NR8571

NK Solin - May & June 2024 SuperSport Prva NL We won the games that mattered and have done enough to get over the line as champions!! To the SuperSport HNL we go!! We won the title in the final game of May, as Cibalia dropped points and a Vedran Smokrović screamer secured promotion fr us. It was a similar mixed bag this month, and things could've been far more comfortable if Cibalia didn't score a late equalizer against us to keep the gap at the top smaller. We followed that up with a horrific performance against Šibenik where we offered nothing, but were still able to coast through from there. There is quite a bit of work to be done in the summer, but I'm delighted with how things have gone this season. I kept expecting us to fall off at some point but we continued to pick up points when we needed. With 4 potentially 4 teams going down and only 1 promotion spot, this had the potential to be quite a tricky league, so a promotion and trophy in season one is a fantastic start to the save. There is lots of work to be done in the summer now as our squad is well below standard for the top tier of Croatian football. This should help us drastically: To put it in perspective, our existing wage budget is about $3k. The team needs to be revamped, Kargbo needs to be replaced, so there is going to be a massive overhaul this summer in both players and staff, and this is a very substantial amount of money to work with compared to what I expected. Aaand more great news here! Expected, but much needed. I also want to note the club is currently heading into a dire financial situation. I've never been great with finances in FM and am not sure how to handle it, but I'm hoping for a large increase in gate receipts, sponsorship money, etc, as right now we are piling ourselves in debt. Thank you for following so far- a season review post will be coming soon!

NK Solin - April 2024 SuperSport Prva NL With three wins from four, the title and promotion is ours to lose at this point. We certainly didn't win games as convincingly this month. Croatia Zmijavci nearly mounted a comeback from 2-0 down, but heroics from our goalkeeper Buljan kept us in the game through a tense last few minutes. Our draw against Vukovar '91 was a frustrating one, as we had multiple disallowed goals and squandered three sitters. We dominated Orijent, but then conceded in the 88th minute from a corner to let them back in the game, but luckily held onto the points. April concluded with a wild game against Jarun. We scored twice early on before they dragged themselves back. I decided to risk it for all three points and put us on attacking, which paid off, as two late goals from Kargbo brought us the victory. Five games to go, four points clear. It's time to get the job done in May and June.

NK Solin - March 2024 SuperSport Prva NL A strong month overall that could've been much better without slipping up in the middle. The big game against Cibalia couldn't have gone any better, as we hammered them after going behind early in the game. We followed that up with another home victory against Dugopolje thanks to a hat trick from Kargbo, who will be missed very much next season. Unfortunately we faltered the next two fixtures. We only salvaged a point against Dubrava thanks to a 90th minute penalty, and proceeded to have our worst performance against Sesvete, as we were missing Kargo and offered little threat going forward. We closed the month on a high, thrashing BSK thanks to goals from all three of our center midfielders, including a long range screamer from Smokrović. It's all in our hands with nine games to go. The goals have been flying in, but more consistency is needed for us to hold onto our place at the top.

Into the football league you go! Well done so far, really good transfer business to strengthen the squad enough to go up again, just caught up and will be following.

What a nail biter of an end to the season, well done. European football will be a massive boost for you-I can see a title coming soon.

NK Solin - Winter Holiday 2024 SuperSport Prva NL With a 6 week break in the league, I only have three games to update on from December to February in the league. The game against Orijent was madness. Lots of chances for both sides, end to end stuff, but we clinched it in the final 10 minutes with goals from Kargbo and Kapitanović. We followed that up after the long break with what I'd consider to be our worst performance of the season so far against Šibenik. We lacked our normal creativity, and after scoring in the 10th minute, suffered a red card from Mena that we never recovered from. February closed on a high note, with another mad game against Vukovar '91. After taking a commanding 2-0 lead, we squandered it quickly through two defensive mistakes. I put us on attacking and went all out for the 3 points in the final 20 minutes, and it paid off, as Kapitanović drew a penalty in added time which Kargbo cooly put in the bottom left corner to snatch a victory. We sit top of the table but Cibalia can overtake us. March starts with a massive home game against Cabala, who can go a point clear of us with their game in hand. It's looking like a three horse race for promotion at this point, We still face Zrin once and Cibalia two more times before the league concludes, so everything is up for grabs here in the second half of the season.

Thank you DomD. Agreed it will be difficult, and it doesn't help that in Cibalia's last nine games have been: WWWWDWWWW. Hoping they fall off soon. In other bad news, we will be losing our best striker, top scorer, and key player at the end of the season to Maribor. He wouldn't even consider contract negotiations with us, so we've got a big replacement to find next summer.

We've gotten pretty good youth intake preview. Could we have an attacking midfielder to get excited about?

Great save so far, just caught up, a Polonia Warszawa save has always been appealing to me! Seems like you've got some good young players (Sadowski looks like a decent striker) and are taking the Ekstraklasa by storm. Well done, I like the update style and will be following this.

Great achievement to already have European football after two seasons, nice work

NK Solin - October & November 2023 SuperSport Prva NL Our unbeaten start may be over, but we are still going strong in the league. We opened October with a dominant win over BSK Bijelo Brdo-we suffocated them, had 61% possession, and pummeled them with shots all game long. We follow that up with a wild game against Šibenik, where we took a 3-0 lead within 8 minutes, with an early brace from Kargbo. We took our foot off the gas, and conceded once in the 31st minute, and again in the 88th, but held onto the 3 points. Our first loss, and my first loss as a manager, came away to Cibalia, who look like our competitors this season. They outplayed us in terms of xG and we kept getting hit on the counter, one of the downsides of pressing so high up the pitch, we've been left a bit exposed on the wings. We responded well though, grabbing victories against Dubrava and Jarin, the two sides bottom of the table at the time. We then suffered another frustrating defeat to Croatia Zmijavci. This was a game where we were the better side, but squandered a lot of chances, and ended up paying for it as they took the lead in the 59th minute and held on. We bounced back with some wild wins, first against Zrinski, where we scored a 93rd minute winner. The 5-3 against BSK Bijelo topped that drama, as we full behind 3-2 but stormed back goals in the 85th and 95th minute, along with an incredible game from Dino Kapitanović, in which the winger scored FOUR times. We bottled 2 points in the game against Sesvete, as we took a 2-0 lead but conceded twice quickly in the 59th and 74th minute to be left with a draw. We sit 2nd, one point behind Cibalia, meaning we have everything to play for in the second half of the season (33 games, teams play each other 3 times). A special mention must be made for Dino Kapitanovic, who has won player of the month twice, and already scored 10 goals as a winger with an average rating of 7.85. He has been extraordinary for us. 1 game in December, then a long break until the league resumes. Let's crack on!

NK Solin - August & September 2023 SuperSport Prva NL It's been a solid first two months at Solin, well beyond my expectations. The gegenpress is working wonders so far and we've been outplaying our opponents, even in the games we've draw. My debut game came against Zrinski Osjecko, who took the lead twice as we squandered many chances, but salvaged a draw through a Kapitanović goal in the 75th minute. We won our next three, with Kapitanović being our standout player and Kargbo scoring 3 in 3 to close out August. We've continued our unbeaten run through September, and the team is flowing brilliantly. The way we press is working wonders, every highlight seems to be us winning the ball high up the pitch and creating chances. There's been some defensive weakness as expected, as we let Vukovar '91 hit us twice on the counter in a game we thought we were in control of, and almost slipped us against Sesvete, as when they scored in the 86th minute we had a nervy last few minutes. We are sitting nicely at second in the league and I'm feeling cautiously optimistic.

Thank you, excited to get into it!

Brilliant progress for such a short period of time. I signed Marcos Leonardo in a save last year and he was unstoppable after a few years-- he and Endrick are a great pairing to have so early on.

NK Solin - Preseason 2023/24 I arrived at this club with a bit more of a mess than I expected. We had almost no staff, a low wage budget, and some debt that is going to possibly make this role quite challenging over the next few seasons if I can't get it sorted. The squad was also lacking heavily in midfield and defense, so hitting the transfer market was my first priority. Transfers Although tons of business was done before I arrived, most the players seemed somewhat irrelevant, so I won't go through transfers that I didn't sign. Badly needing midfielders and defenders, I brought in 3 players to bolster this squad, all of which were free agents. Christhian Mena (CM) - one of two reinforcements brought in the midfield to be a creative outlet for the team. Very solid player for this level with-fantastic on the ball and somewhat quick. Only real concern is his poor determination. Vedran Smokrović (CM) - the only other midfielder I could get my hands on. Not great by any means, but well rounded enough for this level. I figured he has the pace and work rate to be a good box to box midfielder in our side for a season or two. Mario Musa (LB) - he looks like a fantastic player for this level. No weaknesses across his game, can defend as well as pose a threat going forward. The only issue is his age, but I could see him holding down his spot for at least 1-2 seasons. Transfers (Out) We had a few youth players poached who were on non-contracts, but no real notable outs in my first transfer window. The Squad So a few interesting things here. I didn't realize until our first league game of the season that there needs to be 3 under 21 players in your staring XI for the entire first half every single game of the season . Without many options here, I did the best I could with the U21 players at my disposal, but key players like Musa may often not be brought on until the 2nd half consistently. Still, we have a solid team here. Our midfield and defense are quite average for the league, but our front 3 is quality. Key Players Aside from the new signings, these are the three I've identified that will be our most important players for the upcoming season. Ibrahim Kargbo (ST) - superb striker to be starting with. He's quick, he's good with the ball at his feet, he can finish, and to top it all off, he's 6'3, so will be an aerial threat. I'm hoping he can bang in goals all season as an advanced forward. Dino Kapitanović (LW) - Rapid winger who I'm hoping can terrorize defenses down the left. Low center of gravity, quick, and fairly good technical attributes. Gergo Lovrencsics (RB/RW) - Most likely our best player alongside Kargbo. A true leader in the team, capable of defending and offering a threat going forward, and great physical attributes for a 34 year old. I expect him to decline quickly, but want to get the most out of him while I can. The Board's Expectations SuperSport Prva NL | Record a top half finish My expectations align with the boards here. I don't think our squad is amazing for this level, and I'm going to have to figure out a good tactic for the new match engine as the season progresses. The first season will be dedicated to establishing a core of players and playing philosophy. There's also no cup competition for clubs in the 2nd tier of Croatia which was very surprising to me, but I suppose means we can be fully dedicated to the league. Preseason Friendlies A mixed bag here. I've started using a 4-3-3 high pressing tactic and feel good about it, the only really disappointment was the 2-1 loss at Krk, who are in an unplayable division in Croatia. That being said, our front three looked menacing throughout the first few games, and team cohesion will only improve. I've also played a few league games as of writing this but will save those for the next update. Stay tuned for next update, as we push on in our first ever season and let the odyssey begin!