Jimbokav1971

I think you're completely right. It was just hard to take winning only 2 of our last 11 games at the end of the season, (1 of them being a Semi-Final against a team in the league below). I honestly think that the 1st time we finish REALLY strongly we have a chance to win the league. In terms of why we drop off so much, (often coincides with the Youth Intake period), I'm honestly not sure. It could just be that the players are fatigued after a long hard season with lots of Cup/European games, but I would have thought that would have been reduced/diminished by our rotation policy in so much as it means that the players effectively only play half the games. The problem with that is that they're on the bench for the other half of games, (so not exactly resting), and I think it worked MUCH better when I rotated the players AND had a 3rd group that always sat on the bench. (This was before we had U21 games). The problem with this is that it was really hard to keep the bench players fit because they were never playing enough football. So yeah, in hindsight finishing in Europe again is great, and in a Europa League rather than a Europa Conference is what we wanted to, (although the rep and money in the Champions league is the ultimate goal). When you think about the money by the way, you might be thinking, "well he has £34M in the bank and has no debts and a really low wage budget so why does he need the money?"..... well the answer is that it's as much about taking the money away from one of our competitors as us needing the money ourselves. There was a 14 point gap between us and the 3 Champions League teams above us and we need to try and eke away at the size of that gap. It will be of little surprise that the 3 Champions league sides also sell the most Season Tickets, (although it should be pointed out that our income from Season Tickets is more than that of Airdrie, despite them selling more tickets, because we're obviously able to charge more). The same 3 sides are at the top of the list when it comes to Sponsorship, and I would expect that to be loosely related to reputation. In terms of wage spend, the difference is even more stark, with the same 3 clubs sitting atop the pile. Aberdeen, (3rd on the list), spend almost double the 4th placed team and Celtic & Hibs both spend more than 50% more than Aberdeen. Ideally my strategy would be to finish above Aberdeen this season and cause them to miss out on the Champions league money and see if we can get their wage budget dropped a litte/(lot) more. Hibs are classed as Rich so they're going to be a tougher nut to crack and Celtic seem to be encountering something of a resurgence since the demise of their rivals Rangers. Something that caught my eye though is the "Net Transfer Spend", and although I would have expected the Scottish Premiership to be largely a selling league, I'm surprised by quite how much of a selling league they are. Only 3 clubs made a loss, (in terms of transfers), and even then their combines losses were only approx £2.2M, (which is obviously tiny). My comparison, the other 9 clubs, (including us), all made a profit, and when you combine this together it's somewhere in the region of £129M. Now these figures are just for the current new season, (which has just started and we haven't got to the close of the Summer Window yet so it may change..... but still. St Johnstone and Hibs are both classed as "Rich", but presumably only because they have just sold players to the tune of £41M & £36M respectively. It's interesting to note that Kilmarnock are still listed as "Insecure", despite them selling £3.8M worth of players. It obviously never even touched the sides. So yeah I think we're doing ok, (and Aberdeen are very much in our sights), but there is still a LONG way to go.

Jul 2052. Friendlies. Transfers. Finances.

Squad Depth. Jul 2052. GK. In the past I have swapped between 2 GK's throughout the season, but this season I'm just going to go with 1 and then a youngster will step up if we have an injury problem. 1st Team. (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * 2nd Team. Loan. (44f) Gordon (F.Pro) 6'0" * Loan. (46e) Hunter (Res) 6'0" * Loan. (48g) Fowler (F.Sport) 6'0" * Loan. (45c) Paskowski(POL)(Bal)6'0 * Loan. (49h) Broughton (USA)(F.Det) * U21's. (52c) Aly (IRL) (EGY) (Spirit) U18's. (51i) Pascazio (IRL) (F.Pro) * U18's. (52j) Brass. (Pro) U18's. (50m) Swanson. (Unamb) WBL. We've got a bit of depth in this area and I especially like the look of 16 year old (51b) Kirkwood (F.Det) *** coming through, (hence the *** after his name). 1st Team. (46d) Bentley (AUS)(F.Pro) * 2nd Team. (49f) Clark (Res) * Loan. (51f) McGrandles (L.Det) U21's. (51b) Kirkwood (F.Det) *** U18's. (50f) Knudsen (FRO) (DEN) *PPM U18's. (51g) Stuart. (Temp) U18's. (52p) Grady. (L.Det) Sell/Release. (47h) Hilson (Pro) SELL Sell/Release. (49g) McCormack. (Fickle) SELL WBR. 1st Team. (43a) Quinn (F.Pro) * 2nd Team. (47i) Anthony (Unamb) 6'0" WBR Loan. (49k) King. (Unamb) U21's. (50e) Taylor (Unamb) U18's. (51h) Smith (Sport) WBR * U18's. (52g) Duncan. (F.Pro) U18's. (50l) Tomaszewski. (F.Pro) WBR Sell/Release. (41d) Dichev (BUL) (Bal) SELL Sell/Release. (42f) Johnstone (Unamb) SELL Sell/Release. (50l) Tomaszewski. (F.Pro) WBR DC. 1st Team DLC. (44e) Henry (F.Pro) 6'0" * 1st Team DC. (44h) Lemetti (F.Pro) 6'3" * 1st Team DRC. (50b) Wilson (Unamb) 6'4" ** 2nd Team DLC. (46p) Weir (Driven) 6'1" * 2nd Team DC. (46a) Savoury (Real) * DC 2nd Team DRC. (45g) McCroary (Merc) 6'4" Loan. (45l) O'Hara (F.Pro) 6'2" * Loan. (50g) Turner. (Temp) U21's DLC. (49l) Shirra.(L.Heart) 6'4" DC U21's. DC. (52f) Dorrans (Pro) U21's DRC. (47c) Holt (Merc) 6'6" U21's. (49j) Murray. (Bal) U18's DLC. (51m) Paudice. (Bal) U18's DC. (51j) Ellis. (L.Det) 6'0" U18's DRC. (52e) Davidson (F.Sport) MC. 1st Team MLC. (42b) Potter (F.Pro) * 1st Team MRC. (45e) Brass6 (Fickle) MC * 2nd Team MLC.(40b) Stewart (IRL)(F.Pro) * 2nd Team MRC. (44b) Harvey (Spirit) * Loan. (45j) Marshall (F.Pro) * Loan. (43b) Bradley (F.Det) * Loan. (50c) Sørensen (FRO) (Fickle) Loan. (51d) Montgomery (Bal)(NIR) MC Loan. (50d) McCulloch (Sport) Loan. (50p) Grady. (Bal) PPM U21's MLC. (48c) McKee (L-Heart) * U21's MRC. (49d) Sutherland (Merc) * U18's MLC. (51a) Maley (F.Det) (IRL) ** U18's MRC. (52a) Fraher (IRL) (F.Det) U18's. (52b) Hastings (Det) U18's. (52h) Burke. (IRL) (Driven) U18's. (52k) Weatherston (L.Det) Sell/Release. (49m) Martin. (Pro) SELL SC. 1st Team SLC. (48b) Rodger (IRL) (Merc) * 1st Team SC. (41b) Gourley (NIR)(F.Sport)** 1st Team SRC. (47b) Smith (Det) * 2nd Team SLC. (45b) Dick (F.Pro) * 2nd Team SC. (51c) Mackie (F.Pro) (IRL) *** 2nd Team SRC. (47a) Currie (Bal) 6'1" ** Loan. 46f) Weir (F.Sport) * Loan. (44a) Neill (F.Pro) PPM Loan. (52l) Dunn. (Unamb) Loan. U21's SLC. U21's SC. (50j) McMullan (Unamb) * U21's SRC. U18's SLC. (47h) Hilson (Pro) SELL U18's SC. (50a) Donald (F.Det) 6'0" *** U18's SRC. (49b) Courts (Bal) * Sell/Release. (47h) Hilson (Pro) SELL Sell/Release. Sell/Release.

Jun 2052. Reputation, (at the end of this season). Reputation, (at the beginning of the new season). TV Rights. Records. European Competition rankings. European Club rankings. Internationals. Transfers. Job Interview. Finances.

Would you be surprised if I told you I had to look up who the captain was? I've just checked and (40a) Brass4 (Pro) * SELL is the captain and he starts in the 1st Team. And (40b) Stewart (IRL)(F.Pro) * is the vice captain and he starts in the 2nd Team These are the options I have available. (40a) Brass4 (Pro) * SELL is on the transfer list and will hopefully be leaving in the Summer.

To be completely honest.... I'm not 100% sure. He plays for the 2nd Team, (the mid-week team), so he plays in Europe and in midweek league games. The obvious answer is that especially in the early rounds, we may have played relatively easy fixtures in Europe and that's where many of his goals came from. If we look at the mid-week games through the season then this is what we see. Europe. Hajduk Split. Europe. Hajduk Split. 1 goal. Europe. PSV. 3 goals. Europe. PSV. 1 goal. Europe. SK Austria. 1 goal. Europe. SK Austria. League. St Johnstone. Europe. Astana. Europe. Ferencvaros. Cup. Hearts. 1 goal. League. Hibs. Europe. Lille. League. Ross County. Europe. AZ. 2 goals. Europe. Otelul Galati. Europe. Malmo. 2 goals. League. Dundee Utd. 1 goal. League. Hearts. League. Ross County. Europe. Marseille. Europe. Lens. League. Kilmarnock. 1 goal. Europe. Lille. 2 goals. Europe. Lille. 2 goals. Europe. Mainz. 2 goals. League. Dundee. Europe. Mainz. League. Dundee. League. Celtic. Europe. Marseille. Europe. Marseille. Cup. Airdrie. 1 goal. League. Hibs. So all his goals were scored during the week, (when he would have started), and he scored 0 goals at the weekend when he would have been a substitute. He actually scored 12 goals in just 6 games, (1x hat-trick and 2x 5x doubles), so only 8 goals in the remaining 28(14) appearances, (which is pretty poor). I'm afraid I don't have an answer to your question. It could be that the standard of Scottish Football has risen now and is more competitive, but I honestly don't believe that's the case, (although, Celtic, Hibs & Aberdeen are pretty strong). Your suggestion that the European games are easier could be right, but then (41b) Gourley (NIR)(F.Sport)** scored 16 league goals in 27(6) appearances and only 4 goals in 2(12) in Europe. I don;t even know which side of the argument those last stats point towards.

Jun 2052. Squad by by Appearances. In recent seasons I have been rotating 2 GK's throughout the season, but I was unhappy with the performances of our 2nd Team GK (41h) Cairney (M.Citizen)6'2"*, so I sold him to Hull City, (in the Premier League), and of course it then didn't take (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * too long to get injured. Squad by Goals. It's a real milestone to not just have 3 different players score 20 goals in a season, but to have 1 of them break the 30 goal barrier too. (41b) Gourley (NIR)(F.Sport)**scored 16 goals in the league, 10 goals in Cups and 4 in Europe for his 30. (47b) Smith (Det) * on the other hand scored 16 of his 20 goals in Europe and just 2 in the league and 2 in the Cup. (40a) Brass4 (Pro) * SELL spread his out a little more with 7 league goals, 9 in Europe and 4 in Cup. Squad by Assists. We have 6 players who hit double figure assists and WBR (43a) Quinn (F.Pro) * topped the list with 16. Squad by Avg Rating. Despite our fall-off, (again), at the end of the season, we have 9 players in the green which is better than normal. (Much better). Squad by CA. Squad by PA. When you consider that we only have 4 players at the club with better than 3.0 CA, we should probably go all the way down to 3.5 PA, but there are just too many players of that PA. 5.0 PA 4.5 PA. 4.0 PA. Squad by National Team. Squad by International Caps. Squad by U21 Caps.

May 2052. Scottish Premiership. What an awful end to the league season. We lost 6 of our final 7 games but somehow managed to hang onto 4th place on goal difference. All the European places are sorted already so the Cup FInal, (between ourselves and Hibs), won't have any impact on who plays in what competition because we have already qualified. Interestingly, the only game we've won in our last 9 was the 2-0 win against Hibs, (who have lost 3 on the bounce to bottle the league title after going 15 undefeated before that, winning 13 of them). Whatever way you look at it. it's a free hot for us and we are huge underdogs. What just about sums this period up for is is that against Ross County we were 2-0 up when our GK got injured in the 23rd min. We didn't have a GK on the bench and the hapless striker the Ass Man stuck in there not only conceded 3 goals, (and 3 points), but also got himself injured on top of the actual GK. Scottish Cup. (The Big One). They might have bottled the league against Celtic, but Hibs certainly didn't bottle the Cup Final against us. Internationals. We've got 4 of our ex players and 1 of our current players going to the EURO's. Facilities. Awards. Europa League Golden Boot. Europa League Team of the Season. Premiership Team of the Year. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 34/42 from the spot at 81%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Apr 2052. Scottish Premiership. How can we start the month spanking 7 goals past Motherwell and then lose the next 3? Europa League. The European dream is over for another season. We were poor in front of goal in the 1st leg and it scuppered any chance of progressing against Marseille. 20 games is a better than decent European campaign though. Scottish Cup. (The Big one). Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 33/41 from the spot at 80%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Mar 2052. Scottish Premiership. It was a tough month in the league. Not just because we had a really hectic schedule with 8 games this month, but because the standard of opposition was also tough. As well as playing against German opposition twice in Europe, we had 2 huge games against Hibs and Celtic and a big Cup game against Aberdeen. Unfortunately, what this has taught us is that certainly Hibs and Celtic are too strong for us right now. We had few if any injuries, and were well-beaten in our league games against them. Scottish Cup. (The Big One). We had a really good result against Aberdeen in the Quarters, and our reward is an easier tie in the Semi's than we might have expected as we have been drawn against Airdrie who are top of the Championship. The other Semi sees Celtic play Hibs, so still a big obstacle to overcome. Europa League. We just keep marching on in Europe and have now set a record for goals scored in this competition in a season, (previously held by Liverpool). Debuts. Internationals. Records. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 33/40 from the spot at 83%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

NxGn 2052. Mar 2052.

Youth Intake day. Mar 2052.

I haven't checked them for a while, but will do so now. They've got £22M in the bank, and have been in profit for a while now. Even though I don't like Rangers, I like the way that they're being run now. After the problems they have gone through they just can't be allowed to be run in the same way again. They've sold players for £4M and spent just £1.2M Although they've only sold players for £4M, they've actually received £9.5M from player sales this season. That might be from clauses that have been triggered or just payments that were in line to be paid for previous sales. I don't know what the £11.7M "other" income is. Our "other income from the whole season is £1M, (and just £10k last month). They've still got the huge loan, but seem to be repaying the £525k repayment per month without a problem. They've only won 1 of their last 10 games though. They're currently within their wage budget, (spending £134k of a £377k budget), but you might notice that the budget next season will be reduced to £200k pw so maybe they're just trying to get ahead of the curve? They've got 4 players earning more than £10k pw, and 1 of them is 34 years old, (Conor Durrant), and the contract is expiring at the end of this season, (although they do have a +1 option on him). He's only made 3(10) appearances all season though, so perhaps they can't sell him because of his high wage. I think they should probably have just released him. With regards to the other 3 players on big money... £18,500 pw is £962,000 per year for the young GK Tawanda Bgoni. Selling him for £0 + 25% at the beginning of the season might have been the way to go. It would have paid for 2 months loan repayments and the 25% might have been a nice little bonus further down the line. He's a product of their Academy though and contracted to 2054 +1 so maybe they think they can get back to the Premiership & sell him for more money. Jamie Selfridge is a 6'5" TM and I really like the look of him. He's only scored 8 goals in 25 appearances though and they just can't be using him effectively. He's got jumping of 16, strength of 15, heading of 17 and is pretty decent all round. He should have smashed the life out of the Premiership this season given the right service. I would love a player like him. I would adapt the tactic just for him. He's another Academy product. Hamish Dowie is the last player and he's been playing as an AF in a 2 up front when he should be playing as a winger delivering for the TM. This club might be doing much better financially now, but they're being really poorly managed on the pitch. They've been playing a 442 and I think I could take over right now, plug in a basic 442 tactic and smash their next few league games, (just looking at the TM and 1 winger).

He's not been the only one in this save who has turned out to be significantly better than their Day 1 PA rating suggested. It's got to the stage now that after banging on and on and on about it, I just don't bother even mention it. Just looking at our Best XI.... (31j) Fullerton (Unamb) * is a "j" (30m) Runciman. (F.Pro) 6'0" is an "m" (29n) Hogarth. (Bal) 6'0" is an "n" (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * in a "n" (40o) Banner (F.Pro) * is an "o" (46p) Weir (Driven) 6'1" * is a "p" Yeah the players who come through a, b & c are more likely to have high PA, but you just can't rely on it. I can't take the risk of getting it wrong on Day 1 so I try not to make the judgement at that time.

Feb 2042. Scottish Premiership. What a shambles of a month this was. 3 losses on the bounce mean that we have fallen completely off the pace and now trail 3rd placed Celtic by 7 points. Hibs, who have won their last 5 league games on the bounce are 1 point ahead of Celtic and then Aberdeen, (who are unbeaten in their last 16 games in all competitions), are a further 2 points clear at the top. Europa League. When it came to registering players for the Knockout Playoff stage of the Europa League, I could actually on register 14 players, (because everyone else was so young they didn't have to be registered), although I should point out we do have some older players of registering age who are out on loan. We were 4-1 up from the 1st leg against Lille and I thought we would romp it, but 1 goal in the 1st half and then 2 more in the 2nd half tied it at 4-4 and forced extra-time, and when they took the lead 5-4 in the 112th min I thought we were done. I shouldn't have worried though as it seemed to spur us into life, and 3 late goals in 5 mins in the 2nd half of extra-time gave the scoreline a look that wasn't at all how the game felt. Lille must be kicking themselves. Our reward for progressing past 3 French clubs in the Group stage, and then one of them again in the Playoff, is a trip to Germany. Scottish Cup. (The Big One). We shouldn't be conceding 3 goals against a Championship club. Hamilton are in League 2 so we should progress with some ease. Debuts. Transfers. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 33/40 from the spot at 83%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

Jan 2052. Scottish Premiership. A 4th successive clean sheet in the league sees us sit 3rd in the league. We have games in hand on both Aberdeen and Hibs above us, (3 games and 2 games respectively), but Celtic below us have a game in hand on us. Europa League. I don't mind an away draw at Marseille at all. Scottish Cup. (The Big One). Nice to give the Gers a right good spanking. (Rangers are 2nd bottom in the Championship by the way, so there is no way they are returning to the Premiership anytime soon). Records. Job Interview. Transfers. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 32/39 from the spot at 82%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. (Is no longer at the club). Finances.

I had never hear of Galati or Galatz before. With regards to my reasoning, there is no great thinking behind it, (or any thinking at all actually). It's just habit more than anything. Actually no, that's not true. The "strategy" is all about avoiding promising a player, anything, ever. If I never back down then I can never promise them anything. That's the reasoning. If I don't promise them anything then I can't screw things up seriously, because basically everything else eventually sorts itself out sooner or later. The rift caused by breaking promises however i=can be permanent and I'm just not doing it.

Dec 2051. Scottish Premiership. Got to be happy with this month, (other than the Dundee game which was a shambles). We were rubbish and they actually deserved to win. Europa League. The mid-week blip from last month is a thing of the past, (thankfully). Scottish League Cup. I could tell you that we've finally hit the big-time because we've won our 1st big senior, top level trophy, but I just can't do it. Despite us receiving £369k for winning this trophy, I just can't change my opinion that this competition is anything other than a group of friendlies. Debuts. Awards. I can't remember who, but someone was keen on me giving (47b) Smith (Det) * a chance before I actually did. I think injuries and then transfers forced my hand against my "better" judgement, and now he plays through the middle for the 2nd Team. Although he's only scored 1 league goal this season, (and 1 in the League Cup), he's scored 10 goals in the Europa League, for a total of 12 goals in 19(7) appearances. Last season he played more often for the 1st Team, (when others were injured), and scored 9 league goals in 11(1) appearances. It means that his career record so far is 24 goals in 36(10) appearances, (which is pretty decent actually). I don't remember (43a) Quinn (F.Pro) * winning this award before. I mean he obviously did but I just don't remember it. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 32/39 from the spot at 82%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. Finances.

Nov 2051. Scottish Premiership. A good month sees us move up to 5th in the league, but all 4 clubs above us have played more games, and the top 3 have each played 2 more games than us. Celtic below us have played 1 game less though. Europa League. We've suffered a few injuries and it's had an impact on the 2nd Team. 1st Team Libero, 2nd Team SRC, 2nd Team WBR. When everyone is available we're pretty decent, but when we have to drop down to inexperienced kids we struggle. We were really poor against Oţelul Galaţi, (who are Romanian by the way). Scottish league Cup. We're into our 1st Big-Boy FInal, but it's still just a collection of friendlies whether we win it or not. Debuts. Internationals. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 31/38 from the spot at 82%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. Finances.

Oct 2051. Scottish Premiership. We sit in 7th, (bottom half), but I'm actually quite happy with how we're playing and we have a game in hand on 3 of the teams above us, (2 games on 2 of them). We were well worth 3 points away to Dundee Utd but I thought the 2nd Team were defensively poor mid-week at home to top of the table Hibs after they had got themselves into a great position 2 goals ahead. Hearts sneaked a late narrow win in a game that had 0-0 written all over it, (until they scored) and then we put in a good performance to win away at Aberdeen. Not an awful lot wrong this month. Europa League. The 2nd Team just keep on delivering in Europe. Goal-scoring GK's. (23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club). (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 17/20 from the spot at 85%. (Is no longer at the club). (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 46/52 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (26p) Marsh (CAN)(SCO) 5'10" is 15/17 from the spot at 88%. (Is no longer at the club). (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" * is 47/64 from the spot at 73%. (Is no longer at the club). (31k) Lawrie (Unamb) * is 23/29 from the spot at 79%. (Is no longer at the club). (33a) Black (Fickle) 6'0" * is 2/3 from the spot at 67%. (Is no longer at the club). (37b) Niven (F.Loyal) 6'4" * is 24/41 from the spot at 59%. (Is no longer at the club). (39c) Telfer (F.Pro) 6'2" * is 29/44 from the spot at 66%.(Is no longer at the club). (40e) Qurbonov (UZB) (Res) * is 0/2 from the spot at 0%. (Is no longer at the club). (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is 31/37 from the spot at 84%. (41h) Cairney (Unamb) 6'2" * is 7/12 from the spot at 58%. Finances.

He's only 18 years old. Yeah, there is no way I'm selling him at 18 when he's contracted until he's 21. The 25% should come in handy later in the save, but in case you find yourself in this position again... 1. Just keep him until he has 2 years left on his contract. Just reject everything. 2. With 2 years on his contract, arrange to sell him, but also arrange to get him loaned back and also include at least a 25% clause. 3. The added bonus is that you won't pay his wages in his last year at the club. I'm not one to talk though. I had 2 players with +3 options and managed to lose them on a free when I didn't notice that they had been offered contracts and their +3 option vanishes once they accept the offer from the new club.

I honestly don't even look at who it is anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm not stupid with my responses when they come complaining. I do answer them, but I NEVER make a promise and I NEVER back down. I tell them that I'm surprised they want a good player to leave or they have plenty of time on their contract or they should be happy with being a squad player or whatever. I do actually talk to them about why they are unhappy, but I NEVER back down and I NEVER promise them anything. I usually have a huge squad however in this save it's separated into U19's, U21's and Senior Squad, so let's have a look at the Senior squad's happiness, (because I would expect there to be some unhappiness for the usual reasons). The other thing is of course, is that I get more unhappiness because I rotate 2x match day squads. The 1st Team play at weekend and the 2nd Team play during the week. This is still the Senior squad, but it means that Senior players are often unhappy because they want to play every game, (and I don't want my best players playing every game, (for a few different reasons). I've got 27 players in the Senior Squad. 15 of them are "Delighted". 7 of them are "Very happy". 1 is "Content". 1 is "Slightly unhappy". 3 are "Unhappy". When we look at the 5 "problem" players, (actually there are only 4 because "content" is fine but let's go with it), 2 are unhappy with they're playing time and 1 is concerned about his playing time. As far as I'm concerned, even though 2 of them are Team Leader and ab 3rd is Highly Influential, we should still be fine just so long as I don;t lie to them and break their trust. (40b) Stewart (IRL)(F.Pro) * loves me, but there are a few issues. He wants a new deal, (but has 3 years left on his contract), and as he's 27 I'm probably going to look to sell him with 12 months left on his contract, (if not before). His agreed playing time is "Important player", (and he is), but that doesn't mean that I want him to play every game, (because I rotate every single game). He expects to play against Ross County, (and he will start because it's a mid-week game), but even if this was the Saturday and he wasn't in the starting XI then I wouldn't care. I could reduce his playing time, but I really can't be bothered. None of this is worth worrying about, (imo). (40a) Brass4 (Pro) * also loves me. He's been promoted from 2nd Team to 1st Team this season, (both within the Senior squad). He's been complaining to his team-mates that he wants to start more games but we've only played 23 games this season, and he's made 11(12) appearances so he's played in every single game. He wants to START more games though and basically that's just tough. It's not going to happen because I like rotating. He expects to play in the Ross County game, (and he will), but he won't be starting. I am actually going to change him down from "Star" player to "important" player, and it passed without comment. The "alienated" bit there is quite strongly worded so this should hopefully take the edge off that a little. I probably should have any "Star" players, because it just doesn't fit with my rotation strategy. (42b) Potter (F.Pro) * doesn't love me at all, (and that's actually a surprise because I love him). He's a 1st choice MC, (with 40a) Brass4 (Pro) *). He wants to start more games because he's a "Star" player and is alienated so let's knock him down to "Important". That seems to have passed without comment too. Complaining to team-mates. Wants to start more games is tough. I'm still going to rotate. Has no strong feelings about the squad's support for me. I wonder if this is because he has been a "Star" for a while but I have been rotating the whole time so every year it gets worse? Struggling to connect with (40b) Stewart (IRL)(F.Pro) *, (who he was paired with in the 1st Team for the last few seasons, but no longer). Expecting to start against Ross County. No. (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * is the 1st Team GK so it's not ideal at all that he's unhappy, so let's try and fix that. 1st thing I notice is that his playing time is Cup GK, but actually I'm not going to change that because at the moment he's playing more games than expected, and if I change it to 1st Choice GK then it will just give him something else to be unhappy about. Complaining to team-mates, (wants a new contract). We've got him on a 5 year dea and he's 24 now so there's no rush to offer him a new contract. 1 thing I forgot to mention that someone else touched upon is players supporting players who support other players who are unhappy. Again, (and I can't reiterate this enough), as long as you don't lie to them by promising and then failing to deliver on your promise, then you should be fine. I have 8 players who have negative scores on their playing time happiness, but only 4 players in the squad are actually unhappy so who cares? It shows how little it matters. The top 2 here are (42b) Potter (F.Pro) * and (40a) Brass4 (Pro) * who we've already covered. The 3rd player on the above list is (48b) Rodger (IRL) (Merc) *, and he's supporting team-mate (42b) Potter (F.Pro) *, but he's not even on the unhappiness list and is flying in the league and has just won Young Player of the Month so again.... who cares! (46a) Savoury (Real) * DC, (our Libero), is supporting me against team-mate (42b) Potter (F.Pro) *, and I think this is because although I play him as a Libero, he's actually a midfielder so he thinks that if (42b) Potter (F.Pro) * doesn't get his playing time then he will get more games as a midfielder, (but it's never going to happen). Of the other players who are "concerned", only (40b) Stewart (IRL)(F.Pro) * is actually unhappy. They're all getting the same game-time, (starting every 2nd game), so the deciding factor here might be that the higher the playing time expectations, the bigger the morale hit. With that it mind I should probably try to downplay that during contract negotiations, but the problem with that is that at the time all I care about is getting the contract signed and I just tell them whatever they want in terms of playing time then and deal with it later. (Luckily this doesn;t count as a promise or a lie).

@turnipis 100% correct, but I would go even further. Just completely ignore unhappiness in players, (unless it's your GK and he's taking pens). While it is important, there is nothing you can do about it because of the nature of the Youth Only save, so just save yourself some time and effort and accept that they will all have the hump most of the time and the way you're going to balance that is by getting them promoted/winning things. The only proviso here is... Never promise anyone anything.

I think the answer is quite easy here, but I suppose there are a few different things you have to consider along the way. 1. How long does ge have left on his contract? If he only has a year, (or even 2), and you can get him back on loan for 12 months, then does this make the deal more palatable? If he has longer than 2 years on his contract then I don't think there is much to consider. He's contracted so he's going nowhere, (unless they pay silly money of course that will allow you to completely revamp the club). 2. Are you happy for him to go on a free at the end of his contract, or is the plan to sell him for cash + clauses? If you want to get cash for him, how far away from that are you? 3. Who cares unhappy the players are. They will forget about it soon enough and/or have something else to moan about. The only thing they never forget is a broken promise. Never promise them anything! In your case the value is "not significant", so I would basically be letting him go on a free...... unless of course he's good enough that whoever signs him next is going to sell him for a big fee and you want 25%, (or whatever %), of that next fee. There were quite a few players in this save where I sold them for quite modest amounts, but the idea wasn't really to make money from the sale itself, but to make sure that there was a 25%, (or even 50% clause), which would hopefully be a winning lottery ticket when he was sold to his 3rd club. I'm thinking you might be in this position now so while keeping him for as long as possible is certainly 1 option, (especially for very low-level Youth Only saves), the smarter idea is probably to sell him with 12 months left on his contract, stick lots of clauses in there including at least a 25% resale clause, (not profit), and hope it comes up big. I will often sell players for significantly smaller fees in order to secure these clauses. It's an investment in the future, and what are you going to do with a few quid now anyway? Feel free to drop a little more info and pics in here if you want.

I've got absolutely loads of GK's to score 100+ goals, so it's no longer the significant achievement that it used to be. The best we've had in this save is (30a) Ogilvie (Fickle) 6'2" on 47, but he's now retired. (43n) Welsh (F.Pro) 6'4" * currently on 30 but is only 24 years old. The problem is that I have been rotating 2 GK's in recent seasons so the goals are shared, and on top of that they're not taking free-kicks. There are a few of our ex GK's still in the game though. None that I plan on signing though.