The FM24 Youth Academy Challenge

[thomas_e]

4 hours ago, Virtual Male said:

After thinking that I'd lost the save to it corrupting and having a sad afternoon I remembered why I backup my important saves externally. I lost a month or so but nothing that changes anything worth noting, still the same intake etc. I've no idea what caused the save file to die but after some googling I've seen that there's been people having some issues when adding playable leagues after the start of a save (which is something I'd done) so I assume that's what did it.

Would be great if other people who have added playable leagues as they go all along can report on how its working out. 
 

I just added 4 new nations (playing in March 2031), as I am preparing to play European football in hopefully 4-5 seasons. Only having the one league when playing European football is such a big advantage it basically should be mandatory to have several key nations loaded. But big trouble if the save is corrupted!

In your backup save, do you have the new leagues added?

[Virtual Male]

3 minutes ago, thomas_e said:

Would be great if other people who have added playable leagues as they go all along can report on how its working out. 
 

I just added 4 new nations (playing in March 2031), as I am preparing to play European football in hopefully 4-5 seasons. Only having the one league when playing European football is such a big advantage it basically should be mandatory to have several key nations loaded. But big trouble if the save is corrupted!

In your backup save, do you have the new leagues added?

They're not no, I backed it up just before I added them.... From what I've been able to find out (and been told by someone who seems to know what they're on about) it doesn't appear to be a common issue, but definitely worth creating that extra 'just incase' save before you add them as pending.

[Virtual Male]

@HanziZoloman I'm the same with youth set-up cost. Spending more in 2 months than we did in a full season last year.... Oh, the joys of going full time. The only way out I can think of is player sales and hope for a future sell on %

[thomas_e]

4 minutes ago, Virtual Male said:

They're not no, I backed it up just before I added them.... From what I've been able to find out (and been told by someone who seems to know what they're on about) it doesn't appear to be a common issue, but definitely worth creating that extra 'just incase' save before you add them as pending.

I hope I haven’t made a huge mistake now! But luckily the leagues arent added before the end of the season, so I can at least make a backup then. 

[Neo_Geo]

Any chance we can end the season now? 

Really pleasing start, we seem to be a lot better in front of goal, still giving away too many goals though

[TCH]

Does anybody know if the reset dates for Portugal are the same as FM23 (June 30th)? Thank you!

[Virtual Male]

9 minutes ago, thomas_e said:

I hope I haven’t made a huge mistake now! But luckily the leagues arent added before the end of the season, so I can at least make a backup then. 

As long as you've got a save from before the leagues become active you should be fine to go back and take them away if any issues crop up.

[Potat]

FC Maruyasu Okazaki

End of Save Review - 2026 - Season 3

Getting promoted was the worst thing that could have happened, £3m in debt to build a new stadium (which we never played in), and £6m extra to use the current stadium for an extra season meant we had no money, as far as players go, what we had wasn't good enough and we had no chance, made worse by losing 2 key players (starting RB and CM who was POTY the year before). Despite the aim being "Fight Bravily Against Relegation" and being by far the worst team in the league, with 1 win and 8 points from 32 games I can't say I'm shocked I got sacked but still disappointed. 

This challenge is torture but still in a weird way I enjoy it, so we go again somewhere else. 

Is there anything against using the same game file to start at another team with a new manager?

Edited November 8, 2023 by Potat

[Neo_Geo]

1 minute ago, Potat said:

FC Maruyasu Okazaki

End of Save Review - 2026 - Season 3

Getting promoted was the worst thing that could have happened, £3m in debt to build a new stadium (which we never played in), and £6m extra to use the current stadium for an extra season meant we had no money, as far as players go, what we had wasn't good enough and we had no chance, made worse by losing 2 key players (starting RB and CM who was POTY the year before). Despite the aim being "Fight Bravily Against Relegation" and being by far the worst team in the league, with 1 win and 8 points from 32 games I can't say I'm shocked I got sacked but still disappointed. 

This challenge is torture but still in a weird way I enjoy it, so we go again somewhere else. 

Is there anything against using the same game file to start at another team with a new manager?

If you get the sack its the end of that save.

If you saved the game at the point where you selected your team you could take over one of the other teams (since you haven't actually managed a game saves you simming a year again)

[aldojags]

Can I check for Norway, it lets you load up to the 4th tier, but this appears to be unplayable when trying to pick a team, so can you just play in 3rd tier?

[Neo_Geo]

1 hour ago, aldojags said:

Can I check for Norway, it lets you load up to the 4th tier, but this appears to be unplayable when trying to pick a team, so can you just play in 3rd tier?

Just fired up a quick sim for this and get the same,I guess you are meant to run the sim with only 3 tiers since Follo are now in the third tier in season 2 and @XaW is managing them so you don't have to start at the 4th tier (as its not possible by the looks of it)

[XaW]

1 hour ago, aldojags said:

Can I check for Norway, it lets you load up to the 4th tier, but this appears to be unplayable when trying to pick a team, so can you just play in 3rd tier?

The 4th tier is "view only" in the default DB, so you can just pick a team there and make sure they get promoted into the 3rd tier. It's also mentioned in the top tier.

However, if you want something special...

*cough*

 

[Braumiller]

Season 03 - 2026/27

FC Biel-Bienne

Another interesting season in the books!  Same finish as last year (4th!) but I am happier with that all things considered.  We won more games, but lost more games.  However, big strides were made into being a youth product only team as by the end of the season we played with 8 starters from our first 3 youth intakes a couple of times....  That will no doubt happen more often in our upcoming 4th season due to more outgoings....

League Table - 4th - Jumped over local rivals Xamax on the final day of the season too!

Squad Stats

Our front 3 were clicking nicely quite often.  For most of the season we were playing with 3 up top (AML, AMR, FC) and they all ended up in double digit goal totals.  However, both Orlando Kwasie (YP01-Elite) and Mirco Isler (YP01-Elite) came knocking as the season wound down letting me know they wanted to move on to bigger clubs....  I couldn't fight it and have told them I will sell them if clubs meet my valuation.  After a quick back and forth the highest they would accept are 3.8m (Isler) and 3m (Kwasie).  Their values had slowly risen all season and this is just a bit higher than the upper range of their values at the time.  To give a yard stick to those numbers, my total income for this season was 2.47m and my total expenditure was 2.71m.  So a sale of either would be huge to us.  They are happy now, and they will play until they are sold.  Unlike my club captain and first choice goalkeeper who last summer refused to sign a new contract and during the winter break agreed to join Winterthur of the Swiss Super League for free on contract expiration.  As events would unfold, he got injured with 7 games of the season to go, my youth intake had just came in with a decent GK in it, so he never played for me again - once a player is dead to me, they are done   The youth GK got 6 senior games under his belt (he didn't sign his contract in time to play in the first game of Radke's injury) and I've moved on

Youth Intake!  Decent, with a handful expected to make an impact over time.

Michael Jutzi - I like the look of this kid!  No games yet, but expecting to bring him into the first team fold next year.  Professional, great technique, determined, team oriented and aggressive.  Gonna make a DM out of him!

Goncalo Lopes - My new GK!  Unless he does anything stupid the shirt is his until better comes along

Roberto Carducci - A good looking striker.  Unambitious, but will train up his AML as well to give me more options to get him games.

Gio Barcherini - Another good looking midfielder.  A bit of steel in the middle of the park never hurt anyone (on my team).

Levin Winistorfer - Rounding out a great crop of midfielders.  Hoping at least one excels and makes a first team role their own asap.

Transfers - Just the outgoing as usual....

 

So, we really hit our stride near the end of the season and I am confident of getting 4th or higher again.  A lot, as usual, will depend on the new kids not buckling, but the new youth GK did well in his 6 first team games so expecting he will be fine going forward as my new first choice.

If I have to sell either or both of Isler & Kwasie then my bank balance should be very healthy and I can push for more infrastructure improvements to boost long term success.  The previous improvements have certainly been worthwhile, so hoping any temporary backwards steps on the field with transfers out are papered over with better facilities.

[thomas_e]

Energie Cottbus

Season Summary 2030 - 2031

A great mid table Bundesliga finish

 

Our second season in the Bundesliga and we performed far, far better than I could have dreamed of. We finished in 8th place, just shy of a European spot. To be fair I am happy we didn't qualify for Europe, we are certainly not ready. Overall I would say that we are too good to be relegated, but we overperformed massively this season. Our striker Marco Stumpf went from 8 goals last year to 16 goals this season and that certainly helped. 

We didn't really have any periods of really good or really bad form, we were overall pretty solid. Making solid progress a lot quicker than expected, but I fear what will happen in 24 months when Michael Greif's contract expires. He doesnt want to renew and he is the heart and soul of this team. Probably a top three player under 23 I've ever had on this challenge, he is a world class playmaker. I just hope I can get him to renew! 

We also had a really good intake to complete a great year! 

 

Season Summary

          

 

Key Players

          

 

Key Talents

          

 

Tactics

     

 

[Potat]

TSV Aachen

Preview

If I fail with a setup this good then I'll take the hint this isn't for me.

Manager Profile | Club Profile

Key Players

Jan-Luca Rumpf | Ulrich Bapoh | Frederic Baum

By far the best squad of players I've had to work with so far, hopefully, I get to keep them around.

Best Prospects

Laurence Park | Nikola Janev 

Along with some decent youngsters who will get to develop as I won't need to rush them into the team.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Potat

[tobiahabramson]

Macclesfield Town FC

Vanarama National League North

Season 1 2024-25

Note: This is my first time uploading about a YA save on this forum ever, so please excuse any formatting irregularities or oddness. Please do let me know if there is any information I should be including!

Results

League: 13th Place

FA Cup

Second Qualifying Round: Win 4-0 v. Barwell

Third Qualifying Round: Win 2-1 v. Bishop's Strotford (Replay)

Fourth Qualifying Round: Lose 0-1 v. Warrington

FA Trophy

Second Round: Win 5-1 v. Morpeth

Third Round: Lose 0-7 v. Gateshead

Season Overview

I came into the season with a fairly small and aging squad. My goal was just to survive the VNL North and get in some youth players to shore up the depth chart.

My biggest challenge was an extreme lack of depth in defence, with only two natural senior centre-backs and 1 natural left-back in the whole squad. I made do with training a DM to play CB, using a AML as an emergency left back and using a 16 year-old youth CB to fill in the emergency gaps. Several of the key players were over 30 and seriously declining physically. It took a while to find the right formation for this team that wasn't too physically demanding, but potent enough to outscore the opponent to overcome my thin defence. A few formations were tried but a 4-3-3 ultimately is what brought the most success.

Spoiler

It was a very streaky season with several multi-game losing streaks, interspersed with some winning streaks. By the latter third of the season we had stablized into a solidly mid-table position, which remained through to the end of the season. We never challenged for top half or promotion, with 10 points separating us from the team in 12th place. We made it to the 4th qualifying of the FA Cup before losing a close game to fellow VNL North Team Warrington. In the 3rd round of the FA Trophy we decided to rest starting players and got thumped 7-0 by Gateshead.

Spoiler

 

Injuries, particularly of goalkeepers was an annoying trend, with both my started and backup having multiple injuries throughout the season, including a wrist ligament injury, a fractured lower arm and a dislocated shoulder. In one instance, the two keepers were injured in consecutive games, leaving the 3rd string 17 year old 1 and a half grey-star keeper to start 2 matches.

Spoiler

Youth Intake and HYD

Tom Phipp was named Macclesfield's Head of Youth Development for this season, with mediocre attributes but a professional personality. He had a decent, but not great, first haul of players. While none will be world-beaters, a few will immediately be promoted to the senior squad to fill defensive gaps.

;;;

Players of note include Daniel Needham, a much needed backup leftback, with a professional personality:

Spoiler

Dean Leach, a 6'6 CB that will act as backup CB and a nice set piece target (if he can improve his heading)

Spoiler

and Geri Collings, a GK who is not great but who will step in as 3rd choice, which apparently in this game can actually have some relevance

Spoiler

Full Youth Intake

Spoiler

Year of Intake		Player Name	Nationality 1	2nd Nationality	Place of Birth	Best Pos/Role
2025		Fenton Phenix	English		Stockport	D(C)/NCB
2025		Dario Kuehnel	German	English	Sprockhoevel	AM(L)/Winger
2025		Matthew Thompson	English		Macclesfield	D(R)/FB
2025		Jordan Mangan	English		Macclesfield	STC/ Poacher
2025		Daniel Needham	English		Macclesfield	DL/ FB
2025		Michael Olayinka	English	Nigerian	Macclesfield	MR/Winger
2025		Dean Leach	English		Macclesfield	DC/NCB
2025		Geri Collings	English		Macclesfield	GK
2025		Dion Willcock	English		Macclesfield	STC/Poacher
2025		Kieran Elliot	Northern Irish		Ballywalter	MR / Winger
2025		Alan Davies	Welsh		Llandough	MC / Advanced Playmaker
2025		Ger Dixon	Irish		Longford	AMR / Winger
2025		Alex Pilkington	English	Irish	Macclesfield	ML/ Defensive Winger
2025		Ilan Owen	Welsh	Irish	Llangefni	DM/BWM
2025		Zeki Caddick	English		Macclesfield
2025		Frank Hartley	English		Macclesfield

2025

2025 season will again be a season of survival. The board are only expecting us to finish mid-table, and the 2024 youth squad will need some time to develop before the squad is noticeably improved. We are only losing 2 squad players to free agency, they were not interested in renewing a contract and were 33+ anyways. 

Excelsior!

[SuperRedditch]

Redditch United
Season 1 - 2024/25
Vanarama National North - 1st (Champions)

 

Unbe-freaking-lievable. I might be a Rain Man level tactical savant genius: either that or copying Pep's 3-2-5 just breaks football. No seriously, Redditch suck. We just hit form and with the best defence in the league (conceding 54 goals, lol) we just ground out victory after victory. I play with Redditch a lot and never would have conceived this was possible with the starting team.

It wasn't all a success though, as is standard for this level we haemorrhaged money, ending up (£60,878). I couldn't get a coaching badge either, nor could I get any recruitment upgrades and half the squad is unhappy because i don't have enough depth at centre-back.

Unfortunately, the one thing that could make a difference to the finances is a good cup run. Getting to the FA Cup 3rd round is a massive windfall. We got some rotten luck with tough away draws, however, and we crashed out of both cups early. That's the winning lottery ticket right there though, there's always next season.

We are also destined to lose our best DR and AML on free transfers, as they are refusing to sign new contracts. My starting DMC will also leave, as being the ringleader of the squad unrest is also refusing to sign a new deal.

 

The Squad

Somehow this ramshackle squad of 17 players are champions. Here are the real winners:

Johnny Johnston - MC - 17 goals / 11 assists as CM(A).
Aram Soleman - AMR - This guy has never delivered for me on this scale before. 15 goals/15 assists as Winger(A).
Jenson Cooper - ST - Very limited but he can jump a bit. Top scorer with 20 goals.

The Intake

Oooh "golden generation", but highest is a C. I don't believe your lies, HoYD.

 

 

 

 

Platt's actually a great lad - although 5* PA doesn't mean much with my awful facilities. I signed up pretty much everyone just to provide depth.


Next Season

Oh boy. Survive. Cup run if possible. Try not to lose legacy players who are my only hope. Getting promoted this quickly can be devastating in these saves.

 

[Gonner]

Austria Salzburg, Season 3, 2026/2027 - Mid-season update

Time for our mid-season and youth intake update !

Only 7 more points than last year, but that gets us to 3rd. TSV Hartberg got relegated from Bundesliga last season and have no business being in this league, while Liefering (RB Salzburg's B Team) is on track to win the league once more so those 2 teams will be untouchable, but I would be really happy in we can stay in the upper half of the division.

Youth Intake :
Third year in a row where CB & Striker are among the top positions, but this time we add some wingers in the mix !  We will see what we really get come March.

I really need to get a good centre-back this season because I f*ed up, Mathias Theiner, our best CB, asked if he could explore his options at the end of the season. Usually, I tend to understand the player's view and let them try their luck with the market, 95% of the time no one is interested, but this time I feared that I could not let him leave since we were already short on CBs, opposed his will and now, even if his day-to-day morale is OK and he still plays well, he is only looking forward to leave at the end of the year.


On a more positive note, our good first half allowed me to ask the board for improvements and they agreed to improve both the junior coaching & youth recruitment.



Finally, FC Wacker Innsbruck got promoted this year (hello @Perre8), and, after RedBull Salzburg of course, they are our fiercest rivals, so the fans were really adamant that we beat them !



Mission accomplished 

[Coxbox]

  Recap -Previous Post

7 hours ago, Coxbox said:

Delhi Football Club Season 25/26
Sorry for the no updates I have been waiting for the full game to come out.

Sudeva Delhi FC is a professional football club based in Delhi, India. The club was founded in 2014 and competes in various football leagues and tournaments in India. Sudeva Delhi FC is known for its commitment to developing young talent and providing a platform for emerging players to showcase their skills.

The club has a strong emphasis on youth development and has a well-established academy system to nurture and groom football talents from an early age. Sudeva Delhi FC also participates in the I-League, one of the top professional football leagues in India, which provides a competitive platform for both the senior team and the youth academy players.

Sudeva Delhi FC aims to promote and popularize football in the capital city of India and contribute to the growth of the sport in the country. The club has made significant strides in recent years and is recognized for its dedication to promoting the game at the grassroots level.

The Manager "Ron Longerschlong"

Courtesy of AI
 

Ron Longerschlong, the new manager of Delhi Football Club, is a distinctive figure in the world of football. Born in Swindon on November 1, 1988, he often humorously attributes his departure from his hometown to the town's less-than-stellar reputation. Standing at a modest 5 feet 4 inches, Ron is instantly recognizable with his unique appearance. His distinct features include a moustache reminiscent of a 1980s male adult entertainer, making him stand out in the football world. He sports a hairstyle that can only be described as a combination of a bowl cut and mullet, affectionately referred to as the "Bowllet." Some have jokingly likened his appearance to that of a young Sam Allardyce and Pat Sharp as if their features underwent a collision with a substantial and weighty object.

Ron is known for his no-nonsense approach to the game. He's a passionate supporter of the 4-4-2 formation and is adamant about developing young talents, refusing to rely on the transfer market. He's the kind of manager who isn't afraid to kick a water bottle in frustration when his players underperform, earning him a reputation as a tough but fair leader. One of Ron's most notable quirks is his struggle with the intense Indian heat. Being overweight, he often finds the conditions challenging, but he never lets it deter him from his commitment to the club and the players' development. Despite his eccentric appearance and unique coaching style, Ron Longerschlong has already left his mark on Delhi Football Club, proving that it's not about the manager's looks but the results on the field that truly matter.



The Season So Far


The highlighted match was where I stopped playing until the match engine was fixed and the full game was released. As you can see We have been unbeaten in the League since the update. There seems to be no goal-scoring machine in my team, the highest has 7 and this is him Chhangte Fernandes, with his 4 Finishing and 5 composure.  I have been using all the good players from the last intake to improve them with the  GK and both playmakers getting game time as well as all the strikers.

I will hopefully give you an update at the end of the year. Hopefully, I win something we have been knocked out of the Durand Cup so now it is just the league and the Indian Federation Cup , we currently sit 3rd in the League 

 
 

 

Update*

 

 

f

Delhi Football Club Season 25/26


 

Sudeva Delhi FC is a professional football club based in Delhi, India. The club was founded in 2014 and competes in various football leagues and tournaments in India. Sudeva Delhi FC is known for its commitment to developing young talent and providing a platform for emerging players to showcase their skills.

The club has a strong emphasis on youth development and has a well-established academy system to nurture and groom football talents from an early age. Sudeva Delhi FC also participates in the I-League, one of the top professional football leagues in India, which provides a competitive platform for both the senior team and the youth academy players.

Sudeva Delhi FC aims to promote and popularize football in the capital city of India and contribute to the growth of the sport in the country. The club has made significant strides in recent years and is recognized for its dedication to promoting the game at the grassroots level.

 League 

Cups

Facilities

Finances & Tickets

 

 

Season Update
Nothing has changed too much we were knocked out of both cups, as the team is not scoring we had a good season but we just drew so much even with match domination, we managed to complete a youth facility upgrade and I have managed to grab another coaching badge. I think the older Foreign players may be leaving soon as I have no use for them any more especially the 39-year-old Liberian and 24-year-old Nigerian striker who was my best player in the first season age has caught up with them.

Financially we have managed to save some money since the previous season, we will soon have all the sponsor's money to boost the bank balance, and with the foreign players leaving that's another £58k of the wages per year.


Youth Intake Signed 
Not a bad bunch of players, a mixed bunch with good physicals Gagandeep Naik looks has been promoted to the 1st team (not because of the name promise) i think he might be able to help us score more goals as this season has shown 

Abhishek Noronha

Spoiler

Ranjit Bhattacharyauuu

Spoiler

 

Satish Desai

Spoiler

Abhishek Francis

Spoiler

Sahil Singh

Spoiler

Micky Costa

Spoiler

Augustine Das

Spoiler

Jonathan Vaz

Spoiler

Advait Fernandes

Spoiler

Gagandeep Naik

Spoiler

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Coxbox

[HanziZoloman]

vor 8 Stunden schrieb Potat:

This challenge is torture but still in a weird way I enjoy it, so we go again somewhere else. 

That’s the sweetness of the YAC. Nothing better

[HanziZoloman]

vor 5 Stunden schrieb SuperRedditch:

Redditch United
Season 1 - 2024/25
Vanarama National North - 1st (Champions)

 

Unbe-freaking-lievable. I might be a Rain Man level tactical savant genius: either that or copying Pep's 3-2-5 just breaks football. No seriously, Redditch suck. We just hit form and with the best defence in the league (conceding 54 goals, lol) we just ground out victory after victory. I play with Redditch a lot and never would have conceived this was possible with the starting team.

It wasn't all a success though, as is standard for this level we haemorrhaged money, ending up (£60,878). I couldn't get a coaching badge either, nor could I get any recruitment upgrades and half the squad is unhappy because i don't have enough depth at centre-back.

Unfortunately, the one thing that could make a difference to the finances is a good cup run. Getting to the FA Cup 3rd round is a massive windfall. We got some rotten luck with tough away draws, however, and we crashed out of both cups early. That's the winning lottery ticket right there though, there's always next season.

We are also destined to lose our best DR and AML on free transfers, as they are refusing to sign new contracts. My starting DMC will also leave, as being the ringleader of the squad unrest is also refusing to sign a new deal.

 

The Squad

Somehow this ramshackle squad of 17 players are champions. Here are the real winners:

Johnny Johnston - MC - 17 goals / 11 assists as CM(A).
Aram Soleman - AMR - This guy has never delivered for me on this scale before. 15 goals/15 assists as Winger(A).
Jenson Cooper - ST - Very limited but he can jump a bit. Top scorer with 20 goals.

The Intake

Oooh "golden generation", but highest is a C. I don't believe your lies, HoYD.

 

 

 

 

Platt's actually a great lad - although 5* PA doesn't mean much with my awful facilities. I signed up pretty much everyone just to provide depth.


Next Season

Oh boy. Survive. Cup run if possible. Try not to lose legacy players who are my only hope. Getting promoted this quickly can be devastating in these saves.

 

Welcome back Superman 

[Redknapp_13]

I am going to try this one again, always wanted to do Romania. Third tier seems to be view-only, so can I pick a promoted team in the second tier?

[KingKCrush]

vor 17 Minuten schrieb Redknapp_13:

I am going to try this one again, always wanted to do Romania. Third tier seems to be view-only, so can I pick a promoted team in the second tier?

Yes exactly. If you want to have a rather easy start, pick Politehnica Timisoara. They already have amazing facilities.

[Redknapp_13]

Perfect. Thank you. Politehnica Timisoara was not promoted, so It became another team

 

ACS Kids Tampa Brasov

So, already pretty good youth facilities and also the squad is quite big to start, with some good young players to work with. 

[JLAB]

Real Jaén - Season 1 - Threatened With The Sack?!

Within the first few weeks at Real Jaén, I convinced the board to allow me to study for the National C Licence.

I have since completed the National C Licence qualification, but things haven't been going so well on the pitch.

We started the season relatively well. After the opening game win against Gerena, we picked up another four wins in the next six matches, leading us to 15 points in our opening seven matches. However, we've only picked up four points in the last nine games since October started, losing seven.

It's gotten so bad that the board called me into a meeting, and I was told I would be sacked if I didn't attend it. This was my only chance to save my job for the time being.

After attending the meeting, I saved my job by convincing the chairman to give me more time, but even to find myself in this situation so early in my career was alarming, and I needed to make sure that I could fix the problem I found myself in.

 

After the meeting with the board was completed, we found ourselves slumping down to 13th place, and as things stand, we will find ourselves in a relegation playoff to try and stay up in the Segunda Federación. We need to arrest this poor form, and very quickly, if I want to be able to stay in charge of Real Jaén.

YAC - Real Jaén - Part 3

[Anners]

Previous Post:

20 hours ago, Anners said:

Previous Post:

2024/25 Season Report:

Club: Tranent FC (Scotland)

 

League:

Well that was completely unexpected! We were helped out massively by the fact Edinburgh City started the season incredibly slow and then finished the season incredibly slow, allowing us to sneak home the title by a solitary point. 

Nothing of note happened with the Cup Competitions we entered as I was trying my best to concentrate on the League season. We managed a win in the League Cup Group Stage, but nothing more. We got past Highland League side Fraserburgh in the Scottish Cup Second Round, before losing in a replay against Championship side Queen's Park.

Youth:

As mentioned in the introductory post, Tranent didn't have any youth facilities in place at the start of the save. I asked all year, but it was only after winning the title whereby we could try to persuade the board to improve the youth recruitment (which they have, thankfully!)

That's all for the first post here - there isn't much to digest without a youth intake so next season will probably feel like the first one for me!

2025/26 Season Report:

Club: Tranent FC (Scotland)
League: Scottish League 1

League:

This looks a comfortable mid-table finish, but it very much wasn't. We won 6, drew 1 and lost 2 of our last 9 games meaning 19 from 27. We actually started reasonably well in the season too, taking 4 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses (14 from 27). Just nobody ask about mid season please. Especially November where we got hammered 6-2 by Edinburgh City and 7-4 by Hamilton.

Cups:

We didn't progress further than the Third Round again in the Scottish Cup, going out again to Championship opposition in Partick Thistle. For the League Cup (or Viaplay Cup as it's known), it was a bit of a different story. Wins over Queen's Park and Edinburgh City weren't too shocking, but we managed to turn over Premiership side Dundee United 4-0. Somehow. Which meant the table ended up like this:

That set us up with one of two best possible options (depending on which colour you prefer I guess...) you could ever hope for in a Youth Challenge. A tie away at Glasgow Rangers. We got thoroughly outclassed 6-1, but honestly, who cares at this point!? 260 glorious thousand pound in our pockets meant we were able to get nearly everything upgraded in our facilities as well as the more important youth setup! We're actually setup quite well financially moving forward, so hopefully we'll be able to get the youth products to match the healthiness of the bank balance!

Speaking of...

2026 Youth Intake:

When this screen came up, I was a bit disappointed as I thought we'd actually get nothing out of it, but the result:

Russell will go straight into the first team, but there's at least some potential for players here and the depth is sorely needed. Personality wise we're not great here, but it's not a complete disaster.

 

Oh, and I forgot to add!

Our old chairman left and we are now run by the Supporters' Trust. No money or anything was put in, but this was... nice? With how some people had problems with facilities last year with owners not upgrading, this might be a bit of a blessing?

Edited November 9, 2023 by Anners
Takeover News

[KingKCrush]

CSC Ghiroda - SuperLiga - Romania - Season 2 - 2026

 

Okay, before I start telling you how this season went, I have to give a few compliments to SI. FM24 is an extremely good game, it's so much fun to watch the games because the match engine is so incredibly good. Despite the lack of graphics, this version feels so realistic and you can hardly stop playing. So thank you SI for this great game!

Okay, so we had by far the worst team in the league, our star players are slowly but surely ageing, the finances are catastrophic and our youth department is not yet good enough to provide solid replacements. Even if we were to achieve our goal of staying in the league, it's only a matter of time before we go down again. Nevertheless, I definitely don't want to be relegated this season. So the aim is to carry over our good form at the start of the season and pick up a few points during the season through dirty wins or draws. 

After playing every team in the league twice, the league is split into two groups and the points are halved (is that a real word? The points are divided by 2. Thats what I meant) . One is the Relegation Group and the other is the Champions Group. In the relegation group, we hope for a few demoralized opponents that we can somehow beat. 

Superliga:

Good news first: we did carry our good form into the season. We started with 7 points out of 3 games. We even beat FCSB, formerly known as Steaua Bucuresti - the only Champions League winner out of Romania, with 4:1! Okay they got a red card after like 5 min - but still. We beat them! 4:1! 

Then we started loosing games. Nothing too worrying, but our morale was getting worse from game to game and then it happened. Out of nowhere we started to loose hard. 0:3, 0:4, 0:5... were not playing that bad, but we cant score somehow. But they can. They can score a lot. 11 games - we scored 4 goals - they scored 36. During this negative series, I began to question everything. Why am I doing this to myself? Why doesn't my goalkeeper keep a ball? Why are my players no longer scoring? Why are we even in this league? I just want to go back (to my mom) into the second division. But then it happened, crying in the shower, I had this flash of inspiration. "Move your playmaker from cm to cdm" I couldn't think of anything else. And then BOOM 2:0 victory. Clean sheat! Win! Unbelievable! 
Suddenly we not only started winning games, but we were also playing damn well. So we ended up in the relegation group but we were not last. We were 13th, which is a relegation playoff spot. There we won 3 games before we started to loose fitness and we went on another loosing streak.. 5 games in row, in the relegation group. The worst 2 teams go down directly. Thats deadly:

Spoiler

Mission Impossible part 1 completed but the last challenge awaits us know. Relegation versus 3rd placed Chianja from LigaII.

The first leg was away from home. 4600 spectators who booed us every time we touched the ball and cheered every time we lost the ball. We were nervous, they were confident. But we were able to keep up very well. Until the 25th minute. We could actually clear a cross, but then it unfortunately bounced off a teammate and landed at the feet of an opponent. 0:1. And that was it. After conceding the goal, we completely lost our composure. Corner kick - they play the ball behind the 16-yard box, where an opponent gets a completely free shot that we can't block. 0:2. So that's how it ends? Never! I make a change, substitute players and we actually get another chance. Vasluian, or as I call him: Ghiroda's Neymar, gets the ball on the edge of the penalty area, dribbles past 3 opponents, plays a dream pass to David, who basically just has to slot it in. GOAL! Just one more goal to equalize. But no. VAR calls. Offside. And that was it.

Spoiler

We deserved a goal but, as so often this season, it just wasn't meant to be.

My hopes where shattered. Even though the second leg is a home game, I dont see us winning. I talked to the team, I praised their training, praised their will power during this rough season. I now know the pain Squidward felt in that one episode of Spongebob, where he had to teach them how to make good music because they had to jam in the Superbowl Halftime Show. Just dont embarrass me.

To my surprise, it seems as if my numerous speeches have gotten through to the players. It seems as if the whole burden has been lifted. Vasluian, er I mean Neymar of course, gets the ball on the halfway line, decides to dribble, lets 1 2 opponents off, IS ALREADY IN THE BOX and and ... SCORES!
1:0 after 7 minutes. We have lots of chances, but don't score. Come on boys, one more goal. I make a change, David, the top scorer so far, comes in. But still no goal. I want to change again, my left winger has hardly any power left, but the ball just won't go out. They have the ball, build up in a controlled manner on the left but we get in between. Cornea, my left winger, now clinically dead, gets the ball again and sets off on a final sprint. He gets through, crosses and in the middle is David. DAVID! GOAL! 2:0! Unbelievable. 75 minutes played.
Now Chianja also starts to play. I can hardly breathe. Our playmaker Petrus starts to dribble, loses the ball and then it happens quickly. 2 touches and the ball is in the net..... Offside! Hallelujah! Nothing happens after that. It goes into extra time. Of course. How else would a winner be decided here? Maximum tension now. It's a completely open game, nobody wants to go to the penalties. 

And then it happened. The opponent has a throw-in and a long cross is enough to catch out our defense. 2:1. 
But we recover, push them further and further behind. How much longer can they withstand our pressure?!  Zugravu, who came in for Neymar, finds some open space on the right wing, he lifts his head, he sees him. Low cross right to the penalty spot. There is David! He shoots and.. FING SCORES! 115th minute. Im shaking. I couldnt belief a game could do this to me. 

Nothing happens in the remaining 5 minutes. So here we go. Penalty shootout. 

Our Goalie Golban played good so far, he is confident and shows it. They start and Golban saved it. No wait he didnt only block the ball. That motherf.. caught it. HE CAUGHT A FING PENALTY. What is going on?! Our first Player is Precup. The 38 year old Precup. He didnt play for us and got subbed in late only because our first choice right winger is injured. He will end his career after the season, after the game, after this shot. This is his last shot in professional football. The most important shot ever. But he is calm, how can he be calm in such a situation?! He puts everything into this shot, all the emotions throughout the past 21 years of his career. Can he be a hero one last time? YES. He scores. No chance to save it. LETS GO! We are 1:0 up. Chainja sends the next one out. Zou can feel his fear. He shoots and he did it again. Golban did it again. HE CAUGHT IT! AGAIN! I am almost fainting. Buia, our last years Topscorer is next. He is already a legend in this club. Can he be one today? YES!! He scores! We are 2:0 up. We are so close. Chainja is next and this time they score, no chance for Golban. 2:1. David is next. He is the reason we made it to penalties. No one can stop today and he knows it. He hammers it in! 3:1. If they miss they loose. They send out Ros. He doesnt look confident. He shoots and... Scores. 3:2. If we score we win, if we score we win. Thats all I can think of. I dont want to think about what will happen if we miss. Stupu is next. Our CB and an absolute leader in the defense. Without him we would have concede way more goals then we already did. His composure isnt exactly the best. He is deep in his own thoughts. His eyes are on the ball. Every single one of the 1000 fans in the stadium is quiet now. The ref blows the whistle. Stupu looks up. He got it, I know it. He has to. He shoots and he FING SCORES!!!! LETS GO! WE WIN! WE FING WIN! UNBELIEVABLE. You cant make this **** up. I am completely done. My nerves are destroyed. I am almost crying. This game is just too good. Holy Moly.

Spoiler

Cupa Romaniei

We lost our first game but I do not even care! Writing this makes me feel the tension from the relegation battle again. Wow I never thought this would be possible.

Youth Intake

I had to fire my old HOYD due to the bad intake we got last year. Since then I improved my junior coaching 1 time, so I dont expect a huge quality improvements but better personalities. And we pretty much got what we expected.

Spoiler

We got 4 players with good personalities and 3 Balanced Players that could be good. Sadly the Youngsters with good CA do not have the good personalities. Anyways I sign everyone with good and balanced personalities and the guys with best CA (according to me).

#1 - Bogdan Pop

Probably the best one this year is Bogdan Pop. A CB out of Targu Mures (my "home town" in Romania). The best thing about him? He can jump. He is already the player with the highest jumping reach in the squad and he is only 15. He will be in the first squad next season but I he wont be a starter from the get go. However his balanced personality is a wonder bag so he could improve a lot. According to my HOYD he only has 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 Star Potential but he is not good at estimating Players Potential so I dont trust these him at all.

Spoiler

#2 - Constantin Alecu

Next on the list is Alecu. Great Teamwork - good Technique - Flair - no ambition. With that personality and no good mentors in the Team, I dont really see him improving a lot and reach his potential. However our depth in CM is so bad that he will get a place in the first squad next season.

Spoiler

#3 - Rocky!

This years intake has 2 interesting names in it. First of all we have Rocky Gheban. Very good finishing but not good at everything else and, of course, bad personality. With his CA he will be a regular starter in the U19 and with a little bit of development he might be a part of the first squad in a few seasons. The other guy with a cool name is Alin Ginju, the leader of the Ginju Force!

Spoiler

The rest of the YIs CA is far away from the first team so I am hoping for a lot of development.

Training

Speaking of development - I redesigned my training schedules to improve player development and it worked! A lot of my old players (31 years and above) didnt decline at all. We even had some quite old guys like David (26) who improved a lot and the youngsters with decent personality also developed a lot even though we have awful facilities and coaches.

Spoiler

This is David, 26. The fact that 26 year olds can improve like that is just awesome.

This is my GK Golban (21)

The guys in my U19 that didnt develop, will be sold next season.

Finances

Last year, our finances were terrible, this year is even worse. You might think that a promotion and the higher reputation will lead to new sponsors and increased ticket revenues. But no. Sponsor are still the same and ticket revenues even dropped. Probably because we did only play once in the cup. So we are loosing money big times, even though I sonly spend half of my wage budget. At this point I dont know what my board is doing but I dont like it!

Spoiler

That brings me to my last point:

Transfers

The five guys (  ) we loaned out are back and they didnt really develop so they will be sold next season. I need to get rid of a lot of players to cut my wages. So I will try to sell my starting RM because he earns way more then everyone else (900€ a week). He is quite old so I dont expect a hugh transfer fee. Another player that might leave us is Neymar. Our highest valued player ~ 400k wants to leave anyway. If he plays, sometimes he is godlike and sometimes he is the exact opposite. If he doesnt play he complains about everything. ( Thats why I call him Neymar  ). So for me its okay to get rid of him but only for a good amount of money. Other than that I had a few Youngsters that didnt develop this season so I will get rid of those too.

Season Awards

Just like last year we will give away some Awards for outstanding performances:

MVP - Offense 

This award goes to our Top-Scorer this season: David! Scoring 17 goals and 5 assists for a team that almost got relegated is quite impressive. Other than that, he always trained well and did develop like crazy. Very impressive season.

Spoiler

MVP - Midfield

In our 442 Vasluian/Neymar played right wing most of the time. Because our starting RM got injured pretty badly, he started a lot in the second half of the season and did incredibly well. His deadly dribbles made him score 9 goals in very crucial situations. He himself saved us so many points that he just has to get that award even though he is quite inconsistent and is bitching about literally everything.

Spoiler

MVP - Defense

This is a hard one. We conceded the most goals this season, so I dont even want to pick someone for this award. But there is one guy who stood out. Golban - our Goalie. Our GK from last season Balboasa, who even earned himself last years overall MVP, was absolutely terrible this season. He saved 35 shots while conceding 30, average rating 6,2. After this terrible season he ended his career immediatly. So I had to throw my backup Golban in after a few games and even though he had some very bad games, he also saved us some points and ultimately saved us in the penalty shootout. A big reason why we are still in the first League, so he earned it the most.

Spoiler

MVP

Overall MVP this season also goes to David! The mix of good performances on the pitch, good performances in training and good behaviour off the pitch makes him the perfect choice for this award.

Rookie of the Year 

In the off season we promoted 3 players from our U19 to the first squad. They all played a similar amount of games but the one with the best performance was Circov. For a 16 year old playmaker in a team that almost got relegated, a 6,8 avg is actually impressive. However all 3 rookies didnt really develop a lot.

Spoiler

Most Improved Player

Easy choice here: Golban. He improved his CA the most out of all players and improved his performances on the field. After bad performances he worked harder to improve even more and to be a really good back up for our defense.

Others

Our stadium holds 1000 people. That is not enough according to the rules in Romania. We were allowed to play there for 1 season but now we are forced to play our home games in Arad which is about an hour away from us. I hope this will positively affect out tickets sales, because that stadium holds 13 times more people and Arad got relegated, so we are the only option to watch first league football in that area. Hopefully we can acquire more fans (and more money) this way!

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by KingKCrush

[Winski]

IFK Lidingö FK
Season 5 | 2028
Tier 2 | Superettan Obos
Finances | Transfers | Club Overview | Facilities | Manager Profile | Tactic

 

Unbelievable! What a season this was!! I never thought dat we were good enough to play for promotion this fast. But we played really, really good football this season. And until the last day we played for the league title! If we didn't play 0-0 in our last game against Degerfors IF, we would even became champions. But we finished 3rd instead, and qualified for Promotion playoffs. Here we met Falkenbergs IF, the nr.14 of the Allesvenskan. At home we won 4-0! So promotion was already almost there. But in the away game we had a really tough game. We lost 3-1. But it was enough! Enough to gain promotion to the highest level of Sweden: Allesvenskan!! 
Unbelievable. I've played many times in Sweden, but this is the first time for me that I'm promoted to the highest division.
Best players this season were my fantastic goalkeeper Erick Rodríguez 25a, topscorer Sam Jurelius 25c and King of the Assists Daniel Kenne 25d. Also a big shoutout to Kjell Rune Anfindsen 27d, our Norwegian youngster, who played a great first season. He's the replacement for Johan Tranberg 25i, who left the club. BK Häcken bought him for €1.1M, a BIG transfer for us. Also striker Tobias Kembel 25b left the club for a lot of money. IFK Göteborg bought him for €750k. In both transfers the board decided to sell. I rejected all the offers, but in the end the board decided to accept those kind of bids. I can imagine, but I was very unhappy with it because they were both very important players for us.

In the Cup we played in the Group Phase, we qualified for that last season. We didn't qualify for the next round, but we won against Allesvenskan-side IF Brommapojkarna. This season we won in the Second Round against Alnö FF.

After the season I was finally able to upgrade Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment again, for the first time in two (or three?) years time.

 

Youth preview & intake
The preview and the actual intake were not very good this season. The best player in the preview was only a C-player, while the description was only a "good intake". The actual intake was also mwah. We got 3 Elite Players, but none of them look really impressing. So I'm not really sure about this intake.



 

Spoiler

U19
Our U19 team had a very good debut season in the Junior Allsvenskan U-19, with a 6th place. Well done!

 

[XaW]

Ok, my Follo save went a bit stale for me, so I'm restarting, sorry... And since I have only completed this challenge once, and I even got a son in that save. I'm going back there to hopefully have something similar now. Here we go!

[Matsusipida]

 

I started a save in Sweden. Per-Olev Forsberg takes charge in IFK Lidingö.
 

Spoiler

Spoiler

We have a decent squad. GKs aren't that great but otherwise we should be fine on this level.

Spoiler

Finances are looking good and facilities are decent as well.

Spoiler

Spoiler

I hope this one goes better than my first try with Jonsered IF. 12 outfield players (7 of them rubbish) just wasn't enough, and I ended up getting sacked.

[darren1983]

Safe to say our small squad (we have 16 players) is catching up with us 

[XaW]

4 minutes ago, darren1983 said:

Safe to say our small squad (we have 16 players) is catching up with us 

I can't wait...  I have 12 in my entire club!  

And yes, that is a left back as a centre back and a left winger as a central midfielder. But that's how it goes the first season in this challenge. I just need to survive until the intake.

[darren1983]

6 minutes ago, XaW said:

I can't wait...  I have 12 in my entire club!  

And yes, that is a left back as a centre back and a left winger as a central midfielder. But that's how it goes the first season in this challenge. I just need to survive until the intake.

Thankfully mine's not that bad, have enough to play people in their positions (aside from right back but that's when training comes in)

but that moment in a youth challenge when you're desperate for the intake and you get the preview...

Oh  

[XaW]

1 minute ago, darren1983 said:

Thankfully mine's not that bad, have enough to play people in their positions (aside from right back but that's when training comes in)

but that moment in a youth challenge when you're desperate for the intake and you get the preview...

Oh  

Ooof, at the very least you'll get a filled out bench for next season! /silver linings

[the_hdk]

congrats @Winski on the promotion!

 

really well done. I tried sweden in the last 3 fm's without succes!

[Winski]

1 hour ago, the_hdk said:

congrats @Winski on the promotion!

 

really well done. I tried sweden in the last 3 fm's without succes!

Thank you!

Yeah, as I wrote in my post; I tried Sweden many times over the years, but never got that far. I really hope that I manage to survive our first season on the highest level!

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

                 

Haringey Borough - Review Season 4

Another year, another mid table finish, 2 points and 2 goal difference worse than last season. At one point early in the season we were 21st in the table, but 9th in the xG table. It eventually balanced out and our young attack rounded into form. Looking to next year, Dexter Peter will be the only original left at the club, and he's there for mentoring purposes not to play much. Letting Temi Babalola go will be a tough decision, but I figure I'd rather make the team a worse mid table side for a season as a tradeoff for giving our promising youth some first team minutes.

 

Not a very enjoyable FA Cup run. We got a 9th minute red card in that game and couldn't pull out the victory. FA Trophy was about average. Would like a big cup run for next season, since our youth setup is starting to halt our yearly profit. We just about break even now, so I'm wary of too many more upgrades.

 

Top 3 performers:

Spoiler

Lost 30k this season, so I'm not going to look for any more youth recruitment upgrades until we make it to the VNL. We have good enough facilities to get promoted in a few season in my opinion.

Nothing in, let a couple of guys on non contracts leave.

[WhiteCat33]

FM23 Barbados YAC: Road View FC

2049 Season 27 – BFA Digicel Premier League

Spoiler

Youth Academy Challenge FM23 Thread:

Start Post | Season 1 |Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 | Season 6 |Season 7 | Season 8 | Season 9 | Season 10 |Season 11 |Season 12 | Season 13 |Season 14 | Season 15 | Season 16 |Season 17 | Season 18 |

Youth Academy Challenge FM24 Thread:

Season 19 |Season 20 |Season 21| 2043 Takeover |Season 22 |Carrillo Post |Season 23 |Season 24|Season 25 | Season 26 |

Statistics Posts:

CA Calculator 1 | CA Calculator 2 |CA Calculator v5 Download |

 League Performance: CHAMPION

 

Cup Performance: CHAMPION

 

North American Champions League:

 2048

NACL 2nd Round

Our opponent this year was Tigres. Going into these games I had little hope of success as both my strikers and my star CD are all unhappy due to being unsettled by transfer offers. 

1st Leg

Spoiler

Well awful start 23 seconds was all it take for our CD-C to flub a header and let them score. Uphill battle now. We held possession in the first half but failed to create any  viable chances, while they had several good ones. We were lucky to still be 1-0 down at halftime.

2^nd half even with switching which CD is in the middle the same guy Sargent who is having a dreadful game fails to tackle his player and they score a 2^nd. Late in the game we had a golden opportunity when Nurse beat the GK and crossed it to Carrillo’s head but he hit the bar from inside the 6 and the game ends a disappointing 2-0.

2nd Leg

Spoiler

Again they opened the goal with an early goal due to defensive lapse. Then again our Strikers combined perfectly to line up a free header in the inner box and it bounces off the crossbar. Play is almost all them in the first half, but we do make a good attack in the 37’ that finds Carrillo lurking at the backpost for us to pull a first goal back.

Then in the 42’ the GK Harris to Carrillo national team combo happens with a perfectly distanced Punt that pulls out their GK to the top of the box so he can’t handle it and Carrillo muscles him off the ball and scores on the empty net. Is there hope of a comeback!? In the final 10 minutes I’m forced to open more to push for the draw. Unfortunately, they find the equalizer in the 84’ hitting us on the counter. And then a 3^rd goal winner in the 89’ off a fk play.

NACL Tournament Tree:

Spoiler

And how far did this years opposition get? Finalists. Till the final they were running away with the tournament with some lopsided wins. We need to shore up that defense.

2049

Caribbean Zone:

Caribbean Playoff:

1st Leg:

Bad match in Jamaica we lose 0-2 and hardly put up a fight. Part of it is a minor squad rebellion due to 2 star players wanting to leave and some older players getting the "accomplished all at club" upset event.

2nd Leg:

Spoiler

Not once but twice VAR denied us penalties in this match due to hard tackles on our strikers! I know it is possible, but I have found it incredibly rare to happen in the game and have never had it happen twice in a single match. Of course it happens when we have a 2 goal deficit to climb.

Thankfully Carrillo got us our first goal during regular time with his trademark ball over top and blast past the GK. He had a few more 1v1s but couldn’t get it past the excellent opposition GK who is the Jamaican national team GK. I switched his striker partner in the 75’ and it ended up being a Carrillo assist to Nurse (the sub) that got us the equalizer in the 84’.

Due to VAR, this means we go to Extra Time. The match is going our way, can we finish the job? Nothing in ET-1, but in ET-2 at the 109’ it looks like Nurse has made it a brace with a header from our fresh intake player Hoyte playing as WB-R. Goes to the dreaded VAR and…GOAL! Finally the technology goes our way.

But disaster strikes when we fail on a long FK and they quickly counter on us and score to equalize. Their striker was 1 v 6 of our defenders, but of course he got through. However, it is another young sub who saves the day in the 117’ Carlton our Perfectionist 18 year old AP scores from the top of the box. But wait, VAR Calls it off for a random player offsides even though he didn’t impact the play!

I’m furious as because they scored once they advance on away goals because we had 3 (likely) goals called back due to VAR (even though it only shows one). 

Squad:

Spoiler

Personalities & Mentoring

Carrillo isn't just amazing for us on the field, he's doing fantastic work mentoring his fellow strikers. Both of my 24-year-old #2 strikers are now Perfectionists due to his influence and he's close to getting my #4 big man (6'6") up there as well. With all 3 influencing the group I have moved a number of young strikers into the first team to see if their personalities can be "perfected".

Spoiler

My other groups are more traditional personalities with Resolute for GK & Defense, and then a combination of Spirited & Resolute for Midfielders:

Spoiler

Then I have a number of good personality early 20's players (particularly midfielders) who aren't yet past the age when they'd get influenced down by mentor groups so I'm opting to leave them out for now. Only 1 Unambitious in the roster at my old WB-R.

Spoiler

Transfers:

 Nothing major this year as I was able to hold onto my stars.

Spoiler

Best XI:

FM Screenshots:

 

Excel Tables:

 It seems while the game calculates All-Time Average Rating for the Best XI screen, you can't export it from the squad view. There are 2 Average Rating Variables, but as far as I can tell they output the same number. Thus, the Yellow AvRat is just the season average rating.

Spoiler

Head Coach:

 

Club Improvements:

Did Training facilities at the start of the season, which finished by the end. Now we are up to "Great" on both Training & Youth. I Also convinced the board to do another ground expansion at some point. Slow and steady.

 Facilities:

Spoiler

Youth Academy:

HOYD:

Spoiler

Something I may change next year is my U18 Manager as even after being at the club for 5 years he still is only half-competent at the Head Coach gig. He's also only Fairly professional, so I'll be looking for a better personality.

Spoiler

Youth Intake Preview:

Youth Intake:

Still held as a Golden Generation, and if you look at the CA Analysis it truly is even if these ratings don’t appear that way. Unfortunately, personalities are still pretty poor.

Top 3 Players:

Mark Ryan: Example of the ridiculous over-weighting of true either-footed player. With that potential I’ll move him into the main squad and mentor him and see what happens.

Spoiler

Darico Codrington: This is a pretty interesting GK. Tall, high reflexes & Either-footed. Maybe mentoring will boost his potential like it has for some other GKs and he can become my backup.

Spoiler

Ricardo Hoyte: Small technical midfielder and possible free kick taker. Again, mentor and hopefully we bump up that potential because his initial values are okay mentally. Could be our WB-R especially if he can gain a little more speed as he’s defensively not a liability.

Spoiler

Colin Drakes: Of the 4 CBs this one is the “best”, but still not super happy. Needs more height IMO.

Spoiler

Excel Tables:

Both Hoyte and Codington are in our Top 10 Intake Day CA Players. Not bad for his 2nd attempt, though he is getting the benefit of significantly upgraded facilities. My Everton GK hasn't shown up yet.

Seems to be about the same so far graph-wise

Barbados National Team:

2028

Final matches of the year were the prelims for the World Cup Qualifying. Barbados did great to make it into the group stage!

 

2029

And our draw was...disastrous: USA, Jamaica & Canda. Mexico is the only harder team we didn't get matched with. The performance was about what you'd expect. Goes to show that Jamaica was the best 3rd team in the competition and advanced through the playoffs.

Gold Cup wasn't any prettier:

A year to forget for the Barbadian National team:

Spoiler

International Retirements

With the bad performances most of my older players have decided to step away from the national team including Carrillo! Was bummed he stopped just shy of 100 goals. Will be interesting to see how Barbados copes with finding a new striker. My CM & WB-R also retired this year to join my WB-L. My GK is the only over 30 player still playing for the national team, and he's hit 125 CAPs!

Spoiler

Road View Internationals:

Barbados Main:

Spoiler

Barbados Youth:

Spoiler

Young Barbadian’s Around the World:

As it’s been a few years I’m looking up the U-22 players in each region. In total there are 226 Barbadians playing outside of Barbados, 77 of whom are 22 or younger.

Spoiler

UK/Ireland Academy Players:

U22:

Spoiler

Ackeel Brathwaite & Renaldo Grant are probably going to be too good and will stay with/switch to England. A little older is Asquith Croney who did get England U18 play, but until our striker Carrillo retires I don’t see any striker to switch over. Even though I like my GK it would be great for the nation if they can convince Fitzgerald Manning of L2 Crewe to switch over. He is doing fantastic in L2 as their star player with over 7.00 ratings. They got 2^nd in L2 3 years ago but never got promoted.

O-22:

Spoiler

Lemar Highland is the West Ham rotational winger who declared for Barbados already unlike our poachee Luther Samuel who is a full England international. Only other player who would be nice could be Bernard Samuel down in League 1 with Swindon after failing to establish himself at Crystal Palace where he generated.

North American Players:

Spoiler

Matt Lashley is one of our players who has been sold to a Mexican side, the others have all foreign generated players. Drakes came through the LAFC Academy and is now playing in the NCAA, but is wanted by Calvary FC of the Canadian Premier League, so hopefully will go professional soon and join Sheran Williams who is on the BRB U20 side.

Caribbean Academy Players:

Jamaica: 16 & 17

Spoiler

Jamaica: 18 – 20

Spoiler

St Lucia

Spoiler

Most of these are BRB generated and just moved to St Lucia who don’t have foreign player restrictions so pick up lots of BRB players. Tre Croney for example is one of our extra strikers who we sold to the Tycoon owned Big Players.

Trinidad and Tobago

Spoiler

Only 1 young generated BRB player, rest are all older players who have moved on to this league after getting to good for some of the other BRB teams. None of these are ours.

 

Summary

Underwhelming season both for Road View and Barbados. We've started the rebuilding process of our Wingbacks, with 1 from each of the past intakes already being equally good to our 31 year-old players. The team is still lacking depth and development of more CBs, but I'm happy with the pipeline for every other position on the field. Our CBs are what is holding us back from getting further in the NACL as we can score plenty of goals, but are failing to stop the opposition. If I had more/better CBs I'd be able to play 2 of my current one's who are shorter as DMs and that would fix a lot of the issues. 

Edited November 9, 2023 by WhiteCat33

[unfocused_alex]

Really enjoying this thread so far, some great stories going on. 

Saw in the post above plenty about mentoring and wondered if anyone had any resources / guides about mentoring? I've had a little search around but can't really find anything too useful at the moment! 

Thanks in advance! 

Edited November 9, 2023 by unfocused_alex

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

Check off one on the bingo card! Not sure we deserved that scoreline. Up to 3 now, but still only a South American away from the youth player from each continent slot.

[WhiteCat33]

6 hours ago, unfocused_alex said:

Really enjoying this thread so far, some great stories going on. 

Saw in the post above plenty about mentoring and wondered if anyone had any resources / guides about mentoring? I've had a little search around but can't really find anything too useful at the moment! 

Thanks in advance! 

Since you're referencing my post (and I have time this morning) figured I'd respond.

In my view there are 4 points of mentoring, in order of importance:

1. Personality & Media Handling Improvement:
2. Player Trait Passing:
3. Team Cohesion/Groups:
4. Secondary Position Learning:

In my understanding, you can mentor any player under 24 through the mentoring groups. The older & more established the player is in the squad, the less likely their hidden personality attributes will change. This is displayed in the mentor window by how much influence the group has on them & they on the group.

Thus, for forming a mentoring group:

1. Include 1 Team Leader / Highly Influential Player with a "Good" Personality + Media Handling who is 25+ years old.
2. Include Squad players between 20 - 24 with close to or at the Good Personality who are at least competent in the Mentors position.
3. Include any U20 players in the first team natural at the mentor's position with "Bad" Personalities.

For deciding if I'll mentor a young player I really only bother for bad personalities. If it is a good (but not great) personality like Fairly Ambitious or Fairly Professional I usually do not mentor the player unless there are player traits I want them to learn from the group. 

I tend to split this into positional groups: Strikers, Midfielders, Defenders & GKs. The only hard rule I have is GKs mentor together and not with field players. 

4 Points of Mentoring

1) For Personality I (like many in the thread) rank the top 3 hidden attributes as: 1 Professionalism ; 2 Ambition ; & 3 Determination. I only prioritize those three and leave the rest to chance. Why? Because those 3 have been shown to influence development the most. I always like to point to this statistical analysis: Ambition, determination & professionalism - FM Stats! The TLDR: For best results you want your youth players to have 15+ professionalism with Det & Ambition of at least 10. The gains above 10 for the secondary HAs is marginal.

Personality and Media Handling Spreadsheet Screenshots

Based on what I found online [Hidden Attribute Revealer - Google Sheets], this is the conversion sheet I'm using for Personalities & Media Handlings. Note: there are multiple cases where specific combinations (usually Determination values) will yield different results, but that's not necessary for having a general idea.

Table is in spoilers for those who don't want to know. When you combine Personality & Media handling you take the highest min & max values to build the new range:

Spoiler

Personality:

Media Handling:

In my current save I'm taking a more "Model Citizen" approach for something different. As I'm in the late-game (20+ seasons) I have the benefit of lots of retired lower league players showing up as coaches, so there are a number of Model Citizens available (even for a minor nation like Barbados). If not Professional/Model Professional is my preference, followed by Resolute/Fairly Professional. Reason you see Balanced coaches is I can't find any good GK or Fitness coaches in the Caribbean so have to resort to poor personalities to have a skilled coach.

My Current Senior Staff:

Spoiler

Current Reserve & Youth Staff:

Spoiler

Reserve

Youth [Notice I changed my U18 Head Coach]

In this save I've been going for more of a balance between Professionalism & Ambition, with a preference towards Model Citizen coaches when I can find them/keep them even though that is a lower minimum professionalism (15) than Professional (18).

The result I've noticed (compared to other saves) is the emergence of Perfectionist personality players. Usually, I end up developing Model Professionals out of my old players, but in this save I seem to have a lower Professionalism combined with higher Ambition. This has the negative of players are more likely to ask for release clauses & get upset when higher reputation leagues come for them, but so far it's worked out okay for me.

 

2) Player Trait Passing: I'm sure you know all about this as you'll see the notifications pop up. If you are looking to pass on rare / valuable traits that fit your system without negatively impacting player development this is the way to do it. 

In my save this is happening with my strikers. In this save, I decided to go with "Shoots with Power" for my strikers rather an "Placing Shots" because thematically I like the idea of big strong Pressing Forwards smashing the ball in. From a min/max perspective "Placing shots" is almost certainly better. Carrillo learned this and has passed it to both his Perfectionist mentees.

 

3) Team Cohesion/Groups: The one thing about the YAC that is nice is you never have issues with team cohesion as you don't have to get new players to fit into the existing squad. It is helpful to bring the next generation into the same groups as their position players they are replacing.

 

4) Position Learning: Being in the same mentoring group will sometimes increase the positions a player is competent at if they are adaptable enough. I honestly don't really pay attention to this, just make sure that the mentee player is at least partially competent in the natural position of the head mentor.

 

Building Mentor Group:

This gives me a good opportunity to go back through my data. A key point to mention here is in the spoilers the values I am showing are the average of the range that the combination of Personality + Media Handling generates.

Perfectionist: Carrillo & his Strikers

The Road View & Barbados Legend came through at the peak of a Golden Generation, already with his Perfectionist personality.

Spoiler

Naturally he was not mentored by anyone and I waited until he was fully a team leader and would get no impact from mentor groups before I formed his, which has consistently had our top 4 strikers in it for at least 5 years now. This is their current CA/HA:

Spoiler

Romario Nurse & Ackeel Hoyte:

Spoiler

These two arrived together in 2041, both with very high ambition and okay determination. Within 2 years of joining I had formed the Mentor group with Carrillo and he could start rubbing off on them. He made a massive impact rising both Determation to 17, and increased Professionalism enough that then all 3 of the key attributes were over 14 to turn them Perfectionist. [Edit: Remember you just have to pass the min. threshold to turn into the personality, I am showing the average of the range at 17, so most likely these values are closer to 14]

Terence Soares:

Spoiler

The youngest and partial failure of mentoring. Specifically, he has probably lost Ambition, while he has gained Determination & Sportsmanship. However his Professionalism hasn't risen enough to bump him up beyond a low level.

Spirited & Resolute: Mars & Croney WB/CMs

Croney & Mars, came through the same Golden Generation, just an intake earlier in 2034. You can see both showed up with pretty good HA, especially Professionalism. Mars was Spirited & Croney was Fairly Professional.

Spoiler

Today 

Spoiler

Both increased Determination somewhat and the range for Mars Professionalism widened up such that the average value is lower now. Its possible his professionalism dropped slightly as well, but it is still at least close to the target 15.

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by WhiteCat33

[darren1983]

Just lost the only keeper at the club for 3 months with a broken arm - which just happens to be the rest of the season.

I forgot how much I hate this game  

 

Edit: 30 mins into the next game and the grey keeper I'm using also gets injured. This game man  

Edited November 9, 2023 by darren1983

[Neo_Geo]

30 minutes ago, darren1983 said:

Just lost the only keeper at the club for 3 months with a broken arm - which just happens to be the rest of the season.

I forgot how much I hate this game  

 

Edit: 30 mins into the next game and the grey keeper I'm using also gets injured. This game man  

Clearly they haven’t adjusted the GK injury rates since the full release

[fries]

1 hour ago, WhiteCat33 said:

Since you're referencing my post (and I have time this morning) figured I'd respond.

In my view there are 4 points of mentoring, in order of importance:

1. Personality & Media Handling Improvement:
2. Player Trait Passing:
3. Team Cohesion/Groups:
4. Secondary Position Learning:

In my understanding, you can mentor any player under 24 through the mentoring groups. The older & more established the player is in the squad, the less likely their hidden personality attributes will change. This is displayed in the mentor window by how much influence the group has on them & they on the group.

Thus, for forming a mentoring group:

1. Include 1 Team Leader / Influential Player with a "Good" Personality + Media Handling who is 25+ years old.
2. Include Squad players between U24 with close to or at the Good Personality who are at least competent in the Mentors position.
3. Include any U20 players in the first team natural at the mentor's position with "Bad" Personalities.

For deciding if I'll mentor a young player I really only bother for bad personalities. If it is a good (but not great) personality like Fairly Ambitious or Fairly Professional I usually do not mentor the player unless there are player traits I want them to learn from the group. 

I tend to split this into positional groups: Strikers, Midfielders, Defenders & GKs. The only hard rule I have is GKs mentor together and not with field players. 

4 Points of Mentoring

1) For Personality I (like many in the thread) rank the top 3 hidden attributes as: 1 Professionalism ; 2 Ambition ; & 3 Determination. I only prioritize those three and leave the rest to chance. Why? Because those 3 have been shown to influence development the most. I always like to point to this statistical analysis: Ambition, determination & professionalism - FM Stats! The TLDR: For best results you want your youth players to have 15+ professionalism with Det & Ambition of at least 10. The gains above 10 for the secondary HAs is marginal.

Personality and Media Handling Spreadsheet Screenshots

Based on what I found online [Hidden Attribute Revealer - Google Sheets], this is the conversion sheet I'm using for Personalities & Media Handlings. Note: there are multiple cases where specific combinations (usually Determination values) will yield different results, but that's not necessary for having a general idea.

Table is in spoilers for those who don't want to know. When you combine Personality & Media handling you take the highest min & max values to build the new range:

  Reveal hidden contents

Personality:

Media Handling:

In my current save I'm taking a more "Model Citizen" approach for something different. As I'm in the late-game (20+ seasons) I have the benefit of lots of retired lower league players showing up as coaches, so there are a number of Model Citizens available (even for a minor nation like Barbados). If not Professional/Model Professional is my preference, followed by Resolute/Fairly Professional. Reason you see Balanced coaches is I can't find any good GK or Fitness coaches in the Caribbean so have to resort to poor personalities to have a skilled coach.

My Current Senior Staff:

  Hide contents

Current Reserve & Youth Staff:

  Hide contents

Reserve

Youth [Notice I changed my U18 Head Coach]

In this save I've been going for more of a balance between Professionalism & Ambition, with a preference towards Model Citizen coaches when I can find them/keep them even though that is a lower minimum professionalism (15) than Professional (18).

The result I've noticed (compared to other saves) is the emergence of Perfectionist personality players. Usually, I end up developing Model Professionals out of my old players, but in this save I seem to have a lower Professionalism combined with higher Ambition. This has the negative of players are more likely to ask for release clauses & get upset when higher reputation leagues come for them, but so far it's worked out okay for me.

 

2) Player Trait Passing: I'm sure you know all about this as you'll see the notifications pop up. If you are looking to pass on rare / valuable traits that fit your system without negatively impacting player development this is the way to do it. 

In my save this is happening with my strikers. In this save, I decided to go with "Shoots with Power" for my strikers rather an "Placing Shots" because thematically I like the idea of big strong Pressing Forwards smashing the ball in. From a min/max perspective "Placing shots" is almost certainly better. Carrillo learned this and has passed it to both his Perfectionist mentees.

 

3) Team Cohesion/Groups: The one thing about the YAC that is nice is you never have issues with team cohesion as you don't have to get new players to fit into the existing squad. It is helpful to bring the next generation into the same groups as their position players they are replacing.

 

4) Position Learning: Being in the same mentoring group will sometimes increase the positions a player is competent at if they are adaptable enough. I honestly don't really pay attention to this, just make sure that the mentee player is at least partially competent in the natural position of the head mentor.

 

Building Mentor Group:

This gives me a good opportunity to go back through my data. A key point to mention here is in the spoilers the values I am showing are the average of the range that the combination of Personality + Media Handling generates.

Perfectionist: Carrillo & his Strikers

The Road View & Barbados Legend came through at the peak of a Golden Generation, already with his Perfectionist personality.

  Hide contents

Naturally he was not mentored by anyone and I waited until he was fully a team leader and would get no impact from mentor groups before I formed his, which has consistently had our top 4 strikers in it for at least 5 years now. This is their current CA/HA:

  Hide contents

Romario Nurse & Ackeel Hoyte:

  Hide contents

These two arrived together in 2041, both with very high ambition and okay determination. Within 2 years of joining I had formed the Mentor group with Carrillo and he could start rubbing off on them. He made a massive impact rising both Determation to 17, and increased Professionalism enough that then all 3 of the key attributes were over 17 to turn them Perfectionist.

Terence Soares:

  Reveal hidden contents

The youngest and partial failure of mentoring. Specifically, he has probably lost Ambition, while he has gained Determination & Sportsmanship. However his Professionalism hasn't risen enough to bump him up beyond a low level.

Spirited & Resolute: Mars & Croney WB/CMs

Croney & Mars, came through the same Golden Generation, just an intake earlier in 2034. You can see both showed up with pretty good HA, especially Professionalism. Mars was Spirited & Croney was Fairly Professional.

  Reveal hidden contents

Today 

  Reveal hidden contents

Both increased Determination somewhat and the range for Mars Professionalism widened up such that the average value is lower now. Its possible his professionalism dropped slightly as well, but it is still at least close to the target 15.

 

A really nice write up!

[v1n1akabozo]

2 hours ago, WhiteCat33 said:

 

This is just pure gold, thanks a LOT.

[MaxeyN17]

Does anybody happen to know the reset dates for Finland?

[WhiteCat33]

@fries and other Veterans of the Challenge: if you have anything to add / change about what I said about Mentoring & Personalities, now would be a good time to help out all the new Converts to the Youth Only way of FM! Don't want to start them down the wrong path.

@v1n1akabozo Glad it helps! Any questions, or you want more detail on the groups don't hesitate to ask.

One day I'll finally make longitudinal player analysis to track changes in CA & HA, but for now I'm enjoying the spot comparisons to see what (if any) changes I'm seeing over time of my players.

With Carrillo's Barbados retirement I may have started simulating a full Swiss database to take over a Lichtenstein team.... [Don't worry I won't be abandoning Barbados, but I miss the early game a bit]

I'm playing on FM23, but they've already released the FM24 mod if anyone else would like pain and suffering:

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by WhiteCat33

[darren1983]

Season 2024/25 Review Vanarama National League North

 

League - A mix bag of a season really, we started well but then our small squad caught up with us as we struggled in November and December, found some form again but then our only keeper broke his arm and missed the final 3 months of the season and then our top scorer also missed 2 months so I pretty much just speed ran through the end of season till the youth intake but 13th for a side predicted 22nd is pretty good, our main issue was conceding goals and I don't think that's getting better any time soon so we cold be here for a while 

FA Cup - had a good run in this, made the 1st round proper but it came just at the start of our down turn in form (it may even have been the first defeat in our run of 7 straight from memory) but made a little cash and had some fun so not bad

FA Trophy - another decent run in this before losing to Oldham who were midtable in the league above

Transfers - none in but lost some CM depth (nice to see they've fixed the issues of not being able to remove non contracted players off the transfer list ) but losing Zuk to Crewe hurt, he'd have been a class RB at this level but was on a non contract and wouldn't talk about a new deal so he left before we got to use him. Other than that no one else moved basically as we couldn't afford to lose anyone else.

Youth Intake - well the preview wasn't great and the actual intake was, I dunno, fine I guess. 1 player who think could make something and a few others look OK

Tagged Players:

Paul Spencer YP25A - DM/CM who ticks a lot of boxes for me, needs some work obviously but those mentals are decent
Andre Monteiro YP25B - Portuguese attacker, think he's more a wide option than through the middle though
Christian Kamga YP25C - French CB but with his height I may be tempted to use him at DM
Sam Jones YP25D - Young CB, bit on the slow side but has decent jumping reach so, with some work, could be added depth at CB
John Wilkinson YP25E - Full back that can cover either side

Career Overview

Season		League			Position	Junior Coaching		Youth Recruitment	Notes

2024/25		VNN			13th 		Adequate		Average			Got first coaching badge

 

[OlivierL]

5 hours ago, Winski said:

Thank you!

Yeah, as I wrote in my post; I tried Sweden many times over the years, but never got that far. I really hope that I manage to survive our first season on the highest level!

great job and some very good youth players already ! good luck in your first season in the first tier now !

[WhiteCat33]

Question: Will we consider it valid to accept the lowest placed Lichtenstein team in the 7th tier of  Switzerland, even though they aren't near last? Not sure why but in my simulation all four of the Lichtenstein teams did very well with both Ruggell and Triesenberg Getting promoted up to Tier 6, and Triesen and Schaan sitting just outside of the promotion places.

Seems tedious to resim till one of these Lichtenstein teams gets dead-last in a full amateur tier this low in Switzerland.