The European Tour

[TerminalPortugal]

THE EUROPEAN TOUR

This is a save that I have done before, where the loose aim is to wander around Europe and see what I can win. However, a lot of the factors involved are random. I will be starting with an experience-less, badge-less manager from a random nationality in Europe, outside of the top five leagues in Europe. We will start our career in that country and then hopefully provided we do well enough we might get the opportunity to manage elsewhere.

RULES

This save does have some rules and methodologies in how it will operate. They are the following

·        As mentioned, our manager will have no experience and no badges

·        Our manager will be from a non-top 5 league country in Europe. Basically, he will be from somewhere in Europe that is not England, Spain, Italy, Germany or France.

·        He will start his career at a random club in the bottom division of that country.

·        In terms of the leagues that will be loaded, there are three sections: - top nations, home nation and additional nations

·        Top Nations are England, Spain, Germany, France and Italy and they will be loaded for the duration of the save.

·        Home Nation is the country where our manager is from and where we will start our career, it will also remain loaded for the duration of the save.

·        Additional nations will not be loaded for the duration the save, and at any one time there will be four loaded. These nations are randomly picked from the list of available European nations. Every year they gain a percentage between 0 and 25 per cent. Once they reach a cumulative 100 per cent they will be replaced by another nation.

·        If a nation is unloaded from the additional nations, they cannot replace themselves, it must be a new nation that must be loaded, which should cover the unlikely event that they are drawn again as their own replacement. They will be eligible for picking when another nation drops out.

·        If I am at a club in a nation that reaches 100 per cent, and therefore cannot be unloaded because I am currently in post, then the moment I am no longer the manager of the club I am at when it hits 100 per cent, the league will be unloaded. In this scenario I will not be allowed to move to another club in the same country.

·        Overall, there will be 10 nations always loaded available for our manager.

·        There is an additional mechanic in play, for the particular scenario when we win the league title or the Champions League. It is called the “Final Contract” meter. Once we win the league title or Champions League with a club, the meter is activated and any subsequent season we spend at that club, we will gain a percentage towards the meter, which becomes active once it reached 100 per cent. In this case, this will signify that we are no longer able to renew our contract with the club we are at and must leave once that contract expires. This should avoid the scenario where I decide to stay at the same club forever because I reach the pinnacle of football. I will always need to move around.

·        I am still allowed to resign a job, and I am still able to be fired by the board at any time should they decided to do that.

·        International management will not be part of this save.

·        At the end of each season, I will provide a graphic should show where we are up to with all the mechanics of this save.

In the next post, we will be finding out our nationality and meeting our manager as well as finding out which club we get from the bottom division. As well as this we will also be finding out which additional nations will start the game loaded from the RNG gods.

[TerminalPortugal]

NATIONS DRAW

So, the first step to set is to randomly pick the home nation which our manager will be from and which will be loaded alongside the Top Nations for the remainder of the save. We also then need to randomly pick the 4 additional nations that will be picked initially in the save.

The nation which was drawn as the home nation is FINLAND!!! So our manager will be from there and our career will start there

The additional nations drawn were as follows:-

Slovenia, Wales, Romania and Belarus. So they will be loaded into the save initially and will each season received percentages towards be replaced as eligible nations.

The graphic below shows the drawn nations

Now introducing our manager Matti Mäkinen, from Pudasjärvi, Finland. We have started out with no badges and no experience as a Sunday League footballer. Finland has two leagues in the vanilla game and we will be starting in the bottom division of these known as the Ykkönen. 

All that remains to be drawn is the club we will be starting at, and for this we kept clicking the randomly pick me a club button until it selected a club in the Finnish Second Division, and eventually we got handed our club.

KPV

Club Overview

The club we were drawn to manage is Kokkolan Palloveikot or better known as KPV. The club is from Kokkola, Finland. Founded in 1930, they play their football at the Kokkolan Keskuskenttä which holds 3,000 person capacity. They do have some success in the distant past when they won the Finnish top division in 1969, and have been to a few Suomen Cup finals but ended up as runners up on two occasions in 1982 and 2006.

Finances

On first inspection the finances don't look particularly healthy considering that there is an expectation of losing money every season. With an expectation that we will be over a £1m in the red in three seasons time. I am unsure whether this means we need to really ensure we get promotion early or whether it is really a case of not being too sure where the finances will end up. I suspect the board will cut funding should we start to make too big a loss. Anyway it is something we will need to be aware of and monitor.

Squad

It is pretty difficult to really understand how good the squad is at the moment, as everything is relative. Looking at it Sebastian Mannstrom looks like a force from either wing and we can use him as a primary attacking fulcrum. At the back we have some great options in the form of American Kyle Curinga, who can play either fullback position and I think can also probably play at centre back if required. Charalampos Chantzopoulos our Greek-German centre back looks like a very good player for this level and I think he will be main force behind out defence this season. The striking options are looking a little bit bare, and the options do not really fit my preferred tactical set up so we may need to look into the transfer market to see if we can get anyone that is a better fit.

Looking at what our assistant manager thinks, again it looks like the defence is looking very decent it is more the other areas that are more of a problem. The midfield is not great despite Heiermann being a good option. Up front as mentioned Mannstrom looks great but elsewhere the options are poor.

TACTICAL OUTLOOK

Alpha is our main tactic and I think my tactical options. It is remarkably similar to how Liverpool under Klopp line up, very high intensity and generally very attacking looking to outscore the opponent. On the right we are using an inverted wingback and inverted winger, that should mean we have a contrast to the left hand side and filter into the midfield and central position which I hope will give us overloads and overlaps to overpower the opposition defensive positions.

 

Beta is less attacking in philosophy but we have a lot of attacking roles within the team. We should have a secondary striker coming from deep which should allow us to hit the opposition with late runs into the box. The inside forwards should make it four attackers when we have the ball and instead of deploying a defensive midfielder we have a roaming playermaker looking to create opportunities. It's probably overall more attacking because of the roles.

Gamma is similar to Beta but not asymetric and is looking to use width more with the two wingers, but still try and dominate the midfield with the inverted wingbacks stepping in to midfield.

PREDICTIONS

We arrived in the Finnish Second Division and we look to headed for a mid table 5th place finish, just outside of the playoff spots. The Finnish Second Division promotion rules have a regular season and a post season. The regular season qualifies the top 6 for a group stage. The points that are gathered in that first regular season are kept and then we play everyone in the top six once more and the top team is the champion and is promoted at this point. The other top four go into a playoff. With a semi final, then final between the second division sides, and the finalist winner then playing a two legged playoff against the penultimate team in the Finnish Top Division for a place in the competition next season. A little complicated but reasonably straightforward as well.

I think that pretty much covers everything that we needed to do. When we come back we will come back with the start to the season.

Edited March 27, 2022 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

JANUARY 2022

RESULTS

We had a very solid start to the season as we picked up maximum points in the Suomen Cup, the only domestic cup competition in Finland. The competition works in groups where lower league teams are drawn together and larger teams in the their own groups. Although our group only has two berth for advancement to the next round. We left it very late against JaPS to get the win by Heiermann found the breakthrough for us, and against PEPO, we were a little bit wasteful, and ended up just getting past them 3-2 as our defence was not great on the day. But I could not really ask for much more than two wins out of two.

The group sees us in 2nd place, behind Gnistan on goal difference. WIth five more games to play we have put ourselves in with a shot of advancing. The league will only start in April, so we will be focussing on this cup and the friendlies in the coming months.

TRANSFERS

Tuuka Kurki, came in as a striker. He was not really what I was looking for entirely but came as a bit of an improvement for us up front on what we had. Robbie Azodo arrived as a winger, which would add a good bit of depth for us. Still unsure if he would be featuring from the outset, but again we needed more depth going forward. Paavo Voutilainen was a centre back that was too good to pass up, and he will make us even stronger at the back. Joel Lehtonen provides a lot of versatility, and can play anywhere in midfield although he will probably feature off the right wing, another good player that adds depth to us. Jiri Koski, was an upgrade at goalkeeper. I was willing to forego an improvement in goal, but since he was available and better, we decided to bring him in. The final arrival for the month was Ikechukwu Uche, he is a player that many will remember. The Nigerian is now well past his best at 38 years old but he fit the mould of striker we needed in terms of a false nine, who will link up play and finish balls in the box, so I was very happy to bring him especially as he is not on massive money as you might expect.

Jouni Ahvenkovski departed the club on free transfer. He was not really up to the standard and was on a non-contract so he leaves without compensation. Valterri Palosaari was a similar story in that he had a non-contract at the club, and was not up to standards we required and he leaves as well.

COMMENTS

A solid start on and off the pitch as we collected maximum points and brought in a few new faces into the club. In other news the club rejected my studying for the National C badge, so that was a little annoying and we will have to bring that back up in the near future when we have another opportunity.

Edited March 27, 2022 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

FEBRUARY 2022

RESULTS

We had our first loss in February as we went away to TPS, tipped for promotion from our division and lost 2-0, in a game we really did not have much control of. However we kept ourselves in the hunt for the next round of the Suomen Cup with a win away at PK-35, where we were much the better team and deservedly ran out 4-1 winners.

We also played some friendlies this month against some good opposition and even got a win against Finnish heavyweights SJK 2-1 at home, however against the other heavyweight HJK we were not able to get the win and they ran out 2-0 winners. In the other game we faced VPS a good side from our division and won convincingly 4-0.

EDIT: Crash means some results changed, i.e. we did not beat SJK and drew instead and lost 1-0 to HJK instead of 2-0. But more or less the same results.

All still to play for. We play Gnistan in the final game at home, and so a win will win us the group. If we lose then TPS more than likely will jump us and it will put us out. 

COMMENTS

There were no further transfers in the playing staff, as we did not see any good options from out scouting team. We have however been responding to adverts we placed for a variety of staff positions and now have the position pretty well covered which is good. Next month we will play Gnistan who are already through to the next round in Suomen Cup, so it will be tough but if we get a positive result we should be through the next round.

EDIT: After the crash suffered, this part of the season was replayed and we got marginally worse results in the friendlies. The competitive matches in the Suomen Cup leave the group almost identical to how it was last time. The Gnistan game will decide everything for us.

Edited March 27, 2022 by TerminalPortugal
Replayed after a game crash

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

MARCH 2022

RESULTS

Unfortunately for us, our draw against Gnistan this month in the Suomen Cup would prove to not be enough as TPS won their final game and jumped us on the final fixture into the 2nd qualification spot in the group, and we were sent crashing out, although it was a very decent display from us. The rest of the month was filled with friendlies and we got wins from all of them, as we smashed Tampere United, MiPK and PK-37, and narrowly got past VPS. Next month the league will finally start and I hope we can start well.

EDIT: Replayed after the crash and the results this time around were worse, we were battered by Gnistan in the all important final game of the Group stage of the Suomen Cup and the friendlies were more or less all much tighter affair scoreline wise.

Confirmation that we missed out on the next round on goal difference from TPS, who finished 2nd.

COMMENTS

Next month starts the league and I hope we can kick on and start it well. My goal is to at least reach the playoffs this season.

EDIT: Replayed after the crash, everything stayed for all intents and purposes the same, we are still out of Suomen Cup this time losing as opposed to drawing with Gnistan.

Edited March 27, 2022 by TerminalPortugal
Replayed after a game crash

[TerminalPortugal]

Unfortunately just suffered a crash that sent me back to start of February, since my Autosave corrupted. So will update once I get back through those parts.

EDIT: Updated the months affected in bold with revisions to what happened when it was replayed. We are now caught up with where we were before.

Edited March 27, 2022 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

APRIL 2022

RESULTS

It has been a decent start to the season but it could have been great. We started off at PIF and beat them rather comfortably 3-0, before we faced off in a grudge match against Gnistan who for all intents and purposes had knocked us out of the Suomen Cup and this time we got the better of them as we beat them 3-2 at home, but we then could not capitalise as we lost to FF Jaro by a solitary goal as the attack failed us this game

We sit in fourth place at the end of the month and with some teams still with games in hand over us. TPS have started rather poorly, as they were the odds on favourites to win the league they will be looking for a response going into May. FF Jaro, the team that beat us lead the league with a perfect record at this early point in the season.

SQUAD

A quick look at the squad and some of the stats, we can see that Mannstrom has been key, with 6.96 key passes per game, as a clear leader in that department. Heiermann from midfield has been the main threat when it comes to accumulating XG, he has over 3.3 goals expected but has only got himself on the scoresheet twice so hopefully that improves.

COMMENTS

Two wins and a loss, is not bad, but it could have been better, I am hoping that we can keep the momentum up in the coming month.

[Deisler26]

Best of luck with this!

[TerminalPortugal]

9 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

Best of luck with this!

Thanks very much, probably going to need some luck to progress with this side.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

MAY 2022

RESULTS

We had a strong showing this month as we went unbeaten in six games, with only two draws. We managed to knock off TPS, who are meant to cruise to the title, and EIF who are having a good season and were setting the early pace with us this season. The two draws were a bit disappointing, especially at home where we should have beaten MP but again the attack failed us. Uche had a great little run at the start of the month but then he got injured and will still be out for some time and that probably is not helping our scoring ability much.

We top the league after 9 games played, just a point clear of EIF. TPS have started a bit of a march back up the league, with a few straight wins to get up to fourth place.

SQUAD

Heiermann has started to put away the chances he was getting and is now the top goalscorer for the team on 5 this season. Mannstrom is continuing his very strong season with six assists this season and continues to provide the key passes in the side.

DATA CENTRE

Here is some of the early data from the data centre. Our advantage at the moment seems to be built on having a lot of shots at goal and although we do not have the best conversion rate, that fact we take the shots means eventually one is going to go in, although we have seen that we can be stopped in some of the games this season. The defence has been okay, we are just the wrong side of being a leaky defence, but we do not allow many shots which is why we are keeping the score down most of the time.

The XG table shows that actually FC KTP should be top is we just look at XG, so I would expect them to eventually come up the table, since they sit in 6th at the moment. Our position is not much of a false one as we are legitimately in 2nd place in the XG table and only marginally behind KTP. TPS make up the top three, their are another side who is underperforming against their XG.

COMMENTS

A good start to the season and hopefully we can continue it. TPS are coming back at us now, so I expect that it is going to be hard to hold them off as they move up the league. We need to be a little more clinical in front of goal, that is probably what has cost us the loss against Jaro last month and the two draws this month. Still we are playing well and performing how I want us to perform.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

JUNE 2022

RESULTS

June has been another good month for us as we went unbeaten in the month and picked up three wins out of four. Gnistan were the only points we dropped. 

We sit top of the league and now 4 points clear of FF Jaro, who continue to push us in the league. TPS remain in 4th place and we have opened up an 8 point gap to them.

TRANSFERS

We had a recruitment meeting and this precipitated us to look again at a few options in the transfer market that were highlighted. Nino Roffelson was a great option at defensive midfield an area, where I felt we were a little bit light in the squad and he should improve the ability of the team massively. Julian Tovar, arrived at the club because Uche is old and has been injured and really we needed another option that can do a job for us up front and in Tovar I think we have a very good option going forward.

SQUAD

The squad can be seen above, Tovar and Roffelsen are now in the team. Heiermann remains the top goalscorer on 5 goals and Mannstrom is the top assister with 7 assists this season.

COMMENTS

Things are going pretty well at the moment as we look like certainties to reach the playoffs and look decent value to win the league.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

JULY 2022

RESULTS

it has been another very good month as we extend our unbeaten run another month, and we had some very tough games this month, which included our only draw away to TPS, as well as hosting FF Jaro where we won 2-1 as well as a great 1-0 away win at EIF.

It is ours to lose now really, with one month left of the regular season, we do still have to endure that and then a tough promotion round where we will play the rest of the top six again, so it is by no means over yet, and there is still plenty to play for the likes of FF Jaro and TPS who are not so far behind that the lead would seem insurmountable.

SQUAD

We had some bad news this month, as Uche went down with cruciate ligament damage and is considering retiring from football. I think what is certain is that he has played his last game for us as I can't see a reason to keep him around for next season. Julian Tovar is a very able replacement for him and we will just need to see if we can get some good cover. Still it is a shame that it ended that way. The goalscorer at the club remains Heiermann as he added another to his tally to now have 6 goals for the season and the top assister is Mannstrom who now has ten for season as well as another 5 goals himself.

COMMENTS

Things are shaping up nicely, I could not really ask to be in a better position going into the final month of the regular season. We just need to get as many points on the board before the promotion group and hopefully by then we should have an almost unassailable lead. Of course it can go the other way, if we mess up here we will be piling on the pressure on to ourselves for the promotion playoff. At this stage, we really do not want to end up in the playoffs after leading the league almost all season.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

AUGUST 2022

RESULTS

What I was fearing most happened and we had a really indifferent end to the season, where we drew the final three games of the season to really pile the pressure back on to us. The goals seemingly abandoned us as we found the net just once in 270 minutes of football. We really will need to be a lot better in the Promotional Group to still win the league and clinich promotion. The only positive really is that we avoided defeat which means that the last time we tasted defeat was in May, so that has at least got to give the boys some confidence.

That gap has shrunk a lot and now we find ourselves just 4 points ahead of TPS and still needing to play them in the Promotional Group stage. The 6 clubs who made it as ourselves, TPS, FF Jaro, KTP, MP and EIF. Only really TPS and FF Jaro can catch us to the top spot, and we are pretty much assured of a playoff as a minimum as the top four make it.

TRANSFERS

We decided to make a final move before the window closed in Finland and that was to bring in Joel Mattson. He looks a fine player who can play both wings and can also play very well through the centre as false nine which is what we were looking for. He has not brought much luck with him as we drew all three games in which he has participated so far, but I am sure it is not any indictment on his quality.

NEW CONTRACT

We signed a new contract at KPV, which will keep us at the club for another season until November 2023.

SQUAD

The squad is above, Byskata moves onto 7 goals together with Heiermann, showing that it is the midfield that is chiefly responsible for the goals at our club. Mannstrom continues to perform amazingly with 11 assists to his name this season.

COMMENTS

Well, what I had warned against has happened and we have thrown away that vast majority of our lead, and now we face the tough games against the other top 6 clubs, and TPS will be breathing down our neck knowing that if they beat us in our game together the lead will be down to one point. We really have made it hard for ourselves here.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

SEPTEMBER 2020

RESULTS

We going got tough, we got tough, and we were sublime in the Promotion Group Stage, as we dug and got the necessary wins to gain promotion. Promotion was officially achieved away at FF Jaro. We got some luck along the way, a late goal made the points safe against EIF and then again against KTP a late flurry made sure as we ran out 5-1 winners. Late goals would also give us the win against TPS, as we picked up a 90th minute winner and a 92nd minute safety goal. We drew the final game but it mattered very little. All in all a great performance at the end of the season.

Confirmation that we win the Ykkonen and pick up promotion to the top division of Finland. In the end it was very confortable as we won the league by 11 points from FF Jaro who finished in 2nd place. Jaro, TPS and KTP will go into the playoff to see if they can get to playoff against top divison opposition for a place at the top table. The season is yet to finish so the opponent is still unknown but it is looking like one of AC Oulu or Haka who have had an awful season.

YOUTH INTAKE

Our youth intake ended up being really very good with a lot of potential available. John Lindahl looks like the pick of the bunch.

Here are some maps of where the prospects are from. All of them were born in Finland, and we have gone as far north as Rovaniemi to pick up one prospect. The main bulk of the youngsters are from Kokkola or the surrounding region however, which the second map shows their positions.

SQUAD

Above is the final squad overview. Uche ended up retiring before the season finished, deciding to call time on his career due to the knee injury that he suffered in training. Heiermann finished top goalscorer on 9 goals this season and Mannstrom ended up with 13 assists. Overall the squad was well utilised to get over the line. We are struggling already for next season to bring some of these faces back however. Curinga has already committed elsewhere as we were unable to get him to sign a new contract. Man mountain Chantzopolous also looks set to potentially leave as he is not looking to renew his contract at the club, and Greek clubs are interested in him, although so far he has rejected their advances as well. Either way we will need to bring in new faces to the challenges of the top division, so at this time I am not too worried.

COMMENTS

A superb season was capped off in the perfect way as we ran through the best the league had to offer at the end to ensure we would be playing top flight football next season. Hopefully we will not be coming straight back down.

[TerminalPortugal]

END OF SEASON UPDATE

We have carried out the random draw of percentages for the additional nations and Romania and Belarus got 20 and 19 per cent respectively, whereas Slovenia and Wales got away with just 9 and 7 per cent respectively. Remember when they get to 100 per cent they will be replaced with a new country in Europe.

CAREER LOG

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

NOVEMBER 2022

TRANSFERS

Jonathan Delaplace joined us when the window opened. I predominantly want to use him at right back but he can also play in midfield, the Frenchman is a good replacement for Curinga who is leaving. Alan Luque, comes in as a true right back, I expect the Argentinean to fight for his place with Delaplace going into this season. Jaakko Oksanen comes in on free transfer having previously been at Premier League outfit Brentford. He has bags of ability at our level, so were a little surprised to be able to pick him up but he will be lock to play in defensive midfield and should add some much needed steel in that position. Juan Esnaider was a bit of an impulsive pick up, at first I thought he might be needed should we want to play with a shadow striker, so he fits that bill but he is probably not too capable of playing the false nine role in the current tactic, so we will see how much game time he gets. He can a be a replacement for Tovar should that be required.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

DECEMBER 2022

RESULTS

We played a couple of friendlies to open up the pre-season and they both went to plan as we beat both AC Oulu and Ilves by a 2 goal margin.

TRANSFERS

Joonas Sundman comes in, he predominantly plays left back and he is decent, but nothing amazing, I just felt I needed some cover there. Rodrigo Tapia comes in at striker, again he is not brilliant and I do not expect him to topple Tovar for a starting spot, but he will help if we get injuries.

Kyle Curinga heads out the door. Not a player we wanted to lose but he signed a pre-contract agreement with US outfit Sacremento, so there was nothing we could do about it, since he would not sign a new contract last season, maybe had he known we would have been promoted he may have stayed but he is a bit of loss for us, he was a good player.

 

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

JANUARY 2023

RESULTS

It was mostly friendlies this month, but we did kick off the Suomen Cup in Group Stages and we got a hell of a win against fellow top division side Ilves as we ran out 6-1 winners on the night, with Tovar and Oksanen both bagging a brace. The friendlies went pretty well too as we remain unbeaten in the month.

We top the group after one game played courtesy of our demolition of Ilves. Elsewhere KuPS beat HJK and FF Jaro, who were promoted with us last season managed a draw against HIFK.

TRANSFERS

Samuel Uusitalo leaves the club, he had a bit part last season but he was deemed surplus to requirements and allowed to leave. Miika Kaupilla was barely on my radar so we allowed him to leave on free. Atte Henttu was about 6th choice striker, so he was free to leave.

COMMENTS

A very nice start to the cup this season, with four places passing to the next round I am reasonably confident that we can make it this year to knockout rounds.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

FEBRUARY 2023

RESULTS

A very nice month as we continued our unbeaten run that stretches all the way back to last May, we destroyed HIFK and then managed to two draws against HJK and KuPS to qualify from the group without many problems. We added two more friendly wins to the end of the month.

We ended the group in 2nd place just behind KuPS. Ilves and HJK also made it through our group and advance to the next round.

SQUAD

The squad is above. Oksanen has come into the team and been very effective with 3 goals and 3 assists as well as 5.62 key passes per game. Other top performers are Julian Tovar and Joel Mattsson who have also done very well over this first part of the season.

COMMENTS

Well we did what we set out to do which was to qualify for the next round of the cup, so we will see whether we can advance further. The league starts in April and it will be interesting to see how we perform. Based on the predictions from the press and the bookies we are not expected to be in the relegation places but we are expected to be a lower mid-table team, so I expect things will be difficult.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

MARCH 2023

RESULTS

We were already through in the cup so the final game was a dead rubber for us, but we smashed FF Jaro anyway 7-1, and in fact the whole month saw us smash the pretty much everyone, apart from Rosenborg which we still won, which was a big achievement considering their ability and history. We look good coming into the season and I am confident we can upset a few of the big boys i the league going forward.

We moved through in 2nd place in our group.

COMMENTS

The league is up next month and hopefully we can carry this form into the league season.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

APRIL 2023

RESULTS

The start of the league season came and things have not gone particularly well. We started off with a loss against Lahti and then returned to winning ways against HIFK, but then could only pick up a point from our remaining league games of the month, which included Inter, whom were routed to the bottom of the league without any points. We did get through in the cup against non-league opponents Viikingit, so there was a positive there, but so far, it looks like it is going to be a very tough season for us.

We sit in 8th place in the league on 4 points. Hopefully we can pick up a few more wins and move further towards the top of the league.

SQUAD

The squad overview is above.

COMMENTS

Hopefully we can return to winning ways in the league. If we don't then things could get ugly pretty quickly.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

MAY 2023

RESULTS

It has been a much better month from us as we strung together an unbeaten month in the league, winning every game apart from HJK, who are on a tear at the moment in the league. We did get to the Suomen Cup semi final, beating Haka with a late goal, but succumbed to SJK in extra time to a late goal, which means we did pretty well all told in the cup to be that close to reaching the final.

The league table is looking much rosier for us now, as we climb all the way to 4th place. As already mentioned HJK are flying at the moment are yet to lose, they look like they are pushing for the title again this season. Interesting FF Jaro who got battering after battering the Suomen Cup group stage are actually performing pretty well. I had expected them to be for the drop almost certainly, but they sit just a point behind us at this stage.

DATA CENTRE

I thought I would show the data centre this month, which provides us with a comparison of performance against the rest of league. We seem to have an attack that while a bit inefficient they get a lot of shots, which should convert to at least a few goals per match and a defence which seems to be pretty efficient. The XG table tells us an interesting story that if everything went along the lines of opportunities created we should top the league. Our XG is 5 below where it should be and our XGA is 2 better than where it should be. If we can keep this up then perhaps we can do even better than I would have expected this season.

SQUAD

The squad is performing very well so far this season, we have had to make use of the whole squad, everyone is playing their part this season, as injuries and suspensions have already played their part this season and will continue I am sure for the majority of the season. Joel Mattsson has been in the goals, leading the scoring with 9 goals this season already.

COMMENTS

A much better month from us, and we needed it to get back on track quickly. Now hopefully we can kick on, and who knows where we can end up by the end of the season. At the very least we are showing that we belong at this level.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

JUNE 2023

RESULTS

It has been a better month as results go as we got three wins, although we did suffer a loss against FF Jaro in what was a very strange game. I would have probably taken this result for the month had you offered me it. Anyway we continue to progress in the league and are looking upwards which is all I wanted.

HJK are just a machine this season so far, they have accumulated 9 wins and 3 draws and are yet to lose, as they have extended their lead in the league to 7 points over ourselves and Honka. To be second in the league at this point is a fantastic achievement for the club, we are performing fantastically. I think it is pretty clear that it will be HJK's to lose this season.

YOUTH PREVIEW

We got through our youth preview and it looks very rosy, with good quality in the defensive positions as well as some good central midfielders. I look forward to seeing the prospects when they graduate to the first team. It would be lovely to have someone with some ability out of the gate which then allow us to incorporate them immediately into the first team squad.

SQUAD

The squad is above and everyone is contributing to the success. The defenders have started finding a few goals for set pieces which is nice to see. Mattsson has been a machine in front of goal this season with his 11 goals this season really being a difference maker. Oksansen is still the man pulling the strings for the side, he has played central midfield and defensive midfield and has been  a great asset for us. He is one of the best performers in the league I would not be surprised if he was involved for the Finnish national team in the near future with the way he is going. We actually signed him long term, although there is a minimum fee release clause in his contract. I very much hope we can keep him around long term.

COMMENTS

It has been a good month and we seem to be amongst the pack that is attempting to challenge HJK, which is a surprise to me this season. I was expecting to finish mid-table, but we have a real shot at really pushing here and perhaps looking at title challenge in HJK do eventually slip up later in the season. I am just glad that we performing well. In other news, last I mentioned my badges we had been rejected to start studying at start of the last season, but we have been making steady progress and are now already studying for the National A Licence. Hopefully we can keep moving ahead with the studies, which should make us more attractive to other football clubs in terms of getting management positons.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

JULY 2023

RESULTS

It was a decent month, however the loss to HIFK to open things up in the month was needless and very annoying indeed. The draw we had with KuPS was probably pretty fortunate, as we had two first half sending offs, and had to then defend for our lives, with KuPS having equalised just before the second sending off. We do keep doing things to let ourselves down at times, but elsewhere we had some good wins against Honka, and Inter who are doing well in the league as well as beating Mariehamn.

We continue in 2nd place, now 8 points behind HJK. The regular season will end after 22 games and then we are on for the Champions Stage. We still have to play HJK at their ground in the regular season and I think we would need to win to have any hope of catching them now. We do look very good value for European football next year however which would be a remarkable achievement for us.

SQUAD

Despite everything the squad keeps performing. Mattsson has moved onto 13 goals this season, which is a really nice return from the right wing. Tovar as reached double figures now as well with 11, although most of his goals did come in the cup at the start of the season. Oksanen has moved onto 11 assists, which is very nice. He is averaging over a chance created per match which is great numbers for a team like ours. Tapia who has barely played because he is not up to the necessary standard, will be moving on at the end of the season. The deal is already done and he will be moving back to Spain, which is no skin off my nose. Escaiber as well has not lived up to the standard we need, so he will likely also not be here next season. The real weakness we have had has been finding people for the false nine spot, which is key for the link up play up front we need.

COMMENTS

Things are going very nicely. To qualify for Europe would be great achievement. All we can hope is that we can keep this standard up, and hopefully HJK provide us with a chance to run them close, as the season comes to close. If anyone is going to challenge them this season, it would appear to be us if anyone.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

AUGUST 2023

RESULTS

It was a pretty good month defensively, but result wise it was not that great. The loss to HJK was expected, and pretty much wraps up the league for HJK at this stage. The draw against Ilves did have some mitigations against it, as we had a lot of suspensions for the game. Elsewhere we performed well with two wins. It was not the worst or best month, pretty average really.

HJK now have an 11 point lead in the league and we have 6 point lead over third placed Inter. HJK remain unbeaten this season which shows the utter dominance they have had over this league season.

NEW CONTRACT

We signed a new two year contract at the club that will keep us with KPV until 2025, and we also got a bit of wage boost up to £650 per week.

SQUAD

The squad is above as we can see, very wide use of the whole squad this season.

COMMENTS

Our goal now is to finish in 2nd place and get into Europe this season. That would be a great achievement for us, having just been promoted last season.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

SEPTEMBER 2023

RESULTS

A superb month from the boys as we entered into the Championship Group after the league split, and we have racked up a perfect monthg, to ensure qualification for Europe. The league title has gone as HJK wrapped that up a while back at the start of the month. But a very good month from us.

With a couple of games to play, there is pretty much nothing to play for, we already assured of European football next season, sitting 9 points behind HJK and 18 points ahead of Inter sitting in 3rd place. Now really all there is to play for is to attempt to somehow beat HJK when we meet them in the final match of the season.

YOUTH INTAKE

Some great potential here, especially looking at Andreas Petersson, the midfielder comes in with a real shot of being in with a shout of starting in a season or two for us.

The maps show where this crop of youngster come from in the Green and also in the second map with last seasons youngsters shown.

SQUAD

The squad is above. Tovar has moved onto 16 goals for the season, which is a very decent return for him. Oksanen remains the stand out performer, as he pretty much has been at the centre of everything positive we have done this season. He also picked up his first cap for the national side last month, and is very much in the running for the best player in the league this season, showing how much of key player he has been for us.

COMMENTS

A very good season from us as we secure European football for next season. Now it is just a case of hopefully trying to finish the season well and beginning the planning for next season.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

OCTOBER 2023

RESULTS

A superb way to finish the season as we won our remaining games, including away at HJK. All HJK had to do to complete an unbeaten season was to avoid defeat against us but we managed to pull off the massive upset and make sure to spoil that party. A little moral victory for us, that hopefully will translate into the next season, when we next face each other.

The final league table makes it look like it was a bit closer in terms of the title race, in that we finish just 4 points behind HJK, but we know full well that this season HJK were well ahead for the majority of the season. Still it shows that we just need a little improvement to perhaps run them closer. Our early season form needs to be better next season.

SQUAD

This is the final squad overview. Particular standouts were Paavo Voutilainen and Chantzopoulos at the back who really helped us stay defensively strong all season. Okasanen was the stand out player in the midfield, his performances have got him into the Finland national team set up. Mattsson, Mannstrom and Tovar up front all put in great performances this season to give us a cutting edge.

COMMENTS

The end of the season is here and we have qualified for the Europa Conference League, which is far more than I would have expected going into the season. Hopefully our budget increases and we can push on to attempt to catch HJK next season.

[TerminalPortugal]

END OF SEASON UPDATE

In terms of updated points, Romania and Belarus are the closest to being replaced with 43 and 39 per cent respectively. Slovenia is on 22 per cent and Wales only has 11 per cent.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

NOVEMBER 2023

TRANSFERS

Marco Carraro has been brought in. We moved quickly with our improved budget to bring him into the club. He can play both central midfield and defensive midfield and I think he has enough quality to make us better. Kaique Rocha, is a Brazilian defender highlighted by our scouts and he provides a lot more depth for us. I think he can force his way into the team, so he definately improves us. Davo comes in from Spain, and he is the player we have been looking for in the false nine position. He will battle with Tovar for a starting spot. He can however also play on the right wing, so he again provides some much needed depth and improvement.

 

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

DECEMBER 2023

RESULTS

We kicked off the pre-season with a few friendlies and we managed to come through the month unbeaten with 2 wins and a draw. The draw was not the best one ever as we threw the game away late on to let the score twice to equalise the game and take a share of the spoilts. Still we look decent enough going into the season, and the results don't really matter much at this stage.

COMMENTS

The new signings are beginning to bed in as we will be seeing whether we can push HJK any closer this year. Before the league gets underway we will be back in the Suomen Cup Group Stage to see if we can advance to the knockout rounds for the second year in a row.

Edited March 28, 2022 by TerminalPortugal

[BoxToBoxFM]

Loved reading through this, what a great idea for a save - love all the little rules which make it so unique! For the percentages part, is that just a random number used or is there a reason behind the percentage each nation gets at the end of every season?

[TerminalPortugal]

1 minute ago, BoxToBoxFM said:

Loved reading through this, what a great idea for a save - love all the little rules which make it so unique! For the percentages part, is that just a random number used or is there a reason behind the percentage each nation gets at the end of every season?

Hey, thanks very much. I did it a couple of times before on previous versions of FM on these boards. It is just a random number generator between 0 and 25 for each country on Microsoft Excel at the end of each season and I just tot up the points on to each country. So no reason behind why each country got what they got, just pure chance. When we finally do win the league, the final contract meter will work in almost exactly the same way.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

JANUARY 2024

RESULTS

We could not have started better as we send a strong message to the rest of the league, with our opening performances against Suomen Cup opposition as we won 7-0 and 6-1 to put ourselves in the leadership of the group and more or less already guarantee passage to the next round. In the friendlies we played we were dominant as expected againt lower league opposition.

Confirmation that we lead the group on 6 points, two clear of SJK and Honka.

SQUAD

Early days for the squad, but Oksanen is already purring this season with 7 assists in just 2 games. We have got goals all around the side and the new signings all seem to be settling very nicely into the club.

TRANSFERS

Robert Arnason, will probably conclude our business this window. He is just 18 years old and already has the ability to play for our side from the right or the left wing. He joins us a on free having previously spent time at Torino in Italy. The Icelandic youngster seems to me to be a great catch for us as a club, especially if he can hit the ground running.

COMMENTS

A great start to the season and we just need a few more points to guarantee passage to the next round of the cup. In other news, KVP-2 a club that was only created when we got to the top division of Finland, has just reached the Ykkonen the division below us, so that is likely a big positive as the players there will get some good experience, and also I expect we can make a bit of money through the affiliate club. I am pretty sure they are unable to be promoted to our division, but they are in FInnish Cup this season, so that will be interesting.

Edited March 28, 2022 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

FEBRUARY 2024

RESULTS

Another great month for us as we advanced to the knockout rounds of the Suomen Cup. We won both games in the cup and then followed that up with two more friendly wins.

With one game to play we are through to the knockout rounds. It still remains to be seen whether FF Jaro will join us in the knockout rounds.

SQUAD

The squad is above. All going well so far.

COMMENTS

We are through to the knockout rounds of the cup, that was the objective early in the season and since we got to the semi finals last season I feel we have a chance to get to final this year and who knows perhaps we can go a step further than that and actually win the cup.

[BoxToBoxFM]

3 hours ago, TerminalPortugal said:

Hey, thanks very much. I did it a couple of times before on previous versions of FM on these boards. It is just a random number generator between 0 and 25 for each country on Microsoft Excel at the end of each season and I just tot up the points on to each country. So no reason behind why each country got what they got, just pure chance. When we finally do win the league, the final contract meter will work in almost exactly the same way.

Ahh ok, thanks for explaining. I was thinking you had to win the league in each country or manage in each country first before they could be removed, but I actually quite like the randomness with the percentages. 

[TerminalPortugal]

34 minutes ago, BoxToBoxFM said:

Ahh ok, thanks for explaining. I was thinking you had to win the league in each country or manage in each country first before they could be removed, but I actually quite like the randomness with the percentages. 

Yeah, the whole point is the possible jobs change between the countries as they come and go. Countries can come back though, it is an open draw of what country comes into replace the country that exits.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

MARCH 2024

RESULTS

We finished off a perfect record in the Suomen Cup with a win against Honka and then followed up with a bunch of friendly wins.

A perfect record in the group stages as we cruise to the next round.

SQUAD

The squad is above. As you can see from the amount of players above a 7 rating, the team are performing very well.

COMMENTS

We qualify for the next round without much issue and with a perfect record. I think we are ready for the coming season.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

APRIL 2024

RESULTS

A good start to the season was ruined by a bad ending as we lost back to back against KuPS and SJK. We cannot afford to do that and we already playing catch up this season as a result of it. Not good enough at this stage in my tenure. We did manage to get through in the Suomen Cup Second Round as we beat AC Oulu 2-0, to at least not make this month a catastrophe.

We are already 6 points adrift of HJK and sit in 7th place. Hopefully we can string some results together or we may well be looking at a worse season that last season.

TRANSFERS

Diogo cames in after I thought our business was concluded for the window, but he was too good to pass up. He is Brazilian, 18 years old, already ready to play a part in the team and can improve massively so it was a no brainer. Also he is on a pretty small salary in comparison to some of the other players in the side. Really it is a great purchase all round.

SQUAD

Tovar missed a few games with injury and we missed him losing both of them. Arnason was preferred up front and it did not really work out too well. Diogo has come in and played well already. The defensive core has been playing well, it has really been at times the attack that has let us down at times.

COMMENTS

A poor start again to another season means we are already off the pace and already well behind HJK. It could well be another walkover for HJK this season and we may well be left trying to match what we did last season. I hope we improve.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

MAY 2024

RESULTS

It's not been a good enough performance this month, we don't look dominant anymore even when we win, and we are dropping points. We are just about clinging on to relevancy at the moment in the league but things are not going well. We need a very good next few months to really get anywhere at the moment. The amount of time we are scoring late goals when we win to save ourselves. In the cup we got past SJK on a very long penalty shootout, but eventually although we gave them a game HJK saw fit to end our run at the semi final stage.

We sit 5th, having played one more game than everyone else, and HJK are already 5 points ahead with that game in hand. Any idea I had of challenging them is fast disappearing.

DATA CENTRE

There is only one thing to look at when it comes to the data centre and it is we are underperforming our XG in every possible area. We should be doing better based on what we are creating but the goals are not going in and we are not getting the points on the table. Perhaps it shows some luck on the part of HJK et al, or perhaps it shows another level of criticality which just do not have.

SQUAD

It is difficult to pinpoint where it is going wrong for us, I think the key players are performing well, we are just not getting the rub of the green at the moment.

COMMENTS

I was hoping for a much better month and it did not materialise, if we want to hang on to HJK, that does need to happen in June or it is over for us if we intend to catch them. We are out of the cup at the same stage as last time. This was actually a match where I felt we gave as good as we got, we conceded 5 goals so you are never going to win a game where that happens but it was HJK so it was somewhat expected, in a one off game like this with both sides going for it.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

JULY 2024

RESULTS

I needed us to get 10 points from these fixtures and we picked up just 7 points. There are mitigations in the fact that Lahti and HJK are two of the best sides in the league, but we are just not at it the same way were last season. We are missing Mannstrom who retired last season, and I think we are just lacking in a couple of area. The squad registration rules are not allowing me to put the best possible team on the pitch for any given match so we are having to juggle things. Anyway we just need to persevere and do as well as we can now.

We have a game in hand over HJK and win does take us to within 5 points as they have been a little worse this season. Last season to seemed to just win every game, and they already have 4 draws and loss on their record. Still it is a very long shot as we do not look as good this season as we did in our inaugural season back in the top flight.

YOUTH PROJECTION

While the overall class is not looking that great I would not mind a great prospect goalkeeper as that is a spot we probably need to upgrade and it would be good to have a top Finnish prospect in goal as it saves us a spot for a foreigner in the outfield. At the moment Lazaraev is our Russian goalkeeper and as we have grown we can do better but I have not found an affordable goalkeeper that we could bring and improve us.

SQUAD

We have brought up a few younsgters in Moisander and Rauhala to just fill in where we might need a Finnish trained player in midfield and defence, they are pretty capable and they have good potential.

COMMENTS

It's been tough but we are now back into 4th place, and I can at least see a path to start to put some pressure on HJK but it again relies on use really upping our game. Next month we will kick off our Europa Conference League campaign against Macedonian opposition. There is no prospect really of doing much in the competition I believe so really it is about hopefully picking up some prize money, which we need to keep the club balanced financially.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

JULY 2024

RESULTS

It has been a bit of a better month. The start of the month was great. The end was not good, but we have had to deal with a large schedule of games that have affected us and our small squad. Tovar is injured and it has impacted us as he got a lot of goals at the start of the month for us; crucial goals. We got through Shkendija of Macedonia in the Europa Conference League and we move on to Trencin from Slovakia and have a very handy lead going into the home leg. We need to refocus and get back to winning ways again.

Despite the wobble we had late on, things have been a bit wobblier at HJK and we sit only four points behind them and Honka can overtake them if they win their game in hand. This time around you can probably say there are 5 teams that will think they have a shot at the title. Had we shown the form of last season we would be top at this stage of the season, but it hasn't happened, no team has really pulled away and there is all to play for especially once we get into the Championship Group. Last time we were brilliant when we got there it will remain to be seen if history repeats itself.

SQUAD

Tovar's injury had hurt us and the extra games in the Europa League at a key part of our season are a difficult distraction to manage. Overall we just need a bit of luck, the players are playing well we just need the rub of the green at the end of this season.

COMMENTS

Well I am unsure if we improved or if HJK have become worse, it might be both, but at the very least we are in a title race, as we get to the business end of the season. We are by no means favourites as we just have not been able to find consistency this season, we are as likely to beat a big side as we are to drop points against the bottom dwellers. It's just that kind of season.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

AUGUST 2024

RESULTS

I think it has been a very good month for us considering the amount of games we had to play with the Europa Conference League having a major impact on us. In the league we have been very good, as we dropped just 2 points, although the opposition is the kind we should be beating, considering now inconsistent we normally are, the fact that we were consistent this time around is a boon. The Europa Conference League saw us take some scalps as we finished off Trencin and then pulled out a brilliant performance at home to sink Standard Liege and we completed the job in Belgium despite losing the game on the night. We did eventually come unstuck against Steaua Bucharest, the first being a real killer for us, and they duly finished the job at our ground with another big win. 

The league remains tight at the top. HJK are four points ahead as they improved their form as we go into the run in. The whole league for us probably rests on the next game as we go to HJK on the final day of the regular season. A win for us and it's anyones title. A draw leaves us with a lot to do but opens the door for Honka. A loss and we are probably out of it. It will be tough considering the players we will be missing for the match, but all we have is hope.

SQUAD

The squad is pretty ravaged by suspensions, injuries and fitness issues. Not much I can do but rotate as I have been all season and try and keep a functioning squad together.

COMMENTS

The run in is coming next month, it's all to play for. If we were to win the title from here we would have most certainly deserved it.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

SEPTEMBER 2024

RESULTS

Well we managed to draw the final regular season game against HJK, which kept everything where it was. Honka lost on the final day meaning that they spurned a very good opportunity to put pressure on HJK. We would then face Honka and we battered them in the first half to take the game 4-0. HJK also won. Next up was a rematch of the final regular season game and it looked like HJK might win the title there and then, but we rallied late on with Tovar getting a goal 20 minutes from time and Davo getting the equaliser late into injury time. We then beat Lahti with a flurry in the second half and HJK lost to Ilves away. It is all to play for now.

This is going down to the wire. There is only 1 point in it. We play Ilves at home and KuPS away on the final day. HJK play KuPS at home and Honka away on the final day nestled in amongst Europa League games. We need a favour and we need to better HJK's results going into the final games. Even the goal difference is practically the same. We are either about win the league, or we are in for heartbreak.

YOUTH PROSPECTS

Only four youth candidates this year signing for the under 20s and they are not all that.

Maps of where they are from in Finland.

SQUAD

With the Europa Conference League behind us, we have recovered a lot of the injuries, suspensions and fatigue that was hampering the squad. I think we are ready for the end of the season.

COMMENTS

To think we would be even with a shot of the title after the early season form, it is amazing. HJK are still very much favourites, as we probably need to win both matches and even then I would not be surprised if it ended up being not enough anyway. We will see if we can somehow do this.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

OCTOBER 2024

RESULTS

It was in our bloody hands, we beat Ilves 5-0 and HJK only managed a draw, putting us 1 point clear of HJK. We then faced off against KuPS, and unfortunately Diogo got himself sent off early and we went a goal down. HJK were drawing for the vast majority of the game, and then they took the lead on the 77th minute. We did get level very late on with a penalty but that was how it remainded and we had thrown in away in the final game. We may not get a better chance to win the league. I knew it would either be the title or heartbreak and in the end it was the worst possible way to lose it.

It ends up as another 2nd place finish just a point behind HJK. 

SQUAD

The team performed brilliantly this season especially when things got tough. Diogo let us down in the final game but he has had a breakout season for us and the youngster will hopefully learn from this experience and bounce back next season.

COMMENTS

We could have won the league, but in the end we just could not get over the final hurdle. We closed down HJK and even overtook them, but in the end the pressure got to us right at the end. It was always going to be a tough match for us, but I thought we could do it. The red card changed the whole complexion of the match at the end of the day and we are left to rue our mistakes.

[TerminalPortugal]

END OF SEASON UPDATE

Romania and Belarus move beyond the half way mark for being replaced. Wales and Slovenia still have some way to go.

Edited March 28, 2022 by TerminalPortugal

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

DECEMBER 2024

RESULTS

Early season friendlies and we get two pretty straightforward wins.

TRANSFERS

Alberto del Moral

Jusif Ali

Anthony Olusanya

COMMENTS

We are being a little more conservative this year with the signings, and trying to bring in players that will provide us with Finnish home grown players, that should alleviate some of the enforced changes from last season which I think cost us some points.

[TerminalPortugal]

KPV

JANUARY 2025

RESULTS

It has been a good start to the cup campaign as we taken our first two games with wins, and also keeping to clean sheets.

We lead the group with 6 points level on points with Honka. Another few points and we should be assured of an advance to the next round.

TRANSFERS

Samu Volotinen

Kalle Katz

SQUAD

A steady start from the boys as we have opened up the competitive matches with two wins. I am looking to see this season if we have a more balanced squad than we did last season.

COMMENTS

A good start, a few more points and we will be through to the next round of the cup, and that is what I am looking for at this stage of the season.