TheNayr

2024-05-31T20:45:50Z

So I have gone out and added 6 new players and every single one of them is here to improve the back half of the pitch. Let's not waste anytime and get into how the squad looks into going into the new season where we MIGHT be playing Champions League football!

Starting off with our goalkeeper and we have a new number 1,

Jonathan Dev has been in and around the national team setup for quite a few years and has been a deputy to Ayush CK whilst starting many games in the league over the years. Got him for £35k from Jamshedpur.

The worst part is he's 5'10 (Which I HATE for a GK) but his mentals and technicals are good enough to look past the 5'10...we'll see how well he does this year to see if I wish to keep him as our guy between the sticks beyond this season.

Now then, our defensive players and our biggest unit. It was our worst performing part last year, so a few new names were needed, located and got in.

Probably the 'Worst' of our new signings is Luciano Gonzalez.

A new LB was a priority so I went out and got this guy for £35k from Huachipato in Chile. He's not great, but his physicals are good for this level.

I needed a better RB as well, so I went out and got 2. I couldn't say no to either of them. Starting with David Rana on a free from Goa.

Then £185k from Mumbai is Prem Paul.

Okay, I'll be honest haha. David Rana I approached to sign on a pre-contract and kind of forgot about him before agreeing to the Prem Paul deal. Too late now, they're both here. Both can play along the right side which is good because I did need another body for AMR position. Here they are compared.

I think it's clear to see that Prem Paul is the better player and he'll be starting at RB.

Subhash Mallick has come over from Chennai for £33k as we lost a DM who had no desire to sign a new contract so he's filling a hole that was opened.

He's not as good as the guy he's replacing. But he's not horrendous. 18 aggression, 17 bravery is wonderful for a ball winning midfielder!

Finally, the best new signing this Summer and according to my assman, he comes in as the best player at the club. £80k from Guwahati is Dominique Bamba.

He's got great size at 6'4 in a nation where's a lot of smaller guys. Very nice mentals with some good physicals. I'm surprised we were allowed to get him/get him that cheap. He's gonna be a very important player for us.

Then no new additions but a couple of losses for our attacking unit.

Steadying our backline a lot has risen expections. The board and fans both want us to make the playoffs at a minimum. Considering we lost in the final last year, playoffs is where we need to be and the media agree.

The fans may expect getting to the playoffs this year, however they haven't backed us with their money/season ticket sales as we've sold a whole 1 more than we did last year haha!

I was able to increase our youth coaching level, but not the recruitment as of yet!

Leaves us looking like this.

I'd love to make our training facilities better but just don't have the money yet. Speaking of money.

We do lose money every month but we're still in the black, increasing both facilities would put us in the red, I won't ask for upgrades just yet!

Finally, we had some action with India and played the competition I HATE. The South Asian Football Federation Championship.

We have won the last 8 editions. I wish we could skip/opt out of this tournament.

Until next time.

Thursday at 10:21

So I'll just rip the plaster off, the youth intake was absolutely dreadful haha! No redeeming factors about it whatsoever.

Most definitely a poor intake, headlined by Shyam Singh.

Good news though, this should hopefully be the worst intake we have here at Odisha. It can only get better...one can imagine haha!

We were able to steady the ship toward the end of the season where we reduced our losses and appeared to play a little better.

These results left the table looking like this.

Making the playoffs is awesome! We perform slightly better than predicted which is always nice. What isn't nice though, is missing out on getting continental action next year by a point which sucks! However, we're still within a chance of winning the league through the playoffs!

First up in the quarter final we are home to Jamshedpur.

And we brush them aside fairly easily, onto the semis against Goa who are potentially the best team in the country right now.

Despite being battered and under pressure for majority of the game, we escape with victory away from home in the first leg. Onwards to the second leg at home. On our way to being Champions!!!

Well over the two legs we were BY FAR! The worst team, but that doesn't matter. We are through to the final and have the chance to win the Super League for the first team in this team's history after being runners up in 2024 and 2027.

And our nice little run comes to an end! We fall at the final hurdle and are not crowned Champions.....this year at least!

And at the end of the season in the Super Cup which is just glorified friendlies at the end of the season:

We lose yet another final to Bengaluru. You don't get anything for winning the final, so it's not like we missed out. But as got there, it would've been nice to have won!

Squad by goals.

Squad by average rating.

Overall, it was a very good season. Just a mid table finish would've been good, but we got to 2 finals and to have 9 players who finished with over 7.00 means we played very well throughout the entire season.

So apparently we're going to be playing in the Asian Champions League despite finishing 4th even though we have only 3 qualifications spots in the league for the top 3.

So considering we came 4th...we shouldn't have qualified? Unless it's a little bug and the game thinks I have? I guess we'll see when the new season ticks over.

We are losing 3 of our 5 foreign players due to me not wanting to keep them and to renew their contracts, so it's gonna be fun trying to recruit 3 new superstar foreign players to really make us better!

Until next time.

Wednesday at 11:00

A large number of people are expected for this game which is awesome! The Indian FA want us to reach the second round minimum and I fully expect to get there myself.

And we are heavy favourites, as to be expected.

Let's brush them aside easily please guys yeah? A few goals to help with the goal difference in case that's needed!

Hmmm. Not really what I was after. Their first goal was only because our GK made a mistake and came out too early then an own goal for the second when it was already 4-1. I would've liked a couple more goals. However. A win, is a win. Keegan Rawat scored 2 as a Raumdeuter, proving he fits that role perfectly. (He did also miss a penalty in the first half after he'd already scored!)

Next up is the most important game of the group, against Saudi Arabia.

POOR POOR POOR. 3 shots on target from 14 attempts. Their first goal was again a mistake by Ayush CK who again came early for a cross, missed it again and practically left the goal wide open for an easy goal for their equaliser. Very frustrating game. It means we are second in the group above Thailand. We have the same goal difference and same record so I don't know what happens if we get a draw...we just gotta avoid a defeat!

I cannot tell you how frustrating this game was. We had SO MANY highlights that didn't end in goals. Thailand decided to just play the best football they have ever played. I mean, them having 4 goals from 0.95 xG is farcical if you ask me. How f'ing lucky can you get?!

Luckily, we qualify in third.

Which leaves the second round looking like this.

We draw a tough team in Iran where we need to step up our performances, big time.

Half time and not a single highlight. Great game so far!

Another poor showing just sums up a very disappointing tournament.

Saudi Arabia went on to win the competition. They are a very good team filled with good players tbh.

Who can spot the mistake?

Yeah, we didn't make it to the quarters haha! We lost in the second round. That's how much people really care about football here! I'll take it though, if it enthralled the nation that means football will continue to get better here!

No increase for us this time.

Until next time.

Wednesday at 09:25

And that next time won't be long at all as I'm doing this next update immediately because we're back in action with India for the first time since the World Cup as it's time for the Asian Nations Cup which is being held in China. In the last edition we lost to U.A.E in the semi finals, can we do better this year? I bloody hope so!

The previous winners of this competition. It's the Asian equivalent of the Euros and Copa America in that it takes place every 4 years.

This is how the draw played out for our group.

The squad is largely the same as it was from the World Cup.

Ayush CK as he has been for the last 10 years or so for India our #1.

Still no sign of a good, up and coming GK which is a bit of worry. We'll have to use him for as long as we can.

For the next 10 years we have locked up a CB, RB and LB. Our defence is looking solid and potentially our best unit. Our starting RB will be the 17 year old Pratik Jadhav.

Unless an absolute freak of nature comes through, the RB spot in the national team will be his for the next 15 years. Hopefully there will be some awesome development from this young star.

On the opposite side to him is 19 year old Ajit Negi. I wish he wasn't playing in Gibraltar but his side Magpies have good training facilities so that will help his development.

He is awesome physically which makes up for a little poor technicals and average mentals. You can't teach speed though.

Mohammed Singh has been ever present for this team for many years. At 29 he's coming to the end and hopefully we can get him to the next World Cup. An amazing CB.

Now then, I have claimed for a few years that Naveen Wani was the best player India has ever produced, I think he has been replaced to that title by this monster. Sukhjit Marbaniang.

Just look at him! He is beautiful and only 23. I could look at him all day. Starting practically every game in the Premiership. Oh who wants him? Only Real Madrid.

Next up, we have the midfielders. Now, I know you're going to see no natural AMR but that's fine because 3 of my striker can play that at least to a competent level, so no issue there.

Anirudh Saini only just made it into the squad, I can see this as his last competition/last time called up to the squad. He has been national captain for the last 11 years or so. A treasure.

Our 2 starting CMs will be a good partnership for at least through the next World Cup cycle, starting up Jason Singh who is playing his trade in Bundesliga 2 with Union Berlin.

He is absolutely solid and a great piece to have in the middle of the field. His partner in the middle, despite being 7 years younger will prove to be a solid guy next to him. Harshad Pradhan.

18 acceleration with 15 pace and the trait 'Knocks ball past opponent'. He's dangerous! He is currently wanted by LAFC in the MLS.

The weakest area of this national team since the start has been AML and that trend is continuing which is sad news for us, hopefully in the next few years we can get someone awesome coming through. Currently our starting AML is Suhail Dasgupta.

Very nice physicals with some really good mentals mean he isn't poor, but attacking wise he's not amazing.

Our starting AMR you all know, a guy I've loved since very early in this save. Also I must add he role is a natural RAUMDEUTER alert! A position you don't see utilised much. Keegan Rawat.

He can play that role very well. I am not looking forward to the day that he decides to retire! Expecting big things from him this tournament, especially in such an aggressive role on the right wing.

Then our strikers.

Led by this nation's next great hope in Chhangte Singh who had a very poor first season in the MLS with only 3 goals and 1 assist in 15 starts. However, this guys just HAS to play for us.

He is a Wonderkid, still has room to improve a bit. Getting a move to Europe in the next couple of years would be vital to his development.

Anyway, our first game is against Palestine. Hopefully we can put a few goals past them to get some early confidence and morale for this tourney.

Until next time.

Wednesday at 08:39

On 28/05/2024 at 08:12, Carambau said:

Good to see you back

It is so good to be back, taking a break from the save was what I needed after the retirement of Wani. Regular updates are back!

So, our first season with Odisha has gone well so far. A mid table finish was what the board was after and we're hovering around that now.

We started off very. very well. Undefeated through the first 10 games means was an excellent achievement and we were really overperforming, though that's something I'm never going to complain about! Though, our form was taken a bit of a nosedive lately. 4 losses in 5 games is a bit alarming with all the losses being away, so I'm gonna have to do something about that!

The table looks like this.

After 15 games, I'm happy with that and probably would've taken it had you offered it to me at the start of the season. We are the top goalscorers in the league which is nice and I expect that to continue with a good new signing at striker.

Sitting in free agency was a 39 cap 22 goal Indian striker Noah Fernandes. He started at Bengaluru, played for MK Dons for the last 3 years and was sitting there ready to be signed and we got him a couple of weeks ago.

And here he is compared to our current top scorer and current starting striker Shyam Singh.

I've also been able to upgrade the youth coaching and youth recruitment.

Getting them up is vital to this save, can't have just 3 teams providing all the good players! The aim is to have as many club teams here in the top division to have exceptional youth coaching and recruitment with great facilities! Speaking of which.

Yeah, not much to expect there. Youth intakes won't be that good here at Odisha for a couple of years, by the time they start getting good we'll be on our way to going to another team!

Until next time.

Monday at 22:17

So, a brief little reminder for myself and you. I went back through and read every post I made to catch myself back up to speed and the memories came spilling back through to me. Here's how the teams look in the top division.

So some things that stand out. There's quite a few rich benefactors knocking around here which is awesome! 3 teams having over £50m in their bank accounts. I NEED to manage one of the teams that have the 80,000+ stadiums as I think I could get close to selling out and increasing the season ticket sales and money hither to unthought of!

Here is where the league stands in this continent, I'll be honest. No idea where it starts, but I guarantee it's nowhere near 16th!

Here are the teams around us in the World rankings.

I think the highest we've been is 55, gotta crack that top 50!

Back to Odisha business and we needed to improve quite a bit, especially at the back and that's what I did before taking my hiatus.

First up, an experienced head who has been an ever regular with the national team in Ajith Singh. On a free from Bengaluru.

He's only here for a year but he's a solid performer who plays better than his attributes suggest. Dependable and experienced.

We only had 1 natural CB in the first team, so I raided Goa and paid £100k for a young CB with room to grow. Lalliansanga Colaco.

I have no doubt that he will see some action with the national team and he will be regular player for us in the league so he will get better, but the 9 determination will hinder any serious progress,

I also spent £105k on his new CB partner from Mes Kerman in Iran this is Hossein Gholizadeh.

Marks opponent tightly trait with 13 marking is solid and he will hopefully form a good CB partnership and be a bit of a mentor to Colaco.

Now, on a free from Saudi Arabian side Al-Anwar is Mohammed Al-Jasim.

Very happy with him, he won't be going forward much and I'm very happy with that, potentially the best player that we have. If not, he's close.

Finally, new signing from Kerala is Prabin Sharma.

He's going to offer a lot of creativity going forward and hopefully get quite a few assists over the next 2 years.

I am very excited to get stuck back into this save and continuing to Inspire India.

Until next time.

Monday at 11:38

I have some BREAKING NEWS to report from India. Over three months ago, respected manager Ryan Balchin had decided to leave his post as manager of India after 15 years of service. His aim of getting them to a World Cup was achieved. He has however, decided to dramatically un-retire and continue with the job he started in making India a footballing powerhouse. We go live to him now in Odisha.

Hello everyone. This is the most fun I've ever had during my 12 years of playing Football Manager. After some time with Sant Andreu where despite being sacked, I had a great time. Now, with Football Manager 25 still a few months away, I found myself in a tricky situation. I thought long and hard about starting other saves and couldn't really decide on what to go with. I was tempted to go again with Viktoria Zizkov after having ENOURMOUS success with them in FM23 (I didn't do any posts here) however, I am thinking they will be my first save in FM25 and going youth only showing how good the regens are in Czechia. After some thinking, I have made up my mind to come to back to India because I have work still here to do.

I didn't even get them into the top 50!!! What was I playing at?! I left them at rank 59 in the World. Not good enough. I have about 5ish months left before the new game comes out. How high can I get India ranked? Can I get them beyond the first round of a World Cup? I've still got more work to do at club level.

Basically guys.

May 24

13 hours ago, AlfieLucas said:

Shame about the sacking, was a good save you had going on.

11 hours ago, Vođi said:

It's been a great run, shame it came to an end!

Thank you both for your kind words. This save was enjoyable I really wish it could've continued but hey, I simply wasn't good enough! I'll see you for FM25!!!

May 24

2 hours ago, MrTepig said:

Too bad it's come to an end, I think expectations were 100% too high for a team of that stature and you've definitely done a great job. It's been an interesting read and I'll totally follow along whatever you come up with next!

Thank you! To be fair, the board and the fans in that final season only expected me to fight against relegation. So they knew we'd struggle! I can't deny the performances were bad. We weren't scoring, letting in too many and losing a lot of games. If the team were at least fighting and being close in games, I would've understood! I have no real complaints about the sacking.

May 23

3 hours ago, Vođi said:

Oh man, your board is really a pain! This one, the previous one too. I mean what exactly are they expecting? Miracles?

My performances just weren't good enough, I understand that. They were fair to bring me in.

Here's how my final manager profile ends and my stats.

Yeah, it took a while to get to La Liga 2. I nearly got sacked a few times before that. We were in the red for a lot of the save and we weren't able to become the biggest team in Barcelona. Despite all of that, the last 10 seasons I had in charge of Sant Andreu were very enjoyable. I already have a new save in mind and will probably start another save today because I knew I'd probably get sacked today so I was thinking what I could do next earlier on. Being an introvert who loves playing this game, I can't get enough haha!

Thank you all for those who read along and to those who commented. Special thanks to @Vođi who showed a lot of interest in this save. I won't hide this, it'll forever stay on my profile.

Until next time.

May 23

Right then, a month to save my career at Sant Andreu. It isn't going to be easy, but we'll give it our best shot.

First up, a game against Eibar who were a single place outside of the playoffs at home, it will be tough.

Wow, wow wow. We didn't deserve to come out of this game with anything. After the 92nd minute goal by them I assumed it was game over, only for a 95th minute equaliser! Could this be the start of our great survival?! And as you'll see, I have ditched the 4-2-4 at home after some losses and poor performances.

Next up, Real Jaen who are just outside of the relegation places on goal difference. We HAVE to really try get a win against these!

This was a very VERY frustrating game. After their red card earlyish in the game I knew things had to have a positive outcome and the fact it took until the 80th minute to score and even that was a penalty! We got the win the end though, that's all that matters.

Onwards to two vital games for us. Starting with Las Palmas who are in 12th place.

Maybe the start of the end. This positive wing play isn't the way forward. Stupidly low level of possession at home. 2 shots the entire game. It's just so frustrating.

This next game against Real Oviedo has gotta be a must win. I will change tactic.

Yeah, I don't see us surviving. I opted for a more structured, controlling possession tactic with a 5-2-3 which didn't prove to help. Let me just get these next 2 games over with and get me fired.

We are away to Covadonga in the Copa Del Rey who are two Tiers below us. Anything other than a win will all but condemn me. I will keep with the structured controlling possession.

Hard to get too excited, it's a team that we are considerably better than and our fate might already be sealed! However, I'm not going to turn down a win no matter where or when!

I can actually pinpoint where we've gone wrong this season.

Our star striker, who led the La Liga 2 in goals last year had failed to score in 16 hours....SIXTEEN HOURS! 13 starts. I should've benched him much sooner but I thought his star power would shine through...and he didn't.

Our next 5 La Liga 2 games....if we survive contain 4 away games. However, the next and last game in this little section where I am playing for my life is away to Tenerife who are 5 points clear of us.

Well that's that, I'd imagine that is the end of the save.

Time to wait for the chairman to talk to me.

It's been over a month and the board haven't got back to me yet...So we played Ponferradina who are leading Group 1 in the Tier below us.

And they wrecked us once we got to ET.

Right this is silly, it's been over a month and a half since my month target was set and they haven't contacted me yet. I guess I'm not getting sacked. LET'S GO F'ING MENTAL LET'S GO F'ING MENTAL!

We grab another win, but again it was poor and again it was a penny that saved us.

After this trying time.

The table looks like this.

Final thing, potentially good youth intake, though I won't get myself excited. I might not be here by then!

Until next time.

May 22

It was only a matter of time.

I don't blame them for calling me into a meeting. These are the results since the previous update.

This makes it 6 losses in a row with 3 goals scored in the 6 games and 18 conceded. Yeah. It's not been great.

I promised him that in a month time, things will be better.

So I have a month and 6 games to improve confidence around the club or I'm a goner.

Until next time.

May 22

On 21/05/2024 at 10:29, Vođi said:

Great year, 10 pts in your first season is a hefty cushion!

Great year last year indeed....this year though.....yeah haha!

The first three months of this new season have been and gone. What's the deal with how we've been doing? It's not great, I'll tell you that!

The definition of all or nothing as we haven't drawn a single game yet and unfortunately for us, there's a lot more of nothing in our opening games. It's been very poor. We've been the worst team in practically every game. Not a lot created, not a lot of goals. It's been a slog getting through these months.

Obviously the table isn't inspiring but I guess we are where we're expected. If we were predicted anything other than to fight against relegation we'd be struggling. The board and fans are actually happy with how we're doing.

There's not one specific area that I can point to and say "This is why we're doing bad!" because it's all bad. 12 goals in 13 games is awful plus our star man Esteban hasn't scored a single goal in 8 starts, so he's been benched. We've conceded the joint 2nd most goals. It's just pathetic in general.

There's just really not that much to say at this point I'm afraid.

At least our finances are still growing...however it's only about £50k a month profit now. Even that good news isn't amazing.

This is just a very downer update, but that's what happens when times are tough like this, you've all experienced it though so I know I'm not alone.

"You get what you pay for" is a well known phrase and that is true with us currently.

We are the lowest spenders of wages in the league and comparing us toward the top of the league it's nowhere near them. Of course we're going to struggle. We are still a very small team playing in a big league where there's lots of money! We are doing just fine! The fact we're not bottom is testament to how we're doing!

We are a tiny team punching above our weight.

Let's get the morale up, I am doing just fine for a team of our stature. Let's lock in.

Until next time.

May 20

I have worked hard and made some good signings which will hopefully prevent us from being in danger of going down because that is still what the board and supporters think. They are both happy with how I am running the team currently.

How are we looking going into the first game of the season? What does the first team squad look like?

For the first time in about 4 or 5 seasons, I am starting a GK who we actually own and isn't on loan! We also have a new backup.

Starting off with the backup. Jorge on a free Arenas Club two divisions below us.

For a backup, he isn't really that bad at all. Solid in all the right places and if we need to call on him, I won't be too worried about putting him in.

Our new #1 on a free from Vianense in the third tier of Portugese football is Valentino Rodrigues Lesieur.

There isn't much between them, infact some of you could prefer Jorge but the slightly better mentals and the couple of inches taller give Valentino the edge for me, but if he plays poorly, he will be replaced!

We have 3 new additions to our defense after losing a couple of players.

First up on a free is Jose Ramon Navajas from UCAM Murcia. He is in very much as a depth CB and is probably CB3 ahead of the 33 year old Plecharty. He can operate as a DM and CM too, so he will be valuable person on the sub bench as his versatility makes him very useful.

He's solid, cheap and a model citizen, what more could you want as backup?!

Last year we only had 1 LB registered and that wasn't a good player, one of the reasons we were poor at the back. I believe this player will make up for that in Jacapo Contarini on a free from Serie C side Torres.

He is such an upgrade on what we had last year. Quick explanation, I was screwed last year because I was unaware of a rule that to be registered, a player must earn at least £1,278 in La Liga 2. By the time I realised, I was unable to get a new LB. So for the entire year we had 1 natural LB, disaster!

Finally, the last new guy at the back on a free, as most of these players have been over the years, from Ibiza is Juan de Dios Murcia.

He is a mentality monster and I've made him my vice-captain. Marks opponent tightly trait is what you love to see as a CB with his 6'3 height, I'm really liking this guy.

Just two new signings in the midfield unit as I was moderately happy with them last year so I didn't see the need for sweeping changes.

First new signing for £20k from Botafogo-SP in Serie C in Brazil is Miguel Vera.

He can do a bit of everything. A couple of things to note about him. 17 natural fitness, this bloke is never going to tire in the middle. 15 passing with the trait tries killer balls often. I think he's gonna be very important for us.

Since joining the club 6 years ago, Bazoumana Toure has been our starting AML and he's done an outstanding job for us. Last year he did well, but I think La Liga 2 might be too much for him.

So the new guy at AML again from Ibiza on a free is Juvenal Correia.

He does the job of being a winger very well. Here's the comparison with Toure. The difference is marginal, but I want to go in a new direction there.

The amazing thing is, despite being our AML for 6 seasons, Toure has no left foot haha!

We have now new signings for strikers, I'm happy with that unit, led by our star guy Paco Esteban.

Last year he finished as the top scorer for our division and the media have him as clear favourite to do it again. He will miss the first 4 games through injury which is annoying though.

Where do they expect us to finish after these signings?

17th? Yeah, I don't see us doing much more than that to be honest. Just about surviving relegation.

The money continues to improve and by the end of the season we should be looking at near £2m which is awesome! Doesn't sound too great but you've seen how bad my finances have been for 90% of the save haha!

Here's her our rivals are doing.

Until next time.

May 20

On 18/05/2024 at 16:00, AlfieLucas said:

Congrats on getting to La Liga 2. Here's hoping you Stabilise yourself in this league and push on.

Thank you, thank you! As for stabilising in La Liga 2.....well. Let's see if I was able to achieve that!

Well the form wasn't there toward the end with only 2 wins in the final 8 games which was worrying. Was this enough to keep us from the drop?

LUCKILY IT WAS AS AGAINST ALL ODDS WE SURVIVED LA LIGA 2! The teams below us couldn't find any form to suck us down into the big fight. We survive comfortably with 10 points between us and 19th. Is 10 points comfortable? Maybe, it doesn't matter as we aren't going down!

Despite the good times about staying up...we have been poor. It wasn't a good season but that's fine, as I've said previously, this was expected. So I'm not too shocked or annoyed. Attacking wise, we were actually good. Defensively we were let down.

9th out of 22 for most goals scored in the league is great! We were banging them in, despite it not feeling like that for most of the season haha!

But as you'll see, we conceded a stupid amount of goals.

80 goals conceded in 42 games. Shocking. I NEED to try and find a good goalkeeper.

A lot of this can be explained very, very simply though. Away form. Look at this beast.

14 losses including 49 goals conceded away. Screw getting a good goalkeeper. I need to figure out why I can't get anything good away.

Squad by goals.

Paco Esteban is the only reason we're staying up. 24 goals in 38 starts. He carried this team. I'm happy a lot of other players pitched in, but Esteban is the standout player when it comes to attacking and maybe just on the entire team in general.

No shock, he leads the team in average rating this year and the only player to record over a 7.00.

He has just signed a new 3 year deal with a release clause of £4.6m. He's gonna be banging goals in for us for years to come and if he does leave for money, it's gonna help us out big time!

Ignore Enric I was forced to play him due to injuries, he's not some kind of GK prodigy haha!

A historic season as we survive against the odds in La Liga 2. I need a good recruiting Summer.

Until next time.

May 17

22 hours ago, Vođi said:

Hold tight! I remember my first season I had a good start too, then I ran into a 17 games winless streak (totalling like 4pts during that).
But as long as you stay up, it's fine.

17 game winless streak sounds very similar haha!

A recurring theme for this save so far has been the poor intakes and so it continues. I am very happy I chose not to go youth only because this would've been over AGES ago and this year's intake is nothing is the same, though perhaps a little better. Definitely have the best player to come through any intake so far though!

The rest really isn't worth showing! However, I will show you Eloi.

He might not even make an appearance for our first team, but he does hold the honour of being the best player we have produced so far. However, if we can continue to stay in La Liga 2 with the money we'll make I'll be able to ask for increases to our youth stuff and begin to mould good young players but for now. He's our top graduate!

How have we been doing in the league though?

A real mixed bag, our home form is the only reason we're not sat bottom of the table! I mean, it's not close to being a fortress but when we play well, we're playing at home! Still cannot find a suitable away tactic to use in this division. Nothing is working, cannot find that winning formula! One day I'll crack it, but not this day!

We're not out of danger yet, but 10 points clear with 8 games to go, a couple more wins and we'll be looking good. I'm not trying to get ahead of myself, but survival in La Liga 2 could be secured with some games to spare which would be amazing!

The small gains financially continue to come. Last month a profit of just £76k but I will take it.

Until next time.

May 16

37 minutes ago, Vođi said:

Congrats on getting promoted! And I'm happy to see you are doing so well so far!

I'm stuck in Liga 2, battling through my 5th season now, hopefully you will stay less in there

Thank you, but as you are about to see, I have hit the struggles! Not all sunshine and daisies here in Barcelona! Playing much more like expected.

The Winter months have been and passed as we hit the dying days of January. There's not point in beating around the bush.

Yeah, it's not been pretty. At least it's proven that the 4-2-4 gegenpressing at home isn't as overpowered as thought. However away, my God! Do not get me started! I used the home tactic away to Leioa in an effort to beat a lower league opponent to try and raise morale. I have now actually gone back to the 5-2-3 wing play formation but I don't know how long for. I am not a mastermind when it comes to playing away. Signs of a poor manager.

The table, as you can imagine after such a **** poor run looks far more predictable than us being just outside the playoffs for our first season in La Liga 2.

I mean that is just stupidly tight! The weird thing is though, I actually prefer to be here because this is where we belong. If we were in amongst the playoff teams I wouldn't view it as realistic. A team of our stature and spending SHOULD be having a relegation fight. For example, our wage spending.

There's no way we should be finishing anywhere near the playoffs. We are a very small and weak team compared to others in this league. So let the struggle continue...providing we stay up. I'll take a last day scramble and we score a 97th minute equaliser to stay up. I don't ask for much! Whilst we're on finances.

We continue to make small gains every month but I'm certainly not complaining. Long may it continue, well, the gains. I don't want small gains forever!

Finally, back to having bad intake previews. Back to normal service.

Until next time.

May 15

It has been three months since the start of our campaign into La Liga 2. Has it been a disaster? Am I on the verge of being sacked due to losing every game? Are we overperforming and flying high? There is only one way to find out. Here's how the schedule is looking...

That's certainly a lot more green than I was expecting and I know it would be more than you were expecting! I am very, very happy with how the start of the season has gone. I was expecting a lot more losses than this, though our away form has been quite bad. After an outstanding 0-3 away win to Barcelona B we have struggled a lot when we're not at home. Enough about the negatives, let's focus on the positives. By that, I mean the table and our finances!

There is zero chance I would've predicted us to be this high after 14 games. I would've guessed around 20th deep in a relegation battle. This is absolutely ridiculous and it's all down to one guy currently.

We have scored 17 goals (Excluding own goals) and Paco Esteban has 10. He is carrying us at the moment. 13 starts, 10 goals and the only player with over a 7.00 average rating.

I'm going to give his strike partner Sow more time to impress because of his 10 starts, 5 have been at AML due to injuries, so that's why his only goal for the season isn't as bad as it looks. But then flip that, 1 goal in 5 starts as a striker is worrying form.

Finances, we are making positive money every month! Now it's not substantial, it's only like around £120k a month but that us huge because I was used to losing at least £150k a month so this is a massive step in the right direction!

Now obviously the board and the fans are loving life and they have every right to feel this way!

Oh yeah, we did also beat Espanyol at home! I fully expect them to get us back when we're away. Speaking of which, I have a new away tactic to try and stop the slump. I've already used it for the last 2 games, both draws. Moving away from the wing play 4-2-3-1 I've gone to a fluid counter attacking 3-4-3.

Until next time.

May 15

So I don't know what I was expecting sponsorship wise, but I think it was maybe more than this!

I can imagine that £366k will be the lowest by some margin in La Liga 2.

We'll see a tiny increase in money for our season and regular home tickets.

There are 64 teams with a higher reputation than us including 3 teams in the 4th Tier!

Oooooffff the TV deal email has come through and it is about £2m more than I was expecting! Wonderful stuff!

This will help out massively!

Right here we go, let's have a look at the team.

Surprise surprise, a new #1 and yet again, it's a loan! From Cadiz this is Djibril Sidibe.

Some solid technicals mixed with alright mentals, he'll be good. A little short at 6ft, I normally like 6'2 as a minimum for a GK.

Now whoever notices what's wrong here first gets a quid.

That's right, only 1 player who can play LB in the squad. I am £2k over my wage budget and trying desperately to find a LB on loan that I can get for no wages....which is proving to be very, very hard. Anyways.

I opted to bring 2 older guys in on 1 year deals at the back to try and stabilize us in La Liga 2 and be good mentors, first up is Oliver Abildgaard on a free from AaB in Denmark.

An experienced DM who I hope will take no nonsense and be a guy at DM who I can rely on this season. I plan on starting him most games which means he'll hit his 15 game extension clause, oh well!

The other experienced guy is Dominik Plechaty on a free from Slovacko in Czechia.

He comes in and I have him as our CB1. He will be an important player for this year.

The last new guy for the back line I'll be honest, I perhaps shouldn't have gotten him as our RB room was already good, however, toward the ends of his trial, he looked too good to turn down. Hector was at Celta Vigo and we paid nothing for him.

His defending let's him down, but I'm excited to see what he does going forward and being a marauding RWB even if his dribbling is lacking a bit.

A few new faces in the midfield now. No matter the save, I ALWAYS run 1/2 DMs in a tactic. I love defensive midfielders and the roles they take. In my opinion, they're the most important players on the pitch, that's one of my coaching philosophies. I will aways trying to improve that position and I believe I have this window.

First up on a free from Real Zaragoza is Jaime Tobajas.

Not amazing, but solid and natural at DM CM and AMC which is great news for me.

Next up and money spent on this one! For £52k Brusque in Serie C in Brazil is Matias Sosa Ugolini.

I expect nothing from him going forward, but that's fine. He was signed just to sit in front of the defence. He will be a rock at DM and will protect the back 3/4.

We were missing a good AMC and I found one in Argentina on loan from Independiente Rivadavia is Renzo Gonzalez.

We just need to give him the ball and good things will happen. Good technicals paired with good mentals will make him a tiny bit dangerous with the ball at his feet.

For the last 2 seasons we really haven't had a backup AML to Toure. That needed to change this year so I went out and got one. One a free from Sevilla is Daniel Blanco.

To be honest, he is probably better than Gonzalez at AMC and I'd imagine he'll see more time there, especially as he's not a standout winger.

We have no new strikers, I'm keeping with the 50+ goals partnership between Sow and Esteban.

With the bottom 4 going down, that's exactly where the media expect us to be and so do I.

Hold on, I've just noticed something!!!! Despite losing in the Promotion Playoff Final. Tropezon have been promoted! So I guess that was to just be crowned ultimate Champion of Tier 3 then I guess? But there they are in La Liga 2 with us.

As to be expected, we are down the bottom of the sponsorship table.

The same for season tickets due to our smaller stadium.

The eagle eyed of you will have seen we finally get to face one of our rivals for this save and team number 2 in this city, Espanyol. I expect to do nothing against them...but still. Will be fun. We have also breached the 4.3k mark on season tickets considering we had the same amount around 3.9k for the past 4 seasons. Let's have a look at the rival tracker.

This season is going to be tough, no doubting it. Hopefully I can make it at least a respectable campaign with the expectation of being relegated.

Until next time.

May 15

4 hours ago, MrTepig said:

Congrats on the promotion! It's crazy having 2 players with 25+ goals, I don't think I've ever had that in any of my saves.

Thank you, thank you! Having both of them bang in goals this season was great to see, the most crazy thing is for half the season I was only running a one striker system!

At home I have been using a 4-2-4 Gegenpressing system which having them combine together with our quality wingers on attack led to some amazing stuff.

Let's look just how dominant we were at home.

51 goals in 19 games? That's ridiculous! Whenever they were both on the field it was pure dynamite!

Then if we compare it to last year's home record.

Which was still bloody good, we found an extra 13 goals due to the upgrade of a much better striker to pair with Paco Esteban and a better AMR.

Now our away tactic this year was this. A focus on the wingers in a wing play 4-2-3-1 with me favouring Ibrahima Sow as our starting DLF.

So 2 25+ goals strikers when half the year we were operating a 1 striker system makes it more amazing.

May 15

So, the main success of our promotion season was down to our attacking prowess. We finished the league season on 80 goals from 38 games. That is absolutely insane! This is the squad with goals scored.

Paco Esteban who only scored 11 goals in 33 starts and 7 substitute appearances last year turned it around this year and scored 37 in 37 starts and 9 sub appearances. What a year from the ex Atletico Madrid player!

The goals and games include our 2 Copa Del Rey games which I forgot to include in the updates this season and the playoffs. Our two strikers combining for over 50 goals this season is beautiful. Both starting wingers popping up with double digit goals really helped out. Britez at the start of the season I said he was going to be an assist King and I was correct.

20 assists through the season from right wing is exactly why I got him in the hope for a season like this! £7k very well spent.

To have a great season, you need many players to play consistently well over the season and that's exactly what happened this season.

All those players to average over a 7.00 is a standout reason why we're going up.

At the start of the season, I signed a 3 year deal with a +3 if we got promoted. I am going nowhere for a very long time.

A B+?! We don't get promoted without him!!!

He should've been an A+ rating like...

£46k for 25 goals and 7 assists. Ibrahima Sow was an absolutely brilliant buy!

Sponsorship should go up a lot and I've not looked at the La Liga 2 broadcast money yet to not ruin it for myself. I have no idea how much it'll be, hopefully a few hundred thousand at least...

Right, I have £245k to spend and £16k in spare wages which is brilliant. No-one in the first team has a contract expiring this year which will be brilliant for team cohesion. I will be selective about who I bring in because I will expect us to get relegated next year so I don't want to ruin the club's future by spending all the wage budget and crash back down with very high wages. Gotta be smart,

We're finally getting close to the big time!

Until next time.

May 14

So, no time to be upset/annoyed about missing out on the title on the final day by getting battered...we have playoffs to win. First up, a match at home against Real Murcia who are in Group 2 of the second tier, we were in tier 1.

Okay, very good start. They played very well, but we were much better in front of goal. Now we gotta play well away and get through to the next round!

Then between matches, something the old chairman didn't do in 5 years plus...

We're still not looking good though!

They absolutely battered us but we were able to escape with the victory and we move on to the Playoff Promotion Final.

We beat them at home and lost to them away this season as they were in our Group. In another note, Tropezon lost their two legged tie, so despite being Champions...they're NOT getting promoted.

A tight game, all even and we're lucky to get to the end of the game with a draw! It all comes down to this. 1 final game of the season. Win and we go up to La Liga 2 and get out of the third tier after 4 years in it!

WE ARE PROMOTED BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

U.E SANT ANDREU are a La Liga 2 team for the first time 54 years!

Until next time.

May 14

So, was that intake as good as it was suggested? Was that striker a 'Fine prospect' as advertised?

No, not really. I signed him still, but I got my hopes up when I shouldn't have haha! Onwards to how we have played at the end of the season!

Yeah looks good until May right? Both of them two games were a killer, especially because our on loan GK who has been amazing this season was injured.

Real Oviedo B had 4 shots on target and scored them all.

Fuenlabrada had 4 shots on target and scored them all.

We also happened to be 4-2 up in the 78th minute.

Did the bad end of season form screw up our title chances?

Oh hang about, there's one more game left to play, silly me.

AGAINST SECOND PLACE FOR THE TITLE!!!!

Look, we just need to not lose. Just a draw will do.

lol

In first place from match 27 until the end of the final day.....

Playoffs it is. Although even if you win, you got into playoffs, it's not automatic promotion. Being Champions would've been nice though. There's still a chance to get promoted though...we F'ing deserve it.

Until next time...though that won't be long.

May 14

1 minute ago, Vođi said:

Oh look at the lowly poor Sestao River!

I have been keeping an eye on them due to the fact you're managing them! You'll be glad to see that in this update, they've turned things around a little!

You join me now at the beginning of March and things have continued to go well as you are about to see!

The two main things to take away from that. A lot of green and a lot of goals. Our good play has kept up which is fantastic to see! Despite all of this good form, the table at the top is still incredibly tight and means the last 11 games will be fun and all of them being important!

Yes. With 11 to go, we are leading the Tier. It's going to be a great run in and I can't wait to continue playing!

I am a little excited about our intake for the first time in the entire save. For the past 5 years it's just been rated as 'Average' however this year...

I think everyone will suck apart from this striker which seems to be boosting up the entire intake. He could be something special, so I'm very much looking forward to getting him in.

Let's look at the man who's responsible for him.

He's been with us for the last 6 years and he's not amazing. But he's been the best person I could've had as our HOYD every year as I've looked to improve but there's been no-one. That continues to be true. Albert Ramirez is fairly determined and his £275 a week is so very cheap for someone like him.

I'm guessing once we get promoted more people will be interested in working for us, but right now. He's doing a good job.

Let's have a look at my assman too shall we?

He's been with me for 5 years now and to be honest, I think he'll stay with me for the entire save. I don't think I'll replace him unless he leaves to join somewhere else. Only a Continental B so he has two upgrades left for improvement. His 19 motivation and 20 people management skills are elite and exactly what I like in an assman. Pepe Capitan will hopefully lift the Champions League with me one day.

May as well look at me whilst we're here too right?

I too, along with my assman and HOYD have 2 upgrades to go in the Continental A and Continental Pro Licences to achieve. The Managing Finances section is a lie, spent most of this save in the red haha! Speaking of...

We really need this promotion...

Until next time.

May 13

20 hours ago, MrTepig said:

Great read so far! Hopefully the new investments are enough to make it into the next division.

Thank you for your kind words! I aim to continue to make it a great read.

9 hours ago, Vođi said:

Great news about the takeover and returning to pro. The additions you made look like they could give you the push for a top 3 finish. And why not, maybe even higher!

I was sick of that chairman repeatedly calling me into the board room, this guy is much better!

Right guys, you know the drill. It's been 12 games, it's the end of October. I am here to show you what the start of the season has been like and I am very happy to announce that it's been our best start in this Tier so far. Obviously good news. Let's get into it!

A lot of green and that's what you love to see! An opening day loss though had me a little worried thinking I had ruined the team was quickly set aside. Most doubts would if you then scored 10 goals in 2 games haha! You love to see all the goals we have smashed in. We do lead the Tier with 30 goals banged in from our first 12 games. If we keep this up (We won't!) we're heading for a near 100 goal season which would be quite outstanding! A bloody good opening to the season leaves the table looking very promising for us!

Despite our very good, annoyingly Tropezon those punks are undefeated still, we're yet to play them though! We have them in 5 games, if they're still unbeaten, we'll change that!

So I thought with these upgrades that we'd be amongst the highest spenders of wages in this Tier. I was shocked to see where we were!

We are only the 10th biggest spenders in the Tier! Ignore the B teams though, obviously they're going to be on loads! The funny thing is, this is the lowest we've spent on wages in the last 3 seasons! So that is a pleasant surprise which also helps out with our finances...speaking of...

I won't beat around the bush. In just over two months we've lost nearly half a million.

The money from people coming in to watch us just isn't good enough. The more TV money in La Liga 2 along with better sponsorship deals will help us so much. The promotion this year if we continue to play well is vital!

I think that's all I've got for this update.

Until next time.

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