Jimbokav1971

No, because the penalty taking attribute doesn't influence the outcome of penalties AT ALL, and I'm not convinced how influential free-kick taking is for GK's taking free-kicks.

Jan 2047. Liga Bwin. What an awful month. Not particularly the defeat away to Porto or the draw away to Guimaraes, but the losses to both Famalicao & Estoril. We've dropped to 3rd, just 1 point behind Benfica & 5 points behind Porto, but we have a game in hand on each. The good news however is that there is a gap of 8 pts between us and Sporting in 4th. [Edit] xG watch. Belenenses 1.55 - 0.34 Sporting. Belenenses 2.13 - 0.38 Famalicao. Estotil 0.52 - 2.69 Belenenses. Guimaraes 0.83 - 2.12 Belenenses. Belenenses 1.64 - 0.71 Benfica. Porto 2.21 - 1.28 Belenenses. Goal-scoring GK's. No GK goals this month and (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" is stuck on 76 career goals. Finances.

No, we were Runners Up once, but never Champions so far.

Dec 2046. Liga Bwin. A fantastic month in the league sees us sit top, 1 point ahead of Porto with 1 game in hand and 2 points ahead of Benfica with 2 games in hand. xG watch. The xG suggests that we're performing really well and the results aren't a fluke. Leixões 1.56 - 2.24 Belenenses. Belenenses 2.32 - 0.16 Gil Vicente. Farense 0.87 - 4.00 Belenenses. Belenenses 3.69 - 1.60 Moreirense. Varzim 0.96 - 2.94 Belenenses. UEFA Champions League. A weakened line-up still managed to turn over PSG. A surprising result, but not any more surprising than earlier results in this competition. Taça da Liga Allianz Cup. A really poor performance and we deservedly crash out. Awards. 2 players collect 4 awards and despite (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" collecting 3 of them, he still can't get his 1st Senior Cap for Portugal. He's always called up, but never gets on. Goal-scoring GK's. Finances.

I've had lots of European success in this save. We haven't yet won the Liga Bwin title. We're in a strong position at the moment and I feel like it makes sense to have a good go at the league. If things change between now and when the Knockout Stages start then I might adjust my thinking, but at the moment the league will remain my priority.

Nov 2046. Liga Bwin. Only 1 game in the league this month and although we won it, we have dropped down to 2nd in the league because Porto played 2 games to our 1 this month. The good news is that they dropped points in 1 of these though so they are only 1 point ahead. xG watch. Braga 1.39 - 2.54 Belenenses. UEFA Champions League. I went strong in the Milan game, (because I was worried about finishing 4th), and then rotated all 10 outfield players but still managed to win after being 2-0 down at HT. Unfortunately this means that we've gone and qualified 2nd with a game to spare. Goal-Scoring GK's. Finances.

Oct 2046. Liga Bwin. We prioritised the league games over the domestic Cup and Champions League games, the up-side being that we're still top of the league and 4 points clear of Benfica in 3rd. xG watch. We've really started to dominate games and are converting the xG into actual G. Belenenses 2.68 - 0.72 EdA. Belenenses 3.36 - 0.37 CdP UEFA Champions League. We were weak against Milan and it cost us. We're bottom of our Champions League Group at the half-way stage. Taça da Liga Allianz Cup. It was a comfortable win, but we need another. Taça de Portugal Placard. We came badly unstuck here despite leading 10 men 3-2 with 10 mins left. Well the 10 men scored 2 goals against us and although we scored 1 of our own it was ruled out for offside and we went crashing out of the Cup. Goal-scoring GK's. Finances.

No, I don't see that as contradictory at all. A player can play with his back to goal and then knock the ball past opponent. "Plays with back to goal" contradicts with something like "tries to beat offside trap" for example and "stays wide" contradicts with "cuts inside" or "plays simple passing game" contradicts with "tries killer balls". I like adding PPM's and generally they are quite specific to the role I want them to play, (and the footedness of the player), but also the players qualities. In this instance he had excellent First Touch, Technique, Off The Ball, Flair, and wasn't blessed physically. I don't like "plays with back to goal" and "knocks ball past opponent" with this player. In actual fact I don't mind the "plays with back to goal" for a right-sided 2nd striker, but because he's a lefty and the make-up of his attributed he doesn't fit into either pre-set role. Add into the mix the PPM's he's picked up while on loan elsewhere and it's just a it of a muddle.

Sept 2046. Liga Bwin. A good month even if we did drop points against Benfica. The good news though is that everyone has already lost 2 games so where as we're usually trailing the leaders and sitting outseide the Playoffs at this stage, we currently sit top, (albeit on head to head with Porto). xG watch. We won all of the xG battles this month, even nicking a tight contest in a game we actually lost against Benfica. Benfica 1.35 - 1.36 Belenenses. Belenenses 2.36 - 1.39 Porto. Maritimo 0.66 - 3.87 Belenenses. Belenenses 2.63 - 0.25 PdF. SAD Franchise 0.28 - 1.78 Belenenses. UEFA Champions League. With a busy domestic schedule this month, (and still mossing our 2 1st choice full-backs), I fielded a really young side in this game and they got exactly what I expected. Remember, the aim here is to finish 3rd this season, (and not slip-up and finish 2nd by accident). The obvious problem with that strategy already is that FC København have already beat Milan and I'm now not completely sure who I'm fighting against for the 2nd/3rd positions. Goal-scoring GK's. Finances.

I checked the last intake, (2046), @Kyle Brownand it seemed to work ok, but I will keep my eye on it and report back if there are still issues.

You can't actually have contradictory PPM's, but I blame some of the PPM's on his loan spells.

Aug 2046. Liga Bwin. We should have 3 wins from 3 here. We can't afford to keep dropping points if we hope to challenge the big boys. xG watch. Belenenses 2.66 - 0.79 Varzim. Famalicao 0.21 - 2.38 Belenenses. How did they score 2 goals with a 0.21 xG? Belenenses 2.29 - 0.80 Guimaraes. Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. We led and dominated early on, but when they had a player sent off for a 2nd yellow on 68 mins it seemed to inspire them and they scored 2 quick goals, (1 a penalty), to run out winners. Champions League Group draw. PSG and Milan make this a pretty tough group, so 3rd will probably be our aim again. Goal-scoring GK's. Finances.

Yeah, he's not left only, but he's not great with his right either. He has a few different PPM's. I hadn't actually considered that recently, (although have done in the past), and yeah I think you're correct about him benefitting from this. I really hope he develops well in Russia.

B Team Squad selection. Aug 2046. The rules for Liga 2 are pretty simple for a Senior squad, but become pretty demanding for B Teams. Under normal circumstances a match squad must have 3 players trained by a club in Portugal, but for B Teams this is increased to 10 players. This isn't a problem for us because everyone is HG at club, (or becomes HG at club shortly). Where things become more difficult is the rule that B Teams can only have 2 players aged over 23 in any match squad. This was something I was unaware of initially and it scuppered my plans to play Senior players who had fully developed and were a little short of 1st Team standard. Instead I opted last season to never play O23 players at all ever. This B Team is all about development, so playing players who are 23+ seems counter-productive. Obviously this had an impact on us and it's why we dropped from 1st in 2044/45 to 6th in 2045/46. I want to use the B Team as a route to fast-track young players from Youth football to Liga Bwin level. A perfect example of this is the strike pairing of (45c) Rosa (POR) * and (44a) Simões (POR) *.

No. Not really passed on him as such. More that I deem it more important that he plays a full season somewhere rather than a bit-part of our season. With the really young players, I want them at their club to mould their PPM development, but with him he's 22 now and I'm running out of time to get him as close to his PA as I can. The only way to do that at the club is to start him, (and he's not going to be 1st choice), so after that he's either a back-up playing a bit-part role or he's playing at a lower level, (the B Team for example). IMO he's too good for the B Team and I even think he should go out on loan to a club playing in Europe rather than just a Liga Bwin side, but I possibly can't afford to be that choosy. In actual fact the club that came in with the best offer for him was Lokomotiv Moscow, who although they are in a non-playable structure, (and I'm not sure how that impacts on development anymore), are playing in the Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round, (where they beat Brondby in the 1st (neutral) leg. They aren't paying his wages so long as he plays, and when he doesn't play they will pay 50% of his wages. I'm happy with that in this development period, but might expect someone to pay more if he goes out on loan again next season. The main 2 problems I have with him is that while I like the look of him as a secondary striker, he's left-footed and that's the side that our primary striker plays on. In addition to that I've been unable to get him to forget the "plays with back to goal" PPM. So this makes it even more concrete that he's a 2nd striker rather than a 1st striker, but then he's a lefty being asked to play on the right of a 2. (Thinking about it though.... when he plays with his back to goal being a lefty might be more advantageous). Anyway, I need him to go away and improve. His CA is 111 of 151 PA and I would like to think he can get to 122 this season and then 133 next season, (but I'm not sure how realistic that is).

Yeah, we are definitely short at GK, but while (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" is 30 years old, this is less of an issue than it would be if he were an outfield player. He's contracted for 4 more years so I'm not hugely bothered about it. The others are good enough to come in and do a job if needed. Full back is more of a concern and after losing (33a) Ramos (STP) (POR) * on a free on the left side, to also lose (41a) Gil (POR) * to a long term injury on the right is a huge blow. That being said, I think the players I've brought in are reasonable and should be ok. It's more of a long-term issue than an issue right now. There are 2 Moreira's on the fringes I think so I'm not sure which one. (36k) Moreira (POR) is very much a centre-half who can play right back rather than the other way around, and he doesn't make the best 4 so I'm looking to loan him out. (39a) Moreira (POR) * is a striker and while I've no doubt he could do a job for us as 1 of the 2nd choice pairing, he's 22 and I would rather see him get a full season of football under his belt while he's still in his development window.

1st Team squad. Jul 2046. GK's. (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" played every game last season, (52), and ideally he will do so again this season. DL. (36b) Sousa (POR) * is an established 1st Team squad member, but with (33a) Ramos (STP) (POR) * having left on a free and joined Cadiz in Spain, (where he's valued at £11.5M), I'm asking (36f) Antunes (POR) * to step up. DR. We're struggling just a little in this area as (41a) Gil (POR) * will be out for the rest of the year. (36c) Mussagi (POR) (MOZ) * will be 1st choice in his absence and I will ask (42e) Crespo (POR) * to step up. DC. (39c) Salgueiro (POR) 6'4" DC has been re-trained as a centre-half and he will be 1st choice with (35f) Azevedo 6'2", but (35f) Azevedo 6'2" shouldn't really be 1st choice and we're lacking a little here. (41d) Hussein (TAN) 6'5" * and 32 yo (30g) Coelho (POR) 6'4" * will be the 2nd pairing but (30g) Coelho (POR) 6'4" * is really on his last legs and probably won't make the 2nd half of the season the way his physicals are dropping. His replacement will probably be (42b) Felizardo (POR) 5'10" DC, who is another converted midfielder, but at 5'10" it's a risk. MC. (35a) Paulo Júnior (POR) * and (40a) Sérgio (POR) * will be my 1st choice pairing in the middle of the pitch, with 17 yo (44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * and (36a) Cruz (POR) * being the 2nd pairing. ML & MR. Ideally I would like the opposing wide players to each prefer the same foot, (so 1 inverts as the other stays wide), but I'm also not adverse to them both staying wide. What I don't want though of for both of them to come inside and clog the middle of the pitch up. I think I will probably start with (32b) Moucheira (POR) and (39b) Tiago (POR), (who both stay wide), but after that there are a wealth of options all at a similar level. SC. (32g) Ramos (POR) and (41c) Abrantes (POR) * will be our 1st choice pairing, with (39d) Rebelo (POR) * and (41g) Amaral (POR) * providing support. They scored 47 goals and 20 assists between them, but I think it could and should be higher. (45c) Rosa (POR) * and (44a) Simões (POR) * will play as many games as possible in the B Team. (46b) Pereira (POR) and (46a) Naldo (POR) (BRA) will be left to terrorize the U19 opposition. I don't really care about the U23's but the best of the rest who haven't gone out on loan will play for them I suppose.

Awards. Jul 2046.

Rankings. European Competition rankings. European Club rankings. National Club coefficients. Qualification places.

We give it a good go for 3rd, but just came up a little short. I don't mind if I'm honest. Had 4th not been given a Champions league place I would have minded more, but as it is, who cares really. (41a) Gil (POR) * was already one of my favourite players in the save. I'm not completely sure what's going on with the facilities. I think the Training facilities will, but I never did use the editor to up the others to L20. This board are strange. Can't wait until he leaves. Where does it say that we have lost £30M in a season. We've got £79M in the bank and it's showing me that we have made a profit over the season of £4.5M this season compared to a profit of £17M last season, but I would expect that we are due some more income between now and the end of the actual season.

Liga 2. U23 Premier League South. U32 Premier League Qualifying Round. (Qualifying for what I'm not quire sure). Taça Revelação Sub-23. It turns out that only the top 2 in the Qualifying Group qualify for the Taça Revelação Sub-23 competition proper, so we sneaked in the back door and then went and won the whole thing! U19 Group B. U19 Championship Group. UEFA Youth League.

Strikers. May 2046. It's been an on-going theme throughout this save that we have struggled to put the ball in the opposition net, but I think things have finally changed, (thanks in no small part to me eventually realising that we were playing with a defensive mentality). Before I go through the performances of our strikers this season, it should be noted at the outset that our GK scored 15 goals this season, (& saw 2 penalties saved), so these are goals that might have been scored by a striker had I not been manager. (32g) Ramos (POR) and (41c) Abrantes (POR) * have been our starting pair this season. (32g) Ramos (POR) is a little limited, but he knows how to put the ball in the net while (41c) Abrantes (POR) * is a much more rounded player and they make a good pairing. (32g) Ramos (POR) scored 18 goals & 8 assists in 28 appearances in the league, but managed 23 goals in 35(1) appearances in all competitions this season. He's now up to 192 league goals and 248 career goals. (41c) Abrantes (POR) * might not have produced the numbers that more prolific strikers manage, but he's the 1st player who I feel has really played well in this right hand role in the whole save. (or at least since the very early seasons). He scored 10 goals and 9 assists in all competitions this season but was very influential in linking play. The 2nd pairing in the Senior squad is (39d) Rebelo (POR) * and (41g) Amaral (POR) *. I'm particularly happy with (39d) Rebelo (POR) *, but (41g) Amaral (POR) * needs to improve if he's going to stay in contention. (39d) Rebelo (POR) * had a really good season, scoring 12 goals in 11(14) appearances in all competitions. (41g) Amaral (POR) * has been a largely peripheral figure, but has still contributed 2 goals from 6(6) appearances. All in all I'm pretty happy with those 4 as Senior striking options, and I'm going to have to think hard about whether the youngsters are in a position to step up to the Senior squad. In terms of the B Team, I decided right at the outset that I wanted to prioritise player development in the B Team rather than B Team performances themselves, so with that in mind 16 year old (45c) Rosa (POR) * and 17 year old (44a) Simões (POR) * led the line for the B Team. (45c) Rosa (POR) * has had a hell of a season. As well as making 4(0) appearances for the senior squad without scoring, he scored 26 goals & 4 assists in 26(1) appearances for the B Team. (44a) Simões (POR) * is unlucky that he has been shunted out to the right hand side in the B Team, although he has scored 2 goals in 5(1) appearances for the Senior squad and 7 goals and 3 assists in 24(6) appearances for the B Team. That's just the 6 most high profile strikers at the club. We really do have some depth up front now. (39a) Moreira (POR) * was the player that was highlighted by @_Ben_(and we know he can spot a player). The "problem" with him is that he's the type of player I want to play on the right of a 2, (more of a link player than just a finisher), but the fact that he's a lefty rather than a righty acts against him. He scored 4 goals and 1 assist from 8(5) appearances in the Senior squad this season, as well as 2 goals and 2 assists in 8(3) appearances for the B Team. He's a player that could play on either side but to be honest, (and I keep saying this), I want to loan him out so that he develops as much as possible rather than just as a bit-part squad player who is effectively 5th choice striker.

Yeah, I noticed that but when I scrolled down Benfica were there on the same level as Benfica B, just lower down.

This was quite a successful challenge back in FM07, FM08 & FM09. It started off as a joint idea between myself and someone else, (but I can't remember who), so I will limit it to s short-list of NepentheZ, Gundo and well.... whoever it was if it wasn't one of those two. The idea was that it was a thread designed to track those of us who had a GK who was adept at getting up the other end of the pitch and putting the ball in the opposition net. Goals could be scored from penalties, free-kicks, corners and even open play. There were a few really good records held back in the day, (we had GK's scoring hat-tricks for example), but the real record that everyone was after was the Most Career goals for a GK. (At least that's what I was after). Back then it seemed quite uncommon for GK's to score goals in real life, (granted there were exceptions), but actually it was far more common than people appreciated. It just wasn't reported as much. If a GK scored a goal in domestic football on the other side of the World, it simply wasn't "news" in Europe. In real life the GK's most adept at scoring goals were/are the following. Some of them are still playing and still scoring. I have had a few good goal-scoring GK's in past issues of FM. McIlmurray scored 19 goals in a season for Mosside in N.Ireland, (not sure if that was the record for goals in a season or not). I'm not positive about this but Chris McIlmurray, (I think his first name was Chris), was definitely a real player who was a kid at Glenavon when that save started. In real life, although he was rightly a GK in the Youth team in real life, (so was a GK in the game), but he actually changed position and signed a pro contract as an outfield player, (I'm almost positive about this). He represented N.Ireland at U17 level but I have a feeling he opted to play Gaelic Football after a while. In any case I can find no record of him now. The next pic shows him on 99 career goals. In actual fact he scored either 104 or 107 career goals before my laptop blew up and I lost the save. This is him scoring his 100th goal. (That's right kids. No 3d back then). 50th League goal, (again from the spot). Oh I forgot I did this. In order to keep track of hoe many goals he scored I used to edit his nickname to include the total number, (rather than having to keep adding it up). This says he is on 111. (I didn't realise he had got that high, but it was a long time ago). I have vague memories of a Hungarian GK called Gabor Mezo, (or something like that), scoring goals for me in a different issue of FM, but he wasn't as good as McIlmurray). Ahh. Here it is. I have a pic of him scoring 16 goals in a season, (but from 200+ shots so not exactly impressive). Anyway, so that's the history. Now show me what your GK can do. [Edit] I forgot to mention that goals scored for a club side have to be in competitive fixtures. U19's Cups do NOT count but some Reserve cups do. Basically, if the game is listed as a League, Cup or Continental fixture, (on historical stats), then you can have it, but if it comes under the header "non competitive", then you can't. For Internationals it's different. Friendlies DO count, but it has to be a full International for which a cap has been awarded. (I couldn't for example take England to the 2014 World Cup and play some warm-up games against Brazilian club sides and count them. [Edit2] While it's easy to use the editor to create your own "Super GK" with a huge PA and hidden attributes that are going to make things much easier, please try and do this without using the editor. It's not against the rules to use the Editor, (it's your game and you should play it how you want), but this really isn't a competition against each-other and is more a thread for common experiences with goal-scoring GK's.