FM23 Global (Less England) Small Club to Big Club Challenge

Rainbowz · November 15, 2022

Season Review 2024-25

OH MY GOD WE DID IT!! PROMOTION!!!

This has been an incredible season for us. Our new signings were amazing and I managed to get the best out of the players we already had. Morale was at a high all season and a lot of teams underperformed against us, but I don't care, we're promoted!

Next season is going to be interesting. We've got a cool £1m transfer budget to spend, but we've got a squad that is firmly National quality. I'm going to have to scour the globe and spend every penny to bring this team up to Ligue 2 quality. It's a very tough league and we'll need every bit of help we can get to survive.

Results: Sept-Dec| Jan-May

We never really hit a bad run and just kept accumulating points. Once we build up a streak of wins, our morale was sky high and we never really looked back. We had a strong cup run too, before finally succumbing to Ligue 2 leaders Reims, who were far too good for us.

Transfers In

LB | Ángel Quetglas (£8,500)

I'll stop buying Spanish regens when they stop being good. Quetglas looks like an incredible prospect at LB and could probably do an immediate job in the first team. I've loaned him back to San Francisco for the time being so he plays consistently, but don't be surprised to see him fighting for a starting role come the summer.

CB | Marcelinho (Free)

I was trawling through various u20 teams around the world when I stumbled across this guy playing for Brazil, yet available for free. For an 18 year old, he looks excellent and apparently has decent potential. We're very strong at the back currently, so how much he'll play immediately is unknown. But between himself and Molet, we might just have our centre-backs sorted for a while yet.

Transfers Out

CM | Jonathan Bealieu (£17,500)

One of the old guard who aren't quite what they used to be, Beaulieu wanted to move on and I wasn't going to stand in his way. Getting almost £20k for a player I wasn't using is great, no complaints over this deal.

CB | Malaine Camará (£7,500)

Though I only signed him in August, he was gone by January. Camara complained about his game time despite putting in poorer performances than the rest of my centre-backs. Not wanting an unhappy player to disrupt our morale, I let him go as soon as I could.

Key Players

#1 - Joe Hugill (7.46)

I mentioned I always liked this guy in previous games, but bloody hell he absolutely tore the National apart in our system. Playing as a pressing forward, Hugill terrorized defences all season, causing all kinds of issues and chipping in with a lot of goals himself. Whether he can cut it in the higher division remains to be seen, but I have every faith we'll do well with him leading the line.

#2 - Enzo Daoud (7.37)

Someone who I was initially considering replacing due to his poor form last season, this tactic has transformed Daoud into a lethal finisher as he scored 17 goals this season. He's definitely a great National league player, but I've got question marks over his effectiveness in Ligue 2. Time will tell if he retains his spot.

#3 - Bastian Badu (7.28)

This year was truly about the strikers, with all 3 being my top performers. Badu was the worst of the 3, but still one of the best in the league, getting 12 goals and 7 assists. I wasn't expecting too much from him, but he really shocked me this season. Like Daoud, I fear the National might be his limit and out of the three, he'd definitely be the first to go. Still, we'll see if he's earned a chance next season.

Next Season's Thoughts

It's all about survival next year. The gap between Ligue 2 and the National is huge and we have a lot of ground to make up. Not one of our players is considered Ligue 2 standard, and despite all being good in the National, I think the step up will be too much for many. Expect a lot of transfers in the summer as I get this squad into shape to attempt survival.

Year

Division

Predicted Position

Actual Position

Coupe de France

Trophée des champions

Europe

Top Player

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Avg. Attendance

Finances

Training/Youth Facilties

Junior Coaching/Recruitment

Extra Notes

2023/24

National

15th/18th

10th/18th

7th Round

N/A

Erwin Zelazny (6.92)

Adama Diakhaby (8)

Jonathan Beaulieu (4)

999

-£292,339

Below Average/Basic

Adequate/Basic

Tough season, losing money badly too

2024/25

National

13th/18th

2nd/18th

11th Round

N/A

Joe Hugill (7.46)

Joe Hugill (26)

Daniel Menéndez (13)

750

£-622,636

Below Average/Basic

Adequate/Basic

PROMOTION!!!!!!

Rainbowz · November 15, 2022

Oh and as an aside, one of my youth players wants to leave because I won't upgrade the training facilities and won't accept that the board said no...while we've been £600,000 in debt for most of the season...

Thebaker · November 15, 2022

@Rainbowzwell done on promotion. You look like you have a strong squad there, i always find that the staff under estimate the players ability.

I'm sure that a lot of that squad will do well in L2, i can't believe the standard of the spanish players you are getting in.

arnoldinho · November 15, 2022

Arnoldinho - Sparta Petegem (Belgium)

The Story So Far: Prologue - In Flanders' Fields

Season 1 - Opening Skirmishes

Transfers ¦ Squad ¦ Results - Autumn ¦ Results - Spring ¦ League Table ¦ Finances ¦ Supporters ¦ Manager Profile

Initial Squad

A look through the initial squad gave our man Ernie some cause for hope. But naturally having decided on a narrow shape during this save (for variety from my usual 4-3-3 and seeing the success others enjoyed with narrow formations on FM22), the best player was a winger! Gheerardyns was immediately set to train as a CM(A), and with Vanborm behind him at DM and Swennen ahead of him up front we thought we had the basis for a solid 4-1-3-2. With a passable goalkeeper and two reasonable defenders (a LB and a CB) as well, we went hunting to fill out the rest of the formation.

Offseason and Transfers

I realise I made a mistake in my opening post. I said the media prediction for the team was 13th, which it was, but only after summer transfers – when I took over it was rock bottom. A mark I think of how we were able to strengthen the squad in a limited way. As others have experienced, I found a lot of players were interested in theory in joining me, but ultimately chose other clubs over little old Sparta Petegem. I lost out on three midfielders to division rivals Oudenaarde alone. But we were able to sneak Amine Benchaib in to our squad before anyone else noticed. Good defenders however were really hard to come by, and I ended up signing three ageing players from lower league teams as stop-gaps.

The fact that the top sides have U23 squads at this tier or one above/below also meant that it was surprisingly difficult to find good loan options. In the end, I manually got my scouts to do team reports on all of the sides in the second tier, which turned up some useful prospects. I overpaid on wages for attacking full-back Jorge Mentens, but was also able to pick up a very exciting young midfielder Steve Likebeli and several backup options (not that I told their parent clubs that…) to bulk out the roster.

And then finally we rolled the dice on a new striker. Issaskar Gurirab had been recommended by a new scout I hired who had considerable Africa knowledge. A Namibian international, he was willing to consider a move to Belgium but only for a salary north of €1k a week, more than 10% of my wage budget. I demurred for the longest time, then – as I knew I would – panicked on the eve of the season and caved in to his demands. But recognising deep down that panic-signing a striker on top wages on the eve of the campaign almost guaranteed he’d be a flop, I even paid a bit more in order to ensure it was only a one-year contract: at least that way I could move on asap.

League Campaign: Eerste Nationale (Tier 3)

The start of the campaign was nothing short of astonishing. Despite a new team, new manager and new tactic, we came flying out of the traps winning our opening three games 3-0, 6-0 and 6-0. Far from being a flop, Gurirab was banging in goals all over the place – activating his 10 goals in the season bonus after just five games. I actually worried that I had stumbled upon some sort of exploit tactic. The rest of the autumn showed that wasn’t really the case – matches became tighter, but we continued to grind out lots of wins with the occasional big victory when defences couldn’t cope with our pacey front line chasing passes in to the channels: Swennen every bit as good as Gurirab. We tailed off towards the end of the first half of the season but went in to the short winter break sitting in 4th, one place off the promotion spots. It seemed clear that the second half of the season was going to be a six-horse race for three promotion places.

Beta finished and the full game came in during the winter break. I was worried it would nerf my tactics but actually the spring started reasonably with some tight matches where we were able to grind out wins alongside a few narrow defeats (it seemed like after Christmas the big clubs started sending more good players on loan to their affiliates which made those matches harder). Our leaky back line meant games were exciting, and there weren’t many draws. We slid down the table a little and promotion started to seem unlikely. But with 7 matches to go we were only 6 points off the promotion places with a game in hand, and with a mixture of cellar-dwellers and title rivals still to face we were at least still in the hunt.

Until the wheels fell off.

After a busy stint of games every three days, a tired team capitulated to meek defeats in matches we should have won against Winkel-Sport and Tubize-Braine before being humiliated by promotion rivals Lokeren-Temse. We just couldn’t pick ourselves up and finished abysmally, with only one point from those last seven games (ironically against Oudenaarde with their squad of midfielders I wanted). Eventually, in the six horse race for promotion we somehow finished seventh. A huge disappointment given what might have been.

Swennen cleaned up at the team end of season awards with fans player of the year, top average rating and even pipping Gurirab to the team scoring title 21-20 (although Gurirab missed several games on Namibia duty). Amine Benchaib made the Eerste Nationale team of the year.

Cups

Nothing to see here. We entered the Belgian cup a full month before the league season began, and when only half our squad was assembled. We beat a team we were supposed to beat by one goal before losing to a team we were supposed to lose to by one goal. No one was surprised, everyone was reasonably content, and on we went with the season.

Off the field

Both the board and supporters are delighted. The squad dynamics are good and they get on ok with our man Ernie (it would have been better if he’d not thrown his water bottle a few times in the last month of the season…). Social media followers have risen and we hope to see a corresponding rise in season ticket sales next year. We were able to re-sign Gurirab (phew!). But the finances are already a mess. We lost over €600k on the year despite me being within the wage budget. Indeed, even with a wage budget of 0 we would have lost money… I feared the board were going to slash budgets as a result, but they’ve actually increased the wage budget for next year slightly. Instead they cut my number of allowed scouts to zero! Fortunately, the current group are still under contract so we're ok for now. Still, we probably do need to start moving up the leagues relatively quickly to avoid getting stuck in a financial black hole.

Reflections and next steps

A classic case of an outcome I would have been delighted with at the start of the year feeling like a total failure by the end of it. As a result of that, and the unknown of how many good players the top tier sides will send to their U23 teams, I find it hard to know what a realistic expectation for next season is. But I do think we need to aim for promotion within the next two seasons at most.

The inevitable clear out of the squad has begun with various dead wood leaving, and my plan is to go for quantity over quality – building as good a first team as I can and then supplementing that with non-contract players and loanees to bulk out the squad. I’ve just managed to bag Club Brugge as a senior affiliate which should help, although they do also have a U23 team in the tier above us who they might prioritise for their best loanees. However we acquire them, defenders are top of the list for an upgrade: we need to be quicker, with better positioning and anticipation, especially in this Match Engine.

DazRTaylor · November 16, 2022

Unfortunately, the Netherlands isn't available due to the suspension of relegation from the second tier. So here we go in Germany. I will be dipping in and out of this save so updates will be sporadic.

Club Introduction

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen

The Manager

This is me.

Personal Contract

Season     Contract Start Date     Contract Expiry Date     Pre Tax Wage     Post Tax Wage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start          20 June 2023             30 June 2024       £1,400 p/w          £925 p/w

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications     Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                 1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Adequate             Adequate          Adequate              Average          Fairly Basic       National   (2.00*)

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Time At Club
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transfer Purchase Record

Date               Player                    Position               Club Purchased From          Country                   Transfer Fee
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transfer Sale Record

Date               Player                    Position               Club Sold To                 Country                   Transfer Fee
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------



Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     DFB-Pokal                    Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edited November 17, 2022 by DazRTaylor

_JHTB_ · November 16, 2022

Hogaborgs BK

Season 3 – Division 1 Sodra – 2^nd Promoted Via Playoffs

Transfers – Best XI – Squad – Key Player – Hot Prospect – Supporter Profile

Overview

Transfer Window:

Incomings: Another off season where we made a number of signings, this time including a few loans. Unlike previous seasons the new players this time round weren’t signed to be automatic starters as we look to start to get some semblance of consistency in the squad. The key signings were probably Tim Van Assema ,a utility midfielder who if needed could play centre back, and Erlend Jacobsen an upgrade in the goalkeeper position. Towards the end of the season with suspensions and injuries, I did bring in a few short term options to bolster the ranks that will likely not get any contract extension.

Outgoings: Not many players out on loan this season, all of the outgoings though no where near the first team so I was happy to let them go.

League: A league up, and a great start to the season, defensively superb. Aside from two consolation goals we conceded in second half stoppage time in our opening two games we did not concede in our opening 7 games. When we did concede, twice in 2 minutes in the next game, we did start to falter somewhat after our strong start winning just 3 of our next 11 games dropping from our early table topping position and a fair few points off even second. Despite our poor form we were still showing as top of the xG league table which was positive and negative in equal measure, positive that we were creating well, negative, we were poor at finishing.

We did start to turn it around however picking up an important 2-1 victory against the then second placed team Falkenbergs FF. We soon found ourselves back in the driving seat for 2^nd place, until we drew 0-0 with 3 matches to go despite putting up an xG of 2.3 which meant it was out of our hands. Somehow, Falkenbergs, who had leapfrogged us, somehow lost 3-0 to the team who had long since been relegated in what was only their 3^rd win of the season (our aggregate against the same team was 7-0). This meant we needed to win on the final day and we had secured playoffs – in the end, despite only winning by 1 goal it was a comfortable win with our opponents scoring 2 consolation goals in the last few minutes.

In the playoffs first leg we went 1 down to a first half penalty, and the rest of the game were very wasteful, missing the target on the vast majority of our shots but were the team in the ascendency and eventually got our just reward in grabbing an equaliser to draw the game where really we aught to have won. The second leg was much more even, but we were more clinical grabbing two early goals to put us in a strong position. Whilst we had chances to extend our lead further, they were also knocking and grabbed a goal back early in the second half from a defensive mishap. Fortunately, we ultimately managed to hang on to our lead and with it secured back to back promotions.

Cup: We were not in any cups this season, so nothing to mention here.

Next Season/General

This season I had no idea what to expect, but our strong start to the season was a good litmus test for how we shaped up against the rest of the league. In the end, had we not reached the playoffs at least it would have been somewhat unjust with us actually underperforming when it comes to the xG league table which had us finishing top.

We now are promoted to the professional leagues, so there is a lot of contracts that need to be converted from the team and several players I’m sure now making unfeasible demands for wages so I’m envisioning our toughest offseason and one where I need to be much less scattergun than I have been previously. A key issue with our team this season was not putting the ball in the net as often as we should have, but really I feel we will need bodies all over the pitch.

Next season we really shouldn’t be doing anything other than aiming for survival, we’ve arguably risen too quickly as our reputation will make signings difficult but we can hopefully reap the benefits of being professional with additional training to improve those already at the club.

Players of note

William Nilsson – Another strong season from Nilsson in the heart of what ended up being the best defense in the league. He rarely plays badly for us and is a pretty well rounded player all told. I guess next season he may be past his limit, but I won’t write him off.

Daniel Sellevoll – Sellevoll didn’t have as prolific a season as last, however, unlike many of our players he was outscoring his xG and putting in good performances, ending as our top scorer with a respectable 14. Alongside that he also put up the most assists in the team with 7.

Erlend Jacobsen - Goalkeeper wasn’t actually an area we were too weak last season, but Jacobsen was an upgrade and available and he did not disappoint. He equalled the league record for clean sheets managing 13 though that could have been much better as we had 5 from just 7 games. Really, he performed exactly as expected, conceding as many as he was expected to but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Overview

Thebaker · November 16, 2022

@_JHTB_ Great season there, i've played in Sweden a lot and have always found it hard to get back to back promotions. Have you turned pro, previously i didn't until reaching the Allsvenskan due to low rep/finances.

rlipscombe · November 16, 2022

great to see some promotions - well done @_JHTB_ and @Rainbowz. fantastic stuff. Just trying to work my way through pre-season at the moment, seeing if the save is one to grab my attention so to speak

_JHTB_ · November 16, 2022

1 hour ago, Thebaker said:

@_JHTB_ Great season there, i've played in Sweden a lot and have always found it hard to get back to back promotions. Have you turned pro, previously i didn't until reaching the Allsvenskan due to low rep/finances.

I'm a bit surprised we managed it, though we were about mid-table predicted by the media so we had a fairly strong promoted squad (though still a welcome surprise to manage it, especially through the playoffs).

Yeah, as soon as promotion was confirmed we immediately went professional, so undoubtedly will be losing money at a higher rate than we have previously.

59 minutes ago, rlipscombe said:

great to see some promotions - well done @_JHTB_ and @Rainbowz. fantastic stuff. Just trying to work my way through pre-season at the moment, seeing if the save is one to grab my attention so to speak

Thanks -- Where have you landed for your at least pre-season?

rlipscombe · November 16, 2022

2 hours ago, _JHTB_ said:

Thanks -- Where have you landed for your at least pre-season?

no spoilers... BUT

"benvenuto in Italia"

arnoldinho · November 16, 2022

Congratulations @_JHTB_ and @Rainbowz! Sandwiched between two fantastic promotion updates, I can see I’ve got my work cut out! :lol:

@rlipscombe hope this new save “sticks” - look forward to hearing about it once you’re settled in.

Rainbowz · November 17, 2022

Season Preview 2025-26

Well, we're promoted before I expected it, so we've got to make a good go at survival. Our squad definitely wasn't good enough to stay up as it was, so I've been busy and have made a number of good signings to help us stay up. We don't have the reputation to fight the bigger teams in our division, so lost out on a few players, but I'm still happy with the business we've done.

Transfers In

GK | Landing Badji (£35,000)

We really needed improvements in the goalkeeper department and Badji provides a huge upgrade. Highlighted by my scouts, he looks like a good all-round goalkeeper for this level with a little bit of potential. His one on ones leave a bit to be desired, but he can play out from the back and I'm confident on relying on him as our #1.

RB | Egno Damasceno (Free)

A real talent here, Egno should have been our starting RB this season. However, Ligue 2's non-EU player rules mean I was forced to send him out on loan as I couldn't register him. Hopefully he'll improve while out on loan, ready to nail his spot down for a hopefully still Ligue 2 Wasquehal.

CB | Josué Homawoo (Free)

With Marcelinho going out on loan, we needed more options at the back which Homawoo provides. He's basically the better Ouro-Sama and is importantly left-footed. He'll likely be partnering Molet at the back for us, and hopefully they can form a strong partnership.

CB | Souleymane Cisse (Loan)

Once again, we were light at the back, so Cissé is brought in to provide some much-needed depth. He likely won't start for us, but should see plenty of game time providing cover and coming on when our starters get tired. Not a stunning signing, but an important one nonetheless.

CM | Alassan Faye (£85,000)

We needed a lot of improvement across the midfield, so Faye was one of the first signings I made. He's an excellent player with ability all-round. He can pretty much play any role across the midfield, which could be pivotal if I need to switch systems. He can do it all and is the type of player I love to have at my disposal.

CM | Rodgers Nyirenda (£190,000)

Our record signing so far, Rodgers looks like an incredibly exciting prospect in the centre of midfield. Alright with excellent physicals and mentals for his age, a few stat improvements in his technicals could see this guy being a star. He'll be rotated a bit across the midfield, but it wouldn't shock me to see him nail down a starting role soon.

CM | Ryan Teague (£145,000)

Bolstering out our CM department is Teague, an exciting-looking midfielder who'd been treading water in Portugal. Like the others, he's excellent all-round but I intend to use him as a Mezzala, taking advantage of his more attacking abilities. The competition at CM is tight, but that's not a good thing with Teague giving us another strong option

RW | Sil Zijm (Loan)

Arriving with an incredible name, Zijm gives us a different threat in our attack which we're lacking, pace. He'll absolutely be a backup for the season, but will be thrown on should we need more energy or a different approach. I'm excited to see what he'll bring to an otherwise slower attack.

LW | Juanda Fuentes (Loan)

With my new tactic, I was in need of a good, capable left-winger and Fuentes is certainly that. He walks straight into our first team and provides some real quality in the wide areas. He's extremely versitile and will likely play a large part in any success this season.

ST | Júnior Santos (Free)

I said I might look to bring in some improvements up front, and Santos is exactly that. He brings a lot of experience from high levels of the game and looks an excellent striker at this level. No standout stats, but he's not lacking anywhere either. I'm hoping he can slot into our lethal attack from last season and provide that slight level-up we need for this division.

Transfers Out

I released a few players who either weren't good enough or wanted too much money. Ouro-Sama and Gomez-Mancini are the main ones. I already mentioned Damascento's loan, so no need to showcase him here.

CB | Marcelinho (Loan)

The 2 non-EU player rule bit me this summer as I had to send Marcelinho out on loan. Ideally he'd have featured quite heavily at CB for us, but at least he's getting gametime and should develop. I'll be keeping an eye on his development for sure. If we're stuck in this division for a while, he sadly may have to leave to free up that valuable spot.

Squad

Honestly, I can't complain about the squad we have. It's about as good as I could've hoped. Sadly the best players available either wanted money we couldn't afford, or were lured away by much more reputable team but we still got some excellent guys in. We've got depth, options, plenty of potential and a couple of standouts. Hopefully they're all up for a challenge.

Season Preview

To no-one's surprise, we're predicted to finish bottom and I'm not surprised. Comparing us to just about every other team, we're lacking across the board and it'll be a mammoth effort to avoid the drop. That said, we've made a lot of changes and we defied the odds last year. Time will tell if we're good enough for Ligue 2.

Results So Far

After a disastrous pre-season, it's been a rocky start to life in Ligue 2. Our best players are equivalent to rotation options of other teams, while their squad players would walk into my starting 11. That said, we did manage a win against fellow strugglers Nimes and against Laval. This season is just going to be about stealing points where we can and hoping it's enough to avoid the drop.

Expected Lineup

Badji

Berbe - Molet - Homawoo - Stephen

Teague - Faye

Menéndez ------------------------ Fuentes

Hugill - Júnior Santos

I've gone back to something more conventional this season. The 3 strikers worked when we were one of the better teams, but in this league it leaves us too exposed, and our strikers aren't good enough to run over the opposition. We're still quite attacking, but we've got more balance on the pitch which should sure us up defensively.

Thebaker · November 18, 2022

I had a lot more options for players willing to join and signed quite a few but it didn't paid off and after an 8 game winless streak the board sacked me as i was fighting relegation not in the top half of the league as they expected.

I have restarted in Sweden and gone for a very different club in Enkopings SK.

Profile

With only slightly better facilities they are considerably richer, bringing in 110K in sponsorship and membership fees (Malmo city got 6.3K a year). This is less surprising when their recent history is shown being in the top division 20 years ago and the 2nd tier only 15 years ago.

They have some decent players but are short of numbers, the board only want to avoid relegation which is very modest aspirations.

Lower Leagues Rule · November 18, 2022

Zeph Calder’s Spanish Adventure
Club Deportivo La Virgen del Camino

Segunda División RFEF 1 2023/24
End of Season Update

Overview
Predicted: 16th
Actual: 4th
Copa del Rey: Second Round vs Espanyol
The Manager: Jono Capewell - History
Finances: (€105k) [119th Esp]
Season Tickets: 204 (NC)
The Squad: First XI, B Team, Under 19s
Transfers: Part I, & II

Competitions Update
Segunda División RFEF 4
Table | Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

This was a crazy season, we started with the 5-0 win away from home against a team who ended up finishing 7th in the league, in just two weeks time we had another 5-0 win as we beat UM Escobedo in a great result. We went on to go unbeaten through our first 11 games, winning 9 of them, and taking the top spot in the league. Then it started to stumble, as from November to March we never won two games in a row, at one point it looked like we might miss the playoffs even with our great start. It took going unbeaten in April & May for us to actually make the playoffs. We were in very good form, and only 2 goals from the record scored in the league history, in the final game we faced a team heading to the relegation playoffs, was certain we could break the record, in the end it wasn't to be as we fought out a 0-0 draw, and head to the Playoffs

Segunda Division Playoff Semi Final
CD La Virgen 3:3 RSD Alcalá
Francisco (62), Arana (70), Jorge (107)
This was a bit of a crazy game, we went down by 2 early on, but in the second half had a pair of great goals that gave us a chance and sent the game to Extra time, where they scored in the first half, and we scored in the second, but we had to keep attacking as the playoff rules in Spain are that the higher ranked team goes through if tied after Extra Time. So we missed the Final on this fact. A good game and in the end I was proud of the season in the end,

Copa del Rey

First Round
CD La Virgen e2:1 CF Fuenlabrada
Jorge (65), Arana (93)
A team two divisions above us, I didn't expect us to even compete, but when we kept it tight all game long and went to Extra time, I decided to push, and it worked out as we won with te Arana goal in the 93rd minute.

Second Round
CD La Virgen 2:3 RCD Espanyol
Rodriguez (45+2), Miraz (59)
This game was complete the opposite, but actually what I expected, they were in Liga 2 this season, but in the end they were completely dominant, they lead 3-0 as we came towards the break, we managed to sneak a single goal back before the half from a corner, and a second after the break, it mean we had a bit of a shot to tie it up late, but were never really competitive in this one.

Club History

Club Deportivo La Virgen del Camino
		League		Cups	Europe
Year	Division	Odds	Pos	Copa del Rey	Comp	Finish	Season Ticket	Achievements
2023/24	Segunda División RFEF G1	16th	4th	2nd Round	N/A	N/A	204	Promotion Playoffs

Players Update
First Team | B Team | Under 19s | Statistics | Shirt Sales

Transfers
Transfers 1 | Transfers 2

I am not going to add the massive lists here, the majority are in my Preseason post, so you can look there. I will add that since then I added two more important players for the next season's squad, and one possible youth star (We'll see)

Transfers In
Date	Player	Pos	From	Fee

24.01.24	Rafa Coll	DRLC	Manzanares	€0
18.02.24	David Iglesias	AMRL/ST	Free	€0
03.03.24	Anatz Elezondo	MC	Free	€0

Rafa Coll is good across the back, and looks to have great potential, so looking forward to seeing him develop and maybe get some game time.
David Iglesias is our replacement for the Right Wing, Matos had some real performance issues, so gone for an upgrade who also has skills in other spots as well.
Anatz Elezondo was an improvement for the midfield as well, again just trying to upgrade some weaknesses.

The Squad

Note: Player images are in the tables, just click their names

Goalkeepers

Pablo Huélamo	(GK) [ESP - 20]	Gms	Conc	Cln	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		37 (0)	48	12	3	0/0	7.04
Career		37 (0)	48	12	3	0/0	7.04

José Ortega (22), Jorge Méndez (16)
Huélamo managed to concede just over 1 goal per game, and get a clean sheet in every 3rd game, the youngsters never got a chance to play for us. In the offseason I might need to look for a better back-up as this is really not our strongest position, but getting a good back-up who is happy with a small contract where they only get paid if they play is hard. Mendez has a lot of potential, but getting there without game time will be a pain.

Fullbacks

Yago Rodríguez	(DR) [ESP - 26]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		35 (0)	10	5	2	5/0	7.22
Career		35 (0)	10	5	2	5/0	7.22

Mikel Córdoba	(DL) [ESP - 20]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		36 (0)	3	2	1	6/0	7.05
Career		36 (0)	3	2	1	6/0	7.05

Iván Nieto	(DL) [ESP - 19]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		1 (16)	0	1	0	0/0	6.83
Career		1 (16)	0	1	0	0/0	6.83

Jorge Sánchez Rodríguez	(DRL) [ESP - 16]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		2 (12)	0	0	0	2/0	6.76
Career		2 (12)	0	0	0	2/0	6.76

Rafa Coll (16)
You can see almost straight away why I need to improve this spot. Actually the goals by Yago who as been playing near post at corners really make this looks a bit silly. Right back is the one position I want to improve more than anything else, I have signed a new back-up, and we have Rafa Coll who can play right across the back. Rodriguez was really only good at scoring, he struggled the rest of the game, and was meant to be our defensive full back. Cordoba was meant to get forward more often, but didn't actually provide the crossing I was looking for either, he is likely to stick around as I cannot find many players better than him for the slot right now. Both of them were also very tired during games, mean we had subs in every single game throughout the season. Neither of the replacements really showed out, but they are both at least young. Rafa Coll is my "Next big thing" let's see if he could actually develop.

Centre Backs

Ferney Mosquera	(DC) [COL - 21]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		36 (0)	0	1	0	8/0	7.08
Career		36 (0)	0	1	0	8/0	7.08

Luis Prados	(DC) [ESP - 24]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		29 (7)	0	9	4	6/0	7.27
Career		29 (7)	0	9	4	6/0	7.27

Alin Stefan Anton	(DC) [ESP - 20]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		9 (22)	1	2	0	3/1	6.81
Career		9 (22)	1	2	0	3/1	6.81

Dani Estramil	(DC) [ESP - 20]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		0 (3)	0	0	0	1/0	6.8
Career		0 (3)	0	0	0	1/0	6.8

Ángel Escrich (17), Gabriel Benítez (16)
Mosquera was very clearly the best player in our centre, Prados seems to have got much better average rating, but I suspect that relates to Rodriguez's goals, as Prados was the corner taker. Anton looked solid when he played, and then with suspensions I gave some games to Estramil at the end of the season, I think he is a good possible replacement. Probably the position I need to improve the most, but I do have a pair of youth players who could step in as well.

Midfielders

Francisco	(MC) [ESP - 20]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		32 (0)	9	1	1	2/0	7.22
Career		32 (0)	9	1	1	2/0	7.22

Mario Ordoñez	(MC) [ESP - 24]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		25 (8)	3	5	2	0/0	7.25
Career		25 (8)	3	5	2	0/0	7.25

Jorge Suárez	(MC/AMC) [ESP - 28]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		17 (11)	2	8	3	0/0	7.15
Career		17 (11)	2	8	3	0/0	7.15

Iago Barreiro (21)
We really need some depth here, Francisco is a star, and I have signed Elizondo to be the second central player for the new season. Ordoñez was a solid fill in, but he will be the back-up in the new season, hopefully I can find someone better than Barreiro for the next season to help out here. Suarez was solid, but nothing better, but he was clearly getting worse as he continued through the season.

Wingers

Artai Miraz	(AMRLC) [ESP - 27]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		37 (0)	12	6	2	3/0	6.98
Career		37 (0)	12	6	2	3/0	6.98

Álex Matos	(AMR) [ESP - 31]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		32 (3)	6	2	3	1/0	6.99
Career		32 (3)	6	2	3	1/0	6.99

Francisco Rolle	(AMRL) [ESP - 24]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		0 (6)	0	0	0	0/0	6.87
Career		0 (6)	0	0	0	0/0	6.87

Rachid Rami (15), Pablo (16)
Miraz was very good on the left, but Matos was better at the start of the season, and then he started to fall off the scale he needed to be. I have already signed a replacement for Right wing, but expect more moves here as well. Double digit goals for Miraz mostly came as he cut inside and had the ball fed to him. The youngsters Rami & Pablo could be great if I could get them to develop, but that is something I have trouble with in the lower leagues.

Attacking Mids

Quique	(AMRC) [ESP - 27]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		21 (2)	4	3	1	3/0	7.00
Career		21 (2)	4	3	1	3/0	7.00

Xiker Arana	(MC/AMC) [ESP - 22]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		21 (2)	3	3	1	1/0	6.72
Career		21 (2)	3	3	1	1/0	6.72

Rubén Morales (15)
I started the season with Quique in the role, he fell off midseason and I tried Arana, he was good in spurt, but really inconsistent I need to build a better attacking mid for this to work. Morales looks like a great prospect, if I could develop him then it will work.

Strikers

Jorge	(ST) [ESP - 22]	Gms	Gls	Ast	PoM	Y/R	Avg Rat
2023/24		37 (0)	18	6	2	0/0	6.89
Career		37 (0)	18	6	2	0/0	6.89

Andreu Drets (18)
Well only need one striker when he scores every second game, we struggled to find a sub for him, but Drets ended up being the best, I think he might stay as the back-up next season as well.

Records & Awards Update
Records | Awards | Best XI | Overall XI

Club Awards Night
Fan's Player of the Year: Luis Prados
Young Player of the Season: Mario Ordoñez
Signing of the Season: Pablo Huélamo
Goal of the Season: Francisco

Season Records
Most Goals: Jorge [18]
Most Assists: Luis Prados [9]
Most Clean Sheets: Pablo Huélamo [12]
Most PoM: Luis Prados [3]

Career Records
Most League Appearances: Álex Matos [178]
Most League Goals: Álex Matos [16]

Player Records
Youngest: Jorge Sánchez Rodríguez [16yrs 148d]
Oldest: Álex Matos [31yrs 178d]
Youngest Goalscorer: Francisco [19yrs 207d]
Oldest Goalscorer: Álex Matos [31yrs 129d]

Match Sequence Records
Wins in a Row: 5 (15.10.23 - 12.11.23)
Unbeaten Streak: 11 (10.09.23 - 12.11.23)
Losing Streak: 3 (17.03.24 - 31.03.24)
Goalscoring Streak: 13 (10.09.23 - 26.11.23)

Match Records
Most Goals: Yaya Rodriguez [3] vs Unión Montañesa Escobedo (24.09.23)
Biggest Win: 5-0 vs Club Deportivo Arenteiro (10.09.23)
Biggest Loss: 1-4 vs Real Santander "B" (11.02.24)
Highest Scoring: 5-4 vs Unión Popular de Langreo (05.05.24)

Lower Leagues Rule · November 19, 2022

ust got the known Scouts bug.
If your scouting budget hits zero your number of allowed Scouts drops to 0, a real pain if you want to sign new ones.
Just in case anyone else sees it there is definitely a report, and acknowledge, should reset at end of season turnover (Will update here if mine resets)

Thebaker · November 19, 2022

@Lower Leagues Rule- good first season, the cup run was needed to help the finances which are always terrible in spain at that level. Spain does have incredible youngsters as well.

I can't get over how many transfers you made in, i rarely have more than 20 players and the u-19s so they don't get upset.

i also just get gazumphed for nearly every transfer and then sign a few poor players through the season.

DazRTaylor · November 19, 2022

End of Season Review

Season 2023/24

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen

Season Summary

It was a season of disappointment as we struggled to pick up many wins and had to settle for a tenth place finish.

Season Details

League Table - We sneaked into the top half during the run in.

League Fixtures 1 & 2 - We could never string a run of decent results together.

Friendlies - It was a very tough pre season campaign as we suffered quite a few defeats.

Squad - We are much better than we have shown this season.

Squad Dynamics - It is rather good though wasn't always this way as we struggled to pick up results.

Transfers In 1 & 2 - I overhauled the squad and increased the quality.

Transfers Out 1 & 2 - I allowed a lot of the fringe players to leave and raised around £185,000 in transfer fees.

Youth Candidates - Left winger Paweł Cheba YP24B2 is the best prospect out of a fairly decent intake.

Finances - Oh dear. We are hemorrhaging cash and need to sell some players.

Key Players

Robin Meißner - Our best player this year, the German striker scored 19 goals in 36 appearances.

Leon Müller - With his best position being defensive midfield, he played the anchor role with aplomb. He had a terrific year.

Nico Klaß - The experienced central defender is capable of playing better than he has this season.

Jaydon Banel - Our best loan signing of the season, the Dutch teenager from Ajax can play on either wing.

Reull Walters - The teenage English right signed on loan from Arsenal and he was very disappointing. He has the ability, but he just didn't show it.

Next Season

I would love to push for promotion.

Personal Contract

Season     Contract Start Date     Contract Expiry Date     Pre Tax Wage     Post Tax Wage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start          20 June 2023             30 June 2024       £1,400 p/w          £925 p/w
2023/24       30 November 2023             30 June 2025       £2,700 p/w ↑      £1,800 p/w ↑

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications     Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                 1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1
2023/24    Minimal = (1.00*) ↑   National C ↑         5 ↑   5 ↑   2 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =   5 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑   4 =   1 =   5 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑  11 ↑   5 ↑   6 ↑

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Adequate             Adequate          Adequate              Average          Fairly Basic       National   (2.00*)
2023/24    Adequate =           Adequate =        Adequate =            Average =        Fairly Basic =     National = (2.00*) =

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24      38        13       13       12           65             55                 +10              34.21%

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage     Time At Club
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24          38        13       13       12          65              55                 +10               34.21%            333 days

Transfer Purchase Record

Date               Player                    Position                              Club Purchased From          Country                   Transfer Fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transfer Sale Record

Date               Player                    Position                              Club Sold To                 Country                   Transfer Fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27 June 2023       Kerem Yalcin              Central Defence/Defensive Midfield    Manisa Futbol Kulübü         Turkey                          £9,250
 3 July 2023       Nico Petritt              Right Back                            1. FC Magdeburg              Germany                        £24,500
 4 July 2023       Nils Winter               Right Back                            1. FC Magdeburg              Germany                        £26,000
 4 July 2023       Sebastian Mai             Central Midfield                      SV Meppen                    Germany                        £27,000

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------


Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     DFB-Pokal          Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       3. Liga                              10th          N/a             A mediocre season.

arnoldinho · November 19, 2022

12 hours ago, Lower Leagues Rule said:

ust got the known Scouts bug.
If your scouting budget hits zero your number of allowed Scouts drops to 0, a real pain if you want to sign new ones.
Just in case anyone else sees it there is definitely a report, and acknowledge, should reset at end of season turnover (Will update here if mine resets)

Yes, that’s what just happened! It reset with the new season and I didn’t lose any scouts in the meantime (phew!).

Perhaps a more interesting question then is why my scouting budget went in to the red in the first place. I bought a package I could afford and didn’t scout individuals outside of that range. Does scouting individuals within your range also cost? I had thought not from the message that comes up in game but maybe I misread/it wasn’t clear.

Thebaker · November 19, 2022

59 minutes ago, arnoldinho said:

Yes, that’s what just happened! It reset with the new season and I didn’t lose any scouts in the meantime (phew!).

Perhaps a more interesting question then is why my scouting budget went in to the red in the first place. I bought a package I could afford and didn’t scout individuals outside of that range. Does scouting individuals within your range also cost? I had thought not from the message that comes up in game but maybe I misread/it wasn’t clear.

Yes, it tell you how much it costs on one of the screens, about £160 per player i saw.

Lower Leagues Rule · November 19, 2022

9 hours ago, Thebaker said:

@Lower Leagues Rule- good first season, the cup run was needed to help the finances which are always terrible in spain at that level. Spain does have incredible youngsters as well.

I can't get over how many transfers you made in, i rarely have more than 20 players and the u-19s so they don't get upset.

i also just get gazumphed for nearly every transfer and then sign a few poor players through the season.

Thanks Baker,
What I do in my offseasons, but in particular in the first one is to try and get every player who is free and has an interest in joining us to come on a trial (I try to do 4 weeks, for reasons I'll explain)
I start with my weakest position and bring in 30 players at a time, once they are in the team I get an estimate of how good they are, if there are more than 30 for a position I keep the best 5 or so, plus anyone 21 & under who has potential, and bring the rest in.
Once I have seen all of the ones that I can at that position I keep the best 5, and the youngsters. I put an offer to the best player on trial (Never more than Reg Starter, less if I can), and usually the best youngster (as a back-up)
I then start on the next position.
Now the reason for the 4 week trials comes in here, if a player rejects then I have the next best still available on trial and can instantly switch to them.

I work my way through the squad from weakest position to strongest, this way I can at least get an idea of how players are doing

Oh and I also check the starting staff, and whoever has the highest "Current Ability" scouting I set to be the one giving the coach reports (This way I get the best possible look at the players)
It takes a fair amount of effort, but it does mean I get the players who are interested and the best ability in without having too many complaints about play time (I dealt with 3 through this season - mostly cases where the back-up beat out the starter)
I have more in future seasons, but I generally talk to player and offer loan move, as generally if they are complaiing I am not using them, so a loan will work, and having depth helps. (Also the B team salary doesn't count to your wages, so you can actually put them there if they don't complain)

I really enjoy lower league spain, lots of good youngsters, and some good games

Lower Leagues Rule · November 19, 2022

@DazRTaylor A solid first season there, getting mid table is good for any first season, I am usually happy if I avoid the relegations spots, then build slowly.

rlipscombe · November 19, 2022

@Lower Leagues Rule – good solid first season there – can’t grumble with that. Fantastic update as well as always. Jorge looks decent up front – can’t argue with that goal ratio. Good luck next season. As for the number of new signings, that is similr to my approach – plenty of trials for four weeks – gies time to properly assess them and whether they are suitable.

@DazRTaylor – solid first season there – I wouldn’t get too disappointed with that one. Good luck for next season.

As for me, i THINK i might be settled on a team. working wat through pre-season but i THINK this might stick. In line with some of my most enjoyable (and successful) saves, playing with teams that have previously plyed higher up the pyramid, and invariably play near water, i give you....... I Rossazzurri (The Red and Blues), Gli Elefanti (The Elephants), Gli Etnei (The Etneans)... Catania

Lower Leagues Rule · November 20, 2022

4 hours ago, rlipscombe said:

Love it, and a beautiful logo as well.

Thebaker · November 20, 2022

15 hours ago, Lower Leagues Rule said:

Thanks Baker,
What I do in my offseasons, but in particular in the first one is to try and get every player who is free and has an interest in joining us to come on a trial (I try to do 4 weeks, for reasons I'll explain)
I start with my weakest position and bring in 30 players at a time, once they are in the team I get an estimate of how good they are, if there are more than 30 for a position I keep the best 5 or so, plus anyone 21 & under who has potential, and bring the rest in.
Once I have seen all of the ones that I can at that position I keep the best 5, and the youngsters. I put an offer to the best player on trial (Never more than Reg Starter, less if I can), and usually the best youngster (as a back-up)
I then start on the next position.
Now the reason for the 4 week trials comes in here, if a player rejects then I have the next best still available on trial and can instantly switch to them.

I work my way through the squad from weakest position to strongest, this way I can at least get an idea of how players are doing

Oh and I also check the starting staff, and whoever has the highest "Current Ability" scouting I set to be the one giving the coach reports (This way I get the best possible look at the players)
It takes a fair amount of effort, but it does mean I get the players who are interested and the best ability in without having too many complaints about play time (I dealt with 3 through this season - mostly cases where the back-up beat out the starter)
I have more in future seasons, but I generally talk to player and offer loan move, as generally if they are complaiing I am not using them, so a loan will work, and having depth helps. (Also the B team salary doesn't count to your wages, so you can actually put them there if they don't complain)

I really enjoy lower league spain, lots of good youngsters, and some good games

I tend to trial a lot of players (about 40) for 2 weeks through the season when i get the scout reports through telling me its worth bothering with. I only tend to sign players who are better or equal to what i have so i have signed only 12 players to end the season with 22 players and 1 youth player. In Swedens lower divisions its pointless signing players for the future as they will not develop if they are not a first teamer as the facilities are too poor.

rlipscombe · November 20, 2022

10 hours ago, Lower Leagues Rule said:

Love it, and a beautiful logo as well.

Thanks. Yes they seem to have gone through a few logos in recent years...

DazRTaylor · November 20, 2022

End of Season Review

Season 2024/25

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen

Season Summary

An excellent capaign where good late season form propelled the club into a successful promotion playoff run.

Season Details

League Table - A fourth place finish was a vast improvement on last season.

League Fixtures 1 & 2 - We were more consistent post the winter break and enjoyed a good run that saw the club rise to qualify for the promotion playoffs. Only four away wins is a concern, however.

Promotion Playoffs - A two legged afair against Oldenburg determined who would play in the second tier next season. We comprehensively outplayed our opponents to secure promotion.

Friendlies - We enjoyed a much better pre season campaign as we only lost one match.

Squad - I think we are good enough to survive and I may not be able to add many such is the perilous state of our finances.

Squad Dynamics - Everyone is srating to like each other, though it hasn't always been this way.

Transfers In 1 & 2 - I spent some money at long last as I was allowed to reinvest what I raised from player sales.

Transfers Out 1 & 2 - A club record sale among a raft of players who departed for pastures new. Around £3m was raised in player sales.

Youth Candidates - Striker Rainer Konarski YP25A9 is supposed to be the brightest prospect out what can only be described as an appalling intake.

Finances - We lost more money this year and I feel selling our best players is now inevitable.

Key Players

Nicolás Orsini - The Argentine striker signed on a free transfer and with a return of 28 goals in 31 appearances, he proved to be a hit.

Durval - The club record signing, who plays on the right wing, was a huge risk. The Brazilian teenager was brilliant though and we now have FC Bayern sniffing around him.

Facundo Kruspzky - Now in his second year with the side, the Argentine continues to play well when he isn't injured.

Maximilian Bauer - Signed from Augsburg, the centre back added some much needed ability to our back line.

Jaydon Banel - I was delighted Ajax (eventually) allowed the winger to return for another season and the Dutch youngster didn't disappoint with another solid season.

Next Season

I would be very happy with a solid mid table finish.

Personal Contract

Season     Contract Start Date     Contract Expiry Date     Pre Tax Wage     Post Tax Wage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start          20 June 2023             30 June 2024       £1,400 p/w          £925 p/w
2023/24       30 November 2023             30 June 2025       £2,700 p/w ↑      £1,800 p/w ↑
2024/25       30 November 2023             30 June 2025       £2,700 p/w =      £1,800 p/w =

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications     Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                 1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1
2023/24    Minimal = (1.00*) ↑   National C ↑         5 ↑   5 ↑   2 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =   5 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑   4 =   1 =   5 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑  11 ↑   5 ↑   6 ↑
2024/25    Minimal = (1.50*) ↑   National C =         7 ↑   6 ↑   2 =   1 =   1 =   1 =   7 ↑   6 ↑   6 ↑   5 ↑   1 =   5 =   7 ↑   6 ↑  11 =   7 ↑   7 ↑

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Adequate             Adequate          Adequate              Average          Fairly Basic       National   (2.00*)
2023/24    Adequate =           Adequate =        Adequate =            Average =        Fairly Basic =     National = (2.00*) =
2024/25    Adequate =           Adequate =        Adequate =            Average =        Fairly Basic =     National = (2.50*) ↑

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24      38        13       13       12           65             55                 +10              34.21%
2024/25      40        21       10        9           78             48                 +30              52.50% ↑

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage     Time At Club
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24          38        13       13       12          65              55                 +10               34.21%            333 days
2024/25          78        34       23       21         143             103                 +40               43.59% ↑          707 days

Transfer Purchase Record

Date               Player                    Position                              Club Purchased From          Country                   Transfer Fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 August 2024     Maximilian Bauer          Central Defence                       FC Augsburg                  Germany                       £450,000
18 August 2024     Durval                    Right Wing                            Clube Desportivo de Mafra    Portugal                      £950,000

Transfer Sale Record

Date               Player                    Position                              Club Sold To                 Country                   Transfer Fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27 June 2023       Kerem Yalcin              Central Defence/Defensive Midfield    Manisa Futbol Kulübü         Turkey                          £9,250
 3 July 2023       Nico Petritt              Right Back                            1. FC Magdeburg              Germany                        £24,500
 4 July 2023       Nils Winter               Right Back                            1. FC Magdeburg              Germany                        £26,000
 4 July 2023       Sebastian Mai             Central Midfield                      SV Meppen                    Germany                        £27,000
 5 July 2024       Leon Müller               Defensive Midfield                    FC Ingolstadt 04             Germany                       £155,000
11 July 2024       Robin Meißner             Striker                               Braunschweig TSV Eintracht   Germany                       £200,000
11 August 2024     Maurice Krattenmacher     Attacking Midfield/Striker            VfL Wolfsburg                Germany                     £2,500,000

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------


Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     DFB-Pokal          Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       3. Liga                              10th          N/a             A mediocre season.
2024/25           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       3. Liga                               4th ↑        N/a             Promoted via the Promotion Playoffs.

Edited November 20, 2022 by DazRTaylor

Thebaker · November 20, 2022

@DazRTaylor Good promotion with what looks like a strong squad. How are you losing so much money at that level, i'm surprised your board is not putting more restrictions on you although it looks like boards are more content for debts to grow in FM23.

DazRTaylor · November 20, 2022

15 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

@DazRTaylor Good promotion with what looks like a strong squad. How are you losing so much money at that level, i'm surprised your board is not putting more restrictions on you although it looks like boards are more content for debts to grow in FM23.

No idea to be honest. I am losing £300,000 a month! At least I will start getting end of season prize money now so, assuming I am not relegated, money shouldn't be an issue going forward.

Lower Leagues Rule · November 20, 2022

Nice work on the promotion @DazRTaylor, love seeing the huge increase in goals as well.
Hopefully promotion helps the balance book, I remember last year I was losing money massively in the lower leagues, so much that after 2nd season the team cut my wage budget in half, managed to go up which saved me.
I am impressed with Orsini, and hope he can make the step up for you, asa real goal scorer is really necessary

rlipscombe · November 20, 2022

yeah congrats on promotion @DazRTaylor. Hopefully finances start to get back on track a bit now you have promotion secured which should lead to greater crowds and more prize money. good luck.

aldojags · November 20, 2022

Really struggling with the motivation for FM this year, tried loading up just about every league in Europe to see if could find somethin to get me interested....started a few saves (by start i mean do a pre-season then cant be bothered minute I get beat)

Been borderline addicted to past 3 FM's but for some reason I cant be bothered with this one....started a new save but gna wait until I've done a season and see if I'm gna stick at it!

DazRTaylor · November 21, 2022

This is what really annoys me:

The feature of the club selling your players, whilst annoying, is a good one as it happens in real life. I have no issue with that. What I do have an issue with is the following:

I negotiated with Borussia Dortmund the following:

£6.75m transfer fee.
50% sell on clause.
Future friendly.
Loaned back for the season.

The board, led by my moronic idiot of a chairman, then accepted this bid from FC Bayern. No sell on and no friendly. Also, no way to ask for it. Absolutely ridiculous.

Edited November 21, 2022 by DazRTaylor

rlipscombe · November 21, 2022

feel your frustrating @DazRTaylor. One area i think could be improved is the chairman and recognising best deals...

Rainbowz · November 21, 2022

Apparently my job is in under fire despite the fact I'm 16th and my expectations are to fight bravely against relegation. I've seen this happen to a few people this year, why is the game so trigger-happy regarding jobs even when you're matching expectations?

_JHTB_ · November 21, 2022

2 hours ago, Rainbowz said:

Apparently my job is in under fire despite the fact I'm 16th and my expectations are to fight bravely against relegation

I can see mine being under threat before long too as, well...

Thebaker · November 23, 2022

2023

Table | Squad | Transfers

Started the season in poor form and by halfway the team was hovering above the relegation spots. A run of 1 loss in 11 (although 6 were draws) meant that the team comfortably avoided relegation. A poor end to the season meant they dropped from mid table.

It was a frustrating season were i started the season needing upgrades in goal and up front and ended still needing an upgrade in goal. The team had a lot of shots in games but few on target and were in most games only to not score when on top and then concede. Started with few players and couldn't manage to actually sign any real players of quality as they went elsewhere, my best players were already at the club.

Not entered in the swedish cup.

Finances are pretty healthy as the club brought in a fair bit in membership and sponsorship which is as well since they have few fans who are mostly casual and only 1 away fan all year to boost attendance.

I signed several strikers but they all flopped. Zetterstrom was at the club already and only rated 3 stars current and potential when i took over, after a slow start he really picked up in the 2nd half of the season to finish as my top scorer. i signed Smeds for the last 2 games and i hope he can form a pairing next season.

The youth intake was very average but this player was miles above the rest and will be near the first team soon.

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2023

D2 NS

9th

Not entered

N/A

Zetterstrom (14)

Akerlund (6)

219

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

Edited November 23, 2022 by Thebaker

Lower Leagues Rule · November 23, 2022

@Thebaker Nice end to the season there to avoid relegation, goal #1 in season 1, and I like Taha, hopefully he can develop

1 away fan lol, that's terrible, are you like 3000 miles from the opposition?

Rainbowz · November 24, 2022

Deadline day took a turn.

tbf if you ignore the pace, he could do a job in Ligue 1! Please ignore the pace.

Edited November 24, 2022 by Rainbowz

Thebaker · November 24, 2022

21 hours ago, Lower Leagues Rule said:

@Thebaker Nice end to the season there to avoid relegation, goal #1 in season 1, and I like Taha, hopefully he can develop

1 away fan lol, that's terrible, are you like 3000 miles from the opposition?

Looking at a map of sweden and wiki its 78km west of Stockholm and 'Swedens closest city' as 1/3rd of Swedens population live within 120km. Clearly none are football fans or we are playing teams from the other 2/3rds :rolleyes:

DazRTaylor · November 24, 2022

End of Season Review

Season 2025/26

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen

Season Summary

Wow. Just wow. Where did this come from? Incredibly, we secured back to back promotions as we stormed to the league title.

Season Details

League Table - Once we hit the top, we never looked back.

League Fixtures 1 & 2 - Consistency is the key, bu churning out the wins.

DFB-Pokal - A home defeat by top flight Freiburg in the second round ended our interest in the competition this season.

Friendlies - Our pre season campaign endured some mixed results this year.

Squad - We are a lot better than this time last year though whether we are good enough to survive the top flgith is another matter entirely.

Squad Dynamics - As you would expect, this is rather nice.

Transfers In 1 & 2 - I spent over £5m in improving the squad and lowering our average age. Some were big hits and a couple have so far failed to perform.

Transfers Out 1 & 2 - Over £16m was raised in player sales as the books needed to be balanced. I was pleased to secure some of the players who were sold an immediate return on loan as part of the deals.

Youth Candidates - It wasn't a great intake, though attacking midfielder Wenzel Roßbach YP26E19 looks a decent enough prospect.

Finances - The prize money has arrived and together with the profit made in the transfer market, our bank balance is very healthy indeed.

Key Players

Nicolás Orsini - The veteran Argentine striker is playing so far above his level, I find it astounding. This season, he hit 18 goals in 22 apperances for another superb campaign.

Facumdo Kruspzky - Despite the midfielders injury concerns continuing, when available, he was exceptional.

Yannick Mausehund - The young German central defender has proven to be quite the signing, arriving on a free transfer from Hertha Berlin.

Diego Lafuente - Teenage Spanish striker who played well enough, though can be inconsistent. Signed for just £300,000 from Lleida Esportiu in the Spanish fifth tier.

Durval - The Brazilian teen right winger was sold to balance the books but remains at the club on loan for eighteen months. An exciting talent.

Next Season

Survival. Anything else is a bonus.

Personal Contract

Season     Contract Start Date     Contract Expiry Date     Pre Tax Wage     Post Tax Wage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start          20 June 2023             30 June 2024       £1,400 p/w          £925 p/w
2023/24       30 November 2023             30 June 2025       £2,700 p/w ↑      £1,800 p/w ↑
2024/25       30 November 2023             30 June 2025       £2,700 p/w =      £1,800 p/w =
2025/26            1 June 2025             30 June 2027       £3,300 p/w ↑      £2,100 p/w ↑

Personal Coaching Data

Season     Reputation            Qualifications     Att   Def   Fit   GkD   GkH   GkS   Tac   Tec   Men   WWY   Ada   Det   PlK   YoK   LoD   MaM   Mot
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start   Minimal   (0.25*)     None                 1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     4     1     1     1     4     1     1     1
2023/24    Minimal = (1.00*) ↑   National C  ↑        5 ↑   5 ↑   2 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =   5 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑   4 =   1 =   5 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑  11 ↑   5 ↑   6 ↑
2024/25    Minimal = (1.50*) ↑   National C  =        7 ↑   6 ↑   2 =   1 =   1 =   1 =   7 ↑   6 ↑   6 ↑   5 ↑   1 =   5 =   7 ↑   6 ↑  11 =   7 ↑   7 ↑
2025/26    Minimal = "2.50*) ↑   National A ↑↑       11 ↑  10 ↑   3 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =  10 ↑  10 ↑  10 ↑   5 =   1 =   8 ↑   9 ↑   9 ↑  20 ↑  10 ↑  10 ↑

Club Facilities

Season     Training Facilities  Youth Facilities  Corporate Facilities  Junior Coaching  Youth Recruitment  Club Reputation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Start   Adequate             Adequate          Adequate              Average          Fairly Basic       National   (2.00*)
2023/24    Adequate =           Adequate =        Adequate =            Average    =     Fairly Basic  =    National = (2.00*) =
2024/25    Adequate =           Adequate =        Adequate =            Average    =     Fairly Basic  =    National = (2.50*) ↑
2025/26    Adequate =           Adequate =        Adequate =            Excellent ↑↑     Good         ↑↑    National = (2.50*) =

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24      38        13       13       12           65             55                 +10              34.21%
2024/25      40        21       10        9           78             48                 +30              52.50% ↑
2025/26      36        24        3        9           80             33                 +87              66.67% ↑

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage     Time At Club
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24          38        13       13       12          65              55                 +10               34.21%            333 days
2024/25          78        34       23       21         143             103                 +40               43.59% ↑          707 days
2025/26         114        58       26       30         223             136                 +87               50.88% ↑        1,062 days

Transfer Purchase Record

Date               Player                    Position                              Club Purchased From                Country                  Transfer Fee
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 August 2024     Maximilian Bauer          Central Defence                       FC Augsburg                        Germany                      £450,000
18 August 2024     Durval                    Right Wing                            Clube Desportivo de Mafra          Portugal                     £950,000
 5 January 2026    Abel Lescano              Attacking Midfield                    Club Atlético Los Andes            Argentina                  £1,000,000
 2 February 2026   François Bertrand         Central Midfield                      Académico de Viseu Futebol Clube   Portugal                   £1,300,000

Transfer Sale Record

Date               Player                    Position                              Club Sold To                      Country                   Transfer Fee
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27 June 2023       Kerem Yalcin              Central Defence/Defensive Midfield    Manisa Futbol Kulübü              Turkey                          £9,250
 3 July 2023       Nico Petritt              Right Back                            1. FC Magdeburg                   Germany                        £24,500
 4 July 2023       Nils Winter               Right Back                            1. FC Magdeburg                   Germany                        £26,000
 4 July 2023       Sebastian Mai             Central Midfield                      SV Meppen                         Germany                        £27,000
 5 July 2024       Leon Müller               Defensive Midfield                    FC Ingolstadt 04                  Germany                       £155,000
11 July 2024       Robin Meißner             Striker                               Braunschweig TSV Eintracht        Germany                       £200,000
11 August 2024     Maurice Krattenmacher     Attacking Midfield/Striker            VfL Wolfsburg                     Germany                     £2,500,000
22 July 2025       Francisco Meskell         Central Midfield/Attacking Midfield   FC Bayern München                 Germany                     £6,750,000

Trophy Haul

Season     Competition Won
--------------------------
2025/26    2. Bundesliga

Trophy Cabinet

League Titles
-------------
1 x 2. Bundesliga (2025/26)

Cup Competition Victories
-------------------------

Career Overview

Season     Champions League    Europa League    Europa Conference League             League                             Position     DFB-Pokal          Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       3. Liga                              10th          N/a             A mediocre season.
2024/25           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       3. Liga                               4th ↑        N/a             Promoted via the Promotion Playoffs.
2025/26           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       2. Bundesliga                         1st ↑     Second Round ↑     Promoted as champions.

Edited November 24, 2022 by DazRTaylor

jmarchand · November 26, 2022

Dunaujvaros PASE | Hungary | 2023-2024 | Season 1

This year Daniel Matas is going to Hungary and heading to the hometown of a friend and colleague, roughly an hour south of Budapest. I had to holiday for a loooooong time to get the promoted from the 3rd division, but that's the team I wanted.

Hungary

The league pyramid in Hungary is rather simple in FM, it's 2 divisions, the top two teams from Division II get promoted to Division I. Funny thing, Division II goes from 18 teams to 16 teams in 2024-2025 and they get rid of the relegation playoff and go straight for a relegation for the bottom 3 teams. (at this time, I don't know if it's a FM23 bug or if they're really planning in shrinking the league...)

In the top flight, there are 12 teams, 4 European spots and 2 relegation spots. It is currently ranked 27th in the world, so there is plenty of place to grow.

Dunaujvaros PASE (known as FC in the game)

The club, founded in 1998 on the ashes of Dunaujvaros FC, which was founded on the ashes of Dunaferr, whose highlight was winning the top flight in 2000 and thus getting in the Champions League Qualification stage in 2001, winning against Hajduk, but then losing to Rosenborg in the 3rd Qualifying Round. After that, it's been a slow downfall, with a stint in the top flight in 2014/2015, but that's it. The game has promoted them back again to the Hungary Division II this year and made them habitable!

But then, don't get your hopes up. FM23 gives us a 100-1 odd, with a prediction of finishing 17th out of 18... We were the only side promoted to the Division II this year (that's why I had to holiday quite a few times before getting the result I wanted!)

Season overview

The first season when taking this kind of team is always to try to survive the first season, weed out the deadwood and build a credible team with a few key players that can carry you out of the division (all while learning a new iteration of the game). This year was not different. Lots of loans in, lots of free transfers which were or were not successful, but in the end, I mounded a credible enough band of misfits to overachieve and get to a 9th place finish, which the board actually considers as top-half.

At this point, we're not going to get even remotely attached to these guys. They're expendable, we look only at their current ability and there is essentially no chance that we're thinking of developing players.

The season went actually relatively well, but the team fell into a lull around mid-season where we cemented in to a mid-table team and lost a bit of the good wind that we had been building early on in the season. In the end, a 9th place is probably a fair result, but there are noticeable gaps in the team which we'll need to fill in to even aspire to a promotion next season.

47 points? Yeah, that's ok for a first season, but never close to what we need. We'll need to turn the losses into draws and these draws into wins. But it's still 6 places above what was predicted, so it's a moral victory if I can ever find one.

The Players

This section is going to be short for now, but that's always the fun part of this challenge, getting to unearth Rhys Guppy, Daniel Matas or Sebastian Biver, so it'll always a have a soft spot in my heart.

GK - Constantin Frommann

I signe the guy on a free transfer from the German league system on massive wages compared to the rest of my team (the next highest earner is on 500 € p/w, to give a sense of scale), but the hole we had at the keeper position was so massive that I didn't mind overpaying for this guy. He was head and shoulders above the current 37-year-old keeper that I had in place, so I'm betting that I can actually keep him and he can guide us for a promotion.

Mate Papp - DC

One of the stars of the team which we actually have in place is Mate Papp at central defender. I'm including him here only to give you a sense of what a good player at the Hungarian Division II level looks like.

He was good for the team, one of the two players to actually come up with an average rating of over 7.00 over the course of the season. He's ok enough, but I have 1-2 years to find players better than him.

Zsombor Novak - ST

Our top scorer was actually this guy, who got a 6.92 rating and 10 goals across all competitions. As much as I thank him for his contribution, there's no way we're going to make any progress if we can't find someone who can put the ball in the back of the net at a better ration than Zsombor Novak.

For the future

In the Hungarian Division II, I can't really hope for any prospects in any shape or form. However, this guy Tamas Koncz came in as a winger and was by far the highest rated member of that intake. A bit for the meme, but I gave him first team opportunities at 15 years old and 138 days, making him the youngest player in Division II history, and he got an assist on his debut. I felt like a genius. I think he's going to be good for the next few years then fade off, but let's give him a chance...!

Next season objectives:

Get a striker who can actually get some goals in the back of the net.
Compete for a promotion.
Turn negative goal difference into a positive one.

Summary

Year

Season

League

Position

Media Pred

Points

Goal Diff

Cup

Europe

Europe Ranking

Avg. Attendance

Top Scorer

Top Assist

1

23-24

DII

9

17

47

-1

5th round

NA

lol

796

Zsombor Novak (10)

Szablocs Varga (7)

Edited November 26, 2022 by jmarchand

TsarBombr · November 26, 2022

Hey guys,

Been following this challenge for a while looks like good fun. Just picked up FM Touch for the Ipad and was wondering if I could join in the challenge or is the thread just for the full fat version on PC?

I've looked in the rules and it just says about loading upto 100000 players, which you can't do on Ipad. Maybe just run extra leagues near to the chosen nation might be ok?

Cheers

rlipscombe · November 26, 2022

@jmarchand - good to see you back, and good to see a Hungarian save this year... Solid first season there - can't grumble with that finish although the drop off in form is obviously frustrating. Good luck next season.

@TsarBombr - Hi - in answer to your question, i personally don't have an issue with you competing. In terms of loading up to 100,000 players, that is more to do with competition depth in European leagues and to make European competition (if get there), more of a challenge. Personally, I am happy for you to compete on FM TOuch.

TsarBombr · November 26, 2022

12 hours ago, rlipscombe said:

@jmarchand

@TsarBombr - Hi - in answer to your question, i personally don't have an issue with you competing. In terms of loading up to 100,000 players, that is more to do with competition depth in European leagues and to make European competition (if get there), more of a challenge. Personally, I am happy for you to compete on FM TOuch.

Ahh that's great. In that case I will fire up a save today. Might take a few reloads as I have a team in mind.

Thebaker · November 27, 2022

2024

Table | Squad | Transfers

The team was in the promotion mix all through the season with 4 or 5 teams in it until near the end. Although top for much of the season the team kept losing the odd game to avoid pulling away. With 5 games to go the team led Stocksund by 4 points and Jarfalla by 2. A poor return of 8 points from the last 15 meant the team was pipped to the title. In the playoffs the team drew one game and lost the other to be eliminated.

Not entered in the swedish cup.

Finances got a lot worse this year although that was down to the board agreeing to improve the training facilities. A fan day halfway through the season paid dividends as attendances increased by 40-80 people.

I missed out in pre-season on all of my main targets and ended up bringing in a few squad fillers. However Lindgren was exceptional from CM with a big goal threat.

Up front Smeds and Zetterstrom were full of goals although neither got close to the league top scorer who had 28 goals.

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2023

D2 NS

9th

Not entered

N/A

Zetterstrom(14)

Akerlund (6)

219

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2024

D2 NS

2nd

Not entered

N/A

Zetterstrom(19)

Lindgren(8)

268

Basic

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

_JHTB_ · November 27, 2022

Hogaborgs BK

Season 4 – Superatten – 11^th

Transfers (1) – Transfer (2) – Best XI – Squad – Key Player – Hot Prospect – Supporter Profile

Overview

Transfer Window:

Incomings: The offseason started off really slow, no players of quality were really coming through the scout reports. However, eventually we started getting a lot of agent offers for foreign players that were a lot better than what we had and were mostly available for free. Tada, Marquinhos, and Prada the pick of our free transfers. We did ‘splash’ the cash with a club record transfer of £8.5k for Jibuti who looked a very good striker for out level. In the mid-season window I did bring in another of the Brazilians that were offered as Gilberto joined our ranks alongside a few loanees that aimed to bolster our depth.

Outgoings: Nothing much in terms of the outgoings, but we did sell one of the Brazilians we brought in the offseason that were more higher potential fringe players as Souza left for a healthy £36k fee with us retaining a 50% of next sale fee – hopefully will net us some funds in the future.

League: We got off to a fantastic start, not losing any of our opening 5 games and drawing 2 which had me dreaming of what would have been an unbelievable back to back to back promotion. Alas, we soon came back to earth with a bump with a 4-0 loss to another team who had made a good start. Whilst we won our next game it did initiate a run of awful form for us which, including the aforementioned win, saw us win only twice in the next 10 fixtures and lost 7 as we slid down the league towards our predicted relegation fight.

Eventually we did start scraping a few results which added the team morale sufficiently to take us from bad form to battling form. We were never really looking like pulling up trees since our very early season form but we were doing enough to keep our heads above water. In fact, following our long losing streak early in the season, we found ourselves in the relegation playoff positions, but we never dipped below that for the rest of the season and eventually avoided even the playoffs on the penultimate game. It was a good job as in our final game of the season we lost 5-1 to a team that was occupying one of the relegation playoff places – a disappointing end to an otherwise good season.

Cup: The cup is weird, we won in our second round tie which puts us into the group stage for next season’s competition.

Next Season/General

I am very happy with securing our place in the same league next time out with my main transfer aims being to sign better home grown players with the requirement for us have at least 9 in our matchday squad. That said, pretty much all of our foreign imports, including those I brought in purely for their potential, are wanted by other clubs. So if I can sell them for good money and then bring in the next batch of agent offered players then hopefully we’ll be in a good position financially – currently we are very much not.

Next season, we are looking to do the exact same, survive. I feel we have a good chance of doing so but it does depend on our offseason transfers. I will look to try and sign some high potential players should they come in my scout reports to maybe sell on before too long.

Players of note

Giorgi Jibuti – Our record signing and well he lived up to his price tag. He did start the season fantastically 8 goals in 5 games before dropping off a bit, but still did fire in 17 in the league which was a huge factor in our comfortable survival. Unfortunately he did miss 3 of his 4 penalties or he could have had a better return (and higher average rating – 7.3).

Gilberto – Only with us for a 3^rd of the season but was a great player since he arrived. He managed 6 assists in 9 starts which is actually joint most with Jibuti, I’m looking forward to what he can achieve next season.

Erlend Jacobsen - An understandably worse season than last time out, but he still managed to keep 7 clean sheets which for sure helped our quest for survival.

Overview

Edited November 27, 2022 by _JHTB_

Thebaker · November 28, 2022

@_JHTB_ well done on avoiding relegation, it always tough in the superatten as any club you take on is tiny compared to the teams at the top of the league.

Jibuti looks a great player for you, Georgia seems to churn out some quite good players i found.

Edited November 28, 2022 by Thebaker

Rainbowz · November 28, 2022

Season Review 2025-26

Squad | Tactic | Table | Finances

We survived comfortably, and that's all I could ask for. We got hit hard at the start of the season, so I had to make some tactical adjustments. That and the fact our young squad kept getting better helped us survive. That said, the top teams in this league are no joke. We're not close to troubling them in our current position.

I think we're in a good place to push on. We have a lot of young, promising players, some of who are consistently getting game time so the future looks bright. I'm definitely going to look at experience for next season. We need people who can make an instant impact and mentor the younger players. We also need a dedicated goalscorer, with none of our players scoring more than 5 during this campaign, which is a little worrying.

Results: Sept-Dec | Jan-May

After a rough start, some tactical changes turned it around for us. We never really thrived this season, but surviving was the only goal. No cup heroics as we were rather embarrassingly dumped out early by National side Red Star.

Transfers In

CB | Christian Dalle Mura (Free)

This transfer was made with an eye on the future. With Molet leaving and Homawoo unsettled and putting in poor performances, I need a reliable CB. Dalle Mura has been available for a while, but it finally made sense to bring him in. He's a good CB for this level and hopefully lifts the performances of the defence where I'd like them to be.

ST | Saulo (Free)

Okay, I know I'm meant to be signing fewer non-EU players, but I think you can agree an exception can be made here. Found by one of my scouts, Saulo looks insane for a free transfer. He's lacking a little in the finishing department, but he can do everything else excellently and will only get better. He's signed to take over from Junior Santos, who hasn't hit the returns I'd expect. Hopefully Saulo can lead the line well now.

ST | Alvardo Negredo (Free)

Right. Okay, hear me out please. Yes, he's 40 years old. Yes, he moves at a glacial pace, but just look at those mentals and technicals! Seriously, I think this is a great deal. We're crying out for a target man/DLP up top to fill the gap and Negredo fills the role perfectly. We just need a guy to hold up the ball and progress the play, which he does immensely. He's only here for 5 months so we're not saddled with an aging past-it player. Call me crazy, but this signing might just save our season.

Transfers Out

CM | Wendel Lessa (£200,000)

Due to the non-EU player rules, Lessa wasn't registered for this season so I wanted to move him on ASAP, especially as he would've been around 4th/5th choice CM. Getting 200k for him is great business. He was solid for us, but just isn't a Ligue 2 calibre player and the fewer non-EU players we have, the better.

CB | Marcelinho (£10,000)

I wouldn't have sold him if it wasn't for the non-EU rules, but he's probably developed the least of my promising youngsters and his contract was expiring. I'd tried to get him to re-sign with us so I could sell him on, but he rejected us and signed a pre-contract with Ajaccio. I couldn't play him due to him not being registered, so I sold him for the paltry £10k that I could.

ST | Joe Hugill (Loan)

This may be a surprise given his incredible last season, but Hugill hasn't been able to make the step up, scoring only 6 in 16. He's not been bad this season, but he takes up a valuable non-EU spot and "not bad" isn't enough to justify it. He goes out on loan as I try to drum up interest in a sale. I'll always remember his incredible National season, but I'd rather he was getting regular football somewhere he'd be guaranteed it.

LB | Ali Barak (£27,000)

Barak was only ever signed as an emergency LB option, a role he thankfully never had to fill much. With Quetglas in the backup role now, Barak saw his game time slashed and when bids came in, I took what I could.

CB | Ot Molet (£400,000)

Agh this game!! The board accepted this offer then told me to pound sand when I protested it. I then got a far better off from Toulouse (£1m up front, 40% sell-on fee) and of course, HE CHOOSES THE WORST OFFER!! I'm really sad to lose Molet, he was developing insanely well and starting to really come into his own. Replacing him will be hard and will be harder given the pittance we got for him. I hate my board.

Key Players

#1 - Rodgers Nyirenda

Initially intended to be a rotation option, consistently great performances, constant improvement and Faye being injury prone saw Nyirenda make his mark on the team. Initially dispelled as someone with only Ligue 2 potential, he's made this level his own and now seems he could potentially be a force even in Ligue 1. Worryingly, he's wanted by a lot of Ligue 1 clubs and may have his head turned. I hope I can fight to keep him, as I think he could become extremely good.

#2 - Alvaro Negredo

I don't believe it either. Even at 40 years old, Negredo still has the lethal touch and he made Ligue 2 his own. His solid technicals and insane mentals meant he could find the net and be an excellent playmaker as long as he was in a more static role. He excelled as a target forward this year and shocked me with just how good he was. He's sadly retiring now, and tbh, it's probably for the best as we can remember him as a surprise icon of this team.

#3 - Saulo

Bringing in another non-EU player is always risky as if they don't pan out, we're stuck with a player we can't use. Saulo however has done exactly as I'd expect, coming in and immediately lifting our performances. He's still got some work to do, but I'm sure once he gets fully integrated into the squad, we'll see him shine. He's got a lot of promise and hopefully he keeps on getting better.

Next Season's Thoughts

As mentioned, next season is all about leaving our tag as relegation battlers behind and settling into the league. We need a bit more quality and experience, which I'm hoping we can bring in. As mentioned, we need a clinical goalscorer and we also have a gap in our defence which needs filling, but I'm confident of getting the right people in.

Year

Division

Predicted Position

Actual Position

Coupe de France

Trophée des champions

Europe

Top Player

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Avg. Attendance

Finances

Training/Youth Facilties

Junior Coaching/Recruitment

Extra Notes

2023/24

National

15th/18th

10th/18th

7th Round

N/A

Erwin Zelazny (6.92)

Adama Diakhaby (8)

Jonathan Beaulieu (4)

999

-£292,339

Below Average/Basic

Adequate/Basic

Tough season, losing money badly too

2024/25

National

13th/18th

2nd/18th

11th Round

N/A

Joe Hugill (7.46)

Joe Hugill (26)

Daniel Menéndez (13)

750

£-622,636

Below Average/Basic

Adequate/Basic

PROMOTION!!!!!!

2025/26

Ligue 2

18th/18th

12th/18th

9th Round

N/A

Rodgers Nyirenda (7.01)

4 Players (5)

Daniel Menéndez (8)

1,918

£1,057,158

Below Average/Poor

Adequate/Fairly Basic

Solid season, need to build on it now

enigmatic · November 28, 2022

Wurzburger Kickers. | 3. Liga

Opening | 2022/23

Germany is always a fun place to do this challenge, especially if you like fast starts, loans and not being broke all the time

Wurzburger Kickers are one of the bigger clubs which can be promoted from the German Regionalliga. The team suffered back to back relegations from 2 Bundesliga before the start of the game but has a decent core squad, and good income from sponsorship (seriously, Germans want big wages but a £3.6m annual wage budget is absolutely huge in a challenge like this). A few other strong sides to attempt this challenge with in Germany, but I really like this squad*: it's mainly young, not that bloated and the one place it needs a serious upgrade is defence (and since I'm picky about defenders, I much prefer bringing in my own). I also have a reserve squad with a couple of amateurs and miserable transfer listed players, and a single (rubbish) youth product

The token veteran Hagele is still a very good player who will start as my captain, Zaiser looks promising in midfield whilst Sane is the best striker I have by some distance and is happy to renew his contract

Wurzburg looks lovely too.

Kevin Keller is Wurzburg's inexperienced new manager. The board have said he can start coaching courses if he sorts out training so it's not overstaffed, which is nice.

The club has never won anything except local leagues, but did spend a fair bit of the last decade in Germany's second tier, so it feels like it could be a big club and has average facilities and a few thousand people turning up to watch each game. And that's before they've watched Kevin Keller's amazing football!

rlipscombe · November 29, 2022

welcome @enigmatic and good luck in Germany - always a good place to manage as you mentioned. Some solid players to oto build around as well.

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