD Tropezón	€170

Here you can see our late loan deal for Zorrilla to shore up the right back spot. We also had another striker come in, this was agreed to when I was worried Lorenzo wouldn't sign his deal.

Tactics

Spoiler

Starting Line-up

Doran Gilis - The younger guy of our two Keepers, he was brought in as the back-up, but played better in preseason

Adrián Zorrilla - Last second loan signing, was desperately needed here.

Nico Cañizares - Signed to line up alongside Ramos, he did a solid job

Javi Ramos - Was at the club when I joined, very glad to have a great Central Defender, he asked to leave, but accepted can leave if someone offers €100k, should stay will be an excellent captain as well

Marc Juárez - Another player who was here before hand, very solid as a more attacking fullback

Víctor Banegas - Solid midfielder, will play more defensively of the pair

Nico - signed to be the more attacking midfielder, I look forward to him providing some movement going forwards

Raúl Botía - Our inside forward, expect to see him score some goals in the season

Gori - The third starter who was here before I came along, he looks excellent for only 23, I really hope I can hold onto him expected to be good for the level above.

Álex Pérez - Our left winger, he should be sending some balls in for Botia and Mertens to get on the end of

Alec Mertens - The starter at the beginning of the season, but Lorenzo should get some time here as well.

My Expectations

Mostly I want to avoid relegation, that means being at least 5 teams behind us, going to be a fight, but think I have the team to do it. 

Edited November 12, 2021 by Lower Leagues Rule

[jmarchand]

Full report coming soon, but we got a pretty good season at Fethiyespor!

Révélation

 

[Thebaker]

2025/26

Squad | Transfers

 

I strengthened the team and had my best performance in the 1st stage, 3 defeats in a row in the mid point sunk any chances of promotion. In the relegation stage the team disappointingly started really poorly with just 3 draws after 5 games with the draws all coming from last minute goals. The team picked up but still needed to win the last game which looked unlikely when the team was drawing and down to 10 men but switching to all out attack brought the saving goal.

In the PT cup The club reached the 3rd rd before losing 0-1 away to 3rd div Olhanense

Finances stayed quite steady which was pleasing although i have kept wages low.

The defence was better but possibly still lacking in quality. On the wing Viera was a constant threat and his injury for the first 7 games of the relegation stage was a factor in the poor start. Up front Musel was a great striker for teh club and continues to improve.

The first youth player came through who might actually make a 1st team appearance.

Season

League

Position

Portuguese Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2023/24

Championship

7th in Group A, 4th in relegation group E

2nd Rd

N/A

Bilimbota (10)

Nunes (6)

391

Adequate

Poor

Basic

Basic

2024/25

Championship

7th in Group A, 4th in relegation group E

2nd Rd

N/A

Musel (12)

Bruno Viera (4)

325

Below Average

Poor

Basic

Basic

2025/26

Championship

4th in Group A, 4th in relegation group E

3rd Rd

N/A

Musel (19)

Ruben Alves (5)

399

Below Average

Poor

Basic

Basic

[Lower Leagues Rule]

55 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

2025/26

Nice to see the improvements in the first stage. Do all the teams except the top two then fall into relegation stages? 
I seem to remember the restructured Portuguese division being really rough to try and get out of that relegation battle because of how it was set-up. 

Good Luck for the new season.

[Thebaker]

12 hours ago, Lower Leagues Rule said:

Nice to see the improvements in the first stage. Do all the teams except the top two then fall into relegation stages? 
I seem to remember the restructured Portuguese division being really rough to try and get out of that relegation battle because of how it was set-up. 

Good Luck for the new season.

its top 2 +2 3rd places from 7 leagues go into 2 promotion groups, all the other teams are in 5 relegation groups. Its proving tough, as if you lose 2 or 3 games in the first stage you have no chance of promotion.

Edited November 12, 2021 by Thebaker

[Tyer]

Chojniczanka Chojnice 22/23

 

Really poor first season, finished 14th when we were thought to finish 11th.  (Look at that horrible start to the season)

Finances look poor as well, I might struggle to hold on to this job!  I might need to look into tactics or something as we gave up by far the most goals in the league when our expected xg wasn't even the worst in the league. 

Looks like this will be quite the effort to turn these boys into Polish giants!

[Britrock]

Hyères FC 2022/23 season review

An horrific start to the season was followed by a fantastic middle and a bit of a limp to the finish line. After 5 games we were bottom of the league so I had a tactical reassessment. Maybe playing with a much higher dline and loe with extremely wide isn't the best in the French National! After I settled back into a fairly basic 433 we went on a confident run and ended the season in 7th, comfortably safe from relegation.

Spoiler

The main problem moving forwards is the age of the squad, which is somewhere between old and just about to withdraw their pension. There weren't very many free agents kicking around, so I ended up signing a bunch of players over 30. Some of them worked out (Tim Klose) and some of them didn't (I didn't realise Alberto Garcia was 41...). Hopefully we can lower the average age this summer and improve the physical attributes of the team. The defenders were all around 7-8 pace which means there were a fair few goals conceded to balls over the top!

Spoiler

The aim for next season is to make a push towards promotion. It's a 20 point jump so I'm not sure if we can do it all in one season, but with a better start to the season we can definitely improve.

[aldojags]

nice @jmarchanda trophy for Daniel Matas managerial career already!

[Tyer]

Wow, I signed a couple big boy defenders in the offseason and they are scoring goals from corners like they are going out of style.  Leading the league early season 2 with a much better defense and set pieces

[corinthiano]

@Lower Leagues Rule - looks like a very busy pre-season as expected in the first year, good luck for the season!

@Thebaker - good to see the improvement, shame it slipped away in the relation stage, does seem like it will be tough to get out of the division!

@Tyer - tough first season, but looks like you are turning it around, hope you keep the good form up!

@Britrock - solid first season, I am debating about whether I do use a more aggressive tactic from the start but feel that I may run into the same issues you did at the beginning of the season, will have to think about it!

[jmarchand]

Season 2 | 2023-2024 | Upwards and onwards

After a quite successful first season in which we survived in the 2.League, our eyes were set to the top of the league. The board was wanting a Top Half finish, but I was secretly hoping to make the playoffs. The media, however, were seeing through my plans quite easily and we were predicted to finish 4th in the league. 

 

League Performance

After a draw and two losses to start the season, falling to 16th place in the process, the team picked it up admirably and went on a spree of 2 defeats in the next 27 games. Not huge wins, but consistently winning 2-1, 2-0, 3-1. We thus rose to the top of the table and overtook first place Tuzlaspor (and recently relegated from the 1.League) within the last third of the season. Overall, a solid season and I'm looking forward for the guys to continue their good work in the 1.League. 

Révélation

 

Turkish Cup

We entered in the 3rd round against a lower league side, with a comfortable victory. We were then drawn against MKE Ankaragücü, a lower SuperLig side and lost 2-0 at their place. They were obviously better, but we weren't totally outclassed, which bodes well for the future. 

 

The Team

While trying to play on the existing players' strength, we settled on a somewhat unorthodox 4-1-3-2 DM Asymmetric formation, which ultimately worked very well. I didn't want to have a lone striker up front, so I played in with an Advanced Forward and a Pressing Forward in support, as well as a defensive midfielder sitting in front of the defence. That turned out great, and our goals came from a bit everywhere in the squad, getting valuable contributions from my winger(s), which ended up scoring almost as much as the guys in front. I'll probably roll with that for the foreseeable future, but I don't know how well it'll play out as we move up the ladder. 

Our vertical tiki-taka style fit very well and we dominated the league in possession, with close to 60% in average over the whole year. Quite an impressive way to go and I look forward to see more of the same from them next year. 

Révélation

 

Individual highlights

Now that I know the guys a bit better and that some of them have been with me for 2 seasons, I know better who is integral to the team and who is expendable. 

Who am I kidding, at this level, they're all expendable. 

 

Yusuf Götkas - DC - 9 goals, 9 PoM, 7.55 avg. rating

He came on loan in the second part of last season from Ankaragücü and I managed to keep him for this season (for no wages). I also extended his loan for next year, but this time I'm paying 70% of his salary, but I don't mind at all. He was integral to our defence, strong in the middle, a bit slow but very effective in the air. His 9 goals showed that he was quite effective on set pieces too. He will probably be of the level of the first team squad for next year, which is great news. 

Révélation

 

Ibrahim Koça - AML, ST - 11 goals, 5 assists, 7.21 avg. rating

Coming either at the wing or as the pressing forward, he came in big on a few occasions, often creating chances for others. Not sure he'll have the level to be as impactful next year, but he'll remain a good part of our team for sure. 

Révélation

 

For the Future

I took a couple of lottery tickets, most notable Volkan Sahin, who looks like a good ball distributing midfielder, signed for 9K€ from Samsunspor in the 1.League. I expect him to lead our U19s next year. He came in a few times in the first team, played fairly well, got an assist already, we'll see how he develops! 

Révélation

 

Other News

- Finances are bad, but I expect them to improve next year with the promotion. Glad I'm out of that division though as even with spending just half my wage budget, we were running a sizeable deficit... 

- Youth Intake this year wasn't great. It's poised as a golden generation, but there's really nothing to write home about in these guys. 

- In the SuperLeague, Trabzonspor dominated the league this year, followed by Besitkas, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe. Neither of them qualified for the groups in the Champions League. 

- In Europe, Manchester United won the Champions League, Inter won the EURO Cup and OGC Nice one the EURO Cup II. 

 

Looking Back

- Challenge for the playoffs: SUCCESS! 

- Get a good goalkeeper, the one I have isn't nearly close to be up to par: Relative success. Our guy was good for the league standard, but might not be able to make the next few steps up. 

- Get a striker I can believe in: FAIL, but we got enough goals from the rest of the field that it didn't matter much. I'm still on the lookout, though. 

 

Looking Forward

- Survive in the 1.League

- Get a striker I can believe in (for real this time)

- Start scouting Eastern Europe (now that I can sign foreign players)

 

Summary

Year

Season

League

Position

Points

Goal Diff

Cup

Europe

Avg. Attendance

Top Scorer

Top Assist

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

1

2022/2023

2.L

11

51

-4

3rd Round

NA

4013

Serhat Mutlu (10)

Sezer Yildim (9)

Basic

Basic

Fairly Basic

Limited

2

2023/2024

2.L

1

75

32

4th Round

NA

4257

Onur Demir (12)

Yunus Kefeli (10)

Basic

Basic

Fairly Basic

Limited

Edited November 12, 2021 by jmarchand

[corinthiano]

Cracking first season @jmarchand! Best of luck in the 1. League!

[andershs]

@rlipscombe: You have included Ireland in the list of possible countries. I have always wanted to start in Ireland in the Youth Academy Challenge or this challenge, but have always refrained from it due to the lack of promotion/relegation to/from the Irish First Division. Would it be possible to start this challenge with the the team in the Irish First Division predicted to finish lowest?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

@Tyer That's a solid first season given where you started, from history in this thread, it is a huge step to make it out of the relegation zone in any league in season one. Good Luck improving the defense. Great to see you are now doing better with defending and also getting the goals from them as well.

@Britrock A very good season there, nice to see multiple players sharing in the assists, good luck pushing towards promotion. 

@jmarchand Excellent work getting a promotion, now you can work upwards. Like the look of Sahan

 

[Lower Leagues Rule]

LLR's Mallorquín Adventure

Mid-season Update - January 2023

Fixtures | League | Squad | Transfers | Finances | Dynamics

Overview

At the middle of the league season we're hitting the target, but only just. We started great, and we finished poorly, hopefully with the changes, and transfers in the midseason we can improve into the safer mid table.

Season so far

Current Season
Team	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	+/-
Overall	18	5	7	6	15	20	-5
League	17	5	7	5	15	18	-3
Cups	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2
Home	11	3	3	5	8	12	-4
Away	7	2	4	1	7	8	-1
Segunda División RFEF	17	5	7	5	15	18	-3
Copa Federación de España	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Copa del Rey	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2

As you can see we have been a lot more questionable at home, it might be because I have tried to go for it at home a but more, but you can see a 5-7-5 record, we started with 8 games unbeaten, but have ended the first half with 5 games without a win. We need to turn this around, hopefully the break helps us get back on top. We are mid table in goals conceded, but we're lagging behind in goals scored, so I am going to try and push forward a little more in the second half

My Favourite Players

Nico (MC) - He has been a really good player for my team, leading the midfield, it looks like he might share the starting role with Dufur in the second half as we have a superstar addition (Check the transfers)

Théo Chendri (AMRLC) - An absolute delight wherever he plas, has been the best on the left, but has played right across that line. A few bad games the team has had affects his rating, need to get past that.

Transfers

Transfers In
Date	Player	Pos	From	Fee
23.11.22	Serigio Moriones	D/MC	Free	€0
15.12.22	Eric Puerto	GK	Free	€0
20.12.22	Marcos	AMR	Free	€0

This will be the extent of our signings for January (Unless we can get some players to leave,) as we have hit the limit of our wage budget and cannot offer any more than 250/wk, Marcos & Moriones will both start, while Puerto was brought in because of the injury to Imanol that sees him out long term.

New Tactic One

 

My Expectations

I actually think this team is good enough to make the playoffs, but the aim HAS to be avoiding relegation over anything else right now. 

Edited November 18, 2021 by Lower Leagues Rule