[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.

[Thebaker]

2 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I think that looks much more realistic. The club was in debt regularly/consistently, but it was manageable and not growing to ridiculous levels. Something has changed and either the board are not investing as much as they were, or the losses are bigger than they were, (and the board can't afford to support it). Either way, the situation seems much more extreme in FM23 than it was in FM22. 

I didn't have this problem in FM22 because we had both a decent stadium and a significant fan base. 

I ran 1 season in swedens bottom level and the level of debt growing was really bad for that level with few players earning very little. SI have obviously tweaked club finances this year and battling debt is an unannounced FM23 feature.

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, Thebaker said:

I ran 1 season in swedens bottom level and the level of debt growing was really bad for that level with few players earning very little. SI have obviously tweaked club finances this year and battling debt is an unannounced FM23 feature.

It certainly seems that way. It will be interesting to see hoe many people comment in here over the weekend that they have experienced something similar. 

[Jimbokav1971]

6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Finances (on-going). Jun 2024. 

Initially I was hoping for the board to consolidate the debt into a loan, but I don't actually think that's going to make any difference so for the time-being at least I'm just ploughing ahead and keeping my eyes closed as far as anything financial is concerned. 

This really makes no difference at all. 

Don't get too excited though because all it's done is reduce our debt by approx 25%. 

It's obviously made no difference to our budgets. 

Finances on-going. Jul 2054.

After reducing the debt by £550,000 last month, the board have again come up trumps with another £475,000 cleared. 

In a short period of time the board have effectively halved the debt and our balance is now  and that seems much more manageable than £2M as it was. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2024. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. What a mental 1st month. We only had 4 mid-week games in the whole of last season, but this year we have 2 in the opening month as we're hammered with no less than 7 league games in the opening month. We only lost 1 game, and that was a mid-week game against a strong Lugo team that I fielded a weakened team in so absolutely no complaints there. The season preview had us at 14th, but I'd love to make the playoffs this season. The only problem is that I obviously didn't sign anyone after the financial restructuring, so we just had the 1 player who I had agreed to sign before the thingy hit the fan. 

We sit 3rd in the league after 7 games, but Lugo in 1st with a game in hand are looking might impressive. Lugo lost to A.Bilbao B, (who we beat away!!!), so our form is decent. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 9 shots in a month is pretty decent for Leandro at this stage of the save, but less impressive when you consider that he played in 9 games. Either way, although he took 9 shots, only 4 of them were on target and resulted in 0 goals. 

Finances.  The board invested £1M+ during pre-season, so things are significantly better than they were. Things still aren't right with the financial model in the game, but I'm going nowhere. 

Transfers. No point doing a separate post for this. 

It's showing that we didn't sign anyone, but the deal I did in January to bring Awudu (GHA) to the club meant that he joined at the end of last season rather than the beginning of this season, (and I can't begin to tell you how annoying that is to me). We have a few decent strikers at the club now, so fingers crossed scoring goals shouldn't be a problem. 

[Gundo]

Nice save game concept. And great start to the current season, @Jimbokav1971. It’s even more impressive if you consider the lack of signings.

It amazes me that you are still using goalscoring keepers! I will look to utilise this in this year’s instalment, too.  

[Jimbokav1971]

59 minutes ago, Gundo said:

Nice save game concept. And great start to the current season, @Jimbokav1971. It’s even more impressive if you consider the lack of signings.

It amazes me that you are still using goalscoring keepers! I will look to utilise this in this year’s instalment, too.  

Hey mate. Long time no see. Hope you are well. 

Yeah, I'm not sure I will ever dispense with Goal-Scoring GK's until SI fix penalties and free-kicks. As there isn't even an admission that there's a problem at the moment, I don't think that's coming anytime soon. Let's just call it my not so silent protest to all things set-piece related in FM. 

Quite a few people have linked my stiff to SI on social media, (and I used to do it myself), but they don't want to acknowledge that set-pieces don't work as they say they work so they don't want to highlight any of the Goal-Scoring GK stuff. 

Welcome to the dark side. 

[Gundo]

3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Hey mate. Long time no see. Hope you are well. 

Yeah, I'm not sure I will ever dispense with Goal-Scoring GK's until SI fix penalties and free-kicks. As there isn't even an admission that there's a problem at the moment, I don't think that's coming anytime soon. Let's just call it my not so silent protest to all things set-piece related in FM. 

Quite a few people have linked my stiff to SI on social media, (and I used to do it myself), but they don't want to acknowledge that set-pieces don't work as they say they work so they don't want to highlight any of the Goal-Scoring GK stuff. 

Welcome to the dark side. 

Hi, yeah, not so bad, thanks. I'm going to indulge in some FM again in order to get me through the darker months here in Norway.  I hope you are doing good, too?

Ahh ok. I was curious – if your goalkeeper goes forward to take a free kick, how often has it led to your team conceding? 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Gundo said:

Hi, yeah, not so bad, thanks. I'm going to indulge in some FM again in order to get me through the darker months here in Norway.  I hope you are doing good, too?

Ahh ok. I was curious – if your goalkeeper goes forward to take a free kick, how often has it led to your team conceding? 

Well as luck would have it, I had reason to answer that very question yesterday in a series of tweets. 

 

[turnip]

It's kind of stupid.

Every year, SI manage to balls-up lower league finances.

Every year, they implement some fixes a couple of patches in that make it bearable.

And then, without fail, the broken finances are back when the new game rolls around. 

 

Something something definition of insanity...

[Jimbokav1971]

33 minutes ago, turnip said:

It's kind of stupid.

Every year, SI manage to balls-up lower league finances.

Every year, they implement some fixes a couple of patches in that make it bearable.

And then, without fail, the broken finances are back when the new game rolls around. 

 

Something something definition of insanity...

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. 

Yeah, to be honest though, I can either give up and stop playing until it's patched, (which will mean me losing out), or I can try to beat it as is. It's hard. It's obviously really hard with these sel-imposed restrictions, but if it was easy then where would the fun be in that? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2024. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. It's not a great month with a loss to Linense in there, but it was a late winner against Athletico B and a late leveller against Talavera so I can't really complain. Our strong finishes to games this month is enough to move us up to 2nd, but Luga are disappearing off into the distance already. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 5 shots taken this month by Leandro, with 2 shots on target leading to 2 goals. 

 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2024. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. A real horrible month. Even in the Alcorcón game, (which we won 2-0), we were very much 2nd bets. Soga (CMR) had a poor month up front and his replacement Awudu (GHA) is ok, but doesn't quite have the class to carry us on his own. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 0 shots, 0 shots on target, 0 shots off target. Would it surprise you to hear that Leandro scored 0 goals this month? 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2024. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. An unbeaten month is great, but taking only 5 points from a possible 9 isn't quite so great. In mitigation, 2 of the games were away from home and both the B Teams are strong. We're still in the playoff spots, (just), and it was great to see Lugo lose twice this month but turning just 1 of those draws into wins would have been big for us. 

Copa de Su Majestad el Rey. I'm not too bothered with this loss. Elche are a La Liga side so the gulf in resources is simply enormous. 

Youth Intake preview. This looks great. It won't be great. Álvaro Bolado is a damn liar! 

Goal-scoring GK's. 4 shots by Leandro this month, 2 shots on target, but frustratingly 1 saved penalty and 0 goals. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2025. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. It was a tough month with games against the top 2 in the league, and that we lost each but just a single goal margin suggests that we're perhaps not that far away from being there ourselves. A good win against another B Team keeps us in contention with the playoffs at least. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Just the 1 shot from Leandro this month. It was on target, but unfortunately it was a 2nd successive saved penalty. 

 

Finances. I think that's approx £2.5M the board have invested now in 3 seasons

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2025. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. Another tough month, (aren't they all?) sees us to lose away to Fuenlabrada (4th) and Marbella (8th). The home games were easier and although we only won each game by a single goal margin, we did at least take maximum points from the home games

Goal-scoring GK's. 3 shots taken this month, with 2 of them on target but 0 goals because Leandro again failed from the spot. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2025.

Primera Federación Grupo I. I noticed earlier today that our mentality was cautious. I don't know how or when that happened, (I haven't been drunk managing I promise), but in any case I decided to throw caution to the wind and adopt a positive mentality. I know that the general consensus is that mentality is now being likened simply to "risk" and with our best players being our strikers, taking more risks to give them more opportunities seems to be a good idea because I think we're capable of conceding from nothing. I don't think this will always be the case, but I think it is now. 

Late goals, (88th min winner, 82nd, 84th, 89th & 93rd mins this month), seem to be a very nice trend that we have developed and we've also been rewarded more from set-pieces, (even if Leandro is still struggling from the spot). 

We're up to 6th, but it's ridiculously close up to, (other than Lugo), and just 2 points separate 2nd to 8th. When we play against these teams between now and the end of the season, we really need to try and draw if we can't win. Unfortunately I will be sticking with positive and expect us to get spanked on occasion. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 5 shots this month, 4 of them on target, but Leandro 1st misses a penalty, (his 4th in a row), and then redeems himself with an 88th min winner in the same game. 

 

 

Finances. 

Records. Bums on seats means money, so this is important. 

5-2 down at HT, we came back to win 5-6. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Job security. Apr 2025. 

In previous games you could, (and I have), been sacked for failing to control the club finances, (even though I was always within our wage budget). It's good to see that this isn't something I'm being judged on now. 

I'm still not sure how the overall job security can be A+ when 2 of the component parts are B and B- though.  

Just for the record, we're still within wage budget because I have so far refused to sign anyone since the financial meltdown reduced our budget. 

The supporters seem to be tougher to please. 

[Thebaker]

the supporters are a tough bunch to please, what is their breakdown, a lot of hardcore?

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Apr 2025. 

Not gonna spend too much time on this for obvious reasons. 

Here's what we were promised. 

Here's what we got. 

I know @Thebakeris keen for me to sign all the Youth players because I don't really know at this stage how much potential any of them might have, I'm afraid that there are still some being released. 

(25h) David. has Low Det (2) + (Unamb) personality. 
(25j) Juanlu. 6'3" has Low Det (3) + (Unamb) personality. 
(25k) Miguel. has Low Det (2) + (Unamb) personality. 
(25p) Andrés. has Low Det (3) and just isn't very good AND is a WB which I don't use. 

[Jimbokav1971]

 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Thebaker said:

the supporters are a tough bunch to please, what is their breakdown, a lot of hardcore?

You know I'm not actually sure. I did have a look at it at the start but can't remember. 

I don't really know what to make of this because I have nothing to judge it against.

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2025. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. The draw against Alcorcón really stings. They equalised from about 35 yards in injury time and the xG was 3.46 - 0.61 in our favour. To say I was a bit peeved would be a significant understatement. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 3 shots this month, all 3 on target resulting in 1 goal for Leandro. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2025. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. We've really hit form at the right time. 10 wins in the last 13 games over the last 3 months is tough for anyone to compete with. Even the 2 games we lost we might have won, and the drawn game was only drawn because they spanked in an injury-time 35 yarder.

We're in the playoffs with a game to spare, but I don't actually know what format the playoffs take because there is a whole another league at this level so effectively 8 teams in a playoff for..... [goes to check]..... oh, it's 2 promotion places so I wonder do we playoff against our own league or is it split with the other league. Interesting. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 0 shots, 0 shots on target so 0 goals too, but 4 flippin wins this month baby! 

Finances. 

New contract. I'm happy that they've given me a 2 year contract. I always feel slighted when I just get offered a 1 year deal. 

Records. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2025. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. Our form has been really good and with just 2 defeats in our last 14 games we need to take this opportunity and win the playoffs and get out of this God-damn tin-pot league.

Primera Federación Grupo I Playoffs. 

2nd in Group 1 v 5th in Group 2. 
4th in Group 2 v 3rd in Group 1.
5th in Group 1 v 2nd in Group 2.
4th in Group 1 v 3rd in Group 2

Gutted. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

 

Finances.  

With our form so good I was sure we were going to win the Playoff Final so I offered some of our existing players new contracts. They haven't all agree to sign, (we just plain couldn't afford some), but we'll be in a much better position next season with them here. With the squad that's left I don't think we're anywhere near good enough for the Playoffs next season, but with 9 players leaving in the Summer we're going to be almost down to the £111k budget, (just £3,500 over), or at least we would have been had they not slashed the budget again by another £19k. per month. 

Everyone else is over-spending and it's the only way I can see of getting out of this league. I thought we had done enough this season but we fell at the final hurdle. 

Edited October 31, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Sonic Youth]

Last days season blues 

If it’s possible, lowering the Goals Against below 50+ goals will give the message to the other teams they will find it harder to score against you.

Your attack looks very tasty if it’s setting new records 

[Jimbokav1971]

18 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Last days season blues 

If it’s possible, lowering the Goals Against below 50+ goals will give the message to the other teams they will find it harder to score against you.

Your attack looks very tasty if it’s setting new records 

I think it's more the mentality  than the quality of the players. I've seen it mentioned a few times already that mentality in the FM21 Beta equates to "risk" and I think I'm quite liking it that way. It seems much more straightforward.

More defensive mentality = less risk. 
More attacking mentality = more risk. Simples. 

I think these are 3 very good strikers at t this level and for a club in financial trouble I think 3 of them, (when we play 1 up front), is overkill. 

Pablo García scored 23 goals in Season 1. He will be leaving on a free in the Summer. 
Soga (CMR) scored 21 goals in Season 2. He has 1 year left on his contract. 
Soga (CMR) scored 12 goals in Season 3. 
Awudu (GHA) scored 17 goals in Season 3. He has 2 years left on his contract. 

With that in mind, 2x 20+ goals a season strikers should be plenty good enough to fire us out of this league. 

The problem comes when we look at the other end of the pitch, the number of goals we have conceded and the fact that many of our defenders are leaving. 

I have a tough Summer window ahead of us and no money to spend. 

[Jimbokav1971]

8 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Jun 2025. 

Finances.  

With our form so good I was sure we were going to win the Playoff Final so I offered some of our existing players new contracts. They haven't all agree to sign, (we just plain couldn't afford some), but we'll be in a much better position next season with them here. With the squad that's left I don't think we're anywhere near good enough for the Playoffs next season, but with 9 players leaving in the Summer we're going to be almost down to the £111k budget, (just £3,500 over), or at least we would have been had they not slashed the budget again by another £19k. per month. 

Everyone else is over-spending and it's the only way I can see of getting out of this league. I thought we had done enough this season but we fell at the final hurdle. 

Finances continued. Jun 2025. 

Now this is VERY interesting. 

Our budget for most of last season was £111,128, (and I was within it), but after I offered contracts to the Youth Intake and extended the contracts of selected others, we were spending £128,579, (with committed spending of £114,629), so without extending any other contracts or signing new players, this is actually going to free up £13,950 worth of wage budget for new players. 

At the moment the only one of our players who I am desperate to re-sign is (23d) de la Hoz, (tried and failed twice). 

Of the players who are leaving, the one's that will hurt us most are wingers Liberto and Luismi, but they're already getting paid £7,000 and £7,5000 per month, so we'd have to break the bank to re-sign them so..... goodbye unfortunately. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Facilities. Jun 2025. 

This is tough, but there is nothing I can do about it until our finances improve. 

To anyone who wonders what numerical rating their Facilities are at, I made this for FM22 and I obviously haven't checked but assume that things are the same in FM23. 

So our facilities are now looking like this. 

Training Facilities - Below Average (6 or 7).
Youth Facilities - Adequate (8 or 9).
Junior Coaching. Adequate (10, 11, 12 or 13). 
Youth Recruitment. Basic (3, 4 or 5). This is the easiest thing to improve, but we have to get our finances on an even keel 1st. I really do wonder what the change in finances might be if/when we manage to get promoted. In England for example, promotion to the Championship isn't really a big deal. I think that here in Spain, promotion to the Championship really is a big deal. 

I knew it was unlikely, but couldn't resist asking for this. 

[Thebaker]

There does seem a big difference in the intake and preview, perhaps you have just been really unlucky twice. Maybe change your youth staff to at least improve the personalities coming through.

Boards seem less keen on improving youth recruitment, mine is at limited and they will not improve telling me it at a sufficent level even though most other teams are better in that division.

That is a really tough way to finish the season, have you looked at loans from La liga teams (african of course!). Its probably how the other teams do well.

 

For comparision my supporter breakdown, obviously only a 10th of the number of fans.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

6 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

There does seem a big difference in the intake and preview, perhaps you have just been really unlucky twice. Maybe change your youth staff to at least improve the personalities coming through.

Boards seem less keen on improving youth recruitment, mine is at limited and they will not improve telling me it at a sufficent level even though most other teams are better in that division.

That is a really tough way to finish the season, have you looked at loans from La liga teams (african of course!). Its probably how the other teams do well.

For comparision my supporter breakdown, obviously only a 10th of the number of fans.

 

The preview is broken and has been since it's introduction. It's just as simple as that. Decent idea, poorly implemented. 

I could look at the staff personalities, but I think I will wait until/if we get promoted for that. It just doesn't matter yet because the players we're producing are so poor. 

I "think" I'm right in saying that there is more variation with regards to board decision-making now. So for example your board turning you down might not be representative of how most boards will act. Certainly in line with a Youth Development vision too. Money and success as always is a big driver though. If you are successful enough and you have enough money then they will agree to it no matter what they actually think. 

I think you make a really good point about African loanees. If I'm completely honest I have to admit that it basically just slipped my mind. I'm usually quite anti-loans simply because I often play Youth Only and all a loan in does is take up a slot that I could use for developing an Academy player. In this instance I have actually asked, (twice), for a senior affiliate, (thinking of both money and loans), but on both occasions the board turned me down. That sort of put the kibbosh on my loanee plans and I never went further and just considered loaning players without an affiliate link. It's definitely something I will look at, (obviously African only), but the problem is that for most of last season we had no scouting package, so that causes a problem when you are looking for players, (because we no longer had any knowledge). The way I see it, £74.5k per year is a pee in the ocean where our finances are concerned, but the problem with this is that our scouting budget is going to be £80,500 for the season, so if we spend £74,500 on just the package, it leaves very little money for actual scouting, (which I think is what happened last season). I think I will go for the mid package, (which includes the league above and below), and at least offers us almost half our budget to use on actual scouting. 

Comparing your supporter profile to mine is interesting. (Yours is on the left). It's interesting to note that my supporter influence has just popped from moderate (3) to high (4). (I quite like that). 

Your supporters are on the left and we have a much bigger core and hardcore base. Your big casual % of 32% suggests that there is huge room for rapid growth on the back of some success, (I think). I also see that you have a big family following by comparison, but not sure what to make of that. 

[Thebaker]

Having played in spain last year, there is a huge amount of loaning going in the bottom leagues. This is possibly due to the restrictions on wages needed to register players in the top two leagues and youths not earning this and the b team at too low a level.

The preview i have come to the conclusion is the best intake you could have (since its still variable after the preview) but obviously most of the time you will not get that. With better facilities you will get much closer each intake unless you are really lucky each intake.

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

Having played in spain last year, there is a huge amount of loaning going in the bottom leagues. This is possibly due to the restrictions on wages needed to register players in the top two leagues and youths not earning this and the b team at too low a level.

The preview i have come to the conclusion is the best intake you could have (since its still variable after the preview) but obviously most of the time you will not get that. With better facilities you will get much closer each intake unless you are really lucky each intake.

Yeah, there definitely is a lot of loans going on at this level and I think it's something I have to get involved in. 

With regards to the intake, well it's either a preview or it's not a preview. Even if every single player suffered a double ACL injury between the preview and the actual intake, they still wouldn't be as bad as they are. It's not that our facilities are failing the players in the 5 months between preview and intake. It's that the preview just isn't accurate. 

If I was designing this, the ideal way to do this would be to keep to the star system, but have more of the info unknown like this. 

So the actual info is unknown. The CA is between 2.0-3.5 and the CA is between 3.0-5.0. It's the system that already exists in the game and it astonishes me that this isn't used. Instead we get a rating which sometimes qualifies A-F ratings where A is the highest, but still relates to appalling players. Why create a new system that isn't fit for purpose? 

Even beyond and above all that though, at the most basic of level SI has a system that is comparable. 

This is what happens when we compare them. 

It's not a problem of interpretation and we can pretend all we like but this is just a feature that once again has been poorly implemented. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting. Jun 2025. 

I've been looking at what scouting range I'm going to set and had decided on "Surrounding Divisions" until I saw this. 

• I was going to set it right now, but today's date is 22nd June, so if I activate it now then I pay a whole month just for 8 days scouting range. 
• 
• The 2nd thing I thought of, is if I set it to "Spain" on 1st July, and then downgrade to "Surrounding Divisions" before the end of July, will we just be billed for the smaller range? Is this something that I can abuse?
• If it's something that I can abuse, is this something that I want to abuse? 

[Thebaker]

the preview shows a range of PA (and CA) for the players. the players primary positions, names,DOB, nationalities are fixed.

I think instead of telling you the possible range it is describing the players max possible PA in that range which you are unlikely to get.

It is failing in how it is implemented, it would be better if the PA and CA were fixed at the preview and a more accurate preview given.

[Jimbokav1971]

6 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

the preview shows a range of PA (and CA) for the players. the players primary positions, names,DOB, nationalities are fixed.

I think instead of telling you the possible range it is describing the players max possible PA in that range which you are unlikely to get.

It is failing in how it is implemented, it would be better if the PA and CA were fixed at the preview and a more accurate preview given.

Where does the preview show you the range of PA & CA? Have I missed it?  

[Thebaker]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Where does the preview show you the range of PA & CA? Have I missed it?  

It doesn't show a range for the preview.  However after using the editor and reloading a lot several years ago when it first came out, i am reasonably sure that is how it works.

All the potential players have a range and the preview assessment is based on the range of the players which is how it can say that the best player is likely to be a striker. The problem is that i think the preview seems to be based on all the players coming through at the top of those ranges. This is why i said you may have been unlucky, as they could have been better.

Do you have a HOD as i noticed that the u19 manager was responsible for the youth intake. The assessment also relies on the judging abilties of the staff which can be feeble, players with higher initial CA are rated highly when they may be almost at their potential.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jun 2025. 

No, I don't like the new squad planner.  Great idea but purely implemented. 

GK. Leandro is 36 and is in the last year of his contract, so either we get promoted next season or we probably struggle with an Academy player in goal. 

1st Team. Leandro 6'1"
B Team. (25c) Rafa 6'4"
U19's. (23o) Roca 5'11" & (24h) Avilés 6'0"
Sell. 
Loan. 
Release. 

DL. Josema is decent at this level, but of all the Academy products so far, (23b) Escalona (VEN) is probably the one that looks the best. 

1st Team. Josema & (23b) Escalona (VEN).
B Team. (23b) Escalona (VEN)
U19's.  (25a) Romero, (25l) Moukoko (CMR)
Sell. 
Loan. 
Release. 

DR. I really like Ramazani (BDI)(BEL), but I also quite like (23d) de la Hoz, but at the moment I can't get him to re-sign. 

1st Team. Ramazani (BDI)(BEL) & (23d) de la Hoz.
B Team. (23d) de la Hoz.
U19's. (24g) Rivero (ESP)(ARG)
Sell. 
Loan. 
Release. Alain García

DC. I thought all 3 senior centre-backs were leaving this Summer, but actually we're only losing 1. 

1st Team. Ali Abdul Rahman (GHA) 6'0" & Erimuya (NGA) 6'3"
B Team. (23c) Víctor 6'0" & (24l) Núñez (ESP)(BAS) 5'10".
U19's. (24f) Sánchez (PAR)(ESP) 6'0", (24f) Sánchez (PAR)(ESP) 6'0" & (25g) Álex 6'0".
Sell. 
Loan. 
Release. Télis (URU) 6'4".

DM. Jota made 3(22) appearances this season, so I think I might consider re-signing him, (assuming he doesn't break the bank). 

1st Team. Lillo (ESP)(ETH) 6'1" & Jota.
B Team. (23l) Soler
U19's. (25b) Ochoa (ESP)(MLI)
Sell. 
Loan. 
Release. Lafarge (FRA)(MTQ) 6'1", 

MC. I'm REALLY keen to sign a new central midfielder. Ideally I want onew with legs, but we're also desperate for a proper playmaker too. I think at this level, legs probably trumps technique. 

1st Team. Diallo (ESP)(GUI) & Julio Iglesias.
B Team. (23l) Soler & (23e) Manuel. (24c) Monge
U19's. (25e) Tchamba (ESP)(CMR) & (25b) Ochoa (ESP)(MLI). (25n) Abreu & (25m) Suárez. (24b) Soler & (23n) Muiños.
Sell. 
Loan. 
Release. Amar (FRA)(ALG), 

ML. We were lucky to have Liberto last season. He contributed 11 goals and 3 assists but is getting paid £7,000 per month. If we had got promoted I think I would have offered him a new contract, but there is no way we can afford the jump in wages he will be asking for. He's also approaching 30 and isn't African so..... He's gonna be a big loss though. 

1st Team. David Alfonso & (23k) Álvarez.
B Team. (23k) Álvarez
U19's. 4a) Orta ML, (25d) Candela, (24d) Iglesias ML, (24n) Igbokwe (ESP)(NGA) ML & (24p) Benítez ML.
Sell. 
Loan. 
Release. Liberto. 

MR. We had Liberto on the left flank and Luismi on the right flank last season. Unfortunately he will also be leaving and for the same reason. 

1st Team. (23a) Kodermac (SVN) MR & (23h) Vallejo MR. 
B Team. (23h) Vallejo MR
U19's. (24i) Nicolás
Sell. 
Loan. 
Release. Luismi. 

SC. We have 2 good strikers so at least we don't have to get a striker in. 

1st Team. Awudu (GHA) & Soga (CMR).
B Team. De Baunbag (CMR)(ESP) 6'3" & (23f) Francisco SC.
U19's. (25i) Cheikh (ESP)(MAR).
Sell. 
Loan. 
Release. Pablo García.

[Jimbokav1971]

Would someone please remind me where I stipulate how long players should remain on my shortlist for please? 

I have a feeling that I have players on there who are then dropping off after a period of time and need to stop it. 

Help please. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2025. 

Finances. 

Staff. They're letting us have scouts again. 

Transfers In. I'm looking for 2 wide players now, but really struggling to find anyone suitable at all. I did find a 17 year old striker who I thought I could convert to a winger, but before In could sign him he was nabbed by Watford and is immediately worth £1M+. I also wouldn't say no to a right back, but can't find too many of them either. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2025. 

I loved the idea of this save when I came up with it, and I'm sure once we grow the club a little I will love it again, but bloomin hell it's hard work at the moment. Scouting is just so hard and laborious and that's not because of the game or the UI or anything like that. It's just hard trying to scout when you have a very limited budget and you only want to look for Africans. 

If and when I get to the promised land of La Liga I can see it being much easier, but at the moment it's just bloomin hard work. 

[Edit]

ps. What is it with Newgen Africans and Low Det? 

Edited October 31, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Thebaker]

staff/responsibilities/scouting is what you want.

Escalona looks really good with some potential still to go, has he played many games?

[Jimbokav1971]

35 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

staff/responsibilities/scouting is what you want.

Escalona looks really good with some potential still to go, has he played many games?

yeah I found that earlier, but it took me ages. 

He's made a few appearances. 19 league games for the 1st Team and 32 simulated appearances for the B Team. He's not great, but he's pretty great for this period of the save. I'm just gutted that he's not African. 

[Jimbokav1971]

7 hours ago, Thebaker said:

It doesn't show a range for the preview.  However after using the editor and reloading a lot several years ago when it first came out, i am reasonably sure that is how it works.

All the potential players have a range and the preview assessment is based on the range of the players which is how it can say that the best player is likely to be a striker. The problem is that i think the preview seems to be based on all the players coming through at the top of those ranges. This is why i said you may have been unlucky, as they could have been better.

Do you have a HOD as i noticed that the u19 manager was responsible for the youth intake. The assessment also relies on the judging abilities of the staff which can be feeble, players with higher initial CA are rated highly when they may be almost at their potential.

I have no idea what staff we have at the moment. I have completely left it to the.... someone. 

We do have a DoF. The only role we're currently missing is a DoF. 

I hadn't noticed that the U19's Manager was in charge of the Youth Intake though. I've changed it now so thanks. 

I think I delegated responsibility before we signed the HoYD. That's all I can think of. 

[Jimbokav1971]

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2025. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. It was a really tough start to the season. We had players unavailable due to International call-ups, (4), both our right wingers missing, our left winger had to play on the right and we had to play a striker on the left. In addition to that some of our players were lacking in fitness because we had so many players in on trial. 

https://gyazo.com/

Goal-scoring GK's. A decent start to the season sees Leandro take 7 shots, 4 of them on target, scoring 2 goals. 

 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2025. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. We're fine at home, (with 5 wins and a draw so far this season), but our away form is a problem, (4 losses and a draw). I'm going to have to do something about it. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 4 shots, 2 on target and 2 more goals for Leandro brings him to 28 career goals.

 

Finances. 

[Sonic Youth]

That’s a lot of cash injections!

Decent start to the season 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

That’s a lot of cash injections!

Decent start to the season 

I had been keeping track, but I think I have lost count now though. I think that I have posted every one in the thread though so....

In fact, I think I have a better idea. I think finances are going to be a significant feature within this save, and I always wished that I had tracked stuff earlier, so let's have a look at something like this for Income. 

• Why is "other" so big?
• What is included in "other" income?
• I find it interesting that whole Gate Receipts have increased significantly, Season Tickets have seen only a small increase.
• In answer to the point raised by @Sonic Youth, yeah, we were up to almost £2.5M invested by the board in the 1st 3 seasons of the save. 

And something like this for expenses. 

• It always surprises me quite how much we spend on staff who don't play in comparison to players who 2 play. (approx 40%)
• Part of the idea behind this was travel costs because we're literally based on another continent to where we will be playing half our games. 
• Our Bonus payments are more than 33% of our player wages. (That's a not so hidden cost of signing players on short contracts). 
• It will be really interesting to track our Scouting costs here. Note the drop in Season 3 when the finance issues hit home. 
• If the council own the ground, why are we paying Ground Maintenance at all? (On the other hand it's minimal). 
• You all know the way I play. It will be interesting to track Youth Setup costs as the save progresses. 

I've set the sheets up and all I have to do is add the totals at the beginning of each season, (or I can even go back and look at historical saves as I have done just now), and take the info from there. 

Is financial stuff too geeky for any of you? I know it's boring, (so apologies), but this is a new game and I think we need to check if things still work as we think they work. 

Let me know if this is something you like or something you're not interested in at all. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2025. 

Primera Federación Grupo I. A really good month, basically off the back of me reverting to a cautious mentality, (from positive), in our home games, and also playing the Leonesa game on cautious by accident. Awudu (GHA) scored 7 goals in 5 games this month so deserves a mention. He's scored 14 goals in 15(1) appearances so far this season. 

We're up to 2nd, just 1 point behind Vigo B. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 6 shots taken by Leandro this month, but only 1 of them on target and 0 goals I'm afraid so he's still on 28 career goals. I should also mention that he's retiring at the end of the season, but (25c) Rafa 6'4" is looking decent so I'm not enormously concerned at the moment. 

Finances. 

Awudu (GHA) is doing really well for us and tops the league scoring charts with 14 goals. Last season he only scored 17 goals in 25(8) appearances so I think he's definitely performing at a higher level. He's being rotated less for a start and he's also playing full 90 mins in most games, (just subbed for 9 mins this month). I have a decent backup SC in Soga (CMR), but he's primarily covering ML where all but 3 of his 9(7) appearances this season have come. The upside of that is obviously that he will retain match fitness, but the downside is that if we get an injury to both SC & ML at the same time then we're screwed. 

[Gundo]

Nice run of form, @Jimbokav1971. And Awudu’s 14 ratings for finishing, dribbling, heading, technique, composure, off the ball and acceleration is the stuff of dreams!