[[FM23] Singapore: Hougang Utd]

On 18/11/2022 at 15:06, Motlhen said:

Nov 2027

 

 

What a start and what a game.
So many chances for both teams but we have come out on top!!!

 

 

At the end of the season I've been offered a contract extension.

 

 

Congratulations on the cup!! The team IRL has just won their first trophy (the very same trophy you just won) too! 

Looking forward to your exploits in the ACC!

[[FM23] Singapore: Hougang Utd]

On 06/11/2022 at 02:26, Motlhen said:

Awesome! Which team do you support?

Cool yeah, I saw they were in the cup irl. They're an interesting club. It's going to take a while to build up the facilities to get to a point where we are producing enough quality players each intake to be able to have a good full squad of players who are U23.

Hougang. 

Definitely wished you could have succeeded with the Young Lions, but no better club to go to next than Hougang! You just moved on the last of the original (present in 2022) players though - Zulfahmi Arifin. But hardly surprising as the Hougang squad are mostly around their 30s.

Might not be apparent to you yet but the league typically experiences a huge drop in quality a few seasons into the game as a lot of senior pros across the teams in the league either lose their ability very alarmingly or retire, while the facilities typically don't generate good enough regens to replace them. This was the case for FM20-22, I don't have 23 yet but I expect it to be similar. It's not immediately obvious as the other teams in the league face the same issue, but it'll be more evident in the results of Singaporean clubs in continental competitions, and especially for the national team, who will start to struggle significantly.

Looking forward to see your progress though! Exciting times ahead I'm sure 

 

[[FM23] Singapore: Hougang Utd]

On 28/10/2022 at 22:48, Motlhen said:

Thanks!

 

Oh really? Thanks for the heads up. How did you find that out?

I wasn't aware of that & I would've liked to have had some time in the continental competitions on the way to my main goal which is to win the league. I guess without the continental comps, I will just have more of a focus on the league. We also don't compete in the Singapore Cup (although Young Lions do irl) which is another shame, but neither absences will stop me from continuing with these guys.

I'm Singaporean myself and have been following the local league quite religiously. Also have been mainly playing long term saves on the Singapore league on FM for the past few editions.  

The Young Lions are placed in the league in hopes to get younger players more regular game time to develop. But irl this hasn't really worked out, with the team regularly finishing near the bottom of the league. The best players do get poached, while the team has little consistency because majority of the players are serving their military service, and may not have full availability, and most return to the other clubs after they are done with their service. Military service isn't replicated in the game like the South Korean league in the game, so in some sense you have greater control over in/outs in the SPL in the game. 

I know the above doesn't explain why they don't qualify continentally, but the rule has been there ever since the team was added to the league 20 years back. But perhaps it's just the premise that they're a developmental side and hence have no place in representing the country at club continental competitions.

Young Lions are participating in the cup this year irl (which is ongoing right now btw), but it's been pretty inconsistent regarding their presence in the cup, almost as if they were there to make up the numbers at times. The last they they did was 2016, so I think it's understandable that the game hasn't coded them in this year, as we haven't had the cup for two years due to covid, and the cup draw for this year was only made around August or September.

 

[[FM23] Singapore: Hougang Utd]

Also do note that the Young Lions will not will not qualify for continental football. Just in case you had plans to foray into that, although I think you did mention you were just looking to win the title before moving on.