[FM23] Kosovo

[Jimbokav1971]

9 hours ago, Rikulec said:

Things are coming along nicely with the league title and the players getting senior call-ups! The overall quality seems to have improved a lot as well.

They really are. Things seem to have just exploded in the last 6 months or so. 

We've just had (31g) Hassoun (ISR) * receive his 1st Cap for Israel, and the most pleasing aspect was that they played him as a WBR which is the position he plays in for us and which I've had to re-train him for. He had absolutely zero experience at RWB before. 

For the U21's he was largely used as a striker. 

And for the U19's he played in the middle of the pitch.

Well chuffed. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2034.

SuperLeague. The 1st Team played the 1st and 4th games here so no surprise on the wins there, but the 2nd Team played the 2nd and 3rd games and while the Malisheva game wasn't great, (we should have won), they 2nd Team had a player sent off in the 6th min against Ulpiana and were still winning 301 with 10 mins to go when a few of the 1st team lads came on. 

Champions League League Phase. I thought I would have a proper go with the 1st team in the 1st Champions league Group match, (just to see how far we are away), and although we did ok, (against modest opposition), they had 11 shots on target and that tells you everything you need to know. BIG jump up here. The 2nd Team will be playing in the rest of the Champions league games unless there is a break before afterwards allowing me to play 1st Teamers without sacrificing a domestic game. 

New contract. We're up to a 3 year deal now. 

Finances. 

(29a) Vonmoos (KOS)(SUI) has played in 20 Superleague games for Ballkani so we get some cash. It's fair to say he's doing ok. In his 16(4) Superleague appearances for them he's scored 20 goals, and he's also scored a European goal, 3 Cup goals, and now has 4 goals in 12 Caps at International level for Kosovo. He's still under 21 though so he can still opt to play for Switzerland if he likes, (which is ridiculous!)

[sherwinriga]

So far so good now that you won the titles and advanced to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League! This is turned out to be a good day for your team to improve their reputation now being one of the best Kosovan teams ever! We'll see how things going up for them and congratulations on your new 3-year deal!

Next stop, go get that Kosovan national team position!

[Thebaker]

Great progress winning the league and getting into the CL group. I notice your GK scored no goals, is he that poor at pens.

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2034. 

SuperLeague. What a contract from the to draws, (we had a player sent off after 5 mins against Dukagjini Klinë where the 1st Team started), to the complete annihilation of Feronikeli 74, (where the score was 9-0 at HT). We're still unbeaten though, which is very much a target, (even if might be a slightly unrealistic one). 

UEFA Champions League Group Stage. After being firmly put in our places by Sturm Graz last month, (11 shots on target against is a lot!), I looked at our remaining Champions League games and decided that if we were going to play the 1st Team in any of them, then it was likely to be at home to either Slavia Prague in November, (still too strong for us), or Royal Antwerp in December, (also too strong for us). With that I rotated the team to the 2nd Team and sent out a team who's oldest player was 20 and all 10 others were teenagers. 

GK 17 years old. (1 assist)
DLC. 16 years old. 
DC. 17 years old. 
DRC. 18 years old. 
WBL. 16 years old. 
WBR. 16 years old. (1 assist)
MLC. 20 years old. 
MRC. 19 years old. 
SLC. 17 years old. (1 assist)
SC. 17 years old. (1 assist)
SRC. 17 years old. (3 goals)

Don't get me wrong, Roma had enough chances to win themselves, but their xG was only 3.12 and that comprised of both a pen, (almost 1 xG there), and the shot from the saved pen, (almost 1 xG there), so they didn't create loads and had the same number of shots on target as us, (6). Yeah of course 4x 1st Teamers came on as subs, (but none of them before the 79th min), so this was all about the 2nd team kids. Astonishing result!  

Strategy. Although the Balkan El Presidente, (the new one), has agreed to turn us Pro, it doesn't happen straight away so we will still be Semi-Pro until pre-season next year. The only way I am able to compete, (domestically never mind about in Europe), is rotating 2 completely different sides who play mid-week and then at the weekend. Although the 1st Team played against Sturm Graz, that was really just to give me a benchmark so I knew where we were, (and I was fine with that), but for the most part the plan was for the 2nd Team to play in all other European games and anything they did was a bonus. The 2nd Team would be on the bench for the 1st Team games, (well 9 of the 10 outfield players anyway), so they would also get game-time from the bench in domestic games, (and other mid-week games). The 1st Team were the opposite. They would start all the weekend games and all 10 of them would be on the bench in Europe, (plus 2 more because we have 12 subs in Europe compared to 9 in Kosovo). This helps me not only with condition, fitness, injuries and playing time morale, (all of which can be significant), but also player development. There were times in this save, (particularly where we were in the First League), where we only had about 27 games a season and there was little demand for rotation and it was a problem because I had player who I liked but who weren't getting a game. I could have given them a game, but that would have taken away playing time from someone who I had already decided at the start of the season was more of an investment. The bonus here, (especially where it came to the Roma game), is that our Rep is still tiny in comparison to the big boys in Europe, (ours is 3631 compared to Roma's 8145). There is an ENORMOUS difference, and then add in that they were at home, and I would suggest that there was a significant case of them thinking they will walk all over us and because of the way we setup, it backfired on them in spectacular fashion. They would have expected to batter us, but I think during this period of the save we're actually benefiting from being so lowly ranked in terms of Rep, that we can really spring a surprise or 2. 

(33f) Fahrni (KOS)(SUI) * scored a hat-trick against Roma so he is deserving of a proper introduction. He came through as (KOS)(SUI), but has chosen to represent Switzerland, (at this time). 4 goals, 5 assists and 3 career MOM awards in 22 SuperLeague appearances is impressive in itself, but when you include all games and separate sub appearances it's actually 8 goals, 6 assists and 5 MOM awards in just 17(10) appearances. Now THAT is impressive for a 17 year old.  Although he's playing on the right of the 3 up front, I actually think he's more of a central striker and the issue is simply that he's behind the player who plays centrally in the pecking order. I expect this season to be huge for his development because he's going to start a lot of games simply because of our schedule. In addition to that, while I knew that the 2nd Team would at least be competitive in domestic games, (they seem significantly better than competitive), they're also competitive even against the big boys in the Champions League, (albeit aided by a Rep bonus). It's such a shame we're not fully pro now. 

Records. It's interesting that because so many players are taken from the U19's to play in the 1st Team, (because the CA of each intake seems to get better and better), the downside of this is that there are not actually that many players in the U19's squad and as a result the players tend to play in a variety of positions. We still have a problem at WBR, (where our 1st choice WBR is actually a re-trained SC), and (34e) Asllani WBR is the #2 WBR who was a MC but as you can see has played in lots of positions for the U19's.

It was 9-0 at HT. 

Finances. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, sherwinriga said:

So far so good now that you won the titles and advanced to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League! This is turned out to be a good day for your team to improve their reputation now being one of the best Kosovan teams ever! We'll see how things going up for them and congratulations on your new 3-year deal!

Next stop, go get that Kosovan national team position!

I'm not sure I'm going to ever take the Kosovo NT job. 

[Jimbokav1971]

17 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

Great progress winning the league and getting into the CL group. I notice your GK scored no goals, is he that poor at pens.

At the beginning of the save I just decided not to have my GK take pens and free-kicks because I couldn't be bothered with the GIF's if I'm completely honest. I keep thinking about starting it again but I think I will just leave it as is and start again with GK's in FM24.

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2034.

SuperLeague. 3 comfortable wins from 3 is great, especially when you consider that then 2nd played the 1st and 3rd games. We're still unbeaten and if we win our games in hand then we will go 1 point above Prishtina who are playing well. The team are exhausted with so many game though, (and us still being Semi-Pro). I can't wait for next season when we turn Pro. It will honestly have an enormous impact on the players who I can sign to pro deals. 

Champions League Group Stage. This looks like a good point against Slavia Prague, but actually it had 2-0 written all over it until (30i) Barrigana (POR) * came on for the last 17 mins. He scored 2 goals and hit the post with a free-kick. It was a 1-man show late on. 

Kosovan Cup. The 1st Team played in this game because I wanted to win it, but we were shattered and I would have been better of playing the 2nd Team. We're just running out of legs at the moment and desperate for the WInter break to come. 

Records. We've still got 3 more games to play!  

Facilities. I hope they let me pick the affiliate. I will pick that Amateur team Kika FC. 

We've got a Training Facility and Youth Facility upgrade in the pipeline at the moment and these won't be shown in the numbers. 

Champions League stadium. Anyone wondering where we're playing our European games, this is it. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2034. 

SuperLeague. In a strange turn of events, we played 2 consecutive games against Ballkani followed immediately by 2 consecutive games against Prishtina. We won 3 out of the 4 and drew the other so we're now comfortable at the top of the table, 4 points clear of Prishtina and 9 points clear of Ballkani. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Juve interest. Jan 2035. 

I'm in no rush to sell him, but Juve are interested in signing (32d) Väänänen (KOS)(FIN) *.

I've just triggered a +2 option on him that sees him contracted for 3.5 more seasons, but the decision comes in the Summer when I start transferring players onto FT contracts and some of our better players are going to want to leave rather than sign new contracts. At that time I have to decide whether it's worth keeping them until their contracts expire and letting them leave on a free, or just selling them for what we can get for them and then play the youngsters on the FT contracts come what may, (probably a short-term loss for long-term gain). 

The problem is though, how much makes it worth selling him when you have almost £20M in the bank? 

The flip side of the argument is that keeping him here clogs up the pathway for the next player coming through and that I should just sell him on with some decent clauses in the hope that one of the next ones will be as good/better. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2035. 

UEFA Champions League Group Stage. It's 2035 andBarca have just handed us our behinds, with the likes of Gavi, Balde, Pedri & Fati all to the fore. They have some great Newgens don't get me wrong, but for the love of God just let these lads go! 

Results like this are character building....... right? 

Facilities. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2035.

SuperLeague. We're not in great form, but we're still getting the job done. I thought a 24th min red card at home to Gjilani with the 2nd Team starting might be a problem, but even a man down the 2nd Team did enough to draw and then (30i) Barrigana (POR) * came on late on to score the winner. 

Finances. 

[Jtomsett11]

That escalated quickly! League title, champions league qualification and more money than you'll ever need again 

As you say, when you turn pro it'll be very interesting who is interested in signing. Are there any former players who are now on your radar (i think you mentioned Mema??) or do you think you'll keep promoting youth even if your best players don't want to sign new desks?

[Jimbokav1971]

12 minutes ago, Jtomsett11 said:

That escalated quickly! League title, champions league qualification and more money than you'll ever need again 

As you say, when you turn pro it'll be very interesting who is interested in signing. Are there any former players who are now on your radar (i think you mentioned Mema??) or do you think you'll keep promoting youth even if your best players don't want to sign new desks?

That's a really good question. There are always ex players on my radar and absolutely (28a) Mema * is one of them.

Will post some pictures at the end of the season. 

(28a) Mema * is a MC at Ballkani.
(29l) Imeri 6'2" is a DC at Ballkani.
(29m) Dauti * is a DL at Ballkani.
(29a) Vonmoos (KOS)(SUI) is a SC at Ballkani. 

It's astonishing how poor they are when you consider some of the players they have. 

Although I would take these players back in a second, they're not interested now and even when we turn Pro and can offer them Pro contracts I still don't think it will matter because Rep is a huge driver in things like this and there will still be a huge gap between us and Ballkani.

It's win-win though. If they come back then great. If they don't then I just use the kids that come through. 

[oche balboa]

Taking a tiny Kosovo team from the 3rd tier to Champions, with Youth academy players to the Nou Camp is a remarkable story. Imagine if its Real Life 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Mar 2035.

I am a believer, (opinion not fact), that when you get a player through with a FGN primary Nationality, (they can have a home secondary Nationality but the primary Nationality MUST be foreign), AND the primary Nationality is of a Nation with a far better Youth Rating than the Nation you're currently playing in, then there is a good chance that you have a good player on your hand. It doesn't work the same where the FGN Nationality is only a 2nd Nationality though. 

The players we have had through previous intakes like this are as follows. 

(31d) Marchhart (AUT) is Austrian & I don't consider them much better than Kosovo in terms of producing talent so they don't qualify for this. 
(32d) Väänänen (KOS)(FIN) * was Kosovan 1st and Finnish 2nd when he came through so he doesn't qualify for this. 
(31j) Lange (GER) * was German and German only when he came through. I think he will be a player. 
(35c) Koch (GER) is German and German only from this intake. 
(31g) Hassoun (ISR) * was Israeli only when he came through the intake. He is a player!
(35a) Siano (ITA) is Italian and Italian only from this intake. 
(32n) McCartan. (NIR) SELL is from N.Ireland & I don't consider them much better than Kosovo in terms of producing talent so they don't qualify for this. 
(33g) Vesterbekmo (KOS)(NOR) * was Kosovan 1st when he came through the intake so he doesn't qualify for this.
(30i) Barrigana (POR) * was Portugese and Portugese only when he came through the intake. (OMG I thought he was Spanish!!!) 
(32e) Vlcek (SVK) 6'5" * is Slovakian & I don't consider them much better than Kosovo in terms of producing talent so they don't qualify for this. 
(33f) Fahrni (KOS)(SUI) * was Kosovan 1st and Swiss 2nd when he came through the intake. 

I think that the 5 players in Bold, listed above will be HUGE players for a save like this. (2 of them from this intake). 

(35a) Siano (ITA) looks good and will have proper top-end pace after some development. Link it with dribbling, tech, and a smattering of other reasonable attributes and I think we could have a player on our hands here. 

(35b) Pashaj is a DL and we have loads of them, but he's also a good DL, (although to be fair we also have a few of them). 

(35c) Koch (GER) is the right back we have been waiting for, (for what seems like decades). As well as appearing rather good in terms of attribute balance, he is also German only in a Kosovan league and I think that sends the alarm bells ringing as something special. I like him. I mean I REALLY like him. I like him so much he will probably start the next game, (depending on who it's against). 

(35f) Sykaj looks really good and has some really nice attribute balance. OTB the only issue I can see. 

(35h) Zani looks a bit basic, but with all the decent centre-backs playing in the senior squad no matter their ages, he will probably be needed at centre-half for the U19's.

(35i) Bala is a player I really like. I can easily see him playing for the 1st Team. Really good attribute balance. 

(35j) Elshani looks decent, but I worry about his PA.

(35l) Thaqi (Unamb) looks pretty limited and probably shouldn't have been signed with his (Unamb) personality, but let's just deal with (L.Det) for now. He will probably have to play centre-half for the U19's.

(35m) Muca is another who is a little limited. Again though, I can see him playing out of position at centre-half for the U19's. 

(35p) Benko actually is a centre-half, (but not a very good one). The U19 coaches will be happy anyway, even if he gets nowhere near the 1st Team. 

Who to sign? There are some tough decisions to be made here, and for a change it's not restricted to just personality and/or attribute balance, but also lack of PA is now coming into play for the 1st time in this save. Until now just about everyone has had the PA to play for us, (such was the lack of ability in the existing squad). Now though with good players already playing for us, the bar against which new players are being judged has been raised. Do I sign some of the poorer PA quality players, or do I just cast them away on Day 1. 

I had a conversation in the thread of @DaneBramagerecently, (it's very good, it's Youth Only and you should give it a look if you like my thread), and it centered around the idea of being prepared to sign poor personality/(L.Det) players just so long as you can get them into your 1st Team to give them the exposure to jumpstart their development and give them a fighting chance of becoming the player they have the potential to be. If they have enough CA to get into the 1st Team immediately, (or they don't have enough CA but you just have the balls to throw them in early anyway), then that's 1 way to do it and sometimes in a Youth Only save it really is the only option if you want to get ahead. 

That being said though, it's not always that easy.

Problems? You can see from below that we have 6 players below who have single figures (Det) and to my mind create a problem in terms of whether I sign them or not. To start off, their not ranked by PA as is usually the case on Youth Intake day, and are instead ranked by (Det). Usually in an intake I start with the basic premise that every player is going to be signed and I look for reasons not to sign them. With these 6 players it's the opposite. I have decided that I'm NOT going to sign them, and now I'm looking for reasons to change my mind. Before I go into each player I should say that we have a slightly unique problem at the club at the moment in that because so many young players a immediately playing for the 1st Team, we're having slight problems having enough players in the U19's squad to run it properly, so quality, (in terms of either CA or PA), is not something that's an issue for me right now. I really just want bodies, but I don't want bodied with a poor attitude. 

(35n) Balla is a GK which makes him more problematic. You can't just stick a GK in goal, (well you van but it's a terrible idea), so I think a GK sometimes gets special dispensation in these situations. He's lucky that his (Det) isn't really low, (it's just 8), so I think what with him being a GK and his (Det) just being a little bit rubbish rather than absolutely terrible I'm going to give him a pass and offer him a contract, (but he probably doesn't get one if he's an outfield player).

(35k) Azizi. (Unamb)+(L.Det) has the dreaded (Unamb)+(L.Det) mix and if I'm completely honest with you I would find it hard to sign anyone with this pairing. In this case it's actually easy to release him because although he has some decent physicals, his passing is low and his workrate is appalling. He couldn't play in the middle of the pitch and he's never going to get anywhere near the side up front, so I can just put him out of his misery now and release him. 

(35e) Maloku (L.Det) actually looks decent. His physicals are good and he also has some nice technicals in key areas. He's lacking a little in some mentals, but I still like him and I'm afraid I'm going to have to sign him. I don't want to sign him, but I just can't release him at this stage.  #BottleJob

(35g) Alla (Unamb)+(L.Det) is the perfect example of why you should never make broad sweeping statements about your refusal to ever sign players who are both (Unamb)+(L.Det),  (as I have done many many many many times before).  It's an absolutely terribly mix, but the problem here is that I really like him as a player and I'm really surprised that he's only 1.0 CA actually. I actually think that he has lots of qualities and while we might struggle to tie him down to a role right now, I think there is certainly enough quality there to suggest that he could play for us at some point or earn a move elsewhere for some cash. I can't release this player. I just can't. 

(35d) Alla (Unamb)+(L.Det) is easier to release, despite having 5.0 PA. He's not going to reach his PA, so how high it is or in't has no significance on whether he gets a contract or not. I actual fact, bu releasing him immediately and not signing him at all, I at least give the AI the best chance to do something with him. 

(35o) Dauti. has (Det) of 1 and PA of 2.0 Even being a 6'5" centre-half with 5.0 PA wouldn't have saved this guy. He certainly isn't being kept with 2.0 PA 

[Jimbokav1971]

39 minutes ago, oche balboa said:

Taking a tiny Kosovo team from the 3rd tier to Champions, with Youth academy players to the Nou Camp is a remarkable story. Imagine if its Real Life 

I think it's a bit of a.... it's not a bug exactly... but let me explain. 

Obviously this part of the World has had a terrible time in recent decades and the infrastructure for things like football clubs is simply not there. The Country, (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), closest to Kosovo is Albania,, (not physically), so think of Kosovo along similar lines to Albania rather than Serbia or any of the bigger footballing/economic Nations in the area. 

The problem is basically that when so much of your infrastructure needs to be rebuilt, thinks like sport and recreation come pretty low on the list, (but are at least on the list now).

https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/president/news/kosovo-delegation-discuss-future-infrastructure-projects-with-fifa-president

Because of that, the clubs start with quite low facilities, (say in comparison to Serbia), and the only club who has generated sufficient money to invest in significant Facility improvement is Ballkani, and they are already so successful that they didn't need to do so. Then we come along and have by far and away the best facilities in the Country and we're smashing the life out of everyone. They saw what we were doing and have tried to respond, but even modest upgrades here and there is no match for our ridiculous Youth Recruitment now. 

They've done a double-upgrade 3 times in the last 5 years so it's better than it was, but obviously we have prioritised Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment so we have stolen a march on them. They have invested quite well actually, and their policy seems to be to buy the best young talent that other clubs produce, (they can buy them cheaply in all cases other than ours), so their model would probably continue to be really successful if it wasn't for our facilities and our Youth only policy. 

 

I think the whole thing has basically become a perfect storm for us where Ballkani effectively cherry-pick and strip all the young talent from the other Kosovan clubs, but they just can't live with the talent we're producing and they're basically screwed now that they can no longer nab our best players, (which forms the basis for their current team). I've just got really lucky that this particular Nation is set up so well for a Youth Only save like this and I promise I didn't know it would be like this when I started the save, (or I would have started it much sooner!) 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2035. 

SuperLeague. We broke the record for SuperLeague unbeaten run in the 2nd game of the month against Llapi, and what usually happens is we lose immediately after that, (especially if I post about it). Surprisingly we actually drew the Drita game after that and then got back to winning ways again after that. 

In the last game of the month against Ballkani, our SLC was injured so I threw in recent Youth Intake graduate (35a) Siano (ITA) and he "rewarded" me with a goal, an assist and a red card on his debut.  I think I'll take that. 

Facilities. 

Records. I usually lose the next game after taking these pics so look above at the Drita game on 11th March because that's the next game at the time of posting this.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2035. 

 

SuperLeague. It's a double, the the least prestigious double that it's possible for us to do. 

New contract. (A 3 year deal).

Facilities. We've been waiting a long time for this. Now we have the job of moving as many players as possible onto FT Pro contracts. 

Finances.   

[Mr Jabay]

I am not sure, but this must be a record for a semi-pro club:

Fantastic facilities, now literally unbeatable and participating in the CL group stage....

How far do you want to go in this save? 

And PS: is my man Barrigana really an U21 for Portugal?

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2035. 

Nearly 20% of players have unlocked this achievement? Really?    

SuperLeague. The 2 nil-nils in the final month of the season meant that I was just a little nervous that my attempts at an unbeaten league season would be derailed so close to the end. As luck would have it, we survived in the end and won the SuperLeague by a 15 point margin in doing so. 

U19's.

Records.

Finances. 

[Elsjorro]

Man, i was gutted to see your spanish game come to an end. Just as i was sad when the Portuguese one did.

 

But good to see your not gone. Love ur games man. What database do u use?

 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Mr Jabay said:

I am not sure, but this must be a record for a semi-pro club:

Fantastic facilities, now literally unbeatable and participating in the CL group stage....

How far do you want to go in this save? 

And PS: is my man Barrigana really an U21 for Portugal?

I bet you @Makoto Nakamurahas done it before. I just got lucky with Kosovo. 

We're on a good run but I'm sure someone will beat us soon. The Champions League Group Stage might have been a one-off. We will have to see how we do the next few seasons. 

To be completely honest, I've already probably achieved more in this save than I was anticipating. If you had said to me Champions League Group Stage, and an unbeaten SuperLeague season I would have taken that. 

Yeah (30i) Barrigana (POR) * has played 22 times for (POR) U21's, scoring 5 goals. 

We're currently paying him £4,400 per month (and he has 2 years remaining on his contract). He doesn't want to stay but his agent says he will sign a new contract for £7,500-£10,000 per month. £10k per month is £120k per year and that doesn't seem to be an issue at all. I worry that the strikers behind him will stangate unless I move him on though. I think I'm going to sign him to a new contract anyway. Surely a big club will come in for him if he does well enough in Europe next season. 

I think he had a couple of Italian clubs interested in him, (might have been another striker), but mainly Australian clubs at the moment. Not sure what the link is there. He's the only member of the squad earning more than £600 per month right now, (before I start re-negotiating contracts). I'm sort of tempted to sell him, but nobody is close to even offering anything that I would be interested in accepting. The biggest offer has been approx £300,000. 

This is what he wants. Nothing in it is an issue, (other than unused sub fee which I refuse to pay), until you get to the bottom and there is a £350k min fee release clause for domestic clubs. That means that Ballkani could sign him for just £350k. No way I'm having that. He can go abroad for less than that rather than sell to them. 

[Edit]

My plan is not to see how he does with is in qualifying for Europe this season and then either sell him before the window shuts this year, or possibly hang onto him for 1 more season and sell him next season. I'm not selling him to Ballkani for £350,000 though. 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, Elsjorro said:

Man, i was gutted to see your spanish game come to an end. Just as i was sad when the Portuguese one did.

But good to see your not gone. Love ur games man. What database do u use?

Thanks very much. 

I'm not completely sure what database I'm using. I think it was part of as pack that I subscribed to ages ago. Let me check.

I've just checked and it was a database on Steam by Tenshi

[Jimbokav1971]

Strikers and Transfers. Jun 2035.

As mentioned there are a host of clubs interested in (30i) Barrigana (POR) *, and he's one of our 2 main strikers at the club. The other one is (32d) Väänänen (KOS)(FIN) * and I think it's him that the 2 Italian clubs were interested in, (and I prefer him if I'm honest). He's also 2 years younger!

Where as (30i) Barrigana (POR) * plays centrally in a 3, (32d) Väänänen (KOS)(FIN) * plays on the right hand side, (although could easily play through the middle). 

He's also not keen to sign a new contract, but wants less in order to do so. 

I can remove the Domestic Clubs release clause so that he doesn't move to Ballkani for a pittance. 

Negotiations fell through. 

[Makoto Nakamura]

50 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I bet you @Makoto Nakamurahas done it before. I just got lucky with Kosovo. 

I'm pretty sure I was professional at the stage but longest unbeaten run I can remember is 85 games in all competitions when managing in American Samoa. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Contracts. Jun 2035. 

I've just sorted squad by PA and gone down the list trying to convert players from PT contracts to FT contracts and after 8 failed attempts I think I'm going to try something else for a while. 

They all seem to want a domestic release clause in there, but they also want that release clause to be really small. I know that Ballkani will just come in and hoover them all up so at the moment it's best to keep them on the PT contracts they're on. Yeah their development and fitness will suffer, but at least they won't be able to be poached by other Kosovan clubs. 

The players who are still on Youth Contracts I can't negotiate with yet, (not until they turn 17), so I suppose I will try with them as and when they start turning 17. 

We've done ok with PT contracts so far so, so I'm going to stay with what is but obviously the next intake are going to sign pre-contract FT contracts, and when a player reached 17 I'm going to try and renegotiate their contracts, but I think they might want a domestic release clause too...... 

It's not just that they insisted on a domestic release clause by the way. It's that they insisted that the max was £450k-£500k. 

Squad by Appearances. 

Squad by Goals. 

Squad by Assists. 

Squad by Avg Rating. 

5.0 PA players. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2035. 

Finances. We are in the pink! 

Clauses. Anyone who reads my threads will know that I love a clause when selling players and we've already got a few that the DoF has agreed deals on. All these (29a) Vonmoos (KOS)(SUI) clauses seemed huge at the time, but now we've made the Champions League Group it's all basically chicken feed. I would have sold my firstborn for £500k 1 year ago. Now I can't even be bothered triggering a clause. 

[Edit]

Edited September 1, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

18 minutes ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

I'm pretty sure I was professional at the stage but longest unbeaten run I can remember is 85 games in all competitions when managing in American Samoa. 

85 you say..... Nope, no way I can do that in Europe. 

[DaneBramage]

Having three strikers with 20+ goals makes things a lot of fun. I'd kill for just one.

Great run in Europe, even if the group stage is a silly system. For my money, I think the most fun stage of saves is possibly when you get into Europe for the first few times and have to go through the qualifying rounds. Plenty of gametime against easyish for the second string to keep them happy, and normally plenty of goals too.

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, DaneBramage said:

Having three strikers with 20+ goals makes things a lot of fun. I'd kill for just one.

Great run in Europe, even if the group stage is a silly system. For my money, I think the most fun stage of saves is possibly when you get into Europe for the first few times and have to go through the qualifying rounds. Plenty of gametime against easyish for the second string to keep them happy, and normally plenty of goals too.

I totally agree about the fun of qualification early on. 

With regards to strikers, it's actually even better than that, (and that's after selling (29a) Vonmoos (KOS)(SUI) to Ballkani who it should be added won the SuperLeague Golden Boot this season with 31 goals in 31 SuperLeague appearances and 37 goals in 35(3) appearances in all competitions. 

This is the 1st Team strike force. 

This is the 2nd Team front 3. 

So as well as a front 3 who scored 29, 28 & 22 goals, (aged 18, 19 & 21), we also had 3 back-up players who scored 10, 9 & 5 goals (at the ages of 17, 18 & 18). 

As if that isn't enough, we also have a few more strikers waiting in the wings.

Honestly, if I can sell our 1st choice strikers for good money abroad then I will do, because we have got loads of youngster coming through in forward areas. 

I think I need to change the HoYD though to one who will bring me through some defenders. 

[Jimbokav1971]

New Season squads. Jun 2025. 

1st Team. 

2nd Team. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Ajax in for (32d) Väänänen (KOS)(FIN) *. Jun 2035. 

They can have him, but they can't have him for that. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Most improved Team in Europe. Jun 2035. 

[Edit] 

Seeing us next to our namesakes reminds me that I never did work out what the name means. 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2035.

SuperLeague. The 2nd Team did really well in the league as the 1st Team battled away in Europe. 

Super Cup. An Extra-Time loss to Ballkani for the 2nd Team. Last season we were able to play the 1st Team in this game because we had a comfortable lead in our European tie from the 1st leg and were able concentrate on the Super Cup. This time round we didn't have that luxury and weren't strong enough, losing in ET to a goal by one of our old boys. 

European Qualifying campaign. Well we didn't make it to the Champions League again, (I'm flippin furious), but that's what you get when you don't score in the home tie. 

Records. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

European Qualification campaign. Sept 2035.

Champions League 1st Qualifying Round. 1st Leg. We should have won more comfortably, but you can't really complain when you score 5 goals. 

Champions League 1st Qualifying Round. 2nd Leg. This was much more like it. a much better performance. 

Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round. 1st Leg. We left this one late. 

Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round. 2nd Leg. But again the homoe leg result and performance was much better. 

Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round. 1st Leg. Oops. Looks like we prefer playing the away leg 1st. 

Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round. 2nd Leg. There were too many goals and incidents in this tie for me to cover it all. basically we lost because we were rubbish in the 1st Leg and then had a player sent off before finally losing in injury time and the end of Extra-Time. 

Europa League Playoff. 1st Leg. We absolutely battered them. 

Europa League Playoff. 2nd Leg. We battered them some more. 

Records. 

Finances. It's not Champions League level money, but it's still money. 

Europa League Fixtures. The 2nd Team are still going to play in these games whether it's Champions League, Europa League or Farmers League.

A rivalry developing? We've played Dinamo Tblisi in 3 of our European campaigns. We lost the 1st tie on pens but then won the next 2. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2035.

SuperLeague. That 9-0 win against Fushë Kosova is ominous for the rest of the league because our 2 best players/strikers (32d) Väänänen (KOS)(FIN) * & (30i) Barrigana (POR) *, didn't play, (injured), despite it being a 1st Team game. So even without them we still scored 9 goals!  The 2nd Team have been playing really well.

UEFA Europa League. This was the 2nd Team with zero 1st Team players. That's possibly one of the most impressive displays of this whole save, (after the Roma result last season). There is still absolutely zero attempt to qualify for the Knockout stages. we are simply using these games for 2nd Team player experience/development and what will happen will happen. 

Facilities. There will become a point where I have to think long and hard about the Facility upgrades because they won't be financially sustainable in Kosovo, (even playing in the Champions League), but for the moment we're fine. You just have to remember. Every single upgrade improves our youngsters just that little bit more.

Finances. 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

International squads. Oct 2035. 

Senior NT squads. (Yes, that's a 16 year old in the Kosovo squad). (34c) Hidri (Perfect) * has been one of our stars at the beginning of this season and although he's dropped from (Perfect) to (F.Det), I can't bring myself to change his nickname because I really like it. 

U21 Squads. I'm surprised that (31h) Capi * hasn't been called up to the Senior (KOS) squad, but then again I don't know who he is up against so perhaps his time will come. 

U20 Squads. For one so young, (35a) Siano (ITA) * has had a ridiculous start to the season in the absence of some of our bigger names. 6 goals and 1 assist in 6 SuperLeague appearances at the age of 16 is just silly. 

U19 Squads. 

U18 Squads. 

Academy players in Kosovo NT Squad. 

Ballkani had 2 more of our Academy players in the NT squad last season, but (29l) Imeri 6'3" has rejoined us on a £200k deal, (and is in our 2nd Team), and (29m) Dauti *, (a DL who was called up to the NT squad but never capped), left on a free to join Prishtina. He's still a good player, but we have at least 2 DL's better than him, (and 3 if we include PA).

[sherwinriga]

First of all, congratulations on the double and remarkable Champions League from last season! Now, it turns out to be good for your team to get even better as a Kosovan powerhouse! Look forward into next season, despite losing in the Super Cup!

On 01/09/2023 at 15:57, Jimbokav1971 said:

(35g) Alla (Unamb)+(L.Det) is the perfect example of why you should never make broad sweeping statements about your refusal to ever sign players who are both (Unamb)+(L.Det),  (as I have done many many many many times before).  It's an absolutely terribly mix, but the problem here is that I really like him as a player and I'm really surprised that he's only 1.0 CA actually. I actually think that he has lots of qualities and while we might struggle to tie him down to a role right now, I think there is certainly enough quality there to suggest that he could play for us at some point or earn a move elsewhere for some cash. I can't release this player. I just can't. 

I believe that it's better for this guy to go on a loan to another team, so that he'll develop there first, but he's interested to go elsewhere, then, let him go permanently.

On the other hand, Europa League looks good for them after losing in the preliminary stages in ECL, but we'll see how you can handle them all like you have done in the ECL last year!

[Jimbokav1971]

25 minutes ago, sherwinriga said:

First of all, congratulations on the double and remarkable Champions League from last season! Now, it turns out to be good for your team to get even better as a Kosovan powerhouse! Look forward into next season, despite losing in the Super Cup!

I believe that it's better for this guy to go on a loan to another team, so that he'll develop there first, but he's interested to go elsewhere, then, let him go permanently.

On the other hand, Europa League looks good for them after losing in the preliminary stages in ECL, but we'll see how you can handle them all like you have done in the ECL last year!

Yeah, last season was good in qualification. 

This season we have had to make do with the Europa League, (but I'm certainly not complaining). 

Yeah, I guess loaning them out is the best answer, but I'm concerned about low (Det) & (Amb) impacting others in U19's squad prior to him going on loan. I guess we will just see how it goes. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Big Interest. Oct 2035.

AC Milan, Porto and Juve are tracking (32d) Väänänen (KOS)(FIN) * and while I'm happy to sell to them, it will involve significant add-ons. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2035.

SuperLeague. Almost a perfect month with a 10 goal win included, but the 2nd Team couldn't find a way past Prishtina despite hitting the woodwork twice. 

UEFA Europa League. The 2nd Team really doing well here. Should have beaten Hammarby by more and were really unlucky against Trabzonspor.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2035. 

SuperLeague. It's strange, but the 2nd Team are honestly playing better than the 1st Team. It's possible that some unhappiness with contracts are the cause of this, but either way the 2's are absolutely flying! 

UEFA Europa League. I hadn't planned on bothering to show the Europa League table, (because what's the point if you're getting stuffed every week), but as we're in the mix... here it is. 

Kosovan Cup. I even weakened the 2nd Team for this game, but we're also struggling with injuries at the moment. Isn't it weird that we're now getting loads more injuries now that we're full time?  Before we were having fatigue issues but players were rarely actually unavailable. Now it's ridiculous. 

Records.

Finances. 

[Rikulec]

14 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Kosovan Cup. I even weakened the 2nd Team for this game, but we're also struggling with injuries at the moment. Isn't it weird that we're now getting loads more injuries now that we're full time?  Before we were having fatigue issues but players were rarely actually unavailable. Now it's ridiculous. 

That actually makes a lot of sense. It takes time to adapt to a full time training schedule after only training two or three times a week, the training load is going to be much bigger for the players and their organisms will naturally respond this way. This is something I feel FM handles really well.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Rikulec said:

That actually makes a lot of sense. It takes time to adapt to a full time training schedule after only training two or three times a week, the training load is going to be much bigger for the players and their organisms will naturally respond this way. This is something I feel FM handles really well.

That makes complete sense when I think about it now. I was just thinking about the difference between PT & FT and not the transition from PT to FT. Completely agree, (as long as it stops in the next 12 months). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2035. 

SuperLeague. It's interesting, (at least to me), that the 2 draws this month were both when the 1st Team started the match, (although they were also both against Ballkani and we were much the better side in both games). We're still unbeaten, (as are Ballkani), but I'm comfortable with our form and expect us to move away as injuries hit them and they are unable to remain unbeaten. (29a) Vonmoos (KOS)(SUI) who is now at Ballkani already has 21 Superleague goals in 18 appearances so they will be a tough nut to crack while he continues to score at those levels. He's got 18 months on his contract and a +1 on top of that. I would love someone to come in from abroad and buy him. 

UEFA Europa League. We're really over-performing right now in Europe, (considering the 2nd Team are playing), and we're in with a big chance of at least qualifying for the Playoffs. A large part of that is the performance of (35a) Siano (ITA) * who has played out of his skin for a 16 year old contributing 12 goals and 7 assists from 20(1) appearances in either of the wide attacking positions. It's absolutely mental. 

Kosovan Cup. The 2nd Team are on fire and just 1 example of this is (33e) Shumeli * who has 18 goals and 8 assists before Jan from just 15(13) games. 

Records. 

(30i) Barrigana (POR) * now has 96 career league goals for us. 
(29a) Vonmoos (KOS)(SUI) scored 93 league goals before moving to Ballkani. 
(32d) Väänänen (KOS)(FIN) * now has 92 career league goals for us and would surely have broken the record 1st but for recent injury.  

(30i) Barrigana (POR) * has scored 26 goals already this season in 18(14) appearances, but he also seems a little streaky in that in our last 20 games he has scored 12 goals, but 9 of those 12 goals were scored as hat-tricks in just 3 games, so actually he's not been in great consistent form recently and actually went 8 games without scoring. 

Youth Intake preview. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2036. 

UEFA Europa League. There were no other games this month, so the 1st Team got to play in the Europa League for a change and they did enough for 2 good wins that qualify us for the Playoffs. 

Finances. 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Future deal agreed. Feb 2036. 

Both (32d) Väänänen (KOS)(FIN) * and (30i) Barrigana (POR) * have approx 18 months left on their contracts, and while it's not a huge issue that we get good money for them, it is vital that they don't go to Ballkani on the cheap, (or at all). I think I turned down a bit from Montreal FC for (30i) Barrigana (POR) * that I should have accepted, but I think I more than made up for that with this deal. 

• I made sure that the deal didn't go through in January, and instead goes through at the end of the season. 
• There is a 50% re-sale clause in there. 
• £500,000 up front + £250,000 in installments. 
• £10k per game for 50 games = £500,000
• £100,000 after each of 10, 20, 30 & 40 league appearances.
• £250,000 after 50 league appearances. 
• £250,000 after 20 International appearances (he already has 10 and he's 19 years old). 
• £250,000 after 20 league goals
• A friendly. 

I've got to admit that it's a really clever and well-crafted deal considering they didn't want to pay more than £500k to start off with. I got them up a bit, but just made them pay in other ways. 

Now I have to try and do something similar for (30i) Barrigana (POR) *.

Edited September 2, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2036.

SuperLeague. We're churning out the wins, but to be fair to Ballkani they're sticking with us and winning their games too. We play them twice in 4 days in April, and the results of those 2 games will probably decide the title. 

UEFA Europa League Playoffs. The 2nd Team just keep on doing the business and we're now into the Knockout stages in European competition.  @DaneBramagecommented on us having 3 players who have scored 20+ goals last season, but we already have 3 with 20+ (33, 25 +23), but where as the 2nd Team strikers were all below 10 last season, they're currently on 23, 12 & 12 with loads of games still to play so the improvement really is significant. (33e) Shumeli *, (playing centrally), has been the biggest improver and despite being in our 2nd Team, he's made is International debut for Kosovo, scoring 3 goals from 1(1) International appearances. For us he's scored 23 goals in 17(17) appearances. 

Records.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Mar 2036. 

Lowest ranked by PA and also (L.Det)? There is absolutely no way that (35p) Beqiri is getting a contract, (but everyone else is). 

(36a) Young (KOS)(ENG) looks VERY good. He will be played as a MC rather than an SC. 

(36b) Shaholli 6'3" looks like a decent GK, but his aerial reach is poor and his positioning isn't great.

(36c) Morina has good physicals but not much else.

(36d) Lakti looks really good. 

(36e) Panagiotou (CYP) looks ok(ish), but where a player with a FGN Nationality with a high Youth rating probably has good PA, a player with a FGN Nationality with a low Youth rating probably has poor PA. 

(36f) Qehajaj (Temp) looks good, but how the hell do you pronounce that? Kewajaj? Kewajai? Kwejaj? 

(36g) Hismani looks ok and we're always in need of another centre-half.

(36h) Puto looks like another decent striker. 

(36i) Karaj has some rather decent mentals. 

(36j) Kirkevold (KOS)(NOR) looks just a little short of quality all over. 

(36k) Magny (KOS)(SUI) looks decent, but his physicals will take some work. 

(36l) Tozaj looks pretty basic. 

(36m) Kryeziu looks ok, but that OTB attribute is painful. 

(36n) Gmür (KOS)(SUI) looks reasonable. 

(36o) Miftari has awful physicals. 

(35p) Beqiri. is not getting a contract and has already been released.