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

jmarchand · February 6, 2023

Le 05/02/2023 à 06:50, _JHTB_ a dit :

So this just happened...

I think it's the first major European trophy of the thread!

jmarchand · February 6, 2023

In my save, Bayern has this monster of a regen... Value between 277 and 332M€, he's been with Bayern since he's 18 and scored 17 goals in 26 matches in that first half-season. yeah, he's playing in the CONCACAF, but still 33 goals in 33 caps is pretty impressive. He scored only 1 in our 5-0 defeat against them.

rlipscombe · February 7, 2023

he's not bad @jmarchand...............

Thebaker · February 10, 2023

2033

Table | Squad | Transfers

Decided to change the formation pre-season from a 4-3-1-2 and sometimes 4-4-2 to a more attacking 4-1-2-3 in order to get more goals which had been an issue with previous seasons and dumped all the poor wingers to facilitate this. Results over the season were a bit mixed although the team created a lot more chances even if the strikers didn't always score them and the team was never in danger of being relegated. The last 4 games with 4 losses and only 1 goal scored and 10 conceded made the season overall look worse than it maybe was. Although defensively the team wasn't much better than in previous seasons and only slightly better in terms of goals scored it still felt like a step foward as the clubs rep went up to 1.5 stars which is still the lowest in the league and below 10 teams from the div below.

In the swedish cup the team beat Ettan south Eskilsminne 3-2 at home although the game was more comfortable than it looked. In the group stages the team were well beaten by Allsvenskan AIK before coming back to beat Superettan sides GIF Sundsvall and Osters to finish 2nd.

I increased the scouting range from Sweden to northern europe and this along with increased costs and wages really took the finances downward. I sold Brabec for a record sale along with Mirkovic who was in the last year of his contract and unwilling to sign another. I was able to loan back Mirkovic for the season and have just sold the 50% sell on clause for 600K.

I made a record signing in Pedersen but he did not make the impact i hoped for and was a back by the end of the season behind Nolly who i also signed permanently after a loan last season.

Long time player Hesslegren (152 apps, 3 goals) and club icon Rapp (219 apps, 15 goals) left as they were not playing enough.

Up front on loan Licul was a great target man with Braendshoi ending as the 2nd top scorer in the league. Braendshoi was really inconsistent having some great games and terrible ones the next, for a player having only played 9 games by the age of 23 i feel there is still plenty of improvement if i can keep him.

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2029

D1N

2nd

Group St

N/A

Hgota(23)

Hgota(10)

394

Basic

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

Promoted via playoffs

2030

Superettan

14th

Group St

N/A

Kantokowski(17)

Mcdaid(7)

587

Basic

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2031

Superettan

12th

Group St

N/A

Nyberg(8)

Nyberg(5)

465

Basic

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2032

Superettan

14th

2nd Rd

N/A

Wennerstrom, Anderson(7)

Johansson(5)

565

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2033

Superettan

11th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (18)

Mcdaid(6)

414

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

_JHTB_ · February 12, 2023

Hogaborgs BK

Season 13 – Allsvenskan – 1st

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

Overview

Transfer Window:

Our first real major outgoings this seasons with a couple starters leaving us.

Outgoings:

Adrian Ene (GK) - £37m

Ene has been our first choice goalkeeper for 3 seasons since we brought him to the club and I didn’t really have any intention of letting him leave. Burnley put in a bid for him and I countered with an amount that I didn’t think they would agree to but they did, and so he was sold. He is on his way to being relegated from the premier league if so, I could go back to try and sign him though he would want a mega wage.

Maksym Ivanchenko (AMC) - £42.5m

I liked Ivanchenko, but he was often overshadowed by Paulo Vitor so wasn’t guaranteed to be a regular started at least on the short term. He also, for reasons unknown to me, was not on track to be homegrown at the club despite being here since he was 18. So when we got an offer of £42.5m for him it was way too good to turn down.

Incomings:

Hwang Jong-Hoan (AMC/R/L) - £1.1m

A player our scouts came up who wasn’t previously on my radar, but gave us a good versatile depth option whilst also hopefully giving us a good long term upgrade to our first team.

Mike Moke (ST) - £215k

We were after a striker, and Moke looked to be an absolute bargain. He just looks to be a very good striker with attributes in all the areas that you’d want. Such a low price for what his quality would suggest.

Bradley Zwame (ST) - £575k

Another Striker, another fairly cheap player with a good set of attributes. I did send him out on loan as with Moke’s addition he would get less football then would be best for his development.

Martin Rodriguez (ST) - £2m

A theme is brewing, another striker, this time much more pricey. He got injured fairly early on in his time here so like Zwame headed out on loan. Another player who looks like he could have a good future with us upfront as we look to future proof ourself.

Ha Joon-Jae (DC) - £1.2m

Taking a break from all the strikers Joon-Jae looks to be a promising defender. He’s lacking a little on his mental attributes currently, but I think he will prove a useful addition.

Luka Gordic (GK) - £2.5m

With Ene leaving us I needed a new first choice goalkeeper and Gordic was the player for the job. Obviously not as good as Ene, but looked to be a pretty good goalkeeper for the money. He’s not really convinced me this season so there are questions on his long term future with us.

Kwon Won-Sub (DM/MC) - £2.1m

A new midfield prospect it is an area that we had a bit of weakness in terms of our depth so Won-Sub was a decent addition. He is certainly not a playmaking midfielder but as a ball winner he looks to be a good prospect.

Fernardo Riquelme (MC) - £1m

When we sold Ivanchenko, and Lacatus getting a fairly lengthy injury, I needed another midfield player for the squad. I had to promise him a squad role higher than what his current ability otherwise he wouldn’t join. He was at a good price and I think he will eventually be an important player for us.

Europe:

Last Season – The league phase of the Europa ended emphatically for us with two wins which propelled us to the top 8 and straight through to the final 16. We drew Red Bull Salzburg who we outclassed, 10-2 on aggregate an easy victory. Roma, who were top of Serie A were our quarter final opponents and we managed to take a 1-1 draw from Rome. In the home game we were incredible, securing a 6-1 win on the night to sail through to the Semi-Final. It was another Italian side in Lazio that awaited us in the semi-final and really both legs were close encounters but we managed to win both 2-1 to advance to the final.

The final was against Sevilla, where we raced off to a good start with us taking the lead in the first 10 minutes. However, Sevilla hit back and by half time we were down 2-1 and we were not creating a huge amount. Eventually, late in the second half we did manage to grab an equaliser which took us to extra time and ultimately penalties. I’ve already posted the snapshot of us lifting the trophy so no guesses how penalties went.

This season – Following from our Europa League success I was hopeful that we could give a good showing in the Champions League this season but a 3-0 loss to Tottenham in the Super Cup was a foreshadowing if there ever was one. After 6 games we have yet to win a game losing to Real Madrid, Rosenberg and Roma in what can only be described as a disastrous campaign. We have a slim chance of reaching the next round if we win the final but, if we play as we have done so far I do not rate our chances.

League: It was another pretty comfortable league win for us again this season though Djurgadens did keep us honest (They actually won the Conference League the week after our Europa League win). Despite the general ease in which we won the league, I was a bit disappointed with how we were playing. At times we were just not really creating anything at others being wasteful in front of goal.

Cup: We finally won the cup, though it took us till extra time to make our way through the quarter-final. The final was against our title rivals in Djurgardens who we comfortably dispatched 3-0 to win our first cup game.

Next Season/General

I am going to need a tactical rethink in the offseason both the league and more importantly the Champions League are far from what I feel our potential should be with the players at our disposal. I might even revert back to playing a diamond which served us well in the early years but I need to evaluate what will best suit our players.

Our stadium is now maxed out capacity wise which ends all the upgrades we can request – we still are unable to upgrade our youth facilities which I don’t understand. Next season we basically need to hope for a better showing in Europe.

Players of note

Jure Peric – Peric has had a good season for us in the league though like most the team is not doing so great in the Champions League. We did actually end up rejecting offers of over £40m for him this season. He becomes homegrown this season which is a positive.

Deninho – He had a worse season this time out but that’s because he didn’t play as much due to an early injury which saw him take some time to get back into the team. 28 goals is still a good showing considering he was more rotational.

Wilmar Gutierrez – Gutierrez had a great start to the season, and his best season since he joined us, even managed to get his first Colombia caps. 21 goals in all competitions is perhaps lower than I would hope but still a useful return.

Overview

_JHTB_ · February 18, 2023

Hogaborgs BK

Season 14 – Allsvenskan – 1st

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

Overview

Transfer Window:

Another season with a major outgoing, the incomings mostly being future prospects.

Outgoings:

Mike Moke (ST) - £70m

With prices like that we can’t justify saying no. Moke had only been at the club a season and a half but Southampton were willing to pay £70m to secure his services and actually, I think he had a pretty slow start to the season. He is likely to develop into a top player but again, £70m no chance we are turning it down.

Stephen Penn (MC) - £4.6m

In the last few seasons Penn had found himself more on the outskirts of the team having previously being a fairly regular player for us. He was a good player for us, but the influx of players with higher ceilings meant his days were always going to be numbered when they improved to surpass where his quality level.

Luiz (LB) - £2.9m

Luiz was one of our early free signings from Brazil who was only really ever a squad player for us. I had actually signed him on to a longer contract in the offseason, but he was getting a bit unhappy with his playtime and £2.9m represented good value for his quality.

Rolando Cuenca (AMR) - £2.5m

Cuenca for me was a player who never really developed after looking to be a really shrewd pick up. His first full season for us consisted of nearly 20 goal contributions in the league from 29 appearances (only 16 starts) but that was as good as he ever was for us.

Frantisek Zvara (DC) - £1.9m

Another we had high hopes for when we first brought him. At the time he was a similar level player to our now first choice centre back Carlos Alberto who joined in the same window but where Alberto improved Zvara didn’t do as well. He also was the one player who always sided with other players if they were upset I didn’t sell them for peanuts so I was quite happy for him to go all told.

Incomings: Romania…

Zoltan Horvath (MC) - £2.8m

Our biggest outlay of the summer and a player that I had only brought in to be a future prospect for us. He looks like he could develop into a good player and hopefully he will to pay off our investment.

Karoly Szabo (MC/AMC) - £2.2m

If I’m honest, I could copy and paste exactly what I’ve written for Horvarth for Szabo, main difference between the two is that one is more attack minded.

Andrei Necula (AMC/L/R) - £1.2m

There is a bit of a theme here, another player more for the future than now. I think he can develop into a really strong attacking midfielder for us given time.

Denis Mocanu (DC) - £1.1m

Mocanu is probably unlucky to be considered another in the future players for us when he was brought in this summer as he looks to have great attributes to be a very good centre back in the years to come. Whilst he featured sparingly this season, I think next season he will play a more prominent role.

Sebatian Monea (ST) - £775k

Monea looks like he will be an incredible striker, but we had sent him on loan this season due to payers in front of him in the pecking order taking up his game time. Following Moke’s sale he was recalled, but as he’d played for 2 teams in one season we couldn’t actually play him.

Alin Draghita (GK) - £750k

What I feel we’ve missed since selling Ene is a homegrown goalkeeper so I brought in some young goalkeepers with the hope that they may ultimately end up being a very good long term option for us in goal. It means our top 6 transfers this season were all Romanian. (Incidentally, I did have an offer accepted to bring Ene another Romanian back to the club for £4.4m but he wanted £80k per week which is about £70k per week more than anyone else in the team)

Robert Kiss (GK) - £650k

Pretty much the same reasoning as Draghita, not too expensive and our scout felt that he had some potential to be a good player for our team. Both Kiss and Draghita need to develop a fair bit before being considered first team ready but both have good base attributes to start from.

Laquan Thompson (LB) - £0

I felt we were lacking a bit at left back in terms of overall quality and, was actually contemplating splashing the cash to get a significant upgrade in that area. However, Thompson was a player that came through the scouting that I thought was a no brainer for a free transfer and improved our team.

Europe:

Last Season – We had a terrible time of it so far in the group stages, no win in our first 6 matches. This meant I decided to change my formation from a 4231 to now an assymetic 343 type formation which I’d hope would improve us defensively by having more players back and improve us attacking wise by having more players forward. It worked a treat, we won our remaining 2 group stage matches 2-0 to sneak into 22^nd spot and progress to the knockouts.

We didn’t progress past the next round as we did battle against Inter Milan. In truth both games were close fought battles, but following extra time in the second leg we eventually fell to a 3-2 aggregate loss. An admirable effort especially considering our poor start to the campaign.

This season – A much better initial showing in the group stages this season for us as from the 6 games we have a won 4, drawn 1 lost 1 record and I fell we’ve had a fairly tough draw all considered. Juventus, Roma (who we seem to play every season), Manchester City and Farense were our wins with a draw against Liverpool and a loss against Arsenal. Weird to me that we’ve had to play 2 Italian teams and 3 English teams in our 6 games so far. Next January we have Besiktas and Ajax to play, two games which I think we are in good stead to win which should see us automatically progress to the last 16 which is my aim.

League: Another easy league win for us, though, I am a little disappointed as I feel we are good enough to go invincible. The two games we lost, one was last game of the season where I had rotated as we were already champions and we had an important Champions League fixture upcoming and the other was a game where we dominated without scoring before a 89^th minute screamer from nowhere secured our fate. The only other blemish on the season was a 0-0 draw in which we did not see a single highlight for the entire match.

Cup: Back to back cup finals, domestically we are the best team so by now it would be more of an upset if we were not to retain the cup, though we did open with a disappointing draw to lower league opposition.

Next Season/General

Honestly, I think we have a chance of going deep into the Champions League and maybe even so far as to win it. We’ve coped well in general across our fixtures so far so would be a bit disappointed should we not have a good run after Christmas.

We are still unable to request improved youth facilities which is a shame as it would help us to produce our own homegrown players.

Players of note

Hwang Jong-Hoan – Jong-Hoan benefited from our formation change playing much of the season as a Shadow Striker. He managed 22 goals and 8 assists all in which is a big improvement from the season prior.

Wilmar Gutierrez – Gutierrez went from strength to strength this season. 20 league goals from 19 starts is good going and Gutierrez added goals and assists in other competitions to boot always performing at a high level.

Stanislav Ballis – Fullbacks I have not previously managed to get the best out of, but this season Balis had a new role and had moved forward to Wing back rather than Full back position. 23 assists in all competitions including 14 of those in the league is a definite improvement from his 1 assist in the league last term.

Overview

Edited February 18, 2023 by _JHTB_

Thebaker · February 18, 2023

@_JHTB_another good season there. I have done this challenge for years and for some reason always found Sweden hard to go the distance in the CL, I think its down to the KO stages being at the start of the swedish season.

rlipscombe · February 18, 2023

@_JHTB_ as @Thebaker says, another good season. That was a great deal for Moke - can't blame you for accepting that sort of money. Good luck next season...

_JHTB_ · February 19, 2023

16 hours ago, Thebaker said:

I have done this challenge for years and for some reason always found Sweden hard to go the distance in the CL, I think its down to the KO stages being at the start of the swedish season.

I wonder if perhaps the new format might make it a little easier - the last 2 group games fall in January so should you get through to the KO stages you've already been back in training for 2-3 months rather than it falling right at the start of pre-season (no evidence to back it up as I've never managed in a European Jan-Dec League)

15 hours ago, rlipscombe said:

@_JHTB_ as @Thebaker says, another good season. That was a great deal for Moke - can't blame you for accepting that sort of money. Good luck next season...

Thanks, yeah, too much money to turn down and I'm pretty blessed on good young strikers.

Thebaker · February 19, 2023

2034

Table | Squad | Transfers

Started the season in ok form before improving to really enter the promotion race around the playoff spot. Losses to GAIS and Hammarby put the team in 5th and 7 points behind Varbergs in 3rd after 19 games. The team then went unbeaten for the last 11 games only dropping 4 points and really racking up the goals to end up as top scorers and gain promotion.

In the swedish cup my back up players beat Div 3 side Syrianska 6-1 at home to make the group stages again. In the group stage the team were well beaten by Hammarby and conceeded 2 goals in the 95th min against Djurgardens.

Finances have improved but the board will still not sanction any improvements saying that they are good enough. I sold Karabec but was able to loan him back as he would have run down his contract otherwise. I made a record signing in Marques as i was left without a RB as the one on loan was recalled as he was not playing in the correct role. (he was playing a lot in the correct position).

Braendshoi was the league top scorer and was helped by a hoard of other strikers as i was able to use the loan system well. Gaglione and Radic were really important in proving such a potent attack.

I was also pleased that Beqiri is showing signs of developing into a good keeper.

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2030

Superettan

14th

Group St

N/A

Kantokowski(17)

Mcdaid(7)

587

Basic

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2031

Superettan

12th

Group St

N/A

Nyberg(8)

Nyberg(5)

465

Basic

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2032

Superettan

14th

2nd Rd

N/A

Wennerstrom, Anderson(7)

Johansson(5)

565

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2033

Superettan

11th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (18)

Mcdaid(6)

414

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2034

Superettan

2nd

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (20)

Madelaine(10)

554

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

Promoted

Vipertitan · February 27, 2023

going to try this in luxumborg if that ok

rlipscombe · February 28, 2023

welcome and good luck @Vipertitan

DazRTaylor · March 1, 2023

I always have a youth only save on the go though I need a break from it occasionally. So we go again in Germany. I reloaded for about six hours and finally got the club I wanted. It is time for the Bundesliga to finally come to Berlin.

Club Introduction

Berliner FC Dynamo

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       £2,600 p/w        £1,700 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   Below Average        Basic             Adequate              Fairly Basic     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 March 13, 2023 by DazRTaylor

DazRTaylor · March 3, 2023

With the update now out, I am going to start over. I have hidden the end of season review and will amend the introduction when I start afresh.

_JHTB_ · March 5, 2023

Hogaborgs BK

Season 15 – Allsvenskan – 1st

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

Overview

Transfer Window:

A much quieter season on the transfers with the outgoings being mainly fringe players.

Outgoings:

Matias Otero (DC) - £14m

Otero is not a bad player, but in defense we have a lot of good quality players so Otero was beginning to get unhappy with his playing time. £14m is a good price for him and we do get 30% of profit so if he does get sold on we could reap some reward.

Tarek Mahmoud (DC) - £9.25m

Until this season Mahmoud was our record transfer signing when we bought him 3 seasons prior, but like Otero he was not towards the top of the defensive pecking order and he had announced his intention to explore his options at the end of his contract so I actively was looking to sell him. Unfortunately we didn’t get as much as I’d hoped but still made a small profit so happy enough.

Xavier Ifill (LB) - £4.9m

Ifill never made a single league appearance for us, but he was actually a player from our youth intake. He probably could have been an ok back up for us but I think that was all he would ever be for us.

Sinval Keller (ST) - £3.1m

A case of a player who had one good season for us before ultimately finding himself as a bit part player over the past few seasons. He was actually our vice captain so we did have a bit of risk selling him to upset the hierarchy of the squad but fortunately it didn’t.

Giorgi Jiuti (ST) - £27k

Jibuti hasn’t really been anywhere close to the first team for a long time now but he contributed over 130 goals for us during his time at the club. He’d agreed to sign for his new team on a pre-contract so I decided to bring in at least a little bit of money for him.

Incomings:

Allessandro Ottolini (GK) - £23.5m

Our new record transfer, goalkeeper was an area we had an ok player but not a great player. With the money that we have at the club now I decided to splash out on a new goalkeeper. Since joining he’s earned 3 caps for Belgium too so is perhaps the first choice national team goalkeeper.

Neizan Arbelo (DC) - £3.2m

A young player for the future who looks like he could be good centre back. It is an area that we are pretty well set in so he does have time to develop before being thrusted into the first team fray.

Aldair Salgado (MC) - £3.9m

Similar to Arbelo another young player for the future who could develop into a good first team player for the future.

Europe:

Last Season – We ended our group stage with 2 strong victories that safely saw us qualify directly for the last 16 where we were drawn against Athletico Madrid. We were very solid in both legs in the round of 16 ultimately securing a 3-0 aggregate win to see us through to the Quarter Final. Here we faced off against Dortmund who were our previous Champions League Quarter final opponents when they beat us 10-3 on aggregate so revenge was definitely on the cards. Alas, we were outclassed again, not as comprehensively on the scoreline only 3-2 on aggregate, but we were second best in both legs.

This season – The group stages are going fairly well for us so far though we have had 2 disappointing results in England as both Tottenham and Liverpool beat us. But, all of the other games we have won, including an impressive 4-0 victory over Real Madrid. We are touch and go whether we will reach the top 8 again this season however.

League: We won the league again setting a new points total though we did not manage to complete an invincible season as we lost one match (we played poorly and deserved to lose). I’m hopeful next season we can record one though, we are comfortable in the league each season now.

Cup: Another cup win to make it 3 in a row though the final took us till extra time though we did score 4 in extra time.

Next Season/General

We finally managed to get the board to improve our youth facilities for the first time in 5 years and hopefully they will let me improve them again next year as we have plenty money to do so. We did have some fairly long term injuries this season, unfortunately Gutierrez who the past 2 seasons had been great for us suffered 2 pretty bad ones, 5 months for one of them and 1.5months for another.

In the Champions League I do hope to have another strong run through the latter stages but I feel we don’t have fantastic draw luck always seeming to play the same few teams when we get through rounds.

Players of note

Hwang Jong-Hoan – Another fantastic season from the South Korean. 25 goals and 7 assists in all competitions and consistently improving. I managed to secure him to a new 5 year contract amid interest from other sides so I’m hopeful for another good season next time out.

Deninho – With our larger squad we had a lot more rotation which meant Deninho probably played his fewest amount of games for us this season but that didn’t stop him from generally performing well. He continues to do what he does best – scores goals.

Carlos Alberto – Alberto had his best season to date for us. 10 goals in all competitions from centre back plus just generally consistently good performances even when not amongst the goals.

Overview

_JHTB_ · March 6, 2023

rlipscombe · March 8, 2023

good luck @_JHTB_

_JHTB_ · March 8, 2023

Hogaborgs BK

Season 16 (Europe Only) - Challenge Complete!

Overview

Transfer Window:

Very quiet in the offseason transfer window both incoming and outgoing.

Outgoings:

Oliver Fager (DC) - £600k

Fager was one of those young prospects that we had brought in in the hopes that they would develop into a good player for us, unfortunately he didn’t fill those hopes. He was coming towards the end of his contract so I sold him, for a small loss actually.

Celcisio Timane (DC) - £300k

Pretty much the exact same story as Fager, the difference only that we got a small profit on him. He is an ok player but not a player good enough for our team.

Incomings:

Shoichi Miyazaki (MC) - £2.3m

Technically and mentally Miyazaki looks like he could become a very good midfielder. His physicals do need some improvement with his pace very much on the low side.

Branco Mirosevic (DC/R) - £5m

Right back is an area of the pitch that I’m pretty content with our options, but Mirosevic looked a good option in that area. He comes in as 3^rd choice on the right so not the most of game time. It is a bit frustrating that a week after I bought him other teams were coming in and offering to buy him for less than half of what I paid literally 7 days earlier.

Europe:

End of league phase – We left off before the new season just outside the top 8 in the league phase and after the first game back we pretty much waved goodbye to it as we lost 4-0 to Roma despite us actually having the better of the game. We did win the last game to give a small hope of the top 8, but we finished 1 point shy and had to enter the knockout playoffs.

Knockouts – Our first opponent was Real Madrid a team we had comfortably beaten in the league phase but it was still a tough draw. The first leg they were the better team fairly comfortably however, we held on to only lose the game 2-1. The second leg saw us score in 90+2 to take the tie to extra time before scoring a winner just before it went to penalties. Another repeat team next, Liverpool, the first leg was similar to Real Madrid just the opposite way round, we were fairly comfortably better but only took a 3-2 lead into the second leg. I was fearing another extra time game in the second leg as Liverpool drew the tie level with 9 minutes to go in the second leg before we snatched an on the night equaliser and tie winner just 3 minutes later.

I don’t think it is possible for us to play any other team than Dortmund in the Champions League Quarter Final. This is our 3^rd season we’ve reached the quarter-finals and each time it was Dortmund we faced. It seemed to be bogey team continued as after the first leg which was at home we found ourselves behind 2-1. It’s a season of late goals as we were 1-1 in the second leg before an own goal in the 88^th minute took the tie to extra time. In extra time we just appeared to cope much better than them scoring 3 times in the first 15 minutes to take the tie beyond Dortmund. Newcastle, one of the top teams in England in the save game were our semi-final opponents and we comfortably beat them in the first leg 3-1 and in the second leg we raced into a 2 goal lead to give us 4 goals lead in the tie. Newcastle didn’t give up though and by half time it was 2-2 on the night to make the second half a lot tougher. In the 85^th minute they went ahead on the night which could have made for a nervy ending, but we extended the aggregate lead in second half stoppage time to secure our final appearance.

Tottenham the team we would face, a team who had beaten us 4-1 in this very Champions League campaign but I felt we performed poorly in the league phase and since then we’d just been pretty solid. I did increase our passing directness and dropped the defensive line a little and it seemed to at least nullify them, however, we were also not creating anything before in the 83^rd minute we got a very nothing penalty which I think resulted in only our second shot on target in the game but it was a goal and we were 7 minutes away from Champions League glory. We did add a late second from a corner to win the match 2-0, in truth it was far from a classic not that I’m complaining.

League: We’re well on track to win the league again though we aren’t going unbeaten as we played poorly in one game to lose 2-1, outside of that game the other 9 has seen us win them all scoring 28 conceding just 2, safe to say we’re a bit too good for the league now.

Cup: We were knocked out of the cup but are still on the record games without losing. The first two games took place between the Real Madrid ties so the cups were heavily rotated not even playing first back ups in many cases.

Team for the Final

Alessandro Ottolini – Goalkeeper

Denis Mocanu – Right Centre Back

Jure Peric – Centre Back

Carlos Alberto – Left Centre Back

Laquan Thompson – Left Back

Casper Eriksson - Right Back (Youth Prospect)

Catalin Lacatus – Central Midfield

Kwon Won-Sub – Central Midfield

Hwang Joan-Hoan – Attacking Midfield

Deninho – Striker

Sebastian Monea – Striker

Subs used – Varga, Zwane, Mirosevic, Jae-Hun, Miyazaki

Overview

A fantastic run to win the Champions League, I was a bit frustrated after our poor showing in the league phase as I did feel we really should be getting top 8 fairly comfortably by now. Regardless, we battled well in the knockouts and in the end got a deserved trophy for our efforts. I guess I would continue the save to try and win the Club World Cup however, it is not for another 3 years so I think I will probably end this save here for now.

I look forward to seeing how every one else's saves progress!

corinthiano · March 8, 2023

Congrats @_JHTB_ - great effort to complete it with a Swedish team!

jmarchand · March 10, 2023

Dunaujvaros PASE | Hungary | 2030-2031 | Season 8 | Making a run in Europe

I'll be going a tad faster here, as when I finished that season, I was away without a good time to take screenshots and build a formal report, but lots of things happened since then. I've finished the 2032 season too, so this update is coming shortly.

Transfers

In

I needed to bolster pretty much every position, but I had made a few inspired signings during that time. Some of them are still at the club, even!

Siyabonga Tyhali - DC - 625k€ from Orlando Pirates (out for 3.9 M€ to Barcelona before the 2031-32 season).
- He was great, but I could only get to sign him with a low release clause and was never able to renegotiate it. He immediately attracted interest after a strong season, finishing with a 7.48 average rating across all competitions (7.37 in Europe) at only 19-20 years old. I can't blame him, he now earns 91k€/pw, he was on a 3k€ contract at our club...
Jose Rivera - ST - 375k€
- Still at the club! Scored 30 goals in 38(5) apps in 2030-31, including 9 in Europe and continued with a strong season in 31-32. He's become somewhat of a rotational player (like our other striker options, more on that later) and
- Révélation
Diego Otegui - DMC - 4.3M€ (out to Herta in 2032 for 16.75M€)
- My first real time where I splashed on a player, I needed to strenghten the midfield and the creative option of Otegui was just fitting.
Lucas Castro - DR - 1.9M€
- My current starting wing back, a very complete player who can go forward, run for days but also be responsible defensively. Not awesome in the air, but I can live with that. Top clubs are sniffing in, I'm already trying to line up the replacements, unfortunately.
- Révélation
Benjamin Carcamo Varelo - AMR/ST - 2.4M€
- A bit of a one-trick pony, but I was a bit blinded by the 16 Dribbling, 16 Finishing, 16 Technique, 16 Composure and 16 Acceleration.
- I signed him initially to play up front, but he eventually found a spot as an inside forward where he ran in circles around everyone in the Hungarian league.
- Révélation
Junior - AML - 6.25M€ (out to Southampton for 12.25M€)
- Finding Junior was a bit one of the moments where it was very difficult to pass. Super pacey, good crossing and off the ball, he played great, but had a 12.25M€ release clause which we couldn't remove (again!) and off he was to the Premier League, where he is a rotational player earning 3x the salary he was making in Hungary. Yeah, reputation is hard to build up...
- Révélation

Out

Going quickly here, but notable is José Bico who was our starting Striker last week who was falling down in the pecking order, and already 28 years old and actually scored 7 goals in the first half season at Torino in Serie A and 17 goals in the next full season. Win-win transfer here.

Oleksandr Matveev, our homegrown right-back started to kick up a fuss about playing time and it was getting very hard to keep around, so I sold him to Dynamo Kyiv for 1.5M€ + 30% profit before he brought down the whole team morale with him. A bit of a shame as I loved having this local product in our team (and it was helping a lot in the European selection).

Competitions - League

After an invincible season, we finally lost a game where we crashed 0-4 against Mol Fehérvar, ending a 54-match streak without losing.

Competitions - Europe

In Europe, we had a great, great run. In the Champions League Qualifying rounds, we unfortunately crashed at Rangers and failed to qualify from the group/league stage, which saw us qualifying for the Europa League League.

We were playing with confidence, ultimately finishing 7th in the League Phase, which was a pretty good showing. The 3-2 away win at Marseille was the one who made us go through.

In the knockout rounds, we were able to walk past Ajax, Atletico Bilbao and Leeds (great win there). In the final, we were matched against Arsenal, which was, at the time, the top rated club in the world. Yeah, it wasn't close. (Saka, Odegaard, Neves, Bellingham Zabarnyi in their starting 11...)

(I'll be totally honest here, I played this game and got a red card in the 2nd minute and a very hard injury in the 5th minute and we were down 5-0 at the half. I ragequitted this game and reloaded a few days later to get a more respectable showing from the guys. There was no way were were going to beat them, but I managed to get a less FM frustrating game...)

Other News

- We're slowly chipping at the facilities, making lots of money now with the European success and the player sales. I feel that more than last year, I'll have to always queue up replacements as it's going to be a while before our reputation is high enough to fend off interest from the top leagues.

- The Hungarian league is making some progress, we've gained a European qualification place now, we're up to 5 places starting in the 31/32 season (and more are coming!)

Year	Season	League	Position	Media Pred	Points	Goal Diff	Cup	Europe		Europe Ranking	Avg. Attendance	Top Scorer	Top Assist	Training	Youth	Junior	Youth Rec
1	23-24	DII	9	17	47	-1	5th round	NA			796	Zsombor Novak (10)	Szablocs Varga (7)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Below Avg
2	24-25	DII	4	6	46	17	5th round	NA			861	Donat Varga (19)	Szablocs Varga (11)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Average
3	25-26	DII	1	4	62	38	5th round	NA			872	Csanad Novak (20)	Baba (13)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Average
4	26-27	DI	6	11	48	14	4th round	NA			2066	Csanad Novak (19)	Baba (13)	Basic	Below Avg	Excellent	Average
5	27-28	DI	2	10	62	29	WINNERS	NA			2684	Nico O'Reilly (18)	Simone Pontisso (10)	Basic	Below Avg	Excellent	Average
6	28-29	DI	1	3	72	40	WINNERS	EL	Qtr Final	167	3566	Donat Varga (20)	Noam Emeran (15)	Below Avg	Adequate	Adequate	Good
7	29-30	DI	1	1	91	76	WINNERS	CL	League (27)	105	3950	Karim Konaté (39)	Ömer Beyaz (16)	Average	Average	Good	Exceptional
8	30-31	DI	1	1	90	77	WINNERS	EL	Final	51	5062	Tomas Moravcik (34)	Ömer Beyaz (23)

Edited March 12, 2023 by jmarchand

jmarchand · March 10, 2023

Le 08/03/2023 à 17:31, _JHTB_ a dit :

Season 16 (Europe Only) - Challenge Complete!

Awesome! Congrats!!!

_JHTB_ · March 10, 2023

Thanks @corinthiano, @jmarchand

Figured I might as well give the top 10s for a few stats over the save as a whole

Deninho the clear candidate for player of the save with 303 goals and 75 assists in 395 appearances - not far shy of an average 1 goal contribution per game which is a fantastic return. Average rating top is technically Deninho too as Szabo only played 1 game for us. On the goalkeeping front Ene was a long serving goalkeeper for us so kept a lot of clean sheets but I think Ottolini was well on track to become our best goalkeeper in terms of clean sheets should the save have continued.

14 hours ago, jmarchand said:

In the knockout rounds, we were able to walk past Ajax, Atletico Bilbao and Leeds (great win there). In the final, we were matched against Arsenal, which was, at the time, the top rated club in the world. Yeah, it wasn't close.

That's a good showing in the Europa League all the same, especially when considering you got pretty much the worst possible knockout draws, 4th, 2nd and 1st in the Quarters through to the final and Ajax had only lost 1 in the group stages themselves. Should be a nice reputation bump and a decent enough chunk of money which should help.

Thebaker · March 11, 2023

@_JHTB_well done on completing the challenge

Thebaker · March 11, 2023

2035

Table | Squad | Transfers

It took 7 games for the team to register the first win and there after the team eeked out points here and there to just stay above the relegation spots Ultimately i was lucky there were 3 worse teams than mine and that i got 13 points from 18 against the bottom 3 to survive with a game to go.

In the swedish cup the team eased past D1N Lidingo 1-0 in the 2nd rd before playing Allsvenska Gothenburg, superetten Osters and D1N Lulea in the group stages. The team underperformed to finish last.

Finances improved thanks to the increased prize money and after a lot of pleading the board grudgingly improved youth coaching and recruitment and agreed a training improvement.

Players performance wasn't very high especially the defenders but one highlight was Radic who i signed on a free after his loan last season. I also brought in 2 brazilians after moving to scout the whole world. Valongo was a good option up front with Paulo more of a midfielder.

Nyberg left after 114 games and 26 goals and a feeling he had underperformed in his time at the club.

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2031

Superettan

12th

Group St

N/A

Nyberg(8)

Nyberg(5)

465

Basic

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2032

Superettan

14th

2nd Rd

N/A

Wennerstrom, Anderson(7)

Johansson(5)

565

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2033

Superettan

11th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (18)

Mcdaid(6)

414

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2034

Superettan

2nd

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (20)

Madelaine(10)

554

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

Promoted

2035

Allsvenskan

13th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (11)

Radic(7)

1888

Below Average

Poor

Average

Fairly Basic

Edited March 11, 2023 by Thebaker

rlipscombe · March 11, 2023

@_JHTB_ - congratulation on completion of the challenge in Europe, and to do it in Sweden is no mean feat. The results agaonst Real Madrid and Liverpool show just how fine margins exist and how close you came to not getting the opportunity. Sgows you should never give up in games. As for your tactic, it's an interesting one...!! Did you spend a lot of time working on it on the training ground..?

@jmarchand - unlucky in Europe there (not personally enojying seeing 'dirty' Leeds doing well in Europe...)

@Thebaker - tough season there in the top division but survival is key 1st season... hope you can build from there next season...

As for me, i really need to get a season review up, especially as i'm well into the next season... need to sort it out...!!

Thebaker · March 11, 2023

25 minutes ago, rlipscombe said:

@Thebaker - tough season there in the top division but survival is key 1st season... hope you can build from there next season...

Unfortunately i'm well into the next season and really struggling. The latest patch has destroyed my defence which was poor anyway, literally conceeding 3+ goals a game.

I'm also struggling on HG rules and often cannot play my strongest team, i am not even looking at foreign players currently.

_JHTB_ · March 11, 2023

3 hours ago, rlipscombe said:

As for your tactic, it's an interesting one...!! Did you spend a lot of time working on it on the training ground..?

I was playing a 4-2-3-1 system but with the players that I had ended up signing meant that I didn't really have much depth on the wings and I had lots of depth at both centre back and striker so decided to swap to a 3 defender 2 striker formation. When I was building in my right back was much more attacking in attribute terms so figured I'd push him up - and is why the right sided defender I'd put as wide centre back. On the left, as we didn't have as much support from the left back I had hoped that complete forward on support would fill into the space on the left wing to provide width there whilst also providing attacking threat. Generally, I wanted more players in attack but also more players in defense and I think this gave us a good balance.

2 hours ago, Thebaker said:

I'm also struggling on HG rules and often cannot play my strongest team

Yeah, this is a big struggle especially early on in the top league, it is why I almost exclusively signed foreign players only if they were 18 at the time of arrival. Hopefully you can at least salvage survival again this season get some additional money into the coffers

jmarchand · March 13, 2023

Dunaujvaros PASE | Hungary | 2031-2032 | Season 9 | The One in which the other teams found our players

After that good run in the Europa League, our reputation increased slightly (it's at 3 stars at the beginning of the season, which puts us around the likes of Dynamo Kyiv, Dukla Prague, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Slovan Liberec), which puts us in a prime territory for being picked apart by bigger clubs in more reputable clubs and leagues. Despite all that you are going to read in the following update, it's one of my favourite points in this kind of save, as it forces us to double down on scouting, finding these gems and hoping that we can fend them off.

Without further ado...

Transfers

Yeah, the Out section si pretty sizable... Let's focus on the ones which are more notable.

Yury Titov - Defensively minded MC - 4M€ to Wolfsburg
- After 3 great seasons with us, Yury grew unsettled and wanted more of everything. When Wolfsburg came in for 4M€, he wanted to tear down the locker room, so off he went. Too bad, he was homegrown at club and was helping us quite a bit in Europe.
- He's now a sub (0 starts, 13 subs) for Wolfsburg on a 6.72 avg. rating.
Nicolas Gonzalez - Starting GK - 18.25M€ to Bayer Leverkusen
- After two strong seasons, Nicolas was starting to attract attention, notably due to his 22 clean sheets in 51 matches (20 in 25 in the league!) and a few clubs went in for him and this very much smashed the transfer record.
- He's on a 6.18 avg. rating in all competitions at Bayer despite a clean sheet. I really hope he does well there, but with the emergence of Marcelo Gadea (who was signed in the previous season) I think was a pretty good transfer for us.
Kathelo Jacobs - DM - AML - 14.5M€ to Crystal Palace
- He's been a victim of my two seasons in a row without posting an update as he's been playing in a somewhat rotational role (26(11) apps, 4 goals 9 assists, 7.12 avg. rating), but had tons of potential, ticks all the right boxes and was the first player which we've had formally described as a Wonderkid. He's going to be great I think, if he's given the proper training.
- Having signed him for 500k€ from Sundowns in South Africa, it's a nice 14M€ profit for us after only one season turnaround.
- Révélation
Other outs (see previous post)
- Diego Otegui - Our starting DLP - 16.75M€ to Herta Berlin
- Siyabonga Tyhali - Star DC- 3.9M€ to Barcelona (release clause)
- Junior - Starting AML - 12.25M€ to Southampton (release clause)

Transfers IN

Due to struggles in registration for continental competition, where i essentially played the Europa League run with a first XI, two subs and the rest of the bench filled with the U18s, I made a conscious effort to focus on players which are 18 and which would actually eventually qualify for the glorious HGN tag which was oh-so-needed. I have also been trying to sign players whom I would be loaned in domestically to help improve the other sides in Hungary. Here are the standouts as of the end of 2032.

Ales Dukic - D-M-AMC - 1.4M€ from Koper
- I have been playing him at a variety of places in the midfield, but, most recently as a Regista/DLP/RPM/Segundo Volante as I've been transitioning to 2 defensive midfielders.
- Great passing and technique, he's also been fielding in at AMC when needed and may indeed be where he settles in the team. I'm curious to see where you would play him.
- At 20 years old, he already has 3 Slovenian caps and comes out on a 8 goals and 7 assists half-season for us.
- Révélation
Pablo Mendez - AMC -ST - 5M€ from Estudiantes (LP) - Argentina
- He's been recommended to us as a striker, but due to the competition in the spot, I've been playing him mostly as an AMC, sometimes as a playmaker role, sometimes in an attacking midfielder role, and the 19 year old has been rewarding us well, with 3 goals and 5 assists in 16 apps.
- He's definitely not quite to the level that we need on a continental level, but I am hopeful that he'll get there.
- Révélation
Juan Britos - AMR-ST - 9.75M€ (including clauses) from Racing Club (Argentina)
- He's our next star up front and is now our top earner at the club (13k€ pw).I'm almost expecting that we'll get a large bid for Karim Konaté or Juan Rivera and we'll want to be ready when this comes.
- In his half-season with us, he's been playing a mix of AMR and Striker when needed, doing great in both places. I think he's going to be great (my staff does too!) and he's certainly going to feature heavily next year.
- Révélation
Gaston Bautista - MC-DM - 4.7M€ from Nacional (Uruguay)
- Another good looking midfielder, on the DLP-ing type whom I signed as I was looking to add a bit more depth in that part of the team. He's now picked up playing at defensive midfielder role, and looking forward to see what he'll be able to do next year.
- Révélation

League

Again a season in which we never looked back. In this case, we weren't as dominant in the league as two years ago, but we're way above the quality of the league at the moment.

Révélation

Magyar Cup

We've now in our 5th straight Cup title, this time against Ferencvaros, we really weren't into any kind of trouble.

Europe - Champions League

This time, we had qualified for the Champions League and qualified after dismissing FC Honka (Finland) 2-9 and edging out a narrow tie 2-1 against Shamrock Rovers... This was clearly not a classic, but not with our fists clenched a bit tighter than they should have been, we were on to the league phase.

This was interesting, to say the least. On the strong side, we faced Bayern (0-2 defeat at home), Atlético (2-6 defeat away) and Arsenal (0-6 Away, they held some revenge after that reload of last year...), but then, wins against, Dinamo Zagreb (6-0 in Zagreb), Rapid Wien (2-1 at home), PAOK (6-3 in Greece), Benfica (2-0 at home) and, to finalize the league stage, a GLORIOUS 3-0 win against Newcastle, which was undefeated at the top of the table at the time.

Révélation

This last win actually lifted us in 14th place, and we qualified in the Knockout Round against Gladbach, which saw a glorious 90+3 goal from Benjamin Carcamo, on a glorious solo effort after we've went down to 10 men, but on the whole, we actually stole that tie...

In the round of 16, it saw us drawn against Barcelona and yeah, we really weren't there. 0-3 at home. 0-4 at Camp Nou. They're going on to the Final against PSG.

All in all, a great showing from the team, but there is still lots of road ahead.

The Squad

Great performances from Karim Konaté (again, 31 goals in 39 games) and Predrag Manojlovic (player of the year, 19 assists).

Karim Konaté

Révélation

Predrag Manojlovic

Révélation

Other Hungarian sides in Europe

Pretty good showing, but next year we'll get one more team in Europe next year.

Mol Fehérvar - Quarter Final of UEFA Conference League against Fiorentina, great showing from them.
Ferencvaros - Round of 16 of Europa League, lost against AS Roma
MTK Budapest - Knocked out of Conference League 2nd Qualifying Round League Path against Ljubjana

Other News

Got my first somewhat looking promising youth intake, fingers crossed... More info as they develop a bit...!

Révélation

Year	Season	League	Position	Media Pred	Points	Goal Diff	Cup	Europe		Europe Ranking	Avg. Attendance	Top Scorer	Top Assist	Training	Youth	Junior	Youth Rec
1	23-24	DII	9	17	47	-1	5th round	NA			796	Zsombor Novak (10)	Szablocs Varga (7)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Below Avg
2	24-25	DII	4	6	46	17	5th round	NA			861	Donat Varga (19)	Szablocs Varga (11)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Average
3	25-26	DII	1	4	62	38	5th round	NA			872	Csanad Novak (20)	Baba (13)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Average
4	26-27	DI	6	11	48	14	4th round	NA			2066	Csanad Novak (19)	Baba (13)	Basic	Below Avg	Excellent	Average
5	27-28	DI	2	10	62	29	WINNERS	NA			2684	Nico O'Reilly (18)	Simone Pontisso (10)	Basic	Below Avg	Excellent	Average
6	28-29	DI	1	3	72	40	WINNERS	EL	Qtr Final	167	3566	Donat Varga (20)	Noam Emeran (15)	Below Avg	Adequate	Adequate	Good
7	29-30	DI	1	1	91	76	WINNERS	CL	League (27)	105	3950	Karim Konaté (39)	Ömer Beyaz (16)	Average	Average	Good	Exceptional
8	30-31	DI	1	1	90	77	WINNERS	EL	Final	51	5062	Tomas Moravcik (34)	Ömer Beyaz (23)
9	31-32	DI	1	1	86	79	WINNERS	CL	R16	33	5154	Karim Konaté (31)	Predrag Manojlovic (19)	Excellent	Great	Excellent	Exceptional

Edited April 3, 2023 by jmarchand

rlipscombe · March 13, 2023

fantastic update and a decent season again @jmarchand Domestically it looks like you continue to dominate and i (think) you continue to make progress in Europe. No complaints from the Champions League stage, and you only came unstuck against the TOP teams. no shame there. good luck next season.

Vipertitan · March 15, 2023

so the luxumborg save failed to load after update so ive started again this time in norway , IF Fram Larvik is the team i took charge.

Domestic Leagues History (Club)

Profile - Profile (Manager)

general overview -squad

facilities

jmarchand · March 15, 2023

Things are going well for Hungarian football.

How Newcastle jumped up 11 positions in that ranking is actually beyond me... I just looked at it and they got rid of a year where they did not qualify for any European competition (and thus, 0 coefficient points) and did very well in all years after that.

DazRTaylor · March 15, 2023

End of Season Review

Season 2023/24

Berliner FC Dynamo

Season Summary

To finish twelfth is good, though we were challenging for the promotion playoffs for most of the season.

Season Details

League Table - We were in the hunt for the promotion playoffs until our form deserted us at the end of the season.

League Fixtures 1 & 2 - We were absolutely dreadful at the end of the season as we plummeted down the division.

Friendlies - Despite three losses, I was pleased with how pre season went and how we played.

Squad - There is no doubt we over performed and significant strengthening will be required if we want a repeat.

Squad Dynamics - After such a poor run of form, this is unsurprisingly rather bad.

Transfers In - With money being so tight, I have had to rely on free transfers and loans.

Transfers Out - Fringe players were allowed to leave, maininly on free transfers though one nominal transfer fee was brought in.

Youth Candidates - For a first intake, it wasn't too bad with central midfielder Nikola Šehić YP24B2 looking like the brightest prospect.

Finances - We are losing money every month and without going up and enjoying the prize money on offer in the second tier, we are going to have to rely on the board to keep bailing us out.

Key Players

Alexander Siebeck - Highly versatile though I usually used him in central midfield. He is on the transfer list as he wants to leave for a bigger club.

Steven Davis - Now aged 39, the Northern Irish international formed a formidable central midfield partnership with Alexander Siebeck. Signed on a free transfer, his experience proved to be invaluable.

Mamin Sanyang - One of my first signings for the club and now a full international for The Gambia, the right winger had a fine season.

Luca Nikolai - Signed in January on a free transfer with the aim of being a backup, the full back, who can play on either side, quickly established himself as an automatic selection.

Nathaniel Nwosu - Our teenage Nigerian Under 20 international goalkeeper only arrived in January and has taken a while to settle though he has a lot of potential.

Next Season

A top half finish would be lovely.

Personal Contract

Season     Contract Start Date     Contract Expiry Date     Pre Tax Wage     Post Tax Wage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start          20 June 2023             30 June 2024       £2,600 p/w        £1,700 p/w
2023/24           20 June 2023             30 June 2024       £2,600 p/w =      £1,700 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 = (0.50*) ↑   None ↑               4 ↑   4 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =   1 =   4 ↑   4 ↑   4 ↑   4 =   1 =   4 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑   1 =   4 ↑   4 ↑

Club Facilities

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

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24      38        13       12       13          57              52                  +5              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       12       13          57              52                  +5              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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25 August 2023     Erlind Zogjani            Striker                FC Prishtina                 Kosovo                         £14,750

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                              12th          N/a                       Dreadful form at the end of the season prevented a promotion playoff push.

Edited March 16, 2023 by DazRTaylor

rlipscombe · March 15, 2023

Catania – Italian Serie B

Season Review 2024/25 (Season 2)

League Prediction: 20^th

League Finish: 15th Graph

Finances

Squad 1 Squad 2 Squad 3

Transfers 1 Transfers 2

Fresh off the back of a debut season promotion, we found ourselves in Serie B. in terms of quality, it was definitely a step up, facing Palermo and Sampdoria amongst others. It was definitely a level where we struggled at times, Through some strong individual performances, and a little luck here and there, we managed to survive, finishing in 15^th place.

Looking at the squad, I would highlight the following players as those who contributed the most:

GK: Niccolo Chiorra - Niccolo once more was our number one goalkeeper, and performed well in our debut Serie B season.

LB: Andrea Spreafico - Andrea joined us on loan from Frosinone, and the Italian youth international performed at a solid level

RB: Francesco Rapisarda - Probably our main RB, he was solid if unspectacular. A potential area for improvement next season.

CB: Michael Venturi - Signed on a free transfer from Cosenza following his loan speel last season, Michael was a rock in defence once more.

CB: Nicholas Rizzo - A solid partner for Venturi, but a replacement required for next season.

CM: Christian Langella - A solid season for Christian, if a little unspectacular.

CM: Mattia Zennaro - Christian’s main partner in a steady midfield partnership.

AMC: Cher Ndour - Cher handled the step up well, performing well in an attacking position. Now an Italian U21 interntional, the sharks are circling….

AML: Giuseppe Giovinco - Despite his advancing years, Giuseppe was always reliable when called upon.

AML: Luigi Cherubini - Giuseppe’s rival for the AML berth, another Italian youth international.

AMR: Carlos Borges - Decent season for Carlos, another are to look at next season.

ST: Andrea Raimondo - After Juventus refused to let us have Pecorino back, Andrea joined on loan from Bologna. Performed well enough to make me think ‘Pecorino who?’, we shall see if I am more successful getting Raimondo back for another season….

Financially, I forgot to take a screenshot, but suffice to say it isn’t getting any better right now… I MIGHT have to cash in on a player or two to try nd balance the books a little…

Onto the new season we go….

DazRTaylor · March 16, 2023

End of Season Review

Season 2024/25

Berliner FC Dynamo

Season Summary

It was a better season though only marginally so.

Season Details

League Table - Unlike last season, we were never in the promotion picture so it was therefore pleasing to improve on last year.

League Fixtures 1 & 2 - We had a very tough start to the season though we rallied somewhat.

Friendlies - It was a very tough pre season campaign we suffered six defeats in our ten matches.

Squad - Our squad improved though we still need more quality in order to mount a promotion push.

Squad Dynamics - This is much better than last year.

Transfers In - I was again forced to rely on loans and free transfers.

Transfers Out - Three times I broke the clubs transfer sale record including receiving £2.5m for our teenage goalkeeper.

Youth Candidates - Left sided midfilder Jonathan Barret YP25B4 is the best prospect out of an average group of players.

Finances - Thanks to the sales listed above, we made a profit this year and returned into the black. We are still listed as insecure, however.

Key Players

Taylan Duman - Highly versatile and with good experience, the German proved to be the best new addition to the squad this season.

Grayson Dettoni - Still a teenager, the American central defender really game of age this year.

Sean Busch - The striker is still inconsistent for my liking though he is improving.

Bashir Humphreys - The English central defender had a good first campaign at the club.

Nathaniel Nwosu - Sold to Bayer Leverkusen for a club record and much needed £2.5m, the Nigerian international goalkeeper was loaned back to the club for the rest of the season.

Next Season

I would love to challenge for a promotion playoff place.

Personal Contract

Season     Contract Start Date     Contract Expiry Date     Pre Tax Wage     Post Tax Wage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start          20 June 2023             30 June 2024       £2,600 p/w        £1,700 p/w
2023/24           20 June 2023             30 June 2024       £2,600 p/w =      £1,700 p/w =
2024/25            6 June 2024             30 June 2025       £2,600 p/w =      £1,700 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 = (0.50*) ↑   None =               4 ↑   4 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =   1 =   4 ↑   4 ↑   4 ↑   4 =   1 =   4 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑   1 =   4 ↑   4 ↑
2024/25    Minimal = (1.00*) =   None =               5 ↑   5 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =   1 =   5 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑   1 =   5 ↑   5 =   5 =   1 =   6 ↑   6 ↑

Club Facilities

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

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24      38        13       12       13          57              52                  +5              34.21%
2024/25      38        16        9       13          54              42                 +12              42.11% ↑

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage     Time At Club
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24          38        13       12       13          57              52                  +5              34.21%             333 days
2024/25          76        29       21       26         111              94                 +17              38.16% ↑           697 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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25 August 2023     Erlind Zogjani            Striker                FC Prishtina                 Kosovo                         £14,750
 3 July 2024       Andreas Pollasch          Defensive Midfielder   FSV Zwickau                  Germany                        £23,000
 6 July 2024       Mamin Sanyang             Right Wing             SSV Jahn Regensburg          Germany                       £100,000
 6 January 2025    Nathaniel Nwosu           Goalkeeper             Bayer 04 Leverkusen          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                              12th          N/a                       Dreadful form at the end of the season prevented a promotion playoff push.
2024/25           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       3. Liga                              10th ↑        N/a                       A better campaign.

Edited March 16, 2023 by DazRTaylor

DazRTaylor · March 18, 2023

End of Season Review

Season 2025/26

Berliner FC Dynamo

Season Summary

An exceptional campaign resulted in the club being promoted to the second tier.

Season Details

League Table - We were always in the top two although it is disappointing to blow a six point lead at the top.

League Fixtures 1 & 2 - We went unbeaten in our firt fifteen games and enjoyed some solid unbeaten runs throughout the campaign.

Friendlies - We enjoyed a much better pre season as we only lost twice and played very well.

Squad - The significant improvement in quality in the squad is noticeable.

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

Transfers In 1 & 2 - Once again, we relied on free transfers and loans though the quality of these players were a clear step up from what we had previously.

Transfers Out - We raised over £1.5m in player sales as the books continued to get balanced. Quite a few youngsters also departed on loan to gain some experience.

Youth Candidates - It wasn't a particularly good intake with central defender Albin Allmuça YP26A9 being the brightest prospect.

Finances - Thanks to player sales and cashing in a big sell on clause, we are in the black. Now we are promoted, the prize money is considerable so money shouldn't be an issue going forward.

Key Players

Bashir Humphreys - The English centre back enjoyed another fruitful campaign.

Gabriel González - Our best new signing, the teenage Swiss Under 21 international left winger arrived from Bayern München on a free transfer and has been sensational for us.

Janning Waldschmidt - Signing on loan from Fortuna Düsseldorf for the season, the teenage German central midfielder was our best loan acquisition this year.

José Händel - Another teenage loanee, the Portuguese Under 21 international formed a formidable partnership at the back with Bashir Humphreys. He signed from Famalicão for the season.

Przemysław Śnieżawski - Yet another teenager who signed on loan for the year, this time from Espanyol in Spain, the Polish Under 21 international striker was either sblime or poor. Very inconsistent.

Next Season

A safe, mid table finish is the aim.

Personal Contract

Season     Contract Start Date     Contract Expiry Date     Pre Tax Wage     Post Tax Wage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At start          20 June 2023             30 June 2024       £2,600 p/w        £1,700 p/w
2023/24           20 June 2023             30 June 2024       £2,600 p/w =      £1,700 p/w =
2024/25            6 June 2024             30 June 2025       £2,600 p/w =      £1,700 p/w =
2025/26            6 June 2025             30 June 2027       £2,600 p/w =      £1,700 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 = (0.50*) ↑   None        =        4 ↑   4 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =   1 =   4 ↑   4 ↑   4 ↑   4 =   1 =   4 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑   1 =   4 ↑   4 ↑
2024/25    Minimal = (1.00*) =   None        =        5 ↑   5 ↑   1 =   1 =   1 =   1 =   5 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑   5 ↑   1 =   5 ↑   5 =   5 =   1 =   6 ↑   6 ↑
2025/26    Minimal = (2.00*) ↑   National B ↑↑        8 ↑   8 ↑   3 ↑   1 =   2 ↑   1 =   8 ↑   8 ↑   8 ↑   5 =   1 =   7 ↑   7 ↑   7 ↑   8 ↑   9 ↑  10 ↑

Club Facilities

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

Season Record

Season     Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24      38        13       12       13          57              52                  +5              34.21%
2024/25      38        16        9       13          54              42                 +12              42.11% ↑
2025/26      38        23       11        4          73              35                 +38              60.53% ↑

Overall Career Record

After Season   Played     Won     Drawn     Lost     Goals For     Goals Against     Goal Difference     Win Percentage     Time At Club
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24          38        13       12       13          57              52                  +5              34.21%             333 days
2024/25          76        29       21       26         111              94                 +17              38.16% ↑           697 days
2025/26         114        52       32       30         184             129                 +55              45.61% ↑         1,061 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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25 August 2023     Erlind Zogjani            Striker                FC Prishtina                 Kosovo                         £14,750
 3 July 2024       Andreas Pollasch          Defensive Midfielder   FSV Zwickau                  Germany                        £23,000
 6 July 2024       Mamin Sanyang             Right Wing             SSV Jahn Regensburg          Germany                       £100,000
 6 January 2025    Nathaniel Nwosu           Goalkeeper             Bayer 04 Leverkusen          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                              12th          N/a                       Dreadful form at the end of the season prevented a promotion playoff push.
2024/25           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       3. Liga                              10th ↑        N/a                       A better campaign.
2025/26           N/a               N/a                    N/a                       3. Liga                               2nd ↑        N/a                       Promoted as champions.

Edited March 18, 2023 by DazRTaylor

Thebaker · March 20, 2023

2036

Squad | Table | Transfers

Only 6 points from the first 11 games conceeding 3+ in 9 of them was a terrible start to the season. Although the team picked up they were always in the relegation battle but just kept ahead of the bottom two to finish in the relegation playoff. In the playoff they faced Helsingborgs drawing the first leg away 1-1 before reasonably comfortably winning the home leg 2-1. In the swedish cup the my reserves coasted past Div 3 Bodens 4-1 at home in the 2nd rd. In the group stage the team were again disappointing losing to superettan GIF Sundsvall and allsvenskan Djurgardens and only just beating superettan FC Eskilstuna to finish 3rd.

Its difficult to know where the problems for my side are, obviously defensively although they should be doing better, it seems decision making is poor.. The team also creates next to no chances for 3 or 4 games and no goals and then suddenly 20 chances and 4 goals in a single game. Losing Radic for 4 months to injury did not help nor the 9 red cards.

Staying in the division has helped the finances even with a training facilities increase.

I sold long serving GK Bequiri (124 apps) as he wasn't HG and i felt i could improve on him. Estrada was rated the same ability wise but did put in some better performances. Nolly (114apps, 5 goals) also left after some years at the club.

Valongo is my best player now but he has a habit of picking up red cards and now wants to leave as the squad is not good enough. Braendshoi was the top scorer but was actually really poor for much of the season and was dropped for some of it, he had 4 goals in one match and 3 in the cup game before 3 in the 2 playoff games.

Owusu was my record signing and while he was ok i hope he can improve.

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2032

Superettan

14th

2nd Rd

N/A

Wennerstrom, Anderson(7)

Johansson(5)

565

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2033

Superettan

11th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (18)

Mcdaid(6)

414

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2034

Superettan

2nd

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (20)

Madelaine(10)

554

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

Promoted

2035

Allsvenskan

13th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (11)

Radic(7)

1888

Below Average

Poor

Average

Fairly Basic

2036

Allsvenskan

14th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (13)

Valongo(7)

1943

Adequate

Poor

Average

Fairly Basic

Thebaker · March 28, 2023

2037

Table | Squad | Transfers

Started the season very slowly again, the team was dominant in quite a few games but could not seem to win them. A couple of wins mid-season took the team out of the relegation spots and a good end to the season where the team drew 5 and won 1 of the last 8 meant that relegation was avoided for another year. The defence tightened up a lot this year but the strikers were really disappointing barely scoring a goal. I realised looking at the stats that my team had a lot of chances but few on target and less CCC's than any team in the league, 5 less than the bottom team so it could be the midfield which needs looking at.

In the swedish cup my reserves beat div 3 Friska Viljor 5-0 at home before failing again in the group stage. Faced with a winnable group they were thrashed by Kalmar after squeezing past D1S Lindome and then conceding 2 90th min goals to draw with Superettan Orebro.

Finances are reasonably steady with some youth facility and junior coaching increases grudgingly approved by the board, I have also resisted the urge to spend big on any players as all the HG players are very overpriced although i did make a record purchase in Folkesson and a record sale of a player i barely played.

My GK got pinched as he had a tiny min fee clause which i hadn't expected anyone to activate, so i had to get another in. Long time players Ajrullaha (234 app, 3 goals) and Kontoulis (133 apps, 2 goals) left as they were only occasional players now.

Radic was probably my best player although he went on several barren goal spells but is crucial in playing as a TM up front.

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2033

Superettan

11th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (18)

Mcdaid(6)

414

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

2034

Superettan

2nd

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (20)

Madelaine(10)

554

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

Promoted

2035

Allsvenskan

13th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (11)

Radic(7)

1888

Below Average

Poor

Average

Fairly Basic

2036

Allsvenskan

14th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (13)

Valongo(7)

1943

Adequate

Poor

Average

Fairly Basic

2037

Allsvenskan

12th

Group St

N/A

Valongo(8)

Paulo(5)

1913

Adequate

Basic

Adequate

Fairly Basic

jmarchand · April 3, 2023

Dunaujvaros PASE | Hungary | 2032-2033 | Season 10 | Crazy upset...

After a trip to the Round of 16 in the Champions League last year and a very eventful transfer season where we saw the new generation of players coming in. We were hoping do to as much damage this year and go one step farther in Europe too.

Transfers

In

One of the long-term things I want to fix is the lack of homegrown players, which forced us in a dire situations when it comes to squad depth on European competitions. Since the plan is to continue to feature well in these competitions in the future, it is something that we need to address starting now.

So, in that optic, Bruno Laborda (more detail on him below), Marko Bozic and Luis Fernando came in to the team young and will qualify as home-grown in club/nation down the line (provided I keep a hold of them!).

In an effort to get more depth at center back, I found Fernando Silva who had played 3 seasons for us between 2028 and 2031 before going to Torino (for 2.3M€ and then not really playing there) and Caen where i bought him for 1.8M€. Turned out that he played most of the year in and out.

Révélation

In the Out column, there are two familiar names. The first is Predrag Manojlovic, which was our starting right winger, a favorite of the club but fell down a bit in the pecking order with the arrival and emergence of Juan Britos. Same with Karim Konaté, which was our starting striker for the past few seasons, I decided to cash out while he still was still worth something. 4.4M€ isn't the world, but it was better than losing him on nothing or keeping him on the team while he was unhappy with his playing time.

Révélation

Europe - Champions League

With the improvements to the standing of Hungarian league, we qualified directly as a seeded team in the Champions Path Playoff, getting against Shakhtar Donetsk, getting to a 5-4 win on aggregate which was much harder than it should have been.

In the League Phase, we managed to squeeze in to 15th place, with 4 wins (Nice, Rapid Wien, Pananthaikos and Villareal), a disappointing draw against LASK and defeats/blowouts against Bayern Munich, Barcelona and AS Roma. Not too shabby, but it shows that we're still quite a way apart from the top teams.

Révélation

This put us in the knockout round as a seeded team, facing Ajax. After a 1-0 loss at home, we overturned it with a very, very convincing 3-0 wine in Amsterdam (with 2 disallowed goals too!).

In the Round of 16, we completely shut down Atletico Madrid, with a 3-0 win at home, holding to the ball 57% of the time. We managed to hold on to the lead in the second leg, only losing 1-0 in Madrid.

Next up was Liverpool, which was top of the Premier League at the moment (rocking Eddie Farr, one of the top regens in the world, worth at 375M€, and Mukoko, notably). First leg was a 1-2 defeat at home, in which we weren't _totally_ run off the field.

On the return leg, we managed to squeeze in a goal at the 73rd minute to tie things and send the tie to extra time. Then, this happened.

Yup, a 120th minute winner, on our second shot of the match.

Against all odds, we were up in Champions League Semi-Final, against Manchester City and, this time there was no magic against Erling-cheat-code-Haaland. A 2-3 defeat at home and a 3-0 defeat going to Manchester. We were clearly not in the same league and not as lucky this time.

League

Continued dominance in the league, as expected. In this case, I'm actually proud of the improvement in the defensive record, with only 14 goals against between all matches.

Révélation

Cup

We now set the record for 36 matches in a row without losing, from September 2027 up to May 2033, making this our 6th title in a row.

Squad

As you can see, lots of rotation this year, especially up front, as I had a hard time to please the playing time of everyone, which kinda explains the sale of Karim Konaté.

Individual Highlights

Juan Britos - ST - 16 goals, 12 assists, 7.41 avg. rating

Britos has been alternating between playing at striker and on the right wing as an inside forward and was very successful in both positions, both scoring and bringing others into play.

He's been attracting interest from large clubs, but not quite the top dogs, so when I rejected bids he started pouting a bit, but was happy with a price tag of 38M€, which is a bid that didn't come yet. I'm really hoping that I can keep a hold of him as he's been great and keeps on developing.

Révélation

Bruno Laborda - AML/ST - 11 goals, 2 assists, 7.20 avg. rating

Having some fear of losing Juan Britos in the winter and seeing that this guy was available, I decided to make an offer and he has slotted very well on the left side of the pitch, when experimenting with a Raumdeuter, which is a role I rarely used in FM in the past. I kinda wish his work rate was a bit higher, but he'll do the job pretty well regardless. He is now our highest earner at the club, so he better play like it.

Révélation

Marko Bozic - DC - 3 goals, 1 assist, 7.05 avg. rating

At only 19, Marko Bozic is one for the future. Solid defender, works hard, marks well. He's not quite to the level where i would need him for Champions League purposes, but I'm confident that he'll get there (and will be home grown at that time).

Révélation

Gaston Bautista - DMC - 3 goals, 7 assists, 7.12 avg. rating

He's our general in the midfield, controlling the play and passing balls left and right and doing that at only 19-20 years old. He is going to be home grown at the end of next year and is already a regular starter and looking very good now.

Révélation

Marcelo Gadea - GK - 28 clean sheets in 44 apps

Our first choice keeper for a two years now, he's been developing very well and has been Uruguay's starting goalkeeper for three years now and he has everything I like in a good keeper: aerial reach, reflexes and good handling.

Révélation

Youth Intake

Yes, there is something to talk about it, this year!

Bertalan Végh is a very good centre-back prospect, who is lacking a bit in the physical side of his game, but already has some pretty good technical abilities for a 15 year old.

Révélation

From last year's intake, Victor is a very promising ball-winning-midfielder who has already been playing on and off with the first team this year. Ignore the red arrows, he's been progressing very well so far!

Révélation

Other Hungarian sides

Vasas: Playoff of Europa League, squeezed in at 24th in the Conference League League phase and eliminated in the knock-off round against Wolfsburg
Mol Féhérvar: CL League Path Playoff defeat against Slavia Prague, Round of 16 of the Europa League against Marseille. Not a bad result for them.
Ferencvaros: 4th Qualifying round of the Conference League by Braga. Very poor year for them.
MTK Budapest: 3rd Qualifying Round of Conference League by Feyenoord. Poor result too.

We have one more place next year, along with an automatic spot in the CL group stage (for us), so I hope that things are going to pick up now.

I actually have quite a few players on loan in our division, in an attempt to bring up the level of Hungarian football... Remalho is actually our record signing at the club (10M€!) who didn't adapt well to playing with us, so I gave him a chance at Ferencvaros and he's been playing great over there. Good for him!

Recap table

Year	Season	League	Position	Media Pred	Points	Goal Diff	Cup	Europe		Europe Ranking	Avg. Attendance	Top Scorer	Top Assist	Training	Youth	Junior	Youth Rec
1	23-24	DII	9	17	47	-1	5th round	NA			796	Zsombor Novak (10)	Szablocs Varga (7)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Below Avg
2	24-25	DII	4	6	46	17	5th round	NA			861	Donat Varga (19)	Szablocs Varga (11)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Average
3	25-26	DII	1	4	62	38	5th round	NA			872	Csanad Novak (20)	Baba (13)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Average
4	26-27	DI	6	11	48	14	4th round	NA			2066	Csanad Novak (19)	Baba (13)	Basic	Below Avg	Excellent	Average
5	27-28	DI	2	10	62	29	WINNERS	NA			2684	Nico O'Reilly (18)	Simone Pontisso (10)	Basic	Below Avg	Excellent	Average
6	28-29	DI	1	3	72	40	WINNERS	EL	Qtr Final	167	3566	Donat Varga (20)	Noam Emeran (15)	Below Avg	Adequate	Adequate	Good
7	29-30	DI	1	1	91	76	WINNERS	CL	League (27)	105	3950	Karim Konaté (39)	Ömer Beyaz (16)	Average	Average	Good	Exceptional
8	30-31	DI	1	1	90	77	WINNERS	EL	Final	51	5062	Tomas Moravcik (34)	Ömer Beyaz (23)
9	31-32	DI	1	1	86	79	WINNERS	CL	R16	33	5154	Karim Konaté (31)	Predrag Manojlovic (19)	Excellent	Great	Excellent	Exceptional
10	32-33	DI	1	1	87	61	WINNERS	CL	Semi-Final	TBD	6802	Luis Fernando (17)	Juan Britos, Marcos Iglesias (12)	Supert	Great	Excellent	Excellent

Andrew Haines · April 7, 2023

Starting a game as IR in Iceland. Played as them last year and it was very enjoyable. Hopefully the same again this year.

profile

Andrew Haines · April 10, 2023

Well, Iceland seemed really buggy doing this challenge. Teams weren't properly promoted (only one of the two promoted teams appeared in the second tier after the first season and then it gave me a transfer budget of -60k for my second season.. a bit weird. I decided to start again elsewhere so I'm having a go in Scotland. Decided to go as East Kilbride.

profile

Vipertitan · April 10, 2023

IF Fram Larvik- PostNord-ligaen Avdeling 1-2023

My main goal for the season was to avoid relegation and get some wins .

PostNord-ligaen Avdeling 1- Some how we managed to win the division I was shocked at how quick the players adapted to formation I wanted to use.

results 1

Results 2- as you can see we played well in most of our games.

NM SAS Braathens Cup- We got to the third round of this and I thought we did well despite the score.

Squad- this was an ok team that I have managed.

Transfer History- Not lot of players bought in as I did not want to upset the balance of the team.

Finances- Hopefully It wont get worse with the players that will be join us next season.

KEY PLAYER PROFILES:

Modouba Coker- Forward came in second highest scorer.

Thomas Kongerud- Defender was top scorer with 10 goals to his name.

Musa Dubois- The right winger had a good season.

Season            League                            Position       Achievements
2023          PostNord-ligaen Avdeling 1                 1st        Champions

Next Season:

Staying up again is the main goal and to try and not get out classed in games too.

Andrew Haines · April 11, 2023

East Kilbride

League Two - Scotland – 2023/24 – 1st

Squad

Transfers

Overview

A solid first season saw us finish as champions with a comfortable 15 point margin to second place Stirling. I relied on players released from English and Scottish clubs with an emphasis on ex-Premier League youngsters. I struggled to bring in the class of defender I was looking for but an excellent attacking line up saw us to promotion.

Key Players

Sonny Hilton – Playmaker signed on a free from Fulham and contributed 7 goals and 8 assists in only 25 games.

Josh Eppiah – Belgian winger once of Leicester who added 11 goals from the wing.

Record

Season League Position Europe Achievements

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2023/24 League Two 1st Champions, Promoted

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24         League Two                      1st                                             Champions, Promoted

Connor · April 14, 2023

Hi All

Joining the challenge with Club Rapido De Bouzas in Spain and very much looking forward to it!

The club are based in Vigo, Galicia. They have spent most of their time in the regional leagues of Galicia but have competed in the Spanish third and fourth tiers previously.

Rarely manage outside of England so a new adventure for me. The kits and location attracted me as did starting with basic facilities, means I get to really build it from the ground up!

Will look forward to keeping you updated on my journey!

Edited April 14, 2023 by Connor
added info

Thebaker · April 17, 2023

2038

Table | Squad | Transfers

Went through the early part of the season in indifferent form, win a few, lose a few etc. A 5 game winning streak after the halfway stage put the team only 1 point off the european places with 8 games to go. 1 point from the next 7 games completely dashed any hopes of europe as the team ended barely above last seasons finish albeit with ten more points.

In the swedish cup the team went into the group stage with a 5-3 away win against D1S Atvidabergs. The group was an easier one than previous groups and a win against Malmo in the first match set the platform for progressing through the group stage. In the Quarter final the team faced Hammarby away and an early sending off meant the team were never in the match going down 3-1.

Finances improved a lot this year mostly due to player sales, Munic has talent but a poor personality meant he was never going to make it and was a record transfer fee for the club. Doyle and Awad were sold due to their min clauses being met. McDaid (336 apps, 12 goals) was sold as he was no longer good enough to get any games.

Training facilities, youth coaching and youth recruitment were all improved with further increases to training and youth facilities agreed.

Valongo was again my best player although he missed quite a few games and was poor on his return to the squad. Haiki was my top scorer although i am hoping he can build on this for the next season.

Season

League

Position

Swedish Cup

Europe

Top Scorer

Top Assists

Attendance

Training

Youth

Junior

Youth Rec

Notes

2034

Superettan

2nd

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (20)

Madelaine(10)

554

Below Average

Poor

Fairly Basic

Basic

Promoted

2035

Allsvenskan

13th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (11)

Radic(7)

1888

Below Average

Poor

Average

Fairly Basic

2036

Allsvenskan

14th

Group St

N/A

Braendshoi (13)

Valongo(7)

1943

Adequate

Poor

Average

Fairly Basic

2037

Allsvenskan

12th

Group St

N/A

Valongo(8)

Paulo(5)

1913

Adequate

Basic

Adequate

Fairly Basic

2038

Allsvenskan

10th

Qtr-final

N/A

Haiki(9)

Aquino Faria(5)

2078

Average

Basic

Good

Average

rlipscombe · April 19, 2023

@Thebaker seems like one of those 'nothing' seasons, though in a positive you did get your best ever finish. good luck next season.

@Connor good luck in Spain. Spain, for me, was always enjoyable, though the challenge to topple Barca and Real is a big one... love that skin by the way...

aldojags · April 19, 2023

@jmarchandGreat season there, those forwards look fantastic, I've never used a Raumdeuter i dont really get it even when I read the description, never tried it.

I rarely venture from the usual positions, most unusual thing i've used was a regista last year with a spanish DM i had in my German save in this thread with Jena, but otherwise i stick to the old trusted roles!

The youth prospect CB looks good too and his physical stuff will improve even if it's a chance of him being "just" a stud defender domestically and squad player in europe.

Andrew Haines · April 22, 2023

East Kilbride

League One - Scotland – 2024/25 – 1st

Squad

Transfers

Overview

Another promotion as champions was secured comfortably. I made up most of my team with players released from English clubs, specifically youngsters released from the Premier League. With players drawn from Liverpool, Chelsea and Man U amongst others with the odd ex-Rangers and Celtic here and there we were too strong for our competition.

As well as our performance in the league we had a good run in the Scottish Cup to the fifth round where Celtic put us out 5-2.

Key Players

Max Woltman – The ex-Liverpool attacker started the season on the wing and ended up playing as striker, doing well in both roles

Ben Elliot – 22 year old contributed 7 goals and 10 assists from attacking midfield following his signing from Chelsea.

Record

Season          League                          Position          Europe                        Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023/24         League Two                      1st                                             Champions, Promoted

andershs · April 23, 2023

Thinking about starting this challenge. Regarding Ireland, which is in the list of possible countries. Since there are no promotion to the leagues, is it a case of simming one season, and taking over the team that finished bottom?

BR

rlipscombe · April 25, 2023

On 23/04/2023 at 11:10, andershs said:

Thinking about starting this challenge. Regarding Ireland, which is in the list of possible countries. Since there are no promotion to the leagues, is it a case of simming one season, and taking over the team that finished bottom?

BR

yes that would be fine. just post a screenshot showing finished bottom. good luck.

jmarchand · April 28, 2023

Dunaujvaros PASE | Hungary | 2033-2034 | Season 12 | Back to reality...

After a surprising, unexpected and rather tumultuous run in the Champions League last season, I expected this year to be a bit of a reality check (and we were somewhat served in that regards....)

Transfers

The trend continues of having a striker getting a good year, then being noticed by other teams, then having to sell them for rather big money when a big reputation club comes in. In orther to counteract this, the best I've found was just to keep a steady stream of young strikers coming in and plugging them in the formation as others leave.

So, coming in is a very promising Peruvian wonderkid Eduardo Neyra, who cand both play up front and on the right wing. He's not great in the air, but over the course of his 18(15) appearances, he managed 23 goal contributions. You can see him in more details below, but he will turn out to be an absolute steal.

Another key signing that featured in the first team quite a bit this year was Francisco, a 19 year-old from Malaga which I bought to plug a hole in at left-back. He was good this year, he'll be awesome next year.

Final signing is Lenon Damato, coming in on a free transfer from Brazil, in a too good to be true kind of transfer. We are now very overloaded in front, people will have to move during the offseason for sure.

Révélation

In the Out category, two big names. First of all, smashing our transfer record is Juan Britos. After two good seasons, he was remarked by ~15 clubs and eventually Bayer Leverkusen won the bidding war. I'm not even mad against him, he netted us 53M€ and, on a personal level for him, went from a salary of 10k€/w to 155k€/w. He did great in the Conference League (8 goals in 7 matches), but not so much in the Bundesliga (5 goals in 15 apps). I'm convinced he'll do great in the end, but it's a bit sad to lose him.

Also going out is José Rivera who got a great move to Eintracht Frankfurt after getting the season of his life (17 goals in 13 apps in the first half of the season in the league), albeit against sometimes weaker sides, he was falling out of the pecking order with the new guys coming in so a 41M€ move was just too good to turn down. Thank you for your service José, I wish you the best for the future.

Europe - Champions League

After last years's miracle run, this year we were not as lucky. Good results in the league stage against Dortmund, PAOK and Villareal, we somehow played level with Man City away, and just dropped it against Benfica and Herta Berlin. A disappointing 18th result in the league phase got us against Napoli and the magic didn't come up and we ended up losing on penalties after salvaging the two-way tie. Disappointing year then in Europe with what I consider now a rather early exit.

Révélation

League

It's a formality now, but it was an interesting/disastrous season, who got their first win of the season after 24 matches (out of 33!). They were rock bottom for most of the year and somehow salvaged their year by winning their last 6 to climb up the standing and manage survival.

Révélation

Cup

Even more of a formality at this point, so much that it doesn't deserve a screenshot. I got the softest draw in the history of soft draws, getting a second division team in the semi-final and all the bigger teams.

The Squad

Despite playing only a half season, José Rivera ended up almost being our top scorer across all competitions, with 21 goals in 22 matches. Good season all around, with ratings wihch reflect the fact that we were generally pretty dominating on average. But we need to take the step up to win what we,re all after.

Révélation

The Guys

Eduardo Neyra - ST - 19 year old - ST - 13 goals, 10 assists in 18(15) apps - 7.26 avg. rating

Our peruvian wonderkid, great mentals, good in front of the net and quick enough. he's been training and improving like a madman and has the will to go along with it. He's going to feature prominently next year.

Révélation

Lenon Damato - ST - 12(2) apps, 8 goals, 3 assists

Perfectionist Wonderkid from Brazil, what's not to like...? Came in after Britos was sold, was eased into the team and scored 8 in 12 games. He's on a star player contract (that's how I got him on a free transfer), so he'll get to play a lot next year too...!

Révélation

Istvan Suli - DR - 15 years old

I got a gem (well, a very delicate gem with 2 strength) in this year's youth intake. He's already played a few games with the first team and if he lives up to the potential, he's going to be probably awesome. Now, puberty needs to hit and he needs to grow up a quite a bit.

Révélation

Other News

96M€ in the transfer budget, 1M€/w under the wage budget - I think I just need to splash the cash more.
- But then, the problem becomes the reputation of the Hungarian league as a whole, which limits the pool of large signings that we can make.
Other Hungarian sides in Europe
- Vasas - Knocked out in the CL Qualifying round against Rangers, then fizzled out in 29th in the League Phase of the Europa League
- Gyori ETO - didn't perform well in the Europa League League phase, coming 33rd.
- Ferencvaros - Despite their horrendous performance in the league, they reached the knockout round of the Conference League, knocked out by Bayer Leverkusen.
- Szeged 2011 - Completely out of their depth at this level, got knocked out in the qualifying rounds of the Conference League against Bodo Glimt.
Board still doesn't want to upgrade the stadium, we fill it only at 60-70% on league matches (10k places, but only 2k seated).
- There is a bug in the CL group stage which makes us play in our stadium despite it being under the 8k seat lower limit for the competition. Missing out on some gate receipts because of that...

Summary

Year	Season	League	Position	Media Pred	Points	Goal Diff	Cup	Europe		Europe Ranking	Avg. Attendance	Top Scorer	Top Assist	Training	Youth	Junior	Youth Rec
1	23-24	DII	9	17	47	-1	5th round	NA			796	Zsombor Novak (10)	Szablocs Varga (7)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Below Avg
2	24-25	DII	4	6	46	17	5th round	NA			861	Donat Varga (19)	Szablocs Varga (11)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Average
3	25-26	DII	1	4	62	38	5th round	NA			872	Csanad Novak (20)	Baba (13)	Basic	Below Avg	Average	Average
4	26-27	DI	6	11	48	14	4th round	NA			2066	Csanad Novak (19)	Baba (13)	Basic	Below Avg	Excellent	Average
5	27-28	DI	2	10	62	29	WINNERS	NA			2684	Nico O'Reilly (18)	Simone Pontisso (10)	Basic	Below Avg	Excellent	Average
6	28-29	DI	1	3	72	40	WINNERS	EL	Qtr Final	167	3566	Donat Varga (20)	Noam Emeran (15)	Below Avg	Adequate	Adequate	Good
7	29-30	DI	1	1	91	76	WINNERS	CL	League (27)	105	3950	Karim Konaté (39)	Ömer Beyaz (16)	Average	Average	Good	Exceptional
8	30-31	DI	1	1	90	77	WINNERS	EL	Final	51	5062	Tomas Moravcik (34)	Ömer Beyaz (23)
9	31-32	DI	1	1	86	79	WINNERS	CL	R16	33	5154	Karim Konaté (31)	Predrag Manojlovic (19)	Excellent	Great	Excellent	Exceptional
10	32-33	DI	1	1	87	61	WINNERS	CL	Semi-Final	20	6802	Luis Fernando (17)	Juan Britos, Marcos Iglesias (12)	Superb	Great	Excellent	Excellent
11	33-34	DI	1	1	88	81	WINNERS	CL	KO Round	19	6245	Luis Fernando (30)	Ales Dukic (18)	SoA	Excellent	Exceptional	Exceptional

Edited April 29, 2023 by jmarchand

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