Cal585

Please tell me your game plan is to play the B Team in the first game and tell them all to play super aggressively. Trade a few red cards for their best players suffering unfortunate incidents.

Mostly just wanting to experience the situation the club is in. Real transfer mode, transfer window off, let's immerse myself in the scenario. I've done plenty of generic European saves before with and without teams/players that I know. But I haven't ventured to South America so thought it'd be fun to try and also learn about the club/leagues at the same time. It's not the end of the world when a couple of guys are missing, I'm just disappointed that I waited over a month for this specific reason and it got cut this year without warning.

Normally I don't really care too much about the last data update but this year I was looking forward to trying out a Brazil save and thought Santos would make a great pick. Very disappointed to see that this year they haven't updated all the Brazilian transfers for the recent window. Now I have to decide between using a community transfer update or using the new real world feature I was keen to test out.

Interesting. I don't have a strong opinion on whether the Match Engine should have updated (I've enjoyed my limited experience since upgrading from 22) but my feedback is that I am quite disappointed there's been no communication about it. Indications upon release were that they wanted to try and improve communication and transparency which is why I find it startling that for the first time they don't seem to have updated the ME in the post-Christmas patch and haven't said a single thing about it. I suspect that they're probably happy with where it's at and have locked it down for the conversion to FM25 which is likely to be a huge undertaking but it'd be nice to hear something/anything when making such a big change to their standard post-release support.

Wow, of all the things to be told weren't important I sure wasn't expecting morale to be one. As someone who played a lot of FMT where you couldn't influence it through player conversations or team meetings and were largely stuck with bad morale until you won or else went on long winning streaks when it was high, I would have confidently declared that it was one of the most important factors. I'm not saying it categorically is the case or that it hasn't changed in recent years, just that I'm surprised by such claims and would love to see a lot more testing before I bought into its diminished impact.

It is with a heavy heart that I walk away upon the end of my contract. As always there's the appeal to keep going, to make amends for my CL final loss and to see the development of young players but this feels like a good time. There's a few bugs starting to pop up in the save and I'm already pretty dominant in most games. The club want me to stay, belatedly offering me new terms but my mind is made up by now. I'm looking forward to trying FM24. The State of the Club: I leave the club with a lot of aging stars but still the best squad in the league and the best backroom team. I have agreed the signing of Ki-Jana Hoever from Wolves to fill the RB place. I'm actually impressed I managed to get him to sign under the player cap. There are also some brilliant young players coming through that make me wish I could keep playing to see how they develop. Abdulahi looks like he will dominate the midfield as a home grown player, at least until he forces a move through to Europe. Dimoski and Matheson are both coming through on the wings with huge potential. Collier and Balafas are brilliant young LB prospects, while Markovski was getting games ahead of Curtis Good at CB for me. Jamie Maclaren is still one of the best strikers in the league but he wants to double his wages with his current contract running down. I tried a couple of times to get something done but the board just won't allow the kind of contract he requests, so hopefully my replacement can smooth things over and escape my promise. Of the other old players still at the club, theoretically Langerak's age won't matter too much as a GK and Rogic and Mooy with their sublime technical skills should still control the midfield despite their lack of legs. Nabbout and Leckie might be on the way out but are still at a high level for the league. Caputo, Arzani and Pereira are all players in their prime that can take over and become the star players themselves. There is definitely a squad there capable of building a real dynasty. Reflections on my time: I leave as the most successful manager in the A League's history and accomplished my goal of winning the Asian Champions League. I kept things relatively simple on the pitch, relying on good transfer dealing and wage structuring to outcompete others. I mostly stuck with my 433 DM, and had very mixed results trying to swap to a 4231, perhaps as all my wingers preferred to cut inside into space that got quite crowded in the 4231. I found some of the opposing squad management was a little disappointing as they tried to balance their salary cap and often had large holes of unused wages so that I was playing opponents that were using 15/25k available. The foreign player restrictions did make things a little tricky in trying to improve the squads meaning having to compete with lesser European teams for the best Aussies but not being able to match wages. But I was incredibly excited to bring big names home, the likes of Langerak, Rogic and Mooy (the latter 2 having now retired) were my favourite parts of this save and I imagine they would have had a real effect on exciting the supporter base and helping to draw crowds and attention to the league. The Asian Champions League was also a fun occasion. I was surprised to become dominant so quickly, I was expecting it to take a lot longer to make the final, though I had some very lucky runs playing teams at bad times for them when they'd sacked a manager or similar. It was a bit weird as it really depended a bit on what time you faced opposing teams as the A League being on a different cycle changed the balance often meaning one match fit squad was playing another in preseason. I really enjoyed looking into some of the opponents though and getting a bit more of a feel for the teams in the competition. I didn't end up making a lot of use of the City links except for a couple of emergency loans for bench players so I probably could have got rid of that completely. I was actually getting several news items suggesting a takeover may end up happening in game anyway towards the end. I really enjoyed reclaiming the Heart identity though. The other expansion teams were also fun to set up, puzzle out which I'd choose and generate kits for them. The league additions I think were also a positive to the experience. The new teams struggled a lot which was frustrating and required editor help to become more competitive. I enjoyed the increased league format though, even if that did have a few bugs of its own! Editor lessons: As mentioned at the end, I found the small bug with the finals selecting the qualifying teams before the season finished. I set up the league in multiple stages to gradually expand each time new teams were added which was quite complicated. A lot of additional trouble was also self-inflicted by trying to use Canberra United who were set as a designated youth team in the DB. So in the end I'm surprised that it went as smoothly as it did! I'm not sure if the new clubs transfer issues were related to my editor use or not. They were generally unwilling to spend the money I gave them and I had to help transfer a few free agents to them to help. But they seem to finally be building up by the time I finished. I think they still had reputation and crowd attraction problems though. It's just so much harder to edit the A League than it is the MLS and both are harder than non-capped leagues without finals series. I was considering releasing the files on the workshop but I have no idea how much else may have been broken by my naivety. But I refuse to put an asterisk next to my success! Epilogue: For a bit of fun, I have simulated into the future to see how things transpired after my departure. 1 Year On: 5 Years On: And with that I bid farewell! Time to once again retire the Melbourne Heart name. It's been a fun journey, thanks for sharing it with me if you've been reading this!

Before I launch into the Finals, I just want to quickly acknowledge a small bug in my custom league set up that extended the league (to accommodate the new teams) but didn't include those extra games in finals calculations. Which means that in contrast to the table above, Gold Coast actually made it into the finals instead of WSW who had a late surge after the "cut off". Elimination Finals: The first game saw Macarthur FC host Wellington Phoenix. Despite a remarkably even game in terms of stats (15 shots each, 1.41 XG each, 46-54% possession), Wellington ended up running out 2-0 winners thanks to a 95th minute clincher. Macarthur will feel very hard done by not to score. The other final saw Western United FC host Gold Coast United. Western United controlled this game but were just unable to convert. As the game went to extra time, they had a player sent off and Gold Coast capitalised to snatch a goal against the run of play. Western United will feel particularly hard done by that they couldn't convert from 2.44 XG. Semi Finals: The Phoenix have had a decent season but they only just snuck into finals and I'm not too worried about facing them. They have probably the best goalkeeper in the league, New Zealand international Alex Paulsen but I'm not overly concerned about the rest of their team. I go a front 3 of Leckie, Maclaren and Arzani who have temporarily pushed Nabbout onto the bench. Houston starts for me in midfield alongside Rogic and Mooy with Abdulahi some serious quality I can sub on if needed. We come out firing, hitting the crossbar inside the first minute. But it's Wellington who strike first with their first shot on target. A well taken free kick sees Nicholas Pennington get free in behind and a sumptuous first time volley fires it past the onrushing Langerak. Thankfully we get a response soon after as a practised corner routine takes effect and the outgoing captain Nuno Reis leaps at the front post to nod home. They push hard to regain their lead and also have an effort thunder off the crossbar. As we head into half time with the scores 1-1, neither side has racked up a huge amount of high quality chances but both have threatened to break things open. Maclaren has had an off day for me up front, so I might consider subbing him, while Mooy has been pulling all the strings in midfield and is probably my best player. They get an early chance at the start of the 2nd half but we see off the danger and settle down. I've instructed my players to play fairly cautiously in this one as I'm quite happy to take a draw before the decider in the 2nd leg at home. Mooy comes closest for me from a direct free kick but the game comes to a close without much more action. 1-1. In the other game, Brisbane manage to get a 1-0 win away from home against Gold Coast. Arzani pulls up injured after the last game and though he's right to go for the return leg, I move him to the bench and bring Nabbout in. Otherwise I keep the same team to go again. We start slowly this time with only the crossbar saving me from going a goal down after 40 seconds. It only counts as 0.12XG but it felt a whole lot more watching the build up. Finally on half an hour we manage to fashion a good chance ourselves, drawing a strong save from Paulsen. But he's not able to do anything a minute later after Rogic gets half a yard free at the 6 yard box to first time volley a cross home. He pops up again just before half time but this time Paulsen is prepared. A slow start but as the game has gone on we have started to assert control. Rogic and Mooy are bossing the midfield and besides a yellow card to Reis, I have no complaints about anyone. Both teams play cautiously at the start of the 2nd half, neither willing to open themselves up too much when the game itself is still on a knife's edge. Rogic does his best to break the stalemate on the hour mark but is cruelly denied by the inside of the post. Thankfully, just like the first half, this near miss is a catalyst for us to score a minute later, with Nabbout managing to get on the end of the cross just as I was making plans to replace him. He must have been motivated by the subs warming up! Instead I take off Nuno Reis, as the only worry I have now is about a potential 2nd yellow for him. Fujimoto also gets some game time to shore up the middle of the park with his no nonsense tough tackling approach. Arzani coming on for some match fitness after his recent injury returns to form in style, netting what must be the final nail in the 74th minute. Despite some early worries, we were able to seize utter control in the end and restrict them to only the 1 shot on target. We outperformed our 1.68 XG but never looked like dropping this one. A 3-0 win for 4-1 on aggregate. And we are through to the Grand Final for the last match of my reign! In the other match, Gold Coast made it tough for Brisbane despite being away from home, getting a 1-0 victory in regular time to force extra time. Unfortunately at this point Brisbane finally clicked into gear and piled on 3 goals in extra time for a 4-1 aggregate result as well. The Final Dance: The Grand Final rematch. Our chance to make amends for last season's limp finish and end my time at the club on a high. I don't want to fall into the same traps as last season where I concluded I was the superior team only for everything to unravel on the day. Brisbane have only improved since then and while I have been head and shoulders above everyone else in the league this season, they will be tough opponents with everything to play for. We go with the old reliable. Nothing too out there or aggressive, just trusting in the talent of my players to make something happen. Arzani comes back in for Nabbout as the only change. In the early stages we see a fair bit of the ball though struggle to get in behind Brisbane's defensive line. A couple of crosses flash past but we only hit the target twice and neither really looks like a good chance. But we do a great job of keeping Brisbane at bay with their limited attacks forward, preventing them getting a shot on target. I decide we need to seize the initiative and pile the pressure on. So we become more positive and look to see if we can break the deadlock. If I can score first then I can force them to come out more. But it very nearly backfires and it's only a good save at the near post from Langerak that keeps their first shot on target out. With my attackers struggling to make things happen, I turn to my reliables in Nabbout and Caputo to create something. And Nabbout has an instant impact, setting Leckie up 1 on 1 with the goalkeeper who somehow manages to keep it out. But we are pushing. Frustratingly Brisbane keep turning the ball over with my final passes and then countering but we finally manage to thread something through by just sneaking through their offside trap. Caputo races onto a through ball by Nabbout, the 2 subs combining and slots it home in the 74th! The Roar players protest but after a lengthy VAR check, the goal stands! At this point I know I should retreat a bit more but with the prospect of Brisbane opening up I sense the chance to win the game with a decisive 2nd goal. Unfortunately it backfires as Brisbane manage an equaliser in the 81st minute. But at least it doesn't have anything to do with my tactics. Instead Ivanovic runs around 2 different players into the box then somehow gets it past Langerak despite him getting a strong hand to the ball while diving. It's shockingly bad but we have 10 minutes to regain the lead and the momentum. Nabbout very nearly does so, but his header goes wide as we head into stoppage time. Suddenly it's all Brisbane and my players are panicking. Ivanovic gets a break away from a corner and it's only some last ditch defending that removes the danger and sees up through the extra time. A chance to regroup and come back strong! I've made all my subs now, so the only thing to do is reassure them that they've been unlucky and that if they keep going they can win. And guess who comes up big for me? Andrew Nabbout. The player of the save (not counting that CL shootout we don't talk about) gets on the end of a beautifully hit Delaine cross. Caputo jumps in the middle, drawing the defenders to him as the ball sails over his head, leaving Nabbout for a poachers finish at the back. I've learnt my lesson from last time and this time drop our mentality down to avoid any unnecessary risks. I don't forget this is the team that rallied to put 3 past Gold Coast in extra time last match. Brisbane pushes their line high which gives my forwards a bit of space to run into and an outlet to relieve some pressure. Despite their best efforts, my defence, brilliantly marshalled by the veteran Reis stands firm and we see out the win! A fitting way to end the save and we managed to go undefeated domestically all season! Despite Nabbout's masterful performance, it is Reis that gets player of the match and these 2 have really been key players for me and it feels so fitting that they are able to redeem themselves from the Champions League Final shootout disaster by coming up big here.

The Run Home: For all the previous worry about LB, it's actually RB I'm worried about now. The bargain signing of Delaine, our new French LB, along with really promising youngsters coming through and the capability of Goodwin to fill in there means we suddenly have incredible depth for the position. Our 16 year old academy prospect has actually gotten half a dozen games he's that good. Will be a real gem for sure. RB is much more concerning. Bailey Wright is leaving at the end of his contract and I promised Scott Galloway he could also depart after the season. We don't really have the youth prospects here either that are coming through. So my focus is on trying to sign a pre-contract here to join after the season finishes. This season's new star faces in Rogic, Mooy and Langerak have all been way too good for the league and really help my cruise home. Despite some early impact, I sign off on a loan move for my new Korean striker, sending him out on loan for the rest of the season to the Korean 2nd division. With Maclaren returning from injury and Caputo in deadly form, I just don't think he will get the game time he needs at this stage and this way he can start learning English while away. I keep hold of the Japanese midfielder though, as despite my midfield options becoming crowded, I feel he's good enough to be challenging for one of the slots. Despite the hiccup against Gamba Osaka, I find myself far more focused on the A League. I am determined to give it my best shot at an invincible domestic season. Complacency is an ever present problem with such a big lead opening up at the top though. We manage to grind out the results though, even when beaten on the XG stats. My Grand Final rivals Brisbane are the closest competition to me in the back half of the season but even they can't keep up as my lead grows. Not that they aren't trying, they're miles ahead of 3rd place themselves. The new expansion teams slowly improve and get a few results but they're still mostly clustered at the bottom with the notable exception of Gold Coast who are doing what the Knights did last season and sitting in the finals places. Knights are struggling this time round, though they outplay me in our meeting and I am exceptionally lucky to get a stoppage time winner. Viessel - Away: Our return leg is far less dramatic than the first. It ends up a very comfortable 4-0 but most of those come in an end of match collapse. But we've done what we needed and no complaints! Gamba Osaka - Home: I fire up the team to make amends for this one. The group comes down to this, with both of us head and shoulders above the other 2 teams. Anything other than a win for me sees them take top spot but if I can get a win and reverse the first leg result then my superior goal difference should be enough. We get off to a great start with an early goal and from there we take control with our supporters cheering us on. In the end we run out 3-0 winners and with that win, we go top of the group with 1 game to play. Ryomyong - Home: As long as I get a victory here, the group is ours. We are at home against an outmatched team, so I think it's fair to say Complacency is the biggest fear. In the end we have nothing to fear thanks to a Max Caputo goal in the 1st minute and a 6-0 win wraps things up nicely! Unfortunately, despite an unbeaten performance, Newcastle's single win and 2nd place finish is not enough for them to qualify from their group. Western United also finish 3rd in theirs, though they were competing with Yokohama F Marinos and Ulsan so that was always going to be tough. Brisbane though succeeded in equalling my performance, winning their group on GD after 1 win and 1 loss to Seoul who I have to play in the next round! The Rest of the A League: Despite some cagey matches we succeed in completing an undefeated season! Now the next task is to continue that run through the finals series. Brisbane trail valiantly behind me, though with a respectable 29 GD themselves. The expansion teams all seem to have an increased performance in the 2nd half of the season, with even Canberra as the worst getting 4 wins (and none of those against other expansion clubs). Victory have been the most disappointing. Despite a media prediction of being my closest challengers, they ended up coming in 13th, way off the pace.

Champions League: We start our next foray into Asia with a very mixed bag in terms of opponents. Gamba Osaka is a rematch of the Quarter Final and will be challenging opponents, but Viettel FC from Vietnam and Ryomyong sports Club from North Korea are new and interesting opponents! Viettel FC (Vietnam): The Cong - Viettel Football Club, commonly known as The Cong or by its most recent former name Viettel FC, is based in Hanoi. Established in 1954, The Cong is apparently short for Physical Education and Sports Team Work and was managed by the Ministry of Defence. Their traditional colour is red, leading to the nickname Cơn lốc đỏ (Red Tornado). They are one of the most widely supported clubs and also the most successful club in Vietnamese football history, having won a record 19 national titles, including nine consecutively, from 1971 to 1979. They played in the Champions League group stage in 2021, though didn't get out of the group. In 2022 they qualified for the AFC Cup instead and this time managed to make it out of their group before losing in the first knockout round. So relatively new to this stage but starting to gather a bit of pedigree. Ryomyong Sports Group (North Korea): Ryomyong Sports Club is an association football club based in P'yŏngyang, North Korea. Ryomyong means light of the dawn in the Korean language. They've played a bit in the AFC Cup in recent years but beyond that I don't actually know much information about football in North Korea. Game 1 - Home to Viettel: Caputo deputises for the injured Maclaren and Leckie also misses but otherwise I name my strongest 11 in a 4231. Caputo shows he is more than competent at covering for Maclaren, scoring 3 times, though only 1 ends up counting. Nabbout also scores a goal, giving me a handy 2-0 lead. They have a player sent off on the hour mark to give myself a man advantage in addition. Feeling safe, I sub Caputo off and bring on new signing Jung-Hwan. The Korean striker is only on the pitch for a few minutes before he scores a scrambled goal from a corner for a dream debut. Leckie replacing Arzani also grabs 2 goals as well, staking a strong claim to be starting these games. The red card really changed the match and meant we ended up absolutely dominating in the end. 5-0 (Caputo, Nabbout, Jung-Hwan, Leckie, Leckie) Game 2 - Away to Ryomyong: We come out firing with Leckie scoring in the very first minute. A goal 3 minutes later for Caputo confirms that this will be a very long day for them. We end up walking off at the break 6-0 up. The 2nd half is much more disappointing but the game is already over so can't criticise them too much for conceding. 7-1 (Leckie, Caputo, Nabbout, Caputo, Mooy, Leckie, Nabbout) Game 3 - Away to Gamba Osaka: This is a much tougher affair. We switch to our 433 but they still get the better of us in the first half, scoring in the 41st minute. Nabbout has a shocker so he gets subbed off. Experienced heads Wright and Rogic also get dragged as the errors pile up. Unfortunately we don't get the desired response and a poor clearance from Langerak results in a turnover goal for them in the 65th. Leckie manages to pull one back straight away though to keep us in the game. We push forward but they hit us on the break to restore the 2 goal cushion. But the fight isn't over yet, with Caputo getting onto the scoresheet in the 85th minute to bring us to within a goal. Sadly we can't seem to get the final strike and the whistle blows before we find a way through. 2-3 (Leckie, Caputo) Our first loss since the Champions League final! A League: During these Champions League fixtures, I play a rotated squad and we just about manage to remain undefeated. Nieuwenhuizen manages to throw away a hard fought lead by coming way out of his box and trying to take on the opposition striker for a 3-3 draw against CCM. We manage to win the other games by a single goal though with slightly unconvincing performances. Unfortunately I am unable to agree new contracts for Bailey Wright or Nuno Reis. The downside of spending on the 2 new kids is that I can't increase wages much. Reis, at 34, wants to double his wages which I can't justify. He ends up signing a pre-contract with a Portuguese club. I manage to resign Nabbout though! Speaking of contracts, I am now down to the last couple of months of my contract and though the board has indicated they will be offering one, they haven't actually given me anything yet.

A League Season: I would argue that the side I have assembled is the greatest to ever grace the A League. We have a lot of aging stars that are on the verge of going off the cliff, so I can't predict what will happen to the squad in a year or 2 but for now we have everyone in their peak. The biggest challenge is managing the squad with the next generation all wanting to test themselves in Europe. Langerak gets injured early for a while but this gives a good chance for Nieuwenhuizen to get some game time and further his development. He's turning into a good goalkeeper for the A League now and he's homegrown! He might not be the level for a deep Champions League push but he's still a valuable squad member. The season itself goes really well, with us dominating the league in the early games. I'm starting to wonder if I might even go unbeaten for the whole season. The new expansion teams are all struggling except for Gold Coast who are a respectable midtable. They all seem to be slowly improving though, so there's hope for the league! Transfers: End of the year I also manage to pull off a huge transfer coup. Out goes Karimi back to Iran for 500k, freeing up his wages and his DP spot. In to replace him is club legend Aaron Mooy at the end of his Chinese contract. Despite the interest in returning to Melbourne for his final seasons, he's quite dubious about our ability to pay him sufficiently. In the end we manage to haggle him down to 14.5k a week, which is a huge drop in his previous wages but also way higher than any other contract we have ever given out before. He is a pure upgrade on Karimi as a playmaker and is an Aussie national. Him and Rogic combining in midfield is mouthwatering and they should absolutely destroy any opposition at this level. Their combined lack of legs is a concern but if I have the ball it won't matter too much. Unfortunately Porto manage to finally steal Adam Houston away from me for a solid 2.5 mill. They also agree to loan him back for the rest of the season which is handy. Abdulahi wants to leave as well but I'm not wanting to let both homegrown wonderkid midfielders leave at the same time so I refuse to budge on his asking price despite his unhappiness. Maclaren helps talk him round. Swiss youngster Ribeiro also finally gets his move abroad after Luzern trigger my 3 mill asking price. He becomes the 2nd highest transfer in the club history after Tillio's 3.2 million transfer previously. I'm not too concerned as he was backup to Tom Rogic and I have Lopane return from his loan in China also able to cover the same role. These moves mean I have some wage budget available again and 2 foreign player slots now open but I'm honestly not sure I need to use them. The team is already stacked at every position. Except for ST as Jamie Maclaren injures his ankle and will be out for a month. A time for Max Caputo to shine with the Champions League games approaching! I end up signing a couple of young promising Asian youngsters to fill out my squad (as the CL rules allow an extra foreign player if they're Asian). The injury to Maclaren means there's another space for a striker. South Korean Choi Jung-Hwan agrees to join in a 625k move from Gangwon in the K League. He's still a bit raw but he's got great hold up and aerial play allowing something different for the attack. Japanese youngster Hotaru Fujimoto also agrees to join for 675k from Vissel Kobe. He's got really good defensive stats and looks like an upgrade on Gomulka for a purely defensive screening role. Great anticipation, tackling and decision making along with decent positioning and work rate looks really promising. Just needs a bit more teamwork. Neither are highly adaptable which may be problematic, but worth the risk!

After much venting about the betrayal of 2 of the most important players for my team to anyone who would listen I decide to move on and focus on the next bit of silverware I have available. On a completely unrelated note I decide that Reis and Nabbout don't really need contract extensions beyond this their final season just yet. Would it negatively impact the team if both the captain and vice captain left at the same time? Maybe. But there's still plenty of time to worry about that when I feel less hostile towards them. In some small consolation, Mathew Leckie was deservedly recognised for his Champions League performances, as despite being 33, he won the top scorer and also the MVP award. Caputo, Ribeiro, O'Neill and Wright also joined him in the dream team 11. Getting 5 players into that team isn't terrible, particularly when 2 of them are under 21! Australia Cup Quarter Final - Brisbane Roar: So this and the semi final (spoiler) actually took place before the ACL final, but I didn't want to break the flow of the narrative before. The Quarter Finals drew us against Brisbane in Brisbane. Grand Final rematch and a chance to put things right after that humiliating 4-0 defeat. We had everything to play for here but it was not a good start. We went a goal behind after 6 minutes and then were 2-0 down after 16. We managed to barely hold on for the rest of the 1st half before I could make some changes and motivate them at half time. It really seemed to work and Caputo nabbed one back in the 52nd. But Brisbane weren't going to relinquish their lead that easily. Maclaren came on as my last sub and repaid my faith by scoring the equaliser in the 82nd minute to take us to penalties. This time we were fine, with all 5 of our spot kicks going in (see why I was confident in the ACL final) before Brisbane missed their 5th. It was a win, though barely a convincing one that showed we were ready to reclaim our title from them. Australia Cup Semi Final - Adelaide United: Again a slow start cost us, as Toure opened the scoring on 9 minutes. I'm not sure if my pre-match talks are just not getting the traction or what is going on there. Thankfully this time, Abdulahi had a quick response equalising after 16 minutes. After that, the game really shut down with not much happening. Eventually Nabbout snatched the lead for us in the 86th minute to avoid another penalty shootout, before Abdulahi made sure with a 91st minute sealer. A 3-1 win, courtesy of a couple of late goals. Not super convincing. A League opening match - New Zealand Knights: Of all the expansion teams, the Knights are probably the strongest. I had no doubts that this was a tricky opener, though at least I had some competitive matches under my belt thanks to Asia. Nabbout broke the deadlock on half time to really give me a lift. At this point I was cruising and pulled off a bunch of star players due to the upcoming ACL Final. Big mistake, as the Knights suddenly equalised in the 80th. A tense 10 minutes remained but neither team could break the deadlock. Not a loss, but not the start to the season I hoped for. A League Match 2 - Perth Glory: Hurting from the ACL Final loss, I wanted a reaction in this match and I mostly got it. A dominant first half saw us take a 2-0 lead at the break courtesy of Ribeiro and Nabbout. Cagalj pulled one back for Perth in the 2nd half but they never really looked like snatching anything from me. Australia Cup Final - Western United: We played them in the ACL Semis a couple of weeks ago, now another huge match in the Australia Cup final. This game at least was moved to the MCG so the fans could attend. I picked pretty much the same line up as for the ACL Final, except this time I had my best defender in Pereira available to me. Arzani almost gave us an early lead but a goal mouth scramble saw the ball stay out. But I didn't have to wait too much longer before I finally saw the play I'd been anticipating since the transfer window closed. Rogic with a beautiful through ball to Maclaren who took 1 touch then fired it past the keeper. The first half an hour was very relaxing with them failing to register a single shot. Then suddenly they got a breakaway, beat Langerak and we were only saved by the post. That seemed to sober the lads up and the rest of the first half transpired without event. The second half took a while to get going before suddenly Leckie was brought down for a penalty. His shot was straight at the keeper but he managed to get to the rebound first to make the most of it at the 2nd attempt. Despite this, Western United weren't out and they were starting to throw players forward and get chances. In an effort to shut this down, I brought on several defensive players. Thankfully the comeback never eventuated and instead they conceded another penalty. This time Leckie made sure the first time. 3-0 win and the first silverware. A huge turnout as well, with 43,000 away fans (my a league opener only got 11,000) for a total of 80,000 people packing out the stadium.

New Goalkeeper: I'm pretty happy with the state of my squad. The only position that isn't great is the Goalkeeper. My hope last season was that my young goalkeepers could develop while Fruchtl took the big matches. He has since moved onto Freigburg but my GKs haven't developed as much as hoped. Nieuwenhuizen is decent for the league level and normally I would put the games into him to develop him more. But he leaves a lot to be desired in the Champions League. He has started my last games in the Australia Cup as well as the Second Round of the Champions League and he struggled in both competitions. I'm out of foreign spots though, so if I was to bring anyone in they'd have to be Australian and the only solid option I can see is Mitch Langerak currently in the J League. I offer contract extensions for Leckie and Goodwin, both in their 30s. At this stage in their careers, they're happy to accept a drop in wages for career stability. It also allows me to drop Leckie off his DP contract and slot him into the wage budget. This then allows me to buy 36 year old Langerak for 750k on a DP contract up there with the Rogic and Maclaren. Am I taking short sighted decision by giving lengthy contracts to older players and giving a huge contract to a 36 year old goalkeeper? Sure. But I'm banking on Langerak being the final puzzle piece for this season at least. Gamba Osaka - ACL Quarter Finals: The second Osaka team we have come up against in the knockout rounds (the other being their fierce rivals Cerezo). Founded in 1980, they were an original J League member and won their first title in 2005. They then went on to win the 2008 Champions League, beating Adelaide United in the 2 legged final. A significant drop off after this though ended in relegation in 2012 despite scoring the most league goals. They rebounded the next season, winning the 2nd division before winning the J League the year after. They then turned this into a treble by winning the cups as well. Their more recent seasons have been a bit less successful, with the exception of the 2020 covid season (where they came 2nd) they haven't finished in the top 4 since 2016. This is probably the best time to play Osaka. While they are 3rd in the league after 29 games, they've also lost 2 of their last 3 games. Their 2 best players Wellington Silva and Leandro Pereira are both pushing to leave as well suggesting there might be some squad turmoil. I do also have the advantage of playing this game at home as well and despite a few players being tired from International duty, I at least have a full squad to choose from. It's not a great start to the game as my captain Reis gets himself a yellow card 6 minutes in. Not only does this threaten trouble for the rest of the game, it also means he misses the next round if I make it through. And my chances of that get a huge boost when Leckie opens the scoring 17 minutes in. Bit of a lucky goal as their keeper came for a cross, missed it, and it fell for Leckie to knock in at the back post. Similar scenes 4 minutes later as this time a long hopeful switch sees their defender misjudge their jump and this time Nabbout can hardly believe his luck as the ball runs through to him 1 on 1 with the keeper. 2 defensive mistakes, 2 goals for me. Just to round things off for the half, Caputo (deputising for Maclaren) scores a beauty. On the spin, he smashes a half volley into the goal. They come out firing in the 2nd half, with Panya pulling one back after my defence fell asleep and let him in behind. This seems to reinvigorate my players and a well worked overload down the right ends up with Leckie scoring a back post header at the hour mark. Caputo then seals the match with an audacious chip of the keeper from the top of the box. We end up with a very convincing scoreline of 5-1, though we only managed an XG of 1.3. It has kind of been the story of a lot of our Champions League games that our forwards massively outscore their XG. I suspect our low reputation might be playing into it a bit with teams a lot more likely to leave space in behind for us to exploit. Langerak was also great on debut and prevented quite a few goal opportunities for them. Western United - Semi Final: The inconceivable has happened and Western United actually beat Seoul to play me in the Semi Finals. It took penalties for the 2nd time in a row to make it through but they did it. It's remarkable really as they don't even have any Designated Players in their squad. It's absolutely brilliant for the league and should help with increasing our reputation. It's also great for me as I am now something like 9 games unbeaten against them. Despite trying to fire up my squad against our Melbourne rivals, the game is rather dull. There's not a heap that happens except that my CB Gabriel Periera also receives a yellow card that means he misses the final if I make it. I guess that would be a straight swap for him and Reis when my captain returns from suspension. We eventually win a penalty in the 2nd half after a clumsy tackle and Maclaren buries it. There's really not a lot to talk about other than that from this game. Both sides were clearly feeling the pressure of trying to get through to the semi final while fitness was still building at this stage of pre-season. My veteran defence proved too strong for their late search for an equaliser and they didn't get much in the way of chances. The biggest talking point for me is why this was scheduled at their home stadium that only fits 15,000? It meant I could only get 750 "away" supporters travelling to a Melbourne derby in the Champions League Semi Finals. There's no way this wouldn't be moved to the MCG in real life. Tractor - The Final: I think this is my first time playing an Iranian team! They managed to beat Al-Ittihad 1-0 in the Semi Final to make it here, so congratulations there. They are a bit of a surprise to encounter in the final though, as they've never won their domestic league or made it past the round of 16 in real life. They have won the Hazfi Cup though. Ironically this means that if they win, they will have conquered Asia before Iran. Founded in 1969 in Tabriz as part of the new Tractor Manufacturing Company, they have a long history in the top 2 divisions. There seems to be some political discussions about a pan-Turkism identity which I won't go into here but I am excited to play a team from a league I know nothing about. This was one of the reasons I made this save to explore some of the unknown teams that compete in this competition. With Pereira suspended I fall back on my old reliable centre back partnering of Reis and Good. Otherwise I have my full strength squad ready to go. We start a bit more cautiously, trying to feel our way into the game and not take any big risks on such an occasion. They're a bit more aggressive than us at home but still making sure they don't take any unnecessary risks. The biggest chance of the first half goes to Leckie who has a header tipped onto the bar. Otherwise the game passes fairly uneventfully. At half time, each team has had 3 shots, while nobody has got 1 on target yet. They've edged possession at home which is to be expected. Unfortunately my 2 team leaders in Reis and Leckie both seem to be struggling with the occasion and looking a little iffy. Arzani also looks like he's running out of puff after recent injury concerns, so there's already quite a few candidates for early changes. But I limit myself to just opening up the risk a little, see if we can take control of the game away from them and silence the home crowd. Both teams remain defensively strong in the 2nd half. Leckie gets half a chance that he blasts way over but at the 60th minute both teams have yet to hit the target. I make the first of my changes, bringing on old reliable Andrew Nabbout to see if he can do it for me again. Bailey Wright also picks up a yellow, so he gets substituted for Galloway. We still fail to conjure much and it's Tractor who start to gain the momentum. They even manage a shot on target which Langerak pounces on. My last move is to bring Caputo on for Maclaren who has struggled to touch the ball all game. Tractor keep pressing though and Langerak is forces to make a flying save to tip a powerful drive over the bar. With 3 minutes left to go they break forward and in behind my defence to go 1 on 1 with the keeper. Langerak commits, is beaten and the ball rolls forward only to go just wide of the post. At this point we are barely holding on. But we managed it. We make it to full time at 0-0. I give them a strong motivational speech about how they can reach within themselves to do better and make a change to a 4231. We've had no luck all game with the 433 so may as well give it a try. Immediately we start creating a few chances. Leckie manages to get 2 shots on target, both well held by their goalkeeper. My defence looks a lot more sure with the double pivot and Gomulka on to provide some extra screening. We start the second half on the front foot again. Caputo should have broken through the defence but for a cynical professional foul. The ref is a spineless coward and only gives him a yellow. Leckie has another shot saved, then finally Tractor kick into gear. They force a desperate diving save from Langerak who tips it around the post. The investment was well worth it, he has been amazing for me. Thanks to his heroics ET ends 0-0. Onto penalties... Outside of Leckie, Rogic and Nabbout, my team is abysmal at penalties. And of those 3 only Leckie is actually any good. I'm regretting my decision to bring Caputo on for Maclaren, as Caputo has about the same ability as my GK. Despite this, I confidently tell me players this was what the penalty training practice I carefully scheduled the other day was all about. I assure them they've got this. There's no notable reaction. Leckie scores his no problem, then Rogic blasts it into the top corner. Tractor score their 1st, but Langerak comes out with a huge save on their 2nd, picking the right way to dive. Nabbout steps up to give me the lead and goes straight down the middle to the keeper who doesn't move. They score their 3rd and it's back to 2-2. New boy Delaine scores a delightful penalty to make it 3-2 but they match his efforts. Gomulka then slots the 5th, meaning if Langerak can make the save we have won... Alas, he picks the right way but it's just out of his reach. Then my captain steps up and... misses. Well it's a save but it's a red X. I can't bare to watch as Langerak faces the last player down who has the audacity to Panenka while Langerak dives out the way. We lose 5-4 on penalties in my final season. Damn.

A League Expansion: The final 2 teams of my homemade league expansion join this season, taking us to a total of 16 members. With the increased number of teams, I have reduced the overall season to playing each team twice home and away. It also means that the top making finals feels more like an accomplishment than the current system of 8 of 12 teams making it through. Sadly I did miss out on creating a Tasmanian team. Canberra and Auckland are confirmed expansion targets in the next wave so they had to be added. And in this second wave restoring Gold Coast and elevating Wollongong Wolves made a lot of sense for sensible expansion target and have existing clubs that can be used. Tassie unfortunately would need a club created from scratch. I also considered a 2nd Western Australia team, maybe from Fremantle, but again I couldn't find a good candidate. And jumping to 18 teams was a bit more than I wanted to commit to. Gold Coast United: For the first team added, I decided to bring back Gold Coast to the league. They fell out of the league some time ago but have done a good job of rebuilding and are now a quality state league team. This means that Queensland will now have 2 teams playing from the state which seems important for the league and Gold Coast made more sense than bringing back the North Queensland Fury. They are occasionally talked about as a possible expansion in real life and the only previous club that could realistically rejoin. Wollongong Wolves: Another NSW team but they are one of the biggest clubs outside the A League. Many argued they should have got a licence last time round instead of Macarthur who are a 3rd Sydney team. Wollongong are slightly south of Sydney so at least they are geographically distinct. Kind of similar to Newcastle or Central Coast as regional NSW cities outside but near Sydney. With a big fan base, they should hopefully slot straight into the fixture. Season predictions: With my off season strengthening I am favourites again domestically ahead of bitter rivals Victory and defending champions Brisbane. The 2 new teams aren't actually rated too badly for their first seasons. Better than Canberra who is still struggling to make any meaningful impact with signings. Gold Coast being rated higher than the Knights is particularly surprising as the Knights only just missed the finals last time out. Asian Champions League Draw: The draw to the Champions League throws me up against another Japanese team, this time in Gamba Osaka. In surprising but good news, Western United also made it through their Second Round fixture and if I beat Osaka, I will be playing the winner of them and Seoul in the semi final. An all Australian semi final would be great for the league but there's a long way to go before that happens as we are both underdogs in our next matches.

The Final Season (Part 1): Things get worse after our Grand Final capitulation. Aiden O'Neill requests a transfer, wanting to move onto bigger things. After some negotiation, I finally sign off on him moving to FC Tokyo for 1.1 mill. The fans are absolutely furious with me for doing so though and he leaves a sizable hole in my midfield. Then the rest of my midfielders seem to want to follow him out the door. Dual Scottish national wonderkid Adam Houston (homegrown) demands I engage with offers from Rangers and Celtic. Porto throw their hat in the ring for Joel Ribeiro. Even my other midfield wonderkid Idrus Abdulahi receives significant interest from Japan. The only midfielder who isn't interested in leaving is Karimi and that's probably because I'm paying him 5k a week to stay. The one good bit of news is that I am able to renegotiate Arzani's contract. By giving him a 1.4 mill release clause, I'm able to get him to drop his weekly wages slightly and remove his DP status which will potentially allow me to bring in a big name elsewhere. He is now effectively taking up O'Neill's salary cap space. There's some rumoured interest in him but I'm hopeful of keeping him despite the new release clause. He's taken over from Nabbout on the RW and also my primary backup for Leckie on the LW. The staff at the club also need a significant restructure. I lost one staff member who became too good for me to afford his wages, while letting go a few I thought I could upgrade. One of the positions I upgrade is the DoF as this is the last year of my contract and I'm hoping he can do a good job running the club after I leave. I also need a new Assistant Manager. Who better than my predecessor Patrick Kisnorbo? His time at Troyes did not go well, but he is skilled and has an affinity for the club. I am surprised he is willing to drop back to being an assistant after getting a taste of being the leading man but he may end up being the natural candidate to replace me at the end of my contract. Australia Cup: Our introduction to this year's version of the Australia Cup is not gentle. Instead of getting a easy state league team to walk over, we get drawn against fierce rivals Melbourne Victory. They manage to score in the opening minutes of the game and I'm left wondering what happened to our once mighty team. I needn't have worried though. We rally superbly and end up absolutely blowing them away 6-2. In the next round we get given more A League opposition in the form of Macarthur. Less dramatic than last game, we still get a comfortable win. I don't hate the cup games during preseason, it gives me a chance to gel my first team players together while they are fresh and not worried about rotation. Tom Rogic also remains on the transfer list after his last loan was not made permanent. There's interest in him for more loans but I seem to be the only team willing to make an actual permanent offer for him. He's been transfer listed for several months now and seems quite willing to take a pay cut to leave. With the help of my now freed up DP spot and their willingness to pay part of his wages, I succeed in securing his services. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with him, particularly as he's now retired in real life. He's better as an AM than a MEZ, so I might shift more fully across to the 4231, though he's quite capable of playing in CM for those tougher ACL games. He's not a like for like replacement for O'Neill, more of an upgrade on Joel Ribeiro who is still waiting for someone to offer my asking price which I've promised to accept. He's quite comfortably my best player now and I'm excited to see what he can do behind Jamie Maclaren. In other good news I succeed in tying down Houston and Abdulahi to new contracts. A couple of promising 17 year olds also join for tiny fees from state leagues. I also offer a bunch of trials out to free players and find a potential gem in a French left back, Thomas Delaine released by Metz. He takes my last foreign player spot and is the wrong side of 30 but he is happy to accept really low wages while being comfortably better than most of the team (seriously, he accepts a 1.2k p/w wage which is incredible for my salary cap). It is a bit of a risk using my last foreign player spot on a position where I already have Craig Goodwin, but in the end I decide I need to go for it. It means I don't have to rely on a 16 year old and my backup RB to cover if Goodwin is out. It also potentially releases Goodwin to cover further forward as well where he normally plays in real life. Sadly while I wait on his work permit he misses the next round of the Champions League. Asian Champions League (Second Round): Yokohoma Marinos are up next in the second round of the competition. I've beaten them before (so won't write a club summary here) but think I had a stronger team back then during my 2nd season. My team will eventually be stronger but its a bit in transition at the minute as I try and replace the likes of O'Neill, Talbot and Fruchtl. Tom Rogic is registered for this and hopefully he can hit the ground running. It's also at home which is a big advantage. The board only expected me to make it to this stage so there would be no shame in losing but I really want to try for a deeper run in my final season. As it turns out, I couldn't have asked for a better start! Maclaren plays Arzani through for the opening goal 14 seconds in (a club record). But I haven't even stopped celebrating when Yokohama equalise a minute later... Things then slow down for all of about 10 minutes before Leckie plays Tom Rogic through on goal to restore our 2-1 lead. This time the inevitable reply takes 6 minutes to come after Wright horribly slices a clearance behind him for Bautista to run onto and score his 2nd. Then because we obviously can't let this stand, Maclaren scores a 20 yard screamer from the top of the box. 3-2. Then Goodwin decides he will do one better and scores from just about the corner of the penalty area. They then look to score from kick off and only a great save by Nieuwenhuizen prevents them scoring. We finally make it into half time 4-2 and I just need to take some time to recover from that opening. They're beating us on the XG but we've scored 4 from 1.3 thanks to screamers from Maclaren and Goodwin. I try to convince my players to calm it down and control the match a bit in the 2nd half and it seems to work. Maclaren puts the ball into the back of the net for our 5th but it's ruled out for offside. The 2nd half is far calmer after that. I make some defensive changes, pushing Reis into DM and bringing Gomulka on as well to shore up the centre. They have to push against us and Maclaren takes advantage of this to score his 2nd. We end up walking away with a 5-2 win despite the same XG! A very hectic game that could have gone either way if it wasn't for 2 wonder goals that swung the match. The only downside was the attendance. I had more supporters turn up for the group games. Well their loss I suppose.

The rest of the world after the 23/24 season: Premier League So last season Liverpool beat Manchester City on goal difference. This year it went the opposite way with the title going to City on GD. United came 3rd again by a significant distance and West Ham took the last CL place, just pipping Chelsea and Arsenal. Leeds slumped back down to 9th, though did make the Quarter Finals in their first CL run. Newcastle finally recovered, only just missing out on Europe to Leicester. Spurs finished 11th as the biggest struggler. Down the bottom, Brighton and Palace both ended their PL runs and Sheffield Untied also went down with an abysmal 13 points. Replacing them is Blackburn, Wolves and West Brom who beat out Burnley in the Play Off Final. Federico Chiesa was the biggest transfer in, joining United for 79 mill, while Declan Rice joined PSG for 71 mill. Darwin Nunez went to Benfica for 66 mill while Chelsea bought 4 players for a total of 200+ mill (Michael Olise, Gabriel Jesus, Curtis Jones and Josko Gvardiol) LaLiga RM and Barca flipped this season with Madrid walking the league and beating Barca by 11 points. Betis surprisingly came 3rd, followed by Villareal. Atletico were all the way down in 9th. In the transfer market, Barca brought in Rodri for 61 mill, while Madrid brough in Zubimendi for 53 mill. Ligue 1 PSG walked the league this time, beating Lyon by 19 points. Monaco dropped down to 4th after last season's heroics. Nantes were the biggest team to go down. PSG had the top 3 transfers with Matheus Nunes and Hakim Ziyech joining Declan Rice. Serie A AC Milan won their 2nd title in a row, narrowly holding off Lazio. Juventus continued their slide, dropping another place down to 6th. Sampdoria, Salernita and Brescia took the step up. Andriy Lunin to Inter and Nkunku to Juventus were the biggest transfer incomings. Bundesliga Dortmund finally overthrew Bayern, pipping them to the title by 1 point! Turns out Wolfsburg managed to hold Bayern to a draw in the 2nd last match which was the crucial difference. A poor season for Leipzig who finished down in 7th. Biggest incoming was Edouard from Palace to Bayern for 48 mill, while Leipzig brought in Malo Gusto from Lyon for 40 mill. Then the next 3 big transfers were all Bayern. St Pauli and Schalke won promotion back this season. European Competitions Manchester City won their 3rd Champions League in a row, beating Liverpool in a penalty shootout. Bayern were knocked out in the QF by City, while PSG didn't even make it past the 1st knockout round against Benfica. Real Madrid and Barcelona lost to Liverpool in successive rounds on their way to the final. Dortmund added to their domestic success by beating Sevilla of all teams in the Europa League final. Chelsea finally got some return for investment beating Villarreal in the Conference League. My Transfers: Gabriel Pereira [65k] - 20 apps (1G) - 7.29 The 24 year old Brazilian was great for me in CB. Capable of playing the ball out from the back while also being solid, he is an all round defender who is great at this level. The only downside is his foreign player status alongside his hefty wage for this level but the man is the future of my defence. Nikita Rukavytsya [58k] - 19 apps (9G, 3A) - 7.04 For a 36 year old playing 1 final season before retirement, he was my super sub. Filled in very well for Maclaren when needed and scored some big goals. Was very happy with his service and wish him the best finding a new job as HoYD. Craig Goodwin [45.5k] - 14 apps (1G, 3A) - 6.91 Struggled coming into the team adapting to the LB position. Was initially very disappointing given his high wage before finally getting some form going after being given more licence to attack. His season was cruelly ended before the Grand Final and it'll be wait and see which player returns for me next season. Giannis Balafas [1.6k] - 1 app - 6.4 The 16 year old was one for the future. Due to injury only got 1 game at LB. Callum Talbot - 19 apps (1 A) - 7.01 Had a solid season at RB and performed well for me in the CL. Good free transfer on small wages. Iliya Shalamanov-Trenkov - 10 apps (10 conceded) - 6.87 The 21 year old GK got a few games in the league in what was always planned to be a transition season for him. Hoping he can be my main GK next season. Alessandro Lopane - 6 apps (3 G) - 7.23 Struggled to find a position in the team before getting loaned out to Zhejiang in the CSL for 6k and a bit of game time which will hopefully aid his development. Will return to me in 2025. Christian Fruchtl - 19 apps (21 conceded) - 6.99 Absolutely immense for me and pivotal to my Champions League success. Was one of my best loans I've ever made. Sad to see he's on the transfer list at Bayern but way too good for this league. Retirements: As mentioned above, Nikita Rukavytsya retired after 1 great season for me, alongside club stalwart, Florin Berenguer. He played 6 seasons for me and still got 14 games in his final season despite a large drop in ability. It's probably the right time for him to leave the club but he was a great servant. Hopefully he finds a good coaching job. Squad Depth: ST: Maclaren, Caputo Wings: Leckie, Nabbout, Arzani Mids: Karimi, O'Neill, Gomulka, Abdulahi, Houston, Ribeiro, Lopane FBs: Goodwin, Galloway, Talbot, Balafas CBs: Reis, Pereira, Good, Wright GK: Shalamanov-Trenkov, Nieuwenhuizen My depth has thinned out a lot, but I still have a lot of quality. Midfield is the one area I am well supplied in, yet I am determined to try and bring in Mooy for my final season at the club. His contract expires at the end of 2024, so I might have a chance on a free. Another LB would be useful as well, though the youngster Balafas is quite capable for his age of filling in. Caputo looks ready to take the step up and lead the line when Maclaren is absent. Arzani really stepped up after Tilio's departure and while Leckie and Nabbout are ageing, I am hoping they will do me proud for 1 more season. All 3 can play on either wing which is helpful and Goodwin can also cover the LW if LB cover is found.

A League Grand Final 23/24 This is it. The final trophy we need to complete our clean sweep. We won the regular season. We won the Australia Cup. And we won the biggest trophy of them all, the Asian Champions League. Against us, is plucky Brisbane, who have come from nowhere to challenge us on the big stage. They finished 4th in the regular season table, so surely this should be a straightforward game at home? The lead up to the game is slightly messy with staff contracts expiring the day before the game, including that of my assistant manager. Craig Goodwin also sadly injures himself, spraining knee ligaments which will take 2 months to heal. It's a shame as he's finally hit a run of form after I gave him an attacking duty and the freedom to get forward into his more familiar positions higher up the pitch. Young up and coming star Idrus Abdulahi also misses with injury but he may not have featured anyway. It's also the farewell game for Christian Fruchtl, Florin Berenguer and Nikita Rukavystya. Fruchtl has been absolutely immense for me and is way above my level. Hopefully he kicks on somewhere after this loan move. Berenguer has been a great club servant but is now showing his age and will make his final appearance off the bench. Rukavystya has been absolutely fantastic in his 1 season for me and hopefully gets a chance to bow out in style. Brisbane Roar actually lost their last game but the dominant 1st leg in the semis was what saw them through. They play a 4231 with some really impressive young talent ably led by the likes of Italian striker Mattia Finotto and Finnish playmaker Matti Steinmann. They've actually got quite an old backline, not helped by the fact that their LB has had their work permit expire ahead of their upcoming move back to Brazil. So they are stuck playing an older CB on the left and their youngest starter in their back 4 is 29. Plenty of experience and foreign caps though, but might have a decent chance of getting in behind. As you'd expect from a game of this magnitude, both teams start off a bit cautiously. Completely unintentionally, we manage to injure their backup LB, meaning they are now in huge trouble filling the position and forcing them to bring on a young RB for his first experience at LB. O'Neill wins a free kick in a good position but their keeper saves well. Going the other way, they intercept the keeper's throw but shoot wildly over the bar. After half an hour they are slightly edging the contest and also manage to injure my star man Leckie which is worrying. Then just on the stroke of half time a perfectly timed through ball sets them in behind and a fancy chip later sees us go in to the break 1-0 down. Not good. Lots to improve on in the 2nd half... I decide to give Berenguer his chance to wind back the clock, replacing Leckie for the 2nd half. Arzani is also firmly in my sights after a horrible 1st half. Unfortunately its Brisbane who come out firing in the 2nd half and a last ditch intervention by Pereira is the only thing that stops Finotto scoring. Rukavystya gets his farewell game, replacing Arzani who drops down to a 6.2. Then a cross gets floatet in and IVanovic scores on the hour mark. 2-0. We don't look like getting back into this, so I shift into my 4231 and bring hero Nabbout back in to see if he can spark something. Sadly not as Ivanovic scores his 2nd to put them 3-0 up. Then our day is summed up when our ever reliable goalkeeper Fruchtl manages to play the ball straight into the one player I don't want to see near my goals. Finotto. He duly buries it in the net and we are 4-0 down. I throw everything at them but the game is gone by that point. We suffer our worst performance of the season and the most embarrassing loss of the save. It's a bitterly disappointing way to end the season but I have 1 more season to make amends and go out on a high.

A League 2nd Half We finally get on a roll in the 2nd half of the season, achieving the kind of consistent results I know we're capable of but never seem to achieve. From only 4 points clear of 5th at the end of February, we then go on an utterly dominant streak where we win every game except 1 where we concede a 85th minute equaliser at home to Newcastle. With some rotation going on due to the Champions League, Max Caputo gets a few games and scores several times which ends up with him winning the young player of the year award. We end up walking the league by 12 points thanks to that end of season run. Adelaide ends up barely hanging onto their finals place, holding off a resurgent New Zealand Knights who doubled their points tally after that mid-season transfer window. I guess Canberra kind of did too, but I was hoping for more impact with some of their free transfers instead of just a 2nd win... Perhaps not surprisingly Aaron Ramsey was injured a lot of the time and announced his retirement at the end of the season. Their star striker Tomi Juric finally scored 1 goal in the 14 league games he played for the club which kind of sums it up. It will be interesting to see how Canberra do next season against the 2 new teams. In other news Sydney had a massive fall from grace finishing 3rd last after their Grand Final appearance last season. Probably due to their old squad that needed a refresh but still a significant drop off. A League Elimination Finals Adelaide finished their fall from grace in the first round, losing 3-1 to Newcastle who were in their 6th spot at the end of February but took their 3rd spot by the end of the season. In the other game, it took extra time for the plucky Brisbane Roar to knock out Wellington Phoenix. A League Semi Finals In the other game, Brisbane came up against Western United in a battle of the other 2 Champions League teams. A shock 3-0 win for Brisbane in the first leg was too much for Western United to overcome despite scoring 2 in the return. Our first final was against Newcastle Jets. They had the home advantage for the first leg and given we were now in finals I went with my strongest team minus Nabbout who is still recovering from injury. Despite being away, we completely controlled the game with 67% of possession and 22 shots to 3, giving us an XG of 1.56 to 0.19. Arzani, having made Nabbout's old position his own in his absence, opened the scoring for us at the start of the 2nd half. Unfortunately we could not hold on, and they managed to equalise with their only shot on target in the 93rd minute. Pretty rough result to take but not the end of the world. In the 2nd leg, I made one change, Curtis Good coming back in for the managed Gabriel Pereira. Ali Karimi got us underway this time in the 2nd leg, opening the scoring in the 21st minute. Things were shaping up for a repeat of the first game (similar XG and possession) when my 3rd and final sub Abdulahi limped back off mere minutes after entering the fray. For the last 20 minutes of the game I was forced to play with 10 men and protect a 1 goal lead. In the end it didn't matter too much as Newcastle failed to register a single shot on target. We progress through 2-1 on aggregate to face Brisbane in the Grand Final.

Asian Champions League Group Stage We are drawn into a relatively tough group, based solely on the fact that I've heard of all these teams before. That said, I am confident in my team at this stage of the season with my match fitness while the other teams are only just beginning their seasons. Unfortunately Andrew Nabbout manages to injure himself for the entire group stage with a hip injury. At his age, this is a big blow and it will be interesting to see how he bounces back from it. First up we play Shanghai Port from China. They are the ones that are cruelly denying me my long awaited reunion with club hero Aaron Mooy who is a star player for them alongside a now 32 year old Oscar. Initially founded as Shanghai East Asia in 2005, they've worked their way up the leagues before finally winning the Chinese Super League in 2018, then again in 2023. They also won the Super Cup in 2019. They've been a recent mainstay in the Champions League as well, though their highest finish to date is a semi finals appearance. They changed their name in 2012 from East Asia to Shanghai Port after a new big sponsorship investment from Shanghai International Port. Domestically they have a fierce geographic rivalry with Shanghai Shenua. After Shanghai Port, we come up against Jeonbuk who I faced off against last season in the latter stages. I'm hoping for another competitive match against them. Then we play Japanese team Vissel Kobe of Iniesta fame. Founded in 1966, they've got a long history compared to myself or Shanghai. Initially known as Kawasaki Steel Soccer Club, they moved to Kobe and renamed into their current incarnation in 1995. Apparently Vissel is a combination of the words victory and vessel due to Kobe's nature as a port city. They then went bankrupt in 2003 before being sold to new owners who changed their colours from black and white to crimson. In 2014, Rakuten bought the club and started their ambitious project with the club, bringing in the likes of Lukas Podolski, Andres Iniesta and David Villa. They won the 2019 Emperors Cup for their first ever trophy before winning the Super Cup in 2020. They finally crowned this by winning the 2023 J League last month. They've only qualified for the Champions League twice, but both times had deep runs to the Semi finals and Quarter finals. Ironically both times they were knocked out in extra time to Korean teams, including fellow group mates Jeonbuk in 2022. SH Port Our first game against Shanghai is a comfortable affair. Despite Nabbout's absence, the new partnership of Leckie and Arzani fired with Arzani getting 2 and Leckie the 3rd. Good value from my Designated Players. Defensively we were solid and shut them out completely, dominating the game. Jeonbuk The rematch against Jeonbuk was very cagey with neither team able to gain much of an edge. It wasn't until the substitute appearance of Rukavystya that we managed to break the deadlock, with the super sub managing 2 goals after the 80th minute to give us a scoreline that in no way reflected the actual game. Vissel Kobe 30 seconds in, Leckie played a beautiful through ball to O'Neill who chipped the keeper from the top of the box. The audacity. After that opener, it was smooth sailing with Ribeiro and Leckie adding to the scoreline. SH Port Our return leg against Shanghai was a complete contrast to the 1st leg. Leckie opened the scoring to lull me into a false sense of security but we failed to kill the game off. They managed to equalise in the 86th minute before frustration turned to elation as Leckie got his 2nd to put us back in front. Then elation turned to despair, as we conceded a 94th minute equaliser. Vissel Kobe Vissel Kobe came out firing after their poor performance in the 1st leg and soon went a goal up. We rallied strongly though, with stand in captain O'Neill equalising before who else than Leckie popped up to score 2 more! Jeonbuk The final game against Jeonbuk was a bit of a dead rubber for us as we had already won the group by this stage. With fixtures coming thick and fast and players struggling with their fitness, this game was a good chance to give some experience to squad players. Max Caputo led the line and ended up scoring the only goal of the game. In the end, our match sharpness proved decisive over our competition. Matthew Leckie was once again an incredibly valuable player for me in this competition, scoring the majority of my goals from the left IW position. Despite their apparent pedigree, none of them managed to join me in qualifying as our 2nd placed team failed to register enough points. Similarly my league competitors in Western United also did well, bettering me by winning all 6 of their games though I'd argue they had an easier group. Sadly the good fortune didn't extend to Brisbane who finished 3rd in their group despite a respectable 7 points. Next up for us is another old foe in Yokohama F Marinos! Battle of the City group teams.

Been a while with the busy end of year but hoping to make a concerted effort to see this through now! The League The season starts well with the team showing their quality as one of the best in the league. Frustratingly we lose a few of our best young stars to International duty for a U23 tournament that lasts a month at the end of the year. Despite this, we achieve a 36 game unbeaten run, setting a new club record. Then disaster strikes as we lose a game to 10 men Wellington Pheonix. Suddenly we are winless for the month (after 2 previous draws) and the media is reporting how my position is under threat. How fickle the masses are. My board confidence is down to a C+. I don't really understand as I'm still tied at the top of the league, and won every other competition but I try not to let it get to me. Then things really get interesting. Transfers Jordan Bos has his release clause triggered and leaves for Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany for a club record sale of 1.2 million pounds. This is then quickly overtaken by Marco Tilio who also joins Monchengladbach for double the amount (3.2)! Both have been away on successfully stints with the U23 International team and neither return to the club at the end of their duty with the sales finalised during their absence. Realistically these would be great figures for young players for an Australian club, so it makes sense for me to accept. Tilio, despite being great player, is not a huge loss as we have ample cover on the wings. Bos on the other hand is my only senior LB at the club, and during his absence I've had Galloway filling in for him. To replace him, I first sign a 16 year old promising youngster from a Victorian state team who promptly injuries himself for 4 weeks. Unfortunately both Bos and Tilio were on scholarship contracts so it doesn't free up any of the salary cap and I'm out of both DP and foreign player slots which means I need to find an Australian, not playing in the A League (due to transfer restrictions) but willing to accept modest wages. In the end, I am quite lucky in bringing in Craig Goodwin who has been transfer listed in Saudi Arabia for some time and willing to accept lower wages to get out of his team (though still higher than I'd prefer). He is more traditionally a LW, but given my LB is my more attacking of the 2 FB positions in my team, I figure he can play the role quite well and he's a natural at the position. Unfortunately Tom Rogic becomes available as well and is keen to move to my team as a DP but I can't offer him that before next season and he moves to Greece on loan with option to buy at Panathinaikos. Would have been nice to have him in my team now that he's retired IRL but my priority is still Mooy. Frustratingly Craig Goodwin doesn't exactly hit the ground running but I'm hoping he will soon adjust. Since the unexpected loss we haven't really been convincing. We have dominated 2 games, both times carried with a hattrick by youngsters (Caputo, then Lopane). Brisbane was a frustrating game where we conceded a stoppage time equaliser, and then the tables were flipped in the recent derby against Victory where we scored a 92nd minute goal ourselves to equalise. We are just holding onto our lead at the top, 1 point above Western United who also drew their last game, though there's a few other teams closing the gap as well. I was a bit frustrated about how poorly the 2 new expansion teams were doing, sitting in massive budgets and not spending anything, so I gave them a few free transfers to spice things up. Knights are now competitive and Canberra finally won a game with the help of Aaron Ramsey and Asier Illarramendi as free transfer marquees (not unrealistic at their ages in this league). But they've got a bit to go to turn around their -31 goal difference...

I have been revelling in all the (fictional) praise coming my way. The media have been quick to offer their congratulations, the board are astounded and I have made it onto the club's favoured personnel list (rightly so for the club's most successful period!). Apparently I have also cracked the top 20 Asian managers which I didn't know was a thing (I knew there was a ranking by country, but not be region). Mathew Leckie did me proud by winning the Golden Boot of the Champions League for the 2nd year in a row. I ended up with 5 players making the team of the tournament (interestingly, runners up Al-Gharafa had none), though there was no room for Leckie despite his goal scoring. In the aftermath I then set to work renewing contracts. Frustratingly moving Arzani from a scholarship to a Designated Player contract unregisters him which seems like a bug. My second league game comes up against Wellington Phoenix a few days later and I choose to play my 2nd team who are fresh and desperate to prove themselves, while my veterans are given the day off. We are at home, so it's a great day for the fans to celebrate the Champions League success and we do so in style. Despite a rocky start (1-1 in the 1st half), we cruise out to a 4-1 with the help of Rukavystya scoring his 1st league goal, alongside youngsters Tilio, Caputo and Reibeiro. Unfortunately our next game against Perth we stutter again. We go a goal down early, though Maclaren quickly restores parity. Despite a 2nd half red card for Perth, we are unable to find a winner though and end 1-1. Australia Cup Final: A trophy is a trophy, and despite being the weakest part of the potential Quadruple, this competition is quite important to me as I have yet to actually win it! After falling agonisingly short last season, I am determined to make amends this, so a repeat of my Champions League winning team is wheeled out. Theoretically they should have no trouble with this after their recent heroics, even if this is at a neutral venue (Western Sydney). Unfortunately, on paper rarely translates to actual proceedings... The entire game proves to be a struggle. We are very lucky to even keep the scores level at the end of 90 minutes, as we are incredibly fortunate to see Finotto place his penalty wide. Extra time is another nail-biting affair but in the end we go to the dreaded penalty shootout. Both teams look confident until Finotto steps up. Having missed his earlier penalty, he makes sure he gets this one on target, but Fruchtl gets across and makes the save. We end up winning the shootout 5-4! Thanks to poor Finotto who missed both his penalties. And finally the Australia Cup is mine! It wasn't convincing but we hung in there and got the win. Now we just need to get our act together in the league if we are to have a chance to exerting the dominance we should have. Complacency will be the next battle.

The Champions League Final: Here we go, the ultimate goal of the save, coming slightly earlier than expected. We have had an absolutely dream run to the final and this match is no different. Al-Gharafa, despite being a good team on paper (predicted to finish 2nd in Qatar) are having a nightmare run of form akin to Shenzhen. Struggling down in 11th place (out of 12) after 10 games they're currently on course to get relegated. The game itself has been moved to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to allow for the increased capacity. I honestly don't know if the stars could have aligned better for me to actually have a good chance at winning the Champions League. The final 3 games all at home, against 2 badly out of form teams and the other with a caretaker manager. Despite telling the media that I'm not stressing about this game too much, I absolutely am. This is the perfect opportunity. I simply have to seize it. Thankfully the media manage to lighten my mood, asking me if winning the Champions League will provide a decent springboard to go on and achieve my other objectives. I tell them not to be disrespectful to the competition because honestly I can't think of anything more prestigious I could actually compete in? Maybe the Club World Cup if I win next season? I need to be careful not to underestimate Al-Gharafa though, even if they're on a bad run of form. They did beat Al-Sadd in the semi final 2-1, though it did take extra time for the breakthrough to come. And thanks to the frustrating Champions League registration rules, I will be without either of my 2 new signings for this season (backup CB and ST). My team mostly picks itself. Rather than choosing between aging star Berenguer or up and coming wonderkid Ribeiro, I bench them both in favour of moving Reis into DM to give me that extra steel. Karimi will provide the creative guile in the middle while O'Neill pushes forward to support my deadly front 3 of Leckie, Nabbout and Maclaren. It does mean my defence is rather more boring but Wright and Good in the centre are both capable if not flashy defenders. Bos on the left has licence to get forward, while Talbot gets the nod at RB where his defensive nous should help keep things solid. Fruchtl has been brilliant for me in his limited stint in goals, so I'm hoping for more of the same here. Club background: Founded in 1979 as Al-Ittihad (a different one), they changed their name in 04/05 when the Stars league was revamped. They've won the league 7 times, though none since 09-10. They've also had some runs in Asia and have made the semi finals twice. This is the first final they've qualified for though, so is also a big occasion for them. Whatever happens, one club will be winning it for the first time! Hopefully it won't be The Cheetahs. 1st Half: We come flying out of the blocks looking to put them under immediate pressure and forcing their keeper into a good save. They've lost 4 of their last 5 games, so if I can get to them early, I am hopeful I might be able to expose some frailness. The game settles into a rather even contest, with them slightly edging possession while we have managed to get a few shots away. Then, Karimi and Nabbout combine on the right before Nabbout slices a fancy cross tantalisingly across the 6 yard box for Leckie to run in and power home! 20 minutes in and we've taken the lead! Leckie very nearly scores again straight away, beating his man and forcing their keeper into a great 1 on 1 save. A few minutes later and O'Neill also breaks through only to be denied. The momentum is completely in our favour and they're barely hanging on. Every time they try and get it over halfway our defence is their to snap into tackles and win it back. But as half time approaches, it's still only a single goal. I'd love to take advantage of this period of dominance and grab a 2nd. I think I've got it when O'Neill runs onto a beautifully weighted through ball and beats the keeper only to hit the post. Leckie then runs through 1 on 1 and puts it wide. Half time: 1-0 to us, but it really should be more. I tell the players we can definitely lift to another gear. We've only had half of our 13 shots on target but have created 1.56 XG and that was with the goal only being worth about 0.25. Most pleasingly they haven't had a single shot. My less flashy defensive set up is dominating. Pretty much the perfect first half to a final I could have asked for. Leckie is running the game up forward and really should have scored a 2nd. My Captain Reis looks inspired in DM, winning every challenge and attempt of theirs to attack. 2nd Half: They make an early sub trying to get something from the game but the 2nd half starts with more of the same. If I have an complaint, it's our finishing is the weakest part of our game and we really should be converting some of these chances. Not to take away from their Keeper who is the only one from their team who has turned up. He even pulls off a penalty save on the hour mark to keep their team in it! He flicks another onto the crossbar a minute later. Although reluctant to change too much I do bring Arzani and Berenguer on for Nabbout and O'Neill who both look exhausted. Leckie has another 1 on 1 saved and I'm dreading a sucker punch after we haven't taken any of these chances. As the game comes into the final 10 minutes, we reach 30 shots to their 0 with an XG 0f 3.79. Berenguer finally manages to beat the keeper only for their defender to come across and clear off the line. And then the moment I've been dreading. A free kick sees them drop the ball carefully behind my defence. Their striker breaks the defensive line and lines up a volley into the bottom corner. Only for Fructhl to dive desperately down and make the save! The first thing he's had to do and he keeps our lead! That was their chance and we held on. Just to rub salt into their wounds they pick up a red card and end up with 10 players. It wasn't anywhere near as comfortable as it should have been with the amount we created but we did it! We have won the Asian Champions League and brought recognition back to Australian football! Their Goalkeeper deservedly gets Man of the Match. He faced a staggering 16 shots, only conceding the 1 goal from a back post header that got in behind the defence. He very nearly gave his team the opportunity salvage a draw and I would have been terrified to face him in a penalty shootout. Unfortunately for him only 3 of their players scored above a 6.5. Their CB who cleared a goal bound shot and their 2 subs. On the other hand, every single one of my boys was absolutely fantastic. Berenguer was the weakest and he still got 6.8. We may have made it hard for ourselves not converting but we absolutely dominated the game and showed what we are about.

Last signing: After scouring the transfer market for a high profile Aussie to bring in, I eventually settle on Nikita Rukavytsya. Despite being born in Ukraine, he moved to Australia at 14 and has represented the national team 21 times. He played for Hertha, Mainz and Frankfurt before moving to Israel via a brief return to Australian football. While there he became the leading foreign goalscorer. He's just returned to Australia with Western United so a move to Melbourne is definitely realistic! He's planning to retire in a year's time in game and doesn't want outrageous wages, so despite not being particularly desperate for forward options, I decide to seize the opportunity. He can take Pucciarelli's spot as striker backup while Caputo continues to develop without standing in his way long term. I also considered a move for transfer listed Craig Goodwin, but he wants silly wages for what he brings to the squad. Preseason: Not much to report on for pre-season. We smashed the semi-pro teams we played and the friendlies were more about gaining fitness than a real measure of strength. Next season I might need to plan ahead to see if I can wrangle some decent foreign teams to test myself against. As an example, take a look at this ridiculous game that ended 17-0. Australia Cup Quarter Final In the Quarter finals of the Australia Cup, we come up against Western United again. Seriously, it feels like we are always playing them at the pointy end of the cup. For some reason, the media and team talk options are to do with us being underdogs despite having a substantially higher predicted league finish. And true to expectations, the match itself poses no problems. They hold me well for the first half until Marco Tilio scores in the 3rd minute of stoppage time. The 2nd half is much more comfortable after Nabbout doubles our lead just before the hour mark, then Maclaren seals the result 10 minutes later. A handy 3-0 away from home. ACL Quarter Final For our Champions League Quarter Final match we welcome Shenzhen. With a population of 17 million to draw from, they have a bit of a larger supporter base than us but understandably don't bring many across to Melbourne. Founded in 1994, they were the first Chinese team to win all 3 divisions in 2004 but also gained the dubious honour of the first league champions to be relegated in 2011. It then took them 7 years to regain promotion. Since then they've placed 15th, 13th, 6th and 14th. Interestingly they have actually made it to the Semi Finals once before in 2005, so they're not as strange a team to appear at this stage as they might first appear, though they're not at the same level they once were. They have had some big names manage them in the past decade though including Clarence Seedorf, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Jordi Cruyff. In game they actually managed to win the league again last season for the 2nd time in a row! Though this season the defending champions are struggling badly and down in 14th. Despite their abysmal domestic run, they did manage to beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the Second Round of the CL 1-0. But I definitely have a chance here, particularly as it is my home game! With my strongest possible lineup (with maybe the exception of an aging Berenguer, though he definitely has the experience I want to rely on in these big games) and Shenzhen's poor form, I am quietly confident. And my confidence is not misplaced. This season's ACL star, Mathew Leckie, gets us off to a flier in the 8th minute of the game to really lift the roof. He then follows up with an absolute screamer in the 13th. Not to be outdone, Jamie Maclaren adds a 3rd goal in the 14th and the game is effectively over. Shenzhen battle back admirably but never really look like contesting the result. They create some decent chances and Fruchtl earns his keep (excuse the pun) to give us a clean sheet. We end up with an XG of 1.98 to their 0.89 and a very satisfying 3-0. ACL Semi Final A short turnaround and we go again in the semis, this time against Jeonbuk. Unlike Shenzhen, Jeonbuk have much more pedigree. Founded in 1993 as Wansan Pumas, they have won the league 9 times, including a ridiculous 5 times in a row between 2017-2021. They have also won the Champions League itself twice in 2006 and 2016 and come Runners Up in 2011. In my books, they are one of the elite Asian sides you'd expect to see at this point of the competition. That said, they're also in a bit of turmoil. Despite sitting in 3rd place, the fact that they are 13 points off the top of the league seems to be enough to have caused them to sack their manager. I guess it helps that in this game world, they also won the 2022 title so this is the first season they haven't won in 7. Honestly I can't believe my luck. Pointy end of the competition and we've somehow got a team that is in a horrible run of form and a team that is managerless. They did earn their way here though, beating fellow Korean side Seoul E-Land 2-0 in the Quarter Finals. Despite an early yellow card to Scott Galloway, things start reasonably well. But then disaster strikes. Galloway manages to get a 2nd yellow card and his marching orders in the 42nd minute, leaving me with 10 men and no direct replacement on the bench (he was covering left back for the suspended Jordan Bos). I improvise a 3-2-1-3, taking off my RB and going wide centre backs flanking a BPD with 2 DMs in front of them. Karimi and O'Neill take these positions, both of them being great creators as well as defensively reliable. I'm exposed on the flanks but I'm hoping I can at least defend the centre and get the ball forward to my potent attackers with the 3rd midfielder making late surging runs to join them. It helps also that Good and Wright are quite capable of playing in the FB positions so are familiar with their defensive duties. Then of course, 2 minutes later, Andrew Nabbout goes down injured. Thankfully I have cover for him on the bench at least, but he's been such a reliable goal scorer for me that losing him is a blow. Otherwise we get through the 1st half just fine! The 2nd half is nailbiting. Jeonbuk surge down the flanks, overlapping my narrow formation with ease. Fructhl and the defence lead a fierce resistance to prevent them gaining many clear chances though and despite the danger they pose, the stats stay relatively even. At the other end, my attackers are threatening to slip in behind their over eager players and the game could go either way. I am unsure if changing from a back 4 to a back 3 is a stroke of genius of madness. But the one element that is not working is the more attacking midfielder. Berenguer is more of a creative type at his age and just doesn't have the legs any more for the surging runs. So I use my last sub to bring on Joel Ribeiro, my 20 year old Swiss wonderkid and immediately see the difference the fresh legs bring. He manages to carve through the defence and give us the lead in the 76 minute. They pile forward, determined not to be beaten by 10 men and, as the game comes to a close, concede again to Arzani who earlier replaced Nabbout! The game finishes 2-0 in my favour and we somehow manage to come out of it with a clean sheet. They ended up with more shots and possession than us, but we edged them on XG, creating high quality counter attacks. 1.14 to 0.73 shows how close the game actually was. Somehow we are in the Champions League final! Australia Cup Semi Final After the hecticness of the Champions League games, I am quite looking forward to a relatively easy fixture where I'm drawn against Queensland state league team Peninsula Power. I expect about as much challenge from them as I did from my preseason friendlies. I was sorely mistaken. After cruising to a comfortable 2-0 lead, they surprised me with a goal against the run of play to make it 2-1. I soon restored my 2 goal cushion and was pretty relaxed. Then they scored again to make it 3-2 and suddenly they had belief and my players were faltering. Some stern words from the sidelines got us back to 4-2 but that was a lot closer than I'm happy with! A League Game 1 I failed to learn the lessons from our shaky cup game. I foolishly assumed it was because I was playing a heavily rotated squad and my players were complacent. Imagine my surprise when a much stronger XI went 2-0 down at home to Brisbane. Thankfully a couple of substitutions in Leckie and Maclaren, both on the bench due to their recent International duty travel, managed to spare my blushes. Leckie pegged one back in the 91st minute and then Maclaren equalised in the 94th. Leaving it a little late! Our next game is the Champions League final, so hopefully the players get their heads back into gear. Al-Gharafa awaits!

Nice to see this thread is as calm and composed as ever. I have to say that it feels like a particularly rough release with the bugs around. Personally I don't feel like I can play it at the moment, mostly because I am waiting for the database updates to be implemented which will require a restart anyway. So I can't really recommend it in its current state. That said, some of the responses are very over the top implying that they'd be happy releasing the game with major issues and aren't working frantically to fix things. I skipped FM23 but compared to FM22, I think the improvements to the game are a big step up. The game itself is really solid, the match engine looks fun and I'm enjoying the small features. Once they fix the bugs it'll be a great instalment, I just have to wait impatiently for that day. So current review is negative but once it gets a bit more polish, I think it will be fantastic.

We manage to slowly fill in the vacant gaps of our depleted coaching staff. I haven't managed to replace my great assistant manager but I apparently had 2 in place previously so I at least still have 1. He's not amazing but is passable and down to the final year of his contract, so I will probably see how he does this year before deciding if he needs to be upgraded next season (if my coach wages will allow an upgrade). I spend the scout compensation fee on getting a new HOYD who seems decent, if not quite as good as my previous guy. After a while of debating about what type of coach my last staff member should be, I finally get a decent allrounder to join my staff by offering max wages and bonuses and a bit of haggling. In other news, after months of denial, my chairman finally admits to wanting to step aside. Interesting days ahead. I must say this is not shaping up to be a promising offseason. I am yet to replace my GK, I've lost 2 key staff members I'm unable to replace properly, my captain wants out and there's drama behind the scenes at board level. Guess it'd be boring if things got easier each season! He is eventually replaced by a new chairman who immediately cuts ties with New York City but otherwise keeps things the same. For preseason we head across to Japan. The original club plans were to go to the Northern Territory but I wanted a fun overseas trip instead to somewhere that actually has training camp infrastructure. Probably the first time I've overruled the default destination. Pucciarelli sneaks into the training camp despite his upcoming deslisting. He has sacked his agent and keeps looking at me beseechingly while pointing to his admittedly great ratings begging for a contract extension but I'm hardening my heart. Max Caputo is where the future is at and I really need Pucciarelli's foreign player spot back. And his wages back given he is only a squad player and the wrong side of 30. He does end up staying in the A League though, eventually joining Sydney. I try for another couple of loans from Man City and while they agree to send me the likes of Lavia and Bazuna on loan, the players themselves refuse to move across to the other side of the world. Oh well. I do strike lucky with a loan for Christian Fruchtl the Bayern Munich wonderkid goalkeeper (now at Austria Wien). Once his work permit comes through he joins and I have my Champions League goalkeeper! Hopefully in a year's time when his loan finishes my young goalkeepers should be ready to play more regularly. My new Aussie GK particularly I hope to give some minutes to in the Cup and the League to help him settle and develop. I pull out of a tentative deal to buy Maitland-Niles, the best Aussie keeper who was interested in joining. He ends up signing for Sydney for 350k which seems excessive but I guess he is one of the better Aussie GK available. Scott Jamieson also gets his move to Sweden and I bank 60k to get the 34 year old and his wages off the books. He wasn't going to be playing much in the final year of his contract anyway and I reassign the captaincy to Nuno Reis. In exchange Reis agrees to sign a contract extension on lower wages and to give up his DP status. Leckie comes to me upset about losing Jamieson's leadership but I assure him that we have plenty of natural leaders including himself and he leaves feeling satisfied. Unfortunately i don't have any more foreign player slots with Fruchtl joining and I'm really struggling to find a competent Aussie defender who is willing to join me. McGowan was good last season but ideally I'd like someone better or at least someone who can develop. Ribeiro has some interest from Dutch clubs but no offers are yet forthcoming for him and he has a lot of potential which would be nice to develop for another season. I get briefly excited when I find out Real Madrid are open to selling one of their wonderkids in Pablo Ramon who is 2 footed and could make that BPD role his own. Unfortunately things don't work out as he requires a DP contract and Reis spends too long contemplating his new contract that I can't get the slot open in time. My scouts tell me that the work permit would have been denied anyway so the whole thing was moot and he stays in Spain, moving down to the 2nd division with Albacete. I do get 23 year old Brazilian CB Gabriel Pereira though whose work permit is apparently fine. He's a great CB for the league and any further development will make him an absolute star at this level. He's arguably better than either Good or Wright and beaten only by Reis, though the downside is of course that he's taking up a valuable foreign player slot. To make room for him, Harper ends up getting cut and moves to Adelaide City in the state leagues. It's a shame as the kid has potential and had some good performances but he really wasn't developing and a bit like Pucciarelli, I just had too many better options in his positions. I still have room in the budget for more signings if I want, including a DP but I'm actually pretty happy with how the squad looks. I have a pretty strong first team for the ACL and some really promising youngsters to give gametime to in the league. Having used all my foreign slots also makes it tricky as I can only buy Aussie players and I can't buy from other A League teams nor offer competitive wages to Aussies in Europe or Saudi Arabia. I'm keeping tabs on all the big Australian Internationals in case some interest comes up but it's not something that looks likely. In the meantime the club agree that I can start on my Continental Pro coaching course. Australia Cup We get a harder draw in the Australia Cup this year, having to play fellow A League opposition instead of state teams. Not that this really seems to matter to the players at all. A heavily rotated team of younger players puts 3 past Newcastle Jets in the first round while barely giving them a sniff of goal. We then get drawn against Wellington Phoenix. As this is a week before my Champions League game, I choose to play a bit of a stronger team here to give some match sharpness to some of my key players who I will need in that. This is also Fruchtl's first game since joining the club so he plays as well. We end up absolutely demolishing the poor Phoenix 6-0. Pre-season disclaimer and all that, but they've got a fair bit of work to do to get ready for the season. Or maybe my team will just dominate this season? Max Caputo is the real winner out of these 2 games. Leading the line, he scores a fine hattrick in the rout of Wellington. For his 3rd goal he blasts one of the best volleys from outside the box I have ever seen and I already know this will be one of the goal of the season contenders. He may still be young and his stats a bit lacking in some areas yet, but on the field he is showing he is a capable deputy to Maclaren and deserving of more minutes. Asian Champions League Our next tie in Asia is against Kashima Antlers. Based in Kashima, Ibaraki, a place with only 60,000 residents, they've had to draw support from surrounding areas as well. They were founded in 1947 as Sumitomo Metal Industries Factory Football Club in Osaka and moved to Kashima, Ibaraki in 1975. After the formation of the fully professional J.League, Sumitomo, like all other clubs, stripped the corporate brand from the club's name and reformed as the Kashima Antlers. They are one of only two clubs to have competed in Japan's professional top-flight football every year since its inception (the other being Yokohama F. Marinos). The name 'Antlers' is derived from the city of Kashima, which literally translates to 'Deer Island'. The club crest not only resembles deer antlers but it also reflects the image of rose thorn as it is the official flower of Ibaraki, the home prefecture of the club. Kashima Shrine, one of the most famous shrines in Japan and located in close proximity to the club headquarters, have kept and raised deer for more than 1,300 years as spiritual symbol. Kashima have proven themselves to be by far Japan's most successful football club in terms of trophies won, having won the J.League title a record eight times, the J.League Cup a record six times and the Emperor's Cup five times for an unprecedented nineteen major domestic titles. Kashima became Asian champions for the first and most recent time as they won the AFC Champions League in 2018. To this day, Kashima has maintained strong ties with the football community in Brazil, a fact borne out of Zico's past affiliation with the club. Kashima's Brazilian connection has manifested itself in both the club's player transfer and coaching policy resulting in only three non-Brazilian foreign players and predominantly Brazilian managers signing for Kashima since the inception of the J.League. Currently their Brazilian contingent is led by their star man Arthur Caike. Going into this game I'm not really sure what to expect. Kashima are deep into their domestic season, while my players are only just rebuilding match fitness in preseason. That said, they are struggling quite badly in the league, sitting 13th after 25 games. So there is definitely weakness to take advantage of. With no injuries and all new signings embedded, I field my strongest team with quality depth on the bench as well. Playing in Japan itself for this one, the game is a nailbiter. Neither team manages to create any clear cut chances, though I seem to be edging things slightly on balance of play. I am forced to turn to my bench to replace a couple of my stars in Leckie, Karimi and Maclaren who are struggling to have much influence on the game. Still neither side is able to make a breakthrough. Nothing happens until the game is almost over and then suddenly the floodgates open. In the 84th minute, a chaotic corner leads to Nagato bundling the ball into his own net to give me a 1-0 lead and the prospect of advancing to the next round if I can just hold the lead for 5 more minutes. After that horrid luck, Kashima throw everything against me trying to equalise and finally break through with their Brazilian star Caike in the 91st minute. To be so close to seeing it out is devastating as I look on in despair, trying to encourage my boys. But there is one player out there who is not dismayed. My vice captain, scorer of clutch goals, Andrew Nabbout. Refusing to give up, he rallies the team and in the 92nd minute provides an instant response, heading home to restore the lead and scoring our first actual goal of the game. With Kashima hearts cruelly crushed, we see out the remainder of stoppage time and celebrate our progression to the Quarter Finals. In the press conference afterwards I declare that all Australian fans are behind us and that I will make them proud.

Thank you both! I've had a bit of difficulty with the self-made Editor files and the general buginess of the A League on FM22 but I'm hoping I'll have season 3 soon