BillHoudini24

Seeing that long yearly updates are not very engaging for most people, I decided to switch into more regular updates. I hope that can increase participation, but also help me play the game slower and pay more attention to detail. The save is getting at a point where I need to slow things down and focus more on player development. For now, let's get into the final yearly update.

Thank you so much Ben for the skin, but especially for the last update! I've been using your skin on and off this year as I am trying to look at attributes less, but I still felt I needed them there in some cases. The last update solved that issue, so now I switched permanently. Love the new "Attributes Hub", lots of things to dive into!

Great updates everyone, thank you for the inspiration! I have my own Youth Only save, but I don't participate here since I allow myself to sign back players from the academy. One question for the seasoned pros in this: I can't seem to fix my squad's personalities. I am on year 12, I have 16 Determination and from all my staff, the lowest is 15 (both main and youth coaches). The first screenshot is from my main squad, the second one is from the youth squad. Am I doing something wrong? How can I fix this? The main problem is that even the ones who come with good personalities through the intake get worse over time. Any suggestions?

Season 2033-2034: Getting closer, but still no cigar This season was a bit of a weird one. Giannis Lazaridis (23g) was not scoring anymore, same as Orfeas Perdikis (27a). With my strikers struggling, anyone would assume that the season would be challenging, to say the least. But what happened was quite different. For the first time since the start of the save (season 11 overall, season 9 in the first division), we managed to qualify for the Championship Group. There we were clearly outplayed and out of gas, but at least we didn't have to worry about relegation. At the same time, our academy work seems to be working at all levels. The U19 team were crowned champions of Greece! The Development Center is a sight to behold, with many players being almost ready for the jump to the first team. For that reason, it was the first time in 11 years that I had a clear-out transfer window during the summer. Players with a bit of potential left on loan once again, but I also sold and released quite a few players. It was also time to sell Orfeas Perdikis (27a) abroad to Alaves, as the money was truly insane for a striker with less than 25 goals in 6 years . Youth Prospect Watch - There are many reasons to be optimistic for the future, I'll show you 3+1 of them: Napoleon Veroutis (33f): Great athlete already, can play on both sides and doesn't have an atrocious personality. I lack depth in his positions, so he's going to play soon. Polydoros Toumasis (33c): Same youth intake, maybe even more promising as a player. Great technical ability, but he needs to improve a lot, as we're pretty much stacked in midfield right now. Potis Mingos (34d): I have very high hopes for this kid. He looks like our next starting pivot or BPD for years to come. Great personality and already pretty versatile attribute distribution. I might start playing him as soon as he turns 17. Elidon Bajrami (34e): The "plus one". He's quite promising as well, but I don't know if he can offer more than my existing options. He's also weak and small, which doesn't allow me to play him up front. Let's see how he develops. During the off season we had some interesting things happening. Firstly, I had my first offer from a national team, as Austria came in calling. I didn't even consider it, I'll probably try to manage Greece later in the save, but it's not time yet for international management. Finally, Greece U19 had a decent campaign in the Euros, which resulted into having a Panionios player in the Dream Team! Alkiviadis is already a starter in my main squad, playing both as a Winger and as an Inside Forward. In his first year in the first team, he had 5 goals, 4 assists and averaged a 6.90

Spoiler alert, it wasn't meant to be, but we made a big step forward regardless! More in the next post.

Basingstoke Season 2027/28: Closer, but still far Vanarama National: 5th FA Cup: 4th Qualifying Round against Aveley FA Trophy: Quarter Final against Torquay A statistical summary of the season - We made some progress, but the squad did not have the quality or the depth to make it to the end. We had a good campaign in the FA Trophy, but a disappointing one in the FA Cup. Our finances looked good, but became waaay better when: HUGE sale! Granted, he's the best player we ever had at Stoke, but the money was just too good to turn down and we got him for another year. To put things in perspective, with that much money I was able to rebuild my squad, get another coaching license, upgrade the Youth Level and the Junior Coaching. He's just a favorite personnel for the team, but he's a legend in my book. I hope we can get him back at some point. After this outstanding event, we go back to the usual format. Top performers: Richard Macrae - A loan from Portsmouth, he contributed as soon as he joined the club. 17 goals and 2 assists in 35 games were enough for me to renew his loan. Fabian Reynolds - He's now getting into the cult legend territory. His attributes are definitely not for that level, but he's the player with the most output for our team so far. 37 goals and 56 assists so far, I am sure we will remember him down the line as the player who got us into the professional leagues. Finally, I also had the first offers from other teams, Charlton from the Championship and C.D Tondela from Portugal. Next year we need to get promoted. No more excuses, the money is there, the roster is there, we kept Sofokleous for another year. We need to go for it.

Basingstoke Season 2026/27: Consolidation in Vanarama National Vanarama National: 8th FA Cup: 1st Round against AFC Wimbledon FA Trophy: Fifth Round against Eastbourne Borough We had a very good season, we even challenged for the play offs at some point, but ultimately, our lack of squad depth caught up with us. Another bad year in the cups means that our finances are not healthy. Our U-18 team won their league! Is it a sign of potential, a good tactic, or the rest of the teams are just bad? Top Performers: Kyriakos Sofokleous - This is the craziest transfer I ever did on a Dafuge Challenge. He was opting out of his contract and I spent my entire budget on him (50k). He's by far the best player in the history of the club, when he's on he wins games by himself. His weaknesses are the physicals and his consistency, otherwise he would have gotten us promoted already. Championship teams are already interested in him, but he doesn't want to leave, so we're good for now. I'll try to get as much as possible for him when it's time. Brad Wilson - A striker from the original squad, he keeps on banging goals in the next level as well. He scored 19 goals with 7/7 pens, but I feel like we can upgrade in this position. Fabian Reynolds - He keeps on performing after the promotion, despite his star rating. He had 10 goals and 8 assists. Again, I think we could improve in his position, but I'll get to it later in this post. Finances - Huge problem. We are not in the red, but we have one of the lowest wage budgets in the league. The average is twice(!) as much. I am not an FM expert, so I simply cannot compete for promotion under those conditions. I'll either have to sell Sofokleous, or get lucky in the cups at some point. We cannot get promoted like this, I say this because I am already in the next season and I basically did a couple of transfers, there is no room for anything else. Teams asking us to pay wages for most loans don't help either. Here is my profile after 2 coaching badges. The goal for next season would be to challenge for promotion, but I don't see it happening unless we change our financial situation. We'll be in the Vanarama National for a while.

Basingstoke Season 2025/26: Promotion to Vanarama National National League South: 1st FA Cup: 4th Qualifying Round against Southend FA Trophy: Second Round against Tonbridge A statistical summary of the season: We started well and never really looked back. We had a huge dip in form towards the end with too many draws, but managed to get promoted without playing the playoffs. In the cups we had a pretty bad season because of our small squad and the focus on the league. Again, my finances got a huge hit because of that. Top performers: Bradley Wilson - Same case as Argent last year. The attributes just don't tell the whole story. He scored 38 goals in the league, averaged 7.28, he carried us to Vanarama National. What a season! Fabian Reynolds - The classic pacy player with high flair returns. He showed that he's not a "one season wonder", he provided 18 assists and 11 important goals. Ollie Starkey - Another great season for Ollie! He scored 10 goals this year and had 12 assists. The second intake was nothing to be excited about. I only kept this lad, but I doubt we'll use any academy products in the near future. After being awarded as the best manager of the year in our division, I got a new contract and my first coaching badge. Onward and upward. It was a year full of awards and records for us. Next year we consolidate in the Vanarama National, while slowly upgrading our squad.

Basingstoke Season 2024/25: Vanarama South National League South: 9th - Predicted last FA Cup: 4th Qualifying Round against Barnet FA Trophy: Third Round against Taunton Town A statistical summary of the first season. A lot of goals, a lot of cards and a surprising high attendance. If we fix our defense, we'll be one of the contenders for promotion. It was pretty good first season. The best players of the original squad either retired, or left. I made a few signings and aimed for survival. The reality was quite different, as we started the season with a 7-game unbeaten streak, which placed us 1st. We ended up fighting for the play offs all year, but we fell short in the end by 4 points. The cups were rather uneventful, which was bad for our finances. Our squad was just too small to compete. Top performers: Sam Argent - It's one of those classic cases you encounter on LLM football. I don't know how, but he scores a lot and he's always involved in key highlights. Gave us 30 goals in all competitions, but he's retiring during the summer, so we need a new striker. Fabian Reynolds - The classic pacy player with high flair. He caused a lot of trouble to the opposing defenses, he scored 12 goals and provided 14 assists. I already renew his contract, so he'll be our starting IF on the left. Ollie Starkey - More all around player than Reynolds, but slower. Showed his quality throughout the season with 18(!) assists. Ewan Clark - I don't know how he signed with us, but he was the best player on the team based on attributes. Scored a lot (12 goals) as a Mezzala, while also being a creative option with 8 assists. He doesn't want to sign a new contract, so we'll have to replace him. Here is my first intake. Nothing spectacular, but maybe 2 or 3 of these players can be rotation options in a couple of years. Jordan Murray (23a) - I have no expectations during the first intakes, but let's see how Murray (24a) develops. If he was a bit faster he could be part of the squad already. Unfortunately no badges for me yet, even though all my staff is studying for qualifications. Very frustrating, but at least my attributes are growing and I got a new contract. The goal for next year is to get to the playoffs. I beat most teams above me in season 1, which allows for some optimism.

Press Start: Basingstoke - Dafuge Challenge Decided to give this a proper try after 6 years of not really playing fm. Last time I tried this was again with Basingstoke in FM17, reached the Prem but then stopped playing the game altogether. Looks tougher this time!

Stop the count!!!

Youth Intake 2033: The gods have smiled upon us! Finally, after years of drought, we get a good goalkeeper, who's also a Perfectionist! We also got 2 more midfielders, but we were covered there already. Now we're missing some wingers and a striker.

It must be this one!

Panagiotis Xygoros: Last man standing Panagiotis is the last player from the original squad. He was our starting right back until Barkosis (29a) came along. His versatility is the reason he's still a valuable part of our squad, covering right-back, left-back and right mid. During the off season, it was time to honor his contribution to Panionios, with a testimonial friendly. I think he still has a couple of seasons left in him, but now that Barkosis (29a) has a year left with us on loan, we need to start developing the next starting right-back. Thank you for your service Panagiotis!

Season 2031-2032: Drama free on the pitch, drama galore off the pitch Finally a season where we didn't worry about our survival. Giannis Lazaridis (23g) had his best season yet, leading us to safety by providing 13 goals and 12 assists, averaging 7.11. Alongside him, we had Kostas Flessas (25c) and Andrianos Sivilias (24b) on a breakout season, offering 10 and 9 assists respectively. One pleasant (but also weird surprise) is Vissarion Drabalis (28b). He had 6 goals and 2 assists, playing as a box-to-box midfielder or as a Pressing Forward. One season wonder or a valuable squad member? It remains to be seen. Speaking of player development, Orfeas Perdikis (29a) is starting to earn his place in the squad, with 7 goals and 3 assists. AEK won their 11th straight league, I really don't know when they're going to fall off. They just destroy everyone with ease. We did a good job in the playoffs, getting a record high 44 points! Off the pitch, things have been crazy. We had a second big sale, as Barkosis (29a) was too good to be left unnoticed. He signed for Inter, but we got good money, a next sale clause and a loan back for a year. I'm sad we lost him but I knew this was coming. Our youth intake was not very good once again and the trend of bad personalities continues. I am optimistic for a couple of them, but again, time will tell. Finally, we got new owners, but nothing really changed. We now have secure finances because of the big sales, which allowed us one further upgrade in the training facilities. We need a few of the youngsters to make a step up, if we want to keep improving in the league.

Congrats on the league title! Time to start building for SL1...

Mid season update (2031-2032): The return of the king I don't want to jinx it, but this looks like our best season yet. We're creating more and better chances, while being tight at the back. We have won games against other relegation candidates and got some nice draws from top 6 teams. AEK is running away with the title once again, going for their 10th straight! They've replaced Olympiacos as the dominant force in Greece. The main reason for our great season is Giannis Lazaridis (23g). After a horrible season last year, he comes back with a bang to say "Nitis who?!" In 15 games he has 7 goals, 8 assists and averages 7.31. The king is back at his best and so are we! He even made Orfeas Perdikis (27a) look good, a high regarded prospect that was starting to look like a flop. Orfeas is having his best season yet, with 5 goals and 2 assists. Together, they're leading us to a season with minimal drama. I probably shouldn't pay too much attention to these, but after all the upgrades, this looks rather disappointing...

Pre-season break: Replacing Pavlos Nitis (28h), or back to Super League 2 Replacing someone who just provided 21 goals will always be hard, especially in a "youth-only" save. But we have to move on quick. We started by loaning out a dozen players, either because they're too old to play with the U19, or because they have no place in my rotation. Our only transfer is a Panionios graduate who has 16 Determination. He's not good enough to play anymore, but I hope he can help us out by mentoring our strikers. The money from Nitis (28h) transfer go straight into the club, establishing very good facilities. I think we're going places, as long as we don't get relegated. In the first international break, our starting right wing-back gets called up for Greece's main squad at only 17 years old. No wonder, since he's been great for us already.

Season 2030-2031: One step forward, two steps back There is no way around it, we had a horrible season, while AEK makes it 9 in a row! Our leading goal scorer Lazaridis (23g) (72 goals in 211 appearances) had a nightmare of a season with just 2 goals. Luckily, Pavlos Nitis (28h) had a breakout year, saved us from relegation while unhappy and got his dream transfer to Manchester City. He led us in a fantastic run when it mattered the most and we survive for one more year! The first intake of the new HYD was meh at best, still bad personalities despite him being a Perfectionist, but let's see how they develop. So far, my favorite is Lykogiannis (31b). I hope he can help us sooner than later, we need every decent player we can get. The next post will be about the busy off season, where we loan out a dozen players and try to replace Nitis internally either through players, or tactical changes.

Thanks man! You might be right, progress is so slow that I might end up feeding players to the rest of the league over the years. Maybe I can get the Greek national team job in the future.

Bittersweet moment for the club: On one hand, we make our biggest ever sale and we sent a Panionios academy product to the great Manchester City. On the other hand, he was our best striker who saved us from relegation with 19 goals and 2 assists in 26 games. His replacement will determine our survival this year. In his Panionios career, he had 55 games and 28 goals. Good luck Pavlos!

Reasons to be optimistic pt.2 It seems that we are doing something right at youth level. Our U19 team won their first league title. Sign of better days ahead? I hope so, because for the main team the season has been a complete disaster. We spent the entire season in the last places of the table and even got last at some point. But more on that later. In the meantime, am I such a bad tactician and the roster is underperforming, or I'm just impatient, expecting miracles with a bunch of second division players? As you can clearly see, probably the second. We lack the technique and pace to play proper attacking football, we lack the Determination and Work Rate to go into a "Simeone" direction and we're horrible at set pieces, so we get no easy goals from anywhere. Honestly, I do not know how we have survived in the first division all these years, but I think our luck is running out. Nitis had an amazing season despite being unhappy for most of it and he's definitely the reason that our torture continues. I am 100% sure he's leaving us this summer though, as Europe's best 11 teams are after him. Luckily, he has a 10M release clause, so I hope we can fix our financial situation through him. Talking about finances, we sold our 4th choice CB for 2M +50% (Next sale), as he let me know that he wouldn't renew his contract. This is our second highest sale so far. 7 Jumping Reach in a league full or crosses and set piece teams is just a liability. Lastly, our right-back has been included in the list of the 50 best young players. First time for our team, this boy will go far! I hope he stays, but I am already trying to find a replacement, just in case.

Kotsopoulos and Dimitriadis with some great numbers there! Keep it up, this is an SL2 squad!

We have similar issues so far. I am following a similar logic when signing players from the youth intake, ignore low determination unless it's 4+ potential ability. It's not that they do not develop, but they keep my personality average low in the main squad, which messes up everyone else's Determination attribute as well.

Things are looking quite ok at the moment and you already have some nice personalities on the squad. Waiting for your latest intakes to come into play might be tricky, but it looks like you can survive this season.