FM23 - 'Hand in Hand' with Feyenoord Rotterdam

[karanhsingh]

11 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Spot on regarding Gift Orban. He should have been improved in the winter update, even just giving a 10+ determination would have seen him be much more useful.

Regarding the kits, yes I do make them myself. I have access to a free kit making tool (which isn't mine) and it has templates from various different kit brands. I decide which kit manufacturer & designs I want from the range available, pick my colour combinations, find and add my own sponsors etc. It works for 2D (club page) and 3D for the dressing room, match engine etc.

May ask to employ your services at some point 

[Jogo Bonito]

8 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

May ask to employ your services at some point 

As I commented on your new thread, ADO is a great club for you to take on. Vibrant colours too, and I think their original kits look good (although I think I could do better).

Would be willing to try and help - doing it would be easy, sharing the 3D files is a bit harder but we could probably get there. PM me if you want to talk about it mate.

Edited July 7, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

Feyenoord Season 2023/24 (Part 2)

As the season opener against PSV (JC Schaal) arrived, here is a quick reminder of the board targets set for Dick in his second season at Feyenoord

And the first batch of results have gone very well, with the only Eredivisie points dropped in a narrow defeat at PSV in early October

The Champions League loss away to Bayer Leverkusen was ridiculously unlucky after a straight red card correctly given to striker Thijs Dallinga after 14 minutes 

Dick's side battled away until 95 minutes of the 96 being played, and then conceded a goal when it looked like being 'job done'

Other than that, the 532 has again been excellent and the summer squad strengthening has allowed a better amount of rotation to keep players fresh

The lack of goals by star striker Akor Adams is explained by a 10-week injury (torn back muscle) suffered on 26th September - he is still five weeks away from a return

His initial replacement Gift Orban suffered a calf strain on 17th October and is likely to be missing for another couple of weeks, but Dallinga is still firing in goals aplenty

So actually, maybe the rotation hasn't been as good as first thought 

Here is the league table on 1st November 2023 which sees Dick's side sitting nicely at the top of the tree

Champions League money has also been very welcome and the financial position is growing steadily

The transfer window closed with no more first-team transfers made, although Dick did allow some Jong Feyenoord players to leave permanently

The biggest ins & outs are below and with 40 million Euros spent and 41.5 million Euros recovered, the club is still operating well within it's means

Edited July 9, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

6 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

results have gone very well

Indeed, looking pretty good at both ends of the pitch. Hopefully you can push on when you move past this mini injury crisis.

[SixPointer]

Very much in the driving seat. Balancing the books in the transfer window as well 

[karanhsingh]

Good start! Also one of your transfers out was a transfer in for me 

[Carambau]

Wonderful start to the season! 

[KlaaZ]

On 05/07/2023 at 07:53, karanhsingh said:

Nice signings, Gift Orban looks excellent IRL but sadly does not seem as well rated in the game. I'm sure that'll change next edition. 

Btw been meaning to ask do you design these kits yourself?

Orban is really a freak player. I've seen him play irl, it's ridiculous how fast he's come up since his arrival in Gent. 

[Jogo Bonito]

On 09/07/2023 at 19:39, warlock said:

Indeed, looking pretty good at both ends of the pitch. Hopefully you can push on when you move past this mini injury crisis.

Cheers, yes no complaints at all so far.

On 10/07/2023 at 17:51, SixPointer said:

Very much in the driving seat. Balancing the books in the transfer window as well 

Yes agree. Both are very satisfying!

On 11/07/2023 at 05:49, karanhsingh said:

Good start! Also one of your transfers out was a transfer in for me 

Indeed it has been. Which player was that mate?

On 11/07/2023 at 13:48, Carambau said:

Wonderful start to the season! 

Thanks again. Yes all going well to that point!

On 11/07/2023 at 22:38, KlaaZ said:

Orban is really a freak player. I've seen him play irl, it's ridiculous how fast he's come up since his arrival in Gent. 

Yes agree on that. And Adams could be the next one to make his way to Belgium or similar (Germany/England interest) from Norway. I like owning both of them.

Edited July 13, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

Feyenoord Season 2023/24 (Part 3)

Everything was going well for Dick until the end of October, so now it's time to update on the next two months

Despite a very lethargic loss to FC Twente, November was another good month for the club

The highlight was most definitely the very sweet Champions League revenge thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen 

A busy December saw seven fixtures before the winter break, and again the side was unbeaten

The draw at home to OGC Nice didn't matter as top spot was already sealed, whilst the draw away to NEC was disappointing but hardly disastrous

Domestically, the 3-0 Eredivisie win over Ajax was a fantastic result against the only team really challenging - and this result probably flattered them if anything

The league table looks good with a six-point lead even if Ajax win their game in hand, and the financial graph is marking improvement month-by-month

The January transfer window is now open, but Dick has absolutely no interest in making any signings as he has a fully-fit 24-man squad at this point in time

No sales will be made unless any release clauses are met, so the window will hopefully pass by without any stories to tell

The Round of 16 draw has been made for the Champions League which will start back again in February - it's fair to say the draw has not been kind at all to Feyenoord

Edited July 13, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

November was another good month for the club

Wasn't it though? And December arguably better. A nice gap opening up at the top, and good to see Boomer has settled in

[SixPointer]

Running away with the league!!

[karanhsingh]

On 14/07/2023 at 00:12, Jogo Bonito said:

Indeed it has been. Which player was that mate?

Denzel Hall joined us on a free transfer, he is actually on loan at ADO during the first season.

[Jogo Bonito]

On 13/07/2023 at 23:58, warlock said:

Wasn't it though? And December arguably better. A nice gap opening up at the top, and good to see Boomer has settled in

Yes we just need to keep matching Ajax, hopefully we can. Boomer has been good, although we have six great central midfielders and he doesn't start every game. His numbers are good though, as they say.

On 14/07/2023 at 10:14, SixPointer said:

Running away with the league!!

Looks that way so far. The win over Ajax was massive, but feel we need to keep matching them weekly so that we are more than three points ahead when we play them again.

4 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Denzel Hall joined us on a free transfer, he is actually on loan at ADO during the first season.

Ah yes Denzel. I had better options in my Jong Feyenoord squad so was happy to get a fee for him when he came back from loan.

[Jogo Bonito]

Feyenoord Season 2023/24 (Part 4)

Dick's table-toppers kicked off the new year in great style beating Go Ahead Eagles 6-0, but January saw three defeats too

The league losses at Groningen and title rivals Ajax were reminders against complacency, but the KNVB Beker was part-sacrificed with some heavy rotation 

February was much smoother with three league wins, but the Champions League Round of 16 draw had served up a bit of bad luck

A tough task against Real Madrid ended the way everybody expected, and the 2-0 first leg defeat in Spain meant the Eredivisie became the sole focus 

Dick continued to churn out league wins in March, whilst the home leg defeat against Real Madrid saw an exit from Europe 5-2 on aggregate

The league was all that mattered to Dick now, and despite a few draws in April, Ajax were not getting any closer

May delivered some good fixtures, and the title was sealed with a comfortable 4-0 win over RKC as Ajax had crumbled massively by now

With the Eredivisie title retained, the last two games were played out with confidence and style

So it was back-to-back league triumphs for Dick, and ESPN were right to marvel at the quality of play

With Ajax unable to keep up the pace towards the end, the eventual margin of victory was a massive 12 points - but it had been much closer until March

In good news for the city of Rotterdam, Sparta won the promotion/relegation decider with De Graafschap to seal their return to the top flight

The performance graph shows how dominant Dick's side had been this season - and financially the club continued to take big steps forward

For the second year running, striker Akor Adams won the fans award as best player - ending with 25 goals after an injury-hit first half of the season

After returning from injury in December with only two goals to his name, he added four more just before the winter break

From the turn of the New Year he then scored another 19 goals to end up as club top scorer with 25 in all competitions

Here are the performance stats for the players who made first team appearances

The 532 formation was deployed in every single one of them, much to the wingers annoyance (very occasionally they got pitch time, played out of position)

The board were happy and gave generous budgets for the 2024/25 season

And Dick took the opportunity to have the training facilities upgraded, with the board agreeable to this idea

Jong Feyenoord & U18 review

Both of the other squads were all-conquering for a second season running

Jong Feyenoord average ratings are as below (only Meerdink, van Bommel, Kristensen and Pletinckx have been signed during the reign of Dick)

The U18 squad also excelled again, and here is the squad sorted by average rating (only Jamison was signed by Dick)

And to wrap up this season, here is the youth intake that saw five talented boys graduating to the above squad (five had been taken on in the first year too)

Edited July 18, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

45 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

margin of victory was a massive 12 points

Convincing! And good work with the junior squads, too.

And a strong youth intake, into the bargain. Hopefully, Hulshoff can be retrained

[Carambau]

Brillant title win! You are dominating Holland  

[karanhsingh]

That's a pretty resounding title win - well done! Not easy with ajax around. 

[Jogo Bonito]

21 hours ago, warlock said:

Convincing! And good work with the junior squads, too.

And a strong youth intake, into the bargain. Hopefully, Hulshoff can be retrained

Thanks mate. A bit like Benfica, we have far too many good players in our other squads, but with expectations on being 'strong' in competitions they never get near the first team.

It did become a bit 'click continue' in the end. I do have a radical idea in my head for a fresh approach to Season 3, but it is likely to anger the board and the fans too. The outcome of that will determine whether we have a third season here or say thanks for the great memories 

10 hours ago, Carambau said:

Brillant title win! You are dominating Holland  

Thanks, yes true. We expected a bit more competition to be honest. I feel we would have done better in the Champions League, if only we had avoided Real Madrid.

57 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

That's a pretty resounding title win - well done! Not easy with ajax around. 

Thanks, yes it was comfortable. Ajax weren't as good as we expected. Or maybe we were better than we/they expected?

[warlock]

18 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I do have a radical idea in my head for a fresh approach

That sounds interesting, especially if you have to go against board and fans to implement it. It might also deliver some insight into the importance - or otherwise - of the board and fan visions. Looking forward to it

[Jogo Bonito]

On 20/07/2023 at 15:33, warlock said:

That sounds interesting, especially if you have to go against board and fans to implement it. It might also deliver some insight into the importance - or otherwise - of the board and fan visions. Looking forward to it

I feared things may go the way it did unfortunately. The board didn't like my approach, the fans didn't, and the players really didn't. 

The only possibility of redemption was to go back to an earlier date in pre-season, and plough on with the logical continuation. But I looked at the squad and didn't see any need to make any transfers in or out, and I didn't really fancy another season of 'click continue' in the league whilst hoping we got an easier Champions League draw than Real Madrid. 

So, after a bit of time to decide, I will park this one after two good and successful years. I'm proud to deliver back-to-back league titles and it was nice to test out the Dutch league. There were pressures of managing a stronger club than I usually do, but it was a good experience. Perhaps I should have gone with ADO Den Haag or SV Spakenburg in the lower tier to make it harder/longer.

Thanks to everyone for following and commenting.

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

For FM24, I will be delving in to English League 1 to manage my 'own' team who will be playing at that level for the first time since I started FM in 2006. Before that, I probably have at least one other 'less pressured' FM23 effort to keep me occupied. I've toyed with a few clubs and countries, but most of them have been covered by good stories in this thread. So I am trying to decide whether to go for one of those sides, or try a fresh idea instead.

Options include Australia (never managed there) and MLS (did that once a long time ago), but I may get overwhelmed with their respective rules. 

• Anderlecht idea: Retire Jan Vertonghen, assume his personality and appoint him as manager. Delete by PGE editor all older players, terminate players on loan, release foreign players away on loan, and run mainly with remaining first-team and youth players. My big regret at Feyenoord was having so many great young talents that never got near the first team squad.

• Lillestrom idea: Can Akor Adams fire his actual club to the league title. Negatives are the dates are either too far back or if using 2023 it's all a bit out of sync with ages & contract dates.

• Silkeborg idea: In FM23 they have only one player in the senior squad who is not Danish. They achieved great things last season, but lost one or two players and it would take away some enthusiasm to manage those players when I know they have already left the club. 

• Other ideas: Poland - I have not really looked in to that yet, but did manage there once before. Or Austria. I don't like the prospect of never matching RB Salzburg, but the clubs I have in  mind are quite some way short of reaching those heights, so it may be worth a slow-paced journey there.

[warlock]

15 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I didn't really fancy another season of 'click continue' in the league

Perfectly understandable! It's a shame the board and fans wouldn't back a successful manager trying a new direction but, given what we know about real boards, I guess that's realistic .

Have you thought about Nordsjaelland - their recruitment and transfer policy reminds me of Brentford with added Africa? But I wish you well wherever you end up.

[Carambau]

A new turn! And completely understandable

 

Go for Lillestrom and Akor, lets see what he can deliver!

[Jogo Bonito]

On 25/07/2023 at 22:22, warlock said:

Perfectly understandable! It's a shame the board and fans wouldn't back a successful manager trying a new direction but, given what we know about real boards, I guess that's realistic .

Have you thought about Nordsjaelland - their recruitment and transfer policy reminds me of Brentford with added Africa? But I wish you well wherever you end up.

I understand why they were unhappy. I knew it was a risk but wanted to try something different and illogical for a team already running like clockwork. A good two years there anyway. I do like Denmark, maybe later I will go back over there. Or in FM24 perhaps.

On 26/07/2023 at 13:21, Carambau said:

A new turn! And completely understandable

 Go for Lillestrom and Akor, lets see what he can deliver!

When only the 'summer leagues' were running, I was close to doing it. But Adams will be off soon and would harm the realism as he's the only reason to go to Norway or Lillestrom.

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Instead, I've done something totally daft and downloaded a lower league database. Daft because I'm not a fast FM player and I find it hard to get time to play - and even harder to go on long term careers. Also because I'm not familiar with players at that level in the chosen country - it was hard enough when I tried it a few times with English non-league clubs at a lower then playable level.

• So here we are in a 4th tier regional European league, with semi professional status, and competing in a league campaign plus regional cups and a 'proper' cup.
• It needs two promotions to get back to a playable FM base league, and we are expected to get back-to-back automatic promotions.
• We have the shortest odds-on price imaginable, but the players are poor. None have deals beyond the summer of 2023 (except the youth players, who are even worse).
• The squad is probably about right for this level of club, but to my eyes it's far from what I want to see. No left-back, no natural right-back, and not enough central defenders or central midfielders.
• Although we have a small transfer budget and small wage budget, we have a wage cap of 350 Euros per week that means it is virtually impossible to attract worthwhile players even on free transfers. Scout the minor nations you may say, but we also discover the minimum wage for non-EU players is 650 Euros per week, and we can't get anywhere near that.
• Maybe the domestic cup competitions will bring in some cash? Nope. Round 1, let's get drawn to the biggest club in the country. One that even their top flight rivals don't usually get close to.

Despite all this, the first season has been completed. I wanted to see how that went before deciding whether to do a second term at the club. I also quite like the idea of trying a top flight club from this nation in FM24, so wanted to make sure I could put off that urge for now. Hopefully, I remain strong on that one.

A proper intro and update will follow under a new heading, but feel free to guess the nation and club if you're finding life a little bit boring until then 

[Carambau]

Albania?

[Jogo Bonito]

Just now, Carambau said:

Albania?

Blimey, that was a quick guess. Nope not there. And I hope you're not planning to go A-Z 

[Hootieleece]

Slovakia or North Macedonia?

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, Hootieleece said:

Slovakia or North Macedonia?

Hello again! Nope, not one of those either.

It was the club, rather than the league that directed me to that low level. 

 

[warlock]

4 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

feel free to guess the nation and club

Might your avatar possibly be a clue? Perhaps?

Good luck - and don't get distracted by the winter sports!

Edited July 31, 2023 by warlock

[Ronaldo Beckham]

You could always bring Akor Adams to Anderlecht even though I know it isn't in your own transfer policy you have put in place @Jogo Bonito

I miss your English league adventures so I am looking forward to seeing how you get on with the team you said are playing in the EFL for the first time since 2006. 

I think I will do a few EFL saves and post in the thread for FM24.

I am hoping that FM24 brings a resurgence to the EFL thread as it has been very quiet compared to other years.

 

[Jogo Bonito]

15 minutes ago, warlock said:

Might your avatar possibly be a clue? Perhaps?

Good luck - and don't get distracted by the winter sports!

Haha, it was added later when I made my new topic! But yes, can't pull the wool over you eh 

7 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

You could always bring Akor Adams to Anderlecht even though I know it isn't in your own transfer policy you have put in place @Jogo Bonito

I miss your English league adventures so I am looking forward to seeing how you get on with the team you said are playing in the EFL for the first time since 2006. 

I think I will do a few EFL saves and post in the thread for FM24.

I am hoping that FM24 brings a resurgence to the EFL thread as it has been very quiet compared to other years.

 

Honestly, I'd like to take Akor Adams everywhere! But it's time to finally leave him in peace for FM23.

Yes, looking forward to going English in FM24 (amongst others). Unfortunately creating a full good EFL thread and feeling you have to reply all posts is very time consuming and so after several years good service, I know why @warlock also needed a break. It wasn't a plan to desert the GPTG forum, but I think we just like telling our own stories now. I've been going that way for several versions with the likes of Lorient, Montpellier, Valencia and Parma amongst others. This version I only managed a few clubs (2 seasons at Sheff Wed, 0.5 at Hamburg, 4 at Stuttgart and 2 at Feyenoord) and posted them all in here.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Haha, it was added later when I made my new topic! But yes, can't pull the wool over you eh 

Honestly, I'd like to take Akor Adams everywhere! But it's time to finally leave him in peace for FM23.

Yes, looking forward to going English in FM24 (amongst others). Unfortunately creating a full good EFL thread and feeling you have to reply all posts is very time consuming and so after several years good service, I know why @warlock also needed a break. It wasn't a plan to desert the GPTG forum, but I think we just like telling our own stories now. I've been going that way for several versions with the likes of Lorient, Montpellier, Valencia and Parma amongst others. This version I only managed a few clubs (2 seasons at Sheff Wed, 0.5 at Hamburg, 4 at Stuttgart and 2 at Feyenoord) and posted them all in here.

Yeah I know what you mean. I think myself and others leant on you and Warlock for help when it comes to players, save ideas etc.

I have been managing more teams outside of England this year.

I am struggling to keep interest in most of the saves I do despite making it interesting but putting rules in place for transfers etc.

Good luck with that Austrian team. I will keep an eye to see how you get on with them.

 

[SixPointer]

Great spell in Holland! I know what you mean when it becomes click and continue it’s a shame but such as the life 

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, SixPointer said:

Great spell in Holland! I know what you mean when it becomes click and continue it’s a shame but such as the life 

Thanks and indeed yes it's life. It was a brief two-season spell, but I am happy with the two league titles. And now climbing bigger mountains in picturesque Austria.