[FM22] It's only Estonia throw away - A build a nation save

[youthintake]

3 hours ago, danielgear said:

July 2027

We have managed to agree a few deals for player to join us in the winter, all are ex players of mine and all are free signings at the end of their deals. We have some players leaving at the end of their contracts so they're all filling gaps in the squad that will become vacant. 

We seem to be on course for 2nd place with 15 games left and we couldn't have asked for a better start to my tenure here.

Dan, awesome job mate! I love the fact that you were able to bring in some of your old players who were maybe never really going to make it at Flora. It will be fun to see how they develop as more important players at Tartu. 

Side note, can you share the kits at Tartu? 

[danielgear]

1 minute ago, youthintake said:

Dan, awesome job mate! I love the fact that you were able to bring in some of your old players who were maybe never really going to make it at Flora. It will be fun to see how they develop as more important players at Tartu. 

Side note, can you share the kits at Tartu? 

There is the kits, Yes it was a main point of my recruitment plans, to help us develop. As at Flora I had poached the best young talent available in Estonia and they've had the best coaching available in Estonia too. But there was obviously a limit to their chances and I had let them go before (See Luts and Schenchevko) to help them get first team football. I saw it as a realistic approach too that I would use previous relationships for transfers etc. Also all the end of the season ones are free so keeps our expenditure low. I've got my eye on 2 more but at the moment they think our reputation is too low, Hopefully finishing top 4 improves that.

[danielgear]

BREAKING NEWS

My successor has done something that I couldn't and qualified Flora for the Europa League group stages.



A hard draw awaits them but its great to see

[danielgear]

August 2027

This summer has been quiet for us after years of european qualifying playoff games but we still had 6 games to play.





We started the month holding 3rd place Levadia to a 0-0 draw to keep the gap between us, we then lost to TJK Legion 2-1 after equalising late on they then scored in injury time. We bounced back by beating Vaprus 3-0, Luts, Veelma and Mutso all grabbing goals. A rotated team went 1-0 down in the cup before bouncing back with 3 second half goals, 2 of which were in injury time. 4th place Tulevik then held us to a 0-0 draw before the big game against Flora. My first win over Flora since leaving but they had a fully rotated team out after playing in Europe just 2 nights before so we will take the result with a pinch of salt.



Levadia are breathing down our necks for 2nd but with 10 games to go we're 10 points clear of 4th. It looks like a top 3 finish at least from here.

[danielgear]

September 2027

This month we had our first intake at Tartu in which we needed as we need more players homegrown at the club but it actually only gave us two players.



But luckily we need cover at both left back and defensive midfielder so it helps that we have space in the squad for them. Both will be promoted straight to the first team squad.



Sisov needs a lot of improvement but he is only 16, we need get him on a training programme straight away. He will get first team minutes next year as cover so hopefully that will help him too.



Meerits is another addition and he needs improvement too but at the moment we just need to get bodies in so we will work on him straight away too.





We started the month with a 1-1 draw with Nomme Kalju who snatched a point late on after Veelma had put us 1-0 up, We then had back to back 1-1 draws, we were 1-0 down before Reinkort scored from the spot. We then trashed Kuressare 4-0 Veelma grabbed 2 with Lepik and Shein also on the scoresheet. We rounded off the month with our third draw of the month after we couldn't breach the Paide defence despite dominating.



Levadia are closing the gap, if they win their game in hand they will be just two points behind. We also had some news about one of my former players Sapovalov who has moved to Australia after his stint in Russia.

[danielgear]

October 2027

We started October with some news, One of the issues I've found at Tartu is there is a real lack of players that qualify as homegrown at club and with 3 needed in starting XI and 6 in squad its a problem. We never had this issue at Flora due to our constant promotion of youth. So I've been scouting for former players to help with registration issues that can be first team players and we have signed one. Another former Flora player too





I started the save with Miller at Flora and we quickly outgrew him but at 30 he'd help with registration issues and is rated to be our best midfielder by scouts. He is someone I can lean on as I try and bring some younger players through as well who will likely be inconsistent.





Tallinna Kalev used to be the whipping boys but they are now a midtable side, this is still a game we should have won and was two points dropped. Levadia had the chance to overtake us into second place here but we managed to grab a 1-1 draw in a tight game. We fully rotated the side for this and came through 3-1 winners Youngsters Tamm and Kutt both scored either side of Reinkort. We finished the month with a 3-0 win over Vaprus with Veelma scoring two penalties and Luts scoring a free kick.




Levadia have a game in hand but we have a far better goal difference. With 3 games to go second place is in our hands
 

[danielgear]

November 2027

We entered the final month in second, 3 wins from 3 would see us finish second in my first season. Our games were vs 4th, 1st and 5th. Easy then..





After going a goal behind early on, we bounced back and goals from Veelma and Krusatins saw us grab a vital 3 points. Up next was Flora and I mentioned earlier when we lost they were faster,fitter and better than us. Not here they weren't! In their defence they played Thursday night away in Europe and Its less than 48 hours and they're playing here. We took advantage of that. We sat a bit deeper and looked to counter. I played Veelma as a right midfielder andSokolov went up front and it worked, 2 clearances out wide to veelma and his low cross was tapped in by Mihhailov. Sokolov won POTM pushing them back with his pace all game and reward the decision with a goal. We finished the month thrashing Nomme Kalju 3-0 Eder, Mihhailov and Luts all scored.



Levadia lost 2 of their games and finished 5 points behind us in the end



A fantastic first season at Tartu, 2nd place and a highest ever 10 points behind Flora but we qualify for the Europa Conference playoffs.



At flora I had three teams in the top 3 divisions. At Tartu the next team was in the 5th division. Great to see them go up but a long way to go yet.

[danielgear]

End of Season 2027

We finished our first season at Tartu finishing 2nd and probably overachieved for the squad we had. As always I like to be solid at the back and had to tweak our Flora tactic to suit this squad mainly in defence. The wing backs weren't as good going forward so instead of Complete Wing Backs they were Full Backs. We will go through the squad now and assess where we need to improve. You will notice some have yellow dots. That is so I can identify the homegrown at club players easier. That was a tip from @Cleon 
Goalkeepers


Both are HGC, I've renewed both of their deals. I'm happy that Pechter is up to the job for the next few years. At 31 hes entering his prime as a Goalkeeper. As you can see he played every game this season and a average rating of 7.21. Viinapuu was happy to sign a 3 year deal as an emergency backup on €120pw. For thats 2/6 HGC spots sorted every match. 1/3 that have to start. I won't be looking too hard for a goal keeper any time soon.

Right Back 


According to the stats Schjonning-Larsen looks like the better player here but We tried playing him as a CWB whilst I tried to train the stay back at all times trait out of him. It didn't work added in with Smirnov joining midseason I changed the role to FB which suited him. They're not going to get the attacking returns my Flora wing backs did but also the change in tactic I don't want them too. We're a much more possession hungry team that I was at Flora which was more of an attacking side. Smirnov is the future here with MSL a suitable back up.

Centre Back


All season its been Ilves plus a partner. Junknam is decling rapidly, Ivanov isn't developing fast enough, Palutaja is a ultity player. So Centre back is an issue. We've agreed to sign Shevchenko on a free to partner Ilves next season to allow Ivanov to develop but Ilves has rocked the club by demanding a transfer to a bigger club so we need to see how that plays out this Winter. He's also a HGC so ideally I want to keep him. 1 goal from Ilves 21 shots is something that needs looking at though.

Left Back


Edur is fine for the moment, I've given him a new 2 year deal to take him to 30 and that will allow Sisov 2 years to start developing hopefully next season he will get plenty of game time. Palutaja I wouldn't be concerned about losing but with 12 months left on his deal he will likely run it out.

Defensive Midfield


Luts has slid straight into the Halfback role like a glove, I'm happy that a club record fee has so far been a success and at 22 he could be here long term in an important position. Mutso did an ok job covering where needed but will likely move on this winter giving the chance for Kutt and Meerits to get more gametime.

Centre Midfield


Centre Midfield is a problem for us, Even with the addition of Martin Miller, Krusatins is the wrong side of 30, homesick and wants to move back to Lativa, Tamm is the wrong side of 18 and injury prone Leaving just Shein to partner Miller next season. If Krusatins leaves Ideally I want two centre midfielders through the door to help with the numbers. Centre Midfield is a vital position for us as we need them to get forward to support the lone striker. they returned 14 goals between the 3 of them. Next season I'm looking for around 20 from the options we bring in.

Right Midfield.


Really disappointed with the returns from these two, 7 goals and 7 assists isn't enough. With Jarve coming in hopefully he can help push those numbers up but we certainly need more next season from right midfield.

Left Midfield


The same as right midfield, 15 goals and 6 assists just isn't enough. it feels weird saying it as we overachieved but I demand more from my widemen. Lepik is leaving and I could potentially look at moving the other two aswell.

Striker


16 goals from 38 games from Veelma 6 assists. I understand the drop down in standard from Flora to Tartu and we were set up to counter a bit more but I want my strikers to be hitting 30 goals. Veelma will stay, hes HGC and only 25. Nomm is coming in but he is only 18 so I'm not putting too much pressure on him. Reinkort will be out of the door as his deal is over.



"We haven't scored enough!!"  Record high goals scored  I know but 58 is still low. At Flora I had strikers getting 50 on their own. But that is targets for us to reach. We're one year into the project, I have faith next season we will see an increase. A fair target is 72 goals next season an average of 2 a game.



I was surprised at how quickly I've jumped to second but we have to repeat it again next season with the addition of Europe and we have a small squad.



Defences will win us titles, we kept it tight at the back if we can maintain that and add more goals it won't be long until we're challenging Flora.  



Luts has been outstanding. Lepik and Reinkort did what I brought them in for and Smirnov needs to grow into the team. Overall a decent start to our recruitment here. With the winter window coming up we need to keep looking to improve whilst overhauling the squad. Flora now have a bank Balance of €10.46m after their Europa League campaign. We have €102,865. Some smart recruitment needed.

[danielgear]

Pre-season 2028

We didn't need a overhaul and we had already done our business ahead of the window with 5 players lined up to join at the end of their deals but we needed some players out. We managed to get 8 players out of the club getting some wages off the books and bringing in €47,000. We then moved and brought in 3 players on frees so overall this window we have seen 8 out and 8 in. This is quite a high turnover for me but the squad needed freshening up and had players on big money for this standard who weren't worth it. So first the outs.



Levadia came in with a €21,000 offer for Golovjov who was now my third choice right winger and with 12 months left on his deal he was ushered out. Next one was a strange one, I planned to keep Shein but when TJK made this offer he said he wanted to money. A part exchange deal with no money involved but I got a player I know from Flora back



Henri Valja signs a 12 month deal as a squad player, he can cover upfront and all across the midfield so will help from that point of view as we continue to revamp the side. Schjonning-Larsen was another player I was planning to keep but with 12 months left on his deal €17.750 is a lot of money to turn down. We then brought in €5,250 for Mutso as he left for Tulevik before youth player Seeman left on a free. Juhkam and Krusatins both left on loans bringing in €6,200 both are out of contract at the end of the season. Mihhalov left for rivals Levadia on a free. I needed his wages off the books.
So with Valja coming in and these players leaving and Ilves still wanting out I needed a centre back, right back and two centre midfielders. I couldn't find the defenders so Ilves had to stay but I brought in two former Flora players (again going back to that well) who had been released to improve our centre midfield.





Tamme comes in with some nice traits and a nice spread of attributes for this standard and hes joined by.





What I like is the difference between their traits. Alongside Miller. Whilst they will both try and get forward Ivanov will try more killer balls helping up move up the pitch quicker, whereas Tamme has play one twos and dictate tempo this will suit against teams that play a low block vs us.
After all the deals our squad now looks like this.



We've played through pre-season and its gone well



Now for the season ahead I'm not expecting to challenge Flora yet but another top 4 finish and hopefully make the Europa Conference group stages would be nice. 

[danielgear]

March 2028

With our revamped side, 8 new signings  we will line up like this if all are fit.







We started off the season away at Nomme Kalju, Who have invested in players this winter and with both revamped sides going head to head it was a stalemate in the Estonian snow. Next up was Flora u21 in the cup quarter final and we dispatched them with ease, Smirnov getting his first for the club. Tuelvik was next up and new signing Martin Miller grabbed his first goal since his return to his boyhood club as we won 1-0 the stuff dreams are made of. Remember when I mentioned we were getting closer to Flora but questioned it was due to them playing in Europa two days before. Here they battered us. At 2-0 I tweaked it so we would retain the ball a bit more as every time they got it they carved right through us. We finished the month beating newly promoted Elva, Veelma and Luts scored either side of Nomm grabbing his first goal for the club he started at.



Overall a steady month and start to the season, plenty of games were cancelled due to the weather across the league. But we're up and running.

[danielgear]

April 2028

After a steady start to the season we need to now kick on, if you remember from early on at Flora we always dipped in July and August when the European qualifiers came around so we would try and build up a gap at the top of the table, whilst maintaining a form of rotation so the players aren't knackered come the final third of the season.





We started the month with a thumping 6-2 win over Kuressaare, Nomm who broke his duck last match grabbed two here and Romaneko and Ivanov grabbed their first for the club either side of Millers double. Miller scored again in the next match in a 2-0 win over Tallinna Kalev, Veelma grabbed the second. Tamme grabbed a double to break his duck in a 4-0 win over Levadia which saw Miller and Veelma both grab goals in injury time.TJK Legion were up next and Miller made it 4 games in a row scoring  as we secured a 1-0 win. Game 5 was aginst Tulevik and they beat us 2-0 We had more possession but they took their chance and beat us. We bounced back by beating Nomme Kalju 5-1 Ivanov scored 2 and Shevchenko, Romaneko and Sokolov completed the rout. We then beat TJK 3-1 to round off the month Veelma scored two and Romaneko grabbed one.



A nice 11 point gap between us and 5th has opened up which is nice. I still don't expect to challenge Flora for the title.



New signing Jarve is ruled out for the season in terrible news he had started the season well with 3 assists so far. We might have to look at some recruitment in June as we only have one right midfielder now.

[danielgear]

May 2028

May is another busy month with 5 league matches and 2 cup games, With the transfer window opening at the end of the month we need to assess the squad to see where we can improve too.




We started the month with a poor draw with Reunited, I think I over rotated for this match thinking newly promoted side and it would be easy but obviously my back ups aren't strong enough yet to do full rotation, Next up was Flora and they beat us 2-0, Again they were stronger, fitter faster but there was something I noticed, they obviously highlighted my right side as a weakness as majority of their attacks went wide left and their left winger scored both goals. I'm glad I spotted this as it might come in handy later on. Cup Semi Final next and we won 2-0 Sokolov and Romaneko both scored sending up to within 90 minutes of my first silverware at Tartu. Elva were thrashed 3-0 Arhipov x2 and Valja scored. Then we had the cup final vs Flora my former team stood between us and my first piece of silverware, I mentioned that they focused down my right in the previous game so i might a slight adjustment to my usual line up



Ilves moved over to right back to counter the pace of their winger. Luts dropped into centre back with Miller dropping in to fill the gap left by him. We played our 4 most mobile midfield and Veelma got the nod up top. We also put Sokolov to man mark their left midfielder so he was doubled up when defending and dropped our defensive line a bit deeper. It paid off as we scored two goals on the counter to win our first piece of silverware here. Veelma with a 6.3 was probably because most of the game he was isolated. We then got quick revenge on Reunited by beating them 2-0 with Tamm and Miller scoring before finishing the month winning 2-0 over Kuressare Miller scored again with Nomm grabbing a double. 





We're keeping pace with Flora and after a sensational cup win this is how they reacted...



The transfer window is now open and with the european games coming my squad is taking a few hits due to its small size. I'm looking to boost the numbers if possible either with loans or signings.

[danielgear]

June 2028

We entered the transfer window with a squad of injured players and we lack depth due to no players in youth team but we were doing well results wise so I wanted to make a few additions whilst adding some experience to the very young squad.



As you can see we have made 5 additions. Kaivoja, Nuuma and Jarve will offer cover at Left midfield, Striker and Right Back. Kallas will come in at centre back and Kallaste will replace the injured Jarve at right midfield.



Kallas joins as we only have 3 centre backs and one is an under18 who probably isn't good enough for this standard. WIth the european games coming soon I wanted some more quality there.




Kaivoja comes in from Flora and what attracted me to him was the dribbling matched with his physicals. I'm hoping as teams sit more on the low block vs us his high speed dribbling can help unlock the gaps in their defence.


Jarve comes in and offers a bit more mobility offensively than Srimnov at right back as we improve as a side we're outgrowing the full back role and need more progressive players.


Kallaste joined Flora in the first window after I left and has done well but was transfer listed. He offers an improvement on my current options and increases the average age of the playing squad.


Nuuma doesn't really fit my style of play but he is a Tartu homegrown youngster so helps meet squad regulations. He will mainly be used off the bench to give Nomm a breather.





Just the two games this month as we beat Tallinna 4-1 with two signings scoring on their debuts in Nuuma and Kaivoja both grabbing a goal with Nomm and Miller scoring too. We then beat third placed Levadia 3-1 pushing them down to 4th and creating a 7 point gap. Sokolov, Ivanov and Tamme all scored.



Keeps us nicely placed in second after a short month.



Looking forward to this intake as we need increase the number of homegrown players its really restricting me at the moment with rotation etc.



Not good news in the rankings as we drop down the coefficents table hopefully thats only short term. Yet the Estonian league jumped massively in the rankings.

[danielgear]

July 2028

July and August are always our biggest months as the European qualifying rounds start and we'd love to make the group stages.





We starting off the month beating third place team Tulevik 1-0 with Nomm scoring before beating Nomme Kalju 3-1, Nomm, Kallaste and Tamme all scored. Next up was Tartus first european game and we lost 3-2 away two new signings Kallas and Kallaste scored though. It meant we needed to win at home to have a chance to go through. Tired legs and rotated squad saw us draw 2-2 with TJK Legion Nuuma and Ivanov both scored. We then won the second leg 3-0 with Nomm scoring a hat trick to send us through to the next round. He's really come into his own the past few weeks. A 0-0 draw with Flora rounded off the month.



The gap to third is down to 4 but we're 19 clear of 5th so top 4 looks good again. Then we had a job offer...



Rejected but a weird one 

[danielgear]

August 2028

August we carried on with games in three competitions.





We fell to a 3-1 defeat in the first leg and unlike the previous round this felt like a step up in class and quality. A rotated team then grabbed a 1-0 win over Elva before we were knocked out of Europe. Much improvement to do on this front and an over realiance on Nomm to score at this level hurt us. We bounced back with a 2-0 win over reunited thanks to two very late goals. The backups then helped us progress in the cup with a 4-0 win, Tamme grabbed a hat trick from midfield. Late goals again secured a 3-2 win over Kuressaare as we scored 3 in the last 12 minutes to come back and win. We rounded off the month with a 2-0 win over Tallinna Kalev to take us within 1 point of Flora at the top of the table.



The main benefit of our european run was money and we've managed to get the board to agree to invest that in upgrades across the club.



Hopefully we will see the benefits of this over the next few seasons.

[danielgear]

Recruitment

I need another striker. Nomm has been getting interest from clubs abroad, He's refusing to sign another deal with me, Nuuma isn't the man to lead the line and Veelma has dropped off massively. So I decided to find a striker using stats and see if anyone popped up whos potentially undervalued.
First of all they have to be Estonian so this limited my scope straight away. We then ticked the box to see if they would be interested in a transfer which cut out a lot of players too. But after using @FMStagnew player search view it helped highlight two players. 



Looking at the key metrics here, the first thing that stands out is Frolov is massively out performing his xG 15 goals from an xG of 4.80! Their goals per game are similar but Frolov looks abit more clinical with a lower shots per game yeilding similar returns. Then we take into consideration the standard. Frolov is playing in the top division for a mid table team whereas Ivanov plays in the third division for the best team in the league. 6 of Ivanov's goals were from the spot aswell. 



Across the board there isn't a lot between the two players.



Attribute wise Frolov is a bit more developed now but is 5 years older. His composure in front of goal is vastly better and with the chances we create that will come in handy. 



The concern is Frolov's issues are he doesn't like big matches and struggles with consistency but Ivanov is injury prone aswell as lacking consistency. As I mentioned above Frolov's composure has been highlighted whist Ivanov's finishing has. Would that low composure cost him though?
I've decided to look back through their data..



Frolov has shown he can score at the level in a weaker side and when he was in the second division 3 seasons ago when he was closer to Ivanov in age he scored at that level too which earnt his move to Kuressaare in the first place. He's averaged around a 7 average rating most seasons too.



Ivanov seemed to have exploded this season and whilst in the U21s in the second division he scored 2 in 2. Last season his returns weren't great with just 2 goals in 19 games in the third division.
After taking in all this data and information It was clear to me that Frolov would be better as our first choice striker now. Whilst Ivanov has the potential to exceed frolov, the statistical data is telling me to sign Frolov. With his current form plugged into a better side who will create more chances he should be able to further improve of his returns. 



We moved quickly to sign him for €20,000 and he joins us in January. Hopefully he will repay the faith we have showed in using data to sign him.

[danielgear]

September 2028

With 3 months left of the season we are on the edge of a title race with Flora, We are 4 points behind Flora with a game vs them on the horizon.






We started off September playing 3rd place Levadia and it was a close game which we won with two late goals. Then 4th place Tulevik were up next Veelma scored the only goal as we won 1-0. Nomme Kalju were brushed aside in a 4-1 win before we made it 4 wins out of 4 beating TJK Legion 4-2. One thing I've noticed is how much we're winning games late on and I wonder if this is down to fitness of the training plan and type of player we have been bringing in.



If we beat Flora next month we would be within 1 point of the top of the table. The question is can anyone else stop them to help us.

We had our intake and apart from Markovski it was terrible. And he won't even be homegrown by club for 18 months. But by the time he's 18 he will help registration issues.





The best thing is Ivanov is getting lots of interest so we have a long term replacement here in the centre midfield. We will work on moulding him into the player we want. I;ve got him working on getting further forward trait and his dribbling is getting attention too. 

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by danielgear

[danielgear]

October 2028

We are in a title race, we're the outsiders We would need to beat Flora and somebody else to beat them too Which considering they have only lost once all season is unlikely.





We have done our job, We beat Flora to close the gap to one point, We do seem to get getting closer to Flora but its more about how we change how we play when we meet them. We sit deep and keep the ball and look to break on the counter as they swarm forward, Two former Flora players scored too. Bottom of the table Elva were easily beten 3-0 before we met Flora again this time in the cup. It went all the way to extra time before Ilves scored the winner. And we rounded off the month with the clubs biggest ever win 8-0 over reunited and it could have been more. 



3 games left. 3 wins and Flora to draw one and the Title will be ours!

Right back has been a major issue for us at Tartu, The Estonian clubs haven't been making and the ones we have are limited so I've been looking around for a player to mould into one.





Luts will join us this winter and it was his physicals that attracted me, He has the physicals to run up and down the wing all day long or cut inside if we use him as a IWB. His defensive attributes in marking tackling and Positioning are all decent. We will focus on his ball distrbution in passing and crossing and hopefully long term he will be the answer at right back for us.

[danielgear]

November 2028

Into the final month, we need 3 wins from 3 and hope Flora draw a game to give us a chance of the title.





The title was gone after the first game as we lost 2-1 to Kuressaare an the harsh irony is the player we've agreed to sign due to his stats scored the goal to kill our title hopes. We then followed this up with a 1-0 win over Tallinna Kalev before finishing the season with a 0-0 draw with Levadia. The even worse bit was that Flora dropped the points I needed them to for me to win the title.



In the end we finished 4 points off Flora in what was a record points title for a team that didn't win the title.



Overall a great season for us and Flora are still too strong for us. We still have a few areas we need to improve but hopefully we can push them again next season. The Europa Conference League helped our finances which has helped us improve off the pitch. 



In two years our balance has gone from €80,000 to €739,000 (Floras balance is now €11m) we have managed to keep the wage balance low at €11,500pw.



All our revenue went up, We could really do with making a group stage in Europe to boost the coffers a bit more. On the pitch we broke a few records too



Nomm and Ivanov were crucial to our improved attacking performance. I mentioned at the start of the season I wanted to score more goals and we did we went from 58 goals scored to 80, whilst only conceding 1 more goal. 



3 of my signings came in as best signings of the season. The downside is they all have interest in them now and we've already had bids for Nomm.



Miller has been brilliant, a player I got rid of at Flora has been outstanding for us this season. Two of my former players at Flora made the top 3.

Overall the squad stepped up this season, There was still a few issues that need addressing.

Goalkeepers


Pechter was a rock, 22 clean sheets and a average rating of 7.15. We could upgrade on him ability wise but hes HGC as is Viinapuu so I've renewed both for another year.

Right Back


Creativity has still been an issue for the right backs, only 1 goal and 1 assist in 3,629 minutes for the pair of them just isn't good enough. Hence why I've brought in Luts as a signing to retrain as a right back I want a lot more going forward from my full backs than this. As we get better the defensive side of the ball becomes less of an issue.

Left Back


With 5 assists Edur has done better than both the right backs on his own, So much that Tulevik have offered €7,500 for his as he enters the last year of his contract I've accepted as I've managed to find an upgrade for free





Jarvelaid is an upgrade and offers more physically going forward to complement Luts on the right hand side as I look to find more from the full backs on both sides of the pitch.

Centre Backs


Ilves is still here and I've got him to sign a long term deal, he's our best centre back and he shows that in his performance, with our full backs pushing on more next season I was on the look out for a better partner to line up alongside him. Flora had released a player who fitted the bill.





Hansen again is an upgrade physically, With his 11 pace and acceleration that should be enough to help him cover the gaps left by the two full backs pushing on.

Defensive Midfielder


Luts Is the mainstay here but Meerits has been getting more game time and next season I want him to step up more to see if we can unlock that 3* PA. The 40 shots from Luts will be boosted by the fact he's our free kick taker but Its the low dribbles per 90 that looks bad but his player trait is to play long range passes alongside the stay back at all times. So its expected as all I want from him is to transition the ball forward as quick as possible. He's averaging nearly 100 passes completed per 90 with a 93% completition rate. 

Centre Midfielder


Ivanov and Miller both added 13 assists each and added in 20 goals, Tamme and Veelma both added a further 9 each so we are scoring plenty from the centre of midfield. Miller and Veelma have both left this off season So next season we will look to Tamm and Markovski to step up as cover for Ivanov and Tamme.
Miller left us for "a bigger club" in Levadia for €5,000 and Veelma to Tulevik for €1,000. 

Right Midfielder


We have 3 decent right midfielders, All offering something different, Kallaste is more direct with his passing where as Sokolov and Jarve are more direct with their dribbling so it offers up a variety of wing play depending who we're playing against. 

Left Midfielder


Kaivoja has struggled with injuries and when Nomme Kalju offered us €3,700 we couldn't turn it down. Romaneko has done well to chip in with 7 goals and 8 assists But we need another player in this area so again I went to the stats and it highlighted one player.



Zekhov scored 8 goals and set up 11 more  in a weaker team, if we compare him with Romanenko hes played roughly the same minutes, with better returns across the board. At 27 he adds experience to the side too.




€18,000 feels like a steal so far and hopefully he can improve on his stats as he joins a better side.

Striker


Nomm got off to a slow start but then returned with 23 goals in his debut season, The only downside is he was wanted and apparently a move to Budafok in Hungary was his lifelong dream and all that he ever wanted. So he's agreed to join them in June for €21,500. Nuuma also left at the end of the deal meaning I was left with just new signing Frolov after next may. There was no rush to sign a replacement but I wanted a third striker as cover and then I saw a former player was available for only €1,500.




Kirss will be no more than a back up, mainly for post may when Nomm leaves, It will buy me time to see how Frolov fits into the side and what sort of player we need to compliment him.



Quite a few have left, the main concern is 4 HGC players, But I'm hopeful the youngsters can step up and fill the gaps. We used the money we made last season to improve the training ground too.



Overall this season has been a big step forward for the club, Flora know they have a title fight next season and we are hoping the additions of the more physical wing backs with the statistical additions upfront and on the left wing we can push them even closer. The losses of Miller and Nomm will be a concern but we have players ready to take their places.

Sorry for the long post just needed to round it all up in one. My contract ends in two seasons time. I won't be renewing it I want to see where we are when we get there before deciding my next move.



 

[Cleon]

Can't believe the player you are signing via stats cost you the title . Unlucky man.

[danielgear]

2 hours ago, Cleon said:

Can't believe the player you are signing via stats cost you the title . Unlucky man.

It was a killer, hopefully he wins is it next season

[Draakon]

What database is it that you're using. Obviously it's custom, but which one?

[danielgear]

8 hours ago, Draakon said:

What database is it that you're using. Obviously it's custom, but which one?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TbkG9n0AcWPLzEUJ-cyT8OuGiI6x16Wb?usp=sharing

I can't remember where I got it from but I've uploaded the files should you want them @Draakon

Edited June 29, 2022 by danielgear

[Draakon]

4 hours ago, danielgear said:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TbkG9n0AcWPLzEUJ-cyT8OuGiI6x16Wb?usp=sharing

I can't remember where I got it from but I've uploaded the files should you want them @Draakon

Thanks! I found some database for FM20 a few years back, but I hope that's a bit updated since then.

Edit: I think this database has been made some time around when FM22 was released (autumn-fall 2021). In reality Tulevik announced early in 2022 that they're giving up their spot in Premium Liiga and will voluntarily drop to Esiliiga level because of financial reasons. That effectively makes them semi-professional club (press release indicated that around six players will retain professional contracts and others will be youth/amateur players), but in the database they're still professional club in Premium Liiga.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Draakon

[danielgear]

2 hours ago, Draakon said:

Thanks! I found some database for FM20 a few years back, but I hope that's a bit updated since then.

Edit: I think this database has been made some time around when FM22 was released (autumn-fall 2021). In reality Tulevik announced early in 2022 that they're giving up their spot in Premium Liiga and will voluntarily drop to Esiliiga level because of financial reasons. That effectively makes them semi-professional club (press release indicated that around six players will retain professional contracts and others will be youth/amateur players), but in the database they're still professional club in Premium Liiga.

I started the save in January so chances are that missed the cut off for that. 
it seems solid enough otherwise. I’ve had no issues 

[Matty Aqua]

Been away for a while, good to see I have some reading to catch up on!

[danielgear]

8 hours ago, Matty Aqua said:

Been away for a while, good to see I have some reading to catch up on!

I’ve got loads of updates to add aswell, probably be Tuesday

[danielgear]

March 2029

The season gets under way with two cup games but first we were rocked with awful news Ilves is out for a few months, This also hurts our homegrown quota so that will have to be managed, Nomm is also leaving in June so thats another player from the HG quota we will be missing and due to Tartus poor development of players there isn't anything in the market to bring in.





We started off with a great win in the cup to send us through to the semis, Zekhov scoring on his debut too. We lost the Superkarikas to my old team Flora 3-0. Flora invested heavily again in the winter spending nearly €3m on transfers since I left. They again seemed alot better than us, We started the season with a solid 1-0 win vs TJK with Kallaste scoring the only goal. Next up we met Flora again, They again were far superior as they beat us 2-0. We finished the month off with a 4-0 win with Zekhov grabbing a hat trick.



A steady month, We won the games we should win and lost both games against Flora, the Ilves injury is a worry just from a quota point of view as it means we will have to rely on a few youth players to start as the 2nd and 3rd players.

[danielgear]

April, May and June 2029

A blockbuster 3 month update here (mainly because I forgot to screenshot the league table at the end of april and may!)





Two late goals couldn't save us from a loss to Nomme Kalju to start off the month, But we bounced back in style beating Kuressare 7-0, Levadia were then beaten 2-1 with youngster Tamm scoring and Tamme also on the scoresheet, Tulevik held us to a 0-0 draw before Tallinna were easily beaten 3-0, Reunited we saw off with a 3-1 win before finishing the month beating TJK 2-0. Frolov has finally scored his first club goal and followed that up with another 2, we need him to pick up as Nomm is off soon and I'm struggling to find a replacement. 





May started awfully with back to back defeats to two title challengers in Flora and Levadia, Semi final vs Joker saw a barely fit Ilves return to the starting XI and scoring after 7 minutes, we won 3-0 to send us to the final, Vaprus were beaten 2-0 before we once again lifted the cup with a 3-1 win over Levadia, We took our revenge on Nomme for our earlier defeat with a 2-0 win before suffering a shock defeat to Kuressare.



With Nomm gone Frolov had to step up and even though he was outperforming his xG he hadn't scored enough, Well this month he grabbed 4 goals in 3 games...



A end to end game vs Tulevik saw us win 3-2, We then beat Tallinna 3-1 and finished the month with a 3-0 win over reunited.



It's not been the best start to the season, Ilves was a big miss and we've already lost 5 games, last year we only lost 4 all year so any real title run seems gone already. A cup win is still great though and it is my 16th trophy win in Estonia.



We have to remember the basis of this save was to build up Estonia and to get them up to 29th from 53rd when the save started shows great progress on that front. 

[danielgear]

Save update - With the summer holidays my playing time is going to drop and I want to give F1 Manager a go for a few months when its released this will most likely be my last season in Estonia.

July 2029 

In July we will start our ECL campaign and a draw against Slavia Prague is not favourable. 





We started the month off with a 2-0 win over TJK Frolov scored again and Kallaste secured the points.  Levadia was meant to be a close game but we dominated the whole game and beat them 2-0 and it should have been more. Into Europa and I was concerned about this game and I was wrong to be. The game was actually really close the difference was Slavia finished their chances and outperformed their xG, a 4-1 loss isn't good though. We then finished the month getting thrashed by Flora who have taken a big step away from us this season.



There will be no league title for Tartu, Flora are running away with it dropping only 2 points so far this season. We need to be the best of the rest again and Tulevik, Levadia and Nomme Kalju will continue to challenge us for that second spot.

[danielgear]

August 2029





We started the month with a respectable draw in Europe but the damage was done in the first leg, So there is no group stages for us this year. European hangover next as we were held to a draw by lowly Vaprus. Bounced back with a big win in terms of fight for second beating Nomme Kalju 2-1 away. A tight 1-0 win over Kuressaare was up next before a 4-1 win over Vaprus, Youngster Vegorov scored two on his debut. We rounded off the month beating Tulevik 1-0 away.



There is a 10 point gap now between us and 3rd place so second looks secure as we go into the end of the season. Its a shame my final season is ending with a whimper. No title race and no European group stage.

[danielgear]

September 2029





We started the month off thrashing Kalev 7-3, Frolov scored a perfect hat trick. Then Reunited were beaten 3-1 and we followed that up by beating Nomme Kalju 2-0. A late equaliser from Tamme secured us a 1-1 draw vs TJK and then Levadia also held us to a 2-2 draw.



6 games to go, Flora have won the title we need 13 points to secure second. 

Edited July 29, 2022 by danielgear

[danielgear]

October 2029





A short month for us but a well deserved draw against champions Flora was followed up by a 0-0 draw vs Vaprus. We then thumped lower league Taliinna Ararat 6-0 in the cup



We haven't managed to secure second place quite yet but I fully expect us to in the final month

[danielgear]

November & December 2029





We started off our final 4 games in charge losing to Kuressaare 1-0, At least we bounced back with a 3-1 win over Tulevik to secure 2nd place. A 3-2 victory over Kalev before a 3-0 win over Reunited wrapped up my final season.



In fairness we were never getting 101 points Flora have blown everyone away.

[Gerhard___]

How did Flora do in Europe?

[danielgear]

The Final Update

End of season review

After going so close last season I really wanted to challenge Flora this season but they are too strong, I laid down some great foundations in my time there and they're still reaping the rewards. As for Tartu we have become the best of the rest. 

Squad Performance

Goalkeepers



Pechter was the main choice again but at 33 his ability is declining. He's been a mainstay of my tenure at Tartu and probably a Tartu legend.

Right Back



The Daniil Luts project, converting a centre midfielder to a right back to increase chance creation output. Well, he scored 3 goals but the rest of his stats aren't much better than Jarve. Less key passes but slighty better chance creation and less assists per 90. The most surprising thing is the much lower dribbles per 90. 
It did take him a while to retrain into the position so maybe a second year he might have improved.

Left Back



Sisov got a lot more game time this season due to registration issues but he is still a long way off first team football really. Jarvelaid again struggled with assists this season.

Centre backs



Hansen and Ilves were a solid partnersgip at the back with Shevchenko covering when needed. Lepik qualified as HGC near end of the season so got a few run outs.

Centre Midfield



Tamm like Sisov got more game time this year due to registration rules and returned 4 assists, Ivanov was the main man again. Luts did well in the single pivot and Tamme's 11 goals showed how well he got forward.

Wingers



LETS TALK ABOUT STATS BABY LETS TALK ABOUT ZEKHOV AND ME! We signed Zekhov off the back of his stats last season and wow, 15 goals 6 assists and Estonian player of the year award winner. His 6 assists didn't worry me much as Romanenjo on the other flank and Ivanov in the middle were sharing them but it certainly showed the player we highlighted via performances rather than attributes has carried over here. 

Strikers



More stats.. Frolov was also signed and stopped us winning the title last season due to stats. And He's performed ok, not quite the same overperformance that saw us sign him in the first place but he equaled his xG and averaged a goal every 2 games. 

That wraps up the final squad season analysis and now I've retired my manager.

This is how we did overall



and a more indepth look



6 league wins and 10 cup wins showed a succesful domestic career. We also elevated Estonia in stature. We had some great times with FLora in europe and I've enjoyed my time in Estonia. We didn't turn them into a superpower of a nation but we improved them. With regards to the national team they've not improved since I stood down, International football in FM needs work.



I bow out here with my trophy cabinet full. Thanks to all for reading and I'll still be around for any questions. Also check out the new FM website I'm part out coming soon 

https://www.viewfromthetouchline.com/

 

[danielgear]

9 minutes ago, Gerhard___ said:

How did Flora do in Europe?

They qualified for the ECL but got thrashed in the group stages

[Gerhard___]

dreadful performance tbh

[danielgear]

19 minutes ago, Gerhard___ said:

dreadful performance tbh

Some bigger clubs in there Tbf 

[danielgear]

Today I was part of a FM website launch which is hosting Cleon’s FM Book “The Playbook” come along and have a look and the book is free to download 

http://www.viewfromthetouchline.com

Edited August 19, 2022 by danielgear