anagain

Early days. I've only just started what may be a long term FM24 save, but I have seen something I really like. I have started with Torquay - gonna stop the rot that has seen them flit between the NL and NLS - and I had the option to retain Gary Johnson as a Director of Football. That's a nice touch. Maybe it was in a previous version of the game, but as I usually start unemployed I haven't seen it. Just one issue with it. Gary Johnson has only just been born!

If you have read any of Anton's story you may remember how he and Pandora found a lovely apartment in the cultural epicentre of Budapest. The Opera district, to be precise. Well, I went to visit the place where the apartment I found on property listings was. The road is Garay utca. It is very near Budapest Keleti railway station and that may account for what I saw. It is not a luxury area. In fact, when one visits Budapest one realises how far it really is from the Opera! Something you don't get from Google maps. Unless, of course, I had done some proper research. As soon as I entered Garay utca I was approached by a man who said he had just left prison and wanted some proper food. The best type of beggar. When I left Garay utca I was approached by a man who said he was from Manchester and was robbed his first night in Budapest. From Coronation Street this man was not! 🤣 I'd wager he'd never been near England, let alone Manchester. Well, I found the spot where the Google Street view image was. It was next to a shopping precinct with a huge playground! No, really. Not Pandora's cosmopolitan Budapest, although there was a Lego shop nearby and a discount store! I'm glad I went with what I went with. It sums Anton up really. And Pandora. They think they're special, but don't really get it right. I've been in worse areas too. There was a nice park nearby. I did look up Garay utca and Reddit had mixed opinions. "Just have to be streetwise" was one. Another view mentioned the smell of urine. Another mentioned that it being close to a major train station may say much about the area. *See below, not trying to upset people. Here are some photos. Note the huge playground. Budapest is lovely, by the way. It is a beautiful city, especially after night. I'd recommend a long weekend for anyone. Three or four days in Budapest will see much of the city. Just make sure you go to Margaret Island and see the fountain display after dark. Sadly, I have run out of room for photos or I'd include some of Budapest. I did try adding from Imgur but things are awkward on mobile. *NB: If anyone lives in the Garay utca neighbourhood please note that I'm joking around. I'm sure it's not so bad. I've had some thoughts about FM24. I don't think I will continue MTK after all. I've been trying to follow the new release teasers, as best one can when living out a rucksack. I think a new career might be best. I am contemplating going Torquay and trying to get them back from the NL South to the big league. Whatever I do I do know that FM will probably face stiff time competition from CS2 this year. For anyone that read and enjoyed my story of Anton, or even if you just read, thanks for tuning in. I hope to see you in FM24.

I have an update for folks, whilst I have a cuppa in a Budapest Starbucks. It has been a while since anything was told concerning the story of Anton Nagain and his time at MTK Budapest. I now have an update. It's not gameplay, but real life. I recently posted of a trip to Koper and Stadium Bonifika, the home of FC Koper, another club I have fond memories of in FM circles. Well, I have now visited MTK Budapest's Hidegkuti Nandor Stadium, although I didn't have the success I had in Koper. There was no one there. I just managed to get some photos. I had wanted to try and book tickets for MTK's match at Ujpest on the Saturday but I think I may have needed a fan card for that and don't have it. I did watch the match on TV in my accomodation though. MTK won 2-0! Here's some photos of the ground. I didn't get a shirt, like I did at Koper. MTK do have an online shop though. I must see about ordering when I get home. I have more to tell, but I ran out of images Mb. I'll add another post. You'll like what I have to say.

A couple of FMs ago I wrote up a couple of seasons as manager of Koper, a Slovenia club. It was my second time managing Koper in FM. I had enjoyed the first save (don't believe it's written up - was a while back) so much that I chose to go back and bring the newly relegated Koper (relegated for non-football reasons) back to the top league. Well, fast forward to 2023. I'm travelling across Europe, taking a break from working life in the UK. I am in Slovenia for five days and decided to visit Koper. I wish I could have been here for the game a few days ago but sadly my plans didn't converge. So here I am in Koper. Sadly, the shop is closed but I spoke to someone on the coaching staff and he said he'd ask if someone could let me in to buy a shirt. If I go back a bit later they'll try and make it happen. This is the first time I have managed to get to one of the clubs I have good memories of managing in FM. In a few days I am visiting MTK Budapest (though I obviously didn't mention that to the guy I spoke to). I will add that story to my MTK Budapest thread from FM23. I didn't want to ressurect a couple of years old thread. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has visited an FM club. It's a giddy feeling being here.

Just A Bit Of Tidy Up I don't have a lot of time to do an extensive write up but I wanted to post some player stats and the final league table. OTP Bank Liga The final three fixtures were a nervy affair. Enough has been said about the ZTE game but we had another dodgy performance against ten-man Fehervar, twice going behind. We ended the season with a nice win against Fradi. Ferencvaros had a bad May after all that nervousness and we topped the table by a nice 14 points, losing just once all season. Fradi, ZTE and Fehervar were the other teams to make Europe next season. Siofok and Paks went straight back down to the second tier. It is already set that Dorog and Szeged-GA will replace them in the OTP next season. Interestingly, the old enemy Haladas are a game away from relegation to the third tier. OTP Bank Liga Player Awards MTK Budapest - Season Player Stats - 2025/2026 Won't include Ante Majstorovic. Ante made 9 appearances, scored 1 goal and gained an average rating of 7.06 before injury forced retirement. That leaves things in a nice place if I don't ever manage to get back to this save. I honestly am thinking I may just miss FM24, if that save transition thing doesn't work, and carry on with FM23. We'll see. Hilariously, I just finished the season review and had my end of season team meeting. Told the lads we were coming back to defend our title. They were annoyed, thinking it too much. You just won the title, you plonkers!!! What a way to end a season!

Saturday, May 2nd 2026 - Final One I'm going to be a big tease and do these three matches one by one. That is, of course, until we win the league. If we do. We travel south, past Lake Balaton to Zalaegerszeg for a game against a team we've often struggled against. ZTE. ZTE vs MTK Budapest, ZTE Arena, Zalaegerszeg I won't lie. There were some nerves on the bus as we travelled south west. My scouts had done their work and I was settled on my preferred 4-2-3-1 for the tie. When we got to the stadium things changed and my scouts told me they felt they had things wrong. Queue a hasty switch to match them up with a good old fashioned 4-4-2. It was bad news for Artur Horvath and Mark Kovacsreti, but Kasongo would be in up front and Balint Szabo out wide. Balint is not a huge fan of playing a deeper right wing role but I told him I had every faith in his ability to play there. "For the team, Balint!" It didn't start well and we found oruselves 2-0 down after just 25 minutes. We looked nervous and ZTE punished us with quick and incisive football and an advantage in the air over my defence. I thought Michael Phaeton was offside for the second goal but the VAR disagreed. I urged the lads forward to try and get a goal before half time. Enter Jessy Deminguet. Finding himself wide right, Jessy picked up the ball and cut inside. Rather than pass our French midfielder bamboozled the ZTE keeper with a powerful blast in to the far corner of the goal. Game on! By half time it was 2-2, and we'd be champions if we kept it that way. We were all out attack to get the equaliser now and Deminguet once more took hold of the game. Picking the ball up in midfield, Deminguet fed Davitashvili on the edge of the box. The Georgian swivelled, made room for himself and let loose a fierce drive that squirmed through the keeper's hands and in to the back of the net. 2-2! At half time I assured the lads we could hold this score. The title was still in our hands and we should go make it so. There was another twist though, and it was our arch nemesis, Christy Mazinga. I really should buy that guy. The press like to remind me he scores often against us. This time was I was positive Phaeton was offside, but VAR called it that he beat our line. Clear in front of goal, Phaeton fed the also clear Mazinga for 3-2. We had to do it all again. I wasn't happy at that defending though. 26 minutes to find an equaliser. We were back in attack mode again but things weren't working so I had changes in the works. Kongolo, unlike him, was having a nervy game and Kasongo was not having a great day up front. On would come Lehoczky and Barkoczi. They never got on though. Deminguet again. The French midfielder burst in to the box, got to the byline and put across a perfect ball for Kasongo to get a toe to. 3-3! I didn't need a winner. I couldn't take the nerves of them getting another goal. Shutting up shop was the order of the day for the last twenty-eight minutes. Wholesale changes, slow the game down, waste time, get a foot in. Ironically this would be one of the few games this season in which we didn't get a booking. I can't stretch this out any longer... Rodney Kongolo raises the trophy aloft! What a game!! And a boost to our budget! I couldn't not post that tonight. I need a break from FM for the rest of the evening. I will aim to get the season done tomorrow but I am taking an extended break and probably won't get much chance, if any, to play FM before FM24 is released. I am visiting Budapest in September and I plan to visit the stadium of the mighty MTK. Unforetunately, my visit does not correspond with any home games but it will be nice to see a ground I have looked at on Google Maps so many times in all its glory. I will post any pics here. I might go and visit the home of our rivals too. I am going to make a real effort to catch up with all the wonderful stories on this forum that I haven't had time to read. If I can't play FM then why not read about it. I am hoping the MTK Budapest story can continue in FM24. Let's hope the new save transition mechanic works right.

April 2026 - Three To Go And It's In Our Hands I reckon that title probably gives it away but, yes, we won our April games. Ferencvaros did, too. There's stil a nine point gap between us and the reigning champions though. We would have to lose our final three games to lose this title. There is one bit of news that I'd like to bring to your attention. Ante Majstorovic has decided to call it a day after sustaining ligament damage. At 32, Ante didn't believe he would ever be the same player. Thank you for your service, Ante. I recalled Attila Szujo from his loan at Szeged and he has been fantastic for us. He even scored against Mezokovesd. Let's get to the results though, shall we? OTP Bank Liga We're in great form right now, winning all but one game in April comfortably. Only Nyiregyhaza gave us a scare. I want to get this season finished asap so I'll be a bit briefer than usual. Kisvarda and Paks were dispatched with relative ease at home in the first few days of the month. We've really found a knack of burying great crosses with powerful headers of late, and Dorian Babunski was in great form against Kisvarda, finishing with a brace of which one was just such a goal as I described. The win over Paks was a team affair that came after a slow start, Deminguet opening with a lovely long ranged finish and Kabongo Kasongo banging in another header from a peach of a cross from Cedric. Nyiregyhaza tested us by twice getting goals back to narrow the elad we had accumulated. It was Kasongo's turn to get a brace in this game. Babunski wasn't letting his strike partner get the most braces in April though, as he banged in another two goals in a 4-0 demolition of Mezokovesd. We then ended the month with a safe win on the shores of Lake Balaton that possibly edged Siofok closer to relegation. The press had bigged up the race for the title just before the Mezokovesd game with a big news story. We were determined not to let our grasp slip though. And here's the table, with three games left. Yes, we're guaranteed Europe too. Next... Those three games? Fehervar and ZTE are both competing for European places so this certainly won't be easy. Lose the first two games and it will be a nervous tie against Fradi. Surely our goal difference will be enough though. Let's just get on with the action!

March 2026 - A Tough Month March saw a huge dent in belief as we crashed out of two competitions, but we resurrected some of that with a huge win in the month's final game. There are definitely some nerves about the camp, and some poor performances to boot. I've dished out warnings this month to players I felt weren't giving enough. I was very annoyed with Kongolo, usually one our most dependable players, for getting sent off in a key game at Puskas Akademia. That match required a moment of luck later in the game, as did the final game I spoke of. I mentioned last month that we had lost Mate Tuboly to a broken leg. This month we have lost Gabor Szalai to what many might think of as an innocuous twisted ankle. He faces up to 3 weeks out though. Not ideal as we head in to the crunch time of the season. March also saw this year's intake of youngsters. I'll cover that first. MTK Youth Intake 2026 This year's bunch of youngsters weren't, in my opinion, quite as promisies as last year's. They were also very attack minded, but have seen another competent goalkeeper to see what we can make of. There is one attacking midfielder or striker I do quite like the look of. Let's meet a few. We wish all these lads the best of luck. OTP Bank Liga I have called March a tough month but we actually only dropped the two points in league fixtures. We're still unbeaten in over twenty league fixtures. March started with a great 4-1 win over a Vasas side that had been climbing the table. We then had to wait until 18th March for another league fixture, the Magyar Kupa and our European Last 16 match filling the schedule for two weeks. I'll cover those competitions in a bit. I've already given a hint of how things went in Europe and the Kupa so it's not going to hurt to say we went into a league fixture at Puskas Akademia with a bit of malaise about the side. We struggled to get fully into the match and a Puskas side under new management had many of the best efforts. Our opponents finally opened the scoring on the hour mark as my entire team sat back and let Puljic fire in a blaster from the edge of the box. This is the game in which Kongolo had been given his marching orders. It had happened after half an hour and we'd been struggling to match Puskas with a man down. With ten minutes to go I decided to risk all and we pushed men forward. Maybe I should have done it earlier because Kasongo managed to latch on to a Kovacs through ball and, although driven wide, squeezed his shot past the keeper, off the far post and into the net. We'd rescued a point, even if we probably didn't deserve it. Up next was another tough game at Ujpest. Lilak had been sliding down the table of late but I knew they'd still be tough opposition. We had the best of the play throughout but Ujpest were dangerous on the break and we had a few foretunate moments. We also weren't fantastic in front of goals and we were spurning quite a few chances to open the scoring. I thought we would have to travel the short distance back across Budapest with just another point until another moment of ecstasy like in the previous match. Szoke picked the ball up in midfield and played out wide to a free Fernando Medeiros. The Brazilian advanced and put in a lovely cross that Alen Halilovic was first to. The ball took a slight deflection but it ended up in the back of the net and we had our goal. We held on to claim a vital three points...Ferencvaros were three up at Kisvarda. All that leaves us still top of the league but now only 9 points clear of Fradi. MOL Magyar Kupa - Quarter Final We were bundled out of the Kupa by a ZTE team that caught us complaceent between two tough European ties. It sounds like I am making excuses but the truth is we just weren't good enough. With a trip to Brest four days later I really hadn't wanted extra time, but we threw away a lead to make that happen. Of course, if we hadn't scored a late equaliser, through Barkoczi, we would have been out before extra time. ZTE dominated extra time and won the game despite us getting a penalty to grab one back. We just couldn't break them down in the last ten minutes. UEFA Europa Conference League - Round Of 16 It was a tale of two very different games in the last moments of the Budapest Boys European Tour. We played great against Brest in our home leg, securing a warranted 3-1 win, but threw it all away in the away leg as we completely failed to turn up. It ended up being a weakly conceded Brest goal at Puskas Arena that won the tie. I won't say I wasn't disappointed to go out. I was. I can safely say we did ourselves proud in Europe this season. The win over Sevilla will be a highlight but we secured a fantastic win over Nijmegen to get through to the last 16. To think that we came so close to a European Quarter Final should make us proud. Next... Eight games left in this wonderful season. I know it's going to go down to May but I do hope we can secure things before a final day trip to Ferencvaros. We should be able to beat all those teams in April. That would leave three games left. If we still have a nine point gap, and vastly superior goal difference, at that time then surely the title is ours. I shouldn't have butterflies. It's only a game... Isn't it? I pressed continue right after posting this and guess what I was met with? I have no choice but to recall a defender from loan.

February 2026 - The March Goes On The press are really starting to tout us as champions elect now, and that is thanks to another unbeaten month in the OTP Bank Liga. We only conceded two goals this month, and they were in European competition. It was an easier month, and that's no disrespect meant to our opponents, but you still have to turn up and win. There was some bad news this month. Mate Tuboly has been impressive when he has taken to the field this season. As you'll see soon, he scored a wonderful goal to keep that winning record going. Sadly, however, Mate broke his leg in the Magyar Kupa and is seeing a specialist. Mate is likely to be out for upto eight months. On the upside, there was a coming of age for a youth prospect. Sixteen year old Pal Mag started the Magyar Kupa game and really impressed me. Pal was keen to get forward and had his say in the outcome of the game. Don't let the downward arrows fool you. Pal has been developing well. There was also a transfer window deadline day this month. I'm going to spoil that and say nothing happened. Ferencvaros were busy, and they had to be. The champions are still way behind us. OTP Bank Liga Eight goals scored and none conceded. Okay, so most of them came in a complete demolition of Siofok, but I can't grumble at that. I mentioned him earlier, but Mate Tuboly was the hero when we visited Nyiregyhaza. It was a frustrating game in which we had 10 shots on target from 20 shots in total. Mate came on with just eight minutes left and scored a stunning effort to both win us the game and score his first goal for the first team. If we looked like a team that couldn't score against Nyiregyhaza, then against Siofok we looked like Bayern Munich. We destroyed the newly promoted boys in a dazzling first half. The game was closer after the break but Kabongo Kasongo stepped up to really seal the win just as Siofok were closing in on a consolation. Against Mezokovesd we again looked fragile in front of goal. If truth be told I thought our opponents had the best of the first half but we went in one up after Mezokovesd's keeper had gifted Kasongo one of the easiest goals he will ever score. We were better in the second half but our goal was another foretunate one as Kasongo's shot hit the defender and looped up over the keeper's head. Results are of course what matter though, and we're now 11 points clear of Ferencvaros, though Fradi do have a game to play on 28th. That is the start of a weekend of football though, so I'm not including it. Importantly, we are on the same games played and 11 clear. MOL Magyar Kupa We finally got around to our Kupa game at the end of the month and had another shaky game before securing the victory to what might be the luck of a winning team. In the next round we have drawn ZTE at home. UEFA Europa Conference League - Knock Out Play Off Squeezed in amongst the league games in February were two matches against our senior affiliates, NEC Nijmegen. The first game took place at the Puskas Arena and I felt we lost the game when we conceded a late goal after leading from the 9th minute. We really should have pushed on and got a second goal as I felt we were the better of Nijmegen. The press had touted us as favourites, or at least some had. 1-1 it ended though and we'd have to do it the hard way in the Netherlands. A week later we travelled west for the second leg amid a bit a bit of fixture congestion for us. All these games are starting to add up and half the reason we might look a bit less competent in league games is the amount of changes I'm making each game. Europe was where I was putting out my strongest sides though, depending upon injuries. So I felt we had a strong side as we faced Nijmegen. We took the lead early again as Babunski prodded home a lovely team goal that came from great combination play between Cedric and Kovacsreti down the right. It didn't last again, and it took Nijmegen much less time to equalise on their own patch. They were level before half time as Tannane was first to a long ball and beat Hutvagner with ease. During the break I told the lads we could win this if we just stepped up a little. Boy, did we. The game exploded in the 70th minute as the underperforming Davitashvili responded to my touchline urging to calmly tap home after Babunski looked to be fouled in the box. Who needs a penalty? We were in the driving seat now and just had to hold on. It got better though as Babunski tucked home a neat volley in the 83rd minute. We were in to the Round of 16!! Who would we face in the biggest tie this club has had for years? Newcastle United, Standard again? Hearts or Sevilla again? Brest then? They're bottom of Ligue 1. Can we win this and make a Quarter Final of a European trophy? I'm confident. Next... With the club on a high we come down to the last 11 league games of the season. Not that it's just that, of course. There is the small matter of a European last 16 tie and a national cup tie against league challengers ZTE. A packed schedule.

January 2026 - Keeping It Going In To 2026 Just a short update this month as we only played two games in January. There's been little movement in the transfer window as of yet also. Just a young keeper heading out on loan and another two bids from Hansa Rostock for Latibeaudiere. They are persistent, I'll give them that. OTP Bank Liga The game against ZTE was a typically tight top of the table clash. We had the best of the first half, scoring through Kasongo, and ZTE had the best of the second half. It was still a bit of a kick in the teeth when our opponents scored with just 11 minutes left on the clock. Kisvarda's form has been patchy, and they haven't beaten us since two narrow wins in 2023/2024, and we fancied our chances as we travelled north east to face the mid table team. We got going after 25 minutes. Antonov fed Davitashvili with a quick ball and the Georgian shuffled his feet before placing a nice shot across the keeper and in to the back of the net. We struggled a bit in the second half and I tried to gee the lads up from the touchline. We thought we had doubled our lead with about 20 to go but Szabo was wrongly flagged offside. My opinion, you understand, but I thought it was clearly on. We did double our lead with ten minutes left though. Artur Horvath had the shot and Dorian Babunski must have gotten a touch because he was credited with the goal. Dorian admitted to me later that he doesn't know what part of his body the ball came off and that Artur should have the goal. Dorian wasn't going to grumble though. "The more goals the better", he said. ZTE lost to Ferencvaros whilst we were beating Kisvarda and so we were able to extend our lead at the top of the table to eight points. Next... I have waited a few days for the draw for our Play Off fixture in the Europa Conference League to take place. While we wait there are a couple of points of interest I haven't posted for a few months. How do the board and the fans think we are doing? The board are very impressed whilst the fans seem a little harder to please. I hope those in stands are happier if we do go on to win this league. ...And we have drawn... N.E.C. Nijmegen are currently fifth in the Dutch Eredivisie. They are also a senior affiliate of ours. So this is how February looks for us. I'd like to think the three league games are guaranteed wins but we all know playing the weaker sides is never easy. Six games is a lot to pack in to 28 days.

December 2025 - Surpassing Our Best Yet December saw us reach a level we have not before reached, or at least not under my reign. In 1964 the team wwere runners up in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup and we have just reached a play off to try and make the round of 16 in the Europa Conference League. I suppose that's a bit of a spoiler. I've been wanted again, too. This time it was the Netherlands, with interviews at Groningen and Utrecht. I accepted both interviews but decided against the jobs again. Neither excited me enough to want to turn down the prospect of winning this league. Yes, we're still doing great on that front. The lads are off on their winter break now. When we come back there's a few friendlies and the small matter of a transfer window. I feel my players will be in high demand. I have managed to secure a couple of new deals since last we spoke. Gabor Szalai has signed a new deal that has seen his release clause increased to £1.4m. Fernando Medeiros also signed a new contract that has no release clause. Joel Latibeaudiere is still wanted by Hansa Rostock, Nemanja Antonov by Charleroi, Union SG and Lecce and Dorian Babunski by Cracovia. OTP Bank Liga We played three league games and won all three to stay top of the OTP Bank Liga. The highlight of the month was a hattrick in the first game for Mark Kovacsreti. Afterwards Mark promptly got injured but I was delighted at a return to form for Mark and he is now our third joint top scorer, alongside Zuriko Davitashvili and behind Kasongo and Babunski. That hattrick for Mark came in an utter demolition of Puskas Akademia that left Gabor Eros as speechless as he is unfriendly towards me. The media make a big show of our supposed rivalry but to me it's clear that Gabor is just annoyed that we keep trouncing his team. In the last six games between our two sides my lot have won five times by a combined score of 16-3. There was barely a foot put wrong by my lads in this game with Mark's hattrick giving him man of the match and Rodney Kongolo and our defence putting is superb displays. Next up was a tough game against Ujpest, a team that have always caused us problems. In fact, I have never managed to beat the Lilak. Could we finally end that curse? Well, things didn't start great and we found ourselves one down just before the break. We weren't playing well and things got even worse ten minutes in to the second half as Bamgboye made it 2-0 to Ujpest. Things had to change and I switched us to a flat 4-4-2. It worked so fast as Kabongo Kasongo scored a nice finish from a cute Deminguet over the top ball just two minutes after Ujpest's second. We were still looking second best though and I made a series of subs that saw Cedric, Horvath, Matyas Kovacs and Mate Tuboly replace the poor Miles, Davitashvili and Szabo and the tired Deminguet. Szabo had been brought on in the first half, as that had been the moment of Kovacsreti's injury, but he was very poor. He was furious to be subbed back off but calmed down when I told him why. Balint has played better since. Anyway, my changes worked wonders as we took ahold of the match and turned events upside down. Dorian Babunski equalised from the spot in the 69th minute before Kasongo tucked away Horvath's through ball for his second and our game winner. A complete turnaround and another three points. Ujpest hoodoo ended. Our final league game of the year was at Paks, sandwiched between two Europa Conference League games that I will come to soon. We demolished the newly promoted side, although there was a bit of a scare as they pulled one back to make it 2-1 at one point. Paks had a man sent off in the second half and we would go on to secure a comfortable looking 4-1 victory. This was another game in which Jessy Deminguet was brilliant, and the Frenchman was probably our best player of December. I have been playing Jessy a little further forward, sacrificing the attacking midfielder behind our loan striker to accomodate the new role. Jessy has had so much more influence on our attacking play and now has seven assists and three goals for the season, becoming one of our key players. The new line up has also made room for Artur Horvath to play more football, although it has created a battle between Kasongo and Babunksi for our striker role. Our lead in the league is now six points, with Fehervar having suffered a dramatic loss of form to slip back to 7th. Ferencvaros are back in the picture though, turning their backs on the poor form of October and November. UEFA Europa Conference League - League Phase Our final two games of the league phase proved to be contrasting affairs and marked our first loss since we faced Standard in November. The first game saw us welcome CSKA-Sofia to Budapest and we put in a wonderful display to triumph 3-0 against the Bulgarians. We put Armeytsite in a first 45 minutes that included a poachers finish from Kasongo, a wonderful solo goal from Cedric and another long ranged piledriver from Horvath. It really was a wonderful goal from Cedric, and his first in an MTK shirt. The wing back cut inside and hit a lovely effort with the outside of his boot. And I love how you can really see such things in FM23. Hopefully I'll be salivating even more with the new match engine for FM25. Our last game of the League Phase would be a trip just across the border to Dunajska Streda. The Slovakian team, from a predominantly Hungarian spaking part of their country, were in the places to see them qualify directly for the Round of 16 and they would want to win to keep it that way. We would probably still be in the Play Off if we lost but a win could see us qualify directly, depending upon other results. Long story, short. We were awful. One-nil down at the break I demanded more from the lads and Kasongo duly delivered right after the break, banging in Fernando Medeiros' on the money cross with his head. It was the best we could manage though, and Dunajska Streda won the game with a contentious late goal. Truth be told, they deserved to win but to only just lose late did hurt. As I mentioned, we do qualify for the Play Off Round, finishing a credible 21st. We will find out our opponents in February. I don't know if there is seeding but I do know that both Ferencvaros and Ujpest are in the pot. Could we end up facing Pandora's Koper? Next... Our next game now, despite friendlies, will be against ZTE at the end of January. We face Kisvarda shortly after. The Transfer Window opens on 15th January and closes 15th February. That is enough for now though - I am trying to finish this season in the next week (surely possible even for me). I will be back at the end of January for two games and hopefully no lost players. Really tired today though. Will see how much I can manage.

FM has long been a game for older members of the gaming community, or those that have played the game for the last 20+ years are now getting older. With age comes vision problems. I wear varifocals now because I have trouble seeing both long and short distance! Yes, I'm an old fart, you young whippersnappers! A few years back I started zooming the UI to 110%. This year I am starting to see a need to zoom further. The only option is 125%, but that's actually too much. There are actually better options to reduce the zoom - 100%, 95%, 85%. Is there a technical reason why the enlarging zoom is only 110% and then 125%, or can we have another level? Please look after us old gits, SI. Thank you.

A Strange Omission On My Part - A Tale Of A Wanted Man I don't know how I forgot to mention this. I really toyed with the idea of following it through but our form this season convinced me otherwise. Both teams are in the 2. Bundesliga and both were near the bottom of that division when they offered me interviews, despite being amongst the favourites for promotion. Greuther Furth had been relegated from the Bundesliga last season. Hannover were my preferred chocie but Greuther, whose kit I did like more, approached me first. They asked for the staff I wanted to be able to take with me and I selected a few of my backroom team. They came back to me with a contract offer and I asked to elay. I was waiting for Hannover, but I received job offers from Antwerp and Gent shortly after. I said no to both of those. The Antwerp job was interesting because it was them who we beat in Europe earlier this season. They obviously saw my greatness. A short while later I got the message to say that Hannover had chosen someone else and it was at that point that I decided to turn down the Greuther Furth offer. Either German club would have no doubt been a big step up. They had much bigger wage budgets and, arguably, much better players. I just like how things are going at MTK right now. We're looking really good to go on and grab the OTP Bank Liga trophy. Next season I may get job offers from Bundesliga clubs. That would be harder to turn down. I love this game. FM makes such great stories.

November 2025 - Shocks and Success November has been one of the most memorable months of my management career - and in FM, to be honest - and has seen us looking in a great position to make 2025/2026 a truly defining season for MTK. The month did have its downsides, but it also had some major upsides. There was a bad night in Europe, a good day in the league and a very good night in Europe. The final score, for the month at least, is very positive. Injuries do continue to be a thing but fitness is a bigger thing. Alen Halilovic's season has been marked by misfortune with injury and a bit of a struggle trying to adapt to our game. Alen is now out injured again, this time with a calf strain. Matyas Kovacs hit some form before pulling his calf muscle. There were a number of international appearances for our lads too. I've decided less is more when it comes to detailing who played but Gabor Szalai got another Hungary cap in a defeat to Slovenia but Artur Horvath couldn't add to the 26 minutes he has already had for his national team. Artur has had a good month for us though, keeping Deminguet out. The national U21s drew with Switzerland before beating Serbia. Guiseppe Lauri got on the scoresheet in the Serbia game and the youngster is having a good season with an overachieving Paks in the OTP. Hungary U19s had a mixed month but Tamas Stoiacovici added to his previous four Hungary U19s goals with the first in a 3-0 win over Italy U19s. Tamas got sent off against England U19s though, in what was also a 0-1 loss. Istvan Dekei and Lajos Prosser continue to be regulars for Hungary U18s. Let's get on with the results, shall we? OTP Bank Liga An unbeaten month for us in the OTP Bank Liga was marked with the highlight of beating Fradi 3-0 at home. The month started in great fashion as Kabongo Kasongo hit a brace in a 2-0 home win over Kisvarda. A few days later we welcomed Liege, a story I'll tell in a bit, and the game against our big rivals Fradi was the following weekend. The Nandor Hidegkuti was packed for our anticipated clash and we started on the front foot before opening the scoring just after the half hour. Cedric was the architect, putting in the cross for the advancing Matyas Kovacs at the back post. Things got better just before half time as Szabo's cross rebounded up in to the air and Babunski rose highest to head home. Artur Horvath finished the rout - can I call it a rout? - with a bullet from just inside the box in the 52nd minute. After the international break we played out a tense 1-1 draw with European places challengers, Vasas, with Balint Szabo showing his worth to the team with our equaliser. After another European night, this time in Seville, we finished the month with a comfortable win at Fehervar. This win was one of our most solid performances, and even more so than the great win over Ferencvaros, bizarrely. It doesn't pain me to say it, but Fradi were poor. Terence Miles rarely fails to deliver when called upon and he was fantastic against Fehervar. Zuriko Davitashvili also showed his class with a goal and an assist, whilst Kasongo took his league goals total to 10 with the sealer. This good form has left us in a great position in the OTP Bank Liga, top by 5 points. Can we go on to lift this title? There are still many big games to go but our form is great. UEFA Europa Conference League - League Phase Two games in our Budapest Boys European Tour this month. First up was a welcome to a Standard de Liege team that beat us in our first European season. We wanted revenge but it wasn't to be. The game was close but Liege were just a bit too good in the end. The Belgian's scored two good goals, either side of the break, before Babunski got us a consolation late on. We pushed hard at the end but couldn't find a leveller. Babunski had missed a spot kick but he proved his worth with his goal just a minute later. The second game was huge as we travelled to the team that had won the Europa League six times since 2006. Sevilla. I will be quite honest and say I feared for what Sevilla could do to us. The media had commented heavily that Sevilla were managerless and in poor form but I still sent the lads out with a somewhat more defensive outlook, looking to condense the pitch. Much of the game was tense, with both teams having good chances. Sevilla turned on the style late in the day, however, and opened the scoring through Youssef En-Nesyri in the 70th minute. Cedric was the man that was blamed for the goal, missing a header to allow En-Nesyri to head home. Cedric had had a tough game and I brought in Terence Miles a couple of minutes after the goal. Terence made a huge difference, putting the ball in that set up Mark Kovacsreti for our equaliser in the 78th minute before his role in the goal I will always remember. I'd stepped up the pressure after the Sevilla goal and despite a little sitting back after the equaliser - I was, after all, happy to get a point from this game - we were looking good going forward. Terence Miles picked up a ball on the right side and drove towards the box in the first minute of stoppage time. The English youngster looked full of confidence and fired in a cross that cannoned off a Sevilla defender to land right in the path of Dorian Babunski. Babunski made no mistake, firing his shot home with venom to put us 2-1 in Sevilla. We held on too! That result fires us up to 19th in the League Phase. Remember we want 24th to make a play off and 8th to qualify automatically for the Round of 16. We have games home to CSKA-Sofia (17th) and away to Dunajska Streda (5th) to play in December. Can we do it? Next... December is a little quieter, with the winter break coming after the game at Paks on the 14th. We do have our final two European games crammed in around that date though. Puskas Akademia are up first and they've had an up and down season that has had a bit of a resurgence of late. Ujpest are always an unknown quality and Paks will be dangerous. I know the updates are slow coming. I'm actually going away for an extended break in August and wanted to get this season done by then. I have some free time just before I go away, so it may happen. We will see. I hope I can continue this save in FM24 anyway. I still can't believe we beat Sevilla!!

Only Furth have asked about staff so far. More I've thought about it the more I think either would be a good move. I just looked at Furth's team and they have much better players - what little I can see behind the fog. Seems they were relegated from Budnesliga season before too. Surprised they're bottom Antwerp came in for me shortly after too. I beat them in Europe though so prob not a good move.

What would you do? Managing MTK Budapest. Currently top of league and in group stage of ECL but will struggle to get through after 2 draws and loss to Liege. Sevilla next!! Then... Hannover have a wage budget nearly 5 times mine. Greuther Furth have a nice kit and wage budget 3 times mine Downside: Both teams are struggling in 2 Bundesliga My goal was never to stay at MTK indefinitely. I wanted to move on to a bigger nation eventually but hoped it'd be Bundesliga. I can't decide if moving to a relegation scrapping 2 Bundesliga side is sideways, forward or even backwards. Might aswell do the interviews. Maybe someone will see this by then.

October 2025 - A Frustrating Month With A Pot Of Gold At The End It all went a bit doom and gloom for a big chunk of a very busy October. The draw against Ujpest at the end of September marked the start of a period of five draws. I felt we were the better team in most, if not all, of the games so it was frustrating not to get some wins under our belts. I can't really even blame injuries as much this month. Only Majstorovic has been absent all month and Matyas Kovacs has made his return to the first team with some good displays. Even Mark Kovacsreti has hit a vein of good form at the end of October. OTP Bank Liga The games against Nyiregyhaza and ZTE took place around European ties so we had that fixture congestion tiredness to deal with. We really were the better team against Nyiregyhaza, with 5 shots to their none, but couldn't find the net. The match against ZTE was a top of the table contention clash that was a fantastic topsy-turvy affair. In all honesty, ZTE probably did have the best of the play in the game but we opened the scoring on the half hour mark via a hit and run goal that Kasongo fired through the hands of the ZTE keeper. In the second half ZTE started the best and equalised on the hour mark. Zete then took the lead with just two minutes of the 90 left. At this point I had decided a draw was a good result for us and had started to sit back. I soon changed that and we set about trying to grab a late, late leveller. The elation on our bench when Kasongo fired home that late, late leveller was a noisy affair. I had sat back down, just glad to have got the point I was happy for. I suspect the ZTE boss was less happy. The Puskas Akademia match came just a few days after we had entertained the academy boys in the cup, but more on that later. It's a spoiler, but we continued our good for against what is a side having a poor season. Our 2-0 win was more than deserved, as was the 1-0 win we earned through real hard worked at home to a Paks side with the ability to upset the odds. Matyas Kovacs getting his head to a lose ball in the box was probably what we needed to find a goal against a side that set up resolute. What it all means is damn good news. "We are top of the league", sing "we are top of the league". MOL Magyar Kupa Fourth Round I am sure you have the picture after the little spoiler above, but, yes, we did beat Puskas Akademia in the cup. It was a resounding victory in the end, after we had gone 0-1 down to an early penalty. Balint Szabo got his first goal for a while, in an upturn in performances, to equalise a short while after Puskas had taken the lead. We were a much better side in the second half though, and goals for Horvath and Kovascsreti gave us a deserved win to advance in a competition that also saw the departure of Ferencvaros in the same round. The next round should be an easier task. And with Fradi out we must be among the favourites for the cup. ZTE and Ujpest are there too. UEFA Europa Conference League - League Phase We played our first two matches of the league phase and suffered two disappointing draws. In Podgorica I thought we were the better team. We scored two nice goals but let in a couple of tame replies to mean we'd have to be content with a point. Buducnost did have a second half penalty saved by Hutvagner so maybe we should be happy. The tougher tie would be a week late as we entertained AEK, with the match taking place at the bigger Puskas Arena. Again I thought we were the better side but we couldn't find a winner and would again have to accept a point. We find ourselves down in 23rd place in the table. Remember we want 24th to secure a place in the Knock Out Play Off Round. The full month, for some context as to when we played. Next... Little else has really happened this month, although I did get linked with the Greuter Furth job in Germany. They are bottom of the 2 Bundesliga so I didn't entertain the speculation with anything more than a shrug that said I knew nothing of any offer. November will be another long month and comes complete with tough games against Standard Liege and Sevilla. There's also a wounded Ferencvaros. Can we stay top?

September 2025 - A Nice Comfy Month With no European games, September was a chance to have a bit of a breather. Only four games to play, and only one of them against a team we thought might test us. Of course, it is never quite so simple, and we would have a right scare in the cup. We showed our quality in one game this month. The fun of the Europa Conference League returns early October so we'll soon be back to frenetic action. We have suffered a bit on an injury crisis over the last month. Matyas Kovacs is out with a calf injury and faces another 3 weeks on the sideline. Ante Majstorovic has broken ribs and could be out for another 6 weeks. Daniel Kovac, Cedric, Balint Szabo and Alen Halilovic are only recently returned from injury. I could have done with a few of the players I'd let go out on loan. Pal Mag, my young prodigy, did get his first senior minutes against Fehervar though. Injuries allowed that. OTP Bank Liga We started on fire against Vasas but ended up burnt coals. This allowed Vasas a late consolation and I wasn't pleased with that. Of course, at least we are not completely throwing games away like we have done in the past. Kabongo Kasongo showed he is on fire of late, adding to his goal against Vasas with a great hattrick in our thrashing of Fehervar. We were outstanding and didn't hold back in the second half despite being comfortable in the first. Krisztian Necula also very much impressed me, playing a deeper role on the left flank. The youngster scored our fifth goal and then assisted Kasongo for the sixth goal and the Congoan's hattrick. The first three goals had been interchange between our front two; Babunski teeing up Kasongo for the first two before swapping duties for the third. Davitashvili got involved for the fourth, putting a ball on Babunksi's head, before Necula made things complete with his party piece. It could have been much more different with Fehervar's 23rd minute penalty being expertly saved by Hutvagner. And here are all the goals of a dominant victory (I really don't know why it always sounds so echoey - sorry). We ended the month with a trip north through Budapest to play the current league leaders, Ujpest. It ended up being a game in which both teams failed to convert chances, although we probably had the better of things and might have snatched three points. I won't argue with a draw away though. We'll stuff them at home. Having lost just the once, we find ourselves second at this early stage. Ferencvaros have not had a good time of it. Since beating us they have lost to ZTE and drawn at home to Paks. We are also dominating the list of best performers in the OTP Liga (Kongolo is 11th). MOL Magyar Kupa Third Round We would travel to third tier Tiszafured in the cup for a game I expected to dominate but in which we scraped a win. This was a combination of our strikeforce just not being on it and Alex Szalay being great in the Tiszafured goal. We then got the undesired news that we would travel to Puskas Akademia for the fourth round. A repeat of last season's fourth round in which we stuffed the academy boys 4-1. I would still rather have had an easier tie. Internationals and Loanees Gabor Szalai got two more caps for the Hungarian National team this month, but fellow call ups Artur Horvath and Gergely Hutvagner would get no game time. Hungary beat Moldova 4-0 and Armenia 2-0. Mate Seregy (on loan at Szentlorinc) got his first goal for the U21s with a penalty in a 3-0 demolition of France. Guiseppe Lauri got an assist in this game and Mate Tuboly also played in the game. The U21s also lost 0-3 to Serbia and Pal Slatka (at Kazincbarcika), Adam Vidnyanszky and Adrian Csenterics also played in this game. Tamas Stoiacovici is getting better every week and scored twice for Hungary U19s in a 3-0 win over Malta before getting another goal in a win over Azerbaijan. We have quite a few players out on loan this season - probably too many with a few injuries to contend with currently. Here's all of them but I'll pick out a few. Botond Radnoti has been fantastic on loan at third tier Kelen. The lad had not conceded a goal until Kelen travelled to Honved's second team and lost 3-0, but he made six saves to keep the score down. Zoltan has been on loan at Ajka in the Merkantil Bank Liga and he seems to have found his form again, notching 7 goals in 11 appearances. Istvan Dekei had a great end to last season and started 2025-2026 in much the same way, scoring 4 times for Bicskei in the second tier. Next... A busy October is on the cards. We have four OTP Liga ties, two Europa Conference ties and a cup match with Puskas. It will be interesting to see how we are doing come November 1st. ZTE will be a tough game, but I fancy our chances against Nyiregyhaza and Paks. I am going to need to rotate, I suspect.

Thanks. I bet you'd like to see AEK lose. We might even have a better chance than I'm thinking. Further Analysis Of Europa Conference League Chances We're part of a bunch of clubs on 3 star rep. This includes Slovakia (Dun. Streda), Bulgaria (CSKA) and Greece (AEK). Spain (Sevilla) is one of the top leagues and Belgium (Standard) is in the secondary bracket). Montenegro is much lower rated league. Buducnost are one of the better clubs in the country but I think I was spot on with us having a good chance of a win. First game is up shortly.

August 2025 - The Budapest Boys European Tour Goes Viral We already know part of August. That part is my fantastic win over Royal Antwerp over two legs. You will be wondering what happened the rest of the month. I know one thing that has been happening. That is that some of my stars are attracting attention from abroad. Hansa Rostock bid a paltry £275k for Joel Latibeaudiere and Birmingham followed up my statement of Artur Horvath being worth £1m with a bid that I believe was not even £700k. Latibeaudiere was happy to stay and Artur is sticking to his promise that it will take £1m for him to leave. As a teaser, regarding success this month, I'd say it's been a good month with one very frustrating result. How about I stop rabbiting and start reporting? OTP Bank Liga As you can see, our season got off to a wonderful start at home to Mezokovesd. There wasn't really one player who dominated here and it pleased me that we shared the responsibility of thrashing our opponents so thoroughly. It was so complete that the game was over by half time. The second half was a borefest. The Siofok game, on the shores of Lake Balaton, was a closer affair than I'd have liked. We dominated, restricted Siofok to one shot and should have scored more. Defensively we were top notch though. We met Ferencvaros between the two legs against Cukaricki and I think the player's focus was on the midweek tie in Serbia. We were poor but it still took a very late Fradi strike to get them the three points. This was the next in line of a number of poor performances from Mark Kovacsreti and Kabongo Kasongo and I had to have words. Zuriko Davitashvili is hit and miss too. That would soon change though. *Hint* We were riding high at the top of the league until the Fradi game, but we still end the month in third. UEFA Europa Conference League Can I reiterate that we beat Royal Antwerp on penalties in a sensational two-legged tie? I might have mentioned it. Pandora says it is as if I have been drinking too many cups of strong coffee, I am so full on bounce. Well, we would face Cukaricki at home first and travel to Belgrade after the Fradi game. It turned out to be another interesting and entertaining tie...well, the second leg did. League Path, 4th Qualifying Round, Leg 1 - Nandor Hidegkuti Stadion, Budapest - Thursday, 21st August 2025 This was the leg that wasn't such an entertaining game. It wasn't a game that people will talk about for years anyway. We won 1-0 thanks to a Dorian Babunski penalty midway through the first half. We had enough chances to add a second goal but the Serbs defended stubbornly to give themselves a good chance at their own place. League Path, 4th Qualifying Round, Leg 2 - Stadion na Banovom brdu., Belgrade - Thursday, 28th August 2025 The second leg was a classic, faturing two teams full of attacking intent, though Cukaricki showed it in dangerous glimpses. The man of the match would clearly be Zuriko Davitashvili (I said his performances would soon change) thanks to a wonderful hattrick of unstoppable finishes. The first two goals came either side of a Cukaricki equaliser that frustrated me no end and had me shouting at a bewildered bunch of players. They were probably thinking they were still 2-1 up on aggregate but I know how thinsg can change. Anyway, the goals. Both Zuriko's goals were set up by wonderful play from Jessy Deminguet, in the Frenchman's best game for us so far. The first was a long ball over the top, from Deminguet's left boot, that Davitashvili fired home with such force the net must have been checked. The second goal was wonderful footwork from Fernando Medeiros to find Deminguet on the edge of the box. Deminguet turned to escape his man and find Zuriko with a lovely pass. The Georgians footwork was the best of the lot, making room for himself before firing home another unstoppable drive. To all intents and purposes we pretty much finished the game off in the 70th minute when Szabo found Davitashvili with a cute chipped ball that was, again, blasted home. Cukaricki got a late goal to make it 3-2 on the night but we held on for a 4-2 aggregate win. We did it! We had reached the group stage of the Europa Conference League for the second time under my tenure. We would be rewarded with a lovely monetary surprise. That should make the owner happy. It may even make someone else very happy as there has been much talk of a possible takeover. One minute Sandor Zakor has no intention of leaving and then he wants to sell the club. I smell press shenaningans. Anyway, the format of the Conference League has changed since we last competed in the group stage. We now play six teams out of a group of 36 teams. If we can finish in the top 8 then we go straight into the round of 16. Finish 9th to 24th and we get a chance in a play-off. I think that is against losers from the Europa League? We will find out. You can see below our results and the fixtures for whom we play. Below that is the official announcement. Let's go through each team and assess whether stand a chance or face a very tough game. FK Buducnost Podgorica Buducnost have been Montenegran champions for the past two seasons but are currently rock bottom after playing five games. Verdict: Possible win. AEK Athens AEK haven't won the Greek League since 2018 and haven't even started this season's campaign yet. They finished 5th last season. Verdict: Battle for a draw. Royal Standard de Liege The club we faced twice in the group stage in 2023. We lost twice. Verdict: Revenge? Is it posible? Sevilla FC A top club in Spain and winner of the Europa League on six occaisons. Verdict: Don't embarass ourselves. CSKA-Sofia One of the most successful clubs in Bulgaria but a similar level to ourselves. Verdict: We have a chance. FK DAC 1904 Dunajska Streda Possibly the second best club in Slovakia and runner up to Slovan for four of the last six seasons. Currently only mid table in their league. Verdict: Another possible win? If we can get three wins then surely that opens up a very real chance of qualifying in 24th or above. Am I being over confident in thinking we have a chance of progression? We could even beat AEK if we play like we did against Antwerp. The same goes for Standard, though they are no doubt a higher rated club than Antwerp. Best case, 12 points? We'll find out. International Call Ups There has been great news for our own stars from Hungary manager, Marco Rossi. Games against Moldova and Armenia. Joel Latibeaudiere would get a call up for Jamaica later. Summer Transfer Window Closes Just the small matter of the closure of the window to clear up. As I write this, two days before the deadline, I am hoping we don't have to frantically find replacements for key players in a race against time. Despite the fact that we just made a cool £4m there is not a position I feel I desperately need to buy for. I am still not sure the club are stable financially and I'll stay well within our wage budget. We have a good squad. And thankfully the deadline passed without anyone being poached. Juts quite a few youngsters out on loan. I took a risk letting Szujo and Lauri go on loan but figured regular playing time would be good for them. I am sure I can always request their return. Next... No European distractions in September, just the cup. I'd like nine points from the league meetings, although Ujpest have started well and that tie will be the test.

His name is a mouthful. I have to think about it everytime I write it, too.

I am thinking about signing another one...

A Budapest Boys European Tour Special - Antwerpian Antics We have played a league game - just the one - but I wanted to tell the story of our UEFA Europa Conference League 3rd Qualifying Round tie versus Royal Antwerp now. This story deserves to be told exclusively. I am still pumped! 1st Leg - Nandor Hidegkuti Stadium, Budapest - Thursday, 7th August 2025 The first leg was an epic game. We set out our stall to attack Antwerp, believing we had the ability to get something from the game. It worked as we opened the scoring in the 15th minute, Mark Kovacsreti getting a foot to Fernando's cross after brilliant play down the left from the Brazillian. This prompted a fightback from the Belgians and they turned on the style with some very direct football that we just couldn't cope with. Cedric was getting dragged all over the pitch and it meant a torrid game for our experienced right back. Scott raced through to level the tie before Yusuf scored another break goal to make it 1-2 just before the half hour mark. I did my best to calm the lads down at the break, instilling confidence in to them in the best way I could. We just couldn't find the breakthrough though and I decided to make two changes in the 59th minute. Kasongo came on for the underperforming Szabo and Halilovic slotted in to midfield in place of Horvath. This meant we were a little more attacking and it got Kovascreti his second goal in the 69th minute. It was a stunning goal, Kovacsreti bursting down the right before playing a ball inside to Babunski. Kovascreti was one step ahead of the Antwerp defence, cutting inside to receive a perfectly timed ball from Babunski and slot home for the leveller. It was all down to us to hold on now, but hearts were broken in the 83rd minute as the dangerman, Scott, again broke away to find Degallaix to score the winner for the Belgians. We'd given it our all though and I was pleased with the effort from the lads. We could travel to Antwerp with no pressure and just do our best. 2nd Leg - Bosuil, Antwerp - Thursday, 14th August 2025 I will echo that we had nothing to lose as we travelled west to face Royal Antwerp in northern Belgium. We were 2-3 down, despite a good home performance, and just had to go for it. Setting up a little deeper, to combat the directness of Scott, I told the lads to just go out and get revenge for what was a tight loss a week previous. Kasoongo was in for the poorly performing Szabo and I went with Deminguet in midfield. We would play a little more direct and I gave instructions to run at the Belgian defence. It worked great and we had a great start to the match. Kovacsreti was his direct best and he and Babunski were causing Antwerp problems at the back. We got our reward for a good first half in the 31st minute. A lovely looping ball from Kongolo found Kovacsreti who turned and put in a perfect cross for Babunski to smash home. Despite our lead on the night - and leveller in the tie - the lads looked nervous at half time. Fernando Medeiros was having trouble getting into this game and Kasongo looked detached. I told them to just keep going but Antwerp came out the better side in the second half. I can only guess their manager had rocked them and they equalised on 62 minutes. Scott was again the danger man, his long ball finding Dwomoh who beat Latibeaudiere to fire home. Advantage Antwerp again. I had to change things. Miles, Halilovic, Kovacs and Barkoczi entered the fray in a couple of sub breaks between the 72nd and 80th minutes and we pushed up more. Deminguet was given more license to attack and we started to look dangerous again. We got our rewards in the 84th minute in a moment that sent the fans - and me - delirious. Kongolo was provider once again, sending a speculative ball high over the Antwerp defence. Halilovic looked to latch on to it but his feint seemed to distract the Belgian defence and Barkoczi was there to take control and calmly slot the ball past the keeper and in to the back of the net. We were level again! The match would go to extra time and despite pressure from both sides a winner couldn't be found. I must point out that without Gabor Szalai and Joel Latibeaudiere we may have conceded again. Both were fantastic in defence today. We would go to penalties though. My nerves would need a day of relaxation and perhaps a massage from Pandora after this. Our penalty takers would be Babunski, Barkoczi, Halilovic, Cedric and Horvath. I had bought Balint Szabo on very late as I believed him more likely to score from the spot than the knackered Kongolo. Would it prove decisive? I was confident that Dorian Babunski would be the man most likely to fire home his spot kick but nerves must have got to him and he fired a tame effort in to the hands of Matti Merckx. Alhasan Yusuf stepped up and made no mistake to make it 1-0 to Antwerp. It was all on us now and things were simple for seven penalties; Barkoczi, Halilovic, Cedric and Horvath scoring for us whilst Pacho, Ben Hamed and De Decker scored to keep the ball in Antwerp's court. With all our kicks taken it was Gwendal Degallaix, scorer of Antwerp's winner in Budapest, who walked up with the aim of sending Antwerp through... Hutvagner got a hand to the ball and palmed it wide. It hadn't be the greatest penalty but it was wonderful work by Gergely to reach it. So we would head in to sudden death penalties, and the pressure would ramp up. Szabo, only on the pitch for a few minutes, would step up and fire home confidently. Bobena scored for Antwerp. Latibeaudiere fired home confidently for us. Zaanan stepped up Hutvagner got his hands to the ball only to see squirm in to the net. Szalai made no mistakes to keep us in the hunt. Next, up stepped Leander Legein, needing to score... SAVED! Gergely Hutvangner got his foot to the ball and kicks it off the line! We celebrate! We did it. I must confess I had paid no attention to the fixture that would decide our opponents in the next round. It would be Larnakas or Cukaricki. This would be the loser of a Europa League tie. And we would face the Serbians. What a tie. I am so proud of the lads. We battled so hard over those two legs. I am glad the penalty miss won't end up haunting Babunski and I am of course delighted with Gergely Hutvagner. I'll leave this here for posterity. The Cukaricki second leg is right at the end of the month. I'll be back then with a recap of August. I need a lie down... Seriously, one of my greatest moments ever in FM. I will remember that game as long as I live!!

Thanks @stockwellpeteand @XaW, given me lots to contemplate. I think that being caught out of possession is a likely factor that makes some sense. My side do have a habit of losing concentration. I play on comprehensive highlights but the game doesn't show most yellows as highlights this year. Love to jump up to full match but that's a big time commitment. Something that FM needs to get back to doing. I'm sure we saw all yellows on comprehensive last year. Would be nice if there were more advanced options telling the game to include certain things in highlights, or skip them to speed up matches. Might check to see if this has been suggested.