bowieinspace

It's certainly a great test and a challenge on your abilities to make a system work with the tools you have available, even with the ability to sign other basque players making it a bit easier than a strict youth academy challenge, it's still one of the elements of an Athletic save that provides the most satisfaction. I think one of the challenges with Athletic doing this is, at least initially, a bit of a lack of balance. The newgens/regens you get in year one come through at 15/16 years old, so unless they are world beaters, chances are it'll be at least 3 seasons until they are realistically ready for the first team (at least to play anything more than a back up role). Positionally, within that time frame Athletic are well covered (assuming you don't lose players to release clause bids) at GK (Simon), RB (Lekue), CB (Nunez/Yeray/Peru), LW (Muniain/Cordoba), RW (Williams)...however there are serious issues at striker, unless you move Williams there but then there's an issue wide right, and central midfield. Within 3 years pretty much the entire central midfield is getting too old and on a serious decline, you'll be hanging on to San Jose and Dani Garcia in their early 30s, with Sancet the only promising youngster. I think in the initial years as a youth academy challenge, an enormous % of the chance of success comes down to luck with who comes through the youth system, not just in terms of quality but also positions...if you get 3 world class players and they're all goalkeepers in the first 3 seasons, you're screwed with a massive lack of depth/quality within the spine of the team, and an undetermined amount of years to wait for the required player to appear. You can always work around it with a good tactic and set up to some degree, but success will have natural limitations. I have no idea what Santos are like off the bat in regards to first team ages @Cleon, do they give you a bit of a platform to work with for 5 seasons while waiting for youngsters, or is it an ageing squad? Interestingly, given the conditions I've mentioned above and with an interest in Athletic, I'd love to see what you could do with them on a youth academy only (or even a basque u-16 only) challenge. I'd love to see how someone of your knowledge level and skill managed things.

You can get by quite well with only Athletic regens, but to have the squad depth and quality to really compete you need to sign players, at least those already with Basque nationality/from other basque club academies. If you open it up to signing any Spanish under 16 it becomes a much easier save. Generally I find relying on Basque only youngsters means you can be one of the best teams in Europe but rarely are good enough to dominate for multiple years....I've definitely had that on previous FM's where it's a bit easier or I've been fortunate with regens or both, however to really be dominant I think it is a bit tougher now

He had no significant change in the 19.3 update, so what we're seeing there is a reflection of his variable PA range

Sorry to hear that I always run a three file rolling auto save to avoid major consequences like that, if you don't do that I'd definitely recommend it

Hey @DementedHammer Great effort on this. I play down in the Otago region. There is the Southern Premier League as well that sits in with the Championship and further divisions in the Otago region. Unsure if this is new for this year or whether it was missed in your original breakdown of the region? The league is just about to restart so Football South should update with a new teams list this year. I know for example that Wanaka AFC are in the Southern Prem this year having previously only played the Central Otago league with the other Queenstown, Alexandra teams etc (which actually has a fairly decent standard), however it's not an affiliated league so wouldn't be worth adding to your pyramid.

Nice one Otis Yeah it's gone a bit quieter in here, I haven't been playing much FM this year due to other commitments but always enjoy seeing peoples updates here!

Going to watch football at different venues beyond what you're used to is a great experience. The new San Mames is fantastic, they've done a great job to build a new stadium which creates a great atmosphere and feeling, which many miss. The old San Mames was definitely run down and in need of development but it was a special atmosphere. I saw good games at both stadiums and two Athletic wins so I've been fortunate

While Athletic could never replace or come close to my support for my home town team (Aston Villa), this is the same way I became an Athletic 'fan' originally about 15 years ago...just by playing FM. If the two clubs ever played, no question I would support Villa, but my support for Athletic is built on so much involvement with the players via FM and a respect for their policy and values. That led to real life support and trips to (both old/new) San Mames! It's amazing how FM can do that.

Oh no what a shame! Which other teams do you like to play with on FM? I've done plenty of other saves over the years, I've had quite a few really good ones too but I always end up back with Athletic - I think the restrictions keep me more interested long term.

How's everyone getting on? I'm taking a break from FM to be honest playing other stuff, but I'll get back in to FM at some stage

I load similar leagues...I also load some of the South American leagues

Yeah they turned into really top class keepers...can't wait to see how your guy turns out. Hopefully that issues fixes itself up!

Yeah Athletic always seems to be an absolute hub for goalkeeper regens, here's the better ones I had the last few years at younger ages...they were great but not as good as your man Cemendur!:

Wow, what a player! Well done on your success so far! I've not been able to play much the last couple of weeks as I've been away for work and not had much free time. Managed to progress through to November in 2020, so just a few months since my last summer update. I've had an ok start to the season, Atletico Madrid have gone 10 wins from 10 in the league so they're running away with it, we've had a couple draws and loses so we're hanging around 3rd at the moment. We've not been amazing this season and I had Muniain, De Marcos and Williams all unhappy I sold Dani Garcia, I think that affected things a bit. Trying to give some of my youngsters minutes to build for the future while maintaining a strong challenge. Will update properly in January

I think that's the one positive to the way the game incorporates it, is that it allows you to play however you interpret the policy as it's not exactly a hard and fast rule. The affiliate thing for older ones like Diarra is an interesting one, bit of a loop hole coming through an affiliate, but do you think Athletic would sign them directly? Probably not in my opinion, hence I only sign people who have joined other basque clubs to gain Basque nationality.