[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]

23 minutes ago, MadCatPT said:

And here was I thinking of buying the editor, creating a save, put all at 1, holiday, check the ca and pa, repeat 5-10 times, start playing with the numbers to see if they work together or not.

That is some serious analysis.

I started a thread in the CSE Forum last year and dug a little into stuff, but really plan on doing it justice this season. 

In fact, I will probably use this save from earlier this year. I know what date the intake happened so I can go back to the previous save and start working on that. Run 10 intakes to give me a base to compare other things to and then start changing things. I will probably do it while watching/listening to the World Cup. 

[Jimbokav1971]

22 minutes ago, Tbarnes88 said:

Feels like this is missing a couple of important variables, which is the Youth Rating of a Nation and Club Reputation. Lierfering are not an outlier when you take in to account they have the 2nd best hard values in their nation but at the lower end of the reputation curve. And both them and Salzburg for their lower nation youth rating.

It's hard to work out what he's missing because I can't work out what each column represents. 

Nation Youth Rating has been included, (I think), but it's been merged with Nation Game Importance, (or something like that). The whole thing seems a bit muddled. I'm clueless with the editor and have never even been able to find where the Game Importance info is, so I really can't comment too much about the editor. I know how to view and change the facilities and I know how to view the hidden attributes of players/staff but that's about it. 

[Jellico73]

6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

(1) Newgens is the quality of Newgens the generates. I don't think this is right. I think this is Youth Facilities. 

In particular I didn't understand the single fig numbers in the 3rd and 5th columns. 

I know about the Nations Youth rating, (Spain is 145 for example), but in your graph You have the R.Madrid & Barca with a Youth Rating of 86 and 85, when I know that the Spanish Youth Rating is 145, and if they are merging Youth rating and something else together, (like Nation game importance for example), then it not only assumes that these 2 areas have the same importance, (I don't think they do), but by then somehow concentrating them to make it a score out of 100, (I have no idea how they have done that), then all that does is highlight the inaccuracy. The other thing is, If R.Madrid & Barca are both in the same Nation, how do they have slightly different scores in this area? 

Would you mind giving me a link to where SortitouSI post this data so I can have a look myself and try and understand it myself please? Then I might be able to come back and comment more. Apologies if I'm being stupid. 

The single fig numbers are the rankings on a 1-10 scale, except a couple of categories only have 8 so I multiplied them by 1.25

sortitoutsi.net on the left side of the page, about 2/3rd of the way down, there's a link for club facilities.  There's also links to you facilities and that but its the same 'spreadsheet'

 

https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-2023-club-transfer-facilities

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, Jellico73 said:

The single fig numbers are the rankings on a 1-10 scale, except a couple of categories only have 8 so I multiplied them by 1.25

sortitoutsi.net on the left side of the page, about 2/3rd of the way down, there's a link for club facilities.  There's also links to you facilities and that but its the same 'spreadsheet'

 

https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-2023-club-transfer-facilities

Ok, great. Thanks. 

Training Facilities has 20 levels, separated into 10 named groups. 
Youth Facilities has 20 levels, separated into 10 named groups. 
Junior Coaching has 20 levels, separated into 7 named groups. 
Youth Recruitment has 20 levels, separated into 8 names groups. 

You can see the groups and the levels here. (This was accurate for FM21 & FM22 but I haven't checked yet for FM23). 

SoirtitoutSI are using terminology that is different to that used by the game. I don't know if they are doing so because they don't understand how it works, or because they don't want others to understand how it works, but it really isn't helpful 

When they say "Best Youth Academies", what I hear is an amalgamation of things resulting in a system that produces the best players. What they actually mean is just Youth Recruitment. I honestly don't understand why they don't use terminology that is understood by all. 

When they say "Newgens" I have no idea what they mean, but after looking at it, it turns out that they are using this word instead of "Junior Coaching". 

I have looked at the "Ability" and "Potential" ratings and the way they use them, and I will be completely honest and admit that I have absolutely no idea what they relate to. I'm sort of leaning towards them being some sort of rating of the existing squad, but that's really only an idea. I really don't understand it and SortitoutSI don't seem to explain it anywhere. If you can work out what they mean or point me towards some sort of glossary of the terms they use then I will have another look, but I can't make head nor tail of it. Sorry. 

What I would say though is that SortitoutSI, while doing a brilliant job of providing a brilliant space to host everything that you might want to find related to FM, everything is still the opinion of 1 person, and unless you know who that person is, what their knowledge is and whether ultimately you can trust them, it's basically just garbage that anyone might have written. 

Most of what you linked me to is just data that has been extracted from the game and it's impossible for that not to be accurate, but the way they describe how some of these systems work within the game are not accurate at all, and by changing the words used, (away from those used by SI), they simply confuse matters still further. The descriptions in each sub-section you linked me to appear to have been written by someone who doesn't really play the game at all and instead has tried to describe them in terms of real football rather than the Football Manager game. I've used this website from time to time and have found it a helpful source, but this particular page is just data with some poorly chosen words attached. I have already spent more time looking at it than it deserves. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Hi lads and lasses. I am absolutely continuing with my save, but just for a couple of days I might spend some time doing some experiments. 

It turns out that there have been significant changes to the way that the Youth Intakes work. For a start absolutely NOTHING is set at the date of the Youth Intake Preview. Not player name, not Nationality, not position. Nothing. That's not how it was done in FM22. I wonder what else has changed. 

If you like following my threads, this experiment should be right up your street. 

I might even get back to playing my own save tomorrow, but every so often I will take some time away to do some more experiments. 

[MadCatPT]

On 16/11/2022 at 18:50, Jimbokav1971 said:

Nice. Sounds good. Have you got a thread going? If so, feel free to link it in here. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jun 2029. 

GK. Im happy with Bermudez & Diarra. They're not the best in terms of CA, but then our whole squad is about PA so they fit in well.

1st Team. (28c) Bermúdez 5'10"
B Team. (25c) Rafa. 6'4"
U19's.
Release. 
Loan. Diarra (MLI)(ESP) 6'2"
Sell.

DL. We need a 2nd left back. 

1st Team. (23b) Escalona (VEN) *
B Team. (26k) Camacho. & (27p) Moya.
U19's.
Release. Josema & (25l) Moukoko. (CMR).
Loan. 
Sell.

DR. Our 1st and 2nd choice DR's for the last couple of years are 30 and 28 respectively and leaving on a free rather than be offered a big contract. We need to be signing young players who will improve past this level and playing older players just clogs up the route. The problem though is that we haven't actually got anyone coming through in this position. Sanyang (GAM)(ESP) 6'2" is probably the most able, but he made 26(11) appearances in the middle of the pitch last season so can we lose him from there? I really need to find a right back from somewhere. 

1st Team. Sanyang (GAM)(ESP) 6'2"
B Team. (26n) Gabieiro.
U19's.
Release. Ramazani (BDI)(BEL), Yankey (MAR)(ESP), 
Loan. 
Sell.

DC. We've got a centre-half called Aremu (ESP)(NGA) coming in who should help us. This is a strong position for us. 

1st Team. Monkam (CMR)(FRA) 6'2" & Aremu (ESP)(NGA). Zaim (ESP)(MAR) 6'4" & Sibacha (ECQ)(ESP) 6'0". 
B Team. (26g) Durán Durán. 6'1" & (27d) Kujabi. (GAM) 6'4".
U19's.
Release. 
Loan. Mohamed (MAR)(ESP) 6'0" * & (23c) Víctor 6'2" *.
Sell.

MC. We're playing 433 again this season, (because Crespo us back for one last hurrah). It's quite demanding on the 3 central midfielders. I've signed 2 more central midfielders to start, so it gives us more depth & allows us to send some decent youngsters out on loan. 

1st Team. Aidir (MAR)(ESP), Nchama (EQG)(ESP) 6'2" & Coulibaly (MLI)(ESP). Mohamed (COM)(FRA) 6'3", Tassembédo (BFA) & (23e) Manuel *.
B Team. 
U19's.
Release. (23h) Vallejo. MR, (27e) Jesús., (26b) Siles. (POL)(ESP) ML, (26d) Álvarez. DLP & (25o) Ordóñez.. 
Loan. (23l) Soler *, (28b) Eduardo & (28a) Serrano.
Sell.

SC. With Crespo coming back for another season, (I didn't think he was), youngster Gil coming through the intake last season and Moumen, (who was on loan last season in case I lost Crespo before the window closed), now joining permanently we have a better than decent front 3. We also have a fair bit of depth even with losing 3 good attackers. 

1st Team. Moumen (MAR)(ESP) *, (27a) Crespo * & Mendy (SEN)(ESP) *. Balogun (ESP)(NGA), (29a) Gil & (23f) Francisco SC *.
B Team. 
U19's.
Release. Coulibaly (MLI)(ESP) ML *, Sylla (GUI)(FRA) *, Evina (CMR)(FRA) SC *
Loan. 
Sell.

[Sonic Youth]

Squad looks good for the coming season 

Going to be fun to see how the front three play together.

[Jimbokav1971]

7 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Squad looks good for the coming season 

Going to be fun to see how the front three play together.

I've had a nightmare. 

I had this bloke in on loan, (because I thought I was going to lose Crespo in the Jan window), and I thought I had agreed a permanent deal to sign him on a free but I was gazzumped at the last minute by Sporting. This is a blow because he is very good. 

[Sonic Youth]

17 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I've had a nightmare. 

I had this bloke in on loan, (because I thought I was going to lose Crespo in the Jan window), and I thought I had agreed a permanent deal to sign him on a free but I was gazzumped at the last minute by Sporting. This is a blow because he is very good. 

Damn, that’s a blow. He’s been good for you.

[Jimbokav1971]

Reputation. Jul 2029. 

There was a fair bit of discussion in the Experiment thread I started in CSE about reputation, so when I saw this message I thought I had better report on it. 

You have the Big 3 at the top with their Worldwide reputation. 

Then we have 5 clubs with Continental reputation. 

Then we have a whole load of LaLiga & LaLiga2 sides, (LaLiga Santander & LaLiga Smartbank).

Then we have a mix of clubs from Tier 2 and Tier 3, (LaLiga SmartBank & Primera Federación Grupo). 

Then we're next, just ahead of the top 4th Tier side.

We're ranked 51st in Spain. 

There are 20 clubs in LaLiga. 
There are 22 clubs in LaLiga2
So we're effectively ranked 9th in the 3rd tier, despite finishing halfway up the 2nd tier last season. 

[Jellico73]

That would explain a few things in the offline save I had in the Beta....

[Thebaker]

rep always takes time to catch up,  A team like Eibar could be relegated to the 3rd tier and spend 10 seasons there before your rep would overtake it, I can understand several of the tier 3 clubs being above you as they have been in the top flight in the last 10 years like R Santander and Girona, others like Vigo b make less sense

[Jimbokav1971]

11 hours ago, Jellico73 said:

That would explain a few things in the offline save I had in the Beta....

Like what? @Jellico73You talking about reputation here? 

[Jimbokav1971]

4 hours ago, Thebaker said:

rep always takes time to catch up,  A team like Eibar could be relegated to the 3rd tier and spend 10 seasons there before your rep would overtake it, I can understand several of the tier 3 clubs being above you as they have been in the top flight in the last 10 years like R Santander and Girona, others like Vigo b make less sense

My point isn't that the rep is taking time to catch up. If anything, my point is that despite having pretty low rep, we've still produced some pretty good players. 

[Jimbokav1971]

On 19/11/2022 at 11:20, Sonic Youth said:

Damn, that’s a blow. He’s been good for you.

It really was. I honestly thought the deal was done. He had agreed to sign, nobody else was in for him, he was happy at the club and had been playing really well. 

We can't compete with Sporting though, (even though he's surely not going to play). 

[Gundo]

Another solid season @Jimbokav1971. But sorry to hear about the Crespo deal, it real sounds that an odd one.

[MadCatPT]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

It really was. I honestly thought the deal was done. He had agreed to sign, nobody else was in for him, he was happy at the club and had been playing really well. 

We can't compete with Sporting though, (even though he's surely not going to play). 

Something that actually happens in real life. Almost can see the two or three loans where plays few games after not playing the first season and the career fizzling out.

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Gundo said:

Another solid season @Jimbokav1971. But sorry to hear about the Crespo deal, it real sounds that an odd one.

I can't really complain about the deal itself. When your record sale id £80k and you get offered £1.5M for someone then I think we should be complaining if the player isn't sold. The only strange part was that it took so long to complete the deal that they missed the window, the as well as us keeping him for the rest of the season anyway,  loan back was for the full following season rather than just the 2nd half of that season. On the other hand, he wouldn't have walked into the Liverpool starting XI as he was, (not even close), so maybe Liverpool were relaxed about the speed of the deal because their effectively buying his future rather than his present and the deal makes sense, (even the timing), when you look at it like that. 

[Edit]

He scored lots of goals in the league last season and I think we're stronger this season, (I've been busy in the close-season), so fingers crossed he should score 40-50 league goals this season. 

Edited November 20, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

28 minutes ago, MadCatPT said:

Something that actually happens in real life. Almost can see the two or three loans where plays few games after not playing the first season and the career fizzling out.

Yeah absolutely. Of course it happens. I wasn't complaining that it was unrealistic. I was just complaining. 

[Jellico73]

3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Like what? @Jellico73You talking about reputation here? 

Yes, I did a couple of different saves just to see how things worked differently, and to try a couple of teams out I was looking at.  One was Saint Etienne, which despit a good HOYD and some of the best facilities in France consistently gave me "Meh" newgens, until the Alpha came out of course and then my first Youth Intake was very, very good.  Second was Academica in Portugal, seven seasons after getting them out of the 3rd tier and into European football consistently, was still fighting low transfer budgets, low wage budgets, and players moving/choosing a bigger club no matter what I threw at them.

And I think it will be the heat death of the universe before I find out how, while playing in Vardar last year in FM 22, my Macedonian Youth Director, who had always found newgens with Macedonian as a first or second nationality because Vardar can only sign players from Macedonia, found me a Cypriot D(C) who was actually decent, and a Brazilian wonderkid DM/M(C), neither of whom, had Macedonian anywhere in their description...

[Jimbokav1971]

Summer Transfer window. Jul 2029. 

I was looking for 2x right backs, a left back, a DLP, a CM(a), and a left sided striker, (to replace Moumen who was stolen from us by Sporting). Of course we're in the market for other player if they can improve us, but that's what's on our list anyway. 

All these players were signed at the end of lasts season before the season ticked over. 

Although I was initially looking for 2x right backs. it turns out we're only looking for 1 because I re-signed Ramazani (BDI)(BEL).

Benachour (ALG)(FRA) is a bit of a wildcard if I'm honest. I know he isn't going to score many goals with finishing like that, and although his mentals aren't great, I love his physicals and the idea is that he basically runs at the opposition and gets fouled. We will see how that works. He's only 21 so still has time to develop, and I honestly like the look of him despite him being pretty raw. 

Aradj (ALG)(FRA) was signed as a 2nd choice DL, but I think he might actually challenge to become 1st choice. I really like him. It's just a shame he isn't younger. 

Letsema (RSA) 5'10" is very much a DL rather than a DC, but he'll be 2nd choice anyway. There is no point me signing players over 24 years old because no team of players who are prepared to play for us will get us out of this league. Instead I have to sign players who aren't good enough to get us promoted, (but might develop to that level), and even if they don't, (I think this will be a real process), then they might generate us some cash that will in turn help us along to our goal. The scout report for this guy had him at 4.5 or even 5.0 PA, (can't remember which), so he's been downgraded a little, but I still see him as a decent defensive option at left back, (possibly in a rotated team, away, against the stronger teams). I've changed his (duty) on his WB role so that I can add the cross less often option, and I've also got him sitting a little more narrow. 

Ngiamba (COG)(FRA) has come in as our 2nd choice DR. Lots of room for development here and still a couple of year of peak development left. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul & Aug 2029. 

Pre-season. Results don't mean anything, but the £105,000 we earned from the Liverpool game as part of the Crespo deal, plus another £20,000 because it was televised certainly do. 

I think we're way better than the bookies suggest. 

LaLiga SmartBank. Got to be happy with that start. My general plan is to try and win as many of our home games as we can, and pick up a point in as many away games as we can. To get an away win in the 1st month is brilliant. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances.  We're still in credit, but the money from the Crespo sale, (3 yearly installments of £500,000), is just getting swallowed up by our net financial position. Ideally we will sell someone else this season for at least £500,000.

Benachour (ALG)(FRA) was signed to play on the left up front and the plan was that he would be more of a creator than a finisher himself, but he's scored in each of our opening 3 games and he only played 3 mins against Granada. His workrate and vision and perhaps now what I would want, but he has other strengths. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2029.

LaLiga SmartBank. I think we hit the woodwork either 7 or 8 times this month. Actually that seems like a ridiculously high number so I'm going to go and check right now. (Actually the stats tell me that it was only 6 times, but that doesn't 1 effort that was both offside and against the woodwork). We also missed a similar number of what I consider open goals. We're usually decent in front of goal.  Still, only 1 loss in the busy month is decent. Had just 1 of our 3 shots that hit the woodwork against Valladolid gone in, it would have been a completely different story. We were surprisingly, the better team in all 5 games this month. The best performance was probably the 0-0 with the rotated Reserves team against high-flying REal Zaragoza where we were really unlucky not to win, (although they might have nicked it at the end). 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances.  With our increased attendances I don't think we're a million miles away from breaking even, but the problem is that our capacity is only 6,500 and our record attendance is already at 6,342, so I'm not sure how much room for growth there is before the board either expand this stadium or build a completely new one and saddle us with a big loan. 

Facilities. Well this is frustrating. 

Records. 

[MadCatPT]

I had the same thing happen to me in a couple of games, could only hit the woodwork, cost me those two games, and since it was one after the other it was maddening.

Where do you see the Facilities levels in numbers? Or it's a different skin?

[Jimbokav1971]

6 minutes ago, MadCatPT said:

I had the same thing happen to me in a couple of games, could only hit the woodwork, cost me those two games, and since it was one after the other it was maddening.

Where do you see the Facilities levels in numbers? Or it's a different skin?

The Facilities can only be seen in their numerical value by using the IGE I'm afraid. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2029. 

LaLiga SmartBank. We've now hit the woodwork 11 times in 12 games, including 3 times away to Valladolid and 3 more times away to Vigo this month. Ignoring the other 5 times we hit the woodwork, that's 3 points right there that would have moved us up to 4th. We're seriously over-achieving this season, but it could be so much better. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 1 shot taken this month, but 0 goals.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2029. 

LaLiga SmartBank. A really tough month, where once again I don't think we got what we deserved. Crespo has been out of sorts so far this season, (although has 8 goals in 12(2) appearances, (and God only knows how many times he has hit the woodwork). The Valencia game was a tight one that could have gone either way, and the 4-1 scoreline isn't a fair reflection at all.

Goal-scoring GK's. 2 shots this month but 0 on target so no more goals. 

Finances. 

Job Offers. I'm surprised that more 2nd tier clubs haven't shown an interest in me. I've set my Nationality as English/Irish and am surprised that no Championship clubs especially have shown an interest considering my skills in working to a budget. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Woodwork. 

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2029. 

LaLiga SmartBank. Our results in the league have been sooooooo frustrating. We're actually playing some good stuff, but we seem to be punished for every single little mistake we make, and at the other end we're missing glorious chances, coming up against Super-keepers and hitting the woodwork more often than we're scoring. We could easily be 12 points better off than we are. Despite that, (I would expect to be mid-table), we're just 1 place and 3 points off the playoffs. For God's sake we dropped 6 points last month alone!!! 

Copa de Su Majestad el Rey. The Reserves were under-par, and needed injury-time of extra-time to get the job done. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

Youth Intake Preview. Let's be honest, this could mean anything. 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Sonic Youth]

When do you unlock master of hitting the post achievement?

I see you’ve positioned the team neatly in readiness for a second half of the season securing a playoff spot 

Youth intake time? This will be interesting 

[Jimbokav1971]

38 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

When do you unlock master of hitting the post achievement?

I see you’ve positioned the team neatly in readiness for a second half of the season securing a playoff spot 

Youth intake time? This will be interesting 

I've got to admit that I'm well and truly sick of the hitting the post now. 

We've just lost our best centre-half so not sure how that will impact us. 

Youth Intake is towards the end of April so we've got a while to go yet. 

[Jimbokav1971]

January transfer window. Jan 2030. 

I was hoping that we would be able to sell at least 1 of our players in this window, but I would have much preferred it was a midfielder or a striker. We've lost our best centre-half for £525,000 to S. Gijón of LaLiga.

In return I'be brought in 2 players to cover for him, but the 2nd player is on loan and I can't play him because he isn't getting paid enough.  

I don't mind losing Monkam (CMR)(FRA) 6'2" at all. In fact I wouldn't mind if a few of our other players had their min fee clauses met. It's the whole reason why I'm signing young players. 

Diakité (CIV)(FRA) is ok, but nothing more. He hasn't got the real physicality that the position needs, but I didn't want to be short of numbers in the 2nd half of the season. 

Radebe (RSA) is the player I brought in on loan, (or to be more accurate, the player I asked the DoF to bring in on loan). I never thought to think about his wages and as a result we can't play him and I also can't cancel the loan in the 1st month. I actually like him though so will see if I can sign him permanently. Actually, I can play him. I forgot that I can drop him to the Reserves and ge then becomes available for the 1st team, (but only 4 per match I think). I managed to get him to agree to a permanent contract, (his contract expires at the end of the season), only for Kaizers to trigger a +1 clause on him to cancel the deal. 

[_Ben_]

Bit late to the party this season but Valencia (and not even their B team) in the second tier?! Madness. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

Bit late to the party this season but Valencia (and not even their B team) in the second tier?! Madness. 

Yep, it's not even their 1st season at this level and there is absolutely no guarantee that it will be their last. 

Barcelona B obviously can't get promoted so effectively they're in 2nd place though. 

Valencia B on the other hand are as likely to get relegated from Tier 3 as they are promoted. 

Let's see if there are any other surprises that have gone without comment. 

2022/23. For years I thought that Girona was in Italy, and then when I found out that it wasn't in Italy I assumed it was in France. Even now, when I know iti's in Spain, I still double-take when I see their name. It's like I have some sort of mental block. 

Vallecano getting relegated in the 1st season is a bit of a surprise, (to someone who knows very little about Spanish football). 

2023/24.

2024/25.

2025/26.

Vallecano getting relegated for a 2nd time in the save suggests that at least they went back up. 

2026/27.

Huesca & Valladolid also getting relegated for a 2nd time during the save. The thing about these yo-yo clubs is that they still have an enormous advantage over the LaLiga2 teams because the TV money in LaLiga2 is about £5.25M but the TV money in LaLiga is somewhere in the region of £50M, so every time they spend a season in the top tier they are approx £45M better off than all their competition in LaLiga2 the following season. 

2027/28.

Granada getting relegated for the 2nd time in the save and Valencia becoming the biggest name to drop down. 

2028/29.

Alaves becoming the 5th side to be relegated twice during this save. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2029. 

LaLiga SmartBank. A much better month and would surely have seen 12 points from 12 had we not had a red card in the 16th min against FC Andorra. I know we didn't win, but playing with 10 men for so long I'm delighted just to not lose. As well as smashing 6 goals past Córdoba, we also hit the woodwork twice and should have had about 10. 

Copa de Su Majestad el Rey. Our Reserves lost narrowly to Alicante, but there wasn't much in it and it could have gone either way. Our priority is the league and I'm not bothered in the slightest by this. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Not even any shots this month. 

FInances. 

Woodwork. We've hit the woodwork 17 times in 25 games. It feels like much more often than that. 

[MadCatPT]

Are you keeping the woodwork hitters statistics? Can't wait to see who wins the keep chopping wood award in the end of the season. 

Good to see things improving.

[Sonic Youth]

A point off the playoffs and it’s getting into the final third of the season.

Zaragoza always surprises me that they aren’t in La Liga. Valencia really shouldn’t be there, snd feels like when Atletico Madrid were relegated while having Hasselbank (reason he moved to Chelsea).

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2030.

LaLiga SmartBank. It's a decent month with 7 points in the bag, but once again it could and should have been more. We absolutely battered Valladolid, (and hit the woodwork 3 times), and although we lost to Luga, it was a tight game and of course we hit the woodwork again. It was our 1st loss in 12 games. We're in the playoff positions though and Huesca are dropping like a bomb with 0 wins from their last 5 games. Zaragoza also dropping out of contention with no wins in 7 league games. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 1 shot. 1 shot on target. 1 goal. 

 

Woodwork. We've hit the woodwork 23 times in 29 games. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, MadCatPT said:

Are you keeping the woodwork hitters statistics? Can't wait to see who wins the keep chopping wood award in the end of the season. 

Good to see things improving.

I've not been keeping notes, but Crespo would be way top of the list. 

He's scored 18 goals in 23(3) appearances, but I think that about 12 of the woodwork being hit is down to him. 

[Jimbokav1971]

57 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

A point off the playoffs and it’s getting into the final third of the season.

Zaragoza always surprises me that they aren’t in La Liga. Valencia really shouldn’t be there, snd feels like when Atletico Madrid were relegated while having Hasselbank (reason he moved to Chelsea).

I will be honest here and admit that, (very much like Portugal last year), I have very little knowledge of Spanish domestic football. 

Zaragoza have been awful after missing out narrowly on promotion in the opening 2 seasons of the save. They've even spent a season in the 3rd tier. 

Without getting into umbrella payments, (I don't know if they exist in Spain), every season they spend out of LaLiga they lose approx £45M and the year they spent in the 3rd tier would have even cost them the £5M that they get while in LaLiga2. I'm guessing that what happened is that they had lots of players 

The truth though is that they have been in the 2nd tier for quite a long time now and whatever our opinion, (probably based on historic reputation), this is just how good they are now, (ie. not very). 

Their wage budget is only the 10th highest in the league, but they are at least competitive. 

I was about to say that they appear to be managed a little better now than earlier in the save, and then I saw that they are paying an attacking midfielder £99,500 per month, and a centre-half £55,000 per month. This is madness! They aren't even that good. Their recruitment/contract negotiation is awful. 

Valencia absolutely should be there, but the problem is that there are a few decent teams vying for promotion. Looking at Valladolid for example, they aren't going to go up this season and some of the wages they're paying are ridiculous! (10x players on £50k per month, 2 of them on £90k per month). These clubs seem to be paying a premium based on their reputation.  

[MadCatPT]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I've not been keeping notes, but Crespo would be way top of the list. 

He's scored 18 goals in 23(3) appearances, but I think that about 12 of the woodwork being hit is down to him. 

I blame you:

Drew 2-2 against 9 men... 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2030. 

LaLiga Smartbank. Our form is ok and we're still in the playoff spots, but we're still missing too many chances. We should be challenging for automatic promotion, (ridiculous I know), and maybe I should just be thankful that we're doing as well as we are. There are 11 games left and we're bang in contention for a playoff spot and a crack at promotion. 

Goal-scoring GK's. No shots again. 

Finances. 

Woodwork. We've hit the woodwork 24 times in 33 games.

(28c) Bermúdez 5'10". There have been no bids for him yet, but he was complaining that he was considering leaving on a free transfer when his contract expires, (he has 1 year left at the end of this season and I have a +1 clause on him), but nobody was interested so I wasn't too concerned. Suddenly everyone is interested. I gave him a £5M min fee clause, (because he was asking for something like £750k and Crespo only asked for £500k), and it would seem that this might have been a smart move. Unless someone meets his min fee clause I won't be selling him in the Summer, but will have to sell him the following season because I can't risk losing him on a free. 

Clauses. I have a few more players with some decent min fee release clauses, and I was hoping that some of them would have been met by now. Venezuelan International (23b) Escalona (VEN) * is the only one who is attracting interest at the moment and although Granada have a hefty wage budget, their finances are insecure so I doubt they will be meeting his £1.3M clause. 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, MadCatPT said:

I blame you:

Drew 2-2 against 9 men... 

It's contagious. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Apr 2030.

Preview.

Summary.

Squad by PA. 

Min Fee Release clause. I'm trying to use anything I can to help me to judge what's a good player on Youth Intake day. In recent intakes we know that Crespo wanted a min fee release clause of £500,000 in his contract at the outset and Bermúdez wanted £850,000. I upped both of them to £5,000,000 but really I'm looking for a patter to help me identify others. (30a) and (30b) both have 5.0 PA, but they only wanted £180,000 and £160,000 respectively, so I don't expect them to be as good. In fact everyone seemed to want £100,000 - £200,000 so maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree here. Looking at the Transfer Value alone, while (30b), (30c), (30f), (30g) & (30i) all look reasonable, I think these are influenced by CA more than PA and only (30a) looks actually good. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Player valuation. May 2030.

OMG! I've just noticed how much Crespo is worth. 

£69M -£82M 

We got £1.5M for him. 

[Jellico73]

Can always try the in contract negotiation, set a transfer fee  pretty high, and if they balk lower it?

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2030.

LaLiga2. We've been in great form this month. We started with a win against R.Madrid B (20th), but then dropped 2 big points at home to Eibar (19th). It was 1-0 wins against both Alaves (2nd) and Valencia (4th) that really made this month stand out. We then finished it off with a comfortable win against Tropezon (22nd).

The wins against Alaves & Valencia mean that for the very 1st time I'm wondering if automatic promotion is a possibility. We have 6 games left, (against 14th, 16th, 5th, 9th, 15th & 18th), so I think we have a decent chance. The problem is that only 2 of the 6 games are at home. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

Woodwork. We've hit the woodwork 25 times in 38 games. 

[Jimbokav1971]

9 minutes ago, Jellico73 said:

Can always try the in contract negotiation, set a transfer fee  pretty high, and if they balk lower it?

I upped the clause of (30a) and (30b) to £500,000 I'm hoping that their PA is good. 

I really like the look of (30c) & (30f) but I'm guessing that while their CA might be decent, they don't have the PA to go with it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2030. 

LaLiga2. I was gutted to lose the 1st game of the month, but we bounced back well to win the next 3. Miraculously we sit 3rd in the league, but it looks unlikely that we will catch Alaves for the automatic promotion spot. We're not even guaranteed a playoff spot quite yet, but a single point from our remaining 2 games will do that. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

Woodwork. We've hit the woodwork 27 times in 42 games.