IL Luce

Final Season Squad Analysis Squad Overall Goalkeepers Sabin Stanciulescu was my first choice in goal this season and he proved to be the best goalkeeper in the league. Not bad for a player who only played in a lower league than ours until last season. Dragos Lupescu didn’t played too much this season being just a backup, but when he did he didn’t had some good performances. Also, he got a lot of injures in training. He will leave us this summer and I need to find a proper backup for Stanciulescu. Shopping List: one backup GK. An U18 or U21 to grow with us will be superb. Central Defenders Alexandru Salcianu and Jhon Mondragon were yet once again our best defenders, but now the problems begin: Salcianu demanded to leave in this summer transfer window and I agreed and Mondragon's headers statistic just drop drastically since last season and because of that he may leave us too. Dimitris Souliotis may be my first transfer mistake in this save. He only played 918 minutes, but his stats are way apart from his previous team and I think I’m gonna sell him too this summer. I tried to offer Stefan Dutu a contract but his agent told me that he will only join us if we promote, unfortunately we haven't done that. I will try to loan him again if I can. Shopping List: well, it seems that this position it will be a really big problem for us next season and we need at least 3 solid central defenders. Right Fullbacks Ionut Mitran was one of our best players this season and he played decent as a wing back. Now that he dropped his transfer request will continue with us next season also. Bogdan Szijj only played 261 minutes but he proved that can be a good option when needed. Left Fullbacks Alin Cojanu was our main U18 player with Cristian Screciu being his backup. They both will continue with us if I can’t find better U18 players. Cojanu’s goals mistakes and his crossing capability are concerning me but we need one U18 in the first eleven. I will see if I can find better solutions. Defensive Midfielders Adrian Micas was our regista till winter transfer window when Francisco Junior join us and took his place. The first radar is for Junior while the second one is for our volante, Andrea Sandescu. Both will continue with us. Claudiu Bortoneanu only played 239 minutes, but maintained his all-round statistics that I liked from his previous team. Right Attacking Midfielders Alexandru Dusmanu was one of our best players and scorer this season that also got most assists in the league (12). Denis Alexandru Marin was his backup and I try to retrain him as an AMR. Because of his weak right foot and “runs with ball down left” trait he couldn’t play as an inverted winger on the left as I wanted. Left Attacking Midfielders At the start of the season Nicholas Nasini was my first choice in this position, but in the second part I started to give the youngster Ciprian Stefan more chances and he played really well. If I can find another youngster like him to be his backup I can let Nasini go. The radar is for Stefan’s stats. Strikers Alexandru Stoica was our main striker this season, a decent striker, nothing extraordinary, but he helped us by scoring 9 goals. I may consider selling him if I can find a better option with better shots on target/90, xG and xG/90. Iasonas Papadimitriou and Albert Voinea will get another chance and will remain with us for next season, especially because I intent to change the system into a 2 strikers system and they will get the chance to play more. Shopping List: two strikers if I decide to sell Stoica.

May | June 2026 From March and April good form to this. Key Matches League Table Even if we managed to win against Chindia and Csikszereda, without some better results against others, we couldn’t secure the 2nd place and the automatic promotion spot and we went to Liga I/Liga II Playoffs where we met Otelul Galati. Liga I/Liga II Playoff And we officially "bottled it". A season to remember because we overachieved everything, yet it is a little bit frustrated cuz we were so close to promotion from the first year in charge and especially because the next year, if we are looking who relegated, it will be even tougher for us to achieve this. Time to reevaluate the squad stats compared with this season overall players statistics from the league and make a new plan for the next season.

March | April 2026 Changing Regista to a more conservative Deep Lying Playmaker for better defence stability; giving an attacking duty to our best wing back and pushing up our line of engagement really improved our play. Key Matches League Table I think Chindia is already the winner of the league; is almost impossible to reach them. We are fighting for 2nd place and if we hadn't been so unlucky to concede in 90+1 minutes against Chindia, we would have been more relaxed now, but there are still 5 more battles and we need to continue with this good form.

Finally! February | March 2026 Midseason syndrome? Maybe. We played really, really awful, especially against 16th place SCM Zalau and it seems that 442 formations caused us a lot of troubles this season. Key Matches League Table Luckily, the draw against FC Arges and the win against CSC Dumbravita was enough to secure a Champions Playoff spot, but we conceded way too much goals in this 4 games and we had some ugly defeats. We need to find some quick solutions if we want to get something from this playoff.

A very busy transfer window indeed, where we actually spent some money. Central Defenders Now that we are playing with two BPD I’m paying some extra attention at Clearances and Clearances/90 statistics from now on. Despite my scouts low recommendation, Dimitris Souliotis will take Gherghe’s place in the first eleven. He is a beast in the air with 6.99 Headers Won/90, an impressive 59 Clearances, 2.37 Clearances/90, good passing, interceptions and tackling stats. He is a bit slow but let’s hope is not a big problem for now. Stefan Dutu and Mohamed Konate will be with us for the rest of the season on loan and we will actually not pay any money, not even their salaries. The good part is that their contracts with the parent clubs runs out on summer, so we may get them free in the near future. Right Wingback I actually needed a much solid backup for Mitran and Bogdan Szijj really got some very good stats. Good crossing and defending capability, good dribbles and High Intensity Sprints per 90 and he also got 6 goals and 5 assists. He can easily sneak into the first eleven. Defensive Midfielders Now that we are playing with an attacking Volante I will take xG, xG/90 and Shots on Target stats into consideration also. Andrea Sandescu natural position is a central defender but looking at his Headers Won stats tell us that is not so great in the air. Now if we are looking at his xG, XG/90 and Shots on Target stats it will tell us a different story. These stats are actually screaming Volante and I want my Volante to be solid in defence and lethal in and around the box and Sandescu may be that kind of player. Francisco Junior will be our new Regista with 0.23 xA/90 and 0.31 Assists/90. As an example, the best xA/90 and Assist/90 from team that is on first place in the first league is 0.27 and 0.42. Claudiu Bortoneanu signing was not in my plan but I like one all-round player when I see one. With his decent xG/90, xG and Shots on Target stats can play as Volante and with his decent xA/90 (he actually got a better xA/90 then Junior), Assists/90 and passing stats can play as Regista and let’s not neglect his defending stats and 90% Takle Complation Ratio. An all-round player that may help us a lot. Strikers Playing with a TF I really wanted a beast in the air and Iasonas Papadimitriou with his 6.22 Headers Won/90 and 51% Headers Won Ratio may be that player. Albert Voinea, may be our 3rd option but his stats are very similar with Papadimitriou. I think we are finally covered in this position with three pretty solid strikers. Friendlies Mixed results here, should I be worried?

New well deserved contract, but still they don’t allow me to take my first badge. September | October | November 2025 Three solid months with solid performances against some top teams and yes, at some point I have changed the tactic. Despite a surprising win against a first league team, Fc Voluntari, we had some bad and even humiliating results, like 1-1 and 0-3 defeat against two 3rd league teams that we should have beaten and I started reevaluate the squad and tactic. With 7 players that can play in the central defender position we can easily play any system with 3 at the back, but the squad is more suitable for 3421(523DM Wide). Still tweaking here and there but we managed some good results so far and we will continue playing like this till the end of the season and also we can easily switch to 4231 when needed. Key Matches Romanian Cup Group B Despite some great results against Voluntari and Dinamo our adventure in the Cup finished in the group stage. League Table There are still 12 points in the game and anything can happen. My plan for the winter transfer window is to search for: two DMs because Toma and Matei will leave free in summer and maybe I can sell them now for some little money; two DCs because Gherghe and the youngsters are not having a great season so far and maybe one ST.

Season I 2025/2026 August 2025 Our first month was a tough one with games against two title contenders, Politehnica Iasi and CSC Selimbar, but we managed to upset all odds and get through it with some great results. Key Matches I started the game with my normal tactic; They played a 442 and after 20 minutes of game I saw that their fullbacks are very aggressive, the DR was a WB and the DL was an IWB; I immediately tweaked my tactic to put more pressure on their left flank. I thought that Dusmanu as a winger will operate much better in the space left by their IWB and also ticked “pass into space” for that. I’m lucky that he can use his both feet. I also moved my DM on the right to offer much better cover; In the 80 minute they changed to a much more attacking 424 formation with two wing backs and two wingers; I immediately changed my fullbacks to FBs on support and my attacking midfielders to Wingers letting Dusmanu on attack duty; 0-1 with a goal from corner, but I’m glad that I annihilated their threats and put some pressure on them and after all a win is a win. They played a 41221(433) with their AML and DR being more aggressive; My game plan was to put more pressure on their right flank, with the known risk that their mezzala may be a problem, while I was protecting my right flank from their more aggressive winger; They changed to a more aggressive approach with two wing backs and two wingers on attack but it was way too late; 1 shot on target – 1 goal – 3 points and with their 0 shots on target I think our game plan was perfect. League Table I don’t know if it’s a bug or I’m just missing something, but when you play an under-18 player is automatically count as an under-20 too and because of that you can actually play without another proper under-20 in your first eleven.

Only two days till transfer window would have opened and not knowing exactly when data would have been reset I decided to not rely and wait on scouts reports and I went full stats this time. I also only had just 1 scout at that time in the club. 9 players in, some of them with better stats than what the league and our squad have and also we made some pretty good money. Goalkeepers Despite his 33 conceded goals (something normal when you came from a team with the worst defence in the league), Sabin Stanciulescu had almost the best statistics in the league and will be our main goalkeeper this season. Dragos Lupescu may not had the busiest season as Stanciulescu did and his radar may be looking weird but it’s not too far behind. I think we have two very solid goalkeepers now. Central Defenders Roberto Banatan was signed as a backup, also he is an under 20 player and may help us when needed. Left Fullbacks Alin Cojanu, the future Speedy Gonzales of the league is our main under 18 player in the first eleven. Defensive Midfielders I’m pleased to find a DM better that what we already have and that actually wanted to join us. Adrian Micas will take Silvian Matei’s place in the first eleven and Valentin Mandescu was signed as a young backup. Right Attacking Midfielders I was looking for an inverted winger here and despite I like Nicholas Nasini more because of his crossing capability, shots stats and expected goals, Alexandru Dusmanu will be our main AMR because of his better creativity, dribbles and speed. Nasini can also play on the left side, something that will help us a lot. I wanted to sign an under 18 striker as our 3rd backup but he declined us and now I need to be thankful with what I can find in our u19 squad. Also, I almost lost the dressing room because two of our best players Silvian Matei and Ionut Mitran wanted to leave us for better teams and I didn’t want to let them go. As a result: Matei will leave at the end of the season and Mitran is transfer listed by request if someone pay his release clause. Hopefully none will do it because I don’t have a better DR. Tactic & First Eleven While the roles will mainly remain the same, the duties and positions may change base on opposition and where I can see pockets of space in their defence. Finances Financially we were 70k in red when I arrived but with those 3 transfers we are ok now and we actually have a transfer budget to play with in the future. Pre-season Results We had a solid pre-season with plenty of goals that proved that this team can score. Now we need to score in the official games too.

Before I analyze the squad we must talk about the league rules. There are 20 teams in the league and we only have 19 fixtures because every team plays each other once, something challenging if you think about that every mistake will count even more. After that the league will split into two: one Champions Playoff and one Relegation Group. In the Champions Playoff, teams will play each other twice and 1st and 2nd positions will promote directly and 3rd and 4th will play another playoff against teams situated in 7th and 8th positions from the Relegation Group a league above. The Relegation Group will split into two Groups of 7 teams that will play each other only once. Teams situated in 6th and 7th positions will relegate directly and teams in 5th from both groups will play each other a Relegation Playoff Final with the losing team being relegated also. Confused yet? In all this situations there must be at least 1 Under-20 player and 1 Under-18 player in the playing eleven, another challenging situation. Squad Overall Overall there are some players that can help us and deserve to be with us in the next season. One big problem so far seems to be the Under 20 and 18 players. The predecessor played a 4231DM, a tactic that I like and for sure I’m gonna keep it this season. Now, let’s make a visualization exercise and gather some data from the best and the worst players in the league, that played at least 1350 minutes aka 15 games and let’s combine the best and the worst data and then compare the numbers with our players numbers. I know that we don’t have the reputation and the money to attract players with top stats yet and I will need to make a lot of compromises in the transfer window, but at least it give us an idea where we are situating right now and where we should be in the future. Goalkeepers We only have one goalkeeper and with his average rating and goal mistakes, he already convinced me that is not the player that we need. I will try to sell him and put GK position on the shopping list. Central Defenders Alexandru Salcianu is our best defender here and the radar was made with his data. He is a bit slow but is the best at headers won in the league. I don’t pay too much attention at tackling stats here, I prefer interceptions and base on them I think is a mid-table player (?) that will help us a lot this season. Jhon Mondragon is not too far away from Salcianu, the only problem being his average rating under 6.7. He is the captain of the team and have a long term contract and he will continue, at least another season, with us. Robert Gherghe only played 451 minutes but he gathered some interesting data and will continue as the number one backup. Silvian Matei - based on his headers won he is more a DM and I will analyze him there. The other two will be released. Shopping list: one U20 or U18 as backup. Right Fullbacks Ionut Mitran is our best right back and base on his data is more attack inclining one. His tackling stats are some of the worst in the league but at least he compensate with his interceptions ones. Constatin Radu may be a good backup for Mitran but with his contract running out in 2 days it really depend of what his demands are. Shopping list: one DR backup if Radu will not sign a new contract. Left Fullbacks Alin Pisaru was played in this position by the former manager. Decent defending stats, not so great attacking ones and his average rating is pretty low. I may sell him if I can. Shopping list-red zone: two DLs. Defensive Midfielders We have two solid DMs with Dorin Toma standing as one of the best in the league. Silvian Matei may have some problems tackling but he has the second best rating in the league and the best interceptions. We just need some proper backups for them. Shopping list: two U20 or U18 backups. Right Attacking Midfielders Here may be another position problem. They both run out of contract and have some relatively big wages. I may keep them if their demands are decent, but not to play them in this position. Shopping list-red zone: two AMRs. Left Attacking Midfielders Denis Alexandru Marin was the best player in the squad last season with the best average rating, the most assists and goals and luckily he is still eligible for U20 rule. Cristinel Dinu seams a suitable backup for him, but unfortunately they are two different type of players: Marin is a natural winger, while Dinu is more of an inverted winger/inside forward. Shopping list: one AML backup. Central Attacking Midfielders Another tricky position. Rares Stanciu was the first choice for the former manager and because he is still consider an under 20 player I tried to loan him for another season but they rejected me, so he will not continue with us. Florin Rasdan - even if he played 1039 minutes he has much better stats than Stanciu and the radar is made with his data. I will definitely try to offer him a new contract. Mircea Donca – not too much to say about him but we are stuck with him for another season because he just sign a new contract before I arrived here. Shopping list: one AMC if Rasdan will not sign a new contract. Strikers I don’t know what happened here. Five strikers and only 6 goals the entire season is way too low. Even if I want to get rid of all of them, I’m stuck with Valentin Alexandru cuz he just signed a new contract and because of that, the radar is made with his data, but he only played 848 minutes and may not be conclusive. Luckly, others will run out of contracts and definitely will not continue with us. Also, the board signed a new striker before I arrived. Not so great shots statistics but base on his 6 assists he may have been played as a supporting striker. I can’t do nothing, I’m stuck with him too. Shopping list: one U20 or U18 backup. We may have some interesting players that will help us this season for sure, the only problem being that we only have one under 20 player and not even a quality under 18, something that is on the main list this transfer window. Until then, I decided to promote this three players from U19 and because I don’t have any data, I decided base on their training rating, development advice and potential. Hard working players with potential, maybe? *I just realized that I made some mistakes in the AMC and STs radars. Now should be correct.

I definitely remember you from this forum. Doman retired in June 2025 before I arrived and now is a scout. Ty

Chapter 1: But still, like dust, I'll rise. After two frustrated seasons, in which only two teams invited me to an interview just to reject me after all and after many fail attempts, I was very close to quit the save or at least to change my rules. But like a pale light in the darkness of time, one team decided to bet on me. I will start my journey in Slatina, in the south of Romania, on the eastern side of the river Olt, in the historical region of Muntenia. The town of Slatina was first mentioned on January 20, 1368 in an official document issued by Vladislav I Vlaicu, Prince of Wallachia. The word Slatina is of Slavic origin, and means "marsh, swamp, watery plain". The club was founded under the name of CSM Slatina in the summer of 2009, with the financial support of the Municipality of Slatina. Even if is a relatively new club, it already had a tumultuous history with the council withdrawing its funds in 2011, then merged with another team just to survive and after all in 2016 after all the struggle the new team to be dissolved, fact that led to the reestablishment of CSM Slatina a year and a half later. Another small thing before I totally bore you, we play our games at 1 Mai Stadium, that have a capacity of 12.000 people. I think it was worth the wait though, because I was lucky to get the contract right at the end of the season and this way I will have some time to analyze the stats in depth and prepare the team for a fresh start. They are playing in the second league and finished the regular 2024/2025 season on 10th position and the Relegation Group on 5th, but luckily, they managed to win the Relegation Playoff Final. In the next post I will analyze the squad a bit and after that I can finally play this beautiful game. Cheers!

Prologue Hello everyone it's been a while since I posted something here, I hope everyone is healthy and safe with all the craziness that happened in the World in the past couple of years. To be honest I haven’t played the game since FM20, if I remember well, but now with some free time and with all the buzz around this year edition it’s time to get back to what we all love. Now, about the save, if you remember me, you know that I like to play the game around statistics and this save will be no different. I saw that today there are a lot of crazy skins made for stats, but I don’t really want to go too extreme about it, I just want to enjoy the game after a long break and for me, since FM17, Rensie’s skin was everything I needed. I’m glad that he made time to build the skin for this edition too. I always liked to play the game with a little bit of realism, that’s why I will start unemployed, without any badge and with Sunday League reputation as you can see here. Also, the save will be a journeyman type, but at the start I intend to search for jobs only in my own country, that is Romania and I will try to build myself a name and a reputation here (winning some trophies, maybe taking charge of my favorite team sometime in the future etc) before jumping in to a better league. Unfortunately, I don’t have a Romanian lower leagues database, so I will play with what the game provide me, which may be a problem finding jobs easily this way. To summarize everything: it will be a journeyman save; I will start unemployed, without any badge and with Sunday League reputation; to keep it more real, I will only accept jobs in my own country till I build myself a reputation, after that, the sky is the limit; I will only play with and around statistics; I will “go on holiday” for one season so that I will have enough data to play with; if I can find a team in the winter break then I will consider it; most important: enjoying the game after a long time even if I will get sacked.