theBlackPrince

2022/23 Athletic Club Squad Strikers Perhaps the weakest area of the team with 36 year old Raul Garcia the best option. He is in the final year of his £140,000 per week deal and may be the last deal he gets. Asier Villalibre is the second option and will likely come in off the bench. A low wage but an expiring contract, he will be worth securing for several more years and other options are limited at this stage. We have several youngsters who may, or may not reach the grade, but they are all several years from the first team. Will will look to secure their contracts and look to develop but in the short to medium term, we may need to look to the transfer market for a proven goal scorer.

2022/23 Athletic Club Squad Wide Midfielders A group lead by the ultra talented Inaki Williams who also swallows up nearly 20% of the total wage bill. He has over 300 appearances with the club and a long term deal until 2028 and is a star to build the team around. He can play anywhere but may attract attention from Europe's top clubs. His brother, Nico Williams may just be the best prospect in the game and at just 20, is one we need to make sure we increase that release fee and try to add several more years to the deal. These two will be hard to dislodge from the squad and could lead the lines for years to come. Alex Berenguer makes an interesting option on the left as he can play anywhere along that side and will offer valuable cover. Nico Serrano is another player for the future to watch, on loan at Mirandes in the league below.

2022/23 Athletic Club Squad Central Midfielders A strong group lead by club legend Iker Muniain who can play anywhere across the middle and is the first name on the team-sheet. Interestingly Ander Herrera is back on loan from PSG and has a future buy option for just £220,000. At 33 and on a large wage, will he be one to keep or one to cancel the loan and reduce the wage bill and look to give playing time to a younger player? He may still have a role with the team so we shall wait to find out. Unai Vencedor is the star of the future but has competition from Dani Garci and Mikel Vesga for playing time currently. Both are good core players who have years left in the team and do not carry huge wages. We may see one of them leave the team in the near future unless we can keep everyone happy. Oihan Sancet is another young player who is pushing for playing time and could be the long term central partner for Vencedor, which is a terrific place to be with them both still not even close to 25 years old. The future is very bright here We have lots of young players with great potential in these positions with many of them still only 17 or 18 years old. With 5 players with great potential we will focus on their development to see who we can bring through the ranks over the next 3 or 4 years. With solid options ahead of them, we may see these players out on loan for several years before they can step up. Aimar Vicandi is already commanding a higher wage and is out on loan with Eldense.

2022/23 Athletic Club Squad Defenders This group has 5 players in their 30's and 2 of them on huge wages in Inigo Martinez and Yuri. In Inigo Martinez his contract runs out at the end of the season so we have a decision to make to if we extend or look to cash in whilst we can, but he is currently the highest rated player and should have 3 or 4 more good years left. On the left side we have Mikel Balenziaga and Yuri, the former comes in on a much cheaper wage, but his contract is also out shortly and is 34 years of age. We may need to look at the transfer market shortly for here. On the right hand side we have Ander Capa and Inigo Lekue who are rated very similar at this point. They both have low wages but both are starting to hit early 30's and we need to start developing the next players for the first team. We only have 3 players at center back which is a worry but Dani Vivian is just 23 years old and has the most upside for development and is on a long term contract. He has great pace and no major weakness and will be a key cog in the machine for the next 5 to 10 years. Yeray is also on a long term deal and will be fighting with Inigo Martinez for playing time. We have 5 players out on loan with the pick of the bunch being Unai Nunez who may get the chance to jump into the team next year, especially if we lose a couple of high earners. Benat Prados has the most potential but will need another few season's to be ready for La Liga football. All have at least 2 years on their contracts so no need to worry just yet. Imanol may be a key player for next year as a left sided defender, his loan spell at Eibar will be watched with interest. We have 26 players in the academy with these showing the most potential. It is far to early to see who may develop into first team players but we will keep the top 3 at least for development and there may be space for others to make sure we can put competitive teams out at all levels. No superstars here it seems currently.

2022/23 Athletic Club Squad Goalkeepers In the first squad we have a clear number 1 in Spanish National Team Keeper, Unai Simon. At just 25 he could spend the next 10 seasons with the club and will take someone special to remove him from the position. His stats across the board are great and there may not be many keepers in the world much better right now. There are no signs he wants to move on and has a 3 year deal on nice wages. Julen Agirrezabala is the back up and at 21 years old, will likely improve to a level just below Simon. With a small wage and a long term contract until 2025, a solid #2 for us. We have 7 keepers in the academy at the minute and the greatest prospects seems to be Alex Padilla and Aimar Penalver. Both are 18 years old and have the potential to be La Liga players in the future. Both see their contract's run out a the end of this season so will need to sign new deals in the coming months. Iruarrizaga is on the transfer list and at 23 has not made the development needed, which may be the same for the others.

Reserved for summaries

[FM23] Athletic Club Bilbao - We will Basque in the Glory Football was introduced to Bilbao with a distinctively British connection, that of British workers (miners and shipyard workers) in Spain and Basque students returning from studying in Britain. The Bilbao Football Club was formed. Juan Astroquia from the educated classes formed the Athletic Club (English spelling) to play against the British workers. In the very early 1900's, Bilbao FC and Athletic Club combined to form Club Bizcaya and won the Copa de la Coronación against Barcelona. In 1903, Bilbao FC were absorbed by Athletic Club one and for all with 1898 declared as the clubs foundation date. The club us widely known in the modern era for its cantera policy of brining young Basques players through the ranks along with recruiting players from other Basque clubs. The official policy is to only sign players native to or trained in the greater Basque Country (Biscay, Alava, Navarre and Gipuzkoa in Spain, Labourd, Lower Navarre and Soule in France). Since 1912 Athletic Club has played exclusively with players meeting its Basque criteria. Honors Athletic Club are one of the founding clubs (5 of the 10 were from Basque region) of La Liga in 1928 and would win their first title under English manager Fred Pentland in 1930, doing a double-double league and cup wins in 1930 and 1931. The last la Liga title win was in 1984 which is the longest period without a title, mainly down to Barcelona and Real Madrid's dominance. Winning the first 2 Copa de Rey and lifting the trophy 23 times (the 1902 was the Copa de la Coronación) and are the second most successful team behind Barcelona. Once more, 1984 was the last time winning the competition and a loss in 2021 to bitter rivals Real Sociedad still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. In Europe, there was been no silverware but 2 trips to the UEFA Europa League Finals, in 1977 Atheltic Club would lose on the away goals rule after a 0-1, 2-1 results left it at 2-2. in 2012 Atletico Madrid would win 0-3 to take the victory and leave Athletic Club still waiting for European glory. Club Details With a new and modern 53,000 seater San Mamés Stadium, the club boasts excellent facilities which are the corner-stone for the Basque only policy. To build the best players from the area, you need to have the best facilities available. With a starting balance of £27,724,120 and £21,553,260 made for transfers, the club can spend if required. The Wage bill is high at £1,066,242 out of an available £1,092,437 per week. So we tick all the main boxes for a long term save. Great backstory/history, unique player recruitment model and a competitive league. Add to that some unfinished business in Europe to finally bring some silverware, Athletic Club will always be a challenge on Football Manager.

Always good to see a Wimbledon save, what a team the original crazy gang was back in the day!! Unlucky on the first season but hopefully next year will be the one to take you up a level! Interesting tactic, something a little different from the normal, I like!!

2023 Squad Review With 40+ players coming and going, no-one will be surprised that the team is much, much different to the one that finished last season. Forest were literally linked with every single player across Europe at one point (or so it seemed). With that in mind, taking a look at the squad who will take on the challenge to keep Forest in the Premier League seems a worthy starting point. We have a mixture of Nottingham born players (Smith, Worrall, Yates, Johnson) who were (mostly) key to promotion mixing with newly signed international players. Are there any glaring gaps in the squad or has all gaps been filled in and depth where needed? Goalkeepers Dean Henderson will need to be worth 10 points himself this season to Forest to have any chance to survive. He is, head and shoulders above the other keepers in the team and commands the huge salary which Forest will pick up this year onto of a monthly fee. Still, with all the money spent elsewhere this could prove to be great business for the season and gives Henderson a chance to impress before the World Cup and future transfers. It is unlikely he will be back to Forest next season, which leaves the team lacking in a Premier League standard keeper moving forward. Welsh international Wayne Hennessey will be backup for the season as American international Ethan Horvath has gone out on loan to Championship size Luton to help his case for the Qatar World Cup. Both are not long term solutions for the Premier League so finding more short and long term options are high on the priority list, but with them both on manageable wages, no large drama there. Finally, long term Nottingham lad Jordan Smith has been with the team since 2011 and for the wages, offers value to keep on the books for now. Defenders With several incoming players, stalwart Joe Worrall will have competition for the starting spot. He formed a formidable back 3 with Steve Cook and Scott Mckenna last season but the move up a level will see them all pushed to keep improving and stake a starting role. They all will have a role to play this season and moving forward, but what that is at this stage will be performance driven, but I will be rooting for them! Wily Boly comes in with Premier League experience from Wolves and commands a decent wage for that experience. The Senegalese defender Moussa Naikhate has spent several years in the Bundesliga with Mainz and isn't looking to be on the bench. He may be the highest ranked defender on the team currently. Cheikhou Kouyate can play across the back but might be utilised more as a defensice midfielder this season. On the left we have Harry Toffolo who joined from Huddersfield and Brazilian Renan Lodi, who is on loan from Club Atlético de Madrid for the season. Forest are picking up the wages and a £475,000 a month fee but do have a £25,000,0000 option to buy at the end of the loan. At 24 and with caps for Brazil, this could be something activated if survival is obtained. Serge Aurier comes in with 79 caps for Ivory Coast and looks to battle with Welsh signing Nico Williams. The £16,000,000 paid to Liverpool is a long term investment in the talent wingback. Canadian Richie Laryea is out on loan to get ready for the World Cup along with Giulian Biancone who will also join him if possible along with Loic Mbe Soh and Mohammed Drager. At this point, all 4 of them will struggle to make an impact next season and may find themselves moving on in the near future. There is also Omar Richards not on the list, the £7,250,000 signing from Bayern Munich suffered a broken leg in pre-season and will be out until after the World Cup. We will treat him as a new signing in January when (hopefully) recovered.

Reserved for Summaries

[FM23] Nottingham Forest - Survive then Thrive onto European Glory After 23 season's, the mighty Nottingham Forest are finally back in the Premier League with just the one aim, survive! The Greek has opened his cheque book up and spend £160,000,000 on transfers and loan players to make the dream happen. Can Forest stay in the Premier League or will the 20+ new players arriving (along with 20+ players leaving) just be too many to gel and be a success? We shall soon find out if this Forest team have the quality to become the next great Nottingham Forest story! I decided to re-visit this now the winter update is completed and Forest have survived in the Premier League with a game to spare. I will be trying to stay true to the 2022/23 team and with the winter update, making sure all players join at the right time (Apart from Navas, who is in from the start and not sure why). I will be playing this slowly and until FM24 when I'll be enjoying a Forest story from the start!

S.C. Faetano - Look like Brazil, play like Brazil? Who doesn't love a good tree in a logo? As a Nottingham Forest supporter just had to go for the team who look like Brazil also - S.C. Faetano. They have a very modest 3 league titles to their name, the last in 1999. They also have 3 Coppa Titano titles to their name, the last in 1998. A team without a trophy since Y2K looks like a great choice to start with! I will be managing the San Marino National Team from the start also and have the following set up, along with the AGE database (Rightly or wrongly). The man to take charge will be 19-year-old Samuel Mazza, that well know sunday league player with no coaching badges! As everyone knows on here, first few seasons the churn of players is real, so won't be following them too closely. But this is the squad I managed to scrape together to start the season and glad to see several Sammarinese players still in the starting 11. Now, let's see how the first season goes and for now, will probably just update the National team once a season.

Just simmed a season, looks to be showing past winners! Might have to give this a go now.

Thank You - Head of Youth Development Gary Brazil - Happy Retirement In a shock few days, the man, the myth, the legend who brought so many Forest Youngsters into the spotlight, has retired. We cannot thank him enough for the effort and players he has brought through and will be missed by all at the club. I knew he would only have a few more years left but didn't expect a no-notice retirement! Time to go see who is on the market and will lead the hunt for talent moving forward.....

Look to be on a roll and heading for the title!! Can you go undefeated also which would be impressive.

Glad to see this is still going well. IOM are a force not to be messed with now!!

Nottingham Forest Season 8 Review - Back to Champions League Football 8 season's into the Forest Youth Academy+ Challenge and we have a 4th place finish to qualify for the Champions League. It was looking like it would come down to a last day shoot-out for the final spot between us and Chelsea but a shock 1-0 win over Manchester City all be sealed 4th place and the best finish for Brian Trent in his career. The Europa League would end at the Quarter Final stages, beaten by the would be winners in Southampton. The squad ended up with only 23 players in for the season and with some big injuries, we struggled at times. Hopefully we will have a few under 23's able to make the jump up to the senior team next season. In other news, out local affiliation with Basford is working well as they dominated the Vanarama National League and earn't their second promotion in 3 seasons to head up into the Football League. We will offer as much support as we can we loan signings next year to enable them to stay in the League Two! Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2 Affiliates Basford Promotion The Squad and Stats We saw some familiar faces return this year, the biggest with the £40,000,000 price tag was central defender Anel Ahmedhodzic (For) after 4 seasons with Brentford. He was a rock at the back and a large part of the success of the season. Brennan Johnson also found his way home after moving to Leeds then Arsenal before a year on loan with Leicester in the Championship. He has yet to truly find his form but hopefully we soon see what he is capable off. Our first Legacy player buy. Luca Oyen (Leg) had a great first season with 14 goals in all competitions which was 2nd best in the team. the 26 year old now has 8 caps for Belgium and 3 goals to his name. The squad now has over 50% of its players from the youth academy and that will only continue to rise as other players get older and the lack of other options from (Not) and even (EM) seems to get smaller. I would love to keep a balance of players from multiple sources, but we will see how that goes over the next few seasons. The "kids" average age is still under 22 so we still have a few more years until many of them enter their prime years as they are still developing.

Europa League Quarter Final 2028-29 We came away from the first leg in a great position despite going two goals down in the first 10 minutes and guess what happened in the second leg, we did exactly the same. This time they kept up the pressure and with a number of injuries and a long season, we crumbled under the pressure. With that, we bow our of Europe for this season but with a place up for grabs back in Europe again in the League, it is all to play for on the season still.