[FM23] Out of Africa. (Spanish out of Morocco to be precise). We will start with Ceuta, but if things go badly I might end up at Melila.

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2037. 

LaLiga. I was surprised to win on opening day against Malaga, (because we seemed under-cooked physically), but we grabbed a late winner and then should have definitely beaten Espanyol in game 2. The Barca game doesn't really need discussing. They seemed to be able to score at will, but on the other hand Soliman (EGY) grabbed a hat-trick so......

Goal-scoring GK's. We had to wait until Fofana (FRA)(CIV) 5'9" had been on loan for 1 month before we were able to bring him back, so (36j) Camara (GAM)(ESP) 6'4" had to play the 1st game. It's interesting that despite him being rubbish, it's actually the only game we won this month. Neither GK had any shots at all this month. Of course I'm in the market for a new GK, but I just can't find one. I decided recently that Al-Obaidi (LBY) 6'3" wasn't good enough so had to go, and in the absence of a new GK arriving, we will have to make do with what we've got. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Summer Transfer WIndow. Sep 2037. 

In. I've already shown you the deals that were done on the day the window opened. 

We did bring in other players though. 

I've made loads of mistakes in CM and FM over the years, but signing 5x FGN players in the same window, when you already have 3 at the club and can only register 3 in the league is by FAR the most stupid thing I have done in a long while. 

El Nahhas (EGY)(USA) * was going to be our 2nd choice SLC, but he's one of the FGN contingent and I couldn't register him so have sent him out on loan instead. 

Aziz (EGY) is a 2nd FGN player and I wanted him to be our 2nd choice MLC, but in order to register him I had to sell 1 of our FGN players 1st, (which I was able to do). 

Mohamed (EGY) 6'4" isn't good enough to start for us now, but maybe he will be soon and this might be the solution to me being unable to sign good centre-backs who are the finishjed article. We will just have to produce them ourselves. 

Sakanoko (CIV) had a low min fee release clause, and good PA so it seemed to good an opportunity to miss, but he PA dropped after his arrival. 

Out. 

Gamal. (FRA)(EGY) was our 1st choice DR, but he's 29 and only had 1 year left on his contract so it made sense to sell him. 

Al-Obaidi (LBY) 6'3" was our rubbish at pens GK, and I just decided that he wasn't good enough and no matter who we replaced him with, it was time for him to go. The bonus here was that he was 1 of our 3 registered FGN players so that did at least free up a slot for Aziz (EGY) to use. 

Condé. (ESP)(MLI) was at the club for a while, and appeared to have good PA, but I couldn't get him in the 1st Team and I also couldn't get him developing sufficiently so I have given up and moved him on.

(35d) Cisaria. never played for the 1st Team and only ever played 1 season for the B Team.

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2037. 

LaLiga. Only 1 win from 3 games, but that's a pretty tough month when you consider that (27a) Crespo * plays for Sevilla and has scored 8 goals in his 6 league games so far this season.  To keep them scoreless was a real surprise. 

New contract. I hate being offered a 1 year contract, so a 4 year deal is really good news. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2037. 

LaLiga. 12 goals in the plus column, but 13 in the minus column tells it's own story, but frustratingly it only generated 4 points. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Goal 50. Nov 2037. 

Although I usually report on the NxGn50 list each season, I don't usually comment on the Goal50 list. 

#3 born in Senegal.

#4 born in Senegal.

#11 born in Netherlands but has Liberia as a 2nd Nationality.

#17 is Musiala (GER)(ENG)(NGA). Most of us know that he is (GER) & (ENG), but he's also Nigerian.

#20 is Camavinga (FRA)(CGO) and it's interesting that although he was born in Angola, it's not a 3nd Nationality, but Congo is. That sounds buggy to me. 

#29 was born in Egypt. 

#31 has Nigerian as a 2nd Nationality.

#33 was born in Morocco.

#36 has both Mali & Ivory Coast as 2nd Nationalities. 

#44 has Nigerian as a 2nd Nationality. 

#45 has Angolan as a 2nd Nationality.

#48 has Nigerian as a 2nd Nationality. 

#49 has Ivory Coast as a 2nd Nationality.

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2037. 

LaLiga. We're not really firing at the moment, but we've been battered by injuries and I'm hopeful that the 2nd half of the season will be more fruitful than the 1st half. 

Goal-scoring GK's. The 1st failure of the season. 

 

Finances. 

[_Ben_]

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

#20 is Camavinga (FRA)(CGO) and it's interesting that although he was born in Angola, it's not a 3nd Nationality, but Congo is. That sounds buggy to me. 

Nope - it’s spot on! Born in a refugee camp. 

As always Jim, reading along and enjoying!

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2037.

LaLiga. 4 pts from 9 isn't going to get us into Europe anytime soon, but it's enough to keep us away from the danger zone. 

Copa de Su Majestad el Rey.

Youth Intake preview.

Facilities.

Goal-scoring GK's.

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Nope - it’s spot on! Born in a refugee camp. 

As always Jim, reading along and enjoying!

I didn't know that. Thanks!

Glad to hear it. Unfortunately any sort of success seems a long way away at the moment. If I thought the Big 3 in Portugal were tough, Spain is a whole different level. 

[breze77]

Brilliant read mate

About that first intake being OP.. I got this guy in my first seasons intake at Tenerife:

Only to get sacked in January in the second season ..

He basically had almost the same attributes at 16 and was my best player at that age. Sadly will be developed by the AI so might not become as good.. oh what could've been .

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, breze77 said:

Brilliant read mate

About that first intake being OP.. I got this guy in my first seasons intake at Tenerife:

Only to get sacked in January in the second season ..

He basically had almost the same attributes at 16 and was my best player at that age. Sadly will be developed by the AI so might not become as good.. oh what could've been .

Thanks.

He does look good, but I also notice that he has only 4.5 PA, so maybe he's more CA than PA? 

As for the AI not developing players, I see he has a Perfectionist personality so what with his good starting CA, being at a big(ish) club and having a good personality I don't think he will have any problems developing no matter who he is managed by. Good luck finding a new club and then I hope you just go back and buy this guy.  

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2038. 

LaLiga. We matched our 4 point haul from a possible 9 to last months, but we really should have beaten Getafe and I selected a rotated outfield X for the Celta Vigo game in favour of going strong in the Cup 3 days later, (and it worked as we won in ET). We're still only 5 points ahead of the relegation zone though.

Copa de Su Majestad el Rey. We did well to squeeze past Real Hispalis who currently sit in a European spot, but that was with home advantage and we couldn't do the same against Levante, (2nd in the league below), when we had to go and play away. 

Goal-scoring GK's. A 1st free-kick for Fofana. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2038. 

LaLiga. 4 points again this month, but this time from 4 games rather than 3 games. We're 4 points clear of relegation, but we're really not playing well. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2038. Mar 2038.

We've got 2nd and 3rd on the list, (and 30th), but it's quite surprising who's who. 

El Nahhas (EGY)(USA) * is one of the Egyptians I signed in the Summer, only to realise after I signed them that I could only register 3x FGN players at a time. I couldn't find space for him so he has been loaned out to Italy, where he is performing rather well. He wasn't a cheap signing though. He cost us £8M and I really like him, but I just couldn't get him registered. 

Soliman (EGY) is another Egyptian, but he at least has been registered and is scoring regularly. 

Angoua (CIV) is very much a fringe player in the squad, but he's developing nicely and unlike the 2 players above he doesn't need to be registered. 

[Jimbokav1971]

5.0 PA players. Mar 2038. 

The idea that we have 17 different 5.0 PA players in a save like this sounds ridiculous, but it really isn't simply because the level against which they're being judged really isn't that good. 

The best player at the club by CA is (33d) Pascual (ESP)(BAS) 6'4", and he's only 20 years old, so even if he's really good for a 20 year old, he really isn't going to be amazing right now. He's contracted for 4+1 more years, so unless someone meets a £73M release clause, he should be here for a while. 7 of the 15x 5.0 PA players are products of our Academy, (spread over 3 different intakes over the course of 5 different years. 

(37a) Niño looks good for a 16yo and I particularly like that he's a lefty. 

(37g) Miguel is going to need to be loaned out because we don't use wingers. 

(37b) Manuel appears more of a midfielder than a striker, but not sure what midfield role at the moment and needs a big development in physical ability. 

Angoua (CIV) surprised me when he appeared on the recent NxGn list, but he has developed well and I can see why he made it. 

Mohamed (EGY) 6'4" is another Egyptian and he's going to have to really pull out all the stops to develop enough to become 1 of our 3 registered FGN players. 

(35a) Serna is a player I like the look of, but he's still very raw.

Soliman (EGY) is a player I really like, but because he's a FGN player, if someone comes in with a decent offer then he will leave. 

Koffi (CIV) looks like a reasonable option as a wide striker, but still needs lots of development. 

Tetty (CIV) 5'9" has been thrown into the 1st Team early because I have decided that we're just not good enough at defending to play a 4, so we've now reverted to 3/5 at the back, but are still keeping 3 up front.

El Nahhas (EGY)(USA) * really does look great. It's just such a shame that his 2nd Nationality isn't one that avoids the registration issues. 

El Sayed (EGY) is going to struggle to get into the side because he's another Egyptian. It's likely that he will have to remain out on loan until he is sold. 

Ndlovu (RSA) looks great. Some physical improvement could propel him into the 1st Team.

(33b) Marcos * doesn't look suitable for either our central clinical striker role or our 2 wide striker roles, so it's likely he will have to go out on loan.

(33c) Francisco 6'3" * is only 2.5 CA at the moment so it will be interesting to see how far we can develop him. 

Diepkilé (ESP)(MLI) isn't actually a player I particularly like. I like his clinical ability for the central striker role, but I really don't like his poor acceleration. I can't see him getting near the 1st Team. 

Fayez (EGY) 6'3" DR is our 1st choice DR, (now WB), and even though he's another Egyptian he is one who will remain registered. 

[Sonic Youth]

Some decisions to make with those 5* players.

How long does it take for a player to become naturalised? That would help with FGN spots.

It also feels like you’ve got a fair chunk of the Egyptian u20/21’s team (not sure which they have) 

Oh yeah, are you interested in buying players in their 30’s? Fofana at Chelsea for instance.

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Apr 2038. 

Preview. I've given up looking at these ratings now. 

Summary. Golden Generation. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Squad by PA. I know it's hard to believe, but it's got to the stage that I don't even look into the intakes in any great detail now. 

Selected players. This just shows who looks the best now. It doesn't indicate anything else. 

Personality. This is one of the few things that I do take an interest in. 

Edited January 27, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2038. 

LaLiga. After losing to San Sebastian I thought we were in trouble and a change was needed. Just like I changed from 442 to 433 all those seasons ago, we needed to change tactic now and I opted to go to a 523. The truth is we're just not good enough individually to defend in a 4. Especially not when both full-backs are often bombing on. No, we needed another centre-half in there. I haven't got much experience with a 3/5 at the back formation, but anything is better than having to revert to the 4231 that everyone seems to use. I would rather go strikerless than play 4231. we've gone unbeaten in our 3 games since the swap, and as a result we're 8 points clear of relegation. The Bilbao win felt like an out of body experience and was simply a joy to watch. Koné (MLI)(FRA) ran absolute riot on the left and Fofana (FRA)(CIV) 5'9" also scored. It seemed written in the stars. The big thing here isn't particularly the fact that we scored 7 goals in 3 games, but the fact that we only conceded 1 goal in 3. That's an astonishing change and if it continues we could well be right back in business next season. 

Facilities. 

Goal-scoring GK's. After a slow start from the spot, Fofana (FRA)(CIV) 5'9" is slowly picking up speed. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

14 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Some decisions to make with those 5* players.

How long does it take for a player to become naturalised? That would help with FGN spots.

It also feels like you’ve got a fair chunk of the Egyptian u20/21’s team (not sure which they have) 

Oh yeah, are you interested in buying players in their 30’s? Fofana at Chelsea for instance.

I think a common problem that managers make when trying to develop players is that they look to develop 1 player, and then a new younger shiny thing becomes available in the same position and so the development from the 1st player is wasted as the manager moves onto the 2nd player and so-on and so-forth. This happens on a semi-regular basis and the manager wonders why he never manages to turn any of these wonderkids into actual worldclass players. I've definitely got some of the players I've signed wrong, and it's certainly harder with a 433 or a 523 than it is with a 442, because it's hard to turn wingers into other positions.

By using the Squad Depth screen at the beginning of each season, this helps me plan for the longer-term, but with a few exceptions we haven't managed to sell players for big bucks. 

The period to be Nationalised is only , (so 2 years), but I think that's only for existing EU Nationalities because the Egyptian group show as , (which is obviously 10 years), so that doesn't help us at all with regards to the FGN players. 

4 of the 7 (EGY) players are capped at senior level and the other 3, (aged 18, 19 & 19), are capped at U20 level. 

With regards to buying experienced players in their 30's, never say never for the right player, but it's really not what we're about. The wages are usually astronomical and we just don't have that big a budget. Our budget  for example is £3.8M per month. Spending a third of our wage budget on 1 player just can't be a sensible way forward, (even if they were interested in joining us, which they aren't). 

Fofana (CIV) of AC Milan earns £800,000 per month. 

Fofana (FRA)(MLI)(CIV) of Chelsea earns £1,200,000 per month. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2038. 

LaLiga. I thought after the initial up-turn in form last months we were onto a winner. The results this month would suggest otherwise. 

Facilities. 

Goal-scoring GK's. No goals this month. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2038. 

LaLiga. We finished the season really strongly with 3 wins, but even without them we would have avoided relegation. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Wonderkids. May 2038. 

We've got 3 wonderkids currently at the club. 

Soliman (EGY) is contracted for 3 more years and has a release clause of £25.5M. Because he's from (EGY), I will be quite happy if someone meets his release clause. 

El Nahhas (EGY)(USA) * is contracted for 4 more years but he wasn't registered for the league this season and is unlikely to be registered next season either. I will loan him out again next season and if someone meets his £30.5M release clause I will be delighted. I still can't believe that I signed so many players from (EGY) without being able to actually play them. This bloke cost us £8M!!! 

(33d) Pascual (ESP)(BAS) 6'4" is the best player at the club and the best Academy product we've had in a while. He's still only 20 which seems ridiculous when you consider that he's played almost 200 games for the club. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. May 2038. 

GK. I've spent so long searching for a GK that I'm just going to go with Fofana (FRA)(CIV) 5'9" now and if a decent replacement turns up then great, but if not then Fofana (FRA)(CIV) 5'9" is the man. He might be a short GK, but he's our short GK. I've just signed him to a 5 +3 contract so hem should be here for a while. 

1st Team. Fofana (FRA)(CIV) 5'9"
B Team. (35m) Raul. 5'9"
U19's. (36j) Camara (GAM)(ESP) 6'4" & (38l) Paradas 6'1".
Loan. (38h) Morales 5'11" & (37j) Daniel 5'10".
Sell. (35m) Raul. 5'9"
Release. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. May 2038. 

WBL. We've got 4 players ready to play in this position. 2 will stay and 2 will go out on loan. I actually wouldn't mind someone coming in and meeting the release clause for 1 of them. 

1st Team. Lakhdar (MAR)(ESP) & Mahua (RSA).
B Team.
U19's. (38c) Giménez & (36n) Vázquez..
Loan. Coulibaly (MLI)(ESP) * & Kemayou (CMR)(ESP).
Sell.
Release. (34p) Ortega.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. May 2038. 

DR. It's not easy swapping from a DR to a WBR, I mean it sort of is and it isn't. We're a struggling LaLiga side who were using a DR on WB(a) but what we're aiming to be is a regular team in Europe, using a WB as a WB(a) so the truth is we really want the WB's to be more Wing than Backs, and what we've had in the past were more defensive minded so we're sort of caught with a foot in each camp and doing neither really well. I think I mentioned that I'm not hugely experienced with playing with a 3/5, so it will be interesting to see how I work this out. 

1st Team. Fayez (EGY) 6'3" DR & Mebarki (ALG)(FRA).
B Team. (35o) Tejada. & (35n) Luis.
U19's. (36d) Perez DR, (38f) Ibáñez. 5'10", (37o) Ndiaye. (ESP)(SEN), (37p) Cañadas.
Loan. (33f) Tejera, (36f) Paulino, 
Sell. (35o) Tejada. & (35n) Luis.
Release. (34b) García. 6'1"

Edited January 27, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. May 2038. 

DC. The problem I've got here is that the whole reason we've gone to 3/5 at the back is because our defenders weren't good enough to defend in a 4, (and we needed another body), but the problem with sticking another body in there is that we're picking from a group of centre-backs who we've already deemed aren't god enough, (which is the reason we need a 3rd centre-half in there). 1 possible solution is to drop our 1st choice MC BWM(d) into the Libero slot in the middle of the back 3, which effectively keeps the personnel the same and just changes the roles (duties) there, it doesn't really suit Diarra (BFA)(FRA) 6'5" despite the fact that he's a big lump. If anything he doesn't play enough football for me and I would much prefer to play a DLP in that slot, (if I can get away with it). The problem obviously is that our defenders on either side aren't good enough that we can get away with it at the moment, but you get what I mean. Mohamed (EGY) 6'4" is actually the player I want to play as a L(a), but I can't register him so he's going to be out on loan again. 

1st Team.
DLC BPD(d) Tetty (CIV) 5'9" & Mofokeng (RSA) 6'1"
DC L(a) Diarra (BFA)(FRA) 6'5" & (33c) Francisco 6'3" *
DRC BPD (d) Idris (GER)(NGA) 6'5" & Gimo (RSA)(MOZ) 6'1" DC
B Team. (34o) Viera. 6'0"
U19's. (37k) Jesús 6'6", (38k) González. 5'11"
Loan. Mohamed (EGY) 6'4", Ouattara (CIV)(BFA) 6'0", 
Sell. Gumede (RSA) 6'3" & (34o) Viera. 6'0"
Release. (34o) Viera. 6'0"

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. May 2038. 

MC. We've got some really good technical players to play in the middle of the pitch, but they are better in a 3 and I think part of our current problem is that they struggle just a little in a 2. I don't plan on watering down our ball-playing ability though so someone else is going to have to plug the gaps for them. 

1st Team. 
MLC. Aziz (EGY) & Madidilani (RSA).
MRC. Van Vuuren (RSA) & Pedro (NED)(ANG)(ENG).
B Team. (35c) Virto (ESP)(BAS), (35h) Correia. (ESP)(BRA), (35f) Tena., (35g) Turiel., (30a) Álex., Meyer. (RSA), Benyahia. (ALG)(FRA)
U19's. (37b) Manuel, Benyahia. (ALG)(FRA), 
Loan. (36h) León., Hesham (EGY), Dube (RSA), Ndlovu (RSA), Almeida (CPV)(POR), (35a) Serna, El-Akchaoui (MAR)(FRA)
Sell. (35c) Virto (ESP)(BAS), (35h) Correia. (ESP)(BRA), (35f) Tena., (35g) Turiel., (30a) Álex., Marabe (RSA), Meyer. (RSA), Benyahia. (ALG)(FRA)
Release. (34n) Martínez., (34f) Gutiérrez., (34j) Encina. (ESP)(ARG), 

[Jimbokav1971]

2038 World Cup. 

I'm surprised that we don't have more players called up. 

1st of all I'm surprised that Egypt haven't qualified. They seem to have some great players, (I wonder should I manage them.....)

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. May 2038. 

SC. I didn't realise quite how many strikers we had signed. This is partly down to many of the better players to come through our Academy being in forward positions, but I've also brought in strikers too. I suppose it makes sense when you consider that wingers are classed as strikers in the formation that I've used for the past 10 or so years and even now it's a choice between WB and striker. 

What's especially key in this area is that I select the right club at the right level for the right player. I can't afford for a loanee to be sitting on the bench all season. 

1st Team.
SLC. (32a) David & Koné (MLI)(FRA)
SC. Soliman (EGY) & Souprayen (FRA)(REU)
SRC. (33d) Pascual (ESP)(BAS) 6'4" & 
B Team. (35i) De la Fuente.
U19's. (36a) Iglesias, (36e) Reyes, (36k) Aguinaco, (37a) Niño, (37g) Miguel, (37c) Castro *, (36c) Delgado, 
Loan. El Nahhas (EGY)(USA) *, Angoua (CIV), Zungu (RSA), (32b) Intxaurraga (FRA)(BAS), Dabo (MLI)(ESP), (33b) Marcos *, (35b) Ramos, El Sayed (EGY), Diepkilé (ESP)(MLI), Koffi (CIV), Sakanoko (CIV), Okafor (ESP)(NGA), Diomandé (CIV), Dabo (MLI)(ESP), 
Sell. (35p) Ponce., (35k) Llamas., (35e) Peris., (36m) Úbeda., (35i) De la Fuente., 
Release. (34l) Callejón., (34m) Armando., (34k) Zapata., (34c) Ortega., (34d) Díez., 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Personalities. May 2038.

Something that has been catching my eye in recent Youth Intakes is the personalities of players coming through. While in the past I have "gamed" mentoring/tutoring to a ridiculous degree, I no longer take even the smallest active role in it, other than when I do occasionally involve myself in staff recruitment, by signing staff with decent personalities. With that in mind, it's perhaps a little surprising that we have so many positive personalities at the club. 

Now don't get me wrong, I know that there are no Model Pro's or Model Citizen's here, but when you consider that this is all happening organically, with little/no outside influence from me, it's still pretty impressive. 

That's not to say we also don't have negative personalities by the way. Of course we do. That's even without the gazillions of Balanced players, (which obviously manages to hide a multitude of sins). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Ex Academy products. Jun 2038. 

I was sure I was on this list, but maybe they don't love me anymore. 

What I wouldn't do to have any of these players still at the club. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2038. 

LaLiga. We've had a favourable start to the season in terms of fixtures, but it could and perhaps should have been even better as we should have beaten Mallorca comfortably, (winning the xG battle 4.32-0.22). Despite that, I'm really happy with the start. 

The Egyptian situation. The only players at the club that are classed as FGN are now from (EGY) after we got rid of our Libyan GK. 

Aziz (EGY) & Soliman (EGY) were registered last season and will be registered again this season, but I've brought in a right back specifically so I don't have to register Fayez (EGY) 6'3" DR, so he has gone out on loan and that means I will be able to register El Nahhas (EGY)(USA) *. I think it improves the squad but it's something I'm going to be much more careful about from now on. 

Records. 

Job Offers. I'm still surprised that more Championship or Ligue 1 (FRA) clubs haven't been in for me. I'm English and I speak fluent Irish, (2nd Nationality), Spanish and French. I'm obviously not going to move, but it's still a surprise that more clubs haven't come in for me. I know I started off with Sunday league reputation and no badges, but I've had the Continental Pro Licence for a while now. 

3 German clubs and 6 Spanish clubs have been in for me, but I would have expected more by now. 

Maybe the problem is that because we've been offered long-term contracts, (we have 3 years left on our current deal), clubs who's reputation we're suitable for can't afford ro get us out of our contract. 

Goal-scoring GK's. We were awarded pens in each of our opening 3 games of the season, but were only able to convert 2 of them. 

 

 

 

Finances. 

[Sonic Youth]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

The Egyptian situation. The only players at the club that are classed as FGN are now from (EGY) after we got rid of our Libyan GK. 

Aziz (EGY) & Soliman (EGY) were registered last season and will be registered again this season, but I've brought in a right back specifically so I don't have to register Fayez (EGY) 6'3" DR, so he has gone out on loan and that means I will be able to register El Nahhas (EGY)(USA) *. I think it improves the squad but it's something I'm going to be much more careful about from now on.

The Egyptian bunch are decent and better to have in your squad than on loan. It’s amazing how long it takes Egyptians to become nationalised too. Definitely an important part of transfers to watch out for!

[Jimbokav1971]

13 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

The Egyptian bunch are decent and better to have in your squad than on loan. It’s amazing how long it takes Egyptians to become nationalised too. Definitely an important part of transfers to watch out for!

Although the Egyptians are indeed decent, I can only register 3 of them for LaLiga action at a time. While I could use the B Team loophole as a workaround for this, (because the B Team is in a non-playable league I don't have to register players for it, and anyone registered to play in the B Team is eligible to play for the 1st Team as long as the registered B Team players in the 1st Team match day squad doesn't exceed something like x), the problem is that players in the B Team don't develop well at the moment. I think that's partly down to the level of football, (it's a simulated league below the 4th tier in Spain where promotion is seemingly based on reputation), but also because the standard of coaching for that squad isn't as good either. For that reason I'm reluctant to put players who I hope to develop into future 1st Team players, into the B Team squad now, because for whatever reason, it stunts their development. If we were playing in Europe then things might be different. I might be able to afford to carry non-registered FGN players in the 1st team squad on the basis that although they wouldn't be able to play in LaLiga games, they would at least be able to play in European games & domestic Cup games. The other thing that will hopefully have an impact on this is when/if outr B Team gets promoted into a playable league. This would have an impact and I would be keen to strengthen the players in the B Team squad to get us promoted to LaLiga2, which in turn would be a decent standard of football for our teenagers to play in while developing. 

The 4 Egyptians loaned out are aged 19, 19, 20 & 21, (with the 3 registered being aged 19, 20 & 24), so it really isn't suitable for any of them to remain at the club without being registered right now. 

The 3 we currently have registered should be key players for us this season. Simply because of their FGN nature and the requirement to register them though, I would find it hard not to cash in on them if we received a suitable offer. 

Of the 4 (EGY) players who I have sent out on loan, the one I would really want to play if I could is Mohamed (EGY) 6'4". We have an issue with a lack of quality at centre-half and although he is ranked the lowest of the 7 players by CA, he is also the closest of the 4 to a starting slot. 

Fayez (EGY) 6'3" DR has been our 1st choice right back for a few years now, but for some reason he just doesn't get anywhere near the same number of assists as our left backs over the same period, despite them looking pretty similar. 

El Sayed (EGY) is still pretty raw, but he has 5.0 PA and is already impressive physically. 

Hesham (EGY) is a player I really like the look of. He's less of a playmaker than many of my central midfielders, (but I like that), and I think it will be interesting to see what he's like when he's 21. 

Mohamed (EGY) 6'4" is the player I would most like to register if I could, and as well as his 5.0 PA, he also scored on his LaLiga2 debut for Granada. I really want him to be starting games there though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2038. 

LaLiga. We lost our unbeaten start to the season thanks to a 94th minute winner from Las Palmas, after I rotated all 10 outfield players for the 1st time this season. That we nearly got a result away from home with such a rotated XI gives me reason for optimism. Still, 4 wins, d draws and 1 loss is a significant improvement on the start to previous seasons. 

#

Facilities. We get turned for facility improvements so often that I don't always share them, but I wanted to share these just to show you that I am trying and to highlight that with the current El Presidente it seems to be a difference in philosophy rather than anything else. He knows we have money to spend so that's not the issue. The issue is that he wants me to spend the money on 1st Team ready players. That's just not the way I work I'm afraid. 

I will just keep trying and eventually he will either give in to my pestering and give me what I want, or he will leave and I will start pestering the next bloke. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

International call-ups. Oct 2038. 

A decent way of calculating our progression is the number of player playing Senior International football. 

We've got 23 players currently called up for their Senior International squad, 5 of them teenagers and 12 more under the age of 23. 

We've also got 10 players called up for aged-group squads. 

4 at U23 level.
1 at U22 level.
2 at U21 level.
1 at U20 level.
1 at U19 level.
1 at U18 level.

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2038.

LaLiga. We lost to Sevilla, but we've still had a really good start to the season and find ourselves in 5th place in the league. Surprisingly, (27a) Crespo * didn't play for Sevilla against us because he was injured, but he's still scored 8 goals already this season as he looks to become LaLiga top goal-scorer for the 3rd year running. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Goal 50 2038. 

I think this is the 1st time one of our players has ever appeared on this list. I thought it might have been Crespo who made it 1st, but actually it's Bermudez. 

[Sonic Youth]

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

International call-ups. Oct 2038. 

A decent way of calculating our progression is the number of player playing Senior International football. 

We've got 23 players currently called up for their Senior International squad, 5 of them teenagers and 12 more under the age of 23. 

We've also got 10 players called up for aged-group squads. 

4 at U23 level.
1 at U22 level.
2 at U21 level.
1 at U20 level.
1 at U19 level.
1 at U18 level.

A sign yours and Ceuta’s reputation is rising!

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2038.

LaLiga. We've only ever qualified for Europe once, so our goal this season is just to do so again rather than having any unrealistic delusions of winning the league. With that in mind, despite a really good result and performance against Bilbao, I opted to completely rotate the squad for the Real Hispalis game. Our 1st choice GK was out, (I had to recall an 18 year old from his loan), and we had a more winnable game 4 days later against Real San Sebastian. In actual fact it worked out really well as we weren't embarrassed against Real Hispalis and collected all 3 points in a fantastic performance 4 days later against RSS. I know some/many of you might think that I'm wasting an opportunity in big games like this, but the truth is I can't play the 1st team in all 38 LaLiga games, so rather than rotate the squad for the easier games, (where they might still come unstuck), it makes sense to rotate them against strong opposition, (where we are likely to collect the same points no matter which team I pick), and then the rested squad go out and do the business fully refreshed a few days later. Honestly, rotating like this is one of the biggest tactics I use that few others seem to use. Added to which of course that it's added 1st team exposure for the fringe players. It's win/win whatever the result. In any case, my selection skullduggery leaves us sitting 5th in the league and although we're still shipping a few goals, after 14 games we've scored 5 more goals than the next highest scorers in the league. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Fofana has missed the last 2 games with sprained ankle ligaments and will likely be out for another week too. I decided to recall (36j) Camara (GAM)(ESP) 6'4" from loan and did really well. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

15 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

A sign yours and Ceuta’s reputation is rising!

Yeah, the signings I made earlier in the save were a bit him and miss if I'm honest. I got lucky with a few and got especially lucky with some of the youth intakes, (what I wouldn't do for 1 of those GK's now), but I have absolutely LOADS of players right now who seem to have decent potential, (even if there a few more duffers knocking about). 

In my head I'm thinking that if we can fast-forward 5 or so years then there should be in excess of £200M transfer cash knocking about unless I do something stupid........ 

In that regard I can neither confirm nor deny that I have lost my mind and have submitted an absolutely ENORMOUS big for a 20 year old Senegalese wonderkid GK from Bordeaux. 

Our transfer kitty is currently at  and let's just say the bid I have made is much much MUCH bigger than that, although of course I've had to stagger it to have a hope of getting it through. It's a big risk, but he's an improvement on what we've got, (remember Fofana was 5'9" but thankfully has popped to 5'10" now). This bloke is a proper GK rather than a mini-GK. If he is joining, it won't be until the end of the season unfortunately. Bordeaux said right at the start that they wouldn't let him leave mid-season. He's been on my radar for a few years but wasn't interested in joining us until recently. Still haven't had the HUGE bid accepted yet, (been going to and fro for ages), and while the wages might be big, they should still be doable because he's only 20 and current wage is about £75k per month. This is going to be such a big deal if I can get it done.......

[Jimbokav1971]

Big Signing. 

I've been a bit cheeky. 

I eventually got them to accept a deal of £25M cash up front + £25M over 3 years with what I consider guaranteed clauses of £30M after 50 league appearances and 20 International appearances, (bringing us up to £80M guaranteed in my book). Then the remaining £20M is based on us winning LaLiga or the Copa del Rey in the next 3 or 2 years, (which seems enormously unlikely at the moment). 

The big thing for me was that I made sure I paid them no sell-on fee, (they wanted 40% of profit at one point), and even the player wanted 10% profit too, (which he didn't get). We're paying the player a £2.5M signing bonus + £275,000 to the agent and if we add in his wages over 5 years, (it should only be 4 years because I expect to sell him when he still has 12 months left on his contract but let's go with it), then the total cost of this deal comes to...

[Jimbokav1971]

AFCON 2039. 

This could be a tiny bit of a problem..... 

Who's idea was this ridiculous save? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2038. 

LaLiga. The "Big 3" in Spain in real life are not quite the force they once were, (Sevilla were Runners Up in the League for the last 2 seasons), but they're still the big boys to us and for us to not just beat them, but absolutely demolish 2 of them is astonishing. Atletico were top when we beat them and of course I rotated all 10 outfield players for the R.Madrid game 4 days later. (I'd be stupid not to!) We obviously lost to Real, but we gave them a decent game and a week later the boys were fit and fresh and absolutely raring to go against Barca as we absolutely smashed them to pieces. 3 games in a month seems like easy street, but actually they came off the back of an International period last month and many of the players were fatigued. These are 3 fixtures that we were expected to get very little out of and we have come away with 6 points from 9! We even missed a penalty against Barca. It could have been 8 (EIGHT)!  Despite losing 1 game in each of the last 3 months, we're converting most of the other games into wins, (with only 1 draw but 6 wins in that period), and that sort of form is keeping us right in the European mix despite the fact that we've just come through a really tough run of fixtures that has seen us play the historic Big 3, but also Sevilla, Hispalis & Bilbao. I'm more than happy with this. We've now scored 7 more goals than the next highest scorers in the league, (Sevilla), 

Copa de Su Majestad el Rey.

Youth Intake preview. Please give me a GK. Pretty please. Actually I don't mind centre-backs at all. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

 

 

 

Finances. 

The money for the Camara (SEN) 6'2" deal has already been deducted from our transfer budget, even if it hasn't yet been removed from our bank balance. With that in mind I have cashed in 2 of the 25% clauses we held on sold players and it brought in about £10M in cash, but more importantly boosted our transfer kitty by just over £6M. I'm always on the lookout for players and even though I've reduced the number of players I've been bringing in, I still want to have the ability to sign someone if the scouts turn up something special. 

Edited January 31, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2039. 

LaLiga. How we did this with 23 players missing on International duty I have absolutely no idea.  We're the form team in the league at the moment while most of our players are actually not even available. It's absolutely ridiculous! To think that we also only lost in the Copa del Rey on penalties too. Yeah I know the fixtures this month were decent, but I can't begin to tell you what a rubbish squad I had to select from. As if that wasn't bad enough, (35b) Ramos, (who scored 5 goals in all competitions this month), was actually sold for £11M(£15M) half way through the month, but I stalled the deal and kept him around as long as I could. We've got so many strikers that it seemed silly not to let him leave. We're 1 single point off Real Madrid, Atletico, & Barca, and only 3 points behind Real Hispalis. We're somehow in front of Sevilla. We're a whole 10 points clear of Las Palmas who are the 1st club outside the European places. 

Next months fixtures seem pretty decent, and I'm wondering what we might be capable of assuming everyone comes back fit from AFCON. 

Copa de Su Majestad el Rey. Doing well in this tournament is going to be so hard when the AFCON tournament is held at the same time as 3 different Rounds of the Copa del Rey. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Rounds are all held in January when the AFCON is held, and even the Quarter Final is played over the 1st week in Feb. I'm going to have to think about how I handle this because ignoring it isn't an issue because it was quite a big priority for the board and 2 of our Senior players even complained about us crashing out. There seems to be no acknowledgement from anyone that we had 23 players out on International duty for 1 of these games and 20 out on loan for the other. To make it even worse, we've actually done really well this month, (even in these Cup games), and what ultimately cost us was losing our best player (33d) Pascual (ESP)(BAS) 6'4" with a tight calf before the Oviedo game. Of course I could have played him, (and possibly should have played him), but in my head, only a Final is worth the injury of a player. It's interesting that we were ok in goal and even scraped by at centre-half and wingback in these games this month, but while we were actually strong up front despite all the absences, it was the 2 in central midfield where we were really short. We had 1 senior player available, Madidilani (RSA), but he was injured in the Oviedo game and we literally had nothing and nobody to replace him with short of playing a back-up U19 striker in the middle of the pitch.  I need to plan to make signings, (even below-par signings), who either aren't good enough to get called up to their African Nation, or who have chosen to represent a European Nation instead. I can't just plod on as it is because I think this will cost me later on down the line if I don't deal with it now. 

Facilities. I'm ecstatic that the board finally agreed to upgrade the Youth Facilities. It seems like it's been such a hard slog to get it to where we are now. I've never had this much trouble in the past, but then again I've never been at the club who's ethos was so completely focussed on buying players ready for the 1st Team. I've always managed to swing it around to Youth Development fairly quickly and after that it's job done because the board actually want it as much as I do. This has been different though because we have effectively been pulling in different directions. This improvement could be big though because I'm hopeful that we might see a significant improvement in the CA of our Youth Intakes when it starts to kick in. (Here's hoping anyway). 

El Presidente. It's taken me a long time to win him round, but I'm really hopeful this last upgrade might help us and who knows, after agreeing to one he might do another, especially if we keep winning. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

 

Finances. 

[ToMexico!!]

Great month @Jimbokav1971 despite the circumstances 

[Thebaker]

Title challenge now, even your GD is better. It seems much harder this FM geting any board to improve facilities, its not just your club i htink

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2039. 

LaLiga. I was hoping that after our heroice of last month, this month would be a breeze with all of our senior players back from AFCON duty, but many of them returned fatigued and then to top it all, we lost (33d) Pascual (ESP)(BAS) 6'4" and El Nahhas (EGY)(USA) * to injuries and then started getting hit by suspensions. I suppose I should be happy that we remained unbeaten through this month, and delighted that we're up to 2nd, 1 point off Hispalis, but I can't help thinking we should have done better and absolutely could have played better. If January saw us eke absolutely 100% out of the squad we have available, the February mark would be down at about 50-60%. We really aren't playing well. But it's not all doom and gloom. We're 2nd in the bloomin league! What's not to like! 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

57 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Great month @Jimbokav1971 despite the circumstances 

Honestly, January was brilliant, but February seemed such a let-down by comparison. 

We're unbeaten in our last 10 LaLiga games though, (and 8 of them were wins), so things are looking better than decent. 

[Jimbokav1971]

10 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

Title challenge now, even your GD is better. It seems much harder this FM geting any board to improve facilities, its not just your club i htink

Yeah, we're a little tighter at the back, but when we attack we're really good going forward. The fact that we scored 7 against Barca still blows my mind, (even with me resting players in advance).