[FM22] Matryoshka

[Novem9]

Well, I think you're ready to hear another story! It started as a one-time joke, but later developed into a local meme. Now this is already a well-known phrase that even commentators and journalists use.

You all know in this thread about D2, also known as FNL (Football National League, original - ФНЛ). Tom' Tomsk won FNL season in 18/19. The main sponsor of this club was the Tomsk region itself (state money). The governor said that the club is not ready to be promoted in RPL (D1), since it requires much more money. Sponsors (important at least) were difficult to find due to the economic situation and the low profitability of the league.

So the joke was born that the FNL is such a cool league that they don’t even want to get promoted from it. Subsequently, it became a meme "FNL - the Best League in the World".

Further, the Twitter account (and other resources) of the FNL pick up the hashtag with this phrase. Fact fixed 

Btw relegation in Russia calls 'cleaning by firstdiv'. Firstdiv sounds like 'perdiv', sounds pretty glaringly 

So now you can condescendingly resolve disputes about what is better - EPL or La Liga 

Edited May 17, 2022 by Novem9

[Sonic Youth]

9 hours ago, Novem9 said:

Well, I think you're ready to hear another story! It started as a one-time joke, but later developed into a local meme. Now this is already a well-known phrase that even commentators and journalists use.

You all know in this thread about D2, also known as FNL (Football National League, original - ФНЛ). Tom' Tomsk won FNL season in 18/19. The main sponsor of this club was the Tomsk region itself (state money). The governor said that the club is not ready to be promoted in RPL (D1), since it requires much more money. Sponsors (important at least) were difficult to find due to the economic situation and the low profitability of the league.

So the joke was born that the FNL is such a cool league that they don’t even want to get promoted from it. Subsequently, it became a meme "FNL - the Best League in the World".

Further, the Twitter account (and other resources) of the FNL pick up the hashtag with this phrase. Fact fixed 

Btw relegation in Russia calls 'cleaning by firstdiv'. Firstdiv sounds like 'perdiv', sounds pretty glaringly 

So now you can condescendingly resolve disputes about what is better - EPL or La Liga 

I seem to recall a manager in the lower leagues of England being sacked because he got his team promoted. The club’s reason was similar, can’t afford it.

[Novem9]

1 минуту назад, Sonic Youth сказал:

I seem to recall a manager in the lower leagues of England being sacked because he got his team promoted. The club’s reason was similar, can’t afford it.

Too many best leagues for one planet

[Sonic Youth]

6 minutes ago, Novem9 said:

Too many best leagues for one planet

 It was the non promotion reason that got me 

And definitely is the apple/league of someone’s eyes 

Whoops, I think it might have been this: https://fanbanter.co.uk/non-league-boss-sacked-despite-being-top-of-league-and-72-win-record/

Edited May 18, 2022 by Sonic Youth
Eyes

[Novem9]

5 минут назад, Sonic Youth сказал:

Whoops, I think it might have been this: https://fanbanter.co.uk/non-league-boss-sacked-despite-being-top-of-league-and-72-win-record/

Is he fine now? I checked fm editor, but didn't find Richard Dimmock

[_Ben_]

November 2035

Finally back into the land of FM-ing after what has turned into another week of the new normal - one where I'm too exhausted to look at any more emails or any more spreadsheets. However, given the busy-ness of my schedule, you couldn't really ask for a more complete and satisfying month that has seen us move to the top of the table and earn promotion to the Second Knockout round of the Europa League, bypassing the first due to our table topping performance.

At player level, my third signing (after the far less remarkable Isaev and Pape Matar Sarr) Alex Barreto has just reached the fifty goal milestone. At any level, fifty goals in the top flight is strong, but, when you consider that this is coming from a 23-year old, new to the country, who underwent a thorough scouting report after really not producing the goods for River Plate and is not even a forward, it's even more astonishing.

Our style of play relies on goals from the central midfielders and this man has not let us down, ever. He was somewhat usurped by a wonderful scoring performance from Hylnsson las year but has been Mr Consistent for us. It's no wonder I am now looking at serious interest from the likes of PSG, Arsenal and Dortmund. Whatever happens, he's the quickest to that landmark for me as a manager and will fondly be remembered for his time in Russia but I know that we are also in the strongest position to move on from any sale that may happen:

Zherebyatjev has been a relevation and, whilst Krystian hasn't been in quite the form that I saw last season, at a goal contribution near enough every two games, I cannot complain.

Five wins and five clean sheets. We've been rarely challenged in the league, just allowing nine shots against us in the whole time, but it's the winning that is important and, despite some heavy rotation and some slightly off finishing, we've done well.

---

I've spoken very fondly of my previous record signing, Alex Barreto, but his crown will be passed to Airton da Silva - at least whilst I mull over the potential permanent deal for Hosvepyan. Whilst his report indicates two things of concern - I really want to dig into ways that I can a) manage his consistency (or lack of) in the short term and b) develop that. Even as a manager and a schematic, routine loving FM player, I can't always hide from these attributes because, as you can see from Airton, sometimes I'm simply blown away by their attributes, stats or what they could offer me.

Here is a little comparison of my own players with previous target Yamakaw as well as Bakharov, who is likely to be relegated at Dinamo this year.

I've tried to combine attributes and statistic in the view that I utilise in my scouting view as well as using figures gained from the league comparison (n.b. I can only see defenders in that so this does include full backs, hence the asterisk). It's clear that I have some really strong defenders, who are better, on paper and on the pitch than the other defenders in the league. I think that, as a team, we are lacking in the passing area - as we do want to look to make the most of opportunities to play out from the back. Whilst Yamakawa fits that better than da Silva, I am really impressed by the physical presence that the Corinthians man has, even though that's not a key metric (as it's hard to actually measure the impact of that in numerical terms in FM - although, IRL, things like progressive yards, sprints, top speeds etc would all be used).

Looking at who could be replaced here - again, I'm in a difficult position. We're trying to upgrade rather than build and, given the ages of these players, it's probably Avramchuk that is the loser here, although I haven't been super impressed with Medvedev, yet. However, given the potential issues I will now face with registration, he may get a second chance.

The above graph shows the months that my foreign players have left on their deal plus the age that they'll be at the end of it.

I bring this up because of the fact that da Silva himself is non-EU and, as of right now, we have zero spare spots to register him. There is quite a straightforward approach that would look at moving Vlahovac or Farias on a year earlier with definite consideration for the latter, as he's underperformed most and been afforded the least game time. Another thought would be to look to the domestic market for a winger, given that they have been the worst performers, and move for someone like Smolnikov from Ufa, who I've been scouting for some time. Lastly, my thought may be to move Irala on for a significant profit. He's new and the only Paraguayan, so I get the whole adaptability phase, but he's somewhat underwhelmed this season and it'd mean Medvedev would move to Right Back. What that does do though, when compared with first choice Bentancor, is reduce, drastically, the ball playing ability of that role.

Something needs to change to allow the integration of da Silva but I'll continue to mull over it for the coming months...

 

 

 

[SixPointer]

The “perfect month” indeed Ben! Nice to see you back! 
 

The combination of stats, attributes and scout report is the way forward for me, I like the idea of no attributes like shrew does it but for me I don’t personally think I could do it. Mainly with my DNA philosophy, but also having played since CM 00/01 the attribute page is engraved in me.

I think supplement the attributes and reports with statistical information is the dream, much like you, with great detail.
 

Barreto is proof in the pudding here as he has been a real success story and really your homework after discovering him has shone through!

[_Ben_]

13 hours ago, SixPointer said:

The combination of stats, attributes and scout report is the way forward for me, I like the idea of no attributes like shrew does it but for me I don’t personally think I could do it. Mainly with my DNA philosophy, but also having played since CM 00/01 the attribute page is engraved in me.

I think supplement the attributes and reports with statistical information is the dream, much like you, with great detail.

Absolutely!

I'm more than ever into the removal of gaming things. Yes, da Silva is not the best at being consistent - but my question and investigative lead is how do I limit that factor? The same is to be said with his adaptability - how can I best help him adapt? Rather than just sign on solely attributes or solely stats.

13 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Barreto is proof in the pudding here as he has been a real success story and really your homework after discovering him has shone through!

It'll be a sad day when he leaves but, in my next post, I'm going to look at some longer term planning with some players I'm even more excited about!

[SixPointer]

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

Absolutely!

I'm more than ever into the removal of gaming things. Yes, da Silva is not the best at being consistent - but my question and investigative lead is how do I limit that factor? The same is to be said with his adaptability - how can I best help him adapt? Rather than just sign on solely attributes or solely stats.

It'll be a sad day when he leaves but, in my next post, I'm going to look at some longer term planning with some players I'm even more excited about!

I like the idea of trying to manage these hidden factors, after all that's want management and player development is about. Not every player is consistent or likes big matches. But some will do it for a certain manager. Some managers are better at getting that side of a player tuned in. some players will never change. You could well be onto something here!
 

[_Ben_]

3 hours ago, SixPointer said:

I like the idea of trying to manage these hidden factors, after all that's want management and player development is about. Not every player is consistent or likes big matches. But some will do it for a certain manager. Some managers are better at getting that side of a player tuned in. some players will never change. You could well be onto something here!
 

I have been far too black and white with it in the past. You know that I'd probably turn down Messi or Mbappe if they were listed as inconsistent!

However, I think that's the next step - I've now got solid recruitment built around statistical analysis as well as in-depth player development so I think the next thing is absolutely maximising player performance: through both the tactical approach and my own man management skills.

[_Ben_]

December 2035

A relatively short month and one where we have seen Zenit essentially drop out of the running for the league. We go into the winter break with a three point lead over Lokomotiv, who we play first up. However, given our recent form post-break, I want to have a deeper look at my own mid-season schedule.

Of course - the man who I sold to Zenit scoring his first goal for them. In the 90th minute. To salvage a draw. However, we can be proud of how far we've come as this is a game that I felt a little sad that we didn't take three points from - certainly not a feeling I'd have had a couple of seasons ago. We then followed up with an equally impressive win in Moscow to give us a pretty healthy lead over the aforementioned Zenit and the dangerous CSKA. A draw against Koln was pretty decent given that they're a very strong outfit and are currently in the new manager bounce phase after appointing Luuk de Jong.

---

The above graphic is why I have loved building shortlists for the longer term. Alejo Zbrun was poor last year, registering three goals and five assists in 24(11) games and that performance is what put me off signing him back then. Yet, this season, he's got 4G/4A in 9(3) games (932 mins) and is in the top ten percent of all attacking players in the Argentinian top flight for Chances Created, Key Passes and Assists. Furthermore, his dribbling and goals are in the top quarter of the league, despite his playing time being split between a few different positions:

Because he was already fully scouted, I was aware of a new deal so the form was just a reminder that he will cost me just £5.75m, even if I have to offer him a decent whack due to the extension clause Estudiantes have there. My plan, in an ideal world, is to complete this signing following the winter window (as you can't pre-arrange when meeting Release Clauses) in order to allow it to go through in the summer.

But what it then does is clogs up an area of the team and adds to the growing problem of just eight non-Russian players, as seen here:

An ideal swap would be to move Farias on as he's provided the least for us as a team but then I am concerned about a forward line that has two teenagers (Zbrun and Hovsepyan), who really aren't that experienced. Longer term, I see Samedov replacing Vlahovic but then that makes it feel even gamier - which teams run with a forward line made up of U21 players and the team in question is not part of a computer game?! I really like the idea of Vlahovic being a strong mentor (even if it'll have an impact on his Determination) as I have done with Hovsepyan this year. I also need to consider that Zbrun is not actual able to play as a striker, a F9, just yet so will need adaptation time.

Does having four forwards: Vlahovic, Hovsepyan (who still hasn't quite convinced me, yet), Volkagonov and Zbrun work for a year when only one forward is used? Wherever we finish this season, we'll be fighting on at least two fronts and this depth is potentially necessary - especially when you consider the ability that they have to play in the AM strata, too.

All in all, it's a really exciting future for the club and we're building a very formidable group of players with the ability to move for new players should others be sold. This ethos is my biggest recruiting achievement in FM to date, probably.

---

Whilst I'm out shopping for potentially elite talents, I've also been using our scouting network to trial youngsters who will become part of the 2-Team and allow me to experiment and develop my own player development skills. I need to ensure that these players fit the criteria (and all do bar Gboho who was just a nice scout find at ASEC) due to their nationalities but may have been missed (with scouting still largely focused on professional leagues and not youth leagues) from the countries that they are based in.

I don't know whether these players will even sign let alone develop, but I do also need to take into account of the board vision, below.

Developing them and then, likely, selling them is part of the model that I want to utilise here. Whilst our owner backs us financially, there are really no negative sides to putting time and effort into youngsters, even if they aren't going to make it to the elite levels.

[_Ben_]

January 2035

No games but the inevitable...

Taking a leaf from the book of @SixPointer, I simply cannot reject an offer that is 552% of the fee I payed for the player who has repaid me with over 50 goals at more than a goal every other game. No way should this player, entering his peak, be stuck in Russia for a team that, actually, hasn't won anything of note, yet. I went in to see if I could turn his head back, but his demands were laughable, as they should be when Dortmund come calling.

So where next?

Well, back to the shortlist and I find this man who I added following an interesting scout report in the summer:

Matias Conberse is a young lad currently plying his trade at Argentinos but is unhappy after their relegation to the second tier. On comparison with Barreto, he's remarkably similar but, obviously, not quite as good: yet far too good to be playing where he is right now. He's young, has a good personality and will not impact the non-Russian cap as he's effectively replacing another Argentine. With them being in the (unplayable) second tier, I'm unable to get a proper eye test for him but, statistically, he's interesting:

I'm getting a sense of his trait of Dictating Tempo and the fact that he leads the top two tiers of Argentine football in times fouled that he's pretty good on the ball. I like that he can then use that and create chances and assists. I'd love to see how many are scored but, as I said, all I have to go by is this and, due to the fact it's only half a squad, it's not really realistic for this purpose so I must trust that these statistics have been created with some nod to attributes and playing style. Whilst not a goalscorer really, there's plenty of scope to mould that.

Transfer listed at £2.1m will see me net a profit overall of more than £30m, allowing a player to follow a realistic career trajectory and allowing me to utilise statistical analysis to strategically recruit a replacement: perfect on all fronts!

 

[SixPointer]

Crazy to see Zenit’s fall from grace. In clear indicators as to why? This could well be the year for a first top league title!

I like the look of both Argies. The realism in the Barreto deal is crucial but his replacement looks ideal and again further complements the realism factor Ben 

 

[Sonic Youth]

Sad to see the Barretta deal, but shows the process in motion 

I like the second Argie Converse, who looks similar but with better ball playing skills. Definitely curious about how he’d change the flow compared to Barreto. Zubro off the wing, though retrained as a forward looks very flexible too 

[haier_fm]

2 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Crazy to see Zenit’s fall from grace. In clear indicators as to why? This could well be the year for a first top league title!

I like the look of both Argies. The realism in the Barreto deal is crucial but his replacement looks ideal and again further complements the realism factor Ben 

 

I assume it has got to do something with an ageing squad with very average abilities. Plus, all that spending in previous seasons for such players has finally caught up to them.

Could be wrong though.  

[Novem9]

Could you share screen of Alania teamlist? Very interesting to see how many Ossetian surnames there is.

[_Ben_]

9 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Crazy to see Zenit’s fall from grace. In clear indicators as to why? This could well be the year for a first top league title!

6 hours ago, haier_fm said:

I assume it has got to do something with an ageing squad with very average abilities. Plus, all that spending in previous seasons for such players has finally caught up to them.

Could be wrong though.  

I know! It's a bit of both, really. They splashed a bit of cash at the end of the window:

Juan Jose Diaz looks decent but their squad is still old, with an average age of 28, and is still going to be part of a big turnover in the next couple of years.

 

[_Ben_]

9 hours ago, SixPointer said:

I like the look of both Argies. The realism in the Barreto deal is crucial but his replacement looks ideal and again further complements the realism factor Ben 

7 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Sad to see the Barretto deal, but shows the process in motion 

I like the second Argie Conberse, who looks similar but with better ball playing skills. Definitely curious about how he’d change the flow compared to Barreto. Zbrun off the wing, though retrained as a forward looks very flexible too

Thanks both!

Definitely going for realism but also really like how, as you say, Zbrun can be utilised in a number of positions to pose a specific threat, which, in turn, means I'll be paying much closer attention to the tactical stuff still.

[_Ben_]

5 hours ago, Novem9 said:

Could you share screen of Alania teamlist? Very interesting to see how many Ossetian surnames there is.

Of course:

I think their youth team might be a better decider here though? I know nothing about regional Russian names so please help!

[_Ben_]

January (Part 2) 2036

With the exit of Barreto (who, as I said, has left with my best wishes following a great career), I also made the decision to move on another player:

Farias had kind of become my fall guy - a player who was there as an extra bit didn't really do much yet got a lot of my personal blame. At 33, I knew his legs were going but he was the player who gave it his all whilst at Brighton in order for me to sign him - as I decided against Hannibal and went for the Argentine. Sadly, he's not quite lived up to the bill but I've got his £26k p/w wages off my books and a nice £1.6m, all of which is profit. I jumped the gun to make this move because I had been notified of this:

My intention was to move, unopposed for Alejo after the transfer window had shut, but you know what they say about best laid plans!

So, yeah...

#WELCOMEALEJO

Contract wise, he's earning less than Farias and half the amount of Barreto and, any release clause would see significant profit for us! I'm delighted that the constant watching of him, talking about him in the press and keeping tabs on his over the long term allowed me to swoop so easily. Yes, we paid nearly double the weekly wage that the scout report said, but it's well within my means.

Two Argies out and two Argies in. Neither as good as Barreto but, on average, we have possibly made a little step up here...

 

[Novem9]

32 минуты назад, _Ben_ сказал:

Of course:

I think their youth team might be a better decider here though? I know nothing about regional Russian names so please help!

Young team is better idea, forsure! 

Well, it's not very difficult, but more intuitive and comes with experience. Ossetia is a very special region. If only because, unlike most of the mountain peoples of the Caucasus, Ossetians are Orthodox Christians.
In football, for unknown reasons, Ossetians give talented players to the Russian Leagues almost every generation. I just mean it happens despite Alania is not rich region. Many local live in mountian villages, so there is not perfect place for football academies.

I don't follow new gens, the last known to me is Alan Dzagoev, if we talking about the best. And Alania one of regional clubs who won the league, in middle of 1990s.

Without context, it is very difficult to distinguish an Ossetian surname from a Russian one. Since most Ossetian surnames end in -ev, many Russian surnames do too.
For example Leontjev is clear Russian surname, but Shamil is Caucasian Muslim name. Here SI miscalculated.

I don't see Osettians in main team by names. Mb Musalov , but not sure. But in young team are Erik Gazzaev, Soslan Pukhaev absolutely local Alania players. Ossetian surnames are sound more sharp.
In fact, FM started to be better for regional names in last editions, less random. Before it was crazy sometimes  

 

[danielgear]

20 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

No games but the inevitable...

Taking a leaf from the book of @SixPointer, I simply cannot reject an offer that is 552% of the fee I payed for the player who has repaid me with over 50 goals at more than a goal every other game. No way should this player, entering his peak, be stuck in Russia for a team that, actually, hasn't won anything of note, yet. I went in to see if I could turn his head back, but his demands were laughable, as they should be when Dortmund come calling.

Is this a record fee received?

[_Ben_]

18 minutes ago, danielgear said:

Is this a record fee received?

Absolutely. Blows our own record out of the water and also usurps anything any other Russian clubs have done. It's all part of us being that party-pooper and showing that we're not just here to take part in the title race!

[danielgear]

1 minute ago, _Ben_ said:

Absolutely. Blows our own record out of the water and also usurps anything any other Russian clubs have done. It's all part of us being that party-pooper and showing that we're not just here to take part in the title race!

All round brilliant business, identifying an undervalued player via stats then getting him to deliver for you and flipping him for a vast profit. 

[Sonic Youth]

9 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Absolutely. Blows our own record out of the water and also usurps anything any other Russian clubs have done. It's all part of us being that party-pooper and showing that we're not just here to take part in the title race!

Smashing the 30m ceiling 

[_Ben_]

February 2036

My name is Ben and I'm an addict to FM but only get my fix on the weekends at present! This lack of game time has significantly impacted my longer term plans; only ten years in to my first save when, usually, I'm nearing completion and moving elsewhere. My plans for my 'second save' are still there but may wait until FM23 with a shorter project coming if/when I ever achieve all I want to achieve with this save: in Russia or beyond.

Pre-season, as has been since 22.4, has consisted of domestic games, which, sadly, don't really create much competition and only use is just to get some match fitness. I've been impressed with how my two new Argentines have settled, but need to consider that Zbrun was actually far more dangerous whilst playing on the left wing:

Obviously, as someone who a) is new to the club, b) cannot speak the language and c) has no positional familiarity with a striker - this is slow start is to be somewhat expected. I will ensure that I slowly create those opportunities for him to come and perform well as a striker as that will both help with development but also keep morale high and develop positional familiarity more positively.

---

Confirmation that the transfer window has closed, too:

I moved a window earlier than intended, selling on Irala on to make a foreign player space for Da Silva's arrival in the summer. He'd not settled too well and being able to turn a £5.1m profit inside six months is a real positive from this deal.

Overall, I'm happy with the squad that I've got and I've got a pretty steady plan ahead for those who will need replacing for a variety of reasons:

Less than 18 months on current contract:

The jury is still out on when Hovsepyan will sign permanently: it'd be a record deal and, to be fair, he's not developed too well this season. However, this appears to be due to unhappiness over a squad status I absolutely did not agree when creating the loan deal, which is annoying. The ceiling is the limit for this lad though, so I don't know whether trying to explore a loan extension would be able to buy me another year before he, perhaps, becomes financially out of my reach. Agkatsev is here because finding a non-foreign goalkeeper is pretty much impossible at the moment! He's not playing and I have no youth players ready to take over so it's kind of just ticking along. Vlahovic was only ever a two-year signing but, impressively, is barely regressing and is still strong. Protasov and Hreidarsson are okay but could both be allowed to see out their deals, if I'm able to recruit better. Neither are going to really bring me any money in so I'm happy to keep them on the books, given their really low weekly wage commitments. Hylnsson is a cult hero but, given that natural fitness, is likely to fall apart pretty quickly: especially when adding in his injury proneness. However, he's also not really a sellable asset these days and will always have a place in a squad managed by me!

Aging players

Keeping my older players on shorter contracts (as seen as they all appear on the above list) is a priority of mine, even if it does cost more in more regular re-negotiations. 

Lower quality players

Both Volkaganov and Podymov are non-foreign and able squad members who, given their age, are unlikely to bring huge amounts of money. Therefore, it's realistic that they'd only be replaced should they become unhappy or the opportunity to considerably upgrade comes around.

---

A lot of talk about those leaving, yet I have been blessed with an absolute golden generation:

Ivan Miranchuk. Yury Orekhov. Timor Lukin. Artur Popov. Danila Magomedov. Artem Davydov. Nikita Perov.

There is some absolute quality within this intake - many of whom could be in the first team in years to come. There is a nice balance of positions and roles but one thing worth noting is that I've had no players from other academies nor any with second nationalities this year.

 

 

[Hootieleece]

Young Teams work better especially if you rotate and never promise players too much playing time. Great for development as well, with all the prospect getting playing time in the First team. Try and keep PT promises to Squad if possible.

 

[Novem9]

В 29.05.2022 в 14:37, _Ben_ сказал:

My name is Ben and I'm an addict to FM but only get my fix on the weekends at present!

I visited this forum few times on the week and thought I really miss Ben's regular thread updates  

With your permission, I will add some content, taking advantage of the moment.

Today Spartak won the cup for the first time since 2003.
It was really dramatic game, but more than that I wanted to share this video. This is the Russian singer Maxim, who became very popular in the 2000s. She sang romantic songs, but the Ultras of FC Spartak were very fond of her hit, which they began to sing at away games. She was invited to the final to sing this song for Spartak. Looks great, but of course I can't be objective here 

 

upd. Waited for better commentators, but only this review version is available. If someone is interesting about game:

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Novem9

[SixPointer]

21 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

February 2036

My name is Ben and I'm an addict to FM but only get my fix on the weekends at present! This lack of game time has significantly impacted my longer term plans; only ten years in to my first save when, usually, I'm nearing completion and moving elsewhere. My plans for my 'second save' are still there but may wait until FM23 with a shorter project coming if/when I ever achieve all I want to achieve with this save: in Russia or beyond.

Pre-season, as has been since 22.4, has consisted of domestic games, which, sadly, don't really create much competition and only use is just to get some match fitness. I've been impressed with how my two new Argentines have settled, but need to consider that Zbrun was actually far more dangerous whilst playing on the left wing:

Obviously, as someone who a) is new to the club, b) cannot speak the language and c) has no positional familiarity with a striker - this is slow start is to be somewhat expected. I will ensure that I slowly create those opportunities for him to come and perform well as a striker as that will both help with development but also keep morale high and develop positional familiarity more positively.

---

Confirmation that the transfer window has closed, too:

I moved a window earlier than intended, selling on Irala on to make a foreign player space for Da Silva's arrival in the summer. He'd not settled too well and being able to turn a £5.1m profit inside six months is a real positive from this deal.

Overall, I'm happy with the squad that I've got and I've got a pretty steady plan ahead for those who will need replacing for a variety of reasons:

Less than 18 months on current contract:

The jury is still out on when Hovsepyan will sign permanently: it'd be a record deal and, to be fair, he's not developed too well this season. However, this appears to be due to unhappiness over a squad status I absolutely did not agree when creating the loan deal, which is annoying. The ceiling is the limit for this lad though, so I don't know whether trying to explore a loan extension would be able to buy me another year before he, perhaps, becomes financially out of my reach. Agkatsev is here because finding a non-foreign goalkeeper is pretty much impossible at the moment! He's not playing and I have no youth players ready to take over so it's kind of just ticking along. Vlahovic was only ever a two-year signing but, impressively, is barely regressing and is still strong. Protasov and Hreidarsson are okay but could both be allowed to see out their deals, if I'm able to recruit better. Neither are going to really bring me any money in so I'm happy to keep them on the books, given their really low weekly wage commitments. Hylnsson is a cult hero but, given that natural fitness, is likely to fall apart pretty quickly: especially when adding in his injury proneness. However, he's also not really a sellable asset these days and will always have a place in a squad managed by me!

Aging players

Keeping my older players on shorter contracts (as seen as they all appear on the above list) is a priority of mine, even if it does cost more in more regular re-negotiations. 

Lower quality players

Both Volkaganov and Podymov are non-foreign and able squad members who, given their age, are unlikely to bring huge amounts of money. Therefore, it's realistic that they'd only be replaced should they become unhappy or the opportunity to considerably upgrade comes around.

---

A lot of talk about those leaving, yet I have been blessed with an absolute golden generation:

Ivan Miranchuk. Yury Orekhov. Timor Lukin. Artur Popov. Danila Magomedov. Artem Davydov. Nikita Perov.

There is some absolute quality within this intake - many of whom could be in the first team in years to come. There is a nice balance of positions and roles but one thing worth noting is that I've had no players from other academies nor any with second nationalities this year.

 

 

Nothing worse than when real life takes us away from the FM life. Something I’ve struggled massively with this year. Due to commitments at work and trying to regain my fitness for one last go at playing football (just amateur semi pro days long gone).

but great pre season although you really are restricted, it’s going to be very interesting to see how you will develop these supreme talents. Something I really do need to strive to be better at. So I’ll be looking for some of you wisdom 

[_Ben_]

On 29/05/2022 at 19:43, Hootieleece said:

Young Teams work better especially if you rotate and never promise players too much playing time. Great for development as well, with all the prospect getting playing time in the First team. Try and keep PT promises to Squad if possible.

 

I actually want to achieve somewhat of the opposite. There is no realism in a team of 20 year olds and I think FM are making progress with removing their bias towards young players' performances. I want to bring in younger players to develop and sell, as per the board's requests, but also want experienced heads who have been there and done it.

On 29/05/2022 at 19:44, Novem9 said:

Today Spartak won the cup for the first time since 2003.

Whether due to the war or otherwise, it appears that Russian sport has fallen out of view, for me at least, so it's lovely to hear these real life updates!

On 30/05/2022 at 10:27, SixPointer said:

it’s going to be very interesting to see how you will develop these supreme talents. Something I really do need to strive to be better at. So I’ll be looking for some of you wisdom 

There are some really great players there and I'm excited to see how I can progress them. In their first game in the 2-team, they did this against my old club, Mashuk:

Orekhov scored twice and got four assists in what can only be considered to be the dream first competitive game!

[_Ben_]

March 2036

Another long, draw out month but possible the most important month in the history of Krasnodar and my own job. We are edging closer to our first ever top flight title and an absolutely enthralling 210 minutes of football against Milan gave us our biggest scalp ever as we move on to face Gladbach in the quarter finals.

We kicked off the two games that would largely decide our fate with two wins. A strong performance over Lokomotiv saw us romp to victory and we recorded a well deserved win over CKSA; demonstrating the full effect of our attacking shape for Zbrun's late, debut goal. I gave the backups a run out in the cup and Arman took advantage, netting four times in an easy win. 

With Milan side sitting a lowly 15th in Serie A, I'd be looking at this as a serious and realistic job option (although my FM23 does intend to have a stop back in my favourite FM country!) but it appears Daniel Farke is under no pressure, yet. Looking back at their managers, it's really interesting to see Gogniev, the ex Zenit boss, do a terrible job (14W,10D, 9L) but it appears Zizou, even with an ok record (13W, 5D, 5L), was afforded less time. What I'm really not good at is adapting my shape and style on the fly against the opposition: however, I learnt that they just do not press so I'd expect a fair bit of possession for my defenders, which, in turn, meant I needed to pick the most creative. We were wonderful and, for the neutral, the game was wonderful, too. A fully deserved win in Milan and a great performance, which, for me, is most pleasing - as it was built around what I expected and what I expected, I saw.

With a 72 hour turnaround and a 4,500km flight from Milan to Yekaterinburg, I was expecting some tired legs and that is exactly what I got. It's the first time in a long time we have been out-xGed, but this was to the ratio of 3:1, which must be a first. Two set piece goals earned us the win but it was far from comfortable as many of my ex-players nearly came back to haunt me.

It was the above moment, Volkagonov's first goal in thirteen hours, in the 115th minute that sent me into elation and then saw the most defensive five minutes I've ever had! We battled really hard against Milan, making adjustments based on what I'd seen in the first leg. Pulling the game back to 2-2 in the 67th minute gave me real hope but a late goal from Milan saw it go to extra time. However, with me making my three changes in attacking areas, I had fresh wingers against their super tired defenders, which I tried to take advantage of, staying on the front foot. Veteran Ozan Kabak was beaten for pace and, as they say, the rest is history!

We then wrapped up the month with a solid win over Rostov, cementing our lead at six points with eight games to play. However, our run in is as follows:

• Ufa (A) - 11th
• Sovetov (H) - 9th
• Spartak (H) - 5th
• Perm (H) - 15th
• Nizhniy (A) - 10th
• Orenburg (A) - 6th
• Dinamo (H) - 14th
• Rubin (A) - 12th

We could, literally, take 24 points from that...

---

For the first time, we are recognised here! In years to come, hopefully, we'll have academy graduates...

[danielgear]

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

There is no realism in a team of 20 year olds and I think FM are making progress with removing their bias towards young players' performances. I want to bring in younger players to develop and sell, as per the board's requests, but also want experienced heads who have been there and done it.

100% this, I’ve found that more experienced players must value reputation more than league finish, which needs to be addressed by SI, signing young players seems to be easier because you’re promising them first team football they’re not getting whereas an experienced player is already getting that so they aren’t interested in moving even though your club have outperformed the one they’re at. 

[SixPointer]

Sublime form Ben! Regardless of Milan’s domestic performance that’s a huge scalp to take! 
 

Arman hitting four goals in the one game is he starting to realise his potential? 

[Sonic Youth]

19 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

I actually want to achieve somewhat of the opposite. There is no realism in a team of 20 year olds and I think FM are making progress with removing their bias towards young players' performances. I want to bring in younger players to develop and sell, as per the board's requests, but also want experienced heads who have been there and done it.

That’s the Brentford and Bournemouth models.

Your form is very good, challenging on all fronts 

Also who is the Russian ‘Mbappe’ and is he any good?

[_Ben_]

On 02/06/2022 at 09:05, danielgear said:

100% this, I’ve found that more experienced players must value reputation more than league finish, which needs to be addressed by SI, signing young players seems to be easier because you’re promising them first team football they’re not getting whereas an experienced player is already getting that so they aren’t interested in moving even though your club have outperformed the one they’re at. 

6 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

That’s the Brentford and Bournemouth models.

If I wasn't so riddled by tight foreign player restrictions and, to be fair, a dismal showing from AI clubs developing Russians, I'd just be signing 24+ year olds, who are undervalued. To me, that is probably on a par with finding that Cuban (insert any other tiny footballing nation) newgen and developing them!

6 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Also who is the Russian ‘Mbappe’ and is he any good?

It's Igor Sabitov. He's clearly going to be great because, even with Dinamo in administration, it was going to take a huge sum to sign him. I had a brief look and was swayed by the fact he is Russian, but felt there were better options elsehwere.

[_Ben_]

14 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Sublime form Ben! Regardless of Milan’s domestic performance that’s a huge scalp to take! 
 

Arman hitting four goals in the one game is he starting to realise his potential? 

Ahh, Arman! I've been digging really deep into the background of this player as I look to form my opinion...

Attribute wise, he's really strong at the moment and is growing into the type of player that I really want at the club - fitting in with my own DNA (First Touch, Decisions, Determination, Work Rate and Natural Fitness) but there is a lot more to him than that, which is why I think the loan before buy was the perfect option. With where I am at in terms of recruitment, I want to recruit the best players I can both attribute wise and personality wise but also have the ability to manage those who may not be quite as suited. I think this is where I'm struggling with Arman.

His hidden attributes give him these:

Fairly Determined is quite straight forward as you can see his Determination but Volatile indicates a very poor temperament. His personality would be considered Temperamental if his Professionalism was below average, so that is a good sign. Media Friendly just tells me that nothing else is particularly high or low. This is not an uncommon thing or an uncommon personality set: it's just how I then manage that.

There are further clues here:

He can't connect with the highly professional Zherebyatjev, which would indicate that he doesn't have much professionalism. He's also unhappy at training, despite it covering, literally, the basic attributes he needs to develop. I have also got an indication that he's not got good Pressure or Big Matches, even though none of them are low enough to show on his report. The screenshot below is of the game against Ufa, a relatively easy tie. He was 'Nervous' at the start but I was able to calm him with my teamtalk.

However, as the first half went on, he flittered between Nervous and Apprehensive.

After a pretty abject 45, I pulled him off. You could blame some of that on his poor familiarity with the role, which, in itself is a bit stupid as that is the only place he's trained to play all year. Although, as a less-pro member of the team, maybe his attitude towards training is slowing that? That kind of return and lack of involvement could be due to the fact he's orange for consistency - 'Needs to work on becoming more consistent to develop further.' However, in my opinion - to develop that consistency, I think he would need targeted discussions which could then be rewarded with positive praise when they are achieved.

I therefore told him that I want him to be getting in better positions to score or to assist because I was disappointed with his performance. I used that because his analysis showed me a complete lack of touches in the area (which I can partially accept for a F9) but then just one progressive pass in the opponents half (despite Passing: 14, Vision: 12, Decisions: 15). He was up in arms about it and told me that he completed disagreed: again, a nod to his lack of professionalism.

I think I can coach this out him. Lots of praise is normally my way forward but he's not consistent enough to hit that. Therefore, I'd go for some targeted criticism, but, this time, he's not professional enough to take it. He's in a mentoring group with Vlahovic, who has great Pressure and Professionalism but, as of now, I've not been told of any development despite that significant impact.

---

There's lots more to do before I make that final decision. In my eyes, another year of loan would be ideal - but I'd be looking at fees, before a permanent signing, that would be nearing a transfer record. He could be worth it but I do feel like, right now, there is something blocking him from becoming truly top class!

[SixPointer]

10 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Ahh, Arman! I've been digging really deep into the background of this player as I look to form my opinion...

Attribute wise, he's really strong at the moment and is growing into the type of player that I really want at the club - fitting in with my own DNA (First Touch, Decisions, Determination, Work Rate and Natural Fitness) but there is a lot more to him than that, which is why I think the loan before buy was the perfect option. With where I am at in terms of recruitment, I want to recruit the best players I can both attribute wise and personality wise but also have the ability to manage those who may not be quite as suited. I think this is where I'm struggling with Arman.

His hidden attributes give him these:

Fairly Determined is quite straight forward as you can see his Determination but Volatile indicates a very poor temperament. His personality would be considered Temperamental if his Professionalism was below average, so that is a good sign. Media Friendly just tells me that nothing else is particularly high or low. This is not an uncommon thing or an uncommon personality set: it's just how I then manage that.

There are further clues here:

He can't connect with the highly professional Zherebyatjev, which would indicate that he doesn't have much professionalism. He's also unhappy at training, despite it covering, literally, the basic attributes he needs to develop. I have also got an indication that he's not got good Pressure or Big Matches, even though none of them are low enough to show on his report. The screenshot below is of the game against Ufa, a relatively easy tie. He was 'Nervous' at the start but I was able to calm him with my teamtalk.

However, as the first half went on, he flittered between Nervous and Apprehensive.

After a pretty abject 45, I pulled him off. You could blame some of that on his poor familiarity with the role, which, in itself is a bit stupid as that is the only place he's trained to play all year. Although, as a less-pro member of the team, maybe his attitude towards training is slowing that? That kind of return and lack of involvement could be due to the fact he's orange for consistency - 'Needs to work on becoming more consistent to develop further.' However, in my opinion - to develop that consistency, I think he would need targeted discussions which could then be rewarded with positive praise when they are achieved.

I therefore told him that I want him to be getting in better positions to score or to assist because I was disappointed with his performance. I used that because his analysis showed me a complete lack of touches in the area (which I can partially accept for a F9) but then just one progressive pass in the opponents half (despite Passing: 14, Vision: 12, Decisions: 15). He was up in arms about it and told me that he completed disagreed: again, a nod to his lack of professionalism.

I think I can coach this out him. Lots of praise is normally my way forward but he's not consistent enough to hit that. Therefore, I'd go for some targeted criticism, but, this time, he's not professional enough to take it. He's in a mentoring group with Vlahovic, who has great Pressure and Professionalism but, as of now, I've not been told of any development despite that significant impact.

---

There's lots more to do before I make that final decision. In my eyes, another year of loan would be ideal - but I'd be looking at fees, before a permanent signing, that would be nearing a transfer record. He could be worth it but I do feel like, right now, there is something blocking him from becoming truly top class!

Seems he looks to be a problematic player with an abundance of talent that he can’t use because he too concerned about moaning. Will be very interesting to see if you can coach this out of him. 

[_Ben_]

1 hour ago, SixPointer said:

Seems he looks to be a problematic player with an abundance of talent that he can’t use because he too concerned about moaning. Will be very interesting to see if you can coach this out of him. 

Absolutely that!

Take this:

Came off the bench, played well, scored but, when individually praised - he then decided that this would demotivate him.

It'll be a tough job to get him around to what I want, but, if I can do it and create a player who's attitude matches his ability - then I'll certainly have won!

[SixPointer]

42 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Absolutely that!

Take this:

Came off the bench, played well, scored but, when individually praised - he then decided that this would demotivate him.

It'll be a tough job to get him around to what I want, but, if I can do it and create a player who's attitude matches his ability - then I'll certainly have won!

It really could set the standard for getting the coaching of personalities, with him being such a difficult character  

[Sonic Youth]

Could you use a gesture next time? Point a finger for instance?

[_Ben_]

10 hours ago, SixPointer said:

It really could set the standard for getting the coaching of personalities, with him being such a difficult character  

I want to have a better look at the backroom staff, in case they influence him too. The best news, however, is that he's just signed a new deal which gives him a tiny relegation release clause (£4m) and, right now, Sparta are in the drop zone. It may turn into a permanent deal just to play with how I'll get the best from him.

4 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Could you use a gesture next time? Point a finger for instance?

I don't think you can do negative gestures with positive talks? There is certainly some scope for investigating...

[_Ben_]

April 2036

A hugely important month for us as we put ourselves on the brink of our first title and claim another scalp in Europe. However, there is, for me, a sense of tactical pride as I've really spent time looking at the opposition and, in particular, utilising opposition instructions that really work alongside our tactical identity. The Krylya game, for example, saw their players rate terribly, but that is (in my eyes) largely because I saw their use of wingers and a Target Forward, so identified specifics: setting their 'Very Weak' left footed right winger inside and tackling him really hard given his lack of Bravery. We then chose to trigger press a CM with poor composure, allowing us to win the ball back several times before their attacks got started and, as a team, showed their players inside, restricting their target man to exactly 0.0xG post this change. He was hauled off and I actually did a little celebration! We matched those against Gladbach but, somehow, pretty much every player was strong with both feet, not lacking bravery or composure and their midfield was far faster than mine. However, the little things, like tight marking their playmaker, who was a little slower, trigger pressing their underperforming full back, on a yellow card from early on and utilising tight marking on their two forwards really helped. For me - these are little wins and, even though I imagine that they are done across the board without even consideration by many FM players, I'd never delved this deep tactically before. I've even altered my set plays, mid game, to avoid tall defensive players - that is, honestly, a first, and I love it!

The result...

A tough tie but we've made it this far!

I have been incredibly impressed with the way that Conberse has settled in. Back in 2033, I brought in Alex Barreto in a similar kind of deal. Whilst Matias' goal contributions have been slightly lower than the now-Bundesliga midfielder Barreto's, you can see a very big similarity in terms of how they've rated. I spent a lot of time working through the signing of Alex, weighing up pros and cons that really set a precedent for my recruitment in this save (and now, probably, FM for ever more!) and I think that the signing of Conberse, following in those same steps, is a huge positive for us. It also shows that this type of statistical based recruitment can work for younger players, or players at a lower level (if I then apply the eye test, too) as well as those who are established in age or in high reputation divisions.

---

Onto the talent acquisition....

I was looking for a winger to potentially replace Hreidarsson with a simple metric of dribbles per game (I've found myself more and more resorting to the Player Search screen but within the limits I want to set as the scouted screen, and scouting in general, still doesn't quite feel right in terms of number of players found) and came across an area where I have prospered before, the Eredivisie. Ibrahim Koroma is not scouted and, as such, this will only look at his statistical performances. From this panel, I can ascertain the following:

• Peak age
• International experience and any tournament (AFCON) would not directly impact our season due to the timing of it
• Versatile
• Good personality
• Not playing at a big club
• Potentially undervalued given current market value and previous cost
• Concerns around total appearances given his age

I then had a look at his form:

This doesn't look great. Three goal involvements and an average rating below 7.00 is not pulling up any trees nor attracting visiting scouts. However, I think there is a little more to it and the context behind it is strong. The Eredivisie is of similar quality to our league, as shown by Feyenoord's performances against us this season and his dribbling stat really does shine through - for comparison: Protosov: 4.50, Djioev: 3.48, Maman: 3.03, Hreidarsson: 1.94. But, when you look at the Eredivise table, you can also see why these are his performance metrics - Emmen are not a strong team and aren't doing well.

They're scoring less than they create but they don't really shoot much either. Their conversion rate of chances is certainly not helping the lines of Koroma, the creators to record decent stats here. There is certainly a good reason behind the poor output from him and certainly a reason to think that he may be undervalued at this stage.

What I then decided to do was to compare him to all the wingers playing in the top flight of the top 20 European countries and having appeared for over 1000 minutes this season, to see what I could find. The results were pleasing:

What is the job of a winger? To progress the ball and to cross it in. Ibrahim does pretty well with that! With his ability to play as a defender too, he brings the unexpected bonuses of having decent defensive and aerial prowess, which is good for me in the supporting wingers that I utilise. I then took this back to compare him with all Eredivisie wingers with over 1000 minutes and was even more pleased:

• Inside the top 4% for dribbles per game
• Inside the top 6% for crosses completed per game
• Inside the top 15% for key passes per game
• In the top quarter for chances created per game (which is amazing considering the overall team output here)
• xG is in the 58th percentile - he's only scored twice but that isn't too bad for wingers here.

The next job is obviously to make sure that the attributes match the stats. However, to play, regularly, at this level, there should be no huge surprises (and, even without a scout report, I can see some of his attributes and they don't worry me) and ensure that there are no massive red flags. For a player at this peak age, I think I need to be more careful around consistency, big matches, adaptability etc because they have less of that development phase. I'll make sure I watch two or three games (or at least the highlights) before the end of the season and maybe, just maybe, he could be the next Zherabyatjev in terms of a hidden gem!

And...if you want to talk about hidden gems, how about bringing Hayri Sahin into this! He was a player who popped up in my searching for Koroma but, when compared against all Turkish Super Lig clubs, he's done insanely well! The national team is pretty deep on the wins and he plays for a smaller team but those are some wonderful metrics. If interest in Maman does come to fruition, he'll almost certainly be eyed up for a replacement - again, providing the complete unveiling of attributes doesn't indicate any nasty surprises.

[_Ben_]

(Early) May 2036

A break from the normal to highlight a couple of things before the real world hits me again after a few days of free time. Both happen to be about my mercurial gem Kristian Nokkvi Hylnsson. The first is a clip from our first match of May, against Orenburg:

I just love the interchanging between the F9, W(s) and CM(a) here, which allowed Kristian to get in and, as you'd expect, finish beautifully. I've worked so hard to create a tactic that allows direct football but builds itself around key passes through space creation and incisive football as well as recruiting and developing the right, realistic, type of players for the roles - so to see it work in all it's beauty is just a great achievement for me - a man who, historically, has always shied away from the tactical side of the game.

The second image is an area that I do have to admit is (and always has been) in my wheelhouse...

I think that FM does a phenomenal job of collating stats but it just doesn't collate enough, or, to be honest, do enough with them. I dream of an FM23 that allows customisable columns in which calculations can happen (e.g. xG divided by minutes to create xG/90 - although that is in the game, somewhere) but, realistically, it won't happen. So I've built this little dashboard that can sit alongside my overall recruitment one (as seen above) that takes a deeper dive into the attacking metrics. In future, I'll dig into something that fits in with the defensive metrics but, at this point, I'm deep into recruiting wingers so went with that. I think collation of stats is all well and good but where the real money is made is being able to interpret them and then act upon them.

Before I put this together, I was actually lamenting Krystian's lack of goalscoring output but, looking at the percentile ranks of all attacking players in the Russian Premier League with over 1000 minutes, I can safely say that he's still one of the best. I think that it largely comes from the fact I have had to limit the number of minutes that my 32 year old, slightly injury prone number 10 gets, which makes his eight goals and nine assists look like a drop from the mammoth thirty-two involvements last year.

I like that it kind of asks me a lot of questions or makes me pose a lot of scenarios. Here are just a few that I have thought of:

• He doesn't shoot much, yet is incredibly accurate when he does. I could maybe utilise some kind of PI to ask him to shoot more often or to develop a trait - although that's unlikely given his age.
• He's currently riding the crest of a wave, once again, massively outscoring his xG. I have to be prepared for a dip in form at some point.
• He doesn't pass much but that's just our style and none of our midfielders complete too many passes of the ball.
• He's still instrumental to the team!

Obviously, this is quite easy when he's such a good player but looking at the likes of Volkagonov, who's been poor this season (or, actually, just quite unlucky), you can see quite clearly what he needs to do!

[Sonic Youth]

9 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Obviously, this is quite easy when he's such a good player but looking at the likes of Volkagonov, who's been poor this season (or, actually, just quite unlucky), you can see quite clearly what he needs to do!

Love how you can see these differences in performance, especially as it looks like Volkagonov is performing half as well as Krystian! I was going to say goal scoring positions, but then doesn’t pass as much and wondered if the game seems to pass him by and he’s just not getting involved.

10 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

I think collation of stats is all well and good but where the real money is made is being able to interpret them and then act upon them.

This though is everything posted above, replied to and discussed in a nutshell 

A good point well made 

[Sonic Youth]

Oh, and doing very well with your form in all competitions (looking well placed especially in the league too).

[_Ben_]

14 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Oh, and doing very well with your form in all competitions (looking well placed especially in the league too).

Thanks! It's been some season for us. I don't ever see this being a Luzern type save where I won seven top flight titles in a row, simply due to the time it's taken me to complete the seasons but we could be building something dynastical.

[_Ben_]

May 2036

Full RPL Table. FNL Table. Russian Second Division - Group 1 Table.

In the words of my data analyst: 'Unexpected bonus' - this time actually being able to sit and play a bit more over the dull Sunday afternoon meaning I can get an update out during the working week.

We did it! In the end, it was actually Zenit that did it for us, holding Lokomotiv to a draw and creating an insurmountable gap - trust them to ruin the glory of us actually winning it with our own performance! Europe was hard and Newcastle are a great team: on course for top 4 again in the Premier League, so I cannot be too despondent. What it will do to our nations co-efficients will be useful though. We are also, just about, through to a third successive Kubok Rossii, against, yet again, Zenit - with us tied one apiece for titles under my reign.

We kicked off with a pretty good performance in Vienna against Newcastle - possibly being a little unlikely to end without scoring. Those worries soon dissipated, as we hammered Orenburg thanks to Kristian, who opened his tally with the goal from the gif above. At St James, we were very timid and my game plan of hitting them on the counter after an early onslaught didn't really work. They absolutely deserved it over two legs but it's not an issue. We just above beat Ural, albeit on penalties, after two horrendous mistakes for them gifted us goals. My old forward Petrenko bullied us though and that is a concern for me! Three pretty straightforward ties against the bottom three signed off the month and season: relegating Dinamo in the process!

If you look at the FNL table, you'll also see that Sochi have gone down, meaning the the third tier, where my 2-Team players has Rotor, Sochi and Anji in next season: a really good place for my youngsters to learn!

----

Just thinking ahead to my striking options for next year and, despite the want for positional fluidity, as shown in the Venn diagrams I have made in the past, think I am settled on these three:

The first look is at age, which does worry me. Dusan has another year left on his deal and will be replaced at the end of it. That was always my intention due to his wage demands and age and I think, in all honesty, that's only not going to change if he scores 20+ next year, which is unlikely, given his role will be more of a rotational option. It gives me a year to recruit someone and, given the age of the other two, this player must be in their prime. By this time next year, I will have two 20-year olds, one - Zbrun - with 1.5 full seasons in Russia and half a season in Argentina and another who should have made nearly 50 appearances for us. That does make me feel better but I've got to be aware that there may well be some pretty serious rotation as these players grow into their professional careers and that this is largely unheard of in real life.

In terms of markets, I'm not too sure if I could put my finger on a place where Russia exploits (as Holland, well, Ajax, does well in Scandinavia, for example) but I think I should be looking at stronger players from those leagues around us: Turkey, Austria, Portugal, Holland and Belgium. We're not big enough to be taking top, important players from the likes of La Liga or Ligue Une so this is probably a realistic approach for me. I could, obviously, go for a South American, given the fact that Vlahovic will be departing a non-Russian spot himself.

For the players I want - I use a F9(s) across all of the tactics but, realistically, want a player capable of doing it all and being very well rounded. When I take a deeper dive into Zbrun's performance, I can see that he is wonderful creatively and takes shots, but is just not (yet) the most natural finishing. Therefore, I'm going to look at adding a trait (Places Shots) to his game and work with him to develop that area of his game.

Now, Arman Hovsepyan. Clearly a man of much talent but a personality that makes him very hard to deal with him. I have, however, decided that, due to their relegation (and a clause in his contract), that I will push through with the transfer. I had originally agreed a fee of £10.75m, a club record, which, probably, would not have been triggered but I can make £4m work in my head. Another reason to make it permanent is when looking at his performance, you'll see there is one gaping hole - his playmaking ability. With him being on loan, I can't work with traits to develop that part of him and hope that he can be a little more creative. I am aware that he's played more cup ties and in easier games which will probably see a natural decrease in his scoring output, but that was part of his development plan and is totally acceptable.

This means that I will be accepting an offer from CSKA and allowing the Volkagonov sale. He was a loyal servant but a pretty poor season and lots of new talent coming through has allowed this to happen. We did play with four players this season and one sale will see me at three, but I do have Djioev, who can fill in (although not a F9 by any stretch) and the promising Samedov in my 2-Team.

[SixPointer]

Congratulations on the title win Ben 

[Sonic Youth]

League Champions! Well done 

Good effort against Newcastle too.

[danielgear]

Congrats on the title Ben. Nice to see transfer planning 12 months out too. Interested to see who you bring in. Are there any other areas of the squad you’d like to improve?