Jet_FM

This career update has it all! You've got youth development, finances, game updates, tactics, training and so much more. Fantastic detail levels! I'm still digesting but I'm learning lots so thank you!

After seeing your work in your el Caballero Palido thread I need to give this a try - with attribute values for now! Great work.

GIMN, I've just stopped by to say that this is incredible! Graphics, schedules, attention to detail, everything! I'm loving every word and trying my best to digest it all and hopefully learn something that I can take away and use in my Jets game.

Season 1 Episode 2: A season for pre-season The A-League Men glistens in the distance like a mirage of an oasis. Excitement is growing in bars and cafes. Behind the scenes the football clubs are in overdrive. The season is coming. Pre-Season in Australia Pre-Season Down Under is a weird and wonderful thing. The reason for this is the Australian Cup. The games are spread one month apart and the cup is pretty much wrapped up before the season begins. This gave me a massive 17 weeks to prepare for the season. This is bonkers! It has a parallel with the NRL’s pre-season challenge where the teams compete in a cup competition that is wrapped up before the start of the season. In the football, the final is a couple of games in, but you get the idea. I like this, it gives a bit of extra meaning to pre-season and whatever way it goes you can then focus on the league without distraction. The cup didn’t go too well for us and we underachieved our target. The board wanted us to reach the quarter final (third round) but we were understandably overcome by Melbourne City in the second round after hitting Kawana for six. We actually took the lead in the game, nullified their firepower pretty well and went down swinging as they took the win at the death. Arranging friendly matches proved to be a sticky wicket. In the early weeks I could find matches against NPL outfits which is an unofficial second division populated by semi-pro teams (not replicated in the game?). Good fitness building cannon-fodder, but no real challenge. Further into pre-season A-League teams became available. It’s good that I get a ‘free hit’ and a chance to try out my tactical style against my competition, but I may play some of them three times this season. Not the most fun! Any foreign teams wouldn’t travel so far or if they would then the fees involved made it a financial basket case! This is a far cry from Europe where you can basically play anybody, from any league, whenever you feel like it. We finally settled on the following games and the plan was to take training lightly, giving plenty of time off after the cup games and gradually work the squad up to full fitness and tactical familiarity or as close as possible. All in all, a worthwhile couple of months and we seem to be more than prepared for the big kick off but I’m sure the other teams are too! Role/ position/ duty is still lacking in one or two players but this has been accelerated since I got those players training in their tactical role. I was particularly pleased with the games against A-League opponents. I would say that we were the better team in the majority of these games. In a safe and very methodical way we kept the ball, limited chances against and were also able to create good chances of our own. Sometimes we took those chances, sometimes we didn’t. We are predicted 11th out of 12 teams afterall. It’s a start as we look ahead to the season opener away in the F3 Derby against fierce rivals Central Coast Mariners, see you next time!

That's fine, get it off your chest haha. I'm not a native so all of this is gold to me... as I said earlier I'm diving into the A-League and trying to learn as much as I can.

Fantastic, glad to have a jet along for the ride! Success will probably be a long way away! It's such a shame about the ALM, sport in Australia is huge but football just doesn't seem to draw the fans!

Season 1 Episode 1: Jetting off Down Under Intro The beautiful game. It divides. It brings people together. You either love it or you hate it. Or, like me, you hate that you love it so. It’s a simple game. Just 22 people kicking a bag of air around, trying to get it in a moderately sized net at the other end of some grass. It was a game played by the common man. It was a game watched by the common man. Was. Nowadays it is the plaything of billionaires played by primadonnas who care more about their hairline than the humble fan (who’s sat at home because they can’t afford a ticket). Yes I love the game, but I don’t like what it has become. This strained relationship in reality has seeped into my fictional game worlds. The bright lights of Europe’s finest leagues don’t hold my interest for long. So for FM23 I’ve popped out of the bubble and jetted off far away to the other side of the world… Why Newcastle Jets in FM23? The A-League fascinates me. Football down under is possibly the sport that pays the least (designated players aside) in a sport-mad country. It is dwarfed by Aussie Rules, the NRL and the Big Bash. To me, that gives it attraction. Footballers in Australia don’t have million dollar sponsorships with the majority earning a modest £80,000 - roughly equivalent to a decent headteacher or a doctor. I can get behind this. The Jets are relatively unsuccessful too. Champions of Australia in 2007; runners up in 2017. Will 2027 be the next year of the Jets? The early years will be tough. They have a small squad that will have to be supported by NPL players - and will still be on the light side even then. Outside of the starting 11, which has holes, rotation will weaken a side predicted 11th out of 12 teams. This will begin as a slog and I’m relishing the challenge of turning around the side’s fortunes. The facilities are of a good standard, which is quite common in the A-League. Newcastle play at the 33,000 capacity McDonald Jones stadium. It is a well supported club but, as is common in Australia, teams struggle to fill stadiums which usually cater to fans of different sports - in this case the NRL team Newcastle Knights who draw 20,000 fans compared to The Jets’ 6000. They have good facilities with the Lake Macquarie Regional Centre being their training base. It has good training facilities and adequate youth facilities. Adequate youth coaching is joined by above average youth recruitment. The foundations are there to build upon. The only real negative is the £354k per year stadium rent. My FM23 LTP I have that 2027 date seared into my mind for the third decade of success. It may come a season too early but I’ve got a 5 year plan to hopefully take The Jets to the top of Australia and beyond. With our media prediction being so low, I’m hoping the board will be patient or it may be a very short save. Initially, I want a top ten finish. Then over the next two seasons prepare to challenge for the end of season play-offs (top 6). Finally, seasons 3, 4 and 5 need to be working our way up to Grand Final day. Decent showings in the Australian Cup will also be nice, but a side quest. The encore will be participation in the Asian Champions League where Western Sydney Warriors are the only Australian team to lift the big cup. The first thing that I want to do is to impose a proactive style of play on the squad, aligning match tactics, player development, scouting and training on the same page. The tactical side will be a separate post because I cannot simply introduce total football on day one and expect it to work. I need to focus on the basics first, then slowly layer our play as we develop. My game will also have a youth focus. We’ll see what our facilities produce but our scouting needs to focus on young(ish) Australian players who I can nurture through the development sides and into the Socceroos squads. Player trading laws and wacky contract rules will be a barrier to hurdle but I will try to think of a way to chop through the red tape. Hopefully I can tempt some Japanese or South Korean players as my wild card designated players. Again, my plans in these areas will be separate posts because I can’t do them justice in an introductory post. That’s it for now. I’m already taking a deep dive into Australian football, consuming everything A-League and I’m eager to get this party started!

Fun so far! I'm only in the first season but it's certainly different. With it being a closed shop you get to know the other teams inside out and that's a completely different type of challenge. Throw in all the contract and transfer rules and it certainly becomes quite challenging but that's a good thing. I'm currently trying to scout some players to improve the Jets on frees and it's tricky, but again, I like that! FM was getting a bit stale but this save has reignited the fire!

The Asian continent isn't complete without the J-League. What a wonderful league full of fantastic teams and players. Thank you for your hard work!

Thank you! You've made my game world immersive! The Asian Champions League is now amazing!