Matty Aqua

--- Off-Season --- The summer transfer window was a frustrating experience, Our captain Samu who refused to sign a new deal was the first to sign elsewhere signing a a deal with Anderlecht on decent wages and now has a transfer value of over €20,000,000. I was anticipating clubs attempting to pry away some of my young players, but I was unprepared for the board to sell half my starting eleven! At the end of the season, there were rumours of some clubs that were interested in Matheus Pereira and before I could even negotiate a better deal he was sold for €1,600,000 to Luton Town. The board decided to sell many players that I thought we could have received better transfer fees for and there wasn't much I could do about it, Alex Méndez was another player I thought we could have received more for but the board were adamant about selling him to Espanyol for €1,100,000 was a deal to good to turn down. Anderson Jesus was a player I recently signed to a new deal but I was anticipating him wanting to move if a bigger club came in. AZ Alkmaar came in with a €3,000,000 bid and the board accepted immediately. I made a few other smaller deals for players I thought wouldn't see much game time in the future or benefit the club. Jardel was sold for €180,000 which was mostly profit as he had signed on a free transfer at the start of the season and only found the back of the net twice for Vizela, Dylan Saint-Louis and Iker Unzeata were both deemed not good enough and moved on to generate some transfer flexibility and get the wages off the books. After missing out on many targets due to not offering high enough wages (because I refused to overpay) and players choosing destinations of more reputable status I was quietly content with the summer window transfer dealings. --- --- New Signings --- Tomás Pozzo - Free (Indepiente) Tomás Pozzo was the first signing I made and I committed to him being part of our plan early, Pozzo had impressed me with 3 goals and 3 assists in 13 games for Argentian side Indepiente so I had my eye on him early throughout the trials and fought off other interested clubs to his signature. I don't plan on shifting away from the 4-4-1-1 formation and I'm very content with the Wide Midfielder role on the right which Tomás Pozzo will be a huge upgrade on from last season. Tomás Pozzo already has a transfer value of over €6,000,000 - so I 'think' this is a good signing, I am excited to slot him into the starting lineup next season. Good technique, Flair, Determination and Balance. Resolute personality, Consistent performer and enjoys big matches! Reasonable wages and transfer value. Preferred left foot and reasonable right foot. He will be playing as the starting (R) Wide MIdfielder. --- Omar Janneh - Free (Atlético Madrid) Released from Atlético Madrid, I kept a keen eye on Omar Janneh throughout the season wondering if he would re-sign with Atlético Madrid but he agreed to a contract with Vizela until 2027 for a very low €400p/w. I signed him with a view of being a bit of a project player, standing 6'2" with great First Touch, Heading, Aggression, Determination and Balance at such a young age I figured it was worth a chance to try to develop Omar Janneh into a future Target Forward. Omar Janneh isn't quite ready for first-team football in my opinion and will most likely be loaned out and monitored throughout his development. 18 years old, good potential. Tall, Aggressive and Determined player (typical Diego Simeone) Low wages, low risk - high reward! Will look to find a loan for Jannah in Portugal to gain fluency in Portuguese. --- Cassiano - Free (Estoril Praia) Veteran Cassiano agreed to a one-year deal with Vizela after being released by Estoril Praia despite scoring 12 goals for them last season. Cassiano has played for Vizela in the past and has good work rate and leadership qualities and experience. I signed Cassiano as a backup striker option despite being a rather slow player. He was significantly cheaper wages and can slot into the Target Forward role if needed, I know it's not ideal to sign players of this age but I need to add depth as well as players to our starting 11. Initially, I thought he could have been a decent mentor as well but he doesn't enjoy big matches and only has a balanced personality so not particularly traits I wish to pass on to prospects from the youth academy. Good Leadership and Work Rate. Can play Target Forward Role despite lack of acceleration. --- Vasco Fernandes - Free (Casa Pia) Another veteran signed for depth, experience and leadership. Vasco Fernandes has signed for one season and although he isn't the quickest his mental attributes are still shapr and he can play both DM positions and CB. Anticipates situations well. Decent marking and Brave.

Noted! I will add some information regarding the tactical decisions I make if readers are interested in more of that!

--- End of Season --- At the end of the season, the board allocated 65k for a transfer budget so the majority of the transfers will have to be free transfers. With players moving back to their parent clubs and other contracts ending, some positions in the squad need immediate attention. I have cast the net far and wide looking for players that have contracts that are about to expire offering trials to as many players to gain knowledge as possible. Samuel Essende's return to SM Caen leaves a big hole in the striker position he finished with 13 goals for the season. Samu not interested in re-signing with us next season means I am in the market for a midfielder and I'm still very much chasing a loan deal for Romário Baró and he still is very much uninterested. I'm conscious of not blocking pathways for younger players Miguel Constantinescu and José Sampaio will be promoted to the senior team next season, and both players will play minutes in the first team next season. So the main philosophy of this off-season is based on patience, I'm preparing for players to be sold and funds are limited, as much as I would like to build around some of the youngsters in the squad such as Diogo Nascimento and Alex Méndez I'm anticipating bigger clubs putting in bids so having the patience to make the right replacement signing will be key this window. The above picture shows how the squad look with all the loan players returning to their parent clubs and as you can see there are many gaps to fill in the starting 11 as well as a lack of depth on the bench so it's going to be a very busy window period. Replacing Samuel Essende's goals won't be an easy task. My first off-season task was to review the backroom staff and make a few changes. I managed to sign a new Head of Youth Development coach Edgar Cardoso as I felt he was a better fit with higher working with youngsters attribute and Fairly Professional listed as his personality, he also wanted much cheaper wages compared to Cristiana Teixeira and was a better all-round fit for the club. Valter Vieira signed a new deal, there also weren't many options for DOF that financially we could afford anyway and I could have opted to go without a DOF but for realism purposes, I resigned him and his a decent scout nonetheless. Our financial position is going to need some attention, since we do not have a big stadium or a large status among the rest of the football clubs the only way we can make money is through player sales and potentially getting into a European competition but for now, that seems a long way off as I imagine next season we can aim to finish mid-table.

--- April 2024 --- LIGA PORTUGAL BWIN A routine win with a slightly rotated squad, 19-year-old Ary starts as the striker to rest Samuel Essende. Samuel Essende's goal-scoring form has dried up recently as his loan spell is coming to an end, he has signed permanently with Vizela in real life unfortunately he is not interested in signing in this universe. Estrela Amadora didn't threaten us throughout the match and a solid 2-0 win tho we had only 2 shots on target. Loan players Matías Lacava and Aleksandar Busnić score the winners for us, both will most likely return to their parent clubs in the summer. --- A disappointing loss to a struggling Moreirense team this season. Samuel Essende struggled to have any influence on the match. Moreirense continues to fight relegation dragging us back into the fight with them tho we still have a few points of safety. --- Looking at the average position we played too narrow and probably didn't press Portimonense enough allowing them too much time on the ball. 2 losses in a row at this time of the year is something that needs to be rectified. Some minor injuries, fatigue and general complacency have set it, I need to make sure it doesn't become permanent. --- After reminding the team the job is not done! - they came out and blitzed Arouca 3-0 Arouca played a 4-4-2 and we have done pretty well against the 4-4-2 and had a more difficult time against the 4-2-3-1 and the 4-3-3 I've noticed in my short time as manager. Our best 11 return to the starting line-up and put in a shift, 27 shots, 13 on target and XG of 3.46. I felt like we probably should have scored a few more of our chances but happy with the 3 points that secure us for next season in the top flight! --- May 2024 --- With relegation no longer looming over us, I decided to get some game time into players contracted for next season and beyond. Unfortunately, Captain Samu still isn't interested in signing a new deal with Vizela. I was expecting Sporting CP to play their 5-2-3 formation but instead, Rúben Amorim played a 4-2-3-1 and they comfortably defeated us as we yet again struggled to match up against the 4-2-3-1. Nuno Santos put on a clinic scoring a hat-trick for Sporting CP and Samuel Essende picked up a knee injury early in the match and looks like he has sadly played his final game for Vizela before returning to SM Caen in the summer. --- A frustrating match to watch! Chaves had 6 shots and 6 on target scoring 3 goals! Again, I persisted with a rotated squad of mostly players who are contracted to Vizela next season. Miguel Constantinescu joined on a free from Benfica at the start of the season and is emerging as a young prospect who will most likely be promoted to the senior team next season. Chaves take the 3 points and thankfully we're not in danger of relegation. The final game of the season was a goal-fest! Nuno Moriera and Alex Méndez scored 2 goals and Anderson Jesus thumped home a header in extra time. 19-year-old midfielder Miguel Constantinescu had another solid match picking up an assist and finishing with an average rating of 7.4. --- Thanks for reading! Next post will be an end of season/next season update.

--- Youth Intake --- Head of Youth Development coach Cristiana Teixeira has just announced the first prospects from the youth academy, only 8 players received professional contracts. Despite these players being a few seasons away from senior football it's promising. Tomás Cruz and Carlos Sousa look like they have the potential for first-team football in the future. All players will be placed in the under-19s squad for now to develop their attributes and see regular minutes on the pitch preparing them for senior football in the future. Tomás Cruz 15 years old and 16 finishing! - by far the most exciting prospect from the intake. Training as a Deep-Lying Forward to improve Balance, Passing and Teamwork. Individual training focus set to improve Balance. Carlos Sousa 6'2" and won't be afraid to get stuck in with 18 Aggression. Training as a Box-to-box midfielder. Sousa may never be the quickest player in the world but improving his mental and technical skills could make him a force in the middle of the pitch. Pedro Carrapiço Tall Centre-Back and great Jumping Reach for a 16-year-old. Training as a Ball-playing defender. He could develop into a squad player. Vasco Fernandes Bit of a project as Fernandes is a bit small and lacks the acceleration and strength to be a top-class Full-Back (could improve?) Technical and mental attributes are rather low but has the potential to improve. Decent with the ball on both feet and 15 Natural Fitness Training as an Inverted Full-Back (L) Ricardo Cabrita Training as a Wing-Back (R) Great Natural Fitness for 15 The tackling attribute is good, but needs to improve positioning and pick up some pace. João Cunha Short and not very strong Cunha is going to have to rely on his ability to be in the right spot at the right time to score goals. Training as a Poacher. Individual Focus on Attacking Movement. Dinis Madanços 15 Natural Fitness and a good first touch. Lots of room for development. Speaks Portuguese, English, French and Spanish at 16 years old. Training as an Advanced Playmaker. Individual training focus on Attacking Movement. Could be a squad player in the future. Carlitos Training as a Wide Midfielder (L) The ability to play the ball on both feet already at 16 is good. Initially a natural winger, but I want the coaches to develop his playmaking ability. --- Overall not a bad intake, I wouldn't class this as an outstanding youth intake but it's solid. Our Head of Youth Development coach Cristiana Teixeira is out of contract at the end of the season and although it's a solid first youth intake I'm not sure she is worth €4,100 per week. I'm also prepared to look around for other candidates for the roles based on the fact she has a Balanced personality, there may be better development coaches who could get the very best out of our youth academy prospects available at the end of the season. Director of Football Valter Vieira is also out of contract at the end of the season and although I'm not utilising the DOF in a "realistic sense" as I am handling scouting and contracts - I still think it's realistic to have a DOF at the club. Thanks for reading! (All Newgen faces are from the NewGan Face pack brought to you by the guys at View from the Touchline, the website link is here)

Sure! and thanks for reading! The idea behind this tactic is to be solid in defence and still maintain the ability to press the opposition. Slightly stronger emphasis on counter-attacking against stronger opponents (Porto, Benfica, Sporting) Utilise a Deep Lying Forward to drop deep and connect the play instead of a Target Forward as the Target Forward can get isolated. Depending on the opposition I switch the Advanced Playmaker role to a Central Midfielder and the Mezzala to a Box-to-box midfielder. A positive Mentality increases the individual mentalities of all players which makes a naturally defensive tactic a bit more attacking.

Thanks for reading as always! I like the simpleness of the tactic as the individual attributes of the team bring lots of creativity.

--- March 2024 --- LIGA PORTUGAL BWIN The win against FC Porto was certainly a great achievement as it moved us well away from the relegation zone and boosted morale but there was no time to rest on our laurels as we have a tough month ahead facing Braga, Benfica and Famalicão. We matched up with Braga well, an entertaining game with both teams hitting the bar and near misses! We should have held Braga to a draw but an unlucky deflection opened an opportunity for Ricardo Horta right in front of goal in the 82nd minute! Samuel Essende and Matías Lacava are the goal scorers for Vizela. --- We have Benfica next! Facing another 4-4-2 After weeks of training and strategizing, I decided to implement the 4-1-4-1 formation for our next game. With this carefully crafted plan, I was confident that we had a strong chance of success. I was confident that we had a strong chance of success as we went into half-time 0 - 0 but another defensive mistake by Bruno Wilson cost us a penalty. I'm starting to regret his contract extension. '59 minute - João Mário scores a penalty. '90th minute - The Benfica defender closes down Matías Lacava leaving Diogo Nascimento open ...and he slots the goal into the top corner levelling the score 1 - 1 The action didn't stop there, keeping the 4-1-4-1 formation, I substituted Samuel Essende in the 85th minute. Samuel Essende had played well, but he looked fatigued, Jardel comes on to offer something different upfront. A defensive error sees a stray pass intercepted by Matías Lacava who quickly runs to the byline whipping in a pin-point cross to Jardel... '95th minute - Jardel scores!! in some last-minute madness! Yes! you are reading that correctly! 2 late goals were scored to secure three points in the match against Benfica! Benfica maintained 59% possession but both teams were relatively well matched looking at the stats. Despite the average ratings being low, the stats tell a different story, I'm happy with how we played and thought we deserved something from the match - 3 points a great result. We've defeated FC Porto and Benfica in my first few weeks as manager, surely the fans are excited about the future! --- Despite defeating Benfica we didn't carry the momentum into the Famalicão match. Famalicão had the momentum all match with 17 shots at goal, Alex Méndez did equalize in the 83rd minute off a deflected free-kick but a minute later Otso Liimatta put Famalicão ahead. --- Thanks for reading!

I will add some more to the OP over the next few days, anyone know why I cannot change image sizes? I've also added a scout to our recruitment team, tho it's still limited Adolfo Valencia brings us experience and knowledge of nations such as Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela. I'll set his recruitment task to focus on Portugal at the moment to have him gain knowledge of Portugal.

--- February 2024 --- LIGA PORTUGAL BWIN A draw vs Estoril Praia in a rather uneventful match, they didn't create much but we didn't either. The 5-2-2-1 formation was heard to break down, maybe I should have pressed them even higher? GK Fabijan Buntić picked up Player of the Match despite Estoril Praia only having 1 shot on target. --- Gil Vicente scored the first goal and despite not winning the possession battle, we thrashed Gil Vicente 7-1! 19 shots, 12 shots on target, Samuel Essende scored a hat trick and Alex Méndez scored 2 goals. Samuel Essende makes the team of the week after that performance, Ballon d'Or form? --- Our next match will be the toughest yet, we face FC Porto at home. February has been a busy month for FC Porto, but Sérgio Conceição has them flying at the moment and hasn't lost a game this month winning their last 5 matches. I'm preparing for FC Porto by focusing the training for the week on getting tactically familiar with our defensive structure. FC Porto striker Mehdi Taremi has scored 7 this month and is in form. Both Mehdi Taremi and Samuel Essende have 11 goals for the season Taremi has hit the ground running having only featured in 8 matches this season. We scored 2 goals early and held off Porto well, very happy with the result. Alex Méndez scored early and in-form striker Samuel Essende scored 6 minutes later! --- Contract Extensions Ending February with a bit of housekeeping, I managed to sign some players on new deals to secure the first-team squad next season. This lightens the stress on a very small scouting team and keeps some continuity within the group next season. I also need to try to sell some of these players in the future to generate some income.

--- January 2024 --- LIGA PORTUGAL BWIN Our first match is against Chaves, who is currently in 10th position under manager Moreno and I have to say it was a great debut match as manager! The high-press 4-4-1-1 tactic worked well against Chaves's deep 3-4-2-1 creating an outstanding amount of shots. 32 shots and 18 on target compared to Chaves 5 shots in total is a great sign the players are adapting well to the tactic Only 3 clear cut chances Samuel Essende scores, Tomás Silva the assist and picks up the man of the match award, and Vizela has won their first match in 13 games! --- LIGA PORTUGAL BWIN Two wins on the bounce and another clean sheet vs Farense! Vizela moves one step away from the relegation battle as the January transfer window is about to shut. Diogo Nascimento scores his first goal of the season and is very quickly becoming a favourite player of mine. --- Transfer Deadline Day --- I didn't have any money to spend in January. A 6,000-seater stadium that averages a crowd of 2,000 for home games isn't going to bring in much money despite the recent turn in form and excitement around the club. Not only did we defeat Farense but they did us a small favour by selling former Vizela player Luiz Felipe to Nashville giving us a small amount of transfer money. Unwilling to spend that money on a permanent transfer I opted to look for loans to solidify us in the Portuguese top tier and move Vizela up the table. --- I made multiple offers to loan Porto midfielder Romário Baró but he rejected every offer (annoying! 😡) Baró has not seen much game time at Porto and is transfer listed for €5M but he opted to remain with Porto and rejected loans from Feyenoord and Anderlecht. I've shortlisted him as a loan option for the summer transfer window, sent my scouts to watch him, and I'll attend some Porto matches to look at him in action and see if I can convince him his future is with Vizela! --- I completed a loan deal for Gonçalo Esteves from Sporting CP on deadline day. We needed cover at the RB position and captain Samu wanted me to strengthen the defence, time was limited as the clock was ticking down. But I am happy with the signing, Esteves joins us for the rest of the season. --- Starting the campaign with two wins and adding some depth at right-back is a good start to end things, Samuel Essende picked up Player of the Month and is in red-hot form with 6 goals this month. I'll play through the rest of the season and most likely do an end-of-season update. Still, for now, I'm focusing on contract extensions for players in the current squad who can help us in the upcoming season and scouting players in the Portugal and Spanish regions. Starting the campaign with two wins and adding some depth at right-back is a good start to end things, Samuel Essende picked up Player of the Month and is in red-hot form with 6 goals this month (5 goals under the previous manager). I'm focusing on contract extensions for players in the current squad who can help us in the upcoming season and scouting players in Portugal and Spanish regions although our scouting knowledge is decent in certain South American countries, I don't have the staff to scout multiple nations yet so I'm focusing on free transfers and offering trials to try and find some gems! - Thanks for reading!

Welcome to Vizela, a team that currently plays in Portugal's top-flight football league Liga Portugal Bwin. Futebol Clube de Vizela is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vizela, Braga District. Founded in 1939, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal Bwin and plays its home games at the Estádio do Futebol Clube de Vizela, with a capacity of 6,100. A small club that has risen through the ranks of the Portuguese divisions over the last few seasons. Portuguese football has been dominated by 3 teams Porto, Benfica, and Sporting CP with only 2 other teams in history winning a title Belenenses in 1945 and Boavista in 2001. Vizela is currently in 16th position after a run of 12 games without a win in this FM save universe mid-January after sacking former manager Pablo Villar, so an immediate change in form is required to survive in the top-flight. The long-term plan is to become the top club in Portugal. Backroom Staff - Assistant Manager My first task after an assessment of the club was to bring in an assistant manager, again with a financial budget in mind I'm not willing to buy anyone out of their existing contracts or overpay in wages. I also wanted some sort of semblance of realism so I employed a young Australian assistant to help me in the dugout. Diogo Ferreira is a good fit for the assistant manager role as he is from Melbourne, is of similar age, fluent in Portuguese and is reasonable in wages. I've already asked the board to send him on a coaching course as developing my backroom staff is something I want to achieve. I am hoping his language fluency can help smooth the transition of an English-speaking manager. Diogo Ferreira has a Professional personality and good working with youngsters attribute which is important for a club like Vizela who is going to rely on player sales to generate income. Diogo Ferreira is the only backroom staff I have added so far, there are many expiring staff contracts I will attend to at the season's end. Squad Overview FC Vizela consists of 4 teams, competing in various competitions and has a very diverse squad consisting of 17 different nationalities. First Team Under 23s Under 19s & Under 19s B-Team --- First Team Analysis Taking over mid-season means there is no pre-season to tinker with the tactic, it's about diagnosing the problems and creating solutions as quickly as possible. Looking at the attributes of our players allows me to spot the strengths and weaknesses of the starting lineup. ~ (Players are organised by position) Defenders Below-average physical ability. Average to slightly above average mental ability. Decent physical ability. Anderson Jesus has good Concentration and Determination. Midfielders Average physical ability. Average to slightly above average mental ability. Experienced midfielder Samu has exceptional mental attributes for this level - (Aggression, Bravery, Determination, Teamwork and Work Rate) Physical attributes are average. Attackers Below average technical ability. Alex Méndez has great First-Touch and Composure. Physical attributes are above average. Technical attributes are slightly above average for this level. Vizela is in 16th position and has conceded the highest amount of goals (33 goals conceded in 18 matches) The Expected Goals table shows we should have had 2 more goals scored and conceded 6 goals less. The goal output data shows me the obvious - that we are leaky in defence and not scoring. General performance data shows we have a good pass-completion ratio compared to the rest of the league. The team has been getting shots on target but not converting. The data shows defensively we are getting lots of blocks and lots of clearances and winning Aerial duels which is positive, but most of our defensive actions have come from deep in our box. Perhaps the defensive line has been too deep? maybe we are being pushed back too often by not retaining possession. In possession of the ball, we have been wasteful and our crosses have not been impactful. We currently have a few key players away on International duty for the upcoming matches. Tomás Silva has 13 Crossing attribute and only managed to complete 9% of his crosses. Collating all domestic league data 122 Shots attempted 22 On Target 18 Goals Judging by what the data tells me. we may not be making the best decision in front of the goal but we seem to have a decent return on shots on target. Samuel Essende has a 46% Shots on on-target ratio and a return of 7 goals, the only data available from the match against Boavista shows how deep positionally Essende has been playing. Below is Samuel Essende's average position vs Boavista and the 3 shot attempts at goal, he is sitting very deep. Below is Samuel Essende's average position vs Boavista and the 3 shot attempts at goal, he is sitting very deep in the previous formation. --- Tactic and Play-Style I want the formation to be structured to concede fewer goals and offer an attacking threat in transition, based on the information gathered in the data hub. The tactic considered for this squad now is a 4-4-1-1 based on the squad's strengths and weaknesses. Higher press to pressure the opponents on the ball. Attacking players in wide positions, central positions stay compact Monitoring the BBM role as it could leave too much of a gap in the middle if he roams too much on the pitch, despite Samu having 17 for Positioning the Inverted Winger and Box-to-box midfielder may take up the same space on the pitch. Target Forward able to hold up the ball and play quicker players into transition counter-attacks and also be a threat in the box (May change to a Deep-Lying Forward) *I will play a few games and make some necessary changes to the tactic, this is just a starting point. --- Club Dynamics One of the first things I do when taking the managerial position is create training schedules based on the style of play I am trying to implement, there is a lot of great information on the forums about training but this is just the way I approach it, some prefer to simply leave it to the assistant manager. I don't think there is a wrong way to train players providing you don't overload them, but I do believe you can get the maximum potential out of your players with specific training schedules and balancing rest, training, matches, and recovery, again I emphasize that you can train your players how you wish and there is no right or wrong way. I also focus on building Team Cohesion, Tactical Familiarity and Morale over the first few weeks, integrating specific training sessions that can improve those facets and benefit the squad's performance. FOCUS Fitness Pre-season is all about getting those kilometres in the legs, from my experience unfit players don't hit the season in good form and tend to become a bit fatigued and jaded in the February/March months. You don't want your promotion push to be hampered by players being too tired to play, do you? Morale Morale is linked to club atmosphere, general happiness of players regarding training and playing time on the pitch as well as confidence, Spending a few minutes having a chat with some of your players regarding their recent, training performance or solving some issues can see a change in attitude and up-turn in form. Players at the top of your hierarchy can potentially have an influence on less influential players below them. Tactical Familiarity Getting players to 100% tactical familiarity as soon as possible is crucial, I focus on one tactic and one mentality for the first few weeks to make sure that the base of what we are trying to achieve on the pitch is understood, then create the same tactic with a different mentality and train that as a secondary with some tweaks and adjustments (ex: width, tempo, passing, defensive lines) to make sure players have familiarity with alternative instructions, should I need to make in-game changes the players will be familiar with different options. Team Cohesion I put so much importance on Team Cohesion when joining a new club and there are multiple reasons as to why I do so. Team Cohesion can influence how your team gels together on the pitch, without Team Cohesion you will see players give away free kicks, penalties, set-piece goals, missed passes, and goal-scoring opportunities which can result in bad morale and players losing support in the manager quickly. There's also a chance you're managing in a country where you don't have language fluency yet, and potentially neither do some players, this has an effect on the pitch as players will often have neutral or bad body language and not feel comfortable on the pitch, so it's important to have a culture where players are all on the same page and support the manager. I've set up mentoring groups factoring in the social hierarchy status of players, personality, time at the club, position and unit of players. At this point, both leaders Anderson Jesus and Samu are not willing to sign new deals but they are the leaders of the dressing room with experience and good personalities. I'd like to sign both players on extensions to keep some continuity throughout the group also Vizela doesn't have much money to spend and is still a small club, so replacing ready-made senior players won't be easy. Alex Méndez is a player I think could go on to play for bigger clubs, so his short time under the influence of our team captain Samu may have a small but positive effect. If you have read this far, thanks for reading! you can find me on Twitter or you can check out some of my other threads on the forums that I update sporadically. Union Berlin - Developing Football within a City Saint-Étienne - All that Glitters is Green

Nice idea! it seems like every multi-club ownership model has some shady financial background (Everton is currently being taken over by 777)

Reserved for Squad details...

"All that Glitters is Green" PROLOGUE I decided to re-start my St-Étienne save as I lost momentum with my original St-Étienne save over Christmas. Additionally, I decided to step away from my personal FM blog, return to the forums, and try to add some value here as I enjoy reading the content here. To give some context, I lived in France for a while in 2019, but never got the chance to visit Saint-Étienne and I always wanted to manage a team in France and topple PSG, however my consistency and dedication to FM saves lately have been quite poor, perhaps I lose touch with saves to easy these days? I should also mention I am a slow FM player and an even slower FM Blogger, I go through stages of playing FM a lot and wanting to delve deep into it and post all my details and ideas - to needing to take breaks from the game either due to burnout or real-life requirements and then I lose touch with the save, so I plan to take my time and return to playing/writing about FM when I can. As for the save, I did consider starting this save as an 'attributeless’' save using the Statman skin created by @_Ben_ but the commitment and dedication required were probably a bit out of my wheelhouse! it's a terrific skin tho and I strongly recommend you check out his threads, maybe one day I'll venture into the world of FM attributeless! but for now, I'll leave that to the elite FM managers out there and put that idea on the back burner. The database I am using is quite large as I play mostly on my PC and prefer a deeper world of footballers available - as I mentioned I play slowly anyway and I have added a few confirmed future transfers in the pre-game editor such as Claudio Echeverri to Manchester City and Marcos Leonardo to Benfica on the respective dates which I'm sure will be reflected in the upcoming Real World database option. Finally, the new feature to transfer games over to future versions of Football Manager is a game-changer for me as I can now play at my own pace and not feel the pressures of losing a save due to the new game release as I can continue my save (and thread) into FM25 and beyond, so I may start other save threads and wite/blog/play them at my own pace also - so that won’t mean this save is dead, it just means I just have a few different ideas and clubs I would like to manage and the new feature allows me to do so. I welcome and am encouraging of all discussion in the thread, but I always like to clarify that I am not an FM tactical guru and I am constantly learning new things from other creators in the community. Cheers - Matty CLUB HISTORY Saint-Étienne were founded on June 26, 1933, Saint-Étienne are celebrating its 90th anniversary this season. Based in the Rhone-Alps region the city of Saint-Étienne was once the centre of the coal mining industry, situated at the heart of the Loire coal mining basin. The mines have long since closed, but the city remains proud of its heritage and new signings are given a miner’s lamp on joining St-Étienne. The club says the lamp is an "object symbolizing the history of the city of Saint-Étienne" and carries the values of "hard work and bravery". The football club was founded by employees of a grocery store chain called Groupe Casino; the choice of their famous green kits was due to it being the primary colour of the grocery store. Upon football becoming professional in France, in 1933 the club changed its name to AS St Etienne or ASSE as it is commonly known and was inserted into the second tier of French football. They gained promotion to the first division during the 1938-39 season under the stewardship of Englishman Teddy Duckworth. Saint-Étienne were once serial winners in French football between the years 1956 and 1981 Les Verts secured their place in the history of French football by winning ten league titles, a record that has only just been surpassed by PSG recently. It may be hard to believe now considering Ligue 1 has been dominated by the Qatari-backed PSG over the last decade, winning 9 titles since 2012/13 taking PSG to 11 in total. Saint-Étienne now sits behind them holding the second most amount of league titles with 10 titles, their last title league title was won over 40 years ago in 1980/81 captained by iconic Michel Platini. The year, after their final league title win Saint-Étienne, suffered a sudden and steep decline after long-time president Roger Rocher was jailed for his role in an illicit payments scandal, Roger Rocher led Saint-Étienne through its glory days of nine French League championships between 1964 and 1981 and an appearance in the 1976 European Champions Cup final losing to Bayern Munich, he resigned the presidency of Saint-Étienne, which he had held for 21 years. In August 1982, Roger Rocher admitted the existence of a 'slush fund' at the club, made up of undeclared gate receipts and used to pay star players illegal bonuses, this was the catalyst for a downturn, with club legend Robert Herbin’s lengthy stint as manager ending in 1983. unsurprisingly the club suffered relegation to Ligue 2 in 1984. Saint-Étienne returned to the top flight in 1986, but they were never quite the same force. They would retain their status their Ligue 1 status for a decade despite the ongoing financial insecurities. In 1996, the club was relegated back to the second tier and again bounced back to Ligue 1 in 1999. The following year there was yet another scandal as two players were found to be using fake passports – after an investigation that showed some staff members were involved in the acquisition of the forged documents, Saint-Étienne was docked seven points and relegated not returning to Ligue 1 until 2004. Following another three seasons in Ligue 2, St Etienne returned to the topflight for the 2004/05 campaign. They arrived back in the top division with a new philosophy in which the club’s investment in youth was the main focus going forward. The 04/05 squad consisted of a core group of players who had either emerged through the academy (Bafetimbi Gomis and Loic Perrin) or were shrewd investments in quality young French players (Blaise Matuidi and Dimitri Payet). Perrin, who stayed with his boyhood club throughout his entire career is considered one of the best players to wear the green of St. Etienne in recent years. In December 2009, Galtier was appointed the head coach of Saint-Étienne, with ASSE in danger of relegation following the departure of Alain Perrin. Galtier successfully guided ASSE to safety in his first season, finishing in 17th place. Christophe Galtier’s nearly seven-and-a-half tenure has been the highlight of the modern era, Saint-Etienne finished as high as fourth in 2013-14, and he led them to six successive top-half finishes. Jean-Louis Gasset also managed to keep Saint-Etienne strong, as they finished seventh and fourth in respective seasons, with that top-four finish earning them a spot in the 2019-20 UEFA Europa League. Gasset walked out in May 2019 after a reported dispute with the club’s board and then Ghislain Printant’s stint at the club was short-lived, leading Claude Puel, former Premier League manager of Leicester City and Southampton, to win the job in October 2019. Puel joined a club sitting 19th in the league but quickly gave every Saint-Etienne supporter the perfect gift, a win against hated rivals Lyon, but a hallmark of Puel’s tenure was been his side’s tendency to go on long runs of form - both good and bad. Saint-Etienne lost nine of their last 12 Ligue 1 matches in the 2019-20 season, winning just one before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak with Puel’s men sitting 17th on the table, Just two sides were relegated that season with Saint-Etienne ultimately finishing seven points adrift of safety. The Coupe de France provided more joy, though, with Saint-Etienne making an exciting run to the final. Only a goal from PSG’s Neymar decided that showpiece occasion, as Saint-Etienne - playing for more than an hour with 10 men after a bright start saw them only denied the opener by the woodwork - fell just short of claiming the title they last won in 1977. Puel's tenure would end at Saint-Étienne in 2021 and the club would again be relegated to Ligue 2 losing 5-4 on penalties to Auxerre in their promotion-relegation playoff, angry fans then stormed the pitch setting off flares resulting in Saint-Étienne being deducted three points and having to play four matches behind closed doors the following season. Currently, AS Saint-Étienne is still in the hands of its two main shareholders Bernard Caiazzo and Roland Romeyer, who are at odds over the club's future. In 2021 Cambodian crown prince Norodom Ravichak, the nephew of the king, had made a €100m bid and outlined a bold plan to restore the fallen giants to their former glory, but to add further embarrassment to the recently relegated status the documents provided were fake. The co-presidents Roland Romeyer and Bernard Caïazzo have overseen a backsliding in the club’s standing as successive bids were pushed away by either one or the other, putting the club’s much-needed sale on standby for years. With both men prioritising their favoured bidders and neither willing to invest much money into the club, they have let the club sleepwalk into financial and sporting dismay. Saint-Étienne is still currently in Ligue 2 and according to reports, the owners are still looking for a buyer of this historic club but things are tougher now more than ever, as Ligue 1 has shifted to just 18 teams also the French Football Association has been forced to scrap its domestic broadcast rights auction after getting no offers that met the minimum prices for the two main Ligue 1 live packages from 2024 to 2029, meaning much less TV broadcast revenue for french clubs making it even harder for the French leagues to try to close the financial gap between the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A. Unfortunately, Amazon Prime appears to believe it overpaid for the rights in 2021 and is in no mood to bid against itself, Canal+ is still smarting from the decision to award MediaPro the rights five years ago, and beIN is finally making money and is perfectly happy with the rights it already holds, DAZN is saving up for a run on the Premier League’s rights and Apple is just not interested in French club football. The relationship between Canal Plus and French football is similar to that between Sky Sports and the English Premier League in the UK. The mega-rich Premier League's current three-year cycle for broadcast rights, from 2022 to 2025, was sold for more than £10 billion, with international rights outstripping the figure for the domestic market for the first time. This bidding process comes at a delicate time for French football, given the recent departures of superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar from champions Paris Saint-Germain and the uncertainty over the long-term future of Kylian Mbappe at the Qatar-backed club. Who knows what the future of French football will look like? STADE GEOFFROY-GUICHARD Rarely has a city captured an audience that has identified so much with a stadium, built on mine galleries and surrounded, for decades, by factories whose chimneys let out puffs of black smoke. Anchored in the centre of the city, it constitutes more than ever the monument which symbolizes the city of Saint-Etienne. It has been transformed and modernized over time. From an elliptical configuration to its latest evolution since 2016 a more harmonious structure while keeping its soul which means that Geoffroy-Guichard will always remain Geoffroy-Guichard. The Stade Geoffroy-Guichard is affectionately nicknamed Le Chaudron (The Cauldron) for its fiery atmosphere, Recently renovated for Euro 2016, Geoffroy-Guichard is the 7th largest stadium in France. It can accommodate up to 42,000 spectators for Greens matches, but also for international competitions. So in 2023, the stadium will host the Rugby World Cup and, a year later, football matches during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. THE BLACK PANTHER The legendary Salif Keita was an African icon who joined the club in the late 60s and is often referred to as the Black Panther, Saint-Étienne once saluted their legendary player with a Black Panther club crest in his honor, and sadly he passed away recently, but how Salif Keita ended up a player for Saint-Étienne is a legendary tale itself. A Saint-Étienne fan, who was working for the embassy of Lebanon, spotted him in Mali and persistently wrote to the club informing them of Salif Keita's talent. He also insisted that they keep it a secret. Consequently, Salif Keita was smuggled from Mali to Liberia and then flew to Paris, France. At the time, the directors of Saint-Étienne were not present at the airport to meet him. Upon arrival, the letter of introduction sent by the club persuaded a local taxi driver to take him over 500km to Saint-Etienne, where an official paid a fare that would total nearly £1,100 today. In his five years at the club, Salif Keita won three league titles, two French Cups, and the first African Ballon d'Or award. He scored 140 goals in 185 games along the way. It was arguably the best money the club has ever spent. Salif Keita is remembered as a trailblazing pioneer by many African footballers who followed in his footsteps to play in Europe. Though the recruitment of African players to European clubs did not properly begin until the 90s, long after he had retired, Keita is still considered one of the greats inspiring generations of African players to come and play in Europe, the Panther celebration by Bafetimbi Gomis is said to be a symbol following the goal-scoring exploits of Salif Keita, which makes it a perfect time to reintegrate a focus on scouting players from West Africa and try to find our next Black Panther. SQUAD OVERVIEW AS Saint-Étienne football club consists of 3 teams, Participating in different contests and tournaments. Ligue 1 Coup De France First Team Squad The first team will average a squad of an average of 23-25 players. The focus is primarily on the current ability. Youth players showing promise will be given opportunities to train with the first team and be part of the game-day squad. ST - Yanis Lhéry (20) W - Maxence Rivera (21) GK - Boubacar Fall (22) B Team (Team active, but not registered in competition in-game) Under 19 Team French Under 19 National THE TACTIC LES VERTS ACADEMY 2023 OBJECTIVES ⚡ Get Promoted to Ligue 1 The first objective is to get Saint-Étienne back into Ligue 1, I will be taking over the position as manager at approximately the time Laurent Battles got sacked in real life so the "Day One" approach is a bit different for me, I won't have an upcoming pre-season to prepare for, and there's no tactic testing or getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of my players. 🔍 Sign one West African player per season With a recruitment focus set to West Africa, I am looking to find the best talent from nations Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. I plan on signing at least one player from a West African nation per season and integrating them into the club via the academy. ⚽ Break the Black Panthers goal scoring record In the 1970/71 season, Salif Keita scored 42 goals, I'll need to find a hell of a player to break this record, but it adds an intriguing element to the save. 💲 Sell a homegrown player for more than €33,755,000 Not so long ago Saint-Étienne was recruiting and developing some high-profile players - Kurt Zouma, Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Dimitri Payet, and Blaise Matuid, all have been sold for profit the highest being the recent sale of Wesley Fofana to Chelsea for €33,755,000 I want to develop a player from our academy and break that record. (The highest transfer Saint-Étienne has spent on a player was €9,786,000 on Loïs Diony from Dijon - he scored a total of 7 goals in 4 seasons for Saint-Étienne and signed for Angers for free) 💚 Win the Ligue 1 title PSG have recently overtaken Saint-Étienne in titles won, it may take a few seasons to overthrow the giants that are PSG but I plan to rebuild Saint-Étienne as champions of Ligue 1. 🏆 Win the Champions League before PSG! PSG have dominated the Ligue 1 competition over the last decade, but the Champions League remains an elusive trophy for PSG. Saint-Étienne and PSG have both finished second place in the Champions League final, more recently PSG lost to Bayern Munich in the 2019/20 season and Saint-Étienne also lost to Bayern Munich in the 1975/76 season, the irony huh? So as challenging as it can be to chase down PSG in the domestic competition winning the Champions League before them would be quite an achievement! If you have managed to read this Introductory post then thanks, I hope it was informative and enjoyable to read about the history of Saint-Étienne and the plans I have for the save. As I mentioned all discussion is more than welcome and I will be starting the save around the time Laurent Battles has been sacked in real life, you can also find me on Twitter posting various things about football and Football Manager.

Ultimately it's whatever you find enjoyable to play, if you think it's time for change then go for it!

I think it might be worth continuing with FeralpiSalo, the long-term challenge is there!

I always start my saves like this, always seems strange to me to take over a manager's job if he still has the job IRL.

Nice start! I love old-fashioned counter-attacking football, I will be reading along.

Reserved

I generally like to take over a managerial position once a position is available, things haven't started off well for Real Valladolid and Paulo Pezzolano has been sacked just a few months after being relegated from LaLiga and taking over from Pacheta. We are now at the beginning of November and Real Valladolid is currently in 16th position, quite a way off the expected promotion push the board is expecting but that's where I'll be picking things up from. Just for some reader's context.

As a kid there wasn’t much football on TV down under and there wasn’t this magical thing called ‘YouTube’ where I could watch clips of certain teams and players and keep in touch with the world of football. I was familiar with the “household” names at the time - Manchester United, Arsenal, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona and I had a fair idea of who they were and their relevance, but there was one player who everyone knew.... I think back now to how very little exposure I had to world game of football when I was a kid, if I was lucky I would get some highlights on the late night news about Manchester United or some brief news about Australian players abroad Mark Viduka, Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell come to mind, but I can tell you that everyone knew the name of Brazil's striker Ronaldo, (and his haircut). At school lunchtimes we’d play soccer and pretend to be like Ronaldo, kids were even cutting their hair like Ronaldol!, but we simply had no way of watching him play regularly and admire the true superstar striker he was, as we could only watch World Cup games being broadcasted on television. I realize now the influence the phenomenal star Ronaldo had on the world - long before modern day technology became a tool to facilitate a players marketing and global reach. As a fully fledged football fan (sadly, no longer sporting a Ronaldo hair style) I have more curiosity as to what made him so great!, such a phenomenon?... what were the pieces Ronaldo had around him tactically?, what were his player traits?, how did he become this myth-like figure among the football world?, and naturally that led me to the current day like of Brazilian Ronaldo who is currently the owner of Real Valladolid. CLUB HISTORY The LaLiga is no easy league to conquer and operating with one of the smallest budgets Real Valladolid have been continually punching above their weight, and in the coming years are planning to make a push for European football, which would be a massive achievement for Valladolid and Ronaldo, considering staying in the league for three consecutive seasons has only happened once for Real Valladolid in the last 20 years. Between the years 1948 and 1964 can be referred to as La época dorada which translates to "The Golden Years" for the club where they predominately played in LaLiga. Real Valladolid is located about 190 kilometers northwest of Madrid with a population of just over 300,000 people. Being in relatively short distance from two giant clubs like Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid the closeness is seen as an opportunity to try and secure some loan deals for emerging young talent. LA PUCELA Derived from the word 'pucelanos' one of the great mysteries of Real Valladolid is why they are called "La Pucela", theories suggest the origin began in the 1940's and gained more popularity in the 1970's. Over the years, some of these assumptions have become more believable than others, here are the most compelling stories surrounding the nickname "La Pucela". In the fifteenth century some Knights from Valladolid took the way to France in order to defend the Maid of Orleans at the famous Hundred Years War against Britain (1337-1453). As in the old Castilian language of the time the word "maid" used to be called "pucela" these knights were nicknamed "pucelas" at his return to the city. Another surmise of the nickname comes from the very location of Valladolid. Located between the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers and the Canal de Castilla, it was considered by many as a pond in a dry place. Therefore, from the diminutive "Pozuela" (Pond) derive the word "Pucela". Finally, as one of the most compelling stories, the term "Pucela" is named after the cement trade that the Castilian city developed with the Roman town of Pozzuoli. At the time, Valladolid was the only city distributing materials from Pozzuoli and thanks to that industry promoted by their inhabitants, the Castilian town inherits that pseudonym which still is used to refer to the players Real Valladolid CF. Whatever the origin of the word Pucela, it is common to find that Valladolid and Pucela are used as synonyms, Valladolid being considered the formal term and Pucela the informal or colloquial one. So, if one day someone from Madrid, for example, asks someone from Valladolid, “hey, where are you from?" It is not unusual for the answer to be: "me? from Pucela ”. ESTADIO NUEVE JOSE ZORRILLA The current stadium holds 27,000 and there are definitely ambitions to upgrade the stadium further. Ronaldo has also invested €2.5 million of his own money to upgrade and modernize Estadio Nuevo José Zorrilla including upgrading the training facilities and corporate facilities. WHY DID RONALDO BUY REAL VALLADOLID? When Ronaldo arrived he was asked about his involvement in the club, he replied “Do you think I’m going to buy a football club and go on holiday the next day” - Just like his playing career he wants to make the best of it!. After purchasing 51% of the club in 2018 Ronaldo also purchased a further amount in the club in 2020 meaning he now owns 82% of the club's shares. This only solidified Ronaldo’s ambition to further develop the club and commit to the long haul project of stabilizing Real Valladolid as a regular fixture in La Liga. Having a high profile owner has its perks, Internationally the club’s brand has grown substantially over the last few years. Organizations such as Sky Sports, the New York Times and L'Équipe have covered the club more often and the presence of the La Liga legend has helped secure players and sponsors. TACTIC Luigi Simoni was in charge of an unstable yet very talented Inter Milan in 97/98 season and despite delivering the UEFA Cup, he was sacked after just a few months of the following season, less than a week after a superb 3-1 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League, and remarkably on the same day as he won the Golden Bench award for being the best coach in Italy, as voted for by the other managers in Serie A. Inter Milan never won the Scudetto in the 90's regularly finishing behind Juventus and rivals AC Milan. With Ronaldo in charge upstairs now at Real Valladolid, I figured it would be a nice touch to try and re-create the 4-3-1-2 tactic used by Inter Milan in 97/98, of course we don't have the talent at Real Valladolid to match the Inter Milan side just yet, but the shape can be a structure with a view in mind for future players I'm hoping to recruit. OBJECTIVES Qualify Real Valladolid for European football for the first time in their history Sign 2 Brazilians per season and integrate them into the Under 19's Implement 4-3-1-2 tactic Develop the Fenômeno youth academy (Youth facilities) Upgrade the Estadio Nuevo José Zorrilla Win the Copa Del Rey Establish Real Valladolid as a top 4 club in La Liga Sign and develop a top young striker to score 35 goals in a season Thank you for reading, the likes, discussion and interaction on this thread is appreciated!. 👍

I read this on the website few weeks back, none the less a great post and really helpfull!

Christmas is done and I'll be catching up on this tomorrow!!

Really enjoyable read!, I like the idea of a one club player tho getting harder and harder to make that a reality!. I would like to do a St.Etienne save at some point and will be tracking Saido Sow in my save!. I think the addition of Moukoko makes you favourite to go up!, will you opt to try and loan him again next season?