GreenTriangle Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 (edited) Links Estonia : First season (2023), first half / First season (2023), second half / Second season (2024), first half / Second season (2024), second half / Third season (2025), first half / Third season (2025), second half / Fourth season (2026) / Fifth season (2027) / Sixth season (2028) / Seventh season (2029) / Eighth season (2030) / Ninth season (2031) / Tenth season (2032) / Eleventh season (2033) / Twelfth season (2034) / Thirteenth season (2035) / Fourteenth season - first half (2036) / Fourteenth season - second half (2036) Malta : First season (2023-24) / Second season (2024-25) / Third season (2025-26) / Fourth season (2026-27) / Fifth season (2027-28) / Sixth season (2028-29) / Seventh season (2029-30) / Eighth season (2030-31) / Ninth season (2031-32) / Tenth season (2032-33) / Eleventh season (2033-34) / Twelfth season (2034-35) / Thirteenth season (2035-36) / Fourteenth season (2036-37) Various domestic and continental competitions (2023-28) / (2028-33) ***** My first career in FM24 took place in Bulgaria ... and it was a failure, considering the fact that I achieved two promotions but I also was fired three times. For a while I stayed away from FM, but, as expected, I was not able to completely give up. So, I'll try a second career. This time my career will be more complicated. I'll play with two clubs at the same time. Not because I'm an FM expert, but because I want to try something new. So I chose two custom files created by the user forzaformia. Of course, I checked these files beforehand in a quick test save of 5 years ... and they worked very well. However, I don't know if they'll work as well in the case of this career. Anyway, it's worth a try. *** To begin with, I used 14 nations (the first 14 of the UEFA continental rankings for the period 2019-2023). To these I added the two nations in which I'll play : Estonia and Malta. Why these two nations ? Because these files created by forzafarmia include 5 levels (leagues) for Estonia and 6 levels for Malta. Of course, I'll start at the lowest level, that is, in the 5th Estonian league and in the 6th Maltese league. Note : in real life there are only 4 Maltese leagues. But the state of Malta consists of two islands, Malta and Gozo, and the Gozo island has its own competitions that are not related to those in Malta. There has long been the intention to unify the competitions of the two islands, but, for now, the two competition systems are separate. However, in the file I use the first and second leagues from the Gozo island are considered to be the Maltese 5th and 6th leagues. So, I'll choose a club from the second league of the Gozo island. *** Regarding the clubs : to be honest, I chose the clubs based on their names. For example, in the Estonian 5th league there are clubs such as Maardu Aliens, ReUnited, Eston Villa, FC Wise, Hell Hunt or EstHam United. In the 6th Maltese league (second league in Gozo) there are clubs such as Xagħra United, Żebbuġ Rovers, Munxar Falcons, Għarb Rangers or Victoria Hotspurs. In the end, I decided that I'll play with EstHam United (in Estonia) and Victoria Hotspurs (in Malta) *** Of course, two managers were needed, both having exactly the same characteristics (Sunday League Player and without any coaching license). Thus two brothers were "born", John X (manager in Estonia) and Michael X (manager in Malta) : *** The two clubs are similar, that is, they have an extremely low reputation and, in addition, both have minimal facilities (Training Facilities : poor / Youth Facilities : poor / Junior Coaching : basic / Youth Recruitment : limited) There are, however, some differences. Victoria Hotspurs (Malta) is a semi-professional club, while EstHam United (Estonia) is an amateur club. However, it must be specified that in this database all Maltese clubs are semi-professional, so there are no "weaker" clubs just because they are amateur clubs. Also, Victoria Hotspurs uses a bigger stadium (4500 seats), which is not necessarily an advantage because this stadium does not belong to them and, anyway, the attendance will be low (the Gozo island is small) *** National competitions. EstHam United (Estonia) participates in only two competitions : the 5th league and the "Small Cup" (a Cup reserved for teams from the 4th, 5th and 6th leagues). So, they don't participate (for now) in the Estonian National Cup. On the other hand, Victoria Hotspurs participates in no less than five competitions. Apart from the 6th league, there are also 4 cups, one of which (National amateur Cup) is open to all Maltese teams from the lower leagues (3rd to 6th league). The other 3 cups are "local", so only teams from the Gozo island can participate in them. *** What is the level of competitions and clubs in Estonia or Malta in FM ? It is known, it's not very high. The first leagues have a low reputation, somewhere around the 90th place in the European top. The lower leagues have, of course, a much lower reputation, there are over 300 superior European leagues from this point of view. At the national level, the best clubs in Estonia have a higher reputation than the best clubs in Malta, which probably means that my career in Estonia will be more difficult. Besides, this aspect is also obvious from another point of view : EstHam United has the 90th reputation out of the 106 Estonian clubs. Victoria Hotspurs has the 56th reputation out of 67 Maltese clubs. In addition, Victoria Hotspurs is the number one favorite for promotion (being relegated last year from the 5th league) while EastHam United is rated as only the 35th favorite out of the 48 participants Club(s) vision. The board of EstHam United (Estonia) doesn't have very ambitious goals. They'll probably be pleaseed with almost any table position, except, of course, a series of very bad results and the last place. On the other hand, the board of Victoria Hotspurs (Malta) requests promotion and, in addition, good results in the four Cups. *** Two very important aspects regarding this save / career : 1. In Estonia the season starts in February and ends in October. In Malta, however, the season starts in August and ends in May. (Note : in the lower leagues the season ends a bit earlier, with only the various playoffs taking place during October or May) As a result, in the first 6 months of this career I'll only play in Estonia, and the "Maltese" half of my career will start in August. 2. When creating the save I chose the options "add players to playable teams" (which turned out to be a smart idea) and "do not add key staff" (which turned out to be a very stupid idea because I can hardly find any staff for the two clubs. There is no question of quality of this staff. I have to hire what I find). *** Speaking of staff. This is the staff I found at the two clubs : nobody at EstHam United / Estonia and nobody at Victoria Hotspurs / Malta. There are too many, aren't they ? *** Players. EstHam United / Estonia : 19 players in the main squad, 24 players in the U20 squad and another 24 players in the U18 squad. In total, 67 players Victoria Hotspurs / Malta : 10 players in the main squad, 26 players in the U20 squad and 17 players in the U18 squad. In total, 53 players. Quite a large number, especially since Hotspurs is a semi-professional club, so more players means more expenses. Fortunately (or not ?), in the case of EstHam United the situation is much simpler : amateur club = no money. If anyone is interested, these are the players' attributes : EstHam United / Estonia : the main squad / the U20 squad / the U18 squad Victoria Hotspurs / Malta : the main squad / the U20 squad / the U18 squad *** Two other important mentions regarding this double career : 1. In the next 5 seasons I'll play "youth only". In 2028 I'll decide whether or not to change this rule. 2. Since I am a mediocre FM player I'll not try to create my own tactics. I'll use downloaded tactics only. Of course, these also sometimes need some changes and tweaks, but anyway, for me it will be easier than "getting" failure after failure as a result of the brilliantly mediocre tactics that I usually create. Edited Friday at 11:51 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 (edited) January - July 2023 Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / before the start of the first season (I chose to start with the "Maltese" career because I intend to group the various details according to the manager/career and not strictly chronologically, this to avoid possible overlaps that could create some confusion). As I said in the previous post, the season in Malta will only start in August. But this doesn't mean that the manager (Michael X) was on holiday during this time. It was necessary to complete the staff, re-evaluate and modify the squads and, of course, some friendly matches were also played. The staff : An assistant manager, a HOYD and a manager for the U20 squad were hired. Unfortunately, only the HOYD has a slightly higher level, the other two newcomers are mediocre. I haven't found a manager for the U18 squad yet, and the few coaches I found were of such a low level that I preferred not to offer them a contract. The squads : Immediately after hiring the assistant manager, I asked him to evaluate the available players. The assistant's conclusion : Victoria Hotspurs has much better players than all the other clubs in the Maltese 6th league. Normally, the first place (and, implicitly, promotion to the 5th league) should be extremely easy to achieve. The main squad. The best players in the main squad - details. The U20's squad. The U18's squad. The best players from the U20/U18's squads - details *** The club received its first youth intake without any of its teams having played a single match in a competition. (I don't know if this works for all nations, but this seems to be an interesting method to have a new generation of youngsters even before the start of the first season). In any case, the youngsters received by Hotspurs this year couldn't be very good, considering the mediocre facilities available to the club. However, two of these guys look to be really promising players. ********** John X / EstHam United FC, Estonia / the beginning of the first season The staff : In Estonia I had exactly the same problem as in Malta. I hardly found a few staff members (a HOYD and two managers for the U20 and U18 squads). Unfortunately, all three have low attributes ... but I had no other choice. The squads : Unlike Victoria Hotspurs, the Estonian club (EstHam United) doesn't have a lot of very good players. It has 3 very good players and another 9-10 players who might "grow" in the future, but who (at least for now) aren't developed enough. The main squad. The best players in the main squad - details. The U20's squad. The U18's squad. Note : Did I say that EstHam United has three very good players ? Wrong ! It had three very good players. After just a few weeks, two of the three (the goalkeeper Jonker and the striker Zouhiri) left EstHam for other clubs. Of course, before the first championship match, the team played some friendly matches. More precisely two matches, both being won. The team played quite well and, more importantly, the team's morale was very good at that moment. Schedule *** February - March Matches played in February and March A very good start to the season, even considering the failure in the Small Cup. By the way, that match was annoying. The team had 9 chances to score ... but the game was lost. *** April - May Matches played in April and May A rather weak series of results (only 11 points out of 24). However, the team's game is not much weaker now, we just have more bad luck. For example, in the second game we met a team that had scored very few goals until then. "My boys" created 8 goal chances and scored 4 times. The opponents, on the other hand, scored 6 times from only 3 chances. Then, in the last match, the ratio of scoring chances was 9-4 for EstHam (of which two disallowed goals). But because the opponent was ranked 12-th of 12, of course FM "gave" them a 20-minute period in which they played better than Manchester City and Real Madrid combined. It's true, in the last minutes, the game also offered them a penalty, but it wasn't so sadistic as to let them score. In any case, there is also a positive aspect : all teams fighting for promotion played quite poorly during the last weeks, a thing which allowed EstHam to keep the first place. *** June - July Matches played in June and July 8 points out of 15. The team is still in second place, but has played one match more than its opponents. Honestly, the chance of ranking first have decreased a lot. We still have a chance to participate in the playoff for promotion, if we rank on second or third place. However, that playoff means 8 participating teams (4 groups X 2 qualified), of which only one will promote to the 4th league ... Edited February 12 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 August - December 2023 John X / EstHam United FC, Estonia / the end of the first season August - September Matches played in August and September So, EstHam United won "III league" (more precisely, one of the 4 groups of the 5th league) and promoted to the 4th league. A nice achievement. But, to be honest, this promotion was extremely lucky. Of course, thanks to Knap's tactics, the results were much better than those expected from a relatively weak team (media prediction: 8th to 10th place). But even these tactics would not have been enough if we had not been very lucky. All teams fighting for first place lost a lot of points. In the other three groups of the league, at least 43 points were needed to win the group. If we had played in those groups, we probably would have only managed to rank 3rd or 4th place. Some details: Player stats. Best eleven. Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions (by the way, I used the same tactics as in the case of the main team). Transfers. *** As a result of the promotion to the 4th league, the Board decided that the status of the club should be changed, so that from now on EstHam United will be a semi-professional club. *** Youth intake 2023 ********** Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / the begining of the first season As I said in the previous post, we'll play in 5 competitions, the league (6th) and 4 cups. Since we have a very good team (compared to the other opponents in the league) it can be assumed that we'll achieve an easy promotion. Moreover, the friendly matches we played seem to suggest the same thing (an easy promotion), since we won 7 matches out of the 9 played and the opponents were either "colleagues" from the 6th league or teams from the higher league. The teams' morale is good, but for now the cohesion is quite weak. Of course, it will improve in the future. The main squad / The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** August - November (We played 18 matches, of which 10 in the league and 8 in various Cups. To simplify, I'll separate the league matches from those played in the Cups) League Matches played form August to November We still have 5 more matches to play (each team plays 3 times against the others) but it's obvious that we basically won the league and we're already promoted to the 5th league. *** Cups Matches played in the Cups Amateur Cup / GFA Cup / Knock-out Cup. SD Challenge Cup (Note : none of these Cups are really important. Teams from the 3rd to 6th leagues participate in the National Amateur Cup. The GFA Cup is basically the Cup of the Gozo Island and teams in the 5th and 6th leagues participate in it. Only teams from the 6th league participate in the SD Knock-out Cup and SD Challenge Cup). ********** January - May 2024 Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / the end of the first season League Matches played from January to April As expected, we easily won the league (and promoted to the 5th league). *** Cups Matches played in various Cups Really, it's quite complicated, so I'll summarize : we won two Cups, the less important ones (SD Challenge Cup and SD Knock-out cup). Also, we played in the finals of the two somewhat more important Cups (National Amateur Cup and GFA Cup). *** Some details : Player stats. (Note: as it can be seen, the best player was by far the Brazilian striker Wellington. Unfortunately, next season he'll not play for us because he has a very high wage (for the 6th league in Malta) and his contract will expire in June 2024. I tried to offer him a contract extension, but he asked for even more money, and the financial situation of the club is way too unbalanced to be able to offer him a wage increase). Best eleven. Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions. Transfers (The two new players were brought to the club before I was hired). ********** John X / EstHam United FC, Estonia / the beginning of the second season Because we promoted to the 4th Estonian league, we'll be allowed to participate in the National Cup. So, this season, we will participate in 3 competitions : league (Group 2, West/South), Estonian National Cup and Small Cup (a Cup reserved for teams from the 4th and 5th leagues). According to the media prediction, we are the weakest team in our group, but this is primarily due to our low reputation. The quality of the players we have looks to be reasonably good. We didn't bring in new players, but we kicked-out 7 "old" players, mainly those who were over 30 years old and also had a low PA. We brought no less than 9 players from the U20's team, and this because all of them played well or very well in the 6 friendly matches we played. The main squad / The U20's squad / The U18's squad The objectives set by the Board are minimal : avoiding relegation (in the league) and, also, reasonable results in the two Cups. The team's morale is very good, at least for now. *** February - March Matches played in February and March 11 points out of 24. It's quite good, considering the fact that we're still a newly promoted team and that we had some bad luck (especially in this match). In addition, we managed a surprisingly good match in the Estonian Cup, beating a team (Welco U21) playing in a higher league (3rd), 3-0 *** April - May Matches played in April and May A series of good results (15 points out of 18 in the league) ... which ended with two rather humiliating defeats (especially the one in the Cup, the opponent - Zenit Tallinn - being a team from the 5th league). After a little more than half a season we are in 6th place. A good performance and which, according to xG table, could have been even better if we had been more lucky. ********** June 2024 Estonian leagues (tables) / 2023 Maltese leagues (tables) / 2023-24 Attributes of the two managers, John and Michael X / Club(s) facilities. Note : After a year and a half of my career, I still haven't managed to convince the Board of the two clubs to offer me a coaching course. So, neither of the two managers has any licence yet, not even a National C. Also, neither of the two Boards accepted any improvement of the club(s) facilities. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oche balboa Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 Very Interesting idea and a good start. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosReiter Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 Will the images uploaded to Imgur expire? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 (edited) June - December 2024 John X / EstHam United FC, Estonia / the end of the second season June - July Matches played in June and July Only 5 points out of 15. We didn't deserve to lose this match, but even if we hadn't lost it, the results would have been, overall, mediocre. *** Youth intake 2024 A good intake in terms of the players' potential ability but not as good in terms of their current ability. Since our training facilities are minimal, it's likely that most of the youngsters we received at this intake will remain as undeveloped as they are now. *** August - October Matches played in August, September and October We had a really good end of the season (14 points out of 21), which gave us the opportunity to climb to 4th place. Considering the xG table, it's a deserved achievement. However, at this moment the quality of our players isn't high enough to allow us to get involved in the fight for promotion. *** Some details : Player stats. Best eleven (2024 and overall). Transfers and released players. Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions. (Note : our teams scored a huge numer of goals ... but also conceded a lot of goals) ********** Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / the beginning of the second season Youth intake 2024 As in the case of the career in Estonia : good potential ability, mediocre current ability. *** Competitions : last season, when we were in the 6th league, we participated in 4 Cups. Now, because we were promoted to the 5th league, we will participate in only 3. For now, however, we cannot participate in the Malta Cup, so these 3 Cups are only minor competitions. (Note : "First Division Knok-out Cup" refers to the first division of Gozo Island, or, in other words, this is a Cup for the 5th League teams) Media prediction and Vision : at least theoretically our main objective should be to avoid relegation. However, considering the results from the friendly matches we played, it seems that we have good enough players to try to get a place in the first half of the table, i.e. in the top 4. Transfers (yes, our former striker Wellington left us) and released players. The main squad. (We brought 8 players from the U20's and U18's squads) The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** August - September Matches played in August and September All in all, a good start to the season : 12 points out of 21 in the league. Unfortunately, we were kicked out of the Cup, but as a result of a match that normally we should have won easily. Besides, in the league there was an equally "strange" match in which we had a lot of chances to score but we only got a draw. *** October - November We got some good results in the Cups ... but only 7 points out of 12 in the league. The good part is that we're in second place. The less good part is that the gap between us and the team in first place has increased to 8 points. By the way, "SKVW" means "SK Victoria Wanderers", so they're our neighbors from the town called Victoria. *** December - January Matches played from October to January The first part of the championship has ended. At this moment, the 8 teams will be divided into two groups and will therefore play 6 more matches. Since in the last 3 matches we obtained 7 points out of 9, the distance between us and Wanderers decreased to 5 points. It's interesting that in xG table we're in first place, and we even have a big lead. This may mean that Wanderers were very lucky in the first part of the championship and that we still have chances to successfully fight for first place. ********** January - May 2025 Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / the end of the second season January - February We won all 3 matches and, very importantly, we beat our main opponent. As a result, we climbed to first place. The second game we will play against Wanderers will be decisive. *** March - April Indeed, the second match against Wanderers was decisive. Unfortunately, my team's play is getting weaker and weaker, which was especially visible in the final of the FD Knock-Out Cup. It's true, after the first 90 minutes the result was 1-1, but in extra time Wanderers humiliated us, scoring 4 times. Matches played form January to April However, based on the xG table, it could be said that winning the league was deserved. Does this mean that we're promoted to the 4th league? No, because the first place in the 5th league (us) has to play in the playoffs against the last place in the 4th league (Xghajra Tornadoes). Considering the extremely bad run of form in which Xghajra is, obviously, we have really high chances to win the playoff. *** Well, this was probably the easiest playoff I've played since playing FM... Matches played in the playoff. ("National Amateur League 2" is the 4th league in Malta) *** Some details : Player stats. Best eleven (2024-25 and overall). Transfers and released players. Competitions. Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions. *** Youth intake 2025 A slightly better intake than the previous ones. Best players. ********** John X / EstHam United FC, Estonia / the beginning of the third season The new season will be in many ways very similar to the previous one : the same number of competitions (3), the same objectives (avoiding relegation plus some reasonable results in the two Cups) and exactly the same media prediction (50-1). Transfers (none) and released players (6 players retired in November and two other, both strikers, were released in February) The main squad / The U20's squad / The U18's squad We also played a few friendly matches, all opponents being teams from the lower league (5th) *** February - March Matches played in February Matches played in March In the 8 matches played in the league we got only 6 points out of 24. However, the team is not playing very badly, at least according to xG table. We simply concede goal(s) extremely easily, even when the opponents have very few chances to score (like for example this match or this match, in the two matches conceding 6 goals out of a total of... 6 shots on target). I interpreted this defensive "stupidity" as being caused by the fact that I used the same tactical configuration (4-4-2) for over two years. As a result, I decided that in the following matches I'll use another configuration, 4-2-4 2DM, which also has the advantage of being quite close to the one used in my career in Malta (4-2-3-1 2DM). *** April - May Matches played in April and May Just like in the old stories. The sick man splashes himself with holy water and, obviously, a miracle occurs. The sick man gets well immediately. So, 6 points from 24 and 27 goals conceded in the first 8 rounds. 16 points out of 18 and only 8 goals conceded in the next 6 rounds. If anyone is curious, I changed the configuration but I didn't use any other trick. I haven't restarted, I don't use any editor and I used the same group of players. It was a miracle, as I said. By the way, both configurations used tactics created by Knap. ********** June 2025 Estonian leagues (tables) / 2024 Cups in Estonia / 2023 and 2024 Maltese leagues (tables) / 2024-25 After almost two and a half years, I managed to convince one Board to allow me a coaching course. Surprisingly, the Board of Victoria Hospurs refused me, although I got two promotions in two consecutive years. Instead, the Board of EstHam United accepted. *** It's funny that while as a manager at East Ham United I received job interview invitations only from clubs in the 4th league... there are clubs from the first (!) Maltese league that sent me such an invitation . It's true, it's about two clubs that have just been relegated this year from the first league, but it is surprising that a club from the first league is interested in someone who does not even have a National C licence ... *** Edited February 15 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 (edited) June - December 2025 John X / EstHam United FC, Estonia / the end of the third season June - July Matches played in June and July Only 6 points out of 15. The month of June was extremely bad, although in this match we probably deserved more than a defeat. In any case, starting with July I used another tactic, but without giving up the 4-2-4 2DM configuration. *** August - October Matches played in August, September and October 16 points out of 21 and, finally, 6th place. Unfortunately, a weaker performance than last year (4th place). *** Some details : Player stats. Best eleven (2025 and overall). Transfers and released players. Competitions. Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions. *** Youth intake As in the previous intakes, we receive players with a fairly good PA. But their CA is pitiful and their development possibilities are extremely limited, considering the facilities we (don't) have. ********** Estonian leagues (tables) / 2025 ********** This is the last post in this format. Since I noticed that the story of two different careers in the same post can cause some confusion, I decided that from now on, a separate post will be dedicated to each season of a career. From time to time I'll add posts that will contain comparisons between the two careers or details about various other events. Edited February 16 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted February 16 Author Share Posted February 16 2025-2026 Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / 3rd season Competitions. When we played in the 6th league, we participated in 4 Cups. In the 5th league, the number of Cups we participated in dropped to only 3. Now, in the 4th league we'll participate in only one Cup (National Amateur Cup = Cup of the lower leagues), plus the Gozo Island Supercup (and this because we won the 5th league in the last season) Media prediction. Surprisingly, although we are newly promoted to the 4th league, we don't have the lowest odds. It's true, our odds are only 10th out of 11 teams, but, anyway, it's much better than it was at the beginning of last season (then it was 600-1, now it's 150-1, even if the teams we'll play against are obviously better). As far as I know, the odds depend on the reputation of the club and the quality of the players. The reputation of the club hasn't significantly increased in the last 2 years (in 2023 we were the 56th club in Malta, now, in 2025 we are the 58th. The lower leagues have a very low reputation and winning them does not add many points). So, it's clear that now we have better players, and this is probably due to the youngsters I brought to the main team from the U20's and U18's teams. Transfers and released players. *** The team played 6 friendly matches. I selected all 3 squads and asked our HOYD (who is also my assistant manager) to select the players ("slight rotation" and "more rotation"). I brought in the main team all the players (no less than 11) from the U20's and U18's squads that he considered good enough for the first eleven. The main squad. The U20's squad. The U18's squad. *** August - September Matches played in August Matches played in September We started the season poorly, with a defeat in the GFA Super Cup. A series of 5 exceptional matches followed (13 points out of 15), including a 10-2 away win. Unfortunately, in the last 4 matches the team played more and more poorly and only got one point. It's true, we were also unlucky because both in the second match (2-3) and the last (0-1) we probably deserved at least a draw. *** October - December Matches splayed from October to December Only 4 points out of 12. The series of bad luck continued, because in the second and third matches we conceded 4 goals from 5 shots on target. More annoying is the fact that, according to the xG table, although we play mediocre, our opponents don't play very well either ... but they manage to collect points and we don't. To be honest, before the start of the championship I would have been very satisfied with a 6th place. But after that series of wins in the first rounds, missing out on promotion would have been frustrating, especially considering the large number of teams (4) that were going to promote. So, I decided to replace the main tactic (= I replaced one Knap tactic with another Knap tactic) but not to give up the 4-2-3-1 2DM configuration *** January - February Matches played in January and February We didn't play much better than from September to December, but we won 11 points out of 15 now. In the last 3 rounds we are going to play against the teams ranked 6th (Attard) and 5th (Ta'Xbiex), but the fact that we have a big goal difference gives us an advantage, so probably 4 points won in these last 3 games would be enough for promotion. *** March - April Matches played in March and April In the first match we had 2-1 in the 82nd minute ... but we stupidly lost a match that we could have won very easily. Fortunately for us, the next match (won by us) as well as the opponents' semi-failures ensured our promotion with one round before the end. (Note : In fact, theoretically, we could still have missed the promotion, but only if we had lost the last match 12-0). All in all, it seems that, at least according to xG table, we deserved this promotion. *** Some details : Player stats. Best eleven (2025-26 and overall). Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions. Club reputation. Surprisingly, in just one year our reputation has grown significantly. At the beginning of the season we were 58th out of 67 Maltese clubs. Now we have just reached the 35th place (!!). I don't know where this spectacular growth comes from. *** Finances. Our financial situation is extremely bad. Because in 2023 we started this career directly as a semi-professional club and the club's sources of income are minimal, we ended up having debts of over 300,000 after only 3 years. Unfortunately, this bad situation prevents me from improving the facilities (which are exactly as undeveloped as in 2023). Worse is that our Board invokes the financial situation every time I request a coaching course : in December the Board did not allow me to start the coaching course for the lowest licence (national C licence ) even if the same Board was very enthusiastic about "unbelievable job" I'm doing. Then, in April, after three consecutive promotions, the same "very happy" Board refused me a coaching course again ... However, even though I don't have a coaching license, some clubs in the Maltese first league keep inviting me for job interviews. And if in December I was invited by a club whose team was in last place, in May the invitation came from a club (Sliema) that ended the competition just one point away from a place in the Conference League. *** Maltese leagues (tables) / 2025 - 26 Youth intakes 2023 - 2025 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 2026 John X / EstHam United Tallinn, Estonia / 4th season The 4th season will be similar to the second and third. The same three competitions, the same objectives (avoid relegation and some reasonable results in the two Cups), even the same media prediction (50-1, 14th place). Transfers (none) and released players. The staff (only four people : two managers, an assistant manager and a HOYD). Club facilities (same as in 2023, at the beginning of the career). *** We played several (five) friendly matches, matches in which we also used some young players considered by HOYD to be good enough to be at least reserves for the main team. Our club does not produce very good young players (not even compared to other clubs in the same league), but for now even these few slightly better players are good enough for us. The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** February - March Matches played in February Matches played in March A series of surprisingly good results, even if the elimination from the cup was a bit shameful, considering the fact that Hell Hunt is, after all, a 5th league team. *** April - May Matches played in April and May Wow ! 24 points out of 24 I don't know how these exceptional results can be explained. The team isn't much better than in the previous season, and the tactics used are exactly the same from the end of that season. However, we not only did get better results, but the team's play was better, at least according to the xG table. *** June - July Matches played in June and July In the first game we were really unlucky ... and in the following ones the team started to play more and more poorly. It was expected. After all, our very good run of form could not last forever. *** August - September Matches played in August and September Only 5 points out of 12. Fortunately, at the end of May the difference between us and the team ranked 2nd (Ganvix) was 12 points, enough to give us the first chance for first place and direct promotion. However, it would be desirable to not lose in the direct match we'll play against Ganvix in the 25th round. In the xG table we continue to be leaders, although the difference between us and Ganvix has decreased. *** October Matches played in October We won the West/South series of the 4th league and, thus, we managed to get promotion to the 3rd league. A good performance, of course, but I have to admit : we were lucky. If this competition had 30 games, we would probably have ranked second. And not because Ganvix is an extremely good team. In their direct match both teams played mediocre (at most !). It seems that the general level of this league is low, so it is very possible that next season will be very difficult for us as newly promoted to the 3rd league... especially since this league consists of only 10 teams and up to 4 teams of these 10 can be relegated. *** Some details : Player stats Best 5 players Best eleven (2026 and overall) Note: the club has so far received three generations of young players, in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Of the 48 players we received, only two were good enough to secure a place among the best 18 players of the 2026 season. What will happen if 4-5 important players will leave us ? It's quite worrying. And, unfortunately, we're starting to have financial problems, and this means that our facilities will remain as undeveloped in the future as they were in 2023. Competitions Transfers Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions. As in the case of the "Maltese" career, also in Estonia the club's reputation grew a lot with the promotion to the 3rd league. If at the middle of the season we were only 86th out of 106 Estonian clubs, once we won the league we climbed to 57th place (!!). *** Estonian leagues (tables) / 2026 Estonian Cup and Estonian Small Cup 2023 - 2026 *** Youth intake 2026 *** Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted February 21 Author Share Posted February 21 2026-2027 Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / 4th season Youth intake 2026 *** Competitions. We'll play in the 3rd league, and this means that we will no longer participate in the various local Cups. But we'll not be allowed to play in the national cup of Malta either. As a result, we'll participate in two competitions : the 3rd league and the National Amateur Cup (= Cup of lower leagues). The 3rd League will take place according to a different system compared to the leagues we have participated in until now. There are two groups of 8 teams each, and each team will play 4 rounds, i.e. 28 matches. The team ranked first in each group will promote to the 2nd league, the teams ranked second will participate in the promotion playoff, and the last two ranked in each group will be relegated. *** As expected, in the media prediction we're considered a team that will fight to avoid relegation (15th place, 200-1 odds). The board set the objectives with this prediction in mind. Of course, the players we have (and the set of tactics I use ) will allow me to easily get a much better position in the table. *** Transfers (none) and released players. We played 7 friendly matches (the first, lost 4-2, against a team from the 2nd league, and the other 6 against some teams from lower leagues). As before, we used many young players from U20's and U18's teams , and some of these players (more precisely, 4) proved to be good enough to be promoted to the main squad. The main squad. The U20's squad. The U18's squad. *** August - September Matches played in August and September Yes, I agree, it's crazy. A newly promoted team (and which until then had never played in the 3rd league) scores 9 goals in its first game. Even I was surprised by what I was seeing. It was as if I had watched a Chuck Norris movie. *** October - November Matches played in October Matches played in November In October we won 12 points out of 15. A good record, but there was also a problem : in the only match that we lost, my team played very badly. Then, in November, we started with a series of 3 bad results (although in all these 3 new matches we played quite well and deserved at least a draw in the first two matches and a win in the third). (Since at that moment I suspected that the FM "no longer likes" the tactic I was using, I changed the tactic, but I continued to use the same configuration (4-2-3-1 2DM)) *** December Matches played in December Only 5 points out of 12. Moreover, the last 3 matches were similar to the November "series". We played better than the opponents, but due to bad luck we lost at least 4 points. *** January - February We lost 3 quite important players. It was to be expected, of course, but the fact that two of them left us for clubs in the lower Maltese leagues seemed stupid to me. I mean, why would a player who played in the first eleven in the 3rd league prefer a club from the 5th league ? Or, even more hilarious, from the 6th league ? FM's imagination has no limits... Matches played in January and February 9 points out of 18, and the team is playing weaker and weaker. If until now it happened that the team plays well but has bad luck, now it's not about bad luck but simply a sign of a sharp drop in form. Anyway, after that match we lost against Rabat Ajax I decided to change the tactics again, but not to give up the 4-2-3-1 2DM configuration. *** March - April Matches played in March Matches played in April After 3 matches won using the new tactic (4-0, 5-1, 5-2), a series of 4 defeats followed. Sure, I could say that both against Rabat Ajax and against Marsaskala, the team didn't really play badly and maybe they didn't deserve to lose both games. But, overall, we are in a massive decline in form. Besides, even the game (FM) told me : 4-2-3-1 2DM is bad ! Very bad ! I shouldn't use something so bad, especially since with the help of this "bad" I got 3 promotions. Unfortunately, I used this "bad thing" too much, that is, for about 4 years. Even FM has a limit of patience. *** However, even a second place ranking can be considered a very good performance for a newly promoted team... especially if that second place allows participation in the promotion playoff. So, we'll play in the promotion playoff against Mtarfa. A team that achieved, like us, 48 points in 28 matches. The problem is that we only got 6 points in the last 6 matches played, while Mtarfa got 17 points in the last 8 matches. In other words, they are in good run of form ... and we aren't. At this moment I decided to change not only the tactics but also the configuration. Since the playoff will take place in the "one match, neutral stadium" system, my option could be useless. A new configuration might not have an effect right from the first match, especially when the team's morale is very low. But I have no choice. Using the old configuration we would have lost 100%. Using the new configuration, at least I feel like I'm doing something, even if we lose. *** We lost : I have no reason to complain. Mtarfa was obviously the better team. *** Some details : Player stats and team stats Best 10 players Best eleven (2026-27 and overall) *** Competitions Transfers and released players Finances. We "have" debts of over 440,000 and our sources of income are totally insufficient. Therefore, there is no chance to improve our facilities and it 's unlikely that the Board will allow me to take a coaching course. As a result, after 4 years I still don't have any coaching licence. *** The U20's and U18's competitions take place in a very "strange" system. It's about 16 teams that play each other 4 times, which means that each team plays 60 matches during a season. It's probably an error, but it seems interesting to me because basically these competitions turn into a real test for the tactics used. Of course, both the U20's team and the U18's team use the same tactics that I use with the main team : *** Maltese leagues (tables) / 2026-27 *** Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 (edited) 2027 John X / EstHam United Tallinn, Estonia / 5th season Competitions : the 3rd league ("Estonian First B League") will take place according to a different system from that of the 4th league : 10 teams will play 36 matches each. We'll no longer play in the Small Cup (Cup of the lower leagues) but only in the Estonian National Cup. In the media prediction we're considered to be a "relegation" team, but, surprisingly, our odds are quite good (50-1). The objectives set by the Board are, of course, minimal : attempt to avoid relegation and some reasonable results in the Cup. Transfers. Of course, no new player came. As I expected, we lost one of the best players we had. The Frenchman Letellier (30 goals and 24 assists in 68 games played) returned to France. However, there is a good part as we lost only one player from our best eleven. Honestly, I thought that at least 4-5 important players would leave us. Released players. Immediately after January 1, we had a real riot in the locker room. The reason ? The players who in 2023 (at the beginning of my career) were 16 years old are now 20 years old. Until now they had youth contracts, but now, in 2027, these contracts have expired and the players wanted full contracts. It didn't seem like an urgent problem to me because only one player out of the almost 30 rioters was an "influential player". However, later I realized that the problem was really urgent because the team played extremely poorly in friendly matches. As a result, I released 15 players and offered full contracts to the others. However, since we're only a semi-professional club, we cannot offer long-term contracts, but only month-to-month. *** We played 6 friendly matches. As long as the rioters didn't get the contracts they wanted, the results were bad (no win during the first 5 matches, although the opponents were only lower league teams). It's interesting that my team didn't play very badly. Shots on target : 29 (my team) - 13 (opponents). Total xG : 10.2 (my team) - 3.5 (opponents). Goals scored : 3 (my team) - 5 (opponents). Of course, after the players got the desired contracts, the team's morale increased spectacularly. (By the way : I recently saw a "test" that showed that morale has absolutely no effect on the team's results. From here I concluded that some people are really bored. And when they are bored they invent all kinds of strange things. Or maybe they play other games and imagines that they're playing FM. Unfortunately, in FM, morale has very big, even excessively big effects) *** The main squad. (Note : as in previous years, this year too I brought a number of players from the U20's and U18's squads. However, now only one player (Valk, brought from U18's team) has been selected due to his high level. The others were brought to the first team simply because, being 20 years old, they could no longer play in the U20's team). The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** February - March Matches played in February and March A very good start to the season, even exceptional. 15 points out of 21 in the championship. And it could have been more points, considering this match, which ended in a draw, but in which we probably deserved to win with a difference of 3-4 goals. *** April - May Matches played in April Matches played in May 23 points out of 27. A really good series of results. However, the team shows signs that its very good run of form will end in the near future. We won 5-2 the match played against the second place team, Vaprus, but the match was balanced and the fact that after 7 minutes we had 2-0 helped us a lot. Then we got a lucky draw against Ganvid, an embarrassing defeat against Ararat (a 4th league team) and only a draw, 2-2 in a match (against Suure-Jaani) where we had 2-0 after 37 minutes of play. For the moment, our situation is very advantageous. We have 16 points ahead of the 3rd place and, at least for now, we're leaders in the xG table. Normally, we should get the promotion at the end of this season. It's surprising that the team manages to play well and, sometimes, very well despite the fact that we not only lost the second best player (Letellier, who left in January) but even the best player (Kanter, who was seriously injured at the end of March). *** June - July Matches played in June Matches played in July We've got problems. At the end of May we were leaders, but now Vaprus, the leader, has 5 points ahead of us. Worse is that the 16 points we had ahead of the 3rd place were reduced to only 5. We are far from the good form of the first part of the season, and we are also unlucky : 8-4 scoring chances, result 1-1. 9-1 chances to score, result 1-1. 5-3 scoring chances, result 0-2. 4-2 scoring chances (and 10-2 shots on target), result 1-2. However, surprisingly, our advance in xG table increased. I decided to replace the current tactic with a similar one (also based on 4-2-4 2DM). *** August Matches played in August 12 points out of 12 ! No, we didn't play much better, but we weren't unlucky anymore. Or, at least, my strikers suddenly remembered how to shoot correctly at the goal. In addition, Kanter, our number one player, is also back on the pitch. He's not in good shape, but still, his return really matters. I received an interview offer from a club in the Estonian first league (Premier League). Their team is in a very difficult situation, but I'm busy for the moment. So, I declined the offer. *** September Matches played in September So, we promoted to the second league ("First League" is the name of the Estonian 2nd league). In fact, we promoted after the match (won) against Ganvix, so 5 rounds before the end. In any case, according to the xG table, it seems that our promotion was fully deserved. Interestingly (or maybe not), it seems that FC Tallinn specialized in getting points against us with only two shots on target. In July they won with 2-1, now they got a 2-2, and in both matches they hit the target only twice. *** October Matches played in October As expected ... *** Some details : Player stats Best 12 players Best eleven (2027 and overall) (Note : very few players produced by the club in recent years could enter the best 11 / the best 18. Out of the 64 players received at intakes during the last 4 years only 5 players entered this list). *** Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions. Club facilities (the same as in 2023). Finances (we lose money and "gain" debts ...) The manager (I developed quite well, but I still have the National C licence only) *** Youth intake 2027 The best (two) players received at this intake. Youth intakes 2023 - 2027 *** Estonian leagues (tables) / 2027 *** Edited February 24 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 (edited) 2027-2028 Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / 5th season Youth intake 2027 A pretty good intake, which also includes two very good players ... at least from the point of view of their CA "stars". *** Competitions. As in the previous season, we'll participate in two competitions : the 3rd league and the National Amateur Cup (= Cup of lower leagues). The objectives set by the Board are the same (trying to avoid relegation + a reasonable performance in the Amateur Cup). According to media prediction, we're the last favorite to win the league and, of course, the number one favorite for relegation (odds 150-1). Transfers. Of course, no new player came. Instead, we sold a player for the "impressive" amount of 6250. Considering the fact that Matthew Attard was the best player produced by the club (youth intakes) in the last 4 years, I can say that I would have preferred the player and not those (a little) money. But the Board decides ... *** In this career I had exactly the same problem as in my career in Estonia. The players who in 2023 were 16 years old (and youth contracts) are now 20 years old and want "full" contracts. But my club in Malta has much bigger financial troubles than the club in Estonia. As a result, I decided to clean in the main squad. Since the players received from the youth intakes seem to be as good (or sometimes even better) than some of the "old" players in the main team, I released 24 players and brought in another 24 players from at U20's and U18's. (Note : the situation is different in Estonia. There, in 2023, we received very good players for the main team, and many of the players received later at the intakes have a rather low level, lower than those in the main team). The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad I had a similar problem (as in Estonia) regarding the team's morale. The players who wanted "full" contracts created a miserable atmosphere in the dressing room. As a result, the team got quite poor results in the 7 friendly matches we played. In the first 6 matches the ratio of shots on target was 32 (my team) - 12 (opponents). Goals scored ? 5 (my team) - 4 (opponents). Immediately after I offered "full" contracts to all these players, morale returned to normal. (Note: "full" contracts mean month-to-month contracts, this because we're "only" a semi-professional club). *** Tactical approach. For four years I used only tactics in the 4-2-3-1 2DM Wide configuration. At the end of the previous season, however, we had troubles and, as a result, I decided that this season I'll use two (or more, if needed) tactics in a different configuration, 4-3-3 DM Wide. *** August - September Matches played in August and September A very good start to the season. It's true, we lost the first match and were kicked out of the Amateur Cup, but in both matches we were unlucky. And if in the championship match the bad luck was ... "reasonable", in the Cup match it was really annoying : the ratio of scoring chances was 9-2 (for us). My team scored 3 goals, the opponents scored 5 (and 3 of their 5 goals were scored from long range shots). Note : Another negative aspect is the fact that we were defeated (in the Cup) by SKVW, i.e. SK Victoria Wanderers. Coincidentally (or not), this is our only rival club, both clubs being from the same (small) town, Victoria. Naturally, this defeat upset both the Board and the supporters, especially considering that at this moment SKVW is just a mediocre team from the 5th league. *** October Matches played in October A pretty good month ... but not as good as I would have liked. We beat the leader (Luqa) in a match in which we didn't really deserve the victory ... but immediately after that we were defeated in a match in which we really deserved to win. *** November Matches played in November Only 4 points out of 12, and I can't even complain. That's about what we deserved, considering the way my team played... *** December Matches played in December 6 points out of 9. At first glance, it's good. At second glance, there are some problems. It's true, we won an important match, against Luqa, but (again) we were lucky because after we scored (from a penalty) the team wasn't able to create any other goal chances and the opponents clearly dominated the second half. Then followed two matches against the teams ranked in the last two places. In the first match we played quite well, but in the second we were pathetic. This second match pissed me off so bad that I decided to kick out the team leader (Shaun Attard). It was probably not a very smart idea, but from a leader I expect him to play better than he did (only about 4 matches out of the 12 he played were really good). By the way, after this match I decided to change the tactics used, but, of course, the new tactics will use the same configuration, 4-3-3 DM Wide. *** January Matches played in January 8 points out of 12. Not bad at all. There are still 6 rounds to play and my objective is to "catch" one of the first two places. If we can rank first, that's perfect. If not, second place and participation in the playoffs would be a very good performance. *** February - March What can I say ? The team played downright catastrophically. Of course, theoretically, we still have a chance to achieve the second place. But, realistically speaking, the respective chances would hardly be visible even under a microscope. *** April Matches played in February, March and April 4th place. It's not very bad, but I expected more. It's interesting that, before the last match, our chances for second place had increased significantly, and this is because Luqa had lost the match played in the penultimate round. It would have been enough for us to win and Luqa to get only a draw in the last match. This last match was very "FM style". Our opponent, Dingli, scored their first goal from their first shot on target. Then they received a penalty and thus scored the second goal ... from their second shot on target. Already at that moment we were just playing for fun, our chances being zero (also because Luqa was leading in their match). But FM didn't give up : it awarded Dingli a second penalty. The third goal, from their third shot on target. The fourth goal followed, scored, of course, from their fourth shot on target. Honestly, I found this match really embarrassing. Not because we lost, but because of this series of goals scored from every shot on target. C'mon, FM, what was that ?!? *** Some details : Player stats and team stats Best eleven (2027-28 and overall) Transfers Competitions *** Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions : It seems that, overall, the tactics used in the new configuration (4-3-3 DM Wide) are effective, as effective as those used in the old configuration. My problem is the quality of the players I have in the main team. Yes, I have good players ... but not good enough to win the 3rd league... at least for now. *** Youth intake 2028 I was expecting slightly better players than these we received. Next year ... maybe ... Previous youth intakes (2023 - 2027) *** Maltese leagues (tables) / 2027-28 *** Edited February 28 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 (edited) 5 (virtual) years have passed since the beginning of the career. In the meantime a lot of events took place. I presented the specific ones (closely related to the two careers) in previous posts. Now I will also present the somewhat less important events ... but which can be interesting (or not). National (domestic) competitions : English Premier Division 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / English FA Cup 2023-28 / Carabao Cup 2023-28 Scottish Premiership 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / Scottish Cup 2023-28 Spanish First Division 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / Spanish Cup 2023-28 Portuguese Premier League 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / Portuguese Cup 2023-28 Italian Serie A 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / Italian Cup 2023-28 French Ligue 1 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / French Cup 2023-28 German Bundesliga 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / German Cup (DFB Pokal) 2023-28 Belgian Pro League 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / Belgian Cup (Croky Cup) 2023-28 Dutch Premier Division (Eredivisie) 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / Dutch Cup 2023-28 Danish Superliga 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / Danish Cup (DBU Pokalen) 2023-38 Swiss Super League 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / Swiss Cup 2023-28 Austrian Premier Division 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / / Austrian Cup 2023-28 Czech First Division 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / Czech Cup 2023-28 Turkish Super League 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / Turkish Cup 2023-28 *** Continental competitions : Champions League - Group / League Stage 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 Champions League - Knock-out Stage 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 Europa League - Group / League Stage 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 Europa League - Knock-out Stage 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 Europa Conference League - Group / League Stage 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 Europa Conference League - Knock-out Stage 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 *** National teams competitions : European Championship 2024 - Qualifying European Championship 2024 - Group Stage / Knock-out Stage World Cup 2026 - Qualifying (European Zone) Wold Cup 2026 - Group Stage / Knock-out Stage European Championship 2028 - Qualifying UEFA International League 2024-26 / 2026-28 *** Ranking of the UEFA coefficients Ranking of European national teams World Team 2023-2027 *** Estonia and Malta : Estonia (1st to 4th league) 2023 / 2024 / 2025 / 2026 / 2027 / Estonian Cup 2023-27 / Estonian Small Cup 2023-27 Malta (1st to 4th league) 2023-24 / 2024-25 / 2025-26 / 2026-27 / 2027-28 / Maltese Cup 2023-28 / Maltese Amateur Cup 2023-28 Estonia - Club reputations 2028 Malta - Club reputations 2028 *** Plan for the future development of the career. In the next 5 years (2028-2033) I'll continue my career at the two clubs (EstHam United and Victoria Hotspurs). Also, I'll not bring players from other clubs, so, I'll continue to rely only on the players received at the youth intakes. If in 2033 one or both clubs will not be in the first league then I'll resign and continue these careers at other clubs, from the first league. If I'll be kicked out before 2033, then I'll only apply at those clubs that - at that time - are in the first or second league. Edited February 28 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 Links to previous seasons Estonia : First season (2023), first half / First season (2023), second half / Second season (2024), first half / Second season (2024), second half / Third season (2025), first half / Third season (2025), second half / Fourth season (2026) / Fifth season (2027) ********** 2028 John X / EstHam United Tallinn, Estonia / 6th season So, EstHam United has promoted and will play in the 2nd league. The competition rules of the second league are identical to that of the third league : 10 teams, each playing 36 matches. We'll also participate (as last year) in the Estonian National Cup. In terms of media prediction, the level of odds are surprising. Naturally, there is a very big favorite (Tammeka), as well as a favorite (TJK). But all the other five teams that are eligible for promotion have extremely close odds ... and I don't understand why. We, for example, should have a lower odds because we have the lowest club reputation in the league. However, our quota is similar to that of other clubs. I really don't understand where this anomaly comes from. (No, I haven't modified anything, I don't use editors or other applications) *** Transfers (none) and released players (Note : I released only two players, which is probably not a very good idea, since we have 107 players at the club (of which only less than 50 are in the main team). I probably should have kicked out at least 20 players, maybe even more, but that would have meant analyzing the whole squad player by player... and at that moment I was too lazy to do it). The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad Of course, we played some friendly matches ... and we easily won the first 3 of them. Then something happened : when the problem of setting the collective bonuses came up, I chose the "avoid relegation" option. At that moment, the atmosphere at the club deteriorated, most of the important players complaining that I offered them bonuses that were way too low. It is interesting that from other points of view my players don't have significant reasons for unhappiness. However, immediately after that moment, the team started to play badly in friendly matches, barely managing to get a few draws in some matches that they should have won easily (all opponents being teams from the lower leagues). *** February - March Matches played in February Matches played in March Only 9 points out of 24. It cannot be said that it was a good start to the season. However, there would be some mitigating circumstances. For example, in the first match, the opponents had only one shot in the 90 minutes. That shot was on target, it was goal, and that goal "gave" them a point (FM strikes again !). But that's nothing. In February we could have won 2 or even 3 points more. In March, the same : if we weren't unlucky, we could have even gotten 5 additional points. The only positive aspect of this period was related to morale. My players seem to have "forgotten" about the bonus issue. *** April - May Matches played in April Matches played in May 14 points out of 27. It's really good ... for a newly promoted team. However, April was a bad month. In the two matches that ended 3-3 our defense was way too easy to overcome. In addition, we "managed" to lose again from a goal scored from the only shot on our goal, the opponent being exactly Vaprus, i.e. the team that defeated us using the same "method" (one shot on target = one goal = point/s) in the first match of the season. And, to be everything great, we lost in a humiliating way, 1-4, the match played against Tulevik, the team that at that time was ranked in last place, 10th. All in all, after 17 matches, I can't complain. We are in 4th place and the distance from the "retrogradable" places is quite large, at least for now. It is interesting that in the xG table we're in first place . I find this table quite strange. It's true, we had some bad luck in the first few matches, but it's obvious that we're nowhere near the best team in the league. *** June Matches played in June Almost the whole month was very difficult. We deservedly lost the first two matches, and we achieved the "great performance" of conceding 8 goals in 180 minutes of play. Then we achieved a slightly more positive performance, beating Vaprus, but that's only because the boys from Vaprus didn't hit the target even once. I have to remind, Vaprus are the ones with "one shot on target = one goal = point/s" . In the 4th game we conceded 3 goals again, but luckily we got a draw. As for the last game... FM advertising material: "Are you very tired and bored of the battles against fierce opponents from the second league ? Do you concede countless goals in every match ? We have the optimal solution for you ! We offer you an opponent from the first league ! It will be an easy, pleasant, relaxing experience, and your players will make an unforgettable show" : Yes, Kuressaare plays in the Premier League, the first league in Estonia ... *** July - August Matches played in July Matches played in August We started the month of July with an epic victory against the leader, Tammeka (at their stadium). It was "epic" not only in terms of the result, but also in terms of the 15 goal chances created by the two teams (9-6 for us). We continued the month with two wins and two defeats, all 4 results being fair. I mean, we played badly in two matches out of four. In the first match played in August, of course, we played badly and, of course, we lost. We continued in the same way (playing badly), with two matches in which we shot only once in 90 minutes, and the opponents twice. We won the first match, the opponent Paide U21 being naive ... but we lost the second one because we played against Vaprus, the greatest experts of winning a match from only one shot on target. Finally, in the last match of the month, we won, probably by mistake ... or because our opponents did not hit the goal even once. By the way, I can't explain this miracle of FM. We played against Vaprus 4 times. They won 7 points, we only 4. But they won 7 points having, in total, only 4 shots on target in all 4 matches ... I left the description of the Cup match for last. It was interesting. And we lost. But we lost in a particularly "pleasant" way. I'm really glad that I didn't destroy the keyboard, although I was one step away from doing it : So, we played very well. Which is normal, because Tallinna Kalev is a first league team, so it doesn't compare with the world famous super teams from the second league. In the 90th + 5th minute we scored the 2-1 goal. But that goal was disallowed. Quite frustrating. Quite very frustrating. We continued to play very well and we scored again in the 106th minute. Then I asked the players to keep the ball and focus on keeping the result. The result of their strong concentration ? As can be seen ... *** September - October Matches played in September and October As a result of the exceptional efforts of the whole team, we're the champions ! Yay ! Oh ... sorry, wrong league table. I forgot that the xG table (quite relevant in real life) means almost nothing in FM. So, I rephrase : "As a result of quite good games, as well as the countless mistakes we made, we achieved a good performance, the 4th place". *** Some details : Player stats (yeah, we have way too many players in the squad ...) Best eleven (2028 and overall) Best 9 players (detailed) Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions Finances / Club facilites (the same as in 2023) / Manager's attributes *** Youth intake 2028 Woooooow ! The two "5-star CA" players have quite low attributes, at least in relation to those five stars. But, apart form them, there are at least three other players who have very good attributes and who could probably play in the first eleven in the near future. *** Estonian leagues (tables) / 2028 Estonian Cup / 2028 (Note : indeed, if we had won the Cup match against Tallinna Kalev, then we would have met in the semi-final a team from the 3rd league, Ganvix. The result is hard to foresee, considering the fact that teams from the lower leagues are, logically , much harder to beat than those from the first league. But if somehow we would have managed to qualify for the final... who knows...) *** Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted March 3 Author Share Posted March 3 (edited) Links to previous seasons Malta : First season (2023-24) / Second season (2024-25) / Third season (2025-26) / Fourth season (2026-27) / Fifth season (2027-28) ********** 2028-2029 Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / 6th season At the beginning of the season we have no less than 111 players in the 3 squads. Way too many, especially for a semi-professional club that has debts of over half a million. As a result, I decided to release as many players as possible. I couldn't touch the U18 and U20 youths because they had youth contracts and I couldn't have released them except by paying them compensations. So, I released only players "aged 20 or more". But that was also a problem because I don't trust my staff's abilities. As a result, I decided to take into account three aspects : the staff evaluation, the performance of the player in the last season and an arithmetic evaluation of the players according to their attributes and position (considering the physical and mental attributes as being more important than the technical ones). Initial squads at the beginning of July : The main squad / The U20's squad / The U18's squad The main squad - attributes / The U20's squad - attributes / The U18's squad - attributes *** Released players Transfers (no new player came... but instead we lost a really good player) *** The squads before the start of the championship : The main squad (I brought six players from the U20's and U18's squads) Best 10 players we have in the main squad (selection based on the "stars" awarded by my assistant manager) The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** Competitions. Just like last year, we will participate in the 3rd league and also in the National Amateur Cup. The objectives set by the Board for this season are the same. The media prediction is also the same : we were considered the weakest team in the league ... and we are still considered the weakest team in the league. However, here is something that intrigues me. Last year our odds were 150-1. They are now down to 300-1. Why ? In the last two seasons we ranked 2nd and 4th. We didn't lose many important players, and the players we released didn't seem to be very good. It's not very clear what is happening. We also played some friendly matches. The results were "normal": we lost against second league teams (Zabbar, Mtarfa) but we performed quite well in the matches played against "small" teams. It 's interesting that we had the opportunity to play on a field whose surface was "clay". The general appearance of the stadium was quite strange. As for the team's morale, this is good. Unfortunately, we have some unhappy players, but I have nothing to do. We have no money. I can offer them no more than 1 euro for every match they'll play. I don't think they would be interested. *** August - September Matches played in August and September A very good start to the season, 16 points out of 18. It's true, in the match against Luqa we were lucky to get a draw, as my team played quite poorly. *** October Matches played in October 15 points out of 18. A good month. I would have said "very good", especially because we beat Luga, but unfortunately in the other important match of the month, against Birzebbuga, we lost with a humiliating score (1-4). In this match my boys played extremely poorly and, anyway, our chances were small even if they would have played better because it's difficult to get point/s in a game in which the opponent benefits from two penalties. *** November What (...) was that ?!? Matches played in November Matches played in November (stats only) So, the team that won (at the beginning of the season) 31 points in 12 games played instantly transformed. Now it's a tired, disjointed team, which hardly manages to concentrate to play reasonably good from time to time. Yes, we won a match and played better than the opponent (Kalkara) in the second game. But we lost 9 points out of 12 against some mediocre teams like Kalkara, Oratory and Naxxar. In the first match of the month Oratory even humiliated us (number of chances created : 0-7). And, in the last two matches, our opponent did almost everything they wanted on the field. How can be explained this sudden collapse ? I have no idea ... There are some problems related to the morale of a few players, but overall the team shouldn't be greatly affected. What should be done ? For now, I'll change the tactics (but, of course, I'll keep the same configuration, 4-2-3-1 2DM Wide). *** December Matches played in December The reaction of the game (FM) was interesting ... and hilarious. Two matches easily won (4-0, 3-0), after which FM realized that something was wrong. I mean, yes, I changed the tactics, but FM didn't think that the team should play so well. As a result, we clearly lost the match played against Luqa, which, after all, was to be expected. What's worse is that after that we were defeated just as clearly by Nadur, a really weak team. My boys shot a lot, but especially from outside the box. The opponents didn't complicate themselves so much, they countered whenever they had the opportunity, shot 5 times, had 4 CCC and scored 4 goals ... Fortunately for us the team in first place, Luqa, is not in a very good shape either (7 points out of 12 in November and, likewise, 7 points out of 12 in December). But that does not mean that we have secured the second place because Zejtun have obtained 22 points in the last 10 matches they played, and Birzebugga have played three matches less than us. I wouldn't be surprised if at the end of the season we'll be (again) only in 4th place (At the end of December I received an invitation to a job interview from a club whose team is in the first league. Considering the current situation of this team, it could be said that it would have been a really difficult challenge. For the time being, the rules of this career don't allow me to move to another club, but even if I had been allowed, I would probably have avoided this kind of challenge). *** January Well, this is exactly what I needed right now ... However, I was expecting something like this. Even after the sale of our facilities we continue to have very large debts. Honestly, I don't know to what extent future youth intakes will be affected. Probably the next intake will not be affected, but the following ... *** In the championship, we had a month break. The competition was not interrupted, but we didn't play a single match. In fact, we played, but only friendly matches. We met opponents from the lower leagues (5th, 4th, 5th), and the results were mediocre. I got bored of changing tactics all the time, so I did various experiments. Until now, I only change the mentality, and that rarely. Now I tried to change tempo and passing directness. Look like a lower tempo seems to have some positive effect. I'll check this in the next matches. *** February Matches played in February We didn't play much better, but we got somewhat better results. In other words, we had a bit more luck. We were also lucky in terms of the results obtained by the opponents fighting for the first places. Zejtun managed only 3 points out of 9 and Birzebugga only 6 out of 18 (!). Theoretically, we have a chance even for first place, but only if we manage to beat Luqa in the next match. We'll play in our stadium, so, we have a small advantage. *** March Thank you very much, FM. It was an extremely pleasant experience. I do not doubt the fact that in any important match the referee "gives" two red cards to the team playing at home, plus a penalty against this team. Very realistic, indeed ... After the second red card, the match turned into a circus. Luqa missed opportunity after opportunity, at the end of the match the scoring chance ratio being 5 (my team) - 14 (Luqa). Another detail should be noted : in the 28 rounds of the championship, my team "got" 3 (three !) red cards. And two of the three were received in this match. *** After this match, everything turned into real madness. In the next match we were going to play against the last ranked team, Kalkara. At one point the ratio of shots on goal was 6 (my team) 0 (Kalkara). Who scored at the next shot on target ? Kalkara, of course. Who missed a few (many) scoring chances ? Us, of course. Who won ? Needless to say, relegated teams are known to be even more efficient than Manchester City, especially when you really need a win against them. Next match. Opponent : Nadur. That is, the team ranked second to last. The first shot on target for Nadur : 1-0. The second shot on target for Nadur : 2-0. My team played quite bad, I agree, but this sequence pissed me off. Of course, we lost this match as well. Matches played in March *** April Last round. Who will we play against ? "Coincidence", exactly against the team with which we were fighting for the second place, namely Zejtun. We got zero points in the last 3 games. Zejtun have obtained 6 points in the last 4 games, that is exactly as much as they needed to equalize us on points. Why didn't they win more points ? Probably the ending would not have been spectacular enough. It's just an opinion. We have a bigger goal difference, and that means that a draw would be enough for us to qualify for the playoff : How did the team "zero points from 3 matches" manage to score 5 goals in only one match ? I have no idea. That's what FM wanted. I didn't change anything. I'm curious what will be the will of his majesty FM in the next match, the one in the playoffs. By the way, the match was balanced, and the big key to success was called, simply, "luck". *** Playoff We played against the team ranked second in the other group, Sannat Lions. A very good team, probably better than us, but which in the last 4 matches won only 3 points. So, they aren't in a really good run of form. Yes, we would have needed some luck even now. Not a lot, just a little. But I quickly knew that FM would not agree with this idea. In the 20th minute, the opponents had already 2-0 ... the two goals being scored from their only two shots on target ... *** Some details : Player stats (As I said: we received only 3 red cards in the 28 championship matches ... plus the two matches played in the Cup. And two of these three card were received in only one match) Competitions Facilities / Finances / Transfers *** Well, actually... why am I nervous ? It's just a game. I can give it up at any time and do something else. The problem is that I want to know why a certain thing is happening. For example, this one : Why in the last 3 years the "Maltese" career meant a very good first half of the season and a poor second half ? It can't be a simple coincidence as long as it happened 3 times in a row ... What, my tactics I used are to blame? Then why were they not "to blame" in the case of the U20 and U18 competitions ? I used exactly the same tactics in these competitions : Do I have some "very good youngsters" ? My young players were "produced" by some minimal facilities perfectly similar to the facilities available to the other clubs. How can be my players much better than other clubs' players ? But there is also something else. For example, media prediction. In June 2027 our odds were 150-1. In 2028 they were 300-1. Now they have reached ... 450-1. Why ? Has the club's reputation declined ? Yes. But why ? When I took over the club, we were the 60th club out of a total of 67. In 2026, the year of promotion to the 3rd league, we became the 35th club. After 2 years, in 2028, we were the 36th. Now, in 2029, we have reached the 39th place. This after 3 seasons finished in 2nd, 4th and 2nd place. Is it a bug ? Then why doesn't it also apply to my career in Estonia ? Media prediction 2027 : 50-1. Media prediction 2028 : 25-1. Media prediction 2029 : 9-1 (!). Facilities in Estonia : the same as in Malta. Club reputation in 2029 : 22nd place out of 106 clubs, this after we were in 85th place in 2026. Very strange... Of course, there is another question. Why don't I use reload if the way a match is going bothers me. Because I didn't pay 50 euros to play this way. If it turns out that the use of reload is mandatory in FM then I'll not buy this game again. *** Youth intake 2029 That "two and a half star" player is really very good. But the others ... Either they have extremely unbalanced attributes, or their personalities are truly mediocre. *** Maltese leagues (tables) / 2028-29 Maltese Cup 2028-29 / Maltese Amateur Cup 2028-29 *** Edited March 5 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 Links to previous seasons : Estonia : First season (2023), first half / First season (2023), second half / Second season (2024), first half / Second season (2024), second half / Third season (2025), first half / Third season (2025), second half / Fourth season (2026) / Fifth season (2027) / Sixth season (2028) *** 2029 John X / EstHam United Tallinn, Estonia / 7th season As in the case of the career in Malta, in the "Estonian" career we ended up having too many players at the club : 120, of which 61 only in the main team. As a result, a "cleaning" was necessary, applying the same principles (the assistant's opinion, the performance in the previous season and an arithmetic evaluation of the players' attributes). Initial squads at the beginning of January : The main squad / The U20's squad / The U18's squad The main squad - attributes / The U20's squad - attributes / The U18's squad - attributes *** Released players (no less than 28) / Transfers (none) *** The squads before the start of the championship : The main squad (I brought only three players from the U20's squad) The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** Competitions : as in the previous season, we'll participate in two competitions, the 2nd league and the Estonian Cup. The objectives set by our Board are the same, instead, media prediction "offers" us surprisingly good odds, 5-1, which means that now we're the number 3 favorite to win the championship. We played six friendly matches, all against some teams from the lower leagues. My team played very well against the best opponent (Ganvix, 3rd league) and mediocre against the "smaller" teams. In any case, the players' morale is - at least for now - very good. *** February - March Matches played in February Matches played in March 14 points out of 21. Pretty good, but I was expecting something more. We were unlucky in the match played against Elva, 3-3, a match we should have won, if only because the ratio of chances to score was 5-1 for us. But we were also lucky in the penultimate match in March, a match in which we won due to the penalty we received in the 90+2nd minute. Unfortunately, the last match of the series was catastrophic. We were clearly defeated, 4-0, and my team played - at least from a defensive point of view - extremely poorly. *** April Matches played in April A strange month. Not necessarily because of the results (we obtained only 6 points out of 15) but because of the way my team played. In the second game, the one in the Cup against Kalju, we had 6-2 in scoring chances and a good xG. But we lost, 0-2. In the next game (the one against Tulevi) we had a missed penalty, 6-3 in scoring chances, again a good xG ... but the team played extremely poorly in the last half hour. A win followed (4-1 against Flora U21) and then, in the last two matches, we "achieved the performance" of conceding 8 goals without scoring any. It is interesting that the "overall score" of 0-8 was possible even though the ratio of shots on target was 9-13 and the xG ratio was 1.6 - 2.7. Basically, my defensive players made a lot of mistakes, especially when an opponent was about to enter our box. We conceded at least 5 goals simply because my defenders stopped running and waiting for the opponent to run with the ball (or take the ball) and shoot towards the goal. *** May Matches played in May At the beginning of the month I decided to try to adjust the tactics. I also did it until now, but it was strictly about changing the mentality, depending on the score. Now I changed the tempo and passing directness. The first result was very interesting, especially regarding the evolution of the score : It was nice as a Steam achievement. But in fact, we only deserved an equal, at most. In the following matches my team played mediocre (in the second match), quite well, but against an opponent who was not in a good run of form (the third) and very weak (in the last match). So the effects of my tactical changes were extremely limited, maybe with the exception of the fact that the defenders no longer made comical mistakes. As a result, I decided to change the tactics, but keeping the 4-2-4 2DM Wide configuration. (Note : however, according to the xG table, it seems that we were playing really well. Not as brilliant as last year, but good enough. It seems that this "xG table" is very useful, not necessarily to evaluate the way the team plays, but to improve the (human) FM player's morale). *** June - July Matches played in June Matches played in July 17 points out of 24. Not bad at all. However, we were not playing much better, but now we had more luck. TJK Legion played better than us and deserved a win. Then, the match against Tulevik. My team spectacularly came back from 0-2, but, overall, a draw would have been much more fair. And in the match against Paide, a match that we won 3-2, we scored the winning goal from a penalty, in the 90+3rd minute. I find it interesting that between April 8 and July 8 we played 7 away matches. The ratio of shots on target : 30 (my team) - 42 (opponents). xG ratio : 7.9 (my team) - 11.6 (opponents). Goals conceded: 5 - 23 (!) ... and 7 defeats from 7 matches ! I feel like that FM is forced, due to the unrealism of the tactics I use, to "invent" strange developments of the matches. However, this situation seems "explainable". Half of my best eleven "comes" from the 5th league and I received a low number of very good players from the youth intakes. What keeps the team at a reasonably high level are only those unrealistic tactics. More than that, i really think this is the maximum possible level. Not even Knap's tactics can do more with these players. In any case, I find it surprising that, although since the beginning of the season my team has played poorly or very poorly in at least 10 matches, we're only 4 points away from second place and 6 points away from first place. At least theoretically, we would have a reasonable chance of getting promotion or a place (the 2nd) that would allow us to participate in the promotion playoff. *** August Meh ... Matches played in August Honestly, I was expecting something like this. Maybe, if we had been more lucky, we could have won one or two more points in the last two matches, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. *** September - October Matches played in September and October 4th place, 57 points. A very good position, considering the quality of the players I have. Since I won't be able to get the money needed to improve the facilities, it's clear that I can't rely very much on future youth intakes. A solution would be for me to start transferring players, especially experienced players, or to look for very good young players available for a loan. For now, however, I cannot do this because the rules of these careers will only be able to be changed at the beginning of 2033. So... I'll continue with the current rules. *** Some details : Player stats Best 7 players (a selection based on average rating and player position) Best eleven (2029 and overall) Transfers Competitions / Club facilities (no change from 2023) / Manager's attributes Club reputation (at the national level we climbed to the 17th place (out of 104 clubs)) Finances (in August there was a takeover, and now we have a new chairman. The result of this takeover was obtaining a bank loan, with which the club's debts were paid. As a result, we have no more debt. This doesn't mean, however, that we have money to improve our facilities) Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions *** Youth intake 2029 Seems like a pretty good intake. However, out of the first 5 players (sorted by CA), two have a very low determination and two others are unambitious. However, the level of their physical attributes is good, so ... *** Estonian leagues (tables) / 2029 Estonian Cup *** Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 Links to previous seasons : Malta : First season (2023-24) / Second season (2024-25) / Third season (2025-26) / Fourth season (2026-27) / Fifth season (2027-28) / Sixth season (2028-29) ***** 2029-2030 Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / 7th season As in previous seasons, the first thing I did was to identify the players I no longer need : Initial squads at the beginning of July : The main squad / The U20's squad / The U18's squad The main squad - attributes / The U20's squad - attributes / The U18's squad - attributes *** Released players Transfers (none) *** The squads before the start of the championship : The main squad I brought 8 players from the U20. It is interesting that 5 of these 8 players had a very good season in the U20 team last year. The 6th, striker Debattista played for U18 in the previous season and had an exceptional season : 61 games played, 75 goals scored. The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** Competitions. As in previous years, we'll play in the 3rd league (two groups of 8 teams, each team will play 28 matches each). We'll also play in the National Amateur Cup (Cup of the lower leagues). Regarding the league, we "changed" the group. So. we'll play in group A, unlike the last two years, when we played in group B. The objectives are the same as last year. Regarding the media prediction, our odds have improved a little (from 450-1 to 250-1). We also played some friendly matches. The results were ... let's say "mediocre". We lost the match played against a stronger team (Qrendi, 2nd league), a defeat that was somewhat expected ... but we were also humiliated by Rabat Ajax, a team playing in the 4th league ! In any case, the team morale is good, at least for now. *** August - September Matches played in August and September A very good start to the season. Unfortunately, I can't be very confident because I've seen "this movie" in previous seasons as well : 3-4 months with very good results followed by a mediocre second half of the season. At the end of August, elections were held at the club. We have a new president and a new Board, but there are no other interesting (= useful) news. The financial situation of the club is really bad, and this means that in the future we may enter into administration. I hope that this will not happen in the coming months. *** October Matches played in October 7 points out of 9. Everything is good ... for now. *** November I knew it ... Matches played in November We started the month badly. In the first match we played a bit better than the opponent, Siggiewi, we had more chances to score ... but we lost. In the next match, however, we played very well (scoring chances ratio : 10-2 for us), although the opponent was exactly the same team, Siggiewi. Then followed three matches in which we struggled. In the 270 minutes of play, we shot at the target 67 times...but we hit it only 14 times. I tried various changes to the tactics, and the only result obtained was that in the last match the ratio of chances to score was 8-1 for us ... but the final result was 0-0. Was team's morale to blame ? it seems ... not. Was the tactic to blame ? It seems ... not. However, because I had no other idea, I changed the tactic (that is, I replaced a Knap 4-2-3-1 DM Wide tactic with another Knap 4-2-3-1 DM Wide tactic). (Note : the league table reminded me of the scenario from the last two seasons : a very good start for us, after which the team in second place was going to get very good results, and we were going to fight with the teams in the 3rd and 4th places. However, in this case, the second place team, Siggiewi, is newly promoted from the 4th league. In previous years we were overtaken by teams that were favorites anyway. It would therefore be quite embarrassing for us to be hindered even by a newly promoted team ... ) *** December Matches played in December We started the month with a clear victory, but we continued it with a series of matches in which the team oscillated between very good moments ... and ridiculous ones. We only won 7 points out of 15, but, fortunately, Siggiewi doesn't feel better either (also 7 out of 15) and the other team in the area of the first three places, Oratory, has about the same trend (9 points out of 15) I received a new interview invitation from a first league club. Of course, I'm not interested. (Note : it's normal to receive such invitations because at the beginning of my career I didn't check the "add staff" option. So there are very few managers available for clubs that need something like this). *** January Matches played in January 4 points out of 9. After two very good matches (the Cup match included), the team started to oscillate again. Considering the way the boys played, we deserved to win 4 points ... but we only got one. However, there is a positive aspect : my offensive players started to be more efficient. For now, the results of the opponents continue to be advantageous for us : Siggiewi got (only) 5 points out of 9, Oratory one point out of 6 and Melliena 8 points out of 15. *** February and March Matches played in February and March Well, surprising or not, we promoted to the 2nd league! Mathematically speaking, there is no way for us to lose one of the first two places, and this because in the case of equal points, the difference in goals is taken into account. I would like to say that this promotion is an effect of my high managerial ability ... but, unfortunately, that is not the case. This promotion is an effect of the weakness of our opponents. A proof ? This is how (embarrassingly) our number one opponent, Siggiewi, played in the (very important !) match against us : In fact, considering last year's results, the main candidates for promotion should have been Melita, Zurieq, St. Andrews (all being relegated from the 2nd league) as well as Fgura and Zeijtun (3rd places in the 3rd league). Well, we were lucky and 4 of these 5 teams were assigned to Group B. We had only one difficult opponent in Group A, Melita (who, by the way, had a very bad season). In addition, our opponents hindered each other and, as a result of this fact, we became the number one favorite for promotion even since February. By the way, just when I thought everything was going very well, my players remembered that they can play very badly. As a result, they managed to lose in a stupid way (goal chances ratio : 3-7 !) the match played against a mediocre team, Kirkop ... Oh, one more thing. Indeed, we qualified for the final of the National Amateur Cup. The competition is not too important, but, of course, no trophy can be refused. As a result, in the final I'll use our best eleven. The opponent in the final, Kercem Ajax, is a 4th league team, so our chances of winning the trophy are really high. *** April Matches played in April My "wonderful" team played badly in the last matches . So bad that we managed to lose (only by) 1-0 the final of the Amateur Cup. Frankly speaking, this defeat was a great success for us, considering the fact that Kercem Ajax played much better than us and could have won by a bigger margin ... Okay, maybe complacency was to blame. But if somehow we play like this in the 2nd league, I'm really afraid that survival in this league will be very difficult for us. *** Some details : Player stats (Note : At the beginning of the season I was talking about an extremely promising young striker, Debattista, who played 61 games in the U18 team and scored no less than 75 goals. Unfortunately, it seems that not everything that works for the U18 works as well for the main team. The boy played almost 900 minutes but only managed to score one goal (and other 3 from penalties). In addition, he missed a 4th penalty ...) Team stats (Note : Another proof for the fact that our promotion was possible only because of the low level of the opponents in our league group. All the teams that have better statistics than us are in the other group (group B). In fact, we promoted having only 49 points, and this is relevant enough). Best 9 players (based of average rating) Best eleven (2029-30 and overall) *** Competitions Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions Finances (yay, we've passed the 500,000 debt mark again) / Club facilities (worse than in 2023, now we don't even have youth facilities anymore) *** Youth intake 2030 A very good intake, especially considering the fact that we don't have youth facilities. At least 4 players look really good in terms of attributes ... and their personalities are also good enough. *** Maltese leagues (tables) 2029-30 Maltese Cup 2029-30 / Maltese Amateur Cup 2029-30 *** Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 (edited) Links to previous seasons : Estonia : First season (2023), first half / First season (2023), second half / Second season (2024), first half / Second season (2024), second half / Third season (2025), first half / Third season (2025), second half / Fourth season (2026) / Fifth season (2027) / Sixth season (2028) / Seventh season (2029) ********** 2030 John X / EstHam United Tallinn, Estonia / 8th season As usual, I started the new season with a "winter cleaning". Initial squads at the beginning of January : The main squad (attributes) / The U20's squad (attributes) / The U18's squad (attributes) *** Released players Transfers (none) *** The squads before the start of the championship : The main squad ( 7 players were brought from the U20's and U18's squads) The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** Competitions. Same as last year : the 2nd league and the Estonian Cup. The objectives set by the Board are the same as last year. The media prediction is also somewhat similar, although our odds have dropped from 5-1 (in 2029) to 9-1. We also played some friendly matches. The results are not very important, but the shameful defeat against Soccernet (a team from the 5th league!) should be noted. It's true, in that match I only used reserve players, but that can't explain this result. In any case, although the team played mediocre in these friendlies, its morale continues to be good enough. *** February - March Matches played in February Matches played in March Only 10 points out of 24. More than that, I can't even say that we were unlucky. On the contrary : in the second match (against Laanemaa) we deserved at most a draw. In the fourth (against Levadia U21) the same, at most a draw. We played very well only one match, the one against Ganvix. What's worse is that in the last match we met the last ranked team, Tulevik, which until then had won only 2 points out of 21 possible. Result ? 5-0 for Tulevik !!! It was probably the most embarrassing result I have "achieved" so far in this double career... *** April - May Matches played in April Matches played in May 7 points out of 24. Only 7 points. I couldn't say that we played worse than in March, but we cannot be lucky "forever". In fact, in 3 of the 7 matches the team played really well (the matches against Elva, Kalju U21 and Levadia U21). Unfortunately, in the last two matches we conceded the equalizing goal in the 90th + 5th minute and 90th + 2nd minute). Also, the team played well for 76 minutes in the match against Laanemaa, a match ended 2-2. But the last 14 minutes were terrible : two goals conceded, plus a penalty missed by the opponents. (In fact, in these last 14 minutes my players didn't react to anything. They simply waited for the opponents to attack without trying to recover and keep the ball. Obviously, the opponents didn't need some additional invitation ...) At the end of May I reviewed the first half of the season and, of course, I concluded that things are not going as I would like. As a result of deep thought and the unpleasant sensations caused by looking at the league table, I have decided that I'll not only give up the current tactic, but also give up the 4-2-4 2DM Wide configuration. Until the end of this season I will use one (or more?) tactics in the 4-4-2 2DM configuration. *** June Matches played in June We were veeery lucky in the match against Tulevik. As for the other 4 matches played... we won only one point . For some reason the new configuration does not work as I would like. Should I go back to 4-2-4 ? I thought a lot (about 3 seconds) and, in the end, I decided that I'll change the tactics, but not the configuration. For now ... *** July Matches played in July Well, now it's much better! My players instantly remembered some difficult concepts like "marking an opponent", "intercepting the ball", "passing the ball to a teammate", and even "goal scoring". Using these tactics that improve players' memory is a real pleasure sometimes. However, our situation remains quite complicated, despite the 7 points that separate us from 8th place. In the xG table this difference is much smaller (and in June it was even worse). Note: it's true, we were very lucky in the match against the leader, Maardu, but we were unlucky in the previous match, the one against Ganvix. *** August Matches played in August Well ... Let's assume that you are a real manager. Or only a FM manager, doesn't matter. Your team is next playing against a team that is fighting hard to try to avoid relegation. Of course, a win is mandatory. Even with 1-0, with a goal scored in the 90th+5th minute. A draw would be a really bad result. A defeat would be a catastrophe. Then, your players enter the pitch ... and play like this : Well, I have some reasons to suspect that during, but especially at the end of the match, that manager will immediately be invaded by the most positive feelings ... By the way : at the end of the month I changed tactics again. *** September - October Matches played in September and October (and stats of these matches) We were lucky in the matches against Elva, Ganvix and Maardu. We were unlucky in the matches against Kalju U21, Tulevi and Nomme. In total, 7 points out of 21. We didn't deserve more. But, more importantly, we were lucky that FM didn't really want us to be relegated. I say this because both Nomme and Kalju U21 did not achieve much better results than ours, which allowed us to avoid not only the relegation but also the playoffs. Conclusion : I don't like 4-4-2 2DM. And I think that 4-4-2 2DM doesn't like me either. It is a clear case of divorce. Next season I will return to 4-2-4 2DM Wide. *** Some details : Player stats Compared to the previous season, many players I expected to play well actually played poorly. In fact, in terms of attributes, the player who currently has the highest attributes in the main squad (Davison) played much worse than the player who has the lowest attributes (Ladygin). The difference seems to come from the fact that Ladygin has high levels of acceleration, agility and pace... and Davison does not. Best eleven (2030 and overall) Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions Transfers Club reputation. At this moment we're the 15th club in Estonia. this after last year we were 17th, and two years ago we were in 22nd place. *** Youth intake 2030 In terms of attributes and personality, we received only one player worth noting. I hope he'll develop good (and quick) , because we really need more effective strikers *** Estonian leagues (tables) 2030 Estonian Cup 2030 *** Edited March 13 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 Links to previous seasons : Malta : First season (2023-24) / Second season (2024-25) / Third season (2025-26) / Fourth season (2026-27) / Fifth season (2027-28) / Sixth season (2028-29) / Seventh season (2029-30) ********** 2030-2031 Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / 8th season "Summer cleaning". Initial squads at the beginning of July : The main squad (attributes) / The U20's squad (attributes) / The U18's squad (attributes) The U20's squad - best 8 players / The U18's squad - best 10 players *** Released players Transfers (none) *** The squads before the start of the championship : The main squad ( 5 players were brought from the U20's squad) The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** Competitions. Since at the end of the previous season we promoted, now we'll play in the second league ("Challenge League"). The rules of this competition are different from those of the 3rd league, as the 14 teams participating in the 2nd league will play 26 matches each. Also, this is the first season in which we'll participate in the Maltese National Cup. (This also means that we'll no longer participate in the Amateur Cup). Media prediction. As expected, we are considered, by far, the weakest team in the league (odds 350-1). Of course, the objectives set by the Board are, as a consequence, minimal : the attempt to avoid relegation, plus some reasonable results in the Cup. Club reputation. As expected, the club's reputation grew. But something is wrong, because this increase didn't take place during the season (as would have been normal) but only as a result of the promotion. On July 12 (the last day of the previous season) we were in the 36th position (the same as last year). On July 13 (which is the season change date for Malta) we instantly climbed to 26th place. Finances. Our financial situation is bad. However, we haven't (yet ?) entered administration. It's possible that this database doesn't contain a limit that, once reached, will trigger entry into administration, which would be a positive aspect. However, there are also negative aspects : I cannot offer new contracts to my players, and some of them simply choose to leave us. In the last two months alone, we lost 3 good players as a result of this fact. We played some friendly matches. The results are not relevant, since we only met teams from the lower leagues. The team's morale is good, but it is affected by the dissatisfaction of some players as a result of the fact that they are not offered new contracts. *** August - September Matches played in August Matches played in September Wow ! A very good start to the season ! Of course, we had some luck, especially in that match against Attard, which ended 4-4, even though Attard was leading 4-1 in the 75th minute. *** October Matches played in October October was going to be a difficult month, because we were going to play against teams that at the end of September were ranked 9th, 4th, 3rd, 8th and 2nd. The team did well (6 points out of 12), and could have done even better if they hadn't been unlucky. It's quite frustrating to lose two consecutive matches when the opponent only hits the target once per match : *** November Matches played in November Only 4 points out of 12. We played very well in the first match, but I have to admit, the opponent was in a bad run of form at that time. Two difficult matches followed, against teams at the top of the ranking. We played well against Gudja, but we were unlucky again. Then the boys managed to recover from 0-2 in the match against Sannat, so the final result, 3-3, was very satisfying. Unfortunately, in the last game of the month the team played really bad and deservedly lost. (By the way: "Sannat L" was playing in 2023, just like us, in the 6th league. So, the AI did just as well as I did. It (the AI) had the advantage of freedom of transfers, but, of course, it didn't benefit from the Knap's tactics). *** December Matches played in December 9 points out of 9. I had no illusions about the Cup match, as San Gwann is a team from the first league which, in addition, played this season in the continental competitions. However, it surprises me that my team does continues to play well. In the previous seasons our good form lasted until the middle of November, after which a slump followed. It's true, this December we only met opponents from the bottom half of the league table, but in the past even such opponents had became "difficult to beat" for us. Even more surprising is the fact that in the xG table we are the leaders, and we even have a significant lead over the teams that are at the top in the league table. Note : I received a new interview offer from a club whose team plays in the first league. Of course, I wasn't interested. *** January - February Matches played in January and February 9 points out of 9 ! I'm really surprised by the mental resilience of my team. Moreover, I'm surprised by the fact that we're unusually lucky, even though we played worse than at the beginning of the season. In the match against Attard we won ... but we weren't better at all. Also, in the last match, the one played against Mqabba, we created very few opportunities but we scored 4 goals (the last one, the winning goal, being scored in the 90th+2nd minute) Also, I was surprised by the drop in form of all opponents fighting for the first places. In the last three months Marsa obtained only 12 points out of 21, Mtarfa 13 out of 24, St. Andrews 7 out of 18 and Gudja only 5 out of 18 ! Even Sannat, who obtained slightly better results, obtained only 10 points out of 15. On the other hand, the end of the season might be difficult for us. In the last 5 rounds we'll meet Marsa, St. Andrews, Gudja and Mtarfa : *** March The first match : we "solved the problem" of qualification (at least) for the play-off : The second match. That's it, it's over. We're promoted to the first league ! *** Matches played in March An exceptional performance. However, some questions arise : "why ? How was it possible "? Why didn't the team "forget" to play football after half a season ? No, I don't use editors and I haven't used reload even once. The save was (re)started in July, closed on December 31 (FM time), (re)started the next day (real time) on December 31 and closed in June (FM time). How, team's morale ? Another surprising aspect : it's not very good. I have a lot of unhappy players because of their contracts. Why did these players not influence the morale of the whole team ? Why in xG table not only were we no longer unlucky but we were even lucky (+8) ? We played excessively offensive ... but conceded a relative low number of goals. Why did the teams from the 3rd league (a league which is at most 10-15% weaker than the 2nd league) give us more problems than the teams from the second league ? Our reputation ? It was not very high even when we were playing in the 3rd league. Unanswered questions... *** Some details : Player stats Best 7 players' profiles (based on average ratings) Best eleven (2030-31 and overall) Competitions / Final league table (26 rounds) Transfers Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions Club reputation. For unknown reasons, the reputation started working (more) correctly. We climbed from 26th place (at the beginning of the season) to 20th place (at the end of it), and that's even before we receive any extra points for promotion on the season change day. Finances Club facilities (worse than in 2023, we still don't have youth facilities) / Manager's attributes (I still don't have any coaching licence) *** Youth intake 2031 We received at least two very good young players. At least 3 more players have good attributes and an quite good personality, but it remains to be seen if they will be able to develop in the future. *** Maltese leagues (tables) 2030-31 Maltese Cup 2030-31 / Maltese Amateur Cup 2030-31 *** Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted March 16 Author Share Posted March 16 Links to previous seasons : Estonia : First season (2023), first half / First season (2023), second half / Second season (2024), first half / Second season (2024), second half / Third season (2025), first half / Third season (2025), second half / Fourth season (2026) / Fifth season (2027) / Sixth season (2028) / Seventh season (2029) / Eighth season (2030) ********** 2031 John X / EstHam United Tallinn, Estonia / 9th season "Winter cleaning". Initial squads at the beginning of January : The main squad (attributes) / The U20's squad (attributes) / The U18's squad (attributes) *** Released players Transfers (none) *** The squads before the start of the championship : The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad In the U20's and U18's squads we have four players who have many "CA stars". However, their attributes are lower than those of other players who play in the same positions. I had a choice between taking into account what the assistant says and taking into account the level of the players' attributes. I chose not to believe the assistant. I might be wrong, but ... *** Competitions. As in the previous season, we'll play in the second league and in the Estonian Cup. The objectives are the same and media prediction considers us an "important candidate" ... for relegation. *** We also played a few friendlies and didn't lose any of them ... but we didn't play very well either. In fact, we struggled even when we met opponents who play in the 5th league. The team's morale is quite good, although the atmosphere is only "average", apparently because of the quality of training. I intend to improve the staff in the next few weeks. It's also possible that the retirement of the former team leader (Kanter) at the end of last year had a significant effect. *** February - March Matches played in February Matches played in March A pretty good start to the season. We were unlucky both in the match against Ganvix (3 goals conceded from 3 shots on target), but especially in the match with Laanemaa (11-3 scoring chances ratio, final result 3-3). On the other hand, in the last two matches we were very lucky. We would have deserved at most a draw in the match against Kalev and we would have had to lose against Vaprus. *** April Matches played in April Typical FM activities. Would we have deserved to lose 1-5 a match in which the ratio of shots on target was 6-7 and the ratio of scoring chances was 3-3 ? I would say that ... no. Would we have deserved to lose 1-3 a match in which the ratio of shots on target was 5-5 and the ratio of scoring chances was 5-3 ? I would say that ... no. Would we have deserved to lose 0-4 a match in which, indeed, the ratio of shots on target was 2-6 but the ratio of scoring chances was 6-7 ? I would say that ... no. But FM said "yes". In addition, FM also sent me the "wonderful" message regarding the terrible mistake I'm making using the same configuration. Fortunately, the team's morale improved (I found coaches and redistributed the tasks), so at least from this point of view, the situation is (still) under control. However, I'll change the tactics, but I'll not give up the 4-2-4 2DM Wide configuration. But I'll do some of what FM says, that is, I'll experiment with the instructions of this new tactic. *** May Matches played in May 9 points out of 12, which is much better, ... but also an embarrassing defeat in the Cup against an opponent (Tammeka III) which plays in the 3rd league. In any case, FM returned to a more "normal" behavior : now we were unlucky in the match against Harju, but everything was compensated in the next match (opponent Tallinna Kalev), a match we won having a lot of luck. From the point of view of the xG table, we're positioned quite well. That is, in the middle of the middle. Theoretically, we could even get involved in the fight for the first two places. But realistically speaking, I'am primarily concerned with avoiding the fight for the last 3 places. *** June Matches played in June 12 points out of 15. We started the month with a rather weak match and continued it with 4 victories. It's especially noteworthy the good performance in the match against Nomme, a team that, for 7 rounds, was in second place. As a result of the poor results obtained by the other teams in the first places until now (especially Nomme and Vaprus), we are now in second place, a place that would allow us to participate in the promotion playoff. However, there are still 15 rounds to be played and a series of bad results could easily "send" us back to the middle of the league table. *** July Matches played in July 7 points out of 12. We were lucky in the match against Levadia U21, but our luck was compensated by the bad luck in the match against Harju. However, we have the greatest "luck" regarding the opponents' results. In the last 2 months we won 19 points out of 27 possible. Nomme got 11, Vaprux 10, Harju 11. Only Ganvix managed to get a reasonable high number of points, 16, but they had less points than us at the end of May. Since Levadia U21 cannot promote and the other good team, Laanemaa, is "busy" with avoiding relegation, it seems that we have a pretty good chance of ranking in the second place. However, there are still 11 rounds to play ... *** August Matches played in September This is clearly "our year". We have 10 points ahead, there are only 6 rounds to play, and we're also lucky enough (yes, we won 6 points in the matches against Vaprus and Nomme, but we could have won only two ... or less). In September, we will meet 3 teams in a bad run of form, Levadia U21, Harju and Kalev. If we don't have a catastrophic fall, it would be normal to celebrate "winning the playoff spot" at the end of September, so, two rounds before the end of the championship. *** September So we solved the "problem" of the playoff spot. The team played quite well, won 7 points out of 12, but there are some worrying aspects. For example, the match against the leader, Tulevik. We lost it with only 2-1, but the goal chances ratio was 8-0 for Tulevik (!). For sure, the playoff opponent (whoever it is) is not much weaker than Tulevik, so we might have some problems ... *** October Matches played in September and October *** Playoff Well, at least we tried . The two matches were balanced, my team played very well, and when it comes to penalties, anything is possible. Maybe next year we'll be luckier. *** Some details : Player stats Best eleven (2031 and overall) *** Competitions Transfers Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions *** Club reputation / Club finances / Manager's attributes (after 9 seasons I have only the "National C" licence) *** Youth intake 2031 The profiles of the best 6 players that we received at this intake. Youth intakes 2023-2030 *** Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 (edited) Links to previous seasons : Malta : First season (2023-24) / Second season (2024-25) / Third season (2025-26) / Fourth season (2026-27) / Fifth season (2027-28) / Sixth season (2028-29) / Seventh season (2029-30) / Eighth season (2030-31) ********** 2031-2032 Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / 9th season Competitions. Therefore, this will be the first season in which we'll play in the Premier league, the first league in Malta. We'll also play, just like last year, in the Maltese Trophy (Malta National Cup). Regarding the first league, it'ill be take place according to a different system from the second league. Thus, 12 teams participate in the first league (and not 14 as in the 2nd league) and these 12 teams will play 3 matches against each opponent, which means a total of 33 rounds. The objectives set by our Board for this season are minimal : trying to avoid relegation and, eventually, reasonable results in the Cup. Surprisingly, media prediction doesn't even consider us the weakest team in the league. It's true, our odds are low (450-1), but there is a team whose odds are even lower. In addition, two other teams whose odds are just a little higher than ours. *** Transfers. Of course, I followed the rules of this career, so I didn't bring any new player. There is also no news regarding departures either : we kept all our players. Released players. Unlike the previous seasons, now I didn't kicked out any players who weren't needed. To be honest, I was impatient to see how the team would behave in the first league and I didn't have the patience to analyze player by player, so, I decided to keep them all. At least for now. The main squad (I have brought in no less than 14 players from the U20s squad and, for the first time since the beginning of this career, most of these "new" players (9 of them to be exact) are good enough to be possible replacements for the current starting players). The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** We also played the usual friendly matches. The opponents were only teams from the lower leagues, so, these results are not particularly important. However, it is worth noting that the team played well regardless of whether we used players from the first eleven or reserves. The team's morale is good, although the atmosphere is not as good as I would have liked. *** August Matches played in August We started the season with a victory, as a result of a match in which we played very well, much better than the opponent. However, 3 defeats followed. Two of them (both in the championship) are not surprising, since the opponents were Hamrun (the champion) and San Gwann, a team that participated in the continental competitions. Unfortunately, we lost the Cup match, although the opponent was a 2nd league team. My team didn't really play badly, but I expected more. *** September Matches played in September We lost the first game in September. Unfortunately, the opponent was, theoretically, a team of about our level, so the defeat was painful, especially since although my players shot a lot, the ones who had really great opportunities were those from Hibernians. In the next match we achieved a very good result, Floriana being a strong team. Then, in the last two matches we managed to get only one point, although the team played quite well. However, the situation became very complicated because I reproached the team for the defeat in the match against Sliema, and the team leaders considered that my reaction wasn't fair. As a result, the team's morale dropped instantly. *** October Matches played in October So, we clearly defeated Marsa and we lost the match played against Balzan just as clearly. The defeat was to be expected because Balzan are, after Hamrun, the second strongest Maltese team at the moment. The big problem was the third match. We were defeated by the team ranked last, Birkirkara, a team that had not defeated anyone in the first 9 rounds. Moreover, the opponents played better than us. *** November Matches played in November November started badly for us. In the first match we played against a team "of our level", Gzira. The match was spectacular: 0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 2-3, 3-3 ... and 3-4 in the 83rd minute. The ratio of shots was the same, 15-15 (7 -7 on target), the ratio of chances was favorable for us, 5-3. So, we were unlucky. It happens. In the next match we faced Hamrun, the champion. We could easily lose 3-0 or 4-1, but this time we were very lucky and got a draw, 1-1. In the third match we met Tarxien. Since we were playing at home, a win (or at least a draw) would have been very useful for us. Unfortunately, although the number of shots was 16-12 and those on target 6-7, Tarxien humiliated us : 0-4 ! Then the last match of the month came. No comment : Six goals scored from 7 shots on target ? And from 1.33 xG ? Moreover, San Gwann scored the first 4 goals on its first 4 shots on target ! At that moment the morale of the team became "very poor". Or maybe it was "very poor" even before this match, the result being the consequence of this extremely low morale. However, there were some strange aspects. First, the xG table. According to this table, we're a "mid-table" team. Why would such a team collapse catastrophically in the middle of the season ? Just because some players thought I was "too harsh" with them ? Should it be the tactic ? It's a Knap tactic and I also use it for the U20 / U18 teams. Result : we're leaders in both league tables. I had a choice between organizing a team meeting and being aggressive. I chose to be aggressive : I kicked out the goalkeeper Spiteri, one of the two leaders of the team and the spokesperson of those who considered that I was "too harsh". (I admit, I really enjoyed to to kick him out also because he allowed about 7-8 hilarious goals). Did this release solve the problem ? No, because the other team leader, Atzori, immediately picked up on Spiteri's ideas. For now, however, I refrained from taking other steps. *** December I couldn't resist very much. Immediately after the first match in December (a match that we lost), I kicked out Atzori as well. Then I organized the much-needed team meeting, an occasion to which all the players reacted positively. However, because I absolutely needed to kick someone out, I also "executed" the right defender Jason Vella when the poor guy came to ask me why he doesn't play more. Matches played in December Our situation has become serious. We started to go down even in the xG table. The Board is quite unhappy, the supporters are very unhappy and the game (FM) keeps reminding me (December 13, December 21, December 28) that it wouldn't be a bad idea if I changed the tactics. Realistically speaking, I don't think we have any chance of avoiding relegation. When a team concedes 55 goals from 39 xG and 104 shots on target, it's clear that their morale is seriously affected and that only a miracle (or an editor) could fix the problem. Since I don't use editors and I don't believe in miracles, obviously I expect the worst. However, I decided to take warnings of the FM seriously and change not only the tactics but also the configuration used. In the following matches I'll play 4-3-3 DM Wide. *** January Did I say anything about miracles ? Here is an FM miracle : Come on, FM, It's ridiculous ... Matches played in January After the first two defeats, on January 11, I organized a new team meeting. Again, the players reacted positively and their morale was slightly improved. But after only a few days, before the next match was played, morale dropped again. Without any reason. Then I was informed that that match (the third, the one against Birkirkara) could be decisive, and in case of a negative result I could be sacked. But, surprise, my players instantly remembered how to play football. No, they didn't play very well, but they played well enough in such a way that, with some luck (including a goal scored in the 86th minute), we won 4-3. I thought we still had a chance... but another "miracle match" followed. A match in which the opponent (Gzira) scored a goal from each of its first 4 shots on target ... *** Anyone want another example of FM weirdness ? There it is ! Which are the teams we are trying to fight with to avoid relegation ? Marsa, Birkirkara, Tarxien. But... from which clubs did I receive interview offers in December and January? Marsa, Birkirkara and ... exactly, Tarxien ! Why would a club be interested in talking to the manager of the club (and the team) that competes directly with his team to avoid relegation ? And it's not just one club, but 3 out of 3 ! *** February Matches played in February After the first match of the month (a defeat, against Tarxien) I understood that there were no more chances to avoid dismissal. But I decided to not resign. So, at the beginning of the month, we lost a player (left midfielder Steve Cassar), probably bored by so many defeats. Tarxien beat us, Balzan beat us, then I was notified again that I could be fired. Again, for unknown reasons, the players "forgot" that they were very unhappy, played football and, surprisingly, beat Hibernians 4-1 (!). After that pical win my players remembered their great unhappiness and lost 5-1 (deservedly) the last match of the month. (By the way, shis was an "out of common match", because, for the third time this season, the opponent scored 4 goals from his first 4 shots on target). *** March Matches played in March We lost all 3 matches, and after the last defeat I was sacked. I knew that I would be fired because I was informed about this intention of the Board. Hilariously, my players again played better than usual, but this time, after 1-0 and a missed penalty, they could not avoid defeat. *** Some details : Player stats xG table after 30 rounds Teams' stats - attack / Teams' stats - defense Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions Youth intakes 2023 - 2031 *** The last 3 rounds of the competition : *** A short comment regarding the "miracle" of the 4 goals scored from the first 4 shots on target. This miracle took place 3 times during a single season, in November, January and February. Well, such a miracle is very unrealistic from a statistical point of view and was only possible due to the very strong influence of morale. The fact that I was using an "aggressive" tactic is irrelevant because this tactic does not have the effect of an instant increase in the technique of the opposing players, nor an instant decrease in the abilities of my own defenders/goalkeeper. What increases is the "dangerousness" of the shot, which is described by that xG. But if xG is 0.35, then the probability of scoring 4 times out of 4 shots on target is 1 in 66 (more precisely, 100/(0.35*0.35*0.35*0.35)), that is, it can happen once for every 256 shots on target, that is, much less than once a year. How did it happen 3 times during just a few months ? *** What will I do next? I'll look for a job at another Maltese club, preferably a club from the first league ... Edited March 19 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 Links to previous seasons : Estonia : First season (2023), first half / First season (2023), second half / Second season (2024), first half / Second season (2024), second half / Third season (2025), first half / Third season (2025), second half / Fourth season (2026) / Fifth season (2027) / Sixth season (2028) / Seventh season (2029) / Eighth season (2030) / Ninth season (2031) ********** 2032 John X / EstHam United Tallinn, Estonia / 10th season In the last few seasons the month of January was mainly dedicated to the evaluation of players, following that those players who didn't seem useful would be kicked out. This year, however, I was no longer in the mood for such a thing. As a result, no player was released. Transfers. No one came, no one left. However, I brought, as usual, a number of players (more precisely, 13) from the U20's squad. Only about 5 of them seem to be really promising, but for the moment I have given up the idea of bringing other good players from U20's or U18's squads, since anyway I have way too many (49) players in the main team. The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** Competitions. Just like last year, we'll participate in the second league (competition called ... "First League"), as well as in the Estonian Cup. The objectives set by the Board are exactly the same as last year. Regarding the media prediction, we continue to be a poorly rated team, although our odds (7-1) aren't very low at all. *** We played a number of friendly matches and the team's performance was extremely fluctuating, from quite good to embarrassing. It's true, I used a lot of reserves and players newly "brought" from the U20's, but even in these conditions we should have played better, especially since the opponents were only teams from the lower leagues. As for the team's morale, for now the atmosphere is not very good at all. *** February - March Matches played in February Matches played in March Quite surprisingly after the series of mediocre friendly matches, the team started the season very well (20 points out of 24). It's true, now I only used the best 14-15 players. The team played very good sometimes ... but it also had mediocre games (especially the match against Harju). All in all, I can say that we were very lucky, if only because in the 2nd round we scored the winning goal in the 85th minute. Then, in the 5th round we tied Harju in the 90th minute, and in the 7th round we won against Vaprus with a goal scored (from a penalty) in the 89th minute. *** April Matches played in April Another good month, 9 points out of 12. I would even say a very good month, as the team played very well even in the only match we lost, the one against Elva. At this moment we have 7 points more than the team in second place and we have become - for the first time since the promotion to the second league - one of the main favorites for the promotion to the first league. *** May Matches played in May My optimism was a bit exaggerated. We are still in first place and we have 3 points ahead of Laanemaa, but my team still has its weak points and from time to time it "succeeds" in some weak or even embarrassing matches. For example, in the first match, we played clearly weaker than Laanemaa, but we were lucky. By the way, this was a very "FM style" match, in which two goals were scored but the ball hit the woodword or the posts 7 times (!). Two defeats followed, both deserved, and a match (against Vaprus) in which my team played very well until 3-0 ... and really poor in the last 20 minutes. *** June Really ?!? Matches played in June If we were a little lucky, we could have gotten a draw (and not a defeat) in the first match. If we had been a little unlucky, we could have gotten a defeat (and not a draw) in the third match (in which we scored the two goals in the 90th and 90th + 4th minutes). Overall, it compensates. The draw in the second match and the defeat in the last were fair, at least from my point of view. Unfortunately, we lost first place. Fortunately, the current leader cannot promote. Also fortunately, the only opponent who keeps the rhytm is Laanemaa. The other potential candidates for the first places obtained poor results in the last rounds : Maardu only 4 points out of 12 and Harju and Elva 5 points out of 12. The xG table suggests that our situation is still good, but it's clear that I have to do some changes. I'll change the tactics but, as usual, I'll not give up the 4-2-4 2DM Wide configuration. *** July Matches played in July Pretty good, 9 points out of 12. However, we started the month really badly. Our main opponent, Laanemaa, destroyed us in the direct match (8-1 on shots on target, 8-3 on goal chances). At that moment I thought it wasn't worth stressing anymore, so I decided to reduce the tempo from "very high" to "balanced" and change the mentality from "attacking" to "positive". Surprisingly, in the next two matches we won clearly, although we played against the leader of the xG table (Harju) and against the leader of the league table (Levadia U21). *** August Matches played in August I would like to complain about the matches against Tammeka and Maardu. In the first match, the ratio of shots on target was 9-1, the final result was 1-1 and Tammeka scored its only goal from its only one shot on target. In the second match, the ratio of shots on target was 14-6, the ratio of scoring chances was 8-4 and the final result was 3-3. However, I can't complain, because FM have been perverse. He acted frustratingly throughout the match to finally allow my team to equalize in the 90+2 minute (the match against Tammeka) and in the 89th minute (the match against Maardu). As for the defeat against Nomme, there is nothing to comment on. It was a fully "deserved" defeat. There are still 6 rounds to play and the difference between us and Elva, the team in 4th place, is 11 points. Levadia U21 cannot promote, so, practically, the 2nd place (and participation in the playoffs) is "ours". It remains to be decided who will rank first (direct promotion) and who will be second. According to xG table, we seem to have a slightly better chance, but a lot will depend on the next match, the one in the 31st round, a match in which we'll meet Laanemaa at our stadium. If we lose, the difference could become too big be recovered in the last 5 rounds. *** September We didn't lose, but we didn't win the match against Laanemaa either. It was a balanced match in which both teams rather tried not to concede a goal. We had a bit of luck in the next match (against Harju, another quite balanced match) but we were unlucky in the third match (against Levadia U21) as we lost even though we would have deserved at least a draw. Then we were lucky again in the last match. It's true, we had more shots on target and 4 chances to 3, but we only scored the 2-2 goal in the 88th minute. Both us and Laanemaa got only 5 points out of 12 this month. Now we have to pray to all the football gods that we get at least one point more than Laanemaaa in the next two rounds, plus a better goal difference than theirs ... *** October It seems that we prayed more convincingly and the football gods listened to us : Matches played in September ond October *** Some details : Player stats Profiles of the best 12 players (selection based on average rating) Best eleven (2032 and overall) *** Transfers Club facilities (the same as in 2023) / Club finances (because we promoted, our wage budget will increase from 17500 per month to 30000 per month) *** Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions Youth intakes 2023 - 2031 *** Youth intake 2032 Wooow ! This is probably the best intake that has benefited the club since 2023. I may be subjective, since the intake from 2028 was also very good, but it is obvious that we have at least 5 very promising players. Apart from the 2 "five stars CA" there are 3 other very good players, plus another 3-4 who already have better attributes than at least half of the main squad. *** Estonian leagues (tables) 2032 Estonian Cup 2032 *** What will we do next year in the first league ? I would like to be optimistic, but the "Maltese" experience was not very encouraging. First league clubs have a higher reputation and, of course, more money. Some, the "big" ones, even have a much more money (compared to the level of competitions in Estonia). This means that they have more foreign players and that they can easily attract good players from the smaller Estonian teams. The fact that I didn't lose a single player proves that my "super players" don't really have the quality needed for the first league. But there is another aspect. The "production" of young players. There are small differences between the 5th league and the 2nd league in terms of facilities. But the difference between the second league and the first league is really big. My "5 stars" young players would probably be considered useless players by a strong first league club ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherwinriga Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 On 19/03/2024 at 08:07, GreenTriangle said: Links to previous seasons : Malta : First season (2023-24) / Second season (2024-25) / Third season (2025-26) / Fourth season (2026-27) / Fifth season (2027-28) / Sixth season (2028-29) / Seventh season (2029-30) / Eighth season (2030-31) ********** 2031-2032 Michael X / Victoria Hotspurs, Malta / 9th season Competitions. Therefore, this will be the first season in which we'll play in the Premier league, the first league in Malta. We'll also play, just like last year, in the Maltese Trophy (Malta National Cup). Regarding the first league, it'ill be take place according to a different system from the second league. Thus, 12 teams participate in the first league (and not 14 as in the 2nd league) and these 12 teams will play 3 matches against each opponent, which means a total of 33 rounds. The objectives set by our Board for this season are minimal : trying to avoid relegation and, eventually, reasonable results in the Cup. Surprisingly, media prediction doesn't even consider us the weakest team in the league. It's true, our odds are low (450-1), but there is a team whose odds are even lower. In addition, two other teams whose odds are just a little higher than ours. *** Transfers. Of course, I followed the rules of this career, so I didn't bring any new player. There is also no news regarding departures either : we kept all our players. Released players. Unlike the previous seasons, now I didn't kicked out any players who weren't needed. To be honest, I was impatient to see how the team would behave in the first league and I didn't have the patience to analyze player by player, so, I decided to keep them all. At least for now. The main squad (I have brought in no less than 14 players from the U20s squad and, for the first time since the beginning of this career, most of these "new" players (9 of them to be exact) are good enough to be possible replacements for the current starting players). The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** We also played the usual friendly matches. The opponents were only teams from the lower leagues, so, these results are not particularly important. However, it is worth noting that the team played well regardless of whether we used players from the first eleven or reserves. The team's morale is good, although the atmosphere is not as good as I would have liked. *** August Matches played in August We started the season with a victory, as a result of a match in which we played very well, much better than the opponent. However, 3 defeats followed. Two of them (both in the championship) are not surprising, since the opponents were Hamrun (the champion) and San Gwann, a team that participated in the continental competitions. Unfortunately, we lost the Cup match, although the opponent was a 2nd league team. My team didn't really play badly, but I expected more. *** September Matches played in September We lost the first game in September. Unfortunately, the opponent was, theoretically, a team of about our level, so the defeat was painful, especially since although my players shot a lot, the ones who had really great opportunities were those from Hibernians. In the next match we achieved a very good result, Floriana being a strong team. Then, in the last two matches we managed to get only one point, although the team played quite well. However, the situation became very complicated because I reproached the team for the defeat in the match against Sliema, and the team leaders considered that my reaction wasn't fair. As a result, the team's morale dropped instantly. *** October Matches played in October So, we clearly defeated Marsa and we lost the match played against Balzan just as clearly. The defeat was to be expected because Balzan are, after Hamrun, the second strongest Maltese team at the moment. The big problem was the third match. We were defeated by the team ranked last, Birkirkara, a team that had not defeated anyone in the first 9 rounds. Moreover, the opponents played better than us. *** November Matches played in November November started badly for us. In the first match we played against a team "of our level", Gzira. The match was spectacular: 0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 2-3, 3-3 ... and 3-4 in the 83rd minute. The ratio of shots was the same, 15-15 (7 -7 on target), the ratio of chances was favorable for us, 5-3. So, we were unlucky. It happens. In the next match we faced Hamrun, the champion. We could easily lose 3-0 or 4-1, but this time we were very lucky and got a draw, 1-1. In the third match we met Tarxien. Since we were playing at home, a win (or at least a draw) would have been very useful for us. Unfortunately, although the number of shots was 16-12 and those on target 6-7, Tarxien humiliated us : 0-4 ! Then the last match of the month came. No comment : Six goals scored from 7 shots on target ? And from 1.33 xG ? Moreover, San Gwann scored the first 4 goals on its first 4 shots on target ! At that moment the morale of the team became "very poor". Or maybe it was "very poor" even before this match, the result being the consequence of this extremely low morale. However, there were some strange aspects. First, the xG table. According to this table, we're a "mid-table" team. Why would such a team collapse catastrophically in the middle of the season ? Just because some players thought I was "too harsh" with them ? Should it be the tactic ? It's a Knap tactic and I also use it for the U20 / U18 teams. Result : we're leaders in both league tables. I had a choice between organizing a team meeting and being aggressive. I chose to be aggressive : I kicked out the goalkeeper Spiteri, one of the two leaders of the team and the spokesperson of those who considered that I was "too harsh". (I admit, I really enjoyed to to kick him out also because he allowed about 7-8 hilarious goals). Did this release solve the problem ? No, because the other team leader, Atzori, immediately picked up on Spiteri's ideas. For now, however, I refrained from taking other steps. *** December I couldn't resist very much. Immediately after the first match in December (a match that we lost), I kicked out Atzori as well. Then I organized the much-needed team meeting, an occasion to which all the players reacted positively. However, because I absolutely needed to kick someone out, I also "executed" the right defender Jason Vella when the poor guy came to ask me why he doesn't play more. Matches played in December Our situation has become serious. We started to go down even in the xG table. The Board is quite unhappy, the supporters are very unhappy and the game (FM) keeps reminding me (December 13, December 21, December 28) that it wouldn't be a bad idea if I changed the tactics. Realistically speaking, I don't think we have any chance of avoiding relegation. When a team concedes 55 goals from 39 xG and 104 shots on target, it's clear that their morale is seriously affected and that only a miracle (or an editor) could fix the problem. Since I don't use editors and I don't believe in miracles, obviously I expect the worst. However, I decided to take warnings of the FM seriously and change not only the tactics but also the configuration used. In the following matches I'll play 4-3-3 DM Wide. *** January Did I say anything about miracles ? Here is an FM miracle : Come on, FM, It's ridiculous ... Matches played in January After the first two defeats, on January 11, I organized a new team meeting. Again, the players reacted positively and their morale was slightly improved. But after only a few days, before the next match was played, morale dropped again. Without any reason. Then I was informed that that match (the third, the one against Birkirkara) could be decisive, and in case of a negative result I could be sacked. But, surprise, my players instantly remembered how to play football. No, they didn't play very well, but they played well enough in such a way that, with some luck (including a goal scored in the 86th minute), we won 4-3. I thought we still had a chance... but another "miracle match" followed. A match in which the opponent (Gzira) scored a goal from each of its first 4 shots on target ... *** Anyone want another example of FM weirdness ? There it is ! Which are the teams we are trying to fight with to avoid relegation ? Marsa, Birkirkara, Tarxien. But... from which clubs did I receive interview offers in December and January? Marsa, Birkirkara and ... exactly, Tarxien ! Why would a club be interested in talking to the manager of the club (and the team) that competes directly with his team to avoid relegation ? And it's not just one club, but 3 out of 3 ! *** February Matches played in February After the first match of the month (a defeat, against Tarxien) I understood that there were no more chances to avoid dismissal. But I decided to not resign. So, at the beginning of the month, we lost a player (left midfielder Steve Cassar), probably bored by so many defeats. Tarxien beat us, Balzan beat us, then I was notified again that I could be fired. Again, for unknown reasons, the players "forgot" that they were very unhappy, played football and, surprisingly, beat Hibernians 4-1 (!). After that pical win my players remembered their great unhappiness and lost 5-1 (deservedly) the last match of the month. (By the way, shis was an "out of common match", because, for the third time this season, the opponent scored 4 goals from his first 4 shots on target). *** March Matches played in March We lost all 3 matches, and after the last defeat I was sacked. I knew that I would be fired because I was informed about this intention of the Board. Hilariously, my players again played better than usual, but this time, after 1-0 and a missed penalty, they could not avoid defeat. *** Some details : Player stats xG table after 30 rounds Teams' stats - attack / Teams' stats - defense Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions Youth intakes 2023 - 2031 *** The last 3 rounds of the competition : *** A short comment regarding the "miracle" of the 4 goals scored from the first 4 shots on target. This miracle took place 3 times during a single season, in November, January and February. Well, such a miracle is very unrealistic from a statistical point of view and was only possible due to the very strong influence of morale. The fact that I was using an "aggressive" tactic is irrelevant because this tactic does not have the effect of an instant increase in the technique of the opposing players, nor an instant decrease in the abilities of my own defenders/goalkeeper. What increases is the "dangerousness" of the shot, which is described by that xG. But if xG is 0.35, then the probability of scoring 4 times out of 4 shots on target is 1 in 66 (more precisely, 100/(0.35*0.35*0.35*0.35)), that is, it can happen once for every 256 shots on target, that is, much less than once a year. How did it happen 3 times during just a few months ? *** What will I do next? I'll look for a job at another Maltese club, preferably a club from the first league ... Wow! That was a big disgrace that your former team had fired you for losing too many games. I guess that it will take a long route to win a Maltese league title that will afford you more than anything SMH. What are you planning to get a job in Malta? You might want to go back to square one and find a competitive team to win that title. How's the season going in Malta without you? Who replaced you in Victoria Hotspurs? I'll keep following on your careers in both Estonia and Malta because that will take a long time for them to rise in becoming European champions in the future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 (edited) On 22/03/2024 at 13:45, sherwinriga said: Well, I think it was to be expected. First of all, I don't have a coaching license. Then, realistically speaking, Victoria Hotspurs didn't yet have the necessary level to survive in the first league. In fact, from my point of view, the big surprise was not the relegation and my dismissal, but the promotion to the first league. I really can't explain why the team had such a good season in the second league. I expected us to fight to avoid relegation to the third league or, in the best case, to rank somewhere in the 7th-9th place. Anyway, it doesn't matter. After all, any failure is a potential source for learning new things. ********** Links to previous seasons : Malta : First season (2023-24) / Second season (2024-25) / Third season (2025-26) / Fourth season (2026-27) / Fifth season (2027-28) / Sixth season (2028-29) / Seventh season (2029-30) / Eighth season (2030-31) / Ninth season (2031-32) ***** 2032-2033 Michael X / ?, Malta / 10th season Since in my previous post I also included a table containing some additional information about the Estonian clubs, I'll now do the same for the Maltese clubs : As can be seen, the Maltese clubs have, compared to the Estonian ones, less developed facilities (at least in this database). The first Maltese league has better youth facilities, but the difference compared to the second league is not very big. What is different in Malta is the number of foreign players. The proportion of foreigners in the first eleven is significantly higher in Malta than in Estonia. *** And now, returning to my "great career" : I was fired, but, of course, I'll not give up. However, I waited until the end of June before I started looking for a new club. At the end of June there were 8 jobs available in the Maltese leagues. However, I didn;t want to return to the lower leagues. As a result, I focused my attention on 4 clubs (two from the Premier League and two from the 2nd league / Challenge League) : Considering the various details (such as the table presented previously, the reputation of the clubs and the evolution of the 4 clubs in the previous season in the first league and the second league) it's obvious that the continuation of my career at a second league club would have been a more difficult challenge. In addition, one of the two clubs in the second league, Mtarfa, is the only one of the four that has a good financial situation ("okay"), which, perhaps, would have allowed me to improve my coaching qualifications. However, in the end I decided that I'd prefer a first league club. The choice remained between Sliema and Hibernians. - In real life both are strong clubs. However, Sliema is "number one" in terms of domestic performance, while Hibernians is the 4th club from this point of view. In the continental competitions, Sliema is, again, number one, having, by far, the best performances achieved by any Maltese club. Hibernians is also a strong club, but it achieved much less remarkable results. However, two "historic" results obtained by Hibernians should be remembered : 0-0 against Manchester United (champions of England !) in 1967 and 1-1 against Real Madrid in 1971. - In FM, both clubs have a rather mediocre evolution for now. Sliema remained for many years in the 3rd-5th places area, while Hibernians, after a few years "in the middle of the league table" relegated to the second league, then promoted but failed to achieve any remarkable performance. It is worth noting that the managers of the two teams were not fired, but signed contracts with other clubs from the first league. At this moment I had already almost made up my mind, but after checking the number of foreign players in the main group (Sliema 7, Hibernians only 2) I decided : I'll apply only to Hibernians. Surprise : "presidential" elections are to be held at Hibernians at the beginning of August. And this means that my application must wait until after the elections to be accepted or rejected. At that moment I asked myself if I should look for another club, but I decided to wait. I was called to the interview, and on August 17 I was offered a contract. Some details about the club. It's a semi-pro club (in real life, however, it's professional) based in the town called Paola. The youth facilities are quite good (compared to other Maltese clubs), the training facilities are ... let's say mediocre. (Note: Malta has no cities or even big towns. All its localities are quite small, a maximum of 25,000 inhabitants, and in the north-eastern part of the island there is a concentration of such localities crammed into each other exactly like the neighborhoods of a city. Almost all the Maltese clubs in the first division and over half of the clubs in the second division have their headquarters in this area, an area only slightly larger than San Marino) *** Finances. Here I had "the big shock". Honestly, I did not check the financial situation before applying. And It wasn't a very good idea at all. Why ? I thought that Victoria, my former club, had an extremely bad financial situation, having debts of over half a million. What did I discover at Hibernians ? 350,000 debt ... plus bank loans of almost 4 million, of which 3.6 million are to be paid in the future . This means that the my "new" club have to pay more than 250,000 annually just for the return of loans and interest, and this when our yearly income is less than 450,000 ... *** I was hired on August 17. On August 18, so after only 24 hours , the team was going to play the first match in the championship. Moreover, it had already played (and lost) in the first round of the Maltese Trophy. As for the friendly matches, now they have no point. I will "discover" the players and the strong/weak points of the team directly in the championship matches. Anyway, I discovered that the squads are organized in "AI style" (ie 18 players in the main squad, 12 players in the U20's squad and 11 players in the U18's squad). Personally, I don't feel like looking for players repeatedly in the U20 and U18 squads, so I'll need a main squad consisting of at least 25-26 players for the 33 rounds of the competition. As a result, I brought in the main squad 8 players from the U20 and U18 squads. I have to remind that this is the 10th season in Malta and, according to the career rules, I still cannot transfer or loan players from other clubs. The main squad The best 14 players (a list based on the assistant's evaluations ... in whose skills I have little confidence, considering his attributes) *** Competitions (the team already played - and lost - in the "Maltese Trophy") Media prediction. We have a surprisingly low odds, 350-1, and this means that we are rather considered a possible "future relegated team". However, considering the attributes of the players we have (which are much better than those of my former players from Victoria Hotspurs) I still think that this team has a good enough potential for a ranking in the 6th to 8th places. The objectives set by out Board, naturally, take into account the media prediction, and this means that I am only asked to avoid relegation. A goal that, I think, is very easy to achieve. *** The staff. We'd still need a HOYD and - maybe - a coach. The quality is not very high and, unfortunately, some staff members have much too high salaries in relation to their attributes. Transfers. No player came. A player left, but before I was hired at the club. Dynamics. The team's morale is quite good at the moment. Cohesion is low, whits it was expected, but it'll probably improve after the first few metches played. *** August - September Matches played in August Matches played in September We started the month of August with a very good game and a clear victory against Birkirkara. We continued with another good game ... but the match ended with a defeat (1-2 against Marsa). We probably deserved at least a draw. The last match had no history, Hamrun being a much too strong team (they ended the previous season undefeated). In September, we met Sliema in the first match. We were lucky and got a 2-2 even though the opponents played a bit better than us. In the next match, FM was completely unrealistic again (calm down, FM!) : we conceded (again !) 4 goals from the first 4 shots on target and, of course, we lost. However, it is worth noting that the number of scoring chances was 7-4 for us. In the third match of the month, we were clearly and humiliatingly defeated by Gzira (3-0). We ended the month of September with a 0-2 against Floriana. The team played quite well, and we probably deserved (at least) a draw, but ... *** October - November Matches played in October Matches played in November Only 10 points out of 24. Unfortunately, we're struggling to avoid the "relegation zone", even though the quality of the players we have should normally keep us in a much better position. In the xG table we are, however, a "mid-table team", but for unknown reasons the team has great fluctuations in form. Thus, after a fairly good game (the one against Santa Lucia) won 4-1, a really bad game followed, the one played against Pieta Hotspurs. Then followed two matches in which the team played very well (Mosta, 6-0 and San Gwann, 1-0 away), although in the last game it would probably a draw would have been more fair. These two matches were followed by a really poor match (against Marsa, 0-1), a pretty good one (1-1 with Birkirkara), the predictable defeat with Hamrun ... and a clear defeat (2-7 goal chances ratio) against Sliema. *** December Matches played in December Already the problems are starting to be quite serious. We are 5 points away from 8th place ... but only one points away from 10th place (a place which means the relegation/promotion playoff). The team played quite well against Balzan, but received the 1-2 goal in the 90th+1st minute. It played quite well against Gzira, but not well enough to get point(s). It played very well in the last match of the month (against Pieta Hotspurs), but even though we had 11-3 shots on target and the goal chances ratio was 5-2, we still only managed to obtain a draw, 1-1. Our problems are not related to the attack but to the defense. However, since the statistics show that we don't have such a weak defense, it turns out that it is still a morale problem. And, indeed, morale is extremely low, and the main problem is related to the results below expectations. Consequently, I decided to do what bores me, that is to try to improve the morale of every player, individually. The idea was simple : I'll try to praise the conduct of the most important players (leaders and influential ones). If the majority of them will react positively then I'll continue. If the majority of them rejects the praise, then I'll resign. Fortunately, all the 7 players praised reacted positively. Not enthusiastically, but positively. At the end of the year, I also organized a team meeting. Its result was also positive. *** And now, about my former club, Victoria Hotspurs. How are they doing in the second league ? Well... like this : Only one point out of a possible 51 ... I really feel sorry for them ... *** One more detail. As I said at the beginning of this post, the big Maltese clubs have many foreigners in their squads. For example, the top 3 teams : Hamrun has 25, Balzan has 11 and San Gwann has 16. (I'm talking strictly about players who do not also have the Maltese nationality). *** January Matches played in January 12 points out of 15. Not bad at all. It seems that the strategy of exaggerated praise has been successful. On the other hand, we were also lucky. I don't really understand how praising my players convinces the opponents to miss, but it seems to work. We won both the match against Mosta and the one against San Gwann, although the opponents had more chances to score. In the best case, we would have deserved a draw in both matches. In the xG table we climbed to the 6th place, and the team's morale is now very high. *** February Matches played in February Only 3 points out of 12. It's true, we met the teams in 1st and 2nd place, Hamrun and Balzan. It's surprising, but against Balzan we played very well and it wouldn't have been a surprise if we had managed to obtain a draw. Unfortunately, in the previous match, the one played against Sliema, my team played realy bad and Sliema won easily. *** March Matches played in March There are still 3 rounds to play, but we have already achieved our goal, that is, we have avoided relegation. The team played quite well in all 3 matches, but it is clear that we need a better goalkeeper ... and maybe a more effective striker. In the xG table we are in 6th place and I think that is the maximum level possible with the current squad. *** April Matches played in April The last 3 rounds did not bring anything new. The team plays quite well, but its efficiency is low. I would have liked to win the last match to at least get the satisfaction of having the same number of points as in the previous season, but that didn't happen. The AI manager got 41 points and 48-64 in goal difference. I only got 38 points and 52-64 in goal difference. 1-0 for mister AI... *** Some details : Player stats Profiles of the 10 best players (a list based on average ratings) Best eleven (2032-33 and overall) *** Competitions Club facilities (no change in last season) / Manager's attributes (I don't have any licence yet) Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions Finances. The club's debts increased from 350,000 (at the beginning of the season) to 460,000, to which is added the more than 3.3 million to be paid to the banks. The wage budget has not changed, but it's already very small. Obviously, I will not be able to transfer players under these conditions and it's possible that the loans will also be difficult to complete. As a result, it will be necessary to reduce expenses to the maximum in the following months ... *** Youth intake 2033 It looks quite interesting, doesn't it ? But there is a problem. We don't have enough money. I offered contracts to a number of 9 players, but 5 of them refused to sign because they wanted bigger bonuses. For now, I cannot afford to negotiate, so we've signed contracts with only 4 players, the ones marked in red. Maybe next year our financial situation will be a bit better and I'll be able to keep more players. *** The poor boys from my former club, Victoria Hotspurs, were relegated to the 3rd league, and this after they managed to obtain only 3 points in the 28 rounds. The U20's and U18's teams still managed to get some victories, but both ranked last. Interestingly, Victoria didn't lose a single player (!). The same players who two years ago were winning the 2nd league have now got a series of catastrophic results ... *** Maltese leagues (tables) 2032-33 *** Edited March 25 by GreenTriangle 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 So, 10 (virtual) years have passed since the beginning of these careers. It's time for a short review of the various events that took place in Europe : National (domestic) competitions, first league only : England (2028-2033) / Scotland (2028-2033) / Spain (2028-2033) / Portugal (2028-2033) / Italy (2028-2033) / France (2028-2033) / Belgium (2028-2033) / Netherlands (2028-2033) / Denmark (2028-2033) / Germany (2028-2033) / Switzerland (2028-2033) / Austria (2028-2033) / Czech Republic (2028-2033) / Turkiye (2028-2033) England (2023-2028) / Scotland (2023-2028) / Spain (2023-2028) / Portugal (2023-2028) / Italy (2023-2028) / France (2023-2028) / Belgium (2023-2028) / Netherlands (2023-2028) / Denmark (2023-2028) / Germany (2023-2028) / Switzerland (2023-2028) / Austria (2023-2028) / Czech Republic (2023-2028) / Turkiye (2023-2028) Teams/clubs that won the champions trophy from 2023 until 2033 : England : Manchester City 8 times, Arsenal 1, Liverpool 1 Scotland : Celtic 7, Rangers 2, St Johnstone 1 Spain : Real Madrid 9, Barcelona 1 Portugal : Porto 6, Benfica 4 Italy : Milan 6, Internazionale 3, Juventus 1 France : Paris SG 10 Belgium : Club Brugge 6, Anderlecht 3, Antwerp 1 Netherlands : Ajax 6, Feyenoord 4 Denmark : FC Nordsjaelland 5, FC Kobenhavn 2, FC Midtjylland 2, Aarhus GF 1 Germany : Bayern 7, Borussia Dortmund 2, Bayer Leverkusen 1 Switzerland : Young Boys 5, Basel 4, Grasshoppers 1 Austria : RB Salzburg 10 Czech Republic : Sparta Praha 8, Banik Ostrava 1, Slavia Praha 1 Turkiye : Galatasaray 8, Adana DS 1, Trabzonspor 1 *** National Cups : England (2028-2033) / England Carabao Cup (2028-2033) / Scotland (2028-2033) / Spain (2028-2033) / Portugal (2028-2033) / Italy (2028-2033) / France (2028-2033) / Belgium (2028-2033) / Netherlands (2028-2033) / Denmark (2028-2033) / Germany (2028-2033) / Switzerland (2028-2033) / Austria (2028-2033) / Czech Republic (2028-2033) / Turkiye (2028-2033) *** Continental competitions : Champions League : League Stage 2028-2029 / League Stage 2029-2030 / League Stage 2030-2031 / League Stage 2031-2032 / League Stage 2032-2033 Champions League : Knock-out Stage 2028-2029 / Knock-out Stage 2029-2030 / Knock-out Stage 2030-2031 / Knock-out Stage 2031-2032 / Knock-out Stage 2032-2033 Europa League : League Stage 2028-2029 / League Stage 2029-2030 / League Stage 2030-2031 / League Stage 2031-2032 / League Stage 2032-2033 Europa League : Knock-out Stage 2028-2029 / Knock-out Stage 2029-2030 / Knock-out Stage 2030-2031 / Knock-out Stage 2031-2032 / Knock-out Stage 2032-2033 Europa Conference League : League Stage 2028-2029 / League Stage 2029-2030 / League Stage 2030-2031 / League Stage 2031-2032 / League Stage 2032-2033 Europa Conference League : Knock-out Stage 2028-2029 / Knock-out Stage 2029-2030 / Knock-out Stage 2030-2031 / Knock-out Stage 2031-2032 / Knock-out Stage 2032-2033 Champions League 2023-2033 (Knock-out Stage only) / Europa League 2023-2033 (Knock-out Stage only) / Europa Conference League (Knock-out Stage only) Teams/clubs that won the continental trophies from 2023 until 2033 : Champions League : Real Madrid 4 times, Liverpool 3, Manchester City 1, Barcelona 1, Tottenham 1 Europa League : Chelsea 2, Liverpool 2, Bayer Leverkusen 1, Tottenham 1, Brighton 1, Porto 1, Athletic Bilbao 1, Manchester United 1 Europa Conference League : Aston Villa 1, SC Freiburg 1, Besiktas 1, Atalanta 1, Valencia 1, Arsenal 1, Vitesse Arnhem 1, Antwerp 1, Bournemouth 1, Brighton 1 *** National teams competitions : European Championship 2028 - Qualifying European Championship 2028 - Group Stage / Knock-out Stage European Championship 2032 - Qualifying European Championship 2032 - Group Stage / Knock-out Stage World Cup 2030 - Qualifying (European zone) World Cup 2030 - Group Stage / Knock-out Stage International League (Nations League) 2028-2030 International League (Nations League) 2030-2032 *** Estonia and Malta Estonian leagues (from 1st to 4th) : 2028 / 2029 / 2030 / 2031 / 2032 Estonian 1st league (2023-2027) Estonian Cup (2028-2032) Estonian Cup (2023-2027) Maltese leagues (from 1st to 4th) : 2028-2029 / 2029-2030 / 2030-2031 / 2031-2032 / 2032-2033 Maltese 1st league (2023-2028) Maltese Cup (2028-2033) Maltese Cup (2023-2028) Best performances achieved by Estonian clubs in continental competitions (2023-2033) : 2024-2025 (Flora) / 2028-2029 (Flora) / 2030-2031 (Flora) / 2031-2032 (Levadia) Best performances achieved by Maltese clubs in continental competitions (2023-2033) : 2026-2027 (Hamrun) / 2027-2028 (Hamrun) / 2029-2030 (Hamrun) / 2031-2032 (Hamrun) / 2032-2033 (Hamrun) *** Estonia : teams/clubs that won the champions trophy from 2023 until 2033 : Levadia 6 times, Flora 3, Paide LM 1 Estonia : teams/clubs that ranked second from 2023 until 2033 : Flora 7 times, Kalju 1, Paide LM 1, Levadia 1 Estonia : teams/clubs that won the Cup from 2023 until 2033 : Kalju 5 times, Flora 2, Levadia 2, Paide LM 1 Malta : teams/clubs that won the champions trophy from 2023 until 2033 : Hamrun 9 times, Floriana 1 Malta : teams/clubs that ranked second from 2023 until 2033 : Balzan 8 times, Sliema 1, Floriana 1 Malta : teams/clubs that won the Cup from 2023 until 2033 : Hamrun 9 times, Balzan 1 (Hamrun ended the season undefeated in 2028-2029, 2031-2032 and 2032-2033. Also, between August 1, 2028 and May 1, 2033, they were defeated in the league only 3 times) ***** I intend that in the next 5 years (ie, until 2038) I'll stay at EastHam, respectively Hibernians. Of course, if I don't get kicked out. Since the lack of money prevents me from developing the facilities, I'll resort to transfers (including loans). However, I'll apply two limits : I cannot transfer or loan more than 6 players during a season and also I can only bring Estonian (In Estonia) or Maltese (in Malta) players. (Those players who have Estonian / Maltese nationality will be considered Estonian / Maltese, regardless of whether or not they also have a second nationality) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 Links to previous seasons : Estonia : First season (2023), first half / First season (2023), second half / Second season (2024), first half / Second season (2024), second half / Third season (2025), first half / Third season (2025), second half / Fourth season (2026) / Fifth season (2027) / Sixth season (2028) / Seventh season (2029) / Eighth season (2030) / Ninth season (2031) / Tenth season (2032) ********** 2033 John X / EstHam United Tallinn, Estonia / 11th season So, for the first time in its history, Tallinna EstHam United will play in the first Estonian league, the Premier League. A remarkable performance which, among other things, helped us to reach the top 10 in the ranking of Estonian clubs' reputation. The first 9 clubs in this list have a national reputation, we being the best ranked club that only has a regional reputation. As a result, if we can "survive" a year (or maybe two ?) in the first league, we'll also become one of those "national" clubs. Another (I think) interesting aspect. At this moment, the average attendance represents about 80% of the stadium's capacity (454). Already the highest attendance was 100% in 3 of the last 4 seasons. I assume that promotion to the first league will also mean an increase in the number of people who will come to the stadium. As a result, it is very possible that survival in the first league at the end of the next season will bring us a "gift" of a new stadium. *** At the beginning of July, we had no less than 127 players at the club, of which 64 in the main squad (!). Obviously, a new cleaning session was necessary. However, I was no longer in the mood for arithmetic calculations, so I decided to urgently look for a good assistant. Considering the fact that until then I had relied on this "expert", almost any assistant would have been good enough. However, I found one really good, even for the level of the first Estonian league. Of course, I couldn't just rely on the assistant's opinion. I also took into account the evolution of these players in the previous seasons, including the U20's players. For example, in the case of these 3 players, I had to choose between two players who had played 26-28 matches, scored 12 goals each and provided 5-6 assists... and a guy (Davison) who had some better attributes (except for the physical ones), he was always considered a very good player by the assistants ... but he had only scored 6 goals in the 43 matches he had played. Obviously, I gave up on Davison. His attributes and "stars" are useless if he isn't an effective striker. I also have Ladygin's "example". His attributes are among the worst of the entire squad. However, the guy was twice the best scorer, twice had the highest average rating and three times the highest number of PoM awards. I prefer a - theoretically - mediocre player (Ladygin) to one who has good attributes but plays badly. In conclusion, after long deliberations, I decided to release 31 players. However, since I had brought 11 players from the U20 team, some of them being extremely promising, I also decided not to transfer any player from other clubs. One of the reasons for this decision was the fact that what our scout proposed to me didn't seem clearly better than what we already had in the team. The second reason was the challenge. We were relegated to Malta with a team made up of players produced at the club. Will I relegate in Estonia as well ? My opinion is that at EstHam I still have a better team, so it's worth checking. A third reason refers to the number of foreign players used by Estonian teams. It is relatively high, but it is lower than the number of foreign players in the Maltese first league. For example, Flora has 11 foreigners, Levadia 9 and Paide LM 12. The squads before the start of the championship : The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** As expected, in the media prediction we're considered the number one favorite for relegation. However, the level of our odds surprises me : 1000-1. Since we have a reasonably good reputation, it turns out that my players are not quite as good as I thought. The objective set by the Board is anyway minimal : we have to attempt to avoid relegation. Unfortunately, the team's morale isn't very good at all, and the cohesion is low, even though we played a few friendly matches. *** February Matches played in February I knew that the first matches would be very difficult because in the first 4 rounds we were going to meet the teams of 3 of the 4 strongest clubs in Estonia : Paide LM, Flora and Levadia. Surprisingly, we achieved a "historic" victory in the first match, 3-1 against Paide LM. However, I must admit, we were very lucky. Then, in the second match, my team played exceptionally well (32 shots of which 15 on target), the opponent being an experienced team, Vaprus Parnu (not to be confused with Vaprus Vandra, our former opponent from the second league). Matches against Flora and Levadia followed, both lost. It was expected. Then, in the last match, we met our former colleague from the 2nd league, Laanemaa. We started the match extremely badly (0-3 in the 30th minute) and, although the boys recovered, we only managed to reduce the score difference. What really surprised me was the reaction after this last match. The team's morale instantly dropped. As if we were the champion of Estonia and not a team rated 1000-1 in media prediction. To be honest, such a reaction seemed to me quite exaggerated ... *** March March 5 : EstHam boss unwilling to experiment ! March 10 : EstHam boss unwilling to experiment !! March 19 : EstHam boss unwilling to experiment !!! Dear FM, I think you should know something new : the competition has just started. Why should I "experiment" so quickly ? On the other hand, why are the various adjustments (team instructions, roles, duties) not considered "experiments" ? Matches played in March We played badly, that's true. The only match in which we deserved a point was the one played against Tammeka, and we actually won a point in that match. However, we're in the 8th place out of 10. I agree, the shock of the first league was tough (as the xG table also confirms it) but there are other 27 rounds to play () and, of course, we still have very good chances to reach our objective. (The fact that the first 6 positions in the league table are marked is a glitch. In fact, Estonia is currently on the 36th place (and Malta on the 40th) in the ranking of coefficients, and this means that next season only 4 Estonian teams will participate in European competitions, and not 6. Anyway, this glitch will disappear in June, immediately after the annual update of the list of coefficients). *** April Matches played in April We played again against the "triplet" Paide - Flora - Levadia. I had no illusions, so we tried not to concede (too) many goals. It is interesting, however, that in the first match the famous tactic "hold the ball as long as you can and waste time") led to a really balanced game. In the other 4 matches, the ones "at our level", we started with a very good game and a clear victory (4-2 against Vaprus). In the second match, the Cup match, in the 31st minute the opponent, Laanemaa, was leading 3-0. Then, without me changing the tactics somehow, the team started to play exceptionally, tied at 3 and won 5-4 in extra time. In the next "normal" match, we met Laanemaa again, this time at our stadium. So we had 5-3 on chances and 2.5 - 0.6 on xG, plus a denied goal, we didn't manage more than a 0-0. Finally, in the last match, we met the team in 5th place, Kuresaare. It was a very balanced match, my team played well again, but in the end we lost, 1-2. All in all, a good to very good month, an aspect highlighted also in the xG table, where we climbed to the 5th place. More than that, the team's morale has significantly improved, expecially after that Cup match. *** May What the .......... ?!?!? It wasn't a match, it was a kind of massacre. And, unfortunately, I didn't understand what happened. Kalju had 14 chances to score, but I'm surprised that there were so few. Until the break, my boys played catastrophically. In fact, they not even played, they slept in group. After the break, they woke up a little, but fell asleep again in the last 15 minutes. Shameful ... Matches played in May Right after this "historical" 0-10 we should have gone to a picnic. That is, we were going to play against a mediocre team from the 4th league, Tallinna Wolves. My boys played quite well in the first 45 minutes. Then, after the break, they fell asleep again. I tried to wake them up, but they were completely anesthetized. As a result, the opponents did not hesitate to equalize, even to score the 2-1 goal in extra time and knock us out of the competition. Shameful, again. In the next match we played poorly (as usual in the last matches), but we were lucky. First of all, the opponent (Tammeka) isn't in a good run of form either. Secondly, we managed to score the equalizing goal in the 87th minute. Obviously, I had to do something : I immediately organized a team meeting. The players reacted positively. Then, I started lying, ... I mean praising the conduct of the team leaders. They weren't very impressed, but they didn't have negative reactions either. Consequently, in the next match nothing changed : the team played badly again, but was lucky. In no case did we deserve that draw. Finally, in the last match I saw - after a long time - a good game from my team. However, it was obvious that we had problems because out of the 6 goals we scored in May, 3 were from penalties and two were the "work" of a defensive midfielder. *** June Matches played in June Paide + Flora + Levadia. Nothing to do. However, my team again played well against Paide ... but, honestly, I'm no longer interested in these results against the top 4 teams. Our job is to win the matches against the "smaller" teams. In any case, although in May we experienced all kinds of varous humiliations, in the xG table we continue to be in 5th place. The good part is that Vaprus is even more naive than us. The less good part is that we would need two naive teams to avoid relegation. But, after all, we could save ourselves even if we ranked 9th, provided we win the playoffs. *** July Matches played in July I changed the tactic (from 4-2-4 2DM Wide to 4-4-2 2DM). The effect was positive, we scored 12 times and received 11. The victory in the first match was quite lucky, the match being very balanced. In the last two matches we met the two teams with whom we are in a direct fight to avoid the 9th place. Unfortunately, we lost the match against Tammeka, although my team played quite well ... but it played well only after the opponents had already scored two goals. Instead, we clearly beat Trans Narva, 6-2. It's still good, these 3 points could be important at the end of the competition. *** August Matches played in August It's almost over. There are 5 more rounds to play, but practically we have no chance to recover the 6 points difference until the 8th place. Now we have to focus on avoiding the 10th place and prepare for the playoffs. However, I don't like the fact that the team, after a slight comeback, started playing badly again. For example, the match against Vaprus. We met the bottom ranked team and, honestly, I was hoping for a victory. But when the bottom ranked team creates 7 goal chances, shoots 13 times on target and has 3.5 xG, it's already quite clear what the level of my team is. As for the other 3 matches we played ... there is no point in talking. From my point of view, those teams already play in a separate championship. The teams' morale dropped again, which is why a new team meeting was necessary. The players' reaction was "very positive". I hope that this reaction will also have an effect in terms of results. *** September - October Matches played in September and October We played very well in the match against Laanemaa. The effects of the team meeting, probably. We also played well in the match against Kuressaare. We also played well against Tammeka, a match in which we would have deserved at least a draw, if not even more. We also played pretty well in the last match, against Trans Narva. The consequence of these "good" matches ? 4 points out of 12. I think it's good that the championship is ending because we were playing too well and I'm afraid that we might be the first team that plays very well and gets 0 points out of 12. I hope that in the playoff we'll play something else. I prefer the team not to play "very well" or "well" ... but to win. So, we'll meet the team ranked second in the second league, TJK Legion. Our future opponents are not in a very good run of form either, considering that in the last 10 matches they have obtained only 4 wins and, in total, 15 points. *** Playoff The necessary conditions for losing a play-off match by 0-5 - your team must create 10 scoring chances (of which 3 CCC) and the opponent must create 7 scoring chances (of which also 3 CCC) - xG ratio must be 3.5 (your team) - 3.7 (opponent) - your team must shoot on target 8 times and the opponent 7 times - both teams must shoot towards target 23 times each What can I say ? All right, we were relegated, maybe we deserved that, but why... 0-5 ?!? *** Some details : Player stats xG table (after 36 rounds) Teams's stats : attacking / defending. I'm probably not very objective, but I think there were 2 or 3 other teams that would have "deserved" a place in the second league a bit more than us ... Best eleven (2033 and overall) *** Competitions / Manager's attributes Note: of course, the Board was not very happy about the relegation ("C" rating), but it proposed extending my contract until 2034. So... I "survived". This season, the average attendance reached 95% of the stadium's capacity. As a result, the Board promised (quite vaguely) to build a new stadium. However, considering the relegation, this probably won't happen in the near future. Finances. For the first time in the last 11 years, the club managed to make a profit. Not big, but it's still profit. From a financial point of view, we're, at the moment, one of the most stable clubs in the country. However, there is an interesting aspect: the budget for the first league was, initially, almost 30,000 per month. However, I received the news about the new budget (21,000 per month) 7 days before the first playoff game. Did the game somehow know that we would be relegated ? Club facilities. The first change, after 11 years : the Board accepted the improvement of our Youth Recruitment (from "limited" to "basic"). However, they didn't accept any improvement for Junior Coaching. *** Youth intake 2033 I think it's a very good intake. It's not the best we had, but it's still very good. Apart from Saar, at least 4 other players seem to be very promising. *** Estonian leagues (tables) 2033 Estonian Cup 2033 *** Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherwinriga Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Wow! This isn't looked good for a first-time team to get relegated after being promoted last season. Luckily, you have a good stable money that you need for next season, which you need to improve your team as soon as you can. I hope that you'll bounce back next season because even your team just made it to the first division and then, lasted for just one season, you still have something to run it back as usual. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted April 2 Author Share Posted April 2 Links to previous seasons : Malta : First season (2023-24) / Second season (2024-25) / Third season (2025-26) / Fourth season (2026-27) / Fifth season (2027-28) / Sixth season (2028-29) / Seventh season (2029-30) / Eighth season (2030-31) / Ninth season (2031-32) / Tenth season (2032-33) ***** 2033-2034 Michael X / Hibernians Paola, Malta / 11th season In the case of the "Maltese" career, everything depends on the financial aspect. Considering the current debts and the debts to the banks, we have to pay about 3.8 million. That would mean about 13-14 years. Of course, there is the possibility of one/some participation in continental competitions and/or obtaining substantial amounts by selling players. But these possibilities are only ... theoretical. Practically, we have to reduce our expenses as much as possible, at least in the next few years. We have several players at the club, four to be exact, who have high wages. In the case of three of these four players, their contracts have already expired, so I'll get rid of them this summer. The fourth has a contract valid until next summer, but I declared him available for loan and there are already several clubs interested and willing to loan him and pay his full wage. The only real problem is that all these four players are good or very good, and giving them up could affect us. Due to our poor financial situation, we practically can't buy players. I mean, good players, we have enough "average" or even "mediocre" players at the club. But a good player requests salaries of 3-500 per month, and a very good one exceeds 700. So I have to focus on the loans only. I have an advantage, because Maltese clubs use many foreign players (more than Estonian clubs), and, in addition, there are no second teams. This means that there are plenty of young Maltese players available on loan. The problem is that in most cases their clubs ask us to pay at least part of the wage of these players, or at least part of the "appearance fee / substitute fee". And we have no money for this. I found, however, two very good players whose club (Hamrun, the current champions) agreed to request no money. Released players / Transfers *** Apart from the two players on loan from Hamrun, I brought (only) three other players from the U20's squad, and I'll promote other players from the U20 in the winter ... if necessary. In order to simplify the lists and reduce the number of staff (and related expenses) I moved all the players from the U18's to the U20's squad. As a result, at this moment our U18 squad consists only of "grey" players. The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** Based on media prediction, it could be said that my main concern should be avoiding relegation. Incidentally, this is also the objective established by our Board. Considering the fact that we lost some important players, there is a real possibility that we'll have a really bad season and I'll be kicked out. I hope, however, that will not be the case. Anyway, I'll not be fired for reasons related to excessive expenses, because I have reduced wage expenses from over 7,000 per month to less than 5,000, that is, below the allocated budget. *** We also played some friendly matches. The results are not very relevant, but overall, the team didn't play badly at all. And, by the way : we met my former club, Victoria Hotspurs. The qualitative difference between the two teams was more than obvious. Competitions / Dynamics *** August - September Matches played in August Matches played in September 11 points out of 24. It could be better, but it's still good. Sometimes FM can be extremely stressful. For example, in round 3, the ratio of shots on target was 11-2 and the ratio of chances to score was 7-0. However, the opponent, Sliema, scored two goals from their only two shots on target, and we managed to equalize only in the 90th minute. Then, in the 5th round, we were defeated by Tarxien, who scored their goal from their only one shot on target. Finally, in the 6th round, the ratio of shots on target was 12-5, the ratio of chances to score was 11-2 ... but the match ended 2-2, and that's only because we scored the equalizing goal in the 90th+5 minute ... *** October - November Matches played in October Matches played in November Only 9 points out of 24. We might have deserved something more than a defeat in the matches against Marsa and Kercem Ajax. On the other hand, it is almost impossible to get points when playing against "bad boys" like Hamrun or Balzan. The qualitative difference between us and them is too big. In addition, there were also matches in which we played very badly. For example, the match against San Gwann. We lost 3-6, but San Gwann had no less than 12 scoring chances. However, overall, the team plays quite well : in the xG table we just climbed to the 4th place. *** December Matches played in December Surprising, 12 points out of 12, plus qualification to the semi-finals of the Cup ! It's as if the game (FM) has instantly decided to "reward" me for the previous unlucky matches. My team played well, of course, but not much better than it had done from August to November. It is worth noting the 3-0 victory against Floriana and also the victory on penalties in the Cup against a very difficult opponent, San Gwann. *** January Matches played in January Only 3 points out of 12. It was probably to be expected, the good form from December couldn't continue indefinitely. San Gwann beat us 6-3 in October and 5-1 in January, but they allowed us (probably because of deeply humanitarian reasons) to beat them in the Cup quarter-finals. *** February Matches played in February Hooray, we qualified for the Cup final ! A remarkable qualification especially because my team played much better than in the previous matches. However, I cannot be very happy because in the final we'll meet Hamrun . In other words, we have at most 1% chance to win the trophy. And when I say 1%, I'm really optimistic, considering the fact that the other Maltese super team, Balzan, didn't need much effort to beat us 6-0 in the championship ... In the xG table we continue to hold the 4th place, fighting on a par with teams like Floriana or Sliema. Unfortunately, this only happens in xG table, because in "real table" we have only a very small chance to get close to the 4th place. *** March Matches played in March We beat Floriana again, although this time I can say that we were quite lucky. Then we also beat Gzira, and at that moment we were only 3 points away form the 4th place. In the last four rounds we were going to play against Mosta, Marsa, Hambrun and Gzira (again). Since we cannot beat Hamrun, we would have had a (small) chance for the 4th place if we had managed to get 9 points out of 9 in the other three matches. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible. Although we had 6 scoring chances (and 3-1 at xG), we only managed to obtain a draw against Mosta ... (Note : a result that illustrates the high level of Maltese football at the moment. In the playoff to avoid relegation from Division C of the International League, Malta was defeated by Liechtenstein, 6-1) *** April Matches played in April So we finished the competition (Premier League), like last year, in 6th place. But, still, there is progress, because last year we got only 38 points, and now we managed to rank in exactly the same place ... but having 50 points. About the Cup final, nothing interesting to say. We were on the pitch and helped the boys from Hamrun win a trophy. Besides, I knew that we would be clearly defeated, not only because Hamrun has a much better team, but also because my team played very badly in the previous match, the one against Marsa. And when complacency intervenes, it's hard to fight against it. *** Some details : Player stats Profiles of the best 15 players (selection based on average rating) Best eleven (2033-34 and overall) *** Competitions / Transfers Club facilities / Manager attributes Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions. I have to remember that we only have players in the U20's squad. I mean, of course we also "have" players at U18's, only that they are all "gray". *** Youth intake 2034 So we got some good players. Of course, the best is Victor Galea, although the fact that he has low determination is not very encouraging. Obviously, we cannot keep all these players at the club, not only because of the lower level of some, but also because of financial restrictions. As a result, we signed contracts with only 6 of the 16 players. By the way, the financial restrictions are starting to become more and more drastic. At the beginning of this season, our wage budget was approximately 5500 per month. Now it's down to just 4000. *** A few words about my former club, Victoria Hotspurs. In 2032, they were relegated from the first league, and I was kicked out. In the following season, 2032-33, Victoria played in the second league and was relegated again. This season Victoria played in the 3rd league. And it relegated... *** Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vakama2619 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 How have Victoria Hotspurs gone since you got sacked? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted April 5 Author Share Posted April 5 Links to previous seasons : Estonia : First season (2023), first half / First season (2023), second half / Second season (2024), first half / Second season (2024), second half / Third season (2025), first half / Third season (2025), second half / Fourth season (2026) / Fifth season (2027) / Sixth season (2028) / Seventh season (2029) / Eighth season (2030) / Ninth season (2031) / Tenth season (2032) / Eleventh season (2033) ********** 2034 John X / EstHam United Tallinn, Estonia / 12th season Therefore, we were relegated from the first league, after only one season. Worse, I discovered what was obvious (and I should have known) : that we don't have a team capable of fighting with the "big boys" in the first league. So I have to strengthen the team. But, before I start looking for players, I will have to find out which are the positions for which the need for good players is greater. Obviously, I can't transfer an entire team. As a result, I decided that this season I'll not bring players from other clubs, but I'll try to get rid of the players who seem to have a good enough potential and to bring from the U20 and U18 the best existing players in these squads. Moreover, a "cleaning" of the squads is also necessary, since in December we had 110 players at the club (of which 32 in the main squad, 30 in the U20's squad and 48 (!) in the U18's squad) Unfortunately, I don't have an efficient filtering system for my players. There are various systems based on more or less arithmetical calculations, but I discovered that these calculations sometimes give absurd results, because they are entirely based on "visible" attributes ... but at least 30-40% of a player's behavior depends strictly on his hidden attributes. I don't use Genie Scout or any editor, so I'll have to rely strictly on imprecise (and subjective) assessments. (By the way : in my opinion, SI Games should completely revamp the player personality evaluation system. But I imagine that there were many other FM users who requested something like this, so there is no point for me in posting another identical request) *** Finally, after 5 virtual weeks, I finished the "cleaning operation". The result is not very satisfactory because, although I brought 10 players to the main team, there are still at least another 10-12 "interesting" players in the U20's and U18's teams. But there is no point in bringing them to the main team and not being able to give them enough playing time. For a start, I'll test the players from the main team, and those who are not good enough will be kicked out. Transfers / Released players The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad *** In the media prediction we're the 6th favorite (out of 6), with a 16-1 odds. However, it's not clear to me what is happening, because our odds are lower than that of other clubs that have a lower reputation. I can't believe that the other clubs have much better players than ours. In any case, the Board established an objective in line with the media prediction, only asking me to try to avoid relegation. Competitions / Schedule and friendly matches / Dynamics *** February - March Matches played in February Matches played in March 16 points out of 21. A very good start to the season. In fact, "the beginning" of the beginning was very good, with two clear wins against the number 3 favorite (Elva) and against the number 1 favorite (Vaprus Parnu). In this last match we even set a record, the "score" of goal chances being an incredible 12-1 for us. "The continuation" of the beginning was not very good : after two more wins with Levadia U21 and Kalju U21, an embarrassing match followed (Harju had 6 chances to score, we had only one), then another poor match one against Flora U21 (we didn't manage to create even one goal-scoring chance). We ended March with a victory in the Cup, but the opponent (Ajax Lasnamae) is only a 4th league team. *** April Matches played in April 10 points out of 15. Pretty good. We're unlucky in the match against Paide U21, but I expected that we would have unlucky from time to time. However, I didn't expect the catastrophic evolution of the first 30 minutes of the match against Vaprus. Practically, my players started to play some football only after the score had reached 0-4. Obviously, it's about the lack of quality. A team that wants to play in the first league must under no circumstances play in this way. For now, our situation is very good. We're in first place and we have 4 points ahead of the team in second place. We're also on the first place in the xG table *** May Matches played in May We're in trouble. We were quite unlucky again in a match, the one against Kalju U21. But after this match, my team started to play worse and worse. In the Cup, we met a mediocre team, Saue, who play in the 5th league. We created only one chance to score and we barely managed to beat them 1-0. Then, in the last two games, we didn't play football anymore : 1-6 in scoring chances in the match against Harju ... and also 1-6 in scoring chances in the match against Flora U21 ... *** June Matches played in June We're in big trouble. We got only 2 points in the last 7 matches. At the end of April, we were 4 points ahead of the team in second place. Now, we have 6 points less. At the beginning of this month, of course, I changed the tactics. I also changed the configuration, that is, I went from 4-4-2 2DM to classic 4-4-2. Unfortunately, we started the first match of the month from 0-2. The fact that after that we played better than the opponent (Kalev) doesn't even matter anymore. In the second game, I was hoping for a balanced match, but my team did not agree with this idea. As a result, the opponent (Nomme) played much better than us, created 7 chances to score and deservedly won. We didn't bother to create any scoring chances. In the next two matches we managed two draws, a rather positive aspect. This is if it can be considered "positive" that we drew against two teams fighting to avoid relegation. Finally, in the last match we managed to beat Tulevik (a 3rd league team) in the Cup and we qualified for the quarter finals of the competition. By the way, in the xG table we're in second place. That's good for my morale. Whenever my team's game makes me depressed, I can look at this xG table and imagine that actually we weren't playing that bad. (I have to admit : after the first two defeats, I got angry. And I had to take revenge on someone. As a result, after looking at the statistics, I discovered about 10 (or maybe 20 ?) players who had to be kicked out. So, I fired 3 of them, and after that, as reconciliation, I organized a team meeting. This is probably how the two draws obtained in the following matches could be explained) *** July - August Matches played in July Matches played in August 14 points out of 27. An quite mediocre achievement, considering the expectations. In any case, although there are still 7 rounds to be played, our chances of ranking in one of the first two places are almost non-existent. However, the beginning of July was very good, with 9 points out of 9. Then, we were beaten by Harju, although we might have deserved a draw. In the next round we had 2-1 at halftime, but in the second half we conceded 3 goals in 16 minutes. The fact that we created many scoring chances after the score reached 2-4 doesn't matter anymore. In August, we started with a (deserved) defeat against Kalev. Then, we continued with a draw, 4-4, in a match in which we had 9-3 shots on target, 7-4 on goal chances, and the opponent, Nomme, scored 4 goals from only 3 shots on target. An extremely lucky victory in the Cup followed (the opponent, Tammeka, being a first league team), after which luck turned into bad luck and we only managed a 1-1 against Paide U21 after a match where we were clearly the better team and Paide equalized in the 85th minute on their only chance to score. So, we qualified for the semi-finals of the Cup. A very good performance for a club of our level. However, our chances of playing in the finals are very small, even microscopic. This is because in the semi-final we'll meet Levadia, a team that could easily score us 4-5 goals, and that without playing very well. *** September - October Matches played in September Matches played in October 8 points out of 21 and de 5th place. I expected more from this team, but it seems that, at least for the moment, this is its real level. Mediocrity. The fact that two years ago we were promoted to the first league was just an "accident". In other words, we were really lucky. Regarding the match in the semi-finals of the Cup... the result is very satisfactory, but it is worth noting that we scored the goals of 2-3 and 3-3 in the 89th and 90th + 4th minutes. Probably if we played 100 more times we wouldn't be able to repeat such a comeback. *** Some details : Player stats Team stats : attacking / defending Best eleven (2034 and overall) Competitions / Transfers (none) Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions Finances. At least for now, our financial situation is good Facilities. Surprisingly, the Board accepted my request to improve Junior Coaching. As a result, compared to the initial levels, in the last two years I managed to improve both Junior Coaching (by one level) and Youth Recruitment (also by one level) Compared to the previous season (when we played in the first league), attendance has significantly decreased. As a result, the Board abandoned the idea of building a new stadium. *** Youth intake 2034 It wasn't a very spectacular intake. In fact, it was disappointing, if only because the newcomers managed the "performance" of losing 0-5 in the friendly against the U18 team. As a result, I decided to keep only 4 of the 16 players. At least in terms of attributes, all these 4 players seem quite promising. *** Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted April 8 Author Share Posted April 8 (edited) Links to previous seasons Malta : First season (2023-24) / Second season (2024-25) / Third season (2025-26) / Fourth season (2026-27) / Fifth season (2027-28) / Sixth season (2028-29) / Seventh season (2029-30) / Eighth season (2030-31) / Ninth season (2031-32) / Tenth season (2032-33) / Eleventh season (2033-34) ********** 2034-2035 Michael X / Hibernians Paola, Malta / 12th season The "Maltese" career is conditioned by the financial aspect. The club has very little money available and very large debts. As a result, player transfers from other clubs are excluded and, apart from youth intake, the only solution for improving the squad is the loan of players. The fact that Hibernians has a good reputation is a positive aspect, as there are many good Maltese players who would not refuse to be loaned to us. The fact that we don't have money is a bad thing because we can't pay wages or various fees, and most clubs are willing to loan players to us only if we cover part of these expenses. But I can say that I was lucky. In the previous season we used two players on loan, both from the champions Hamrun. One of them, goalkeeper Agius, is no longer interested in staying with us. The other one, however, Mallia, our best scorer in the previous season, agrees with the loan extension. Moreover, even his club (Hamrun) agrees with this and does not ask for any money, not even for fees. The only problem is that Hamrun imposes restrictive conditions. Claude Mallia can only be used as a striker and only as a "pressing forward". And last season I used Mallia as an "advanced forward". I hope that this modification will not affect his performances. *** Since I have to reduce expenses as much as possible, it was necessary to release some players. Some of these players were useless anyway, but others, like Cordina, would still have been necessary. Unfortunately, his salary is too high and any attempt to convince him to accept a decrease was futile. Regarding transfers, we brought (on loan from San Gwann) a goalkeeper. He's not at the level of the goalkeeper we used last season, but he's still better than the other goalkeepers we have at the club now. The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad (we don't have any players here, of course, excepting of the "grey" ones. All the players received at the previous youth intake were moved to the U20's squad) Profiles of the best 18 players (the main squad) / Profiles of the best 8 players (the U20's squad) *** Media prediction. Surprisingly, we ended up being considered the team havest the highest chances ... of relegation (450-1). I don't really understand how it is possible for us to be "weaker" than some newly promoted teams like Mtarfa or Lija, but... all right. The objectives set by our Board are, of course, based on media prediction. Competitions. Last season we played in the final of the Cup. Of course, it was also about luck, especially in the matches where we met San Gwann (quarter-finals) or Floriana (semi-finals). This year, however, we'll probably be knocked out after the first match, as we will meet Balzan, a much stronger team than San Gwann or Floriana. Friendly matches and schedule / Dynamics *** August - September Wow ! Matches played in August and September The two victories against Floriana and Sliema are remarkable, although in the second game we scored the winning goal in the 90th+5th minute. Even the defeat by only 3-4 in the match against Balzan is remarkable in a way. Unfortunately, we lost a match (the one played against Kercem) in which we could have gotten at least a draw. But I'm not complaining, the overall achievements (15 points out of 21) are beyond expectations anyway. *** October - November Matches played in October Matches played in November 13 points out of 18 and we continue to stay in second place. However, it is obvious that this is a momentary conjuncture. Hamrun clearly beat us. We got a point in the match against San Gwann, but the opponents had 9-1 scoring chances, so if they had a bit of luck they could have beaten us very easily. Also, we beat Floriana, but Floriana created 8 scoring chances and in the second half of the match only luck saved us. Positive aspects : we continue to win against the weaker teams quite easily. Also, we managed a very good match in the Cup, against Balzan. We led with 2-1 until the 79th minute, and the ratio of chances was 7 (for us) - 8 (Balzan). But is worth noting that Balzan started the match with many players considered reserves and used more players from the first team only at the end. *** Two interesting details (I think): - Hibernians currently has the most players produced by the club and who play in the first league - obviously, Hibernians also has several players regularly called up to the national teams of Malta. Until now, however, it was about the U18, U19 and U21 teams. Now is the first time that a player is called to the national team of Malta and, surprisingly, it wasn't a player from the main team but Victor Galea, a player that we received at the youth intake in April . Of course, the national team of Malta doesn't have a high level, but if a 16-year-old player was called to this team it means (maybe ?) that his CA and PA are very high, at least compared to the usual level in Malta *** December Matches played in December Only 6 points. It was to be expected, but it's frustrating. The match against Kercem was very balanced, but we received the defeating goal in the 90th+3rd minute. In the next match, Balzan slaughtered us in the first half and then, being sure of victory, they played casually and allowed us to create a few chances. Then we met Sliema, my team played very well, we won and I thought that the team's good run of form will continue. It was not the case. In the last match of the year, Lija "electrocuted" us 5 times using the counterattack, they scored 5 times and even if two of the 5 goals were disallowed ... they won. *** At the beginning of the month I received an interview offer. To be honest, it was a veeeery tempting offer, because it was about Floriana, a strong club which, from a financial point of view, is much more stable than Hibernians. However, in the end I declined the offer, although I wonder even now if it wasn't a big mistake ... *** January Matches played in January Only one point out of 12 . In the first match, San Gwann scored in the 2nd minute and, although in the rest of the match we played a bit better than them, we didn't manage to score the equalizing goal. Then we met Hamrun. They clearly beat us, but it is worth noting that they scored their three goals from their first 3 shots on target. In the next match we met Birkirkara, a team fighting to avoid relegation. We played better, maybe we deserved a draw or even a win ... but the opponents scored again 3 goals from their only 3 shots on target ! The second match in a row when this happens ! Finally, in the last match of the month, we met Mosta, who gave us a football lesson. It's true, we had 2-0 and they equalized (2-2) in the 90th+1st minute. But they played much better than us and had a disallowed goal in the 90th+3rd minute ... To be honest, I knew we would have problems because in the first part of the season we were really lucky. But something must be done and, obviously, the simplest would be to change the tactics used. I'll keep the 4-2-3-1 2DM Wide configuration but I'll use another Knap tactic. Also, since the team's morale is low, I organized a team meeting. *** Another thing that happened in January : we lost a player. But the loss was "profitable", as the club collected 76,000, with the possibility of increasing the collected amount up to 205,000 if certain conditions are met. The transfer amount is very high from the point of view of my club, but it's not a Maltese record. Other Maltese players were transferred for more than 500,000, but these players were then playing in Malta's senior team, while our player - Ryan Grech - is just over 18 years old and has only played for Malta's U18 and U21 teams only *** February Matches played in February Changing tactics and a team meeting can work wonders... sometimes. Like now, for example. However, the first match was disappointing for us because we only started playing football after the 30th minute, when the score was already 0-3. Next, we got two easy victories against some teams at the bottom of the league table. Then, we met Kercem, the team that until the end of January had played far beyond expectations. In the first half we played well and the opponent, Kercem, mediocre, which helped us to have an advantage of two goals. In the second half we also started to play mediocre and, as a result, Kercem started to be dangerous. They scored a goal then, in the last quarter of an hour they crowded us in our box and missed two chances to score. Fortunately, the match ended 2-1 for us, but we were very, very lucky. At the moment we're in 4th place, tied on points with Kercem and having only one point more than Sliema. Of course, we were lucky : Kercem got only 2 points in the last 4 games, and Sliema has slightly worse achievements than us, 7 points. The matches in March will be very important, as we will meet Sliema, but also two extremely strong teams (Balzan and San Gwann). So, in order to have a chance to stay in the 4th place, we'll have to win this match against Sliema. *** March I appreciate to the max the lost matches when the opponent scores 4 times out of 4 shots on target. Matches like this are my favorite... Of course, Sliema played a bit better than us and maybe the result is correct, but I would prefer a lower number of matches in which the opponent is very effective (especially in Malta, whose competitions are not filled with players possessing exceptional technical and mental skills) Matches played in March *** April Matches played in April So, we ranked 5th. A somewhat better position than last year (6th place then). It's interesting that if the match against Sliema had ended 3-3 and not 3-4, we would have ranked 4th and played in the continental competitions. On the other hand, however, my team played very well only in the first part of the championship. In the second part, there were quite a few matches in which we didn't play well enough, an aspect highlighted by the xG table, where we only placed 7th. *** Some details : Player stats The best 8 players (a list based on the average rating) Best eleven (2034-2035 and overall) (Claude Mallia, the player on loan for the last two years from Hamrun, managed to score 38 goals in the 59 matches he played in, thus entering Hibernians' "all-time best eleven") Team stats : attacking / defending Competitions / Transfers / Club facilities Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions (I have to remind that in the U18 team we only have "grey" players) *** Finances. The wage budget was therefore reduced once again, from approximately 4000 per month to 3650 per month ... Honestly, it would be better if this budget were completely cancelled. It already seems stupid to me. I understand the fact that the club has large debts, but at the moment Hibernians has, by far, the smallest wage budget in the first league. Moreover, if we played in the second league we would have the 13th budget out of 14 clubs, and in the 3rd league we would have the 7th budget out of 12 clubs. In other words, in the first 3 Maltese leagues there are only 5 clubs that spend less than us. Is this budget important ? Well... let's see. At the beginning of March, Hamrun announced that they had released Claude Mallia. Yes, that Claude Mallia who scored 38 goals for us. Perfect news, isn't it, especially since the guy was interested in continuing to play for us. But, of course, he wanted some money. Basically 600 per month, but he was willing to negotiate. How much could we offer him? Maximum 170 per month. In other words, the club will lose a real bargain, a player who scored 38 goals and who demands, altogether, only about 7500 per year *** Youth intake 2035 A quite mediocre intake. There are, of course, some - about 4 or 5 - interesting players. But ... we have no money. It's possible that in 3 months one or more important players will leave us because we cannot offer him/them a new contract. Should I risking the loss of those players just for a few "promising" youngsters ? I think no, I shouldn't. Consequently, we offered a contract to only one player. *** Maltese leagues (tables) 2032-33 Maltese Cup 2032-33 Maltese leagues (tables) 2033-34 Maltese Cup 2033-34 Maltese leagues (tables) 2034-35 Maltese Cup 2034-35 *** Edited April 8 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted April 12 Author Share Posted April 12 (edited) Links to previous seasons : Estonia : First season (2023), first half / First season (2023), second half / Second season (2024), first half / Second season (2024), second half / Third season (2025), first half / Third season (2025), second half / Fourth season (2026) / Fifth season (2027) / Sixth season (2028) / Seventh season (2029) / Eighth season (2030) / Ninth season (2031) / Tenth season (2032) / Eleventh season (2033) / Twelfth season (2034) ********** 2035 John X / EstHam United Tallinn, Estonia / 13th season Since in the first season after the relegation to the second league we not only failed to re-promote, but we also ranked in a mediocre position (5th place), I decided to clean up the squads in such a way that to keep only two categories of players at the club : those who are strictly necessary for us and those who seem to have a reasonable chance to develop in the future. As a result, we released no less than 34 players, of which 23 on January 1st and another 11 on January 31th (Regarding transfers, there is a problem. The fact that Estonian teams have more reserve or youth teams than in other countries has the effect of reducing the access of "smaller" clubs to a significant number of players. Practically, most players from these reserve / youth teams don't want to go to smaller clubs. Not even in the form of a loan. On the other hand, the strong clubs, having much more money, can easily attract the possible good players from the smaller teams. As a result, my attempts to transfer some good players (preferably better than the ones we already have at the club) were a big failure. We could bring mediocre players, but all the better players refused us, even those who until then played for relegated clubs from the 2nd league. Besides, we don't have enough money to scout all the lower leagues. I have to limit myself only to looking for players in the second league and the surrounding leagues (first and third), as well as players free of contract) Consequently, I didn't manage to bring even one new player. On the other hand, we didn't lose any players either, which probably means that, from the point of view of first league clubs, our best players are quite mediocre. Transfers The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad (I moved all the under 18 players to the U20's squad, so, in the U18's squad we only have "grey" players for now) Profiles of the 12 best players from the main squad (in fact, these are all players who, according to the assistant's opinion, have at least two CA stars) Profiles of the 7 best players form the U20's squad *** According to media prediction, wea'e the weakest team in the 2nd league (and therefore also the main candidate for relegation). Our share, 20-1, is a bit worse compared to last year's (16-1), and this can be explained by the fact that the reputation of the club has also decreased. Probably our main squad is, from a qualitative point of view, similar or even slightly better than a year ago. The objective set by the Board is, of course, to avoid relegation. Competitions / Schedule and friendly matches / Dynamics *** February - March Matches played in February Matches played in March 15 points out of 21. A pretty good start to the season. We probably didn't deserve to be defeated in the match against Elva. Instead, the defeat in the match played against the number 1 favorite, Vaprus Parnu, was normal because Vaprus created 7 scoring opportunities and in the second half my team played very bad *** April Matches played in April We got 11 points out of 15 and, since Vaprus got only 3 points, we not only climbed to the first place but even we're 4 points away from the second place. It is noteworthy that we managed to clearly defeat one of the possible opponents in the fight for promotion, Harju, but also the fact that Elva managed, once again, to get a lucky positive result against us. (Note : It seems that in this database Paide LM III can promote to the first league, which in reality would not be possible, Paide III being the reserve team of the first league club Paide LM, where "LM" is "linnameeskond", which means "team of the city"). *** May Matches played in May We continue to be in first place, although the difference between us and the second place was reduced to two points. We're also on the first place in the xG table. However, my team is in a slight decline in form. For example, Kalev could have won the match against us. Also, our victory in the match against Laanemaa was lucky. Of course, there was also a kind of compensation : we played a bit better than Vaprus, but we only got a draw. Finally, in the Cup match, we could have had big problems if the opponent, Kose, a team from the 4th league, had not had two disallowed goals in the 82nd minute (when the score was 2-2) and in the 117th minute (when the score was 2-3). By the way : in the next round of the cup we'll meet one of the best teams in the first league, Flora Tallinn. Of course, we have no chance to win that match. *** June Matches played in June We won 10 points out of 12 and we're 7 points away from the second place and 9 points away from the third place. Of course, we also took advantage of the fact that Harju, the team that was in second place at the end of May, only managed to get 3 points in June. However, we have some problems. In the xG table we are still in first place, but we only have a small advantage over places 2 (Paide III) and 3 (Harju). Then, in the match against Paide III we won, but Paide missed a penalty and had a goal disallowed in the 86th minute. Then, in the match against Harju, the opponent created no less than 9 chances to score, and we were very lucky to get that 3-3. Finally, we won the match with Kalju U21, 3-1, but after the break my players seemed to have fallen asleep and only the helplessness of the Kalju team saved us from trouble. *** July Matches played in July Only 5 points out of 15. Honestly, I expected something like that. We're clearly in a decline in form. However, we continue to be 5 points ahead of the team ranked second. Also, in the xG table we still have a small lead, 2 points. In the first match of the month (against Elva), we played well only in the first 45 minutes. The opponent, Elva, didn't play very well either, but they scored (4 times) ... and we missed. In the third match we met Vaprus. We had the advantage, 2-1 in the 65th minute, then Vaprus scored three times and repeated the classic FM performance (4 goals scored from 4 shots on target). However, overall they played better than us and deserved to win. Then, in the third match, we met Laanemaa. A win would have been worth "6 points", considering the league table. Unfortunately, we only got a draw. Laanemaa shot only once at the target, but they got the score they wanted *** August Matches played in August We shouldn't have lost the match against Paide III. But we started hesitantly, Paide scored twice, then we tried, without success, to recover the difference. Then, in the next two games we earned 6 points, but in both matches our play was mediocre. Honestly speaking, both Harju and Kalju U21 were really unlucky. Finally, in the last game of the month we "managed" to lose, even though we were playing against the last ranked team, Paide U21. Sure, we conceded the 1-2 goal in the 87th minute, but that doesn't excuse the countless mistakes made by my team. *** September Matches played in September Only one point out of 15. Sure, theoretically we still have a chance for second place, but, to be honest, this whole situation disgusted me. If the alternative for me is either to leave the club or to break the keyboard, I prefer to leave. It seems very clear to me that I don't have a team capable of promoting in the first league. The promotion 3 years ago was purely accidental, and such an accident will not happen again. How do I know ? Simple, it was enough for me to see the team's morale. The boys are really happy. They still have a little and they open the champagne in the locker room after every defeat (September 5, after the defeat with Elva / September 17, after the defeat with Vaprus). I'm really thinking if it wouldn't have been appropriate to propose to them an outing to a restaurant to celebrate the defeats properly. On the other hand, the assistant's suggestions were hilarious. Before the match against Vaprus, he told me "to ease the pressure on the players" and "to tell them that they are not expected to win". I didn't follow his suggestion because the idea annoyed me. We were going to play against a team in the middle of the league table ... Then, before the match against Laanemaa, I should have told the players that the opponent is extremely strong (although until then I had played against Lanemaa three times and the results were 3-1, 2-0 and 0-0). Moreover, I should have told them that "we are not favorites by any stretch of the imagination". I had no idea that in reality Laanemaa is even stronger than Manchester City, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Luckily, the assistant revealed the terrible truth to me. Of course, I understood what the game (FM) wanted to tell me : that my team has currently a very high level of complacency. And that, on the other hand, my team cannot withstand the pressure, it has a low level of professionalism and an ambition at the level of an amateur team. All in all, that it's a team that could only promote to the first league by a miracle. As for survival in the first league, probably even multiple miracles wouldn't be enough. *** October Matches played in October 5th place, same as last year. But this year, as a result of an epic fight, we obtained 56 points, and not 53 like the previous year. The goal difference was exactly the same, +11. A small detail : last year, one of my strikers scored 17 goals. This year, although his attributes have not changed, the guy scored only one goal. Why ? Well, maybe because the visible attributes represent only a part of the elements that the match engine takes into account when generating events. *** Some details : Player stats Best eleven (2035 and overall) Profiles of the best 9 players (selection based on average rating) Team stats : attacking / defending League tables - first and second half of the season (38 points in the first 18 games ... and only 18 points in the last 18 games) Transfers Various stats : goals scored / assists, average rating, MoM / attendance *** Club facilites. At this moment I am decided to leave EstHam, but I am interested in this club producing the best players possible. As a result, I insisted on improving the facilities. The Board agreed with the expansion of the recruitment network and at this moment EstHam's facilities look like this. By comparison, they are very similar to the existing facilities at Hibernians (the Maltese club where the other career takes place) Finances. The Board decided to reduce the wage budget from almost 20000 per month to only 11100. Another reason to leave this club ... *** Profiles of the best 9 players in the U20 team Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions *** Youth intake 2035 *** At the beginning of December I was offered a job interview. It seemed interesting, I myself intended to leave EstHam and, consequently, I accepted the invitation. On this occasion I discovered that the game (FM) has no idea what happened in previous years. I was asked about what happened on the occasion of the only relegation that I have in my record. Coincidentally, on that occasion it happened that the team of the club that invited me to the interview beat my team, 5-0. Of course, I realized that FM doesn't know what it's about, but this question didn't sound right to me. "Do you remember when we beat you 5-0 in the playoffs ? How do you explain this fact ?". In any case, the interview went quite well and it seemed to me that there was a good chance of being hired. As a result, I started gathering information about my possible future club. What I discovered wasn't very interesting : 1. They offered me a wage budget very similar to the one I had at East Ham. A negative aspect 2. While EstHam is, from a financial point of view, one of the most stable clubs in the country, TJK is in a much less good situation. Also, the club's income is not much higher than that of EstHam. Another negative aspect 3. TJK has just been relegated from the first league and will play in the second league. A third negative aspect, as it's possible that some of the players who played in the first league no longer want to continue playing for this team. 4. TJK has a significantly better reputation than EstHam. A positive aspect Since the negative aspects were the majority, I decided that, at least for now, I could wait. As a result, I refused to sign the contract that was offered to me. But if next year I receive another offer from a first league team/club, I'll accept it. Also, I'll apply to any club whose team plays in the first league in case that club dismisses its manager. *** Estonian leagues (tables) 2033 Estonian Cup 2033 Estonian leagues (tables) 2034 Estonian Cup 2034 Estonian leagues (tables) 2035 Estonian Cup 2035 *** Edited April 12 by GreenTriangle 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 Links to previous seasons : Malta : First season (2023-24) / Second season (2024-25) / Third season (2025-26) / Fourth season (2026-27) / Fifth season (2027-28) / Sixth season (2028-29) / Seventh season (2029-30) / Eighth season (2030-31) / Ninth season (2031-32) / Tenth season (2032-33) / Eleventh season (2033-34) / Twelfth season (2034-35) ********** 2035-2036 Michael X / Hibernians Paola, Malta / 13th season We're a poor club. Very poor. We have debts of 450,000, plus 3 million to the banks. Total, 3.45 million. As a result, we were unable to pay 7500 per year to the best player of the last two seasons, and he now earns 17000 per year (and various bonuses) at another club. Of course, we didn't buy players from other clubs. As for the players on loan... it's only one, the goalkeeper we also used last season. Fortunately, his club did not ask us for any money and, in addition, the same club pays the player's wages and all bonuses and fees. The main squad. However, I improved the squad a little. That is, I brought the best 4 players from the U20 team. According to the assistant, these are very good players. But it wouldn't be the first time when the assistant wrongly evaluates a group of players... The U20's squad / The U18's squad (as it turns out, we have no players in the U18 team, except of the "grey" ones. In fact, in general, we don't really have players, this is because the financial restrictions do not allow me to offer contracts to a significant number of players from those received at the youth intakes) Profiles of the best 9 players (selection based on assistant's evaluation) Transfers / Released players *** Media prediction. We climbed to 9th place out of 12 and our odds (250-1) are a bit better than last year. But that does not mean that the objective set by the Board would be different. As in the previous season, our "job" is to avoid relegation Competitions / Schedule and friendly matches *** August Matches played in August A very good start to the season, 9 points out of 9. However, none of the three opponents we met is very strong, so these results are good ... but not exceptional *** September Wow ! Of course, we were lucky. After all, the ratio of shots on target was 3-11, so, we scored 3 goals from three shots on target (more precisely, from two shots and an own goal). However, the ratio of goal chances was very balanced. Matches played in September 9 points out of 12. We are in second place, but we must not forget that 5 of the 6 victories we achieved were against some teams from the second half of the league table. Also, in the second difficult match, the one against Balzan, we were clearly defeated. Probably Hamrun is not in a very good run of form, at least for the moment. (Note : our player, Victor Galea, was called up for the second time to the national team of Malta, despite the fact that he is only 17 years old. It seems that this guy really has a very high CA, at least for the level of the Maltese league). *** October Matches played in October 4 points out of 12. Obviously, teams like Balzan and San Gwann are too strong for our current level. Unfortunately, we also had difficulties in the case of some teams that are closer to our level. In the match against Floriana we had 2-0, but we conceded two goals in the 84th and 90th minutes. Moreover, in the last 15 minutes Floriana missed another 2 - 3 chances to score. The situation was similar in the match against Birkirkara, but this time we managed to keep the result until the end. *** November Matches played in November We started the month with a match in which we had 3 goals disallowed. Realistically speaking, we didn't play well at all, but the "ideas" of the match engine seem a bit exaggerated to me sometimes. In the next match we "managed" to play mediocre again, but luckily, our opponent (Valletta) didn't play better either. Then we managed (for the second time) to play very well against Hamrun, but this time they were a bit luckier. In the league table we're in 3rd place, with a lead of 5 points compared to Floriana (4th place). *** December Woooow ! Matches played in December This was truly an exceptional month. 12 points out of 12, plus a "historic" victory against Balzan, plus a match in which we practically humiliated Sliema. In the league table we're only one point behind the 2nd place. However, it's hard to believe that we can compete with San Gwann, especially since in the xG table the difference between the two teams is, however, 5 points. *** January Matches played in January Another very good month, 12 points out of 15. At the beginning of the month we were really lucky, because in the first match (the one against Mosta), although we played better than the opponent, we needed two goals scored in the 88th and 89th minutes ( !) to reverse the score from 1-2. Then, in the second match, Floriana played better than us, but we managed to score the winning goal in the 86th minute. Two clear victories followed, with Birkiraka and Kercem, but also an equally clear defeat in the match against San Gwann. We remain in third place, but, very importantly, the difference in points compared to the team in 5th place has increased from 11 points (in December) to 21 points. There are still 11 rounds to play, but we have a very good chance of ranking in the top 4. Also in January, a mini riot took place in the locker room. Our team leader realized overnight (probably he dreamed) that we don't have a good enough goalkeeper. As a result, he declared himself unhappy, and 3 other players from the first team agreed with him. Coincidentally, a pretty good goalkeeper was available for a loan. I loaned it urgently and the rebellion ended. I was so uninterested in the subject that I even forgot to take a screenshot of this goalkeeper's attributes. As an idea, it seems stupid to me. What kind of team leader is the one who says "you know, we're in 3rd place, the best place in recent years, but our current goalkeeper, our teammate, is so weak that we should find a replacement for him" ? *** February Matches played in February Two wins obtained easily against teams from the second half of the league table, plus a defeat (unfortunately, this time quite clear) against Hamrun. At this moment we're 21 points away from the team in 5th place and there are 7 rounds to play. In other words, there is no way we can rank lower than 4th place. However, the participation in the continental competitions depends on the final of the Cup, a final for which Balzan and Floriana are qualified. If somehow the final will be won by Floriana then, of course, only the team ranked 3rd would qualify for the Europa Conference League. The problem is that Hamrun, although it had a mediocre season, are starting to recover, and in the xG table they're already ahead of us. *** March Matches played in March It was expected. The team achieved (and exceeded) its objective and now my players are more and more disinterested. Unfortunately, we played extremely poorly in the match against Sliema, and the last match, the one played against Floriana, we only "started" to play in the 31st minute, when the score was already 1-4. It is also worth noting that in the last two matches we conceded 7 goals out of 9 (!) shots on target, which means that the game (FM) decided that we should have a bit more bad luck. I remind that, normally, the average is 2.5 to 3. In other words, in order to score / concede 7 goals, 17 to 21 shots on target are needed. *** April Matches played in April Nothing new. When FM decides that "your team is in a slump", the fact that the ratio of shots on target is 13-2 is a very good reason to decide that the final result must be 2-2. So, I wasn't surprised that we played very badly in the last two matches. We ranked 4th. A pretty good performance, especially since Balzan defeated Floriana in the final of the Cup, which means that we qualified for the continental competitions. *** Some details : Player stats Best eleven (2035-26 and overall) Team stats : attacking / defending Final xG table Competitions *** Club facilities / Attendances Manager's attributes / Both managers (careers in Estonia and Malta) (By the way, it's funny that, although I act exactly the same in both careers, the level of "my" determination is very high in the case of the career in Estonia and low in the case of the career in Malta) Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions *** I'm truly amazed by the extremely high level of wage offered in the proposal to extend my contract. I think (I hope I'm not wrong !) that it would be enough for me even to buy a few beers. Considering the fact that I am probably the cheapest manager in the history who managed to qualify a team in the continental competitions, I thought that, who knows, the fact that I don't have any coaching license might be a problem . As a result, I asked the Board for permission to follow the coaching course for the minimum license, National C. Their answer was... predictable. *** Youth intake 2036 It seems to be a rather mediocre intake, at least in relation to our needs. However, since we really need additional players, we proposed contracts to a number of 7 players. It's possible that 2 or even 3 of these players will be very useful to us in the near future. By the way : this is one of the reasons why I chose 7 players. I thought that a team that can do that must contain, however, somewhat better players than the ones we already have in the U20 squad. *** Maltese leagues (tables) 2035-36 Maltese Cup 2035-36 My former club, Victoria Hotspurs, finally had a pretty good season. After we were relegated from the first league in 2032, Victoria continued the decline, relegating from the 2nd league in 2033, relegating from the 3rd league in 2034 and ranking last in the 4th league in 2034 (when , however, it avoided relegation, winning the promotion/relegation playoff). In the current season, however, Victoria recovered : they won the 4th league and, as a result, the team were (re)promoted to the 3rd league *** Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted April 18 Author Share Posted April 18 (edited) Links to previous seasons : Estonia : First season (2023), first half / First season (2023), second half / Second season (2024), first half / Second season (2024), second half / Third season (2025), first half / Third season (2025), second half / Fourth season (2026) / Fifth season (2027) / Sixth season (2028) / Seventh season (2029) / Eighth season (2030) / Ninth season (2031) / Tenth season (2032) / Eleventh season (2033) / Twelfth season (2034) / Thirteenth season (2035) ********** 2036 John X / EstHam United Tallinn, Estonia / 14th season (first half) So, this will be the last season at EstHam United. However, I'll not rush to leave. In the period from January to June I'll wait for possible job interview offers, of course, on the condition that the team of the club that sent the offer plays in the first league. If until the end of June I don't receive such offers or I won't be offered a job, I'll apply to every club in the first league that will fire its manager. If I don't get a job at another club by the end of December, I will resign from EstHam and continue looking for another job as an unemployed person. Obviously, the fact that I know that I will leave would allow me to use a different strategy than the one used until now. I could, for example, release a lot of players or try to bring in a large number of players from other clubs. However, as I'm curious to see how this club will do after I leave, I'll use the same strategy as in previous years, including the same set of tactics. *** I brought no less than 13 players from the U20 team. In fact, we concentrated in the main team almost all the players who are at least 18 years old and, according to the assistant, have good enough skills to be able to play in the senior team : The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad Transfers / Released players Media prediction. Our odds (20-1) are exactly the same as last year. As a result, the objectives set by the Board have not changed either. Competitions / Schedule and friendly matches / Dynamics *** February - March Matches played in February Matches played in March The beginning of the season was quite good, considering that the boys won 7 points out of 9 in August. September, however, started with a match in which we received two (straight) red cards at a score of 0-0. Since playing with only 9 players implies some difficulties, of course, we lost this match. Next, the team played very poorly in the next two matches, both lost. It's interesting that at one point the atmosphere in the locker room became "poor", but not because of the results. The cause was related to some misunderstandings within the groups. I have no idea if the players fought in the dressing room, but I know for sure that towards the end of the month the team started to play football again. *** April - May Matches played in April Matches played in May 13 points out of 24. Neither very good nor very bad. However, the match against TJK Legion is worth noting, since it is about the team that is in second place (and where I could have been hired a few months ago, if I had accepted their offer). We beat them 5-0 away from home, and we even had 11 scoring chances. How was it possible ? I have no idea. The wonders of FM. But ... it doesn't matter anyway. *** June I received an offer for a job interview : Of course, before going to the interview I quickly organized a research of the problem: - FC Kuressaare is in a difficult situation, that is, it is ranked last and won only 2 of the 21 matches played. However, there are still 13 rounds to be played and the chances of avoiding relegation still seem reasonably high - the club is on the 6th place in the list of Estonian club reputations. A positive aspect, considering the fact that EstHam is only the 15th club in this ranking. - from 2023 until now FC Kuresaaare has only played in the first league. Moreover, it ranked in the range of 5-8 places, with one exception, the 4th place in 2027. As a result, the team is not part of the "big 4" group (that participates year after year in the continental competitions) ... but also isn't a "yo-yo team" that relegate/promote periodically. - regarding the facilities, those available to FC Kuressaare are somewhat better than those of EstHam. Not by much, but they are better - financial stability. There is a problem here. EstHam is one of the most stable clubs in Estonia. FC Kuressaare, however, has a problem. However, this problem is not major, as the club's finances are still considered to be "okay" - the wage budget. FC Kuressaare spends over 4 times more money than EstHam. Moreover, FC Kuressaare club's income is 10 times higher Considering the above aspects, the decision was extremely easy to make : Some additional details : - even before participating in the interview I was considered the number one favorite. It is not very clear why a guy who only has the minimum license, National C, would be a "leading candidate" for a 1st league club, but probably the level of his attributes also has some importance. - Kuressaare is a city located on the island of Saaremaa, one of the two big islands of Estonia. From what I checked, it seems that FC Kuressaare is the only "islander" club that plays in one of the first 3 Estonian leagues. All other clubs in these leagues have their headquarters and stadiums in the continental part of Estonia - At the beginning of June I "participated" in a last match together with the EstHam team. The boys won 3-0 and, at the time of my departure, the team was in third place. I spent at EstHam a little more than 13 (virtual) years, during which we got 4 promotions (and one relegation, which doesn't matter). I didn't get some exceptional performances, but all in all, it was a really great experience. Edited April 20 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted April 21 Author Share Posted April 21 Links to previous seasons : Estonia : First season (2023), first half / First season (2023), second half / Second season (2024), first half / Second season (2024), second half / Third season (2025), first half / Third season (2025), second half / Fourth season (2026) / Fifth season (2027) / Sixth season (2028) / Seventh season (2029) / Eighth season (2030) / Ninth season (2031) / Tenth season (2032) / Eleventh season (2033) / Twelfth season (2034) / Thirteenth season (2035) / Fourteenth season - first half (2036) ********** 2036 John X / FC Kuressaare, Estonia / 14th season (second half) So, I changed my job. My new job is at a semi-professional club whose team was for over 10 years what would be called "a mid-table team" in the first league. In the last 3 years, however, the team went into decline, ending up struggling to avoid relegation. At this moment the situation of the team is quite difficult : Regarding the facilities available to the club, they are mediocre, although they are somewhat better than those that my former club, EstHam EstHam, had (where the training/youth facilities were "poor"). EstHam has two youth teams, U20 and U18. FC Kuressaare has, of course, these two teams, but in addition it also has a third team, U21. This team, FC Kuressaare U21, plays in the 4th league and at the moment is in first place. Also, FC Kuressaare has two affiliated clubs (one of them playing in the 4th league and the other in the 5th league). Media prediction. At the halfway point of the season, Kuressaare is in 6th place (odds 100-1) in terms of (theoretical) title chances. This relatively good rating is probably due to the club's reputation, as the assistant's report seems to describe a rather mediocre squad, at least from a physical point of view. Regarding the objectives set by the Board, they are currently very limited due to the mediocre position of the team in the league table. *** Finances. The club has a really good financial state, has no debts and can offer reasonable high salaries (compared to the other clubs in the Estonian first league). There is something strange though. Starting from this season, there are TV revenues in the Estonian first league. Why is this weird ? Because since from 2023 until 2035 there were no such revenues. And the level of these TV revenues is not small at all, around 1.9 million per year and the team (which, realistically speaking, is an enormous amount, especially in the case of a mediocre league like the one in Estonia) Someone could say that I used an editor to fund my team. I didn't, and that's exactly what's weird. Why would the game grant additional income exactly from the year I decided to leave a second league club and find a job at a first league club ? However, I haven't changed anything at all and I really don't understand what it's about. *** The staff. On the first day, I found a huge number of people at the club : exactly two. The HOYD and the chief scout. Of course, a first league team needs a much larger ... and better staff. As a result, in just a few days I hired an assistant manager, a coach and a scout. *** The players We have 74 players in the main squad (), 4 in the U21's squad, 15 in the U20's squad and 19 in the U18's squad. In total, no less than 112 players. What's funny is the fact that we only have 97 supporters. So, not even all the relatives of these boys consider it worth buying a season ticket ... But, apart from the large number of players, there are other strange aspects. For example, in the main squad we have more than 30 players who have at most 1 CA star and 1 PA star. Only 34 of the 72 players played at least one minute throughout this season, and 6 of these 34 didn't get to play even 90 minutes. Moreover, among the players "with few stars" there are some who haven't played a single minute in the last 8 years ! Most of these players are produced by the club and received at the various youth intakes. Even more strange, from a list of 19 such players, no less than 10 have a "fairly professional" personality and other 2 are "resolute". Why were these players kept at the club ? 8 players who play in the current first eleven were transferred from other clubs in the last two years, and the dozens of "professional" players produced by the club played (if they played !) only one match every 2-3-4 years. Some say that FM has big problems when it comes to building a balanced squad ... and those who say this may not be wrong. Oh, one more thing : we have 3 team leaders, 7 "highly influential" players and 21 "influential" players. In other words, only those who really don't want to are not influential around here. Of course, this means that the groups are full of all kinds of people who work day and night to influence someone. Honestly, I'm not surprised that the team ended up in last place in the league table. *** Immediately after my arrival here I organized, of course, a team meeting. The moment was epic, because you rarely have the opportunity to speak in front of more than 70 people. Before the team meeting, the atmosphere was so and so, which is normal for a team that has just changed its manager after a series of 13 matches without a win in the league. The team meeting was as usual as possible. I told them who I am and I expressed my personal conviction that we'll not be relegated. The reaction was quite surprising. So surprising that, for a few moments, I thought I had told them, by mistake, that in that evening we would all go to the bar and drink everything we could find there. *** By the way, these are the profiles of the best 15 players in the main squad (selection based on CA, according to the assistant's opinion). There is also a list of the best players from the U21's, U20's and U18's squads. We have countless very good players in these squads, 2 to be exact. In fact, these two players aren't very good either, but for now I'll ignore this small and unimportant detail *** June - July Matches played in June and July We started really well, with two wins against some mediocre opponents. In the third match we were clearly defeated by Paide, which seemed perfectly normal to me, given that Paide is a top 4 team. Then, we managed another victory, this time against Tammeka, the team in 5th place th. We ended the month of July with two draws, the first being really remarkable, but because we played very well against the leader, Kalju. In the last match, I have to admit, we didn't play that well ... but we were lucky. Because they thought I was bored, some important players decided to proclaim themselves "unhappy with club situation". In their opinion, I should have brought new players. In my opinion, I don't think it's appropriate for me to commit a managerial suicide. We have countless team leaders and influential players, and I have no idea how they would react to the arrival of a player from another club. I have decided that I will not change anything until the end of this season. *** August Matches played in August We played surprisingly well against Levadia ... but we lost. We also played quite well against Trans Narva ... but still lost. However, two wins and two draws followed. We didn't play well at all in the match against Flora, but we got a draw . In the last match of the month, we had 11-4 at shots on target and a clearly better xG, but we only got a draw. I would have preferred to win, to be calmer at the end of the season. There are 5 more rounds to play, but our schedule is really difficult (maybe excepting that match against Vaprus) : According to the xG table everything is fine for us, since the difference between us and the 9th place is almost 8 points. Unfortunately, according to the real league table, the difference is only 3 points. Regarding the Cup, indeed, we qualified for the semifinals, but here we'll meet Flora (in the semifinals) and, if we're extremely lucky, we'll have the opportunity to play against the winner between Kalju and Levadia. In other words, zero chance. *** September Matches played in September Paide LM clearly beat us. But in the next match my team managed to play exceptionally well and outclass Tammeka. Finally, in the last match of the month, the boys managed another very good match, although the opponent was the team in first place, Kalju. Unfortunately, we only managed to play very well for 60 minutes and Kajlu beat us in the end. The good part of these results : we avoided straight relegation. The less good part : we got only 3 points, Maardu got 6 points in the 3 games played and thus we ended up having the same number of points as the team in 9th place. There are only two rounds left to play. *** October We weren't able to defeat Vaprus. We had 5-3 scoring chances and a goal denied at the end, but I have to admit: we didn't play as well as we should have. Then we lost the semi-final of the Cup, but that really doesn't matter anymore. Unfortunately, Maardu won one of the two matches they played, and so we ended up needing a victory in the last match : But in the last match we were going to play, away, against the team ranked 4th, Levadia. Of course, they didn't have a very good season (and, on the other hand, they probably had a high level of complacency). However, in the 22nd minute, Levadia was already leading 2-0. Then... ... then we "qualified" for the relegation/promotion playoff. Matches played in October *** Playoff So, we avoided relegation. Fortunately for us, the opponent, Laanemaa, was inferior, especially due to the fact that they have a rather mediocre squad. However, they managed to create many problems for us in the first match. Matches played in playoff *** Some details Player stats Player stats (sorted according to the number of minutes played) Profiles of the best 18 players (selection based on position and average rating) Best eleven (2036 and overall) Team stats : attacking / defending Competitions *** Table of the 4th league (U21's team) Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions *** Various stats Attendances Club facilities (indeed, I managed to convince the Board to accept the Junior Coaching improvement. Unfortunately, I didn't achieve the same thing in terms of Youth Recruitment) *** Finances. Due to those abnormally high TV revenues, the available budget for the following year has increased a lot. It should be mentioned that not only FC Kuressaare benefits from these extremely high revenues, but all the clubs that played in the first league. The effects of these very high incomes ? For example, I could pay wages of 12,000 monthly, that is, over 140,000 per year. I also now have a huge scouting budget. Last but not least, the Board decided to change the status of the club, from now on FC Kuressaare being a professional club. Of course, this "rain with money" is completely unrealistic. As a result, I'll play in Estonia only one more season. I'll activate the first two leagues from Finland and Iceland (genuine database) as well as the first two leagues from Lithuania (custom database), and I'll decide at the end of next year where to "move". Until then, of course, I will take advantage of this money. I will bring (transfer) as more players I can, but only and only Estonian players. Also, I'll not be allowed to spend more than 30,000 monthly for wages. *** But what happened to my former club, EstHam United ? Well, unfortunately, they were relegated to the 3rd league ... To be honest, I didn't expect this. I knew that the players from EstHam are not among the best in the second league, but I thought they had the abilities needed to avoid relegation. Looking at the problem "from the outside", it seems that I overestimated the quality level of these players. *** Youth Intake 2036 A rather bad intake. However, two players signed contracts with us. Not necessarily because they had a slightly better PA, but more because of their attributes (that are clearly better than those of the other players we received at this intake). *** *** This is already absurd. 3.5 million yearly as TV revenues ?!? I really don't understand what's happening. 3.5 million distributed to each team means 35 million for the whole league, so an amount similar to that allocated for the Austrian league in real life. Obviously, it doesn't matter, at the end of next season I'll leave Estonia. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenTriangle Posted Friday at 11:49 Author Share Posted Friday at 11:49 (edited) Links to previous seasons : Malta : First season (2023-24) / Second season (2024-25) / Third season (2025-26) / Fourth season (2026-27) / Fifth season (2027-28) / Sixth season (2028-29) / Seventh season (2029-30) / Eighth season (2030-31) / Ninth season (2031-32) / Tenth season (2032-33) / Eleventh season (2033-34) / Twelfth season (2034-35) / Thirteenth season (2035-36) ********** 2036-2037 Michael X / Hibernians Paola, Malta / 14th season Since at the end of the previous season we ranked 4th, this season we had the right to participate in the continental competitions, i.e. in the Europa Conference League. We didn't get very spectacular results, but we still managed to qualify for the 3rd preliminary round. Our opponents were Zalgiris Vilnius (Lithuania, first round), FC Samgurali (Georgia, second round) and Neftci Baku (Azerbaijan, third round) : Matches played in ECL All in all, it was an extremely useful experience, especially due to the fact that we thus obtained no less than 1.4 million, a huge amount for a club in debt up to the ears. Of course, this money is currently in the bank and cannot be used until the end of this season, which means that our wage budget continues to be extremely low and the wages we can offer are also very low. One of the effects of the lack of money was the fact that we lost the best player we had. The guy asked for 1000 per month, which was obviously far beyond our means. Another effect of the lack of money is that, although we need it, we practically cannot bring (transfer) players from other clubs. However, we managed to transfer a player, but only because of a favorable situation : goalkeeper Gauci (on loan from San Gwann for the last two seasons) agreed to sign a contract with us under very disadvantageous conditions for him. The main squad The U20's squad / The U18's squad ("grey" players only) Transfers In conclusion, there is not a big difference between the squad from this season and the one from the previous season. We brought 4 quite good players from the U20's team ... and we lost a very good player (V. Galea). *** However, we have problems regarding the staff. At the moment, there is only a manager and a scout at the club, and if these two guys are still working for us, it is because they accept very low wages. We also had coaches, HOYD, and a chief scout, but they left when they requested higher wages and their request was denied. *** In the media prediction we're, as in the previous season, in 9th place. But if last year our odds was 250-1, now it has dropped to 350-1. However, the reputation of the club has increased, which probably means that the quality level of the main team is a bit lower now. The objective set by the Board remained the same : "avoid relegation". Competitions / Schedule and friendlies / Dynamics *** August This match has a story. Before the match, I went to get a beer from the fridge and discovered that there was no beer left. A deeply demoralizing aspect. Then, the first half of the match followed. Of course, I got angry. As a result, I told the players that they were (long list of censored expressions), I made some substitutions, then I started the second half and went to buy beer. What followed ? Of course, I was extremely surprised when I came back. And, unfortunately, I'm sure that if I had been present, the result probably would have been different, because I couldn't have resisted to try to "improve" the tactics used Matches played in August *** September Matches played in September Disappointing results. We probably didn't deserve to get that draw against Floriana, but we would have deserved at least a draw in the match against Lija. Overall, however, I can't complain : we won only 2 points out of 12 because we played exactly "at the 2 points out of 12 level" ... I tried to obtain an increase of the wage budget. I didn't think it was possible ... and, really, it wasn't possible. The board asked me for "a proper reason for spending more money", which is frustrating. It's true, I know that the Board ignores the million in the bank for the time being and considers that I'm asking for an increase in fund raising, but it's still frustrating. *** October - November Matches played in October Matches played in November We started October with a clear (and stinging) defeat against Balzan. Then, since the morale of the team had become a bit too red, I organized a team meeting. The idea had an positive effect : in the next two rounds we defeated both Sliema and Zabbar. However, we played quite well but not very well, and both the opponents were in a bad run of form at that time. We lost the first match in November, the one played against Birkirkara, and that's because we played mediocre in the first half. In the second half we could have gotten at least a draw, but we were unlucky. Two fairly clear victories followed, 2-1 against Valletta (we had 7-1 chances ... and two goals disallowed) and 2-1 against Pieta (chance ratio 5-3, we missed a penalty). In the last match of the month we met Hamrun. The opponents didn't play very well, but even playing poorly they beat us easily. What is the easiest way to annoy me ? Simple, I look at this image. "The store" is full of goodies, it would be very necessary for us to buy something (more) ... but we have no money. (Unfortunately, players usually demand wages and bonuses. Shame on them). *** December Matches played in December We started the month with an exceptional result, 3-1 against Balzan. A really good result, despite the fact that it was "only" a Cup match. However, the reality is that we were very lucky, Balzan playing much better than us. In compensation, when we played against the team ranked second (San Gwann), the ratio of shots on target was 8-6, the ratio of chances to score was 5-4 ... but we lost 4-2. Unfortunately, regarding the other 4 matches played in December, the results were rather mediocre. We obtained a 2-2 against Kercem, after a balanced match. Then, in the quarter-finals of the Cup, we met Zebbug, a team that plays in the second league. In 90 minutes the opponents managed only two shots on target, but the result was (FM logic) ... 2-2. Moreover, they scored the second goal in the 90th+4th minute (FM sadistic logic). In the third game Floriana beat us easily, and in the 4th (against Lija) we only got a draw. There are still 15 rounds to play and, theoretically, a lot can happen. Practically, at this moment the distance between us and the team in 4th place (Floriana) is 10 points, and our chances of qualifying again for the continental competitions are almost zero. We don't play well enough to recover this 10 points. In addition, we'll meet San Gwann in the semi-finals of the Cup, a match in which we have at most a 5% chance of winning. It's interesting that in the league table Floriana has 10 points more than us, but in the xG table we have a slight advantage over them. Something similar (but the opposite) happened in the previous season, when the distance between us (4th place) and Floriana (5th place) was very big, although in the xG table the difference was much smaller. At the end of the month I decided to take a risk and organize a new team meeting, although the atmosphere was still not very bad. I obtained an improvement that, I hope, will help us play a little better in the second half of the championship. *** January Matches played in January We achieved again a very good result against Balzan, 4-4. And, again, we were very lucky (Balzan had 9 chances to score and we scored the 4th goal in the 90th+2nd minute). It's worth noting that this match was very "FM style", as the two teams scored 8 goals from only 10 shots on target. Just when I was just enjoying that we are very lucky, FM saw me and decided that I was enjoying too much. As a result, we played quite mediocre in the next match, and the opponent (Sliema) got a draw, 1-1, the goal being scored from their only shot on target (which was also a penalty). Then, in the last two games in January, my team finally played very well and won clearly. *** February Matches played in February San Gwann (in the Cup) and Hamrun humiliated us. It was expected . In the other 3 games we got 7 points. We could have even gotten 9 if we hadn't missed stupidly during the match against Valletta. But we could also have gotten only 5 points if we hadn't managed to score the winning goal in the 90th+2nd minute in the match against Kercem. *** March - April Matches played in March Matches played in April I would have liked to win against Floriana. At least for fun. Unfortunately, although we had 7 chances to score and Floriana only 2, the result was 2-2. I would also have liked to win against Sliema and Zabbar. In the first match, the ratio of scoring chances was 4-1, but Sliema got a draw, 1-1. In the second match, the ratio of goal chances was 7-2, Zabbar shot twice on target, scored two goals (the second in the 90th minute) ... and we lost, 1-2. (Generally speaking, I would really like FM not to generate so many strange results at the end of the season just for reasons of "complacency" or "pressure" ...) So, we ended the season in 5th place. I agree, we didn't deserve more. But something is wrong, in my opinion: In the xG table we have two more points than Floriana. For various reasons, it is very possible (and realistic) that Floriana will end the competition with, let's say, 4-5 points more in the league table. Come on, let's say ... 9 or 10 points. But 17 points ?!? It seems exaggerated to me ... *** We played the last match of the season on April 18. What message did FM send me on April 19 ? That it recommends a team meeting "to be sure that everyone is focused on the task at hand". It is not very clear what kind of task each one has at hand, given that the competition has already ended. But it's possible that the players' girlfriends asked them to buy something expensive or, possibly, to spend a vacation in a luxury location. In this case, I highly recommend the players to be fully focused to fulfill the task (even it's not "at hand"), because otherwise the effects could be tragic for them. *** Some details : Player stats Profiles of the best 7 players (sorting based on average rating) Best eleven (2036-37 and overall) (Note : Indeed, only two players from the best 11 and only 4 players from the best 18 come from the club's academy. A rather mediocre contribution after 5 years of career at Hibernians). Goals scored / Various other stats (assists, best average rating, MoM) Team stats : attacking / defending *** Transfers / Released players Tables of the U20's and U18's competitions *** Finances. At 8 o'clock in the morning we were a poor club that could barely offer 50,000 per year in the form of wages. After a few hours we had already become a reasonably rich club, able to offer (theoretically) at least 350,000 annual wages, and even more than 400,000 if I take into account the available transfer budget. At this moment we have reached a financial level comparable to clubs like Floriana or Sliema. Of course, we cannot compare ourselves to the ultra-rich clubs in the top 3. (Philosophical thought : money doesn't buy happiness, except for money received from UEFA) What does any person who suddenly has a large amount of money do ? Of course, he follows a coaching course, considering that the "person" still doesn't have any license, not even the minimum one (National C). Unfortunately, the Board considers that the "person" is already a world-class expert who doesn't need licenses. More, the Board's opinion is that I shouldn't bother them with such nonsense. I agree, they're right. The idea that an employee could request to follow a course is downright obscene. I should be ashamed. *** Oh, I was about to forgot : I was offered a new contract. I am going to earn the huge amount of 15 euros per month. I'm already horrified by the idea that I will have to manage so much money. Out of curiosity, I looked at the available options. The Board, in its great generosity, could offer me up to 30 euros per month, but I decided not to exaggerate. I got rich enough. *** My next initiative was, of course, related to the level of the club's facilities. What is the opinion of the Board about the improvement of Junior Coaching ? A categorically bad opinion. But about improving Youth Recruitment ? Already something like this is completely unacceptable. At first I got angry, but after a deep thought I discovered the trick : if somehow the other clubs find out that we have improved our facilities, they might take our players. Such a thing must not happen, so we must act undercover. It's a strategy. *** However, there is a certain aspect where it seems we mustn't hide : I'm allowed to buy players. So, I opened the lists of players available for transfer or loan and I saw something extremely interesting : Claude Mallia (the guy who two years ago was, by far, the best striker in the team) had heard some rumors that we had money. As a result, he instantly became very interested in a return to Hibernians. Since we don't have such efficient strikers at the club, I hastened to make an offer. His club was not greedy (they only asked for 12,750), so I offered Mallia a contract. *** James Bond, the Maltese version : - (my scout) : Boss, wait a moment ! We definitely need to talk. I hope no one hears us ! Be careful, a guy would like to talk to you... - What guy ? Who's he ? - (my scout) : His name is Ortiz. It's from the CIA ! I suggest you talk to him, it could be beneficial for us ! (He's Ortiz. And this is the CIA. Don't read, secret documents !) *** Youth intake 2037 A reasonably good intake. I have offered contracts to a number of 7 players. I hesitated until the end whether to offer a contract to this player, but the fact that he has determination 2 and is unambitious led me to give up, despite the fact that the other attributes were good enough. Also, there was another player whom the assistant (no, we don't have a HOYD yet) said was "promising", but I have serious doubts. Indeed, it has very god levels of pace and acceleration, which really matters in FM. But I don't think that an very quick player who has anticipation, composure, concentration, off the ball and long shots at level "1" will ever develop enough to become useful. *** Maltese leagues (tables) 2036-37 Maltese Cup 2036-37 The main squads of the most important clubs in the Maltese league : Balzan (29 players from which 21 foreigners and 6 having dual nationality) San Gwann (22 players from which 21 foreigners) Hamrun (20 players from which 16 foreigners and 3 having dual nationality) Floriana (17 players from which 11 foreigners and 3 having dual nationality) Sliema (17 players from which 7 foreigners and 4 having dual nationality) Is the composition of these squad unrealistic ? In a way, it is. However, Malta is a small country and, at least in FM, its national youth rating is low. The number of very good young players generated annually in Malta is very small. As a result, clubs that want to improve their squads must offer contracts to foreign players. Obviously, Hibernians cannot compete with the "big three" (Balzan, Hambrun and San Gwann). The simple fact that we can sometimes fight on an equal footing with teams like those of Floriana or Sliema is a performance in itself. By the way : Balzan offered me a job interview. Honestly, innitially I was tempted to accept. Balzan is currently the richest Maltese club and is the second Maltese club in terms of reputation and the salaries they offer. But in the end I gave up. I don't know if it was a really good idea... *** Edited Friday at 11:49 by GreenTriangle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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