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Bumper update! Still off work due to injury (I'll be fine), so smashing out FM for many hours a day while on paid leave and on bed rest. Lovely stuff. 2038/39 Season Review - The Last Dance Going into this season I felt like it was the final hurrah of my existing squad before some upheaval was needed... I wanted to get as much as we we could out of it. La Liga - Winners 101 points Copa Del Rey - Winners Supercopa - Winners UEFA Super Cup - Winners Champions League - Lost in RO16 to Bayern. A superb domestic season, but sadly we didn't achieve our goals in the Champions League. We had a pretty poor run through the league phase leaving us going into the playoff round - we comfortably beat Hertha there but a tough draw as an unseeded team against Bayern awaited... Bayern and Liverpool are probably the scariest teams out there, so I didn't want to see them at this stage. We won 2-1 at San Mames and lost 2-0 in the second leg in Germany. However as the summer rolled around it was time for sales: Departures: Jon Martin now 31, departed to PSG for 50million after 416 appearances for Athletic Club Julen Diez, 29, departed to Chelsea for 40million. He'd been with us for 3 seasons and had performed admirably - we cop a big loss on him but money isn't an issue - I needed to make room for others coming through. Aitor Aketxe, 26, departed to Bournemouth for 36million. An excellent servant in the defensive mid area, however he was never more than a rotation option and I had other options Jon Castro, 31, departed to Arsenal for 40million. 403 appearances for Athletic Club and one of my personal favourites... he was hugely influential in the DLP role to our success and it was a sad day to move on from him. Jose Jimenez, 29, departed to Arsenal for 31.5million. 331 appearances for Jimenez who was a superb rotation option for us throughout his time at Athletic - covering for Cordoba at LB and also at CB. Ibon Marin, 28, departed to Arsenal for 40million. 364 appearances for Marin! He was a superb option in defensive midfield - I had quite a few options coming through so decided midfield was the primary area I was going to whield the knife initially in my squad overhaul. Without Marin, Castro and Aketxe I would be bringing through multiple new midfielders. This meant new faces! In the summer of 2039 we saw the following new faces enter the side - note that these pictures were taken in November 2040, so around 15 months after summer 2039 - they've developed quite a bit since they first came into the squad! When we first reviewed the squad after the above sales with these guys in, we looked way worse than we did before, but now we're looking very strong. Ok not exactly starting with a banger here, Jon Goni made huge strides while on loan and facilitated the sale of Jimenez - he's back up to the legendary Cordoba. I think he totally peaked at the end of his loan as he's not developed much since then, but Cordoba hogs the minutes so he's just a reliable back up really. Victor Encaje is one who has had a few years on loan - primarily a DM but he's actually in the squad as the 4th choice CB first and foremost, but he's just solid and useful. Raul Aizpurua came through at Osasuna and totally slipped under my radar really. I scouted him and he didn't seem to have much potential but I really liked his attribute spread - I signed him for 10million in the January 2039 window and loaned him back to Osasuna - he just improved so well and despite never having much potential according to scouts and coaches, he's become an excellent option in our midfield as a DLP - not world class by any means but a really good fit for our system. He is back up to Xabi Aizpurua who I shifted back to DLP from AM - he's really superb. These two replaced Castro and Marin. Benat Virto was on loan at Hellas Verona in 2038/39 and I planned another loan for him, but a cruciate ligament injury in the April scuppered that plan. He remained with the team for 2039/40 to recover with the view I'd get him minutes as a 3rd choice right wing. I had planned initially to move key player Unax Urrutia from RB into the attacking line, but that wasn't working that well, so when Virto returned from injury he became back up to Jon Ibanez at right wing - he continues to improve and I can see him being an important player for us long term. Jon Prieto joined from Alaves for 16.5 million - another one that I signed in Jan 2038 but loaned back to his original club to continue his development. I'd been targetting him since his intake, but he wouldn't join until he turned 18. He then joined as back up to Julen Aguirre at left wing and has come on leaps and bounds since then and at the time of writing (early 2040/41 season) he's a genuine threat to Aguirre's spot in the team... despite his incredible years, Aguirre is 31 now and just starting his decline. This guy is a real diamond... he came through our academy and always showed middling promise, but two loans firstly at Zaragoza and then Sporting CP saw him come on really well... another who according to star ratings didn't have a high ceiling but I just liked the attribute spread. It's proven to be faith repaid as you can see now he's a top tier defensive midfielder and has exceeded my coaches expectations. He was the direct replacement for Aketxe. Moving Unax Urrutia into the forward line was partly to allow this guy to come through at RB as back up to Alex Etxeberria. However... Urrutia struggled to find form in our front line and with Virto coming back from injury I needed to find solutions. I was conscious that Blasco and Javi, two long term central defender options for us were into their early thirties and would soon need replacements lined up. I hadn't really considered this guy to be a CB (he couldn't play the position at all), but after reviewing his attributes I thought he would definitely be decent there... it took nearly the full season of playing him most games at CB to naturally learn the position, and his attribute shift to suit a CB was remarkable, alongside his general development - certainly not a decision I regret. Centre back was an area of concern as Blasco and Aitor Etxeberria had held that area down for a long time... Etxeberria had shifted into defensive midfield to replace Javi (who moved back as cover), but everyone was ageing and I feel like I'd always kinda made do there for years... Etxeberria and Javi were both DMs really, Blasco was a retrained RB. Lafuente here taking to the position so well has been a god send... combined with: Jewel of our academy Sergio Garmendia now forms a formiddable centre back duo with Lafuente - these two will be the central defenders we rely on long term. Finally with the loss of Jon Martin, we needed a new centre forward to cover for Etxabe. Ander Garmendia was the man. He's a player we signed from Villarreal at 18 years old for 13.25million... honestly he was a total punt at the time because he didn't look like he would live up to that price tag really, there was just something I liked about him. He came in and played for the B team for a season and scored A LOT of goals. He then earned promotion to the first team as a 2* player (with one additional grey star potential) to replace a guy in Jon Martin who had made 400 odd appearances for us who was still world class... he has been amazing though, scoring goals for fun! Etxabe is so good though, but this guy is a reliable back up. 2039/40 Season Review - The New Recruits Easily our biggest overhaul squad wise left us considerably weaker, but I knew the short term pain would probably be worth it long term. I didn't expect how difficult it was going to be though... In La Liga we started off with an opening day victory against Real Sociedad, but then it went down hill... an away loss to Barca was followed up with a draw away to Zaragoza, a loss to Real Madrid in the UCL and a loss away to Sporting Gijon in the league.... while imperious at home our away form was very poor with draws against Osasuna, Villarreal and Espanyol before Christmas. In January we lost in the Supercopa semi to Barca, away to Real in the league and a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Real Sociedad in a match we totally dominated. By the end of January we were 11 points off the top sitting in 4th place having already lost 4 and drawn 4, while sitting 1st in the xG table. I knew the quality was there and we were playing well, but we were conceding way more goals than we should have done. I just stuck with it and from there on we were superb - a great run in Feb-Apr saw us only drop points in a loss away to a srong Cartegena side. With 4 games to go with were 5 points behind Real Madrid and 3 points behind Barcelona and I felt like we were unlikely to win it, but we did at least have Real Madrid at San Mames on the final day which might allow us to do something. In the 3rd to last game Real Madrid had a surprising draw away to Sevilla, and Osasuna did us a huge favour beating Barcelona. Come the final day we were 3 points behind Real Madrid and all we needed was to beat them at home to secure the title... and we did!! A season which I thought was going to totally pass us by ended up in a domestic double. La Liga - Winners, 91 points Copa Del Rey - Winners Supercopa - Lost in SF to Barca Champions League - Lost in QF to Liverpool In he Champions League we narrowly lost a tight game to a Liverpool side who are very impressive... no shame in that one. Fortunately squad turnover was largely behind us, but we did see a departure for Josu Blasco in the summer of 2040, a man who made 458 appearances for Athletic Club. He left for Saudi for 32million. We also saw back up keeper Iker Zubillaga leave. Javi is also due to leave the club in January after many years of service. Urtzi Saizer came in to replace Zubillaga... not impossible he usurps Alberto Etxabe but he has a way to go yet. Now I think given this is such a long post it's a good chance to have a look at some of our legends: Still in the 300s for league appearances (he rotated with Nico Williams for quite a few years), but Unax Urrutia is a club legend... a truly world class right back who has been a key player in our success. 466 league appearances and counting - Cordoba has been our main man at left back for a long time now. Juan Etxabe is one of the most reliable forwards I've ever had on FM. 263 goals in 360 league appearances and counting, and a Ballon D'or winner. Julen Aguirre at 31 is just starting to decline, but no significant impact yet. Gorrotxategi... once an inconsistent woodwork specialist is now an incredibly reliable, clinical player. 431 league appearances and counting. Jon Ibanez... an absolute legend. 393 league appearances, no thanks to a full year out with cruciate ligament injury. Much younger, but a very impressive Xabi Aizpurua. With Blasco gone, Javi soon to depart, Aguirre at 31, Gorrotxategi at 30, Ibanez at 30 and Cordoba at 32 we are reaching the end of this golden generation. We've had some wonderful new players come through but it'll be tough to replicate this group. Cordoba is at 553 career appearances for Athletic, meaning he's only 61 shy of Iribar's record. Given our best LB prospect is only 16, I think he'll beat it.

Apologies for the lack of updates, but I've just had another crash and it means I have to replay the Jan fixtures and it's just really annoyed me and every time I go to load up the game I just can't be bothered.

He was Scottish 1st, (born in Alloa), and Uzbek 2nd, so not quite so weird. He's had a decent career, spending much of it in Italy, but is back in Scotland now and 2nd choice at Hibs. Thanks for making me look at this because I've just noticed that the Hibs 1st choice GK, (who is actually decent in matches), is 5'10" and maybe that's something we can exploit, (especially with his really low aerial ability.

Game's way of adding difficulty

what I have found useful is to delay the transfer date to the end of the season. Especially on players where their contracts are running down and wont resign

Just wanted to drop in and say good on you for persisting with this save. I exclusively manage in the English lower leagues and tbh my favourite types of saves are where you have to grind with a small club, as it makes the big moments and promotions all that much sweeter. Some of my favourite FM seasons have been where I've been promoted and then just managed to avoid relegation, especially in leagues where there is a big chasm between big and small clubs. Also, try setting up a "dummy" save where you can test tactics, replay games etc. That way it doesn't affect your main save, but you can still build tactics through trial and error.

One of the most ridiculous and annoying things in FM is when you try to sign a player who has been without a club and without offers for months, but when you offer a contract, out of nowhere several interested teams appear and offer a proposal too. And in the end, I end up losing the player to a team that offered less salary and a lower status.

I thought I'd try something different before doing my own save and told ChatGPT to create a "defence-minded tactic" and this is what it cooked up. Let's see how this goes! Update: Simulated the first 10 games of the season to see how the tactic would fare and it's not looking good to say the least.

What could go wrong going into a two leg Champions league tie with @santy001 and courtois being ruled out for three months just prior and then you not having a backup goal keeper registered. Playing this guy in both legs.

Thanks to remember me that tactic. I using a ME breaking tactic (stupid gegenpressing vertical pass) that make the game cheats even more. I'm really playing a RNG simulator. Now I gonna back to my old tiki taka tactic and be cheated in the old fashion

Kettering Town - 2024/25

Cheers! The Coronation Cup is one season only mind you, but the improved CONCACAF continental stuff this year was nice from SI and makes it worth playing. I thought about something like a Commonwealth Champions League but I this is enough along that theme for now

Could look at Scotland with the league split. And then just take the hidden stages they use for that, and set them to groups instead of a league phase. Maybe check out Belgium for a championship stage that doesn't send results back to the main league actually, sounds more in line with what you're thinking.

What a magnificent response to the change in shape. Name a better feeling than instant gratification of your tactical decisions in FM

Finding the gems is something that I’ve found a lot harder following the changes to scouting. But man it feels good when you find them.

Facilities

S17 - July 2039 Ekstraklasa 2 wins and a draw to start the season is not too bad. Our second team played against LKS and we are missing quite a lot of quality there at the moment

S17 - Season Preview We are expected to finish 13th, this is improvement comparing to recent years. We should be able to finish mid table. We are now in top 10 reputation of clubs in the country. Transfers This is a very busy transfer window. Firstly with board trying to sell Przybyszewski(12b) behind my back and then Gornik Leczna unsettling half of my players who want to join them. Board wanted to sell him form 1.5M, I added 1 M on the top plus % of next sale. Sowinski(12e)* well Gornik met his release clause unfortunately. He is one of the players that I didn't have optional extension at the beginning and needed to re-sign his contract. Bialek(12b)* started to stagnate a bit. The move is purely so that we can drop a young player in one of the starting line ups. Kowalski(13l) is another one that was unsettled by Gornik, they pay quite a bit for him plus the % of next sale. We will be dropping another young player to fill his boots. Finances

BEST OF THE REST FOR CREWE UNITED LEAGUE DOMESTIC CUPS EUROPE CLUB NEWS BEST ELEVEN YOUTH INTAKE ADMIN NEXT SEASON

Due to losing my save and the slow process on trying to get it back - see thread 'new phone', I started a game with the smallest team in spain. Understandably (perhaps), upon starting the game, their B team were not in any competitive league. However, two promotions later I'm now in the Secunda and thry still aren't even in a reserve league - surely this would change as the profile / division of the senior team does? So, will I ever get my B team put in a reserves league (at least), or do I bin this save off and restart with a team who's reserves get games - as arranging constant friendlies against rubbish teams is hampering my ability to produce a conveyor belt of talent due to them developing far slower as a result of the above.

Been a week since I got a response to this?

No cookie I'm afraid but I do offer my congratulations and a spot in the HoF

Season 2023 / 24 - 3.Liga February 2024 Results Pretty solid month (ignoring the Verl game of course) and the Bielefeld game was a massive performance! Verl was an absolute shocker. We were two up by the half hour and then just imploded. Hoxha on paper looked lime a better option than Lamby but he was looking absolutely dreadful and cost us two goals. They'd levelled it by half time then got the winner with twenty mins to go. We rallied after that but all too late. Saarbrucken was a gritty performance - Schifferl grabbed his third in as many games and was an absolute threat at set pieces. Krattenmacher was running things again in the middle. Bielefeld was possibly our best performance of the season to date. Krattenmacher again absolutely ran the show and it was just a proper dominant performance. They had 2 shots all game compared to our 22! Finished the month with an easy win against Dortmund II. Table Affiliate Took advantage of the good board relationship to request an affiliate. Was obviously hoping for Dortmund or Bayern but this wasn't too bad. Union Berlin had some fairly decent looking players and hopefully we could get some good loans in next season. March 2024 Results Dropped points at the end of this month was a bit of a worry and the nature of the defeat against an albeit solid Ingolstadt was a concern. Still we were absolutely maintaining the charge at the top and despite the hiccup were four clear of Dresden and five clear of Ingolstadt. Essen are a good side but we blew them away; familiar faces amongst the goalscorers and Schifferl was our main threat from corners! Duisburg was a strong win on paper but we had to work for it. Three late goals sealed it and Romeo Beney got the goal that some of his performances had deserved since joining at the end of Jan on loan. Sandhausen was an ugly one. No one put in a particularly strong shift and despite going ahead just after the hour through the most prolific centre back I've seen since Bert Konterman in CM 01/02; they levelled and we limped over the line. Before the Ingolstadt game we lost Hoffmann to injury with the German under 21s for three months and Schifferl wasn't fully fit. It showed. By 48 mins we were 4-0 down and despite pulling a few back were on the wrong side of a 5-3 scoreline. Had we beaten them we'd have pulled 11 points clear and surely secured promotion! We were still out in front and just about doing enough. Table Other Business Managed to extend Zerolis loan until the end of next season which was great news for whatever division we were in. He is absolutely key to our midfield. Did try the same for Krattenmacher but the Hamburg management weren't keen on loaning him out again and we'd have to try and negotiate another loan in the summer. Bundesliga 2 Riches! Despite all the talk about tempering expectations I did take a peek at the rules, stages and rewards in the second tier and my god. I could finish bottom of the table and secure £6.71m. Suddenly the need to get promoted seemed that bit more important!