[FM24] Lions Gibraltar - Build a Club and build a nation

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League Playoffs

We have drawn AIK from the Swedish Premier Division in the Europa League playoffs. Not sure there would be a good draw at this stage, but this one is not very good for us. Sweden is 27th in the Europe Nation club rankings and AIK is 277th!  They are a much better team than that.

First leg is in Sweden and , say what? A victory?  Well DONE Lads!!!!  That was an unexpected result, but the statistics show we had the better chances, so I will take it. We had loads of yellow cards and lose two players (Rojas and Roman) from the next match which will hurt some.

Second leg is back home. We can close this out right!  Right?  oh well, maybe next time. We still had the edge in shots and XG, but out D and Alonso picked a bad game to have a bad game.

We did get £2.5M for our trouble, so that's cool.

The draw for the Conference League matches was done and looks better than last year, but we will see.  Hopefully we can do enough to advance from this round.

 

 

[mpm2342]

We open the new Gibraltar season with the Pepe Reyes Cup against Lynx and walk away with a victory in fine fashion. That is now 3 years in a row for us and we are planning for a permanent location in the club's trophy case, which will hopefully be upgraded to a room by the time I am done.

The season opener is up next against Lincoln and it was painfully obvious which club had been playing football for over a month and which one was just getting their season started. Lincoln never had a chance. Great game from Marcos with 4 goals.

UEFA Europa Conference League match one:

First up is Brondby IF from the 3F Superliga in Denmark. Denmark is ranked 12th in the nation club rankings and Brondby is 261. Going to be a tough match, but hopefully we can pull it out.

Alonso gut sick before the game, so Hankins stepped in and left us to wonder if we could have pulled off the win with Alonso. In any case, I will take a tie and the point and hope for more down the road. Last season we only got one point, so we have equalled that already.

Back to league matches and a convincing victory, though Alonso gave up one goal on 2 shots and answered our wondering from the Bondby game - he wouldn't have helped playing this way.

[mpm2342]

A couple more league games and a couple more convincing wins. The team appears to have developed to the point the league cannot play with us anymore. I will now have to try and make the other teams better by feeding them some players. Will target the teams who are making Europe first and see if I can do anything in the Jan window. I will also keep an eye on the Gibraltar HC position and apply if it come up and I can keep the Lions job at the same time.

UEFA Europa Conference League match two:

Next up is Valencia from the Spanish First Division. Spain is ranked 3rd in the nation club rankings and Valencia is 132. We aren't ready yet for the top flight teams, but hopefully we can keep it close.

Not bad. We managed to keep it close and respectable and looks like we sent them home with a few bumps and bruises for their trouble.

 

A couple more league games with the same result. I am mixing in the squad depth to get them development time and to keep the main starters fresh for the European competitions. Only two complaints so far - Diaz complained twice, first time he agreed to a lower playing time and second time he agreed to be let go at the end of the season, which is already the plan, so I am good with that. Going to try and get him to land at one of the other Gibraltar team as he is a good player.  McCafferty complained and I agreed to give him more playing time as I hadn't been playing him enough anyways, so far the squad is happy.

 

UEFA Europa Conference League match three:

Next up is Slovan Bratislava from the Slovak First Division. Slovakia is ranked 25th in the nation club rankings and Slovan Bratislava is 82. Another game where we want to try and keep it close. Slovan Bratislava should not be as strong as Valencia, but are still too strong for us.

Wow! Nice result from a game we were out played a bit and down a man for most of the match. I will take the point and run!

 

Back to league play and we beat up on College '75.

Yenpariye's agent really liked his game too:

He is currently making £130, so am happy to give him a raise as long as I can keep the playing time commitment down. Which is what happened, so the agent was truthful in the message and signed a contract for £160 p/w as a breakthrough prospect.

[mpm2342]

Another league match and another victory, this time against the second best team in the league.

UEFA Europa Conference League match four:

Next up is HNK Gorica from the Croatian First League. Croatia is ranked 16th in the nation club rankings and HNK Gorica is 335th with no points until last year, so they are better than their ranking for sure.  Would love to get some points from this one if we are going to challenge for a spot in the playoffs.

The score was closer than the game and we could not sneak away with a result as they got a late goal to take the victory.

Another League win.

Youth intake preview and it says it will be a good one, doesn't really look like it though. A good striker would be very nice to start developing a homegrown one. Kawe and Yenpariye have been great, but their ceiling is below my target ratings.

UEFA Europa Conference League match five:

Next up is our old friends Larne from the Sports Direct Premiership in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is 39th in the Nation Club Coefficients and Larne is 208th in the European club rankings.  We played Larne in the Champions League and tied them at home and then beat them 3-0 on the road.  Would absolutely need to win this one if we are going to challenge for a spot in the playoffs. I also got an email saying if we didn't win, we are going to set a record for the longest winless streak in Conference League play... definitely need to win now.

Wow! The boys really listened to the urgency for this one.  What a game.

Check out the game from Golliard: 3 goals, 5 assists and 8 key passes. That's one for the ages. Good thing I am not paying him by the assist.... oh wait, I am because I was so smart that I put him on a heavy pay for performance plan, at least we made way more money from the win than we paid him.

Back to league play and another victory brings us to the halfway point

Not much to say when you are in complete control.

UEFA Europa Conference League match six:

Last up is our old friends Ludogorets from the Bulgarian First League. Bulgaria is 18th in the Nation Club Coefficients and Ludogorets is 59th in the European club rankings. They are not doing well in the competition, but look to be a much better team than us. We sit a point out of a playoff spot, so a win or draw will get us in thanks to out goal differential.

Close, but not this year.  We will be back stronger next year and hopefully progress a bit further.

[mpm2342]

Back to league play with a close one with Magpies and then a tie with Lincoln.

We signed two players who joined us at the start of the transfer window. First up is Louis Rafael who is a striker / winger with good ball control. He will play advanced forward and take the lead role as I really need to develop a homegrown option for flexibility. He has 5 star potential and a current rating of 55, so hopefully can develop into a solid option for us.

Bernardino is a decent player who we sent out on loan. He likely won't ever make the team, but he can become homegrown and be useful to the other teams in the league, so I am planning to transfer him out at some point.

More league games more victories.

Rafael's second game and he scores 4 goals for us ... watching the goal replays and 3 of them were from runs using his pace to receive a pass, gives the team a nice element.

[mpm2342]

More transfer activity. We found a great player who was willing to join us and gave us reason to spend some of the transfer budget and salary budget that we had.  Feels funny to have all that room, but not spending it because the only players who would come weren't much better than the current team, if at all.

Introducing Mervin Gbeme. We spent 2.2M on him 1 up front and the rest based on league appearances. His rating as a winger is 64.1 which puts him above the ENG L1 target of 63.2 and on the way to the ENG Champ target of 69.6. With a 5 star potential, he has a good chance to get there. He is the first player on the team to make the L1 target, so one down and ten to go.

In other news we got rid of a few players to clear up the roster and playing time pathways.

Nunes (ST) on loan with option future fee to Lincoln - he will help them be better
Yenpariye (ST) to Europa FC on loan
Pinto (AM/ST) transfer to Lynx

Those players will help make the other teams better and are all young enough to become homegrown in the next season or two.  Starting trying to build up the league now.

[mpm2342]

An update to the end of the season where we won out the Rock cup and the league, nothing too interesting any more as the Lions are now overpowered for the league.

Gibraltar League Results:

League standings at the end of the regular season:

Gibraltar League Championship Round:

We won the league after the first game of the Championship round and we have 4 teams going into the European competitions next season

Rock Cup Quarterfinals

Rock Cup Semi-Finals

Rock Cup Finals:

The other update is our youth intake that had a few players with some potential. I signed the top 4.

Edited March 3 by mpm2342

[mpm2342]

End of Season 4 (26/27) Analysis:

The team average rating improved by 2.6, improving from 56.7 to 59.3. We are almost at the next "level" England League Two  (60.4 average). I will be targeting L1 for the next season and beyond.  De Stefano declined a bit from last season, so I didn't attempt to resign him and he has already accepted a transfer when his contract is up. Key got offers from a Spanish first division team and an English Championship team, so he is not happy and wants to move. I doubt I will be able to keep him, but will try as I have an agreed upon price to move him, but they will likely pay up for that. It is ok as Marcos is homegrown now and we have a replacement for AP who is close to Key, so we won't lose too much. I can see we will be challenged to keep the players if the team gets much better than it's reputation and the reputation of the Gibraltar league.

The end of season squad depth chart has changed a fair bit. Carrasco was a later signing who played a bit, but didn't replace Rafael. Rafael can play Wing and has a strong Left foot, so I am going to train him into the LW spot and in two more years he will be homegrown. Albiach was a signing in Jan who had a loanback as part of the deal, but is a good 18yr old for next season.

Edited March 4 by mpm2342

[mpm2342]

POSITIONAL REVIEW (I have highlighted homegrown players in blue in the charts)

GK - L1 target = 58.2

Alonso is the clear starter and performed the best. Hankins is ok and certainly good enough to play in the league games given the team in front of him. I gave McCormick a couple of games just to see since he was part of our youth system, but he didn't do well and at 5' 9" with poor aerial reach, is just not going to cut it.

Plan - continue to start Alonso and play Hankins in League matches as much as possible without annoying Alonso. Playing Hankins gives us one of the 5 homegrown spots in league and the associated flexibility in the other positions. Continue to look for GK with the potential to have ratings above the L1 target who will come and play for us. Have only found a couple so far who are good enough and they won't talk to us. Need to continue to build the club and league reputation over time to be able to get those players.

 

CD - L1 Target = 64.7

All the players who put time in a CD played pretty well. Sofikitis was probably the worst performer of the group. The others varied, Morata and Rojas or Diaz got all the tough games, so they get a little boost when I consider their stats.

We have Albiach joining the team for the next season and he has a rating of 60.2 with loads of potential, so a good shot to grow beyond the L1 target. Morata is growing a bit each season, but will not make the target. Diaz, Craggs, Rojas are ok backups.

Plan - start Albiach and Morata. Keep 2 of the three others as backups, let Sofikitis go and look for another CD with the potential to grow past the L1 target.

 

FB - L1 Target = 60.8

Caldiera is the best performing FB, but they all played very well. Roman becomes homegrown before the next season starts.

I don't think any of the current FBs are going to grow to hit the L1 target, but they play ok and help with the homegrown numbers.

Plan - Start Britto and Caldiera and use Roman as the primary backup and homegrown substitute for Caldeira if needed. Monveneur is a useful bench player for lots of positional flexibility. Will continue to look for young FB with potential to surpass the L1 target to take over for Britto and Roman.

 

BWM - L1 Target = 67.2

 This is a tough position for stats, so I also look at the CM numbers for additional clues. Angong had slightly better stats than Cottrell, but not a lot.

Angong has a 63.7 rating and can improve slightly, but won't make it past the L1 rating in all likelihood. Cottrell can improve slightly as well, but at 54.5, he won't make the L1 target.  They are both consistent players who like big matches and just seem to perform well.

Plan - Angong for European matches and Cottrell for the league with Angong playing when I can balance the homegrown numbers.  Look for upgrades.

 

DLP - L1 Target = 64.4

Parker just keeps playing well. His rating isn't growing, but his work rate, teamwork and leadership makes the team much better, so he gets playing time. Key played 13 games as a DLP with an average match rating of 7.02, so he played better as an AP. Marcos had nice stats as well.

While they are performing well on the pitch, neither Parker or Marcos are going to develop to the L1 level,

Plan - rotate Parker and Marcos and look for an upgrade.

 

Winger - L1 Target = 63.2

Gbeme played very well and the rest of the wingers played well, De Stefano was the lowest performer of the bunch and he is leaving at the end of the season.

Gbeme's rating of 65.3 is already above the L1 target as is Rafael's rating of 65.9.  Gbeme will only improve a bit and Rafael still has potential to grow. They are both Right Wingers, so I need to retrain Rafael to play LW as he has a reasonable left foot. The retraining will use up some of his potential, but that is ok because his rating as a winger is very strong already.

Plan - start Gbeme and Rafael and keep Negrette and Coombes as backups. Coombes is very useful as he played very well in 4 different positions AM (RLC) and ST.

 

Advanced Playmaker - L1 Target = 62.5

Golliard had the best statistics of the AP, with Key close behind.

Key is likely to leave in the transfer window before the season. Golliard's rating of 61.5 is very close to the L1 target, so even though he is unlikely to develop further, he is a good player for us at this stage. Marcos can fill in as a sub as can Coombes.

Plan - Golliard starts, Marcos and Coombes backup. Look for a bit more depth here.

 

Advanced Forward - L1 Target = 61.9

Rafael scored 15 goals in 13 games and so why am I moving him to Winger?  because I signed a very strong AF in Carrasco. and because he is an awesome winger. Kawe performed very well as did Golliard and Coombes (not shown, but scored 3 in 3 games as ST)

Rafael is rated 58.9 as AF with room to grow, so would likely make the L1 target. Carrasco is rated 62.1, already above the L1 target with room to grow. Kawe makes a strong backup and we have deeper options with Coombes and Golliard.

Plan - start Carrasco with Kawe etc. as backups. If he sucks big time, then reverse plan and put Rafael back in as AF.

Upcoming Season Recruiting needs:

GK       - Look for upgrade - not urgent
CD       - Need one upgrade - normal urgency
FB        - Both positions could use an upgrade - Urgent
BWM   - Could use an upgrade - Urgent
DLP      - Could use an upgrade - normal urgency
Winger - We are good
AP         - Look for depth - not urgent
ST          - We are good

 

Edited March 4 by mpm2342

[mpm2342]

Fast forward to the end of June and Gibraltar has improved it's rankings in the Nation Club coefficient, but has slid back a bit in the national competitions, they are now in qualifying for the Euro Championships and I suspect they will not win a game, so I will be keeping an eye on the HC role. The league moved up 9 spots which will be helpful in getting players. Our club reputation and ranking improved nicely as well. We spent a lot of money upgrading facilities last season, so are going to have to win some prize money in Europe if we want to keep improving things. Our current expenditures will incur a deficit of 1.5M without taking into account the prize money. I am hoping to start getting some good youngsters coming through.

We did sign a couple of players, Yuri who will start at CD and rotate with Morata. He has a 60.2 rating and 4.5 star potential.

We also signed Mbemba who has 5 star potential, but is unambitious. We are trying to loan him out to get him playing time as he is not quite at the club level yet.

 

[mpm2342]

UEFA Champions League Champions Path First Qualifying Round:

First up we play against Tre Penne from the San Marino League. San Marino is 53rd in the Nation Club Coefficients and Tre Penne is 375th in the European club rankings. We should not have much difficulty with this matchup.

Well, the boys ran wild on Tre Penne and padded some statistics for themselves. I probably could have got playing time for some of the backups in the second game if I had been thinking clearer.

Progress of the other Gibraltar teams in Europe:

Lincoln Red Imps got knocked out in the first round via penalties. They didn't make Europe for a couple of seasons and went from professional to semi-pro. That will set us back a bit in growing the nation/league as they already had a decent reputation.

Europa FC won their first round match up

Lynx also won their first round

Three teams still going in Europe, let's keep it rolling!

[mpm2342]

UEFA Champions League Champions Path Second Qualifying Round:

Next up we play against Ferencvaros from the Hungarian Division 1. Hungary is 27th in the Nation Club Coefficients and Ferencvaros is 54th in the European club rankings. They are favoured and the should be based on the quality of their squad. We beat them in the third qualifying round two years ago, which prompted me to add all the top leagues in Europe as playable, which has definitely toughened things up.

First leg at their place was a bit disappointing as it looks like we carried the play slightly.

Second leg at home with a two goal deficit produced a wonderful result for us. The team really played well. I went with the positive variant of my tactic instead of the very attacking one used in the first match.

Both Europa FC and Lynx lost in their second round so it is only us left in Europe.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Champions League Champions Path Third Qualifying Round:

Next up we play against FCSB from the Romanian First League. Romania is 28th in the Nation Club Coefficients and FCSB is 157th in the European club rankings. This is another tough one, but maybe we can sneak one through.

First leg away from home and we were out played, but managed to get a draw to bring back home.

It wasn't to be dropping the game 1-0 at home. Good run again this year and we are getting closer to being able to beat some of the early to mid tier league champions.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League Playoffs

We have drawn St. Pat's Athletic from the Irish Premier Division in the Europa League playoffs. Ireland is 34th in the Europe Nation club rankings and St. Pat's Athletic is 374th.  This is a good draw for us as we should have a solid chance of advancing.

Match 1 at home and we dominated to go up by 4 heading to their place

Took the opportunity to get some playing time for others on the squad and it worked out ok, though we did not win the game and were out played. Going down a player would not have helped.

We received £2.91M for qualifying for the league phase, but we have draw some scary good teams. Looking at the draw, I think we will be lucky to win one match - Zalgiris seems the match to target and hope for any result from the other matches.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 1:

First up FC Utrecht who play in the Eredivisie in the Netherlands. Netherlands is 9th in the nation club rankings and FC Utrecht is 190th. This is a tough matchup but one where I think we might have an outside chance.

Well, it was close and we had a higher XG, but just couldn't capitalize. Would have liked a win or draw but losing by one is the next best thing

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 2:

Next up is Tottenhham who play in the English Premier Division. England is 1st in the nation club rankings and Tottenham is 36th. 22% of those polled think we have a chance ... I don't.

Well, well, 22% were right. I can't believe the result and the statistics, but on further digging, Tottenham figured us for patsies and rested most of their stars... that will teach them !!!!  So thrilled to get a win when I was hoping to just keep the goal differential reasonable.

[mpm2342]

For the league and league cups, I am going to just post condensed updates as they are not that interesting anymore. If something interesting happens, I will post, but for the most part, we will be rotating the squad and winning most, if not all, the games.

[mpm2342]

Continuing the League updates, October and November finished with victories. I played the top squad against the Magpies to keep them in shape for an upcoming European game and after that did not play the complete starting 11 in any of the league matches.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 3:

Next up is Grugge who play in the Jupiter Pro League in Belgium. Belgium is 8th in the nation club rankings and Brugge is 44th. Another match to try and keep close.

Or not, that was a beatdown and pretty much kills our goal differential as a means to sneak out of this round.

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 4:

Next up is Ajax who play in the Eredivisie in the Netherlands. Netherlands are 9th in the nation club rankings and Ajax is 41st. Another match to try and keep close.

That was unexpected. 2 victories against two of the tougher teams in our draw is wonderful.

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 5:

Next up is BRG who play in the Portuguese Premier League. Portugal is 7th in the nation club rankings and BRG is 31st. Another match to try and keep close - we got a lot of tough ones in this draw.

We got outplayed and outscored. 4-1 isn't horrible, but was hoping for a bit closer.

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 6:

Next up is Athletico Bilbao who play in the Spanish First Division. Spain is 3rd in the nation club rankings and Athletico Bilbao is 123rd. The poll seems to think we have a chance, in fact it thinks we are going to beat a first division Spanish team????  Maybe if we get lucky for a third time.

I will take a 1-0 defeat.  It shows along with the other results (except Brugge) that we are getting much closer to being competitive.

[mpm2342]

The youth intake preview has come in and it is not great, but hopefully a few of the youngsters will be good enough to help us or at least help other teams in the league.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 7:

Next up is Zalgiris who play in the Lithuanian A League. Lithuania is 44th in the nation club rankings. This is the first time in an important match we have played a country ranked below us!  Zalgiris is 239th in the club rankings. The poll seems to think we should win and I think so too.

Good game from the lads. Close down our goal differential as well, but likely not enough.  Going to need at least a draw in a tough final match.

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 8:

Final match is OGC Nice who play in the Ligue 1 Uber Eats in France. France is 3rd in the nation club rankings and OGC Nice is 73rd. The poll has them winning, but I hope we can sneak some points.

Not to be and we lost a close one.  Pretty even game on most metrics, but we just couldn't get the point we needed and got eliminated.

Final table for the league phase had us even on points but knocked out by goal differential. That 9-2 loss is what did us in.  We are on the brink, so there is hope for next season to see additional success. 3 teams we played finished in the top 8 and 4 others made it through and one finished at the bottom.  Tough grouping to be in for us this season.

[mpm2342]

Youth intake is here. The best prospect is unambitious with a determination of 5, so he wall not amount to much. Ben Lambert is the only one who I think might have a chance to eventually make the squad as a league player. Not what I was hoping for.

[mpm2342]

End of season update: We had a clean sweep of all the games with no draws of losses. Won the cups and League

The 3 other teams to make the European competitions are the same as last season. I will look to try and strengthen them a bit via loans and transfers if I can.  We need more than just the Lions picking up wins in Europe to continue to improve our rankings and reputations.

We lost Jay Key to PTM in the Portuguese Premier League and we almost lost Yuri and Rafael to teams in their countries top divisions. This will continue until the team and league reputation gets high enough, realistically it will continue whenever we get players who are much better than the reputation. That will be a steady state for us as we try and get the team stronger.

[mpm2342]

End of Season 5 (27/28) Analysis:

The team average rating improved by 1.3, improving from 59.3 to 60.6 taking us past England League Two  (60.4 average). I will be targeting L1 for the next season and hopefully we can get there and then work on Championship.  Our biggest gaps right now are at DLP where Key left, BWM where Angong declined and at FB.. I am guessing we will lose two more players shortly - Yuri at CD and Gbeme at Winger. Will do my best to keep them around for at least the start of the European competitions and hopefully longer.

The squad did not change much from last season with Hatjes and Yuri the main additions early last season. Carrasco's rating declined at striker as did Angong. Rafael, Gbeme, Yuri, Albaich and Alonso all improved, but likely not at a rate needed to get much beyond L1 level. I have identified players who would be higher rated, but they won't come and join, so it is likely to take a few seasons. Interestingly, Ben Lambert from this season's youth intake shows up as the number 2 rated BWM. This is primarily due to his very high work rate (18) and stamina. His other attributes are good, but he needs some time to develop if he can as his potential is only 2 1/2 stars. Neil Whitbread is not shown here, but at 16 has already played with the Gibraltar senior national team at FB which is a weak postition for us, so another player to keep an eye on.

[mpm2342]

POSITIONAL REVIEW (I have highlighted homegrown players in blue in the charts)

GK - L1 target = 58.2
Alonso is the clear starter and performed well. He got all the European matches so his statistics won't be as good as Hankins who just played League matches. Hankins is ok and certainly good enough to play in the league games given the team in front of him as evidenced by the fact that we won every game with him in the net.

 

Plan - continue to start Alonso and play Hankins in League matches as much as possible without annoying Alonso. Playing Hankins gives us one of the 5 homegrown spots in league and the associated flexibility in the other positions. Alonso's rating improved by 2 points and one more year like that and he will be at L1 level.

CD - L1 Target = 64.7
All the players who put time in a CD played pretty well. Yuri and Albiach got all the tough matches and did quite well. Morata is top backup and Sofikitis and Craggs are depth options who are homegrown.

Plan - start Albiach and Yuri for as long as I can keep him. Look for another CD with the potential to grow past the L1 target.

FB - L1 Target = 60.8
All the FB's played well. Roman is more defensive in his attributes and it shows. McClafferty played mostly as a Winger but had 7 games at FB with a n average match rating of 7.16.

I don't think any of the current FBs are going to grow to hit the L1 target, but they play ok and help with the homegrown numbers. Caldeira might get close to the rating over time and plays well, so the primary need is a LFB

Plan - Start Caldeira and play Britto or Roman depending on how they play.  Britto is declining slightly, so will likely play Roman more than him. Will continue to look for young FB with potential to surpass the L1 target to take over for Britto and Roman.

BWM - L1 Target = 67.2
This is a tough position for stats, so I also look at the CM numbers for additional clues. Angong had slightly better defensive stats than Cottrell, but not a lot and Cottrell had better passing stats.

Angong's rating dropped over the last season, so he is up for replacement if possible. Cottrell can improve slightly as well, but at 55, he won't make the L1 target.  They are both consistent players who like big matches and just seem to perform well.

Plan - Angong for European matches and Cottrell for the league with Angong playing when I can balance the homegrown numbers.  Look to try and upgrade Angong.

DLP - L1 Target = 64.4
Similar to last season, Parker just keeps playing well. His rating isn't growing, but his work rate, teamwork and leadership makes the team much better, so he gets playing time. Key was the guy, but he left. Hartjes played mostly at RFB, so his stats are not accurate, but he has the highest rating at DLP. Marcos had nice stats as well.

While they are performing well on the pitch, neither Parker or Marcos are going to develop to the L1 level,

Plan - rotate Parker and Marcos and look for an upgrade over Hartjes as he is not enough of an upgrade over Marcos and Parker to take playing time.

Winger - L1 Target = 63.2
Gbeme and Rafael played very well and the rest of the wingers played well, Rafael's 28 assists and 7.73 average match ratings are very impressive. Coombes was the lowest performer statistically of the bunch, but he is cheap and usually gets good match ratings, so worth having him hang around until his contract expires.

Gbeme's rating of 67.7 is already above the L1 target as is Rafael's rating of 66.6.  Gbeme will only improve a bit and Rafael still has potential to grow. Rafael is now trained as a left winger, so we have our wingers of the future ... if we can hold onto them.

Plan - start Gbeme and Rafael and keep Negrette and McClafferty as backups.

Advanced Playmaker - L1 Target = 62.5
Golliard had the best statistics of the AP, with amazing match ratings, so he is the clear starter. He scored a lot of goals from this spot on the field and I am very happy with his performance.

Key is likely to leave in the transfer window before the season. Golliard's rating of 61.5 is very close to the L1 target, so even though he is unlikely to develop further, he is a good player for us at this stage. Marcos can fill in as a sub as can Coombes.

Plan - Golliard starts, Marcos will backup when not playing at DLP. Look for a stud at either AP or DLP as Golliard can play both, but AP is his best spot. At a minimum, need a bit more depth here.

Advanced Forward - L1 Target = 61.9
Carrasco scored 36 goals with a good match rating average and good statistics,  Rafael scored 5 goals and 10 assists in 7 games as a striker with an average match rating of 8.07... pretty crazy good statistics. Kawe performed well in limited appearances.

Carrasco's rating dropped over the season, but he played very well, so we will give him another season since Rafael is better at winger.  If he continues to decline, we will hand over the role to Rafael or look for alternatives.

Plan - start Carrasco with Kawe etc. as backups.

Upcoming Season Recruiting needs are fairly similar to last season:

GK       - We are good
CD       - We are good unless Yuri leaves and then we need a replacement, but not urgently
FB        - Both positions could use an upgrade - Urgent
BWM   - Could use an upgrade - Urgent
DLP      - Could use an upgrade - normal urgency
Winger - We are good
AP         - Look for depth - not urgent
ST          - We are good

[mpm2342]

Fast forward to the end of June and Gibraltar has improved it's rankings in the Nation Club coefficient, but has slid back a bit in the national competitions, they haven't won any games in the last year, so I will be keeping an eye on the HC role... though he keeps hanging on. The league moved up 6 more spots which will be helpful in getting players. Our club reputation and ranking improved nicely as well. We spent a lot of money upgrading facilities last season, so are going to have to win some prize money in Europe if we want to keep improving things. we have a couple of good youngsters coming through who are probably a season or two away.

We did sign a couple of players. Canales will play DLP. He is rated 63.2 as a DLP and as an AP, so can play a couple of spots for us.

Chiab will play LFB and has a rating of 59.7, so a nice upgrade.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Champions League Champions Path First Qualifying Round:

First up we play against Flora from the Estonian Premier League. Estonia is 50th in the Nation Club Coefficients and Flora is 369th in the European club rankings. We should not have much difficulty with this matchup.

Comfortable victory at home followed by another away that was a bit closer - I played a few backups in the second game and that showed.

The other three Gibraltar league teams all lost their first round matchups in the Europa Conference league. They will not be a help in getting the league reputation up.

[mpm2342]

A few early July signings and a loan player brought in to provide some insurance on the players the vultures are circling. I decided I will not be able to keep Gbeme long term and even though the rest of the squad is on my side in the dispute, I figure now is the time to sell him as we got a decent replacement in on loan.

Ikechukwu Orazi is in on loan without costing very much at all.  Good pace and great ball control/distribution perfect for a support winger. He is rated 67.5 in that role, which is almost the same as Gbeme (67.7). Hopefully our reputation improves enough to go get a good long term solution at the end of the season.

I signed Oliveira as insurance to our starting central defenders: Yuri and Albiach as both of them have been subjected to offers from bigger clubs and Albiach is slightly unhappy at the moment.  Hopefully I can keep both of them, but now have more reinforcements on the squad.

I signed Ferreira as he is a solid FB and also a highly rated BWM if I choose to retrain him. Going to give Angong a run there first and if he plays well and shows improvement, that's the plan.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Champions League Champions Path Second Qualifying Round:

Next up we play against FCSB from the Romanian First League. Romania is 28th in the Nation Club Coefficients and FCSB is 146th in the European club rankings. This is a tough one as they knocked us out last season, but since the squad is a bit better this time, maybe we can sneak one through.

We won the home match by one with them conveniently going down a man in the 52nd minute. I will take it.

We came away with a convincing win at their place in front of 18,850 fans. Nice comeback and great to move on to the 3rd round.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Champions League Champions Path Third Qualifying Round:

Next up we play against Qurban Qurbanov from the Azeri Premier League. Azerbaijan is 22nd in the Nation Club Coefficients and Qurban Qurbanov is 80th in the European club rankings. This one should not be hard because they are a non-playable league in the base game, but the league and club rankings say otherwise. Shouild be interesting.

Home victory in strong form.

Managed to win the away match as well to take this one handily.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Champions League Champions Path Playoff:

Next up we play against Olympiacos from the Greek Super League 1. Greece is 15th in the Nation Club Coefficients and Olympiacos is 44th in the European club rankings. This is going to be a tough one. Fingers crossed as it would be very nice to make the league phase.

That is a decent result giving us a chance on the return leg at home. We did get 9 yellow cards - 9!! without doubling up to a red, pretty crazy.

Almost, but not quite. We were outplayed and deserved to lose, so I'm ok with it. the £4.2M for making it this far eases the pain.

[mpm2342]

We are finished adding to the squad for the season with one transfer in and one loan in:

Abid is a winger who is very fast but falls over in a gust of wind, so will be interesting to see how he does. Signed him to be contingency in case I can't keep Rafael from the vultures.

Zohouri is in on loan and is rated 66.1 as a BWM, so a nice upgrade on Angong.

The additions, plus a little bit of growth has brought our starting squad average rating to 62.2, just a bit below the L1 target of 62.9.

 

[mpm2342]

The draw is out and we have an ok lineup of opponents where we should have a chance in a few of the games and if we can pull off an upset or two like last season, we might make it through.

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 1:

First up Viktoria Pizen who play in the Czech First Division. Czechia is 19th in the nation club rankings and Viktoria Pizen is 153rd. This is a tough matchup but one where I think we might have an outside chance.

We managed a victory in a match that we needed to have if we hope to advance. We had the advantage in the statistics, but not by a huge amount.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 2:

Next up is Levski who play in the Bulgarian First League. Bulgaria is 11th in the nation club rankings and Levski is 70th. This is a tough matchup and the poll agrees. Their squad doesn't look overwhelming, so maybe we can keep it close or sneak away with a result.

Now this was unexpected, but am very happy to see a victory away from home to put two wins in the bank early. Good game from the players we need to step up - Rafael and Golliard.

Edited March 18 by mpm2342

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 3:

Next up is Villarreal who play in the Spanish First Division. Spain is 3rd in the nation club rankings and Villarreal is 20th. We should have no chance in this one except to try and keep it close.

No way we should have won this except when looking closer they played their second string for the most part. Their star players didn't play. This could be an interesting season if the top clubs think we are bad enough to play their backups against, we could have a chance to win a few more games.

The Villarreal lineup is below and you can see that they didn't play key players like Jones, Cuenca, Jorgensen and Rafel to pick out a few.  Works for me

Edited March 18 by mpm2342

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 4:

Next up is OGC Nice who play in the Ligue 1 Uber Eats. France is 6th in the nation club rankings and OGC Nice is 63rd. We should have no chance in this one unless they play their backups. We played them last season and lost, but not a blowout

Well, they did play their backups and we managed to get a tie out of it.  We are definitely showing improvement as a squad

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 5:

Next up is SK Sturm Graz who play in the Austrian Premier Division. Austria is 10th in the nation club rankings and SK Sturm Graz is 63rd. This will be another tough one unless we see backups again.

Close one, but we took the loss. Still sitting in a very good position to move on from the league phase after 5 games.

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 6:

Next up is RB Leipzig who play in the Bundesliga. Germany is 5th in the nation club rankings and RB Leipzig is 18th. This should be a loss unless we see backups again.

We won ... checking to see if they played backups and NO, they didn't fully rotate, but did play their backup GK, who had a very bad game, and rested a couple of players, but we got a strong side from them. We clinched a playoff spot with the win and two more games to go.

Just for fun, I will show the lineup they played.  We seem to be right in that sweet spot where the AI doesn't know how seriously to take us

 

Edited March 18 by mpm2342

[mpm2342]

Youth intake preview is in and it says good intake, so hopefully there is a gem or two in there.

Finished the first half of the regular season, including victory in the Pepe Reyes Cup, undefeated as expected.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 7:

Next up is Omonoia who play in the Cypriot First Division. Cyprus is 20th in the nation club rankings and Omonoia is 85th. Cyprus is not a playable league in FM24, so Omonoia has a few  "live" players and a bunch of greys filling out the lineup. We should be able to win this game because of that.

Good to win the game. Makes a big difference if the team is from a playable league or not.

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League League Phase - Game 8:

Next up is Rizespor who play in the Turkish Super League. Turkiye is 7th in the nation club rankings and Rizespor is 205th. Looking at their roster, we should have a pretty good chance of winning another game.

We managed a win in a close game.

What an incredible league phase helped by a few teams playing backups, we only lost one game and placed 2nd!  On to the round of 16 - hopefully we get a lucky draw,

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League Round of 16:

For the round of 16 we have drawn Trabzonspor who play in the Turkish Super League. Turkiye is 7th in the nation club rankings and Trabzonspor is 40th. Looking at their roster, they have better attributes, but not by a huge margin, so we should have a chance here. We played them in 2025 when they beat us, but we have improved significantly since then.

First game is away, so hoping for a draw or a very close result to give us a chance at home. Of course a victory would be nice too.  That is what happened!

Second game was a close one, with the team pulling out a tie and a victory in the round. Off to the Quarterfinals now!

Edited March 21 by mpm2342

[mpm2342]

UEFA Europa League Quarterfinals:

For the quarterfinals we have drawn Benfica who play in the Portuguese Premier League. Portugal is 6th in the nation club rankings and Benfica is 17th. Since our wage budget is a rounding error of their budget, I am not optimistic in this one.  We really don't have much chance, so a super result would be a draw or win at home to provide a bit more boost to the rankings for next season.

First match at home and we pulled out a draw! Was a tough run up to this match with 2 league matches in the 4 days before. Fortunately, I had enough depth to rest pretty much everyone in advance of this with the exception of Abid who played two days earlier.  We were outplayed handily, but snuck away with a tie, so I am thrilled.

Onto the away match and Benfica ended the European run for the season. Looks like Alonso had a great game to keep the score as close as it ended up being. We are not ready yet to compete with the top teams, but we are getting closer.

[mpm2342]

Season is over and we swept the league and won the Rock Cup again. Nothing much interesting except when playing a lot of the youngsters.  I tried to mix in a few of the higher potential youth.

 

Results of the youth intake with the two most interesting shown below: Tom Leyland has decent technicals and soso physicals. At 5'2" he will need to develop top end speed etc. to make the team.  Sam Scutt looks decent as well, except for the unambitious personality. Will have to see if we can mentor that out of him. I don't really expect either one to make the first team, but will try and develop them for Gibraltar.

[mpm2342]

End of Season 6 (28/29) Analysis:

The team average rating improved by 2.2, improving from 60.6 to 62.8 putting us right at England League One(62.9 average). Reminder that the rating for each of the leagues below is the average of the top 10 rating for each position across the entire league. The appropriate top 10 average for the positions in my tactic are then slotted into the chart and averaged across the 11 ratings. Only a few teams in each league would have a player in each position that ranks in the top 10, so by using this as a target, it provides a measure of when the raw attribute ratings of the team would position it near the top of the league being compared against. We all know that cohesion, morale, happiness etc. gives the human manager the edge, so when my team hits the rating for one of the leagues, I would expect it to be able to win, or at a minimum compete to win, the league. I have seen that team can successfully compete with most of the teams in a league above their rating. This means that once I can get the Lions to the ENG Champ level, we should be able to compete in the Champions League.

Target for this season is ENG Champ. We are closest at winger where we are only 2-3 points off, Everything else is a need and what gets upgraded will be more dependant on who we can find that is willing to join us either permanently or on loan. So far, no player in the Champ rating range has been willing to join, so I am hoping that the Europe run this past season will bump our reputation enough to sign a few.

We managed to hold onto Rafael and I am optimistic we can continue to, however, he has stopped growing much so will not make Champ level. We sold Mbeme (forced to) and Yuri (kept saying no and they kept offering more until I couldn't turn down £750K)

Edited March 22 by mpm2342

[mpm2342]

POSITIONAL REVIEW (I have highlighted homegrown players in blue in the charts) I have also been messing around with ways to show player progression, so I will include that for key/interesting players.

GK - Champ target = 62.9
Alonso is the clear starter and performed better than last year. Hankins was ok. Sidibe was signed in January because the squad complained about the depth at GK. It didn't help them feel any better, and he didn't play all that well.

Alonso's rating is slowly growing, but he is close to his potential, so he will likely not grow to the Champ target.

Hankins is the GK for the Gibraltar national team, so I need to get him some playing time. Sidibe was rated 47.8 when he signed in January and finished the season at 50.2. He has a 4.5 star potential, so has a chance to grow to the target.

Plan - Start Alonso and give Sidibe playing time to grow. Move Hankins somewhere to get playing time. Look for a signing at or near the target rating

 

CD - Champ Target = 69.2
All the players who put time in a CD played pretty well. Yuri, Oliveira and Albiach got most of the matches. Sold Yuri, so have two starters left.  Morata played ok as a sub. backup.

Albiach has a 3 star CA and 4.5 star PA, so could possibly make it to the target, but has a message that he is close to full potential .... without knowing who to believe, we cross our fingers and hope he develops.

Oliveira is rated 65.1 and hasn't changed. Morata isn't growing but is a good backup. Sofikitis and Craggs were on loan, but likely won't be on the team much longer if we can bring in upgrades.

Plan - start Oliveira and Albiach and hope Albiach continues to develop. Look for an upgrade to add a 3rd starter.

 

FB - Champ Target = 65.8
All the FB's played well. Chiab and Ferreira were starters and played well as did the backups - Caldeira and Britto. Roman is deep bench and was fine. Whitbread was from two season's ago intake but didn't play all that well.

Whitbread is developing nicely and has a 4 star PA, so hopefully room to grow. We also have Leyland a 15 year old from the recent intake who has a 52 rating and a 4 star PA. Both of these need developing to see what we can get out of them.

Chiab is rated 59.6 and Ferreira is 58.3. They haven't developed since signing, so not optimistic that they can hit the Champ target, FB is a hard one to find, but I need to keep looking.

Plan - start Chiab and Ferreira and get Whitbread and Leyland enough playing time to develop

 

BWM - Champ Target = 71.0
The BWM stats aren't great with our tactic, so I lean towards the match ratings to give additional insights. Zohouri started, Angong played a lot and had slightly better stats than Zohouiri. Lambert was an intake from last season who I tried to get playing time and he played quite well

Lambert grew nicely, but is still a long way from the target and the staff doesn't think he has much growth left.

Angong's rating declined for the second year in a row, so he is a backup now. Zohouiri was in on loan, so will leave.

Plan - need to find a starter. Angong as backup with Lambert getting enough play time to see if he can develop

 

DLP - Champ Target = 69.7
Another season where Parker just keeps playing well. Caneles is the starter with Marcos the primary backup and they both played well.

Canales is the starter and if he can grow a bit (questionable), he can get closer to the target, but I don't think he will make it.

I will be sad to see him go, but I expect this will be the last season Parker is on the team as his physicals are really starting to decline.

Marcos is growing steadily, but will not make the target, so will be a valuable squad player

Plan - Start Canales with Marcos backing up and see if we can find an upgrade.

 

Winger - Champ Target = 69.6
Rafael and Abid are the two starters with Orazi as the next man up. They all played very well. McClafferty is a very good backup with position flexibility. Negrette and Coombes were fine filling in on league games.

Negrette is starting to decline, so will not be resigned for next season.

McClafferty won't make it to the target rating, but is a useful squad player to keep around and continue to develop for the national team.

Rafael isn't developing much as a winger, but is still improving physically, and is close to the target.

Abid's rating is 65.8, but he didn't grow during the season. Orazi is in on loan and will be leaving

Plan - start Rafael and Abid. See if we can find a transfer or loan at target level as well.

 

Advanced Playmaker - Champ Target = 68.4
Golliard had the best statistics of the AP, with amazing match ratings, so he is the clear starter. He scored 37 goals from this spot on the field - more than the strikers! Marcos and Canales are solid backups.

\

Golliard is growing and might make the target, but I don't really care because he is awesome and I will keep playing him - this is a case of don't overthink the results.

Plan - start Golliard and have Marcos / Canales as backup. Look for a youngster with potential (sure that's easy ) to give play time to.

 

Advanced Forward - Champ Target = 68.2
Carrasco scored 26 goals less than last season, but still very solid. Rafael scored 8 goals and 2 assists in 12 games as a striker with an average match rating of 7.44... he would be a very good AF if he wasn't so good as a Winger. Kawe did not play as well this season in limited appearances..

Carrasco hasn't really developed, but had a positive uptick this season. He won't make the target though.

Kawe hasn't developed much either - will only have a role as a bench player at this stage.

Plan - Start Carrasco with Rafael as first backup. Look for an upgrade.

[mpm2342]

Upcoming Season Recruiting needs have increased dramatically because the Championship target is a big jump from the L1 target :

GK         Gap: 6.4% - Need an upgrade - normal urgency
CD         Gap: 6.9% - Need one upgrade - normal urgency
FB          Gap: 7.5% - Both positions could use an upgrade - Urgent
BWM     Gap: 9.4% to Angong - Don't have a starter - Super Duper Urgent
DLP        Gap: 5.8% - Could use an upgrade - normal urgency
Winger  Gap: 3.8% to Abid - We are ok, opportunistically look for upgrade as that would allow us to move Rafael to ST
AP          Gap: 4.7% - Look for depth - not urgent
ST           Gap: 7.7% - Need an upgrade - Urgent

Edited March 22 by mpm2342

[mpm2342]

Fast forward to the end of June and Gibraltar continued to improve it's rankings in the Nation Club coefficient thanks to our strong run and came back a bit in the world rankings, they managed a couple of draws in the World Cup Qualifiers, and the HC keeps hanging on. The league moved up 13 more spots which will be helpful in getting players. Our club ranking improved by a huge amount, but that didn't reflect in the reputation stars, even though we got a message that the club reputation increased substantially. We are seeing more players willing to play for us or come on loan, still not the best ones, but a definite improvement. There is another training facility upgrade on its way and we still have a decent balance from last year's prize haul.

Signed a few players with the highlight so far being Eric Blasco.  He had a release clause of £425K which I had no problem paying for the upgrade he brings. He has a 69 rating at BWM, close to the target of 71 with room to grow. I am excited to see how he plays with the high work rate and teamwork potentially mirroring Parker's characteristics - hopefully we get the same type of performance from him.

This signing checks off the Super Duper Urgent need and makes me happy

Sam McClelland only cost us £23K, which is great value to fill a need as a rotational starter and depth for CD. He is rated 63 slotting in with our two incumbents.

El Azzouzi had a release clause of £325K which is solid value for his potantial. He is currently a depth player with ratings right around 60 for the 3 midfield roles and  I hope he can grow to be a starter. He has great determination and the potential to grow. I made the mistake of agreeing to a loan back as part of the signing, but they have decent facilities etc. so hopefully he can grow, otherwise I can recall him.

 

Edited March 24 by mpm2342

[mpm2342]

UEFA Champions League Champions Path First Qualifying Round:

First up we play against Birkirkara from the Maltese Premier League. Estonia is 52nd in the Nation Club Coefficients and Birkirkara is 460th in the European club rankings. We should not have any difficulty with this matchup especially since I am playing the main squad to get them into match shape for the harder matchups to come.

Not even close.

 

[mpm2342]

We signed two more players:

Jorge Meireles was signed as a free transfer (GM recommendation) to be our new Advanced Forward, He has a rating of 67.2, way better than our current 60.5 with Carrasco.

Harvey Vincent was signed on a free transfer(scout) to be our primary backup for the two winger positions, but he might take over from Abid as he has a better rating. We had no strong depth and now we do. He has a rating of 66.6 and can use both feet.

Updated Depth chart

Update to the Season Recruiting needs versus the Championship target:

GK         Gap: 6.4% - Need an upgrade - normal urgency
CD         Gap: 6.9%  Gap: 1.5 & 4.1% - Need one upgrade - Done - Upgrade and a backup signed
FB          Gap: 7.5% - Both positions could use an upgrade - Urgent
BWM     Gap: 9.4% Gap: 2% to Angong - Don't have a starter - Super Duper Urgent    Done - Upgrade signed
DLP        Gap: 5.8% Gap: 5.4% - Could use an upgrade - normal urgency - Slight upgrade and depth signed
Winger  Gap: 3.8% Gap: 3.8% to Abid - We are ok, opportunistically look for upgrade as that would allow us to move Rafael to ST Slight upgrade to Abid and depth signed
AP          Gap: 4.7% - Look for depth - not urgent Done - Backup for DLP and AP is upgraded
ST           Gap: 7.7% Gap: 1% - Need an upgrade - Urgent    Done - Upgrade signed

Didn't solve all the issues, but got some of the important ones and am now out of funds - transfer and wage budget. This is the first time I was able to spend all the resources on players willing to come who were worth spending the money on. Previous seasons, it was only one or two.

Our overall starter rating is now 64.0 which is down to a 4.1 gap from the Champ rating and an improvement on the 5.3 gap we started the off-season with.  Closer, but still more work to do either through the loan market (the loan fees are crazy for the handful of players who would be a rating upgrade) or next season

[mpm2342]

UEFA Champions League Champions Path Second Qualifying Round:

Next up we play against Fehervar from the Hungarian Division 1. Hungary is 22nd in the Nation Club Coefficients and Fehervar is 314th in the European club rankings. This looks to be fairly even based on the poll and a look at their squad, hopefully we can get through.

Nice way to start off in their stadium.

Closed it out with a draw and on to the next round. Blasco, Glasnovic and Dominguez all had nice ratings from the games. Meireles hasn't found his form yet.

Edited March 26 by mpm2342

[mpm2342]

UEFA Champions League Champions Path Third Qualifying Round:

Next up we play against Legia from the PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa. Poland is 27th in the Nation Club Coefficients and Legia is 96th in the European club rankings. The poll has us as underdogs and I would agree looking at their squad, but it is still close enough to have a chance at an upset.

We won the first leg away from home with a strong performance. We lost Blasco to injury which will hurt as he is a very strong player in the midfield for us.

Back home to close out the victory with a very good game from Meireles. Hopefully a sign of things to come.