anagain

Haha, you beat me to it. I write as I play so only just saw your message. It just dawned on me. If ever there was a must win game... Encouragement rather than demands. Perhaps that is needed for that tie. But tomorrow... Thanks for following along. I need to catch up with other saves. Free week, so must do so.

Tuesday 3rd April 2023 I have set about a detailed program of training to really help us break down defences. Not that we haven't worked on this throughout the season but I feel the need to really hammer it home to the lads. The season has worn on and the lads are tired. It's becoming harder and harder to break down resolute and practiced defences. Of course, when your entire forward line has an off day it becomes all that harder. I was talking about being forceful last week. I need more of that towards players who don't do what they're paid to do. I have found a book with the snappy title of You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an ... one of the world's most fun self help books by Jen Sincero. Someone needed to force Ms Sincero to write snappier titles! And, yes, that really was the title. I copied it word for word. Matchday 32 Preview In the lead up to another big game, my scouting team believe Ajka will come out with a more traditional footballing formation. Ajka are on the verge of a good finish and maybe they want to go for the juggular and cement that possibility. Or maybe it's just a 4-4-2 set up with the aim to swing those balls in to the box. Let's stop them getting the ball out wide, shall we? Matchday 32 - Futball Club Ajka vs MTK Budapest FC A number of changes for MTK today, perhaps following on from last week's poor performance against Nyiregyhaza. Lehoczky replaces the suspended Mihaly Kata. Szabolcs Mezei and Matyas Kovacs are replaced by Artur Horvath and Mate Krisztian Kovacs. We spoke to Nagain about what he expects from today's match. "I certainly expect more than last week. There are a number of attacking players for whom I want to see an improvement against Ajka. Too many changes can cause just as many problems, so we start small and work from there." 7 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Ajka 0-1 MTK Janos Szepe Bognar's lofted free kick is met by the head of Janos Szepe and nestles in the back of the net. The players are listening to Nagain. 25 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Ajka 0-2 MTK Zoltan Stieber Slopy defensive play from Ajka allows Stieber all the room in the world to latch on to Horvath's ball across the box and he slams his shot in to the roof of the net. HT: Ajka 0-2 MTK It was really a comfortable win today, although it was also a stale win. We started really well and blew the opposition away in the first half an hour. However, complacency really started to become apparent after that. Ajka ended the first half on a high and it was only determined attempts to clear the ball that saved us from being pegged back. The second half was about as dull an affair as one could expect rom a football match. We rarely threated, but neither did Ajka. The game just fizzled out. I'd like to see us kill games off more, much like we did to Szentlorinc a few games ago. We just don't do that though. We settle in to a sort of apathy. I drummed home the need to not show complacency at half time and at full time today. The lads looked to be annoyed, but this is an issue here. MTK Player of the Match: Janos Szepe opened the scoring with a fine header and was dominant at the back for us today, contributing two key headers in the hour he played. I took the chance to rest Janos so that makes his stats even better. Haladas beating Diosgyor means it is still tight at the top of the Merkantil Bank Liga. Guess who we play next? That is a huge game. In other news from our league, Szentlorinc are relegated after defeat to Gyor. Monday 10th April 2023 Sorry for not chatting yesterday, dear diary. It must be the dreary weather here that has me feeling tired of late. Pandora says I need more vitamins and perhaps less stress. "But we're top of the league", I told my love. She replied that we are but Haladas are breathing down our necks and if we lose this title we'll be devastated. That is stress that plays on the mind. When I asked her when she'd taken such a keen interest in our fortunes she told me I keep bringing it up. I hadn't noticed. So I write this mid afternoon on a Monday. Pandora has political duties today and we're not enjoying our regular Monday of leisure that her employees allow her. I've tried not to think about football all day...and here I find myself talking about it to you, dear diary. Being a football manager certainly means you are tied to the job. The pressure is the job. I will take steps to calm the mind. I've found and ordered another snappily titled book that might help me. Don’t Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear and Worry by Jennifer Shannon. What I need is a book entitled How to Not Feed the Egos: A Guide to Preventing Highly Paid Professional Footballers From Losing Focus! What is not helping the calm is that we have to win Sunday. Losing to Haladas will put all the momentum in their court. Our goal difference is vastly superior but they don't have a Magyar Kupa semi final to squeeze in. I need Zen. Maybe I should become Buddhist. Or maybe I'll just speak to the club doctor and ask his advice on dealing with this.

Tuesday 28th March 2023 There have recently been the first real snifters about a player of mine. Puskas Academia's Zsolt Hornyak has admitted his interest in our young midfielder, Gergo Szoke. I was forthright enough to suggest he make a move or shut up trying to unsettle my team. Pandora was impressed with my words to Nemzeti Sport. She said I have always had the ability to be forthright but that I've rarely shown it. I suppose she's right really. I guess confidence has not always been my bona fide skill. I am a football manager though. How many can say that? Matchday 31 Preview Nyiregyhaza have really fallen back from the lofty position they had as little a time ago as January. The promotion outsiders now find themselves down in 6th, a whopping 18 points adrift of us, after six defeats in February and March. Nyirgyhaza have only beaten Pecs since they lost to us in the Kupa quarter final and have firmly fallen into a deep tactic designed to stall the opposition. We can expect more of the same when we meet at the weekend. Nyiregyhaza will look to prevent us scoring and break quick. We have to be very watchful of Myke Bouard Ramos who has 18 goals this season. Loan Watch I figured it was time we caught up with the MTK stars of tomorrow that are out on loan at the present time. We'll look at just the loans I arranged, not those that were negotiated by the previous manager. Benedek Barkoczi - Benedek went out on loan to third tier Veszprem back in January and has been showing real promise over near Lake Balaton. The 17 year old has six goals in seven starts and is showing real progress. Yurii Matviiv - It has not been such a good time for our young Ukrainian center back. He's only started once for Polissia. Martin Palincsar - Martin is another player that left on loan in January and has played five games from Slovakian club Zilina. Krisztian Csontos - This young defender is having a good spell at Monor and is developing very well. Krisztian is starting to look a good player. Internationals, Part III The only match taking place that featured young MTK players was the European U19 Championship Prelim Qualifying A Section Group 1 match that ended Sweden U18s 1-2 Hungary U18s. Daniel Toth, Tamas Hegedus and Kristof Lepo took part with Toth playing 90 minute and putting in a very good performance. Monthly Performance Reviews What does it take to get an A in this game? On course for promotion and a cup final; verdict? B? Matchday 31 - MTK Budapest FC vs Nyiregyhaza Spartacus Football Club There are two changes to today's MTK lineup. Gergo Szoke drops back to the bench and is replaced by the returning Mihaly Kata. Mezei is preferred over Horvath in midfield but Sinan Medgyes does return to the left back role in place of Kapronczai. HT: MTK 0-0 Nyiregyhaza 52 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 0-1 Nyiregyhaza Laszlo Pekar The away side have the lead through an easy finish for Pekar, after he was played through a shambolic MTK defence. We need to see better from MTK. 84 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-1 Nyiregyhaza Zoltan Vasvari Relief for Nagain as Vasvari races on to a long ball and calmy slots past the keeper. Can MTK force a winner past a tiring Nyiregyhaza side? FT: MTK 1-1 Nyiregyhaza A very poor performance rescued by a late equaliser today. We have thrown away a good points advantage again with another lacklustre display. There was very little about our game today to praise. I felt forced to change the entire forward line in an effort to get a performance out of my players and it took a calm finish to a long ball to get our goal. MTK Player of the Match: I'll give today's award to the player that rescued a point for us; Zoltan Vasvari. As I said, we have thrown away another lead and Haladas are back on our heels. Pecs got a late goal in their match with Haladas but our closest rivals held on. Our lead is just three points again. With just four games before our cup final it is unlikely we can create the twelve point gap I wanted to have to enable us to rest players. I felt the need to gather the lads together and have a meeting to discuss our end of season and try to get us all marching together. Sides are making it tough for us with their deep defending, but we deserve to win this division and go up as champions. Sunday 2nd April 2023 That was another depressing day in the job. I don't feel like writing too much. I'm going to finish this cup of tea and go to bed. Just when I think we can be home and dry we go and pull a performance like that out of the bag. Thank god for Zoltan Vasvari.

Yep, it's looking like we and them that should go up now. We have a youth system to give us an edge, but be interesting to see how we both fare a step higher. I seem to fall into these types of saves. Taking a bigger club in a country back to the top league after they fell down the leagues. First one was Koper, by accident. Took them back to Slovenian top league and challenged for a few years. Then I did Bangor City, by choice. Finally won the Welsh Prem after promotion back in about 3 seasons. Wrote that up here. Now a similar save with MTK, that was also not planned. Based on how I did in cup I could challenge for the league.

Monday 20th March 2023 My father is a cheeky bastard. He just phoned me to ask what I was doing against Gyor yesterday. His exact words were "how the hell do you lose 2-0?". I suggested he didn't actually know the half of it and that I'd sort it. "You wanna drop that Nemeth," he suggested. I told him that's not happening. Everyone has bad games. Rosina grabbed the phone off father to say I shouldn't blame Szabolcs because he did okay when he came on. Who's the damn manager here? I don't know if this is anything to be concerned about. If we get some money I'd be happy. Matchday 30 Preview Szentlorinc have won one game all season. Can they take the points when we travel south to Szentlorinc this weekend? For sure, they can. If we perform like we did against Gyor then we can lose to anyone. However, if we allow ourselves to lose this game then I really will be furious. We will be without Sinan Medgyes (suspended), Roland Lehoczky (suspended), Artur Horvath (call up) and Mihaly Kata (call up) for a match against a team that will surely hit it long and hope to catch us unawares. We can't surely be as poor upfront as a few days ago. Getting That Fitness Up My second team just ran riot over local amateur side TFSE. Zoltan Vasvari has grabbed back that goalscoring form with four goals and there was a good performance from Roland Lehoczky. Adam Vidnyanszky was imperious in central defence and there were turnouts for two triallists, one a Brazilian. More on them if they ever sign. I promised a catchup with the reserve sides. In the third tier MTKII are going well, leading the pack by two points. My U19s side are currently top in Group A of the second phase of the National U19s competitions. What happens after the league phase is not clear to me. Internationals Artur Horvath had a good 56 mins as Hungary U21s lost 1-2 ro Sweden U21s. Mihaly Kata also had a good 34 minutes in that game. Nathaniel Alomani, Adrian Csenterics and Kristof Csernak played in the U19s 3-1 win over Slovenia and Kristof Lepo played 19 mins in a 1-1 draw between Hungary U18s and Belgium U18s. Internationals, Part II Hungary U21s drew 0-0 with Slovakia U21s in a match in which Horvath and Kata both got minutes in. For Hungary U19s, Nathaniel Alomani was given 77 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Italy. Tamas Hegedus and Kristof Lepo both played as Hungary U18s beat Iceland U18s 2-1. Matchday 30 - Szentlorinc SE vs MTK Budapest FC A number of changes today for MTK. Kapronczai starts at left back in place of the suspended Medgyes. The midfield partnership are Szabolcs Mezei and Gergo Szoke in place of Horvath and Lehoczky. Artur Horvath and Mihaly Kata played recently in U21 fixtures and are not quite fit for the fixture, although Horvath is on the bench. Matyas Kovacs returns to the MTK team in place of Mate Kovacs. 8 mins: ❕ WOODWORK! It's a great ball into the box by Poor and it finds Nemeth. Great work from the experienced front man finds him room but his shot hits the woodwork. MTK had a sluggish start but that's more like how they can play. 24 mins: 🟥 RED CARD! Szentlorinc's Zoltan Daroczi is sent off for a shocking tackle on Patrik Poor. The bottom side are down to ten. 31 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Szentlorinc 0-1 MTK Krisztian Nemeth Istvan Bognar gets on to a scooped ball in to the box by Janos Szepe and plays a very inviting ball across the box that Nemeth only has to tap in. 36 mins: ❕ PENALTY! Szentlorinc are crumbling under the pressure here. A lovely ball in to the box and the defender can only bring Nemeth down. A chance for a second for the MTK leading scorer. 37 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Szentlorinc 0-2 MTK Krisztian Nemeth Nemeth duly obliges from the spot and MTK are two-up. HT: Szentlorinc 0-2 MTK 68 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Szentlorinc 0-3 MTK Istvan Bognar A goal of the highest order from Istvan Bognar as he fires in a mindbender from about 30 yards! 75 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Szentlorinc 0-4 MTK Mate Krisztian Kovacs Another MTK wonder goal, this time from Mate Kovacs. Szentlorinc are packed so deep there is often little else on but to go for it. Kovacs does just that with a bending effort from 20 yards. FT: Szentlorinc 0-4 MTK Thatw as a dominating victory over the bottom club. We started slowly, but once Szentlorinc had a man sent of they were much easier game. I was very pleased that we kept the pressure on throughout, and those were two marvellous goals from Istvan and Mate. MTK Player of the Match: You might ask how one chooses a player of the match after such a good performance. I'm going to possibly shock and give it to Janos Szepe. A good win always needs a strong defensive performance and Janos was everywhere today. He barely gave our opponents a sniff. Strangely, he just didn't like that I told him he was excellent. Got to love FM player dynamics. Haladas won today, keeping our lead at five points. The 4-0 victory took our goal difference to +35 and that is important. Overall a pleasing weekend's football with a young, much changed team. Sunday 26th March 2023 It's always nice to score four goals in a match, but especially so after you've lost your previous match. That goal from Mate Kovacs will live long in the memory. I'm unsure why Janos was so short with me. It's strange that a player can not accept praise. My acceptance by my team is still in doubt, even after such a long winning run. No one seems to oppose me being manager but a manager still wants to be loved by his players. "Give it time". That's what my love said. I suppose she is right. Now Pandora? She is someone that loves me. She tells me less since she got in to politics though. No, don't start thinking about all those male politicians again. Pandora is mine. At least Szabolcs is happy. He played 90 minutes today and a late text from my sister showed me he was buzzing. Szab is buzzin. Ty bro. Hopefully Szab appreciates me. And we come to the end of March. Nine games left. Let's win it before the final. Five games to get a ten point lead. Then we can't be caught. Or twelve points before we play Soroksar on 30th April. With our goal difference Haladas won't catch us and we can rest players before the final. Forward planning. Not a comment on the intellect present at MTK!

More From Our Youth Candidates The new recruits dispatched our U19 side with two Mate Seregy penalties. Should I be concerned that Mate seems to be our best penalty taker in the recruits? Seregy was played as a segundo volante, but I'm not sure he is. Gabor Bacsa, whom we have already met, played very well. The other standouts were ball-winning midfielder Lajos Kadar and right footed left inside winger Janos Hegedus. I have asked my director of football to offer contracts to thirteen youngsters. Krisztian Zigismund is on it. Welcome to the club, lads. The 18 and 19 years olds in the U19s have moved up to the 2nd team early. Tuesday 14th March 2023 It was the magazine day today. I'm glad I went to bed early last night because it was tiring. They took photos of me in my office, on the training field and with a replica Magyar Kupa trophy. They said that will be the main photo for the article, a pic showing me lifting the trophy I want to lift in May. I did my best suggested pose that Pandora had come up with but the guy in charge from FourFourTwo told me to just look like I'd won something. That was what I was trying to do. Mate Kovacs made what he thought was a funny joke about Szabolcs dating the boss' little sister, and how if he didn't treat her right then he'd be dropped for the final. I spoke to the FourFourTwo lead guy and told him to leave that out. He said he might go with how we have a great team spirit. I said that'd do, but there was a sly look in his eyes. Mate's cleaning my bike tomorrow! The edition is out end of April...just in time for the final. Rosina said she is ordering 20 copies. I told her to calm down. I did suggest the chairman get a few copies for the boys though. Matchday 29 Preview This match against Gyor will likely be one of our toughest, but it's also a chance to put the current third placed team well out of the title race. Gyor are a techincal team, unlike many of the teams we face. Gyor were a top flight regular until 2015 when they were relegated to the third tier for financial irregularities. This is their best season of their years in the second tier. We can expect Gyor to have a go at us, I think. ~~~~~~ Mihaly will miss a game. ~~~~~~ Internationals I guess our team against Szentlorinc will be an inexperienced one. ~~~~~~ Matchday 29 - ETO FC Gyor vs MTK Budapest FC MTK are back to a more usual team for the trip to Gyor. Medgyes and Stieber are back in the side, for Kapronczai and Zuigeber. Lehoczky does replace the injured Mihaly Kata. Matyas Kovas is back the bench today but Nagain says he is playing it cautious as to whether Matyas will play. "The rigours of a season are starting to take their toll on the side. After a few weeks with a lot of games we could do with a nice break. We're patched up a bit, but we'll do ourselves proud." 32 mins: ❕ WOODWORK! Artur Horvath hits the woodwork from right in front of the goal. He'll be wondering how he missed. 42 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Gyor 1-0 MTK Benjamin Babati Poor defending from MTK allows Gyor to burst through and Babati finishes the goal off. HT: Gyor 1-0 MTK MTK have not been very good, squandering many chances up front and being poor in defence. 65 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Gyor 2-0 MTK Tamas Priskin Poor, poor defending from MTK, allowing Priskin all the time in the world in the box. He swivels and fires home. FT: Gyor 2-0 MTK We were so woeful that it hurt. We should have won that game, we had the chance. I dragged Lehoczky off shortly after half time because he was dire. Nemeth and Poor were pulled off later on because they just couldn't do a thing right today. Stieber tried ineffectively and Adam Merenyi was one of the few players to look bright when he came on for Poor. Matyas Kovacs got about 10 minutes today and he looked sharp. MTK Player of the Match: I am going to give this award to Adam Merenyi today. The youngster came on for the very poor Poor in the second half and looked nervous. He really made an effor though and looked more up for it than most of my team. A woeful performance, coupled with a win for Haladas, sees our lead back to just five points again. I gave Poor and Nemeth a warning for very poor performances today. Neither player had much to say about the warnings and I decided to speak to them in private again...just to make clear I will not accept performances like that. Patrik Poor had the good sense to be apologetic. Nemeth is an experienced player and held his mind. Sunday 19th March 2023 I was embarassed by that defeat today. It was almot like the lads didn't care. I know it has been a busy schedul, and tiredness is a big thing in our squad at the moment, but there are no excuses for that. I'm losing a number of players this week to internationals. Maybe their minds were on this. I wish them well. It's all experience for young lads.

Tuesday 6th March 2023 I have hit the big time. I am to be featured in FourFourTwo magazine as the manager to take a second tier side to the Hungarian Cup final. I have been invited to do a mini photo shoot and an interview. This is a proud moment and boosts my profile as a manager. I'm not really one for photographs too much but I've had Pandora teaching me some good poses. She says I'm not a natural but I can get away with it. It's not the only grabbing for my attention. I've been on local TV and radio, and even the national TV. Never been asked to model before though. Pandora says I need a new suit, but should it be more casual than that? Am I overthinking this? I must speak with Nandor...my agent. I tried looking up how many occaisons a second tier team has reached a final in Hungary but couldn't find a thing. I did a bit of looking through records, spent ages searching team by team records on FM, and couldn't find a team that was second tier in the past 20 years...and also reached a final. I take it, then, that we've achieved something. Also, I don't know what happens when magazines do a spread on a manager or a player. Anton certainly doesn't so we'll share his pain of not knowing for a bit, shall we? Matchday 27 Preview Diosgyor are up next and the pre season second favourites have been moving up the table to find themselves currently in 10th. They have won their last three games; their best form the entire season. I can therefore expect a tougher game in this fixture rearranged because of our cup game. Adrian Szoke is the key player for Diosgyor, having a great last five games and having scored eight goals this season from just behind the main striker. I don't think we're expecting quite as much long ball this game, but I could be wrong. Matchday 27 - Diosgyori Vasgyarak Testgyakorlo Kore vs MTK Budapest FC Forgot to do the usual screenshot. Only two changes for MTK. Lehoczky replaces the suspended Szepe. In central midfield, Artur Horvath is the usual replacement for Mezei to satisfy league rules. Nineteen year old Adam Vidnyanszky gets his first appearance on the bench for MTK. 44 mins: ❕ PENALTY! Bardos brings down Stieber from behind and the ref has no choice but to call a epnalty to MTK. 45 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Diosgyor 0-1 MTK Krisztian Nemeth Nemeth makes no mistake from the penalty spot to give MTK the elad right before the break. Is the old cliche that a goal right before the break is very important going to help MTK get three points here? HT: Diosgyor 0-1 MTK 67 mins: 🟥 RED CARD! Lajos Bertus is given his marching orders for a two-footed lunge on Zoltan Stieber. It was a crazy tackle. Diosgyor down to ten men. 84 mins: ❕ PENALTY! Bardos brings down Stieber again! It's in almost the same spot as the first half penalty, too. 84 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Diosgyor 0-2 MTK Krisztian Nemeth Another emphatic penalty from Nemeth to surely put MTK home and dry against ten man Diosgyor. FT: Diosgyor 0-2 MTK A comfortable win, all be it courtesy of two penalties, against the side predicted to push us closest at the start of the season. It was an all around good performance from the lads, Nemeth tucked away two more confident penalties and Adam Vidnyanszky made his first appearance for the club. MTK Player of the Match: They may have been penalty kicks but Krisztian Nemeth got two more goals today to take his season tally to sixteen. Our game in hand played, we again find ourselves six points clear of Haladas. We're twenty unbeaten too. Thursday 9th March 2023 That was a late finish last night. We beat Diosgyor, and the win was sort of comfortable, but I couldn't help feeling some nerves. I'm still chuckling that it was the same guy who bought down Zoltan twice, and in pretty much the same spot both times. He must have felt a bit like Arthur Dent in Hitchhikers. He just wanted to save his team. Bence Bardos, left back. Shame his number isn't thirteen. I had a call from Nandor today. They're not really doing a photo shoot, at least not like you'd imagine a photo shoot for a glamourous model or a film star. Any pics they take will probably show me training the lads or sitting at my desk. They'll likely ask for a smiling mugshot but I'm not the chief piece in the edition. He told me to just go along like it's a normal day at work. Do what the mag team suggests and it'll be a nice safe experience. They want to talk to the players, too. I also got the wrong idea that this was about me. I will tell Szabolcs not to mention my sister. Matchday 28 Preview And so on to our home time with second bottom Tiszakecske. Our opponents are known to be a strong and physical side but there are questions about their defensive strength, but they are second bottom. Our opponents are twelve points shy of safety and a win for us on Sunday will put a huge dent in Tiszakecske's hopes of beating the drop. These are the sort of games where, if we're not switched on, we'll face a huge upset. I will be making sure the lads are aware of this. The last time we played Tiszakecske we won a stomach churning game by two goals to one. We'd be almost comfortable until we allowed the opponents a last glimmer of hope. As I said, these are the games to fear. MTK Budapest Youth Iintake - March 2023 I have received word of the bunch of younguns that will join our apprentice program for 2023/2024. There is one very, very good prospect and his name is Norbert Rácz. A lad that I understand is incredibly fit, Norbert has enough about him to become a real star. The next best prospect is probably Gábor Bacsa, a right back whom I have been told has been identified as important for out future, being a natural replacement for Patrik Poor. I think there are a lack of surnames in Hungary. We have a Poor, a Balogh, a Kata and two names that match current U19s! This could get confusing. I will introduce any other youth prospects I feel are worthy of being introduced later. I've been meaning to catch up with the reserve sides. Matchday 28 - MTK Budapest FC vs Tiszakecskei LC A few changes for MTK. Janos Szepe is back from suspension and replaces Lehoczky. Gergely Kapronczai starts at left back in place of Medgyes. Akos Zuigeber replaces Stieber on the right IF position. We asked Nagain for his thoughts on these changes. "It has been a tough run of fixtures for the lads. I hope I am not underestimating our opponents but I decided two regulars a bit of a break. Sinan Medgyes looked especially tired." 24 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 Tiszakecske Istvan Bognar Some intricate passing in the box finds Bognar with tons of space and he calmly slots the ball home. It had looked like Nagain wasn't happy with his team's start. He'll be feeling better now. 26 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-0 Tiszakecske Akos Zuigeber A lovely defence splitting ball from Artur Horvath puts Zuigeber in acres of space with only the keeper to beat. He gets his first goal for the MTK first team! MTK have taken this game by the throat. 39 mins: ❌ GOAL DISALLOWED! Akos Zuigeber is marginally offside as Kovacs plays the ball in to him. The youngster finishes nicely but the flag goes up. HT: MTK 2-0 Tiszakecske 55 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 3-0 Tiszakecske Krisztian Nemeth Nemeth with a worldy! The MTK front man picks the ball up on the edge of the box, turns and fires home a strike the keeper can't reach. FT: MTK 3-0 Tiszakecske The scoreline was dominant today but I am not going to pretend we didn't ride our luck at times. We allowed Tiszakecske a lot of the ball on the break and Somodi did rescue us a couple of times. I wish I could break the complacency that this squad show at times. MTK Player of the Match: Nemeth scored a worldy today but I'm giving the award to Artur Horvath. Artur was crucial in the build up to two goals today with wonderful passes into the danger zone. Two key passes and two chances created for the midfielder. Haladas could only draw at Kozarmisleny. We're back to eight points clear. We're also thirteen points clear of third place and I would like to think, with ten games left, that we're going up.

Cristiano Ronaldo. Ryan Fraser. Dimitri Payet. Players can be huge divas. Maybe too many can be in FM and it can be frustrating but they're just trying to represent football. Report the ones that seem most silly and confusing, and those that involve problems with the promise system. The more bug report examples SI get the better they can make it. And when it comes to criticising form, be careful not to do so if there is a reasonable performance in the last 5 games. FM seems to take the whole of the last 5 games when assessing performance. Silly and I've mentioned it before myself. Poor form should be able to be noted after 3 games. Sometimes just dropping a player can boost performance when they return.

I'm late, but congrats on promotion. Reasonable start at the new level, especially based on that quite startling wage comparison. Maybe I missed it (or most likely forgot it with age) but who is filling up all the Welsh, Irish and Scots clubs in Europe? Just a smaller European competition?

I don't actually have the game open but I thought they appeared in the views menu itself eventually. I might be wrong. Either way the clicks are not the biggest problem with the UI. FM is not a fast game. If your problem with the UI is that you have to click 4 times instead of 3 then I think you have to take a hard look at why. Much of the UI needs a rework, yes, but I think the layout is pretty good. You're gonna be hard pressed trying to minimise clicks aggressively. Maybe it's just an age thing on my part. But, yes, FM could do more with hot keys. A simple assigning a number to a view, like with RTS teams, would not be a bad idea.

Thanks, I really am delighted to make the final. Does it count as a double to win tier 2 and a cup? 😁

All my views are available with two clicks. One to open the menu and one to select the view. At the bottom of the list. I don't really see how they can make that less. Only hot keys. And I agree they could be made to be assignable to hot keys. Its not perfect but people do exaggerate.

Tuesday 28th February 2023 It's our big cup game tomorrow and I am sat here drinking a chamomile blend of tea, with honey, because I am so damn nervous. We've got all the way to a quarter final, beating two teams in the top division and play a team below us in the league. It would be a shame to go out now. We can win this competition. We're good enough. So why am I so nervous? MOL Magyar Kupa Quarter Final Preview Can we expect Nyiregyhaza to come at us and make this contest a battle of who has the better techincal skills? My scouts think their best XI is a deep formation, designed to compact the defensiove areas and to expect us to break it down. I think the answer to my question is no. This is a one off cup game though. I find myself going back to our last game with Nyiregyhaza, when we drew 2-2 back in October. They scored two late goals from crosses we failed to deal with and did indeed set up compact. I am expecting a tough game. If we can get an early goal they will have to come at us and we can exploit that. Monthly Review It is interesting that the fans are happier with our transfer activity than the board are. I saw social media comments that said we really needed a right back, among others, but no sign of discontent from the fans. MOL Magyar Kupa Quarter Final - MTK Budapest FC vs Nyiregyhaza Spartacus Football Club Just the one 'usual' cup change for MTK as Mezei replaces Horvath in central midfield. Nagain told us, "I like to give Szabolcs more chances in the cup because he so often has to make way for Adam to meet rules. He has never let me down." Adam Miknyoczki makes his return to the bench from injury today. 9 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 Nyiregyhaza Zoltan Stieber Excellent work from Nemeth in the middle of the park sucks in defenders leaving Medgyes free to play a lovely arcing ball to the feet of Stieber, who can't miss. 16 mins: Ferencvaros have taken the lead in their quarter final. They lead Puskas through Ryan Mmaee. 31 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-0 Nyiregyhaza Krisztian Nemeth An early cross from Patrik Poor finds the head of Nemeth and he heads home MTK's second. It was wonderful physical play from a master and the cross was sublime. HT: MTK 2-0 Nyiregyhaza 54 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-1 Nyiregyhaza Mate Adamcsek A stunning free kick from Adamcsek gives Nyriegyhaza a chance here. Not much Nagain can do to prepare for that. 61 mins: There have been goals in two other cup ties. Vasas are 2-0 up versus Csorna, though Holender and Novothny. Mezokovesd have just taken the elad against Gyirmot though Kis. Vasas, Ferencvaros, MTK and Mezokovesd on their way through as it currently stands. 87 mins: Csorna have pulled a goal back against Vasas and there have now been two red cards, one for either side. Ferencvaros have just extended their lead to 2-0 over Puskas. Nguen with the goal. 88 mins: ❕ WOODWORK! MTK nearly put the game to bed as Torocsik agonisingly hits the woodwork. MTK look more like scoring but Nyiregyhaza are dangerous on the break. FT: MTK 2-1 Nyiregyhaza We did it! Semi finals here we come. It was a nervy affair and our second half performance was nowhere near as good as our first. We still missed a few chances that could have put the game to bed though. MTK Player of the Match: Krysztian Nemeth was outstanding today. He scored a wonderful headed goal and occupied the opposition throughout. I was asked in the post match press conference who I'd like to face in the semis. My answer is anyone but Ferencvaros. Let's get to the final and see what we can do there. Thursday 2nd March 2023 Yes, I know I was quiet yesterday. I didn't actually get in until 2am. We're in a semi final. Rosina texted me to say Szabolcs is the difference and he should play every game. I asked her not to go saying that to Szabolcs too much. Yes, he's good, but there is more than just who is the best player for me to deal with. He is a wise lad though. The draw took place at the Puskas Arena and I was there, along with my assistant, Vaszilisz. We were both delighted to see Ferencvaros pull out Mezokovesd first. Even better was seeing us at home against Vasas. Vasas have only won cup games in the past month and find themselves just outside the top league drop zone. It's winnable...and it takes place this weekend. Why so soon? I don't know. MOL Magyar Kupa Semi Final Preview Vasas are more likely to come at us than most opponents we face. I remember saying the same prior to facing Debrecen and we destroyed them. The truth of the matter is that Vasas are not having a good season and have taken to shutting up shop. Put our good form up against their poor and I fancy us. We beat Vasas 2-0 in a friendly back in July, with Horvath and Palincsar getting the goals. Whether it says much for the forthcoming encounter is anyone's guess. Saturday 4th March 2023 This time tomorrow we will know if we are in a final, and who we face. Let's just do ourselves proud. MOL Magyar Kupa Semi Final - MTK Budapest FC vs Vasas Futball Club "Why change a winning side?" Those were the words of Anton Nagain before today's huge MOL Magyar Kupa semi final between MTK and Vasas. "A number of players look a little tired but anticipation of what is to come will get them through this game." As Nagain said, MTK are unchanged. KO: Hidegkuti Nandor is packed to the rafters for this Magyar Kupa semi final. I hope we see a cracking game. HT: MTK 0-0 Vasas It is a cagey affair with both sides limited more to snapshots. The other tie is 0-0, too. 47 mins: Mesokovesd have taken the lead against Ferencvaros, Gergely Bobal with the goal. It's still 0-0 and cagey here, but MTK have had perhaps the better possession. 59 mins: ❕ WOODWORK! Istvan Bognar picks up the clearance from his own corner and charges into the box. His shot takes a deflection and rebounds off the bar. 66 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 Vasas Zoltan Stieber Bognar swings a corner in and Szepe meets it with a powerful header that the keeper can only flap at. Zoltan Stieber is there to knock in the loose ball. This is MTK's to lose. 74 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-0 Vasas Krysztian Nemeth Zoltan Stieber gets to the byeline and puts in the cross. Mate Kovacs is first to the ball at the far post. Mate heads a ball back in that rebounds off of the defenders on the penalty spot before Nemeth tucks home the free ball for a simple finish. 88 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 3-0 Vasas Krysztian Nemeth That surely seals it for MTK. Mate Kovacs plays a reverse ball to the edge of the D that Horvath superbly controls before placing a pinpoint pass into the path of Nemeth. MTK's leading scorer duly converts. FT: MTK 3-0 Vasas We're in a final. How good does that sound? We dominated the second half against Vasas after a very cagey first 45. We were just simply brilliant today and I can not be more proud of the lads. MTK Player of the Match: We were superb across the park but there was one man who played such an influential role in spearheading our attack and making space for his fellow players. He scored twice, too. That man is Krysztian Nemeth. Mezokovesd shocked Ferencvaros in the other semi final and we will meet the north Hungarian team in the final at Puskas Arena on 3rd May. Hopefully we have secured promotion by then because we have games either side of the final. The Weekend in NBII Haladas won at Bekescsaba to close the gap to us to three points. We have a game in hand that we must win now. Gyor faltered again in losing 2-1 to Szeged, as did Nyiregyhaza. It looks like it is really between us and Haladas now. Monday 6th March 2023. Yes, I write this Monday lunch time. Pandora has some work to do in the spare room we have now turned in to an office. I am too shattered to do much. We celebrated long in to the night after that win. A win that sees us into the first final of my tenure. It has occured to me that if we were to win we'd be playing in the Europa Conference next season. How remarkable would that be? I really, really could not be prouder of the lads. That was a tough match but we turned it on in style in the second half. Thought we'd face Ferencvaros though. Mezokovesd are another side battling against the drop in the OTP Bank Liga. More of the same, lads.

Add a redundant column to the end of the view. I add agent to the end of the view. I don't want it there but I find it helps to stabilise the view I am setting up. There is an art to it. I have been practising for years but I find my current way works well. Don't add too much. The reason multiple views are available is so you can have multiple views. It doesn't take a lot of effort to select a new view. Try this: SELECTION.fmf Or Steam page. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2907514926

Matchday 26 Preview Pecs play a much more traditional 4-4-2 formation but, much like our last two opponents, they like a cross. We must not let or opponents bully us this weekend. Last time out against Pecs we lost 3-0 in a match that was part of our worst run of form. I have spoken to a few players and I want to see better. Wednesday 22nd February 2023 I have never been too sure what Pandora does in her role with Dialogue For Hungary, so I asked her over dinner today. She said she mostly arranges appointments and schedules the day to day activities of some of her party's members. "I'm not a politician, my love." She told me and looked like she were not happy with her role. "But I do enjoy what I do. I'm part of something." I still get women wrong, till this day. Szabolcs asked my advice today. He asked me if I knew where Rosina shopped and what her favourite clothes were. I said very small ones. He grinned. I'll take pity on the lad and will find out. It's her birthday next month. Matchday 26 - MTK Budapest FC vs Pecsi Mecsek Futball Club Just the one change for MTK as Szepe replaces Lehoczky. We asked Nagain how worried he was about the prospect of another aerial bombardment. "Always", Nagain said. "I always warn my lads of what we're going to face against teams that will sit back and ping balls. We just need to be confident and perform to our best." 25 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 Pecs Janos Szepe Szepe rises highest to meet Bognar's corner and find the back of the net. 31 mins: ❕ PENALTY! The referee points to spot as tricky play from Bognar in the box is rewarded when Marques-Airosa brings the playmaker down. 32 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-0 Pecs Krisztian Nemeth Nemeth steps up to take the penalty and hammers it home confidently. It's been a barren time for Krisztian but he doesn't miss spot kicks. HT: MTK 2-0 Pecs 48 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 3-0 Pecs Krisztian Nemeth A wonderful switching ball from Stieber finds Kovac who cuts inside and finds Nemeth with a defence splitting pass. Nemeth only has the goalie to beat and duly does so. 52 mins: ❕ WOODWORK! Nemeth nearly grabs his hattrick but hits the outside of the post. Whatever Nagain said to Nemeth before the match is proving inspirational. 72 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 3-1 Pecs Kristof Toth-Gabor Pecs are showing more now and a deep cross finds Toth-Gabor centrally. The striker's first header is saved by Somodi but the ball rebounds off the post and lands fortunately back into his path. Toth-Gabor can't miss. FT: MTK 3-1 Pecs And we're back to winning ways after turning on the style in the first half. Nemeth's goal, to seal the win, was a lovely team goal. I was just happy to see Nemeth back to scoring from open play again. MTK Player of the Match: It's hard to rule out Nemeth after he scored a brace but Janos Szepe was key today and showed us what we really missed against Kozarmisleny. Ten interceptions for the big centre back and 81% of headers won. One of them was a goal. It was Gyor's turn to lose today and it's back to two at the top, but we're still six clear. Nyiregyhaza did get back to winning ways, in anticipation of our cup tie midweek, but they had to come from two down. Bottom club, Szentlorinc, finally reached double figures with a draw at home to Kozarmisleny, the team that caused us so much trouble. A busy week to come. Nyiregyhaza in the cup quarter final on Wednesday and away to Diosgyor at the weekend.

Tuesday 14th February 2023 Today was awkward. It is transfer deadline day and also Valentine's Day. I daren't forget Valentine's Day but who at the FA thought having deadline day on the same day as many wives and girlfriends want their significant other's attention? My love has never really been the mushy, super romantic type but she would probably crush me with her finger if I forgot to buy anything. So, with Pandora's consent we had our Valentine's Day yesterday. I started with breakfast, waking up early and preparing poached eggs. They came out quite well. Jewellery was my gift, a pendant and chain set from a store I had seen Pandora looking lovingly at. For me, a selection of fine teas. As Pandora likes to say, my enjoyment of good tea has really developed. I am trying one right now. Mango flavoured black tea. We spent the day together, slowly wandering the streets of Budapest. It was a cold day so we spent much time over lunch in a local cafe For dinner, Pandora was happy to sit down with some interesting TV on Netflix and our favourite, a Chinese. I needn't have bothered. I tried to get rid of a few players but no one wanted them. I believe Szabolcs drove to Szentgotthard after Sunday's game and spent the day with my sister. He was back for training today. No way is he getting around me that easy. He did look like he'd met my parents though. People that do have a glazed look. Transfer Deadline Day - 14th February 2023 It was quiet all around really. The summer transfer window will be the important one for us. Matchday 25 Preview Kozarmisleny are one of those teams in a pack chasing down those other teams battling for second. Their form is patchy though and they find it hard to string wins together. They also don't score many. Kozarmisleny will attack from the flanks, like Kazincbarcika and we will need to be better prepared. It was a frantic end to the last time we met Kozarmisleny. The game was 0-0 until the 80th minute and we scored either side of a Kozarmisleny equaliser, with Mezei getting the winner. Confidence is key... But injuries don't help. Matchday 25 - MTK Budapest FC vs Kozarmisleny FC MTK have been forced into a complete change to their centre back pairing. Nagy comes in for the still unrecovered from a niggle, Szepe, and Lehoczky returns to the starting lineup in place of Varju. Nagain spoke of his belief in whoever takes to the field in the MTK shirt. "Nagy and Lehoczky are very capable, but I hope we can take our chances up the other end and take the pressure off a new partnership." 30 mins: ❕ PENALTY! Kozarmisleny are pressuring the MTK defence and Medgyes brings down his man. The ref points to the spot. 30 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 0-1 Kozarmisleny Kornel Kulcsar And Kulcsar coverts from the spot to give Kozarmisleny an unexpected lead. They've been the better team. HT: MTK 0-1 Kozarmisleny 64 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-1 Kozarmisleny Artur Horvath Horvath swivels and turns on Stieber's quick ball in to the box after a corner is cleared. He fires the ball high in to the net. 66 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-2 Kozarmisleny Laszlo Bartha MTK seem unwilling to make a tackle and Bartha just takes a shot that beats Somodi 67 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-2 Kozarmisleny Mihaly Kata This is getting mad now. MTK go right up the other end and equalise. It is Mihaly Kata with a drive into the area and a shot that squirms under the keeper. FT: MTK 2-2 Kozarmisleny We simply couldn't handle Kozarmisleny's aerial assault today. Combined with that we were somewhat lacking in an attacking sense. Kata's goal was lucky. The keeper should have saved that. MTK Player of the Match: It is hard to pick a dominant player after that. Stieber had a poor game but for the assist, and the same for Horvath but for the goal. Mihaly Kata scored and broke up Kozarmisleny attacks, despite a few mistakes on a day that wasn't good for us. So Mihaly is PotM today. Sunday 19th February 2023 Today was hard to watch. We let a physical team bully us into submission and it was luck that got us a point. We really missed Janos Szepe today. Zsombor Nagy's form concerns me since his injury. Zsombor started the season so well but has not been the same player since his time out. Szabolcs just has a dozy smile on his face of late. God knows what my sister did to him. Haladas and Gyor won to lower our gap at the top to six points. Our cup opponents, Nyiregyhaza, lost and have dropped right back. Pecs next and a win is a must after today's display.

There are a few players I am looking at. Strengthening really. Center back is a priority, I think. Mezei is too good. If he goes anywhere it'll be abroad, I suspect.

MOL Kupa Fifth Round Preview I am looking forward to what will be a very different prospect than 90% of our league encounters. Debrecen will not sit back. They are mid table and will want to win this cup to do something with their season. Dorian Babunski is a quality forward that leads the cup scoring charts and Debrecen have two quality full backs that will put in crosses that we must deal with. Saying all that, my scouts still think Debrecen will play a sort of long ball game. We must be wary. Haladas cut our lead to just six points after beating Szeged by just one goal. Now...our turn. MOL Magyar Kupa Fifth Round - MTK Budapest vs Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club Two changes for MTK. Istvan Bognar starts in place of Torocsik and Mezei gets the nod in midfield. Not a weakened team then, Anton? "Yep, pretty much the team that dismantled Dorog. Szabolcs Mezei gets a start today as a reward for being patient this season around U20 starts in the league." 17 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 Debrecen Istvan Bognar Mezei receives the ball from Kovacs wide and slides a cute ball in to the path of Bognar who swivels and fires in to the roof of the net. 34 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-0 Debrecen Mate Krisztian Kovacs It's two for the second tier side! A long ball from Stieber and Kovacs beats the offside to run in and score. HT: MTK 2-0 Debrecen 45 mins: ❗ PENALTY! Ferenczi slides in and brings down Stieber in the box. The referee has no hestitation. 46 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 3-0 Debrecen Krisztian Nemeth Nemeth slots home an assured penalty to put the hosts three up. FT: MTK 3-0 Debrecen Well, that was pleasing. Debrecen were never in that tie but we were, and three goals proved it. The penalty that finished the rout was never in any doubt, the guilty man knew it straight away. Nemeth blasted that home and Debrecen were done and dusted. But, can we talk about the goal that started the ball rolling? Istvan Bognar, take a bow. The turn for his opener was world class. The best player never to play for Hungary? That's a question for others to answer. Szabolcs Mezei thanked me wholeheartedly for the start, and Szabolcs is today's MTK Player of the Match. Szabolcs ran his heart out today. ~~~~~~ Today I learned something new. You can click the padlock in contract negotiations a variable number of times to change it from a hard lock to a soft lock. How long has that been in the game? ~~~~~~ That win did have one downside. It pressed Janos Szepe's agent to ask for a new deal for his client. This is something that has been discussed before, but with us so far over the wage budget I was scared we'd end up not being able to offer Janos what he wants, and he'd get annoyed and leave. Good news though. We reached a deal and Janos is thinking it over. Janos has become a key player here. Wednesday 8th February 2023 It is technically Thursday and I am drinking a cup of tea at my kitchen table. We are very happy after that win over Debrecen. We are a top flight side. It is only the fact that we are in the second tier that says otherwise. We have never lost to a top flight team under my tenure. How did this side get relegated last year? It is beyond me. Something is not right, because they have been yo-yoing for a few seasons now. I am asking myself this as a bemused Englishman. I don't know a lot about Hungarian football but MTK seem a proud club historically and they have a good academy. I found one page through google that seems to be from about 10 years ago when they first got relegated. It hints at blaming the then owner, a Gábor Várszegi, who actively sold the club's talents to rivals and seemed to lose interest. There is a clearly a new owner, Sandor Zakor, and I can see from the club website he really is there, but maybe the money is not there like it once was. I found a video of Zakor talking about last season's mistakes but it's Hungarian with no translation. Maybe the club were back on the up and things just went wrong last season. I did find a twitch streamer who is also managing MTK in a build a nation save this year. Straight Red Card. He seems like a good guy and I shall try and find time to watch his efforts. The one You Tuber I watch almost religiously, for FM, is Loki Doki. SRC reminded me of him a little, though he has way more football knowledge than Loki and can pronounce names. I shall fit that in around, work, trying to find time to play FM23, keeping up with the careers write ups of others and playing the odd other game too. Oh, and I'm old too, so sleep. Sleep is taking over my life. MOL Magyar Kupa - Quarter Final Draw We will play our close rivals this very season in the cup quarter finals. We will play Nyiregyhaza on March 1st. The two best performing sides still in the competition - Ferencvaros and Puskas - play in each other too. To be honest, I'd rather actually have had a top tier side. Matchday 24 Preview And back to constant pressure and that wait for the first goal, before the floodgates open. Truth be told, Debrecen wasn't much different. Kazinbarcika are 12th in the league right now and another team we lost to in our poor start. Revenge will be sweet. This is a big crossing side and we will need to be resolute at the back. Matchday 24 - Kazincbarcika Sport Club vs MTK Budapest FC Just the one change for MTK, as Horvath starts in place of Mezei for the sake of U20 rules. 28 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Kazincbarcika 0-1 MTK Zoltyan Stieber Some lovely football from MTK. Horvath in to the box to Kovacs and a lovely ball on to Stieber in acres of space. HT: Kazincbarcika 0-1 MTK FT: Kazincbarcika 0-1 MTK Well, we scraped through that one, didn't we? Kazincbarcika really tested us today and our defence looked like they struggled to cope at times. There were a number of scary moments, and not least when Janos Szepe let the ball sail right over his head. It took the combined efforts of Szepe, in a frantic rush back, and Somodi to stop that one. We held on though. MTK Player of the Match: In a tight game I am giving today's award to Sinan Medgyes who sat deep on the left and helped protect our back line many a time. Sinan made a whopping seven interceptions,three clearances and a crucial tackle. Our unbeaten run has now hit twenty games! Sunday 12th February 2023 We got back late from Kazincbarcika, a town of medium sized housing blocks stuffed in a small valley. I'm tired but I wanted to update dear diary over a late cup of tea. Rosina is starting to see the cons of dating a footballer. They talk football in their sleep, especially when they are 21. Of course, Rosina is still at home. She still works in that factory. Their relationship is, so far, mostly a distance one. She told me that all he can talk about in their phone conversations is the faith I have shown in him and the delight he got at beating Debrecen to reach a quarter final. I said that Szabolcs is a changed man. For once Rosina's party going nature has had dividends for me. Szabolcs trains like never before. I told her she'd get used to it. She's coming up for a few days next month and they're going dancing. I told her he wasn't on a Saturday, unless he's home early. We play Sundays. "Don't worry, big brother." She told me. Now why would I not do that? Haladas could only draw with relegation threatened Csakvar, and it took a late own goal for them to do that. Nyiregyhaza lost by a mighty 4-0 scoreline to up and down Bekescsaba and that allowed Gyor to leapfrog in to third place with a 4-1 win at Siofok. Our lead is now a huge eight points. The contenders for second spot are fighting it out amongst themselves and we are reaping the rewards. Things slow down a bit now. We have the quarter final against Nyiregyhaza in two weeks but it's weekly games otherwise. I'm feeling very good about this.

Hope people don't mind me bumping a week old thread but I rememered this one and just realised something that could improve the experiences of many. Did you know...you can click the padlocks in a contract negotiation either one or two times? Clicking twice marks a section as semi negotiable, i.e. you are willing to budge but not by a lot. Maybe this is common knowledge but I never knew it.

Tuesday 30th January 2023 I can not get hold of my sister. I have rung home twice and both times she is not there. Neither mother nor father will tell me the identity of the mystery man. Do they think me such a monster that I'll cause trouble? In training today I tried to be coy. To each of my three suspects I mentioned sisters. Perhaps they don't even known she's my sister for I never saw anything revealing. I shouldn't even care. They're grown men. Rosina is a grown woman. But she will change them. Matchday 22 Preview Budafok find themselves in 14th as we go into this game, and on a run of two wins in fifteen. Again we will have to break down a deep block and Budafok will look to break on us as Bekescsaba did so effectively in the second half on Sunday. One thing I will have to be aware of is how clinical Budafok can be with their shooting, having one of the best conversion rates in the NBII. Stats Burst We still need to work on our finishing, but it is very pleasing to see how we are controlling matches. I find it interesting that whilst our shot percentage is struggling our expected goals per game and our actual goals per game are very close. Does that suggest the shots we're taking are low xG? Do we need to work to pick the better shots or do we accept we already winning games and work on our finishing to score more of these lower xG efforts? I like the idea of not changing a winning formula. Monthly Performance Matchday 22 - Budafoki MTE vs MTK Budapest FC Three changes for MTK. Varju replaces Nagy in central defence, Miknyoczki replaces the suspended Poor at right back and Vasvari drops to the bench to be replaced by Torocsik. We asked Nagain about the number of games this week and his thoughts on resting players. "We look very fit going in to the Budafok game, fitter than I had expected , but I may need to look at changes later in the game." 9 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Budafoks 0-1 MTK Zoltan Stieber Some beautiful football from the league leaders around the edge and Torocsik puts Stieber through with a crisp through ball. The veteran makes no mistake. HT: Budafoks 0-1 MTK 89 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Budafoks 0-2 MTK Istvan Bognar MTK break down the left and Medgyes puts in a lovely cross to give Bognar an easy finish on his return from injury. FT: Budafoks 0-2 MTK I am pleased to say that we never looked under pressure in that game. We barely moved out of third gear for the entirety of the 90 minutes, but for two nice team goals. My front men appear to have gone in to winter hiatus but we are blessed to have an abundance of sources for scoring goals in this team. I was delighted to see Istvan Bognar return from injury and come on late to score the goal that sealed the win. MTK Player of the Match: Today's award goes to Zoltan Stieber after a match in which it was hard to pick out a clear head above others. Zoltan looked dangerous every time he got forward and he scored the opener. We did sadly pick up two injuries against an aggressive Budafoks side. Adam Miknyoczki will be out for a few weeks with a groin strain and Matyas Kovacs will have to see a specialist after tearing a muscle in his groin. Adam Merenyi came on for Miknyoczki and showed himself well. I am pleased with this after I moved Adam into the first team training set up to try and boost his development. With Haladas not having played today we have moved in to a five point gap. We play a cup game next week and the teams that didn't play today will play then. There is, of course, another game at the weekend. This is a tough period of games; four in two weeks. We move to one a week after this, though if we beat Debrecen there will be a cup game thrown in. Thursday 2nd February 2023 I have finally heard from Rosina. She asked why Szabolcs isn't starting games and finally gave me the answer regarding who she is seeing from my squad. I told her the decision was mine and told her I'd rather she stay out of a team affairs. She did seem guilty to have interfered and assured me she was acting alone. "So that is why my midfielder has been a little nervous in training?" I asked my sister. She replied succinctly by asking how I would feel if I were dating my boss' sister. I said that if I did that Pandora would chuck me out of the nearest window. "Politics has changed my love," I told Rosina and was met with an affirmation and a suggestion that Pandora has become very assertive and confident. My love has always been that. Taking the bull by the horns has always been her way. They met in a club on New Year's Eve. A number of the lads live together in the city and I knew they'd be enjoying themselves. Rosina's dancing clothes had clearly caused more enjoyment to one of my midfielders than the others. "I don't know if it's even serious, brother." Now, that sounds like Rosina. Special training for Szabolcs then? Nah, he'll need all the rest he can get keeping up with Rosina! It's their lives. I'll crack a joke or two and take away those nervous eyes of his. I've always been a funny man. I have moved to strengthen our left side and Mario Zeke will join us in July. I believe Mario is a slightly better back up to Sinan Medgyes than Gergely Kapronczai. Friday 3rd February 2023 I cracked a few wise ones in training today, something about if a man can spot my sister's dancing clothes then he can bloody well hit the back of the net. Szabolcs perked up a bit and his training has been good enough that I felt a pat on the shoulder was needed. He told me she looked cracking good in that outfit and, with a wink, I suggested we might keep that private. I have a good bunch of lads. Matchday 23 Preview Dorog have some strong partnerships in defensive area and will provide us a stubborn task. Marian Sluka's side find themselves 8th in our league and are knocking on the door for promotion. They are also the fifth best scorers in NBII and we will have to be defensively solid. Dorog do concede a fair amount of goals though and I am wondering if we might be on for a cracker Sunday. This is also a team that inflicted one of our defeats, back in August. We lost 2-1 that day and I want revenge. Matchday 23 - Dorogi Football Club vs MTK Budapest FC Two changes for MTK. Poor returns from suspension at right back and Mate Kovacs replaces the injured Matyas Kovacs. We asked Nagain if he was worried about facing Dorog, considering they lost last time out. "Nah, we're good enough to win this game. We just need to be focused and concentrate on putting the ball in the back of the net, and not whether we can keep Dorog out." HT: Dorog 0-0 MTK 54 mins: ❗ PENALTY! Mate Kovacs is brought down on the edge of the box and the ref points straight to the spot. It was a tight one. 54 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Dorog 0-1 MTK Krisztian Nemeth Nemeth steps up confidently...and fires home assuredly. A cracking penalty, right in the bottom right corner. It has been a nervous game from MTK but now they lead. 59 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Dorog 0-2 MTK Adam Horvath A belter from Horvath as he meets Stieber's cross on the half volley. It rebounds in off the udnerside of the bar and the keeper is helpless. 65 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Dorog 0-3 MTK Szabolcs Mezei Mezei comes on and shows Nagain just how good he is within a couple of minutes. The youngster fires in a sensational effort from near 25 yards. This MTK side has depth. FT: Dorog 0-3 MTK That was a nervy first half but we destroyed Dorog with three goals in a great 10 minute spell after the break. Our midfield was key today, Artur Horvath and Mihaly Kata controlling the midfield. Artur got himself among the goals, his fourth league goal of the season, and Szabolcs Mezei came on to show me he should be starting with a piledriver. It may be best for Hungarian football that we start with an U20 player but it's not done great for Szabolc's starting prospects. We have a nice gap at the top now, so perhaps it will soon be time to start embedding more youngsters in to the team on a more regular basis. MTK Player of the Match: Artur Horvath was simply outstanding today, and in all areas of his game. The midfielder created three clear cut chances against Dorog, played five key passes and weighed in with a goal to boot. Gyor got a win today but Haladas and Nyiregyhaza both lost to let us extend our gap at the top to eight points. That gap may shrink when Haladas meet Szeged on Wednesday but it leaves us in a very good place. Szeged were one of the favourites for promotion at the start of the campaign but they find themselves only just shy of the relegation zone. They did us a massive favour beating Nyiregyhaza 2-1 today and I hope they can continue the favours by beating Haladas on Wednesday. Monday 6th February 2023 I slept so good last night. Sorry, dear diary, that I didn't write but I was so mentally exhausted after that exhilirating match that I went to bed. Had a lovely day with Pandora today as we walked along the Danube, watching the river traffic go about their busy days. Pandora barely mentioned politics more than twelve times. We decided to treat ourselves to burgers for lunch at Lucky 7 Burgers. I had a Hungarian burger and can still taste lovely smoked sausage despite the tea I am drinking. My love had a grilled goats cheese burger and suggested candidly that it might not be the done thing for a green politician to be seen biting down on 160g of beef. "Good job you're just an assistant then", I said. I couldn't tell if Pandora's look was scowl or acceptance. We won't be going to McDonald's any time soon though. Not sure I care anyway though. Gourmet burger bars are way more football manager than Big Mac and fries. Just got a text from my sister. Szab ded chuff w his gl + well plsd w wot u thk of him. Rosina's text messages are as skimpy as her dancing clothes. She followed up that text with. Can Szab play v Debr. I replied with. You forgot the question mark. The reply to that was just a tongue out emoji. I think that's what they call them. Emoji. Hardly great writing these days, is it? Will do some reading before my head hits the pillow. Big game against Debrecen next. They're mid table in the top flight. We can win. Quarter Final if we do.

Every time I see Haladas I think I've switched to Greece or Cyprus. I can't help thinking of cheese. I suppose there's many connections down that way because of old associated nations. I thought I knew the name...somewhere in the back of my brain. Thanks. Whoever it is is getting extra training!

Matchday 21 Preview I didn't receive a scout report in my inbox but my scouts have been hard at work. Bekescsaba find themselves down in 14th place in our league and are not high scorers, notching only 21 goals this term. Their form is also patchy and they have won just twice since September, after a reasonable start to the campaign. We can expect the usual from a team desperate to get some points under their belt. If they don't start winning Bekescsaba could be sucked in to a relegation fight. Our last meeting was a 2-0 win at Bekescsaba with goals from Bognar and Stieber. ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ Confident, isn't he? How many can we score to hammer the nails down? A new super-confident me for the return to football. ~~~~~~ Time for Yurii to shine? I have agreed a loan for Yurii Matviiv to head back to his homeland until the end of the season. There is great potential to Yurii's game but he doesn't seem to be showing that right now and a loan with guaranteed football at a good level can help. Polissia Zhytomyr are in the promotion group stage of the Ukrainian Persha Liga. Can Yurii take them up? ~~~~~~ Matchday 21 - MTK Budapest FC vs Békéscsaba 1912 Elöre Two changes for MTK today. Zoltan Stieber returns after injury and replaces Peter Torocsik. At the back, Zsombor Nagy is preferred to Benedek Varju. Istvan Bognar is back on the bench today. MTK are lining up with two up top, a change over their outlook for the first half of the season. The Budapest side are heavy favourites over struggling Bekescsaba and are clearly looking to pile the misery down on Karoly Szanyo. We asked Nagain about this. "Yes, there is some thought about making Karoly think twice about his comments, but I welcome the challenge. May the best team win...as long as it's us." 20 mins: ❕ WOODWORK! Zoltan Vasvari hits the post after great link up play between him and Kovacs. MTK have all of the ball. 23 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 Bekescsaba Matyas Kovacs Great MTK link up play, this time down the left, between Kovacs and Horvath puts Kovacs one on one with the keeper. He dinks the ball home for 1-0. 28 mins: ❕ WOODWORK! Zoltan Vasvari hits the bar this time as he tries to dink the keeper after being put clear by Nemeth. 38 mins: ❕ WOODWORK! This time it is Zoltan Stieber with a lovely curling effort from the edge of the box that just fails, hitting the corner of the goal. 41 mins: ❕ BODY ON THE LINE! Zoltan Vasvari is denied by a tremendous last ditch block. The youngster could have a hattrick already. 43 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-0 Bekescsaba Artur Horvath Horvath heads home Stieber's searching free kick to finally make it two.We're losing count of how many MTK could have here. Half Time: MTK Budapest 2-0 Bekescsaba MTK well on top with 77% possession in that half and 13 efforts at goal. 79 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-1 Bekescsaba Gyorgy Bora Bora powers home a header following a Bekescsaba free kick. The MTK team look nervous. Nagain's hands are all over the place on the touchline. 79 mins: ❌ GOAL DISALLOWED! Nagain can breathe again as the Bekescsaba goal is ruled out for offside. There was a man offside but not Bora. Should that have stood? MTK 2-0 Bekescsaba 80 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-1 Bekescsaba Raymond Lukacs But that is surely a goal as no MTK defender can track Lukacs and he heads past the helpless Somodi. 88 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 3-1 Bekescsaba Zoltan Stieber But surely that seals it. After a rollicking from the boss, MTK have been much better. Szabolcs Mezei delivers a wonderful ball that Zoltan Stieber slots home at the far post. 90 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 4-1 Bekescsaba Zoltan Stieber And it's 4! Zoltan Stieber slots home his second after his first attempt was blocked. He was set up by lovely box play from Kovacs. MTK have really listened to Nagain. Full Time: MTK Budapest 4-1 Bekescsaba We dominated the first half today but were very shaky and looked incredibly complacent at the start of the second half. When Bekescsaba's goal was ruled out I was relieved. When their goal was given I was furious. I immediately launched a tirade and made changes. The team responded and that pleases me. Our strikers were a bit blunt today, though maybe unforetunate should be the word for Vasvari. He looked very subdued when he went off midway through the second half but the young man has to accept days like that will come. MTK Player of the Match: Matyas Kovacs had a great game on the left but it was the finish from Zoltan Stieber that will rob our young IW of today's award. Stieber had one assist to his name when Bekescsaba scored and I pushed the team on. The veteran answered me with a late brace to seal a good win. That is now 14 unbeaten! Sunday 29th January 2023 Well, that was a game today. That is what being a football manager is all about, but it really does highlight the stress levels that are incumbent with being a football manager. We could have been 6-0 up at 45 minutes but for the woodwork and last ditch defending. In the second half we allowed Bekescsaba the ball and might have paid for it. Complacency is something I've not managed to wheedle out of this team. I had a surprise phonecall from my father this evening. When I asked if he had phoned to congratulate me on the day's result he sneered and said you were bloody lucky you didn't lose it. He said I should have seen they were coming on to us and made big changes before they scored, not after. When I mentioned I was the football manager and asked if sneering was all he phoned for he told me no and that he had really phoned about Rosina. He asked me if I'd look after his little girl in the big city. I told him she was 21 years old and had had more wild nights out than all children of the Rolling Stones and David Bowie combined. But I'd make sure she was safe. He sighed and said he was sure her new boyfriend would look after her. When he said that him being one of my players would allow me to keep a close eye on her I damn near dropped my tea cup! "M-m-my player?" I asked, sputtering. Father just said I'd soon find out whom and said he had to go watch telly. My sister dating my player...that would explain some hubbub in training. The little gits! Haladas also won today so our win keeps us three clear. Nyiregyhaza and Gyor also both won and they're just behind Haladas. Only Gyor have scored more than us now and we have the best goal difference. There is another round of matches midweek, although only twelve teams play. So we will face Budafok, just up the road, on Wednesday and travel to Dorog a week today. You wanna know who it is, don't you? Well, I'm still deciding who is the best choice. Who is the most handsome of my players and who would date a brat? I need to wear my 21 year old gal glasses... The three key suspects. Szabolcs was a little nervous around me Friday. Mate was giggling like a boy on and off. Zsombor will barely look at me...but that could be because his form is rocking. And, yes, Mate is wanted on loan. As are the speelings and prunonciations... That about covers it! It would be hilarious if one of the three above popped in and said 'make it me'. Yeah, I know git is a bit English. Old habits...

Sorry for the lack of action, if anyone was hoping for it. I picked up a horrid cold last weekend and, after a couple of days bed rest, went back to work for a hectic week leading up to Christmas. Still feel a bit groggy with the sniffles but I finally feel like playing. ~~ INTERLUDE ~~ Just pretend it's been a pretty normal January life for Anton and Pandora. Pandora has been busy making political allies and Anton is hard at work looking for the player that will change MTK. Otherwise, that normal January. I had so many plans to press on and be back in to the season by now. Damn cold. Saturday 14th January 2023 I have neglected you, dear diary. To be perfectly honest, I have been enjoying the peace after Christmas. I had to get on my bike and shed a few chocolate-induced pounds too. The lads are back in training now, so the past few days have been back to normal, but last Tuesday I did a nice long cycle ride from Budapest, over the Danube, out in to the country west of Pest, north along the west bank of the Danube and then south back to Budapest. I managed to stretch my ride out to 50 miles and managed 500 meters of elevation. More cycling than I have done in a fair while. I suggested that this summer Pandora and I cycle around Lake Balaton and she said she likes the idea. We'll make a week of it. We return to action with the friendly visit of Honved later. Then, tomorrow, the window opens. I suspect I will have many reports to look through and meetings with my scouts until my eyes bleed. A satisfying start to our mid-season friendlies. We never once looked outclassed by the team a league higher than us and Nemeth had a great game up front. ~~~~~~ Kaka was never really in my first team plans and this sale frees up some wages. ~~~~~~ Martin came to me asking for a loan for more game time and I saw no reason not to allow it. The attacking midfielder has sealed a good move to Zilina in the Slovak Fortuna Liga. Martin will gain good experience there, and hopefully get plenty of pitch time to progress. ~~~~~~ We beat ZTE again in our second friendly, and by an even bigger margin than in the cup game. I played two up front as an experiment for this match. Elsewhere was usual fare for us. My advanced wide men were cutting inside, one central midfielder with liberty to get forward and support the attack whilst the other stayed back as the defensive shield and a right back as the main attacking threat from my back four. I think we may have had more cutting edge though. Zoltan Vasvari continues to amaze me whilst Marko Futacs impressed in a game I gave him to garner some attention. I have identified Marko as the man that may need to go to free up some wages but selling him has proven a challenge. Against Olimpija I picked a much younger side, with my eye on the NBII game just five days later, and got my first good look at goalkeeper Adrian Csenterics, center back Bence Varga and wide man Giuseppe Lauri. Lauri is very direct and had possibly our best chance but we struggled in front of goal in this game. Tuesday 24th January 2023 It was late when I got back from the Olimpija friendly, so I was surprised to get a call from my sister as I was sitting down for a late cup of tea, and to write some thoughts in my diary. Rosina says she is looking to study in Budapest after the summer and may move to the city before the summer. My sister wants to be an artist. I had no idea but she's been painting for years and chose not to pursue her education because art was her passion. She wants to take courses with an art and design collective here and learn from like minded peoples. I knew some arty types when I was studying my language courses. They were like modern hippies and got their creative output from a healthy intake of psychadelic drugs. Rosina will fit right in. I have completely lost any train of thought as to what I was going to write about before that phonecall... Current State of Our Transfer Window As previously seen, Kaka has left our club to play back in Ghana and Martin Palincsar will finish the season in Slovakia. In addition, two young stars will leave for first team football and hopefully more consistent development. Krisztian Csontos is a centre back from MTK II and Benedek Barkoczi is a striker in our U19 setup that I think will benefit from playing more competitive football. Both will finish the season in the third tier, Krisztian at Monor and Benedek at Veszprem. And so we are back to competitive football...the run in to hopefully promotion back to the top flight. Bence wishes to urge us on...

What is the pace of your LCD? He seems to me to be lagging behind and could be why he's not closing in when the attacker moves in to the area. Your RB and LB do close down but they're not going to get close when the original ball is played, even if they were Kyle Walker! By the end of that move you had 4 defenders in the box cutting off balls that could give their attacker support - support which doesn't look to be coming anyway. I notice you didn't complain about the terrible GK pass that went straight to your attacker. The original mistake by your RCD is a bit glaring, but I suspect what the game is trying to show is that he'd been outmuscled by the attacker. He has been Kieffer Moored! Of course, Kieffer would have fired that home. If you have seen a lot of what you think are glaring errors then the best bet is to post them in the bugs forums as pkms. Explain what you think is the issue and that is the best way that SI can analyse them and decide if there are issues. Maybe you have. I haven't checked, but they are less likely to look in to a video posted here. You have the right attitude and are constructive, so if you have a lot of examples then post them.

When you can easily make your own informed choice, by playing the demo, it would be only hurting yourself to not do so because of feedback in a limited forum for FM23. Personally, I am really enjoying the game and the the Steam rating was very positive last I looked. This forum is just a very small part of the FM community. FM23 is, imo, much the same game as FM22 with a much better ME. By all means read feedback, but don't use it as your sole decision maker. The demo is a very valuable tool to make your own opinion.