Simply The Bescht - Youth-only in Austria (tier 10)

[DaneBramage]

[DaneBramage]

I have a large database in use, with current international players and players from sides in continental competition loaded.

I only have the Austrian leagues loaded. The reason for that, is that there are so many of them.

Although this screen shows 10 tiers, there's actually more than 150 divisions in play here. There's so many regional variations among tiers 4-9, in particular tier 7 (37 divisions) and tier 8 (45 divisions). Luckily, promotion all the way to the top appears to be a straight path, with no play-off nonsense needed.

If and when I make my way up the leagues I'll start dropping off the lower levels and replacing them with neighbouring countries, but for now there are no additional nations loaded.

There are two divisions in the 10th tier - the Unterland and the Oberland. Both of them are mainly B and C teams, but while the Unterland has four senior teams available, the Oberland has just one. So that made my destination pretty clear, it had to be FC Beschling.

Despite being the only senior side in the division, expectations are pretty low. I would be devastated if we finish bottom. I have no idea what the standard is actually going to be, but I'd hope to be competing for the only promotion place.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING

We have 16 players at the club, plus a grey goalie. No one's getting paid, which is lucky since we're starting with a bank balance of just £8. And bringing in doughnuts on my first day used up most of that.

As would be expected there's a distinct lack of quality, so I'm already looking forward to the first youth intake. Not that it will be up to much, with the facilities at the club also being an issue (poor training facilities, poor youth facilities, basic junior coaching, limited youth recruitment).

Edited May 6, 2022 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - JULY + AUGUST 2019

We made a hot start to the season with a big home victory on the opening day. A second win put us up in the top spot, but the new manager effect faded quickly. Three games in a row without scoring saw us pick up just two points, and we needed a game against someone rubbish to get back on track. Luckily we were hosting winless SK Meiningen 1b next, and we added to their woes as we got back to winning ways.

The star man over the first few weeks has been centre-back Sandro Mathis. He's not very good, but he is tall. And as well as helping us to four clean sheets so far, he's also contributed at the other end of the pitch with three goals, all headers from corners.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

The national team picked up a surprise result in their final friendly before the season started, with a 2-1 win over Argentina.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - SEPTEMBER 2019

Lovely stuff. Although the defence had a rare off day against FC Nuziders 1b, they were bailed out by my left-winger grabbing his first goal of the season to make it four wins in a row. This helped us rise up to 2nd in the table, just a point off the leaders.

Although he doesn't have a single technical attribute in the double figures, midfielder Matija Ceh deserves a shout out for being my joint top scorer so far, including a scorching effort from the edge of the area to beat SV Ludesch 1b.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

There were mixed results in the qualifying campaign for Euro 2020, as a 2-1 win over Poland was followed by the reverse scoreline in a disappointing loss to Latvia. Austria remain top of the group on goal difference.

[RoguPL]

Great start ! Good Luck ! 

Any particular reason for picking FC Beschling above the Underland senior teams ? 

[DaneBramage]

15 hours ago, RoguPL said:

Great start ! Good Luck ! 

Any particular reason for picking FC Beschling above the Underland senior teams ? 

Thanks!

In the past couple of weeks I've loaded up FM a few times, ticked a bunch of nations, but then once I got to the team selection stage not been able to see anything that motivated me, and just closed the game down instead.

So finding a league with literally only one option to choose from made sense to me at this time. 

Also there's the (possibly misguided) hope that as the only senior team in the league, they're in a good position to challenge at the top, and an early promotion never hurts.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - OCTOBER 2019

Just the two league games this month, and our good form continued as we made it six wins in a row. 

As we approach the halfway point of the season we remain one point behind VfB Hohenems 1c, who are the only team to have beat us.

After scoring in the first two games of the season Goran Vargic hit a dry spell, but he got things rolling this month with the opening goal in both matches.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

Wins over North Macedonia and Israel have given the national side a two point lead at the top of their qualifying group.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - NOVEMBER 2019

Just as I was starting to think everything was going our way, a 2-0 loss to FC Koblach 1b smacked me back down to earth. An early red card put us on the back foot and we were dominated for the rest of the match, and were lucky not to concede more.

Elsewhere in the division VfB Hohenems 1c had slipped up and suffered their first defeat, so a home tie against FC Klostertal 1b gave us a great opportunity to capitalise on this. Three goals in little more than half an hour gave us a comfortable win that sent us top of the table, albeit having played one more game.

Andre Dewald had a mixed month. Although his assists from set pieces were the catalyst for the win over SPG Hochmontafon 1b, it was also his sending off in the following game that caused the end of our winning streak.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

A loss to Slovenia threatened to disrupt the qualification campaign, but in the final group game a victory over Latvia ensured Austria made it to Euro 2020.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - DECEMBER 2019

A bit of a disastrous month. Against FC Lustenau 1907 1c we were missing a couple of important players through suspension, and without them we were abysmal. Seven players earnt themselves a week's fine for this performance (I mean, they're not actually being paid anyway, but it's the gesture that counts).

My AssMan was then stolen away by a 7th tier side, leaving me as the sole member of staff at the club. I'm using that as the excuse for the defeat away at SK Meiningen, which made it three losses in our last four games.

The only consolation is that VfB Hohenems 1c had a poor month as well, so didn't pull away from us. But on the other hand, the two sides directly below have caught up.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - JANUARY 2020

After beating FC Ratia Bludenz 1b I thought we could really take it to VfB Hohenems 1c and open a little gap over them. Instead, we were absolutely demolished and allowed them to regain top spot. A shameful, embarrassing showing saw us ship seven goals by the 60 minute mark, and the two late goals we scored meant nothing. Nine players were fined.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - FEBRUARY + MARCH 2020

I hate this fixture scheduling. July to April is way too long for just a 24 game season, and we end up with months holding just one match. I've had to add plenty of friendlies throughout the year to keep fitness levels up.

After the recent dodgy run of form I changed from a 4-4-2 formation to 4-5-1 instead, so I suppose at least the friendlies helped with us getting used to the new shape. And so far it seems to have paid dividends, as we gathered full points from February and March.

We remain behind VFB Hohenems 1b with our results mirroring theirs, but have slightly pulled away from 3rd place with a game in hand.

David Falkenhain is one half of my centre-back pairing, and he acquitted himself nicely with his first goals of the season (including the late winner against SC Tisis 1b), while also guiding us to consecutive clean sheets for the first time in several months.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

The March international break saw Austria pick up a pair of victories, over Kazakhstan and New Zealand.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - 2020 YOUTH INTAKE

This group was referred to as a golden generation, which I'm going to assuming is a massive over-exaggeration.

That being said, 20a Robert Besenic looks better than my current first choice goalie. We can't register any new players at this stage of the season, but he'll be straight in next year.

The top few personalities actually look fairly decent.

Everyone's been signed apart from 20k Marijan Djukic, who we can't give a contract to as he's non-EU.

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - APRIL 2020

Three games left to decide the season - could we clinch top spot? It was still possible, but it required VfB Hohenems 1b to slip up, so we had to keep our fingers crossed.

And ultimately, it didn't quite happen. They dropped two points, but so did we. And even if we'd had a perfect month, we'd still have been behind them on goal difference.

It was our games against VfB Hohenems that sent the title their way. If we'd got even a point from one of them we'd have been champions and promoted. But the two losses (1-0 and 8-2) tipped the scale in their favour.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

Red Bull Salzburg won the tipp-3 Bundesliga, making it seven in a row and 11 in total. They then made it a double with a 2-0 victory over Rapid Wien in the OFB-Samsung-Cup (two in a row, seven in total).

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - JULY + AUGUST 2020

Not much happened over the summer. There were rumblings of a takeover, but nothing came of it. With no money to play with we're not able to invest in our facilities at all, so we probably could use a takeover sooner rather than later.

We started the season against a newly relegated side, and got a decent result from them. Two wins followed and we were looking good, but things went badly wrong against FK Koblach 1b. The game was much tighter than the scoreline suggested, but they took their chances and we didn't.

The league has seen a slight re-shuffle and there's now only 12 teams rather than 13, so we have two games fewer this year. Meaning we can't afford to give up too many losses like this, and SV Ludesch 1b already have a good lead over us.

20b Christian Appelrath is the first of our academy graduates to make an impact, with a goal and an assist against  SK Burs 1b.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

Friendly victories over Wales and Belarus prepared the national side for Euro 2020, but it didn't lead to a very good showing. Losses to Switzerland and Croatia were somewhat redeemed by a win over Denmark, which meant Austria just about squeezed through as one of the best 3rd-placed finishers. In the second round though Germany awaited, and Austria couldn't pull off an upset.

Edited May 10, 2022 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - SEPTEMBER 2020

Ouch. Three losses in a row. The SC Tisis 1b game was a real kick in the nuts, as we pulled ourselves back from a three goal deficit, only to concede in the 95th minute. We're only in the second month of the season but I can think we can already write this year off. SV Ludesch 1b look pretty unbeatable at the top.

AUSTRIA

Austria are the early pace-setters in their Nations League B group, with a win over Serbia and a draw with Bulgaria sending them top.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - OCTOBER 2020

Is this the traffic light of hope? Our things starting to turn our way? Our defence (or lack thereof) is a disgrace, but at least we're scoring goals and that was enough to secure victory over FC Klostertal 1b.

We have the best attack in the division, but the joint-second worst defence, and that's what's really hampering us.

AUSTRIA

Another draw with Bulgaria and a victory over Czech Republic keeps Austria top of the Nations League B group.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - NOVEMBER 2020

The SK Meiningen 1b game was a miserable affair. Twice we went behind, twice we pulled level, then conceded in stoppage-time.

I threw a hissy fit after that and changed every training session for the next two weeks to defensive training. And lo and behold, we only went and achieved our first clean sheet of the season.

SV Ludesch 1b still haven't dropped a single point and our running away from everyone else, I'm aiming now just to keep the rest of the season respectable.

I had been using some of the academy graduates regularly, but they're not ready for this and I've gone back to mostly using last year's players. Andre Voigt has stepped back in and performed well, with five goals and four assists in just eight appearances. He's massively overplaying compared to his ability, where his best technical attribute is 6.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

The Nations League was wrapped up nicely with wins over Czech Republic and Serbia, and Austria won the group with ease, finishing seven points above their nearest rival to secure promotion to group A.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - DECEMBER 2020

We had a mixed holiday season here. After we smashed SPG Grosswalsertal 1b Christmas was a happy occasion, but any New Year's celebrations were cancelled following the loss to SK Burs 1b. We dominated the game and should have won, but our defence was back to its usual tricks and just caved in under the slightest bit of pressure.

We had the best defence in the division last year. I don't understand how they've gotten so bad so quickly.  

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - JANUARY + FEBRUARY 2021

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. What a sad state of affairs this is. We're aquaplaning out of control, I'm jumping around between various tactics and nothing is working. 

Against FC Thuringen 1b we led twice, but each time gave up the lead and then gave them a third for good measure. We were masters of our own downfall hosting SC Tisis 1b, with a 7th minute sending-off ending any chance we had early on. And when we visited SV Ludesch 1b an experimental 5-4-1 was a disaster, with neither wing-back knowing what they were doing. 

We've plummeted down the table, and I'm not sure we can rule out falling any further.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - MARCH 2021

The month started with a mutiny, as the squad called a team meeting about the poor dressing-room atmosphere. I told them to stop whinging and suggested winning a few games might improve things.

The tactic-hopping continued, and we might have stumbled on to one that works. With a 4-1-4-1 formation in place (with a holding midfielder) we snapped our losing streak with two successive wins, which propelled us back into the top-half of the table.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - 2021 YOUTH INTAKE

For what it's worth, the intake was listed as a golden generation again. 

I'm not sure who the potential best player in the squad is. 21i Hubert Bucklers was mentioned as the standout in the news item, but when sorted by potential, either 21a Attila Krecska or 21p Marius Lorenz is top. I see either, because everyone is apparently 5 star potential, so I don't really know which end is the top and which is the bottom.

Again we had a non-EU player we can't sign, which does beg the question why they're even in our youth system.

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - APRIL 2021

At least we ended the season well, making it four wins in a row before a draw on the final day. The new tactic seems to be working out, and three successive clean sheets was a triumph.

That being said, it was too little too late. There was too much distance to make up to the next side, and we couldn't rise above 6th place.

At the top SC Ludesch 1b won the title with ease. Even if we'd a much better season, we still wouldn't have beaten them.

Andre Voigt ended the season as the joint-highest scorer in the division with 11 goals.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

Qualifying for the 2022 World Cup began with wins over Bulgaria and Luxembourg.

Red Bull Salzburg won the tipp-3 Bundesliga, making it eight in a row and 12 in total. But they were knocked out of the OFB-Samsung-Cup by the eventual winners, LASK Linz (second win).

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - JULY 2021

Most of the summer was spent offering out new contracts (with zero pay of course) to keep players at the club, as well as turning down a few job offers myself. In the end nobody left, and we went into the season intact.

And we made a cracking start. The good form from the end of last year rolled over, and we picked up two wins without conceding. The 7-0 win over FC Klostertal 1b was particularly pleasing, not just due to how many goals were scored, but also because five of them came from academy graduates.

Whenever my AssMan was in charge of team selection last year he always picked 20b Christian Appelrath, but he wasn't one of my favourites. The silver stars put me off. But with the change to a 4-1-4-1 line-up needing an additional midfielder he's back in the team now, and with a hat-trick he's certainly made a good claim to stay in.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

A quirk in the World Cup qualifying group fixtures saw Austria play Northern Ireland twice within a week, and two victories saw them stay top and retain their 100% record.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - AUGUST 2021

Goals goals goals! Over these three games we had a total of 80 shots, and we're banging in the goals. Only one came from a striker though, the majority were from midfield and the wings. 

The only setback was early on against FC Schlins 1b, when we were 2-0 down after less then 10 minutes. But those were their only shots of the game, and we were ahead by half-time before making it sure after the break.

We currently have four players who are averaging at least one goal or assist per game. Matija Ceh is one of them, and this month he contributed one goal and three assists.

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - SEPTEMBER + OCTOBER 2021

The good times continued as three more victories took our start to the season to eight consecutive wins. The streak was snapped in dramatic fashion though, as we lost comprehensively to FC Nuziders 1b, before FC Ratia Bludenz 1b doubled our pain and inflicted another loss on us.

We remain top of the league, but our 100% record is gone and those two sides have established themselves as our nearest challengers.

AUSTRIA

The World Cup qualifying campaign has run into a bit of trouble, as a win over Luxembourg did little to counter the damage done by losses to Bulgaria and Italy.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - NOVEMBER + DECEMBER 2021

20b Christian Appelrath, take a bow son. Three goals in three games took him to double figures for the season, and he's now several goals clear at the top of the scoring charts. Not just for us, but the whole division.

We're the only team to take full points from these two months, and coupled with the teams previously in 2nd and 3rd struggling, we've now pulled out a 10 point lead at the top.

AUSTRIA

Austria won't be competing at Qatar 2022. A loss to Italy pushed them down to second in the group, and they weren't one of the best runners-up.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - JANUARY + FEBRUARY 2022

We began the new year well, with 10 points from a possible 12. We've maintained our 10 point lead at the top, and with only five games left it would take a disaster to screw this up.

We should have been even closer to promotion by now, but we made a mess of the FC Schlins 1b game. We were 3-0 up at half-time and bossing the match, but somehow let them get back into it. Even then we should have won, but we missed a stoppage-time penalty.

20i Alexander Borst had a cracking couple of months, with three goals and three assists from defensive midfield. The only criticism would be the aforementioned missed penalty.

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - MARCH 2022

BOOYAH! Champions, and we've done it in style. Two big wins and we've sewn up the title with three games to go.

  

AUSTRIA

Friendly wins over Iceland and Andorra

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - 2022 YOUTH INTAKE

A third batch in a row referred to as a golden generation. Not even a single player having one full star of current ability doesn't fill me with hope though. And the top three all being right wingers is an interesting choice.

22a Benjamin Allheilig is apparently the best of the bunch.

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - APRIL 2022

We ended the season with a couple of big wins, and a draw sandwiched in between. I was tempted to rotate a few players with the title already won, but stuck with the first choice players instead to try and beat the 57 points SC Ludesch 1b won with last year. We just missed out, coming one point short of equalling their total.

The 16 point gap over 2nd place though shows how good we were compared to everyone else.

Andre Dewald had a large impact over the last few weeks of the season, making a good shout for why he should have been involved more earlier on. I'd brought him in now as despite how many goals we were scoring not many were coming from strikers, so it was time to give him a go up top. In the last five games he scored three times, while setting up seven more. Even with this limited gametime he ended the season as the league's top creator.

Spoiler

Seven players started every game this year, and we dominated the league's end of season awards.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

Red Bull Salzburg made it nine title wins in a row, before adding the cup to make it a double.

Edited May 17, 2022 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - JULY + AUGUST 2022

Welcome to tier 9! 

We picked up a point on the opening day against the team that have won the division for the last two years, FC Schwarzach. So that hopefully shows we'll be able compete at this level, but also begs the question why are they still here? Why haven't they been promoted? The team that won in 2019/20 got promoted. Hopefully it was just restructuring or something rather than anything being broken.

After that we got a couple more draws, but also suffered our first loss of the season. A record of just three points from four games wasn't looking great, but a convincing 5-0 win over SC Hatlerdorf Juniors put us on stronger footing.

The two Andres, Andre Voigt and Andre Dewald, have hit the ground running, netting six times already between them.

AUSTRIA

The national team made a rough start to their Nations League group, though they couldn't have asked for much tougher competition. Defeats to Germany and Portugal leave them bottom of the group.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - SEPTEMBER 2022

We've seen plenty of goals in our games this month, with a total of 22 being chalked up on the scoreboard. 

Luckily more of them went in our favour than against, as three wins turned this into a very strong month and pushed us up into the top half of the table.

I don't think there's any chance of us shooting up the leagues with consecutive promotions, but at the same time I don't think we'll be in any trouble of relegation either.

The only disappointment this month was the defeat to FC Egg 1c. It looks bad as they're in the dropzone, but in mitigation, it was our third game in a week so we did have to rotate a few players.

AUSTRIA

A win over Switzerland has given Austria some hope of staying in the top set of Nations League groups, but a second loss to Portugal still leaves them in trouble.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - OCTOBER 2022

A mixed month here, as we beat two teams below us in the table, but lost to two teams above. Can't be too disappointed with that, though two convincing defeats on home soil isn't ideal.

We're scoring plenty of goals, but they're coming from only two positions. Our top scorer is our left-winger, followed by whoever is filling the lone striker role, but no one else in the squad has more than a couple. So unlocking more goals from elsewhere around the pitch would help.

In particular 20b Christian Appelrath and Ulf Bohner are considerably underachieving. They were the leading scorers last season, but this year they can't hit a barndoor.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

Losses to Germany and Switzerland condemned Austria to relegation from the top tier of the Nations League.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - NOVEMBER + DECEMBER 2022

The FC Schruns 1b match was an absolute banger. After half an hour we were 3-0 down, but pulled it back to 3-2 by the break. Soon after the re-start we conceded again, but we kept at it before an 89th goal drew us level, and we then stole all three points in stoppage-time.

The less said about the SC Ludesch 1b game the better. We've lost to them four times in a row now.

The top few teams have started to pull away from the pack. We're in the inbetween position, where a couple more losses could easily see us slip down into midtable.

2c Zdvavko Trupac has jumped to the top of the list as first-choice striker, and the hat-trick against FC Schruns 1b has solidified his position. Considering he has a finishing attribute of just 2, he's performing wonders to average a goal roughly every 85 minutes.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

The national side missed out on the 2022 World Cup, so had to settle for friendlies. Austria beat Saudi Arabia, but could only draw with Moldova.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - JANUARY + FEBRUARY 2023

Loving this. We recovered from the heavy defeat that ended our 2022 to smash league leaders VfB Hohenems 1c. 20c Zdavko Trupac scored his second hat-trick of the season to reach double-figures.

Next time out was a bit tougher, but we came back from a two goal deficit to clinch the win with two goals of our own in added time. And as we moved into February we made it four straight wins.

I mentioned last time that the top few teams were pulling away, and we've managed to go with them. There's five games left to go, which is probably too little for us to make it to the top, but there's still an outside chance if we can keep this up.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - MARCH 2023

We picked up two more wins to make it six in a row, and we're putting on the pressure at the top. With three games left promotion is probably off the cards, but it can't be totally ruled out.

AUSTRIA

Qualification for Euro 2024 began with a win over Latvia, but was followed up by a loss to Poland.

Edited May 23, 2022 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - 2023 YOUTH INTAKE

Fourth in a row called a golden generation.

All the supposed best players are defenders, but given the terrible personalities, terrible facilities, terrible coaches, and terrible AssMan, let's just assume they're all rubbish and won't progress. And with the lack of current ability it's unlikely many will even make the first-team given that we now have over 70 players at the club.

Nationalities are all boring, not even a single player from anywhere other than Austria.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - APRIL 2023

We wrapped up the season in style, with three more wins making it nine in a row. Ulf Bohner really enjoyed the run-in, with six goals in the final five games.

But while we were doing this, FC Schruns 1b were also winning a bunch of games. We managed to overhaul the other sides in contention, narrowly finishing in 2nd place due to our better goal difference, but couldn't make up the difference to FC Schruns 1b and ended up four points off top spot.

We have a pretty consistent first-choice 11, with seven players starting more than 20 games. We've had a different top scorer each season, this time 20c Zdravko Trupac took the honours, and he also came third in the league scoring list.

Spoiler

AUSTRIA

Red Bull Salzburg's monopoly at the top continued with a 10th league title in a row, and they added the cup as well to make it another double.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - JULY + AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2023

Over the summer we had a takeover. Our debt was wiped out and we were given a positive balance of £20k. I made a couple of requests to improve our junior coaching and youth recruitment, but both were rejected. I was able to take a coaching course though and now have a continental C licence.

For the first time we started the season with a loss. But we didn't linger on this, as we started chalking up a lot of green with six straight wins, and a lot of goals along the way. We were also pretty leaky at the other end of the pitch, and that came back to bite us with a 2-0 loss at FC Hittisau 1b.

We ended September with a couple of home matches, and a pair of comfortable wins saw us sit top of the table after ten games.

SV Ludesch 1b are definitely turning into my nemesis team. That's now five times in a row they've beaten us.

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - OCTOBER + NOVEMBER 2023

October was fun, with two more home wins helping us open a five point lead at the top. Matija Ceh also reached double-figures for the season in just 12 games.

But November sucked. We dominated FC Schwarzach without ever looking like scoring, and then we picked up our customary loss to SV Ludesch 1b. The lead is down to just one point, and FC Hittisau 1b are looking ominous.

Although we're top of the table and have scored a lot more goals than anyone else, my main striker 20c Zdravko Trupac is having a nightmare season. Just the one goal so far, ten players are outscoring him. We're being bailed out a lot by the central midfield pairing of Matija Ceh (box-to-box) and 20b Christian Appelrath (attacking playmaker).

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - DECEMBER 2023 + JANUARY + FEBRUARY + MARCH 2024

The SK Burs 1b loss was a miserable, as we didn't start playing until we were 4-0 down. That made it three games without a win and we lost top spot.

SV Ludesch 1b have gone 11 games unbeaten so we're just trying to keep pace with them, we've done well for the most part over the last few months but the loss to FC Hard 1b was a tough one to take, getting FMed and conceding in the 91st minute.

There are three games left and we're three points behind, so we have to keep going and hope SV Ludesch 1b bottle it.

Although we're still the top scorers in the league by a considerable margin, I got fed up with my strikers not scoring (eight games without). Against FC Sulz 1b I replaced the deep lying forward to go strikerless, with a trequartista instead. Andre Dewald didn't score, but he was MOTM with an assist. And 20c Zdravko Trupac finally grabbed his second goal of the season, but he was in the box-to-box midfielder position at the time.

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - 2024 YOUTH INTAKE

The latest golden generation, which in reality are a bunch of no-hopers that are never going to make it.

Three of this group can't even be signed due to being non-EU, including the first and fifth players.

At least there's a handful of decent personalities.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - APRIL 2024

Embarrassing. We gave ourselves a chance with the win over SPG SV Buch 1c, then completely threw it away.

With our form in the second half of the year we didn't deserve promotion. The first half was great, 31 points from 13 games, but then there was a huge drop-off to only 22 points from the next 13.

Our three midfielders, Matija Ceh, 20b Christian Appelrath, and 20i Alexander Borst were the star performers this year. The first two both reached 19 direct goal involvements, and even the latter, from a more defensive role, managed double-figures.

This put my strikers to shame, as Andre Dewald and 20c Zdravko Trupac managed just 7 goals and 8 assists between them. I'd bin them both off if it wasn't for the lack of other options.

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - JULY + AUGUST 2024

Over the summer we finally managed to get some upgrades approved. It took running through most of the options before the board buckled but at least our facilities aren't absolutely rock bottom anymore.

We've made quite the spectacular start to the season, with five big wins already on the board and only a couple of points dropped. Our defence is looking as leaky as ever, but I can overlook that while we're scoring so many.

21i Hubert Bucklers has come into the team and scored four times already, despite his lack of pace or finishing skills.

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - SEPTEMBER + OCTOBER 2024

Just seven points from the next six games. Not good.

We suffered a first minute red card against SK Burs 1b, and it was an uphill battle from there. We fought back from losing positions three times, but we couldn't do it again the fourth time it happened. 

I hoped it was a one-off bad result and the next few games gave me some positivity that we could keep our place at the top. But then October happened and we imploded. Against FC Mader we conceded in the 89th minute to lose the tie, and in the following game we took the lead in the third minute, only to concede immediately from kick-off.

We've dropped down into 2nd place, behind FC Mader (the side relegated from tier 8 last year).

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - NOVEMBER + DECEMBER 2024

Some absolute goalfests here, as we've got back to winning ways with some big victories.

Against FC Hard 1b 21i Hubert Bucklers scored once and assisted four more, but even he was upstaged by Ulf Bohner scoring four times, and coming so close to a perfect game with a 9.9 rating. Then substitute right-back 20f Felix Bolton got in on the act a couple of games later with a hat-trick.

We are lacking a bit of consistency with no back-to-back wins, but this has been enough to put us back top of the league.

We have a few representatives doing well in the league charts, with 20b Christian Appelrath second top scorer so far, and 21i Hubert Bucklers and Andre Dewald creating all the goals.

Spoiler

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - JANUARY + FEBRUARY 2024

Three consecutive home games gave us the opportunity to gain some momentum, and we took advantage of this scheduling to record three straight wins.

Taking on SK Burs 1b should have been a banker, a top of the table versus relegation area clash, but somehow we contrived to lose it. The only consolation was that FC Mader also lost, so we retained our three point lead.

The statistics from the SK Burs 1b game made for dismal viewing. We somehow managed just two goals from 43 shots. Our central midfielders have generally been the strongest point of our team over the last couple of years, but they really let us down with their profligacy here. And of course the problems at the other end of the pitch were just as bad, the defence and goalkeeper failing to stop nearly everything that came their way.

Spoiler

 

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - MARCH 2025

We were let off the hook against FC Viktoria 62 Bregenz 1b, which was a very even game that we could easily have lost. Luckily we put enough pressure on at a corner to force one of their players into bundling the ball into their own net.

After two games without a win I called the squad in for a stern team meeting, and next time out was much better. We smashed FC Egg 1c for six, 20b Christian Appelrath the star of the show with a first-half hat-trick.

With two wins this month FC Mader now sit just one point below us. There are three games and we play them on the final day, this could go down to the wire.

[DaneBramage]

FC BESCHLING - 2025 YOUTH INTAKE

This is our first intake since our facility upgrades, so I assume it's too early for those to have taken effect yet. Listed as a golden generation.

The best prospect apparently in 25a Thomas Hartmann, though he looks a long way off playing any time soon. Although his current ability is rated at 1.0 star and our first-choice left-winger, Andre Voigt, is rated at just 0.5 stars, the older player is much better.

Spoiler

Annoyingly there are again two players we can't sign, from Serbia and South Korea.