noikeee

The tie against Barcelona would turn out fairly epic... ... but ultimately, not in our favour. We started the first leg well, taking an early 2 goal lead, but it wasn't long until Barça had made it 2-2 - Barça also having missed a penalty kick in the mean time. As the match went on, it was clear our free-flowing diamond was being taken advantage of time and again, and so I did the radical move of taking off a CF to add a CB, making it a 3-6-1. It worked but also didn't - the waves of Barcelona attacks became more muted, but somehow they scored 2 more. So off we went to the Camp Nou, in this 3-6-1 shape again, not expecting much. Only for us to take an early 2-0 lead again, making the tie all square! And we lasted like this for a very long time too, although Barça were clearly on top of the match and all the possession and we barely countered. On the 74th their LB Arthur Theate was sent off and we now had a man advantage, but for whatever reason, this was when things crumbled instead. Immediately they scored, they took another goal again, and killed our European run. It had been great whilst it lasted.

2026/2027 - End of regular season report Transfers We say goodbye to trusted centerback Amir Feratovic. We have never been quite the same defensively ever since he broke his leg (at right about this stage last season), realistically he'd never be the same player again and new guys are breaking through, so I decided to sell and cash in 2M€. 3 new players joined in January: Roberto Rotunno (DC, DL) - One of 2 centerbacks coming in to replace just 1 who left, so we're at a centerbacks surplus now. In reality he's still a little short of regular 1st team appearances, but has the potential, has the EU nationality, has only just turned 18, so I decided to risk spending 275K€ on him. Benjamin Jasarevic (MC, AMC, ST) - Bayern Munich didn't want him which is a red flag, also lacks pace for the mezzala position he should play the most time in, but that never stopped Mateus who's done great at mezzala. Another signing for his potential and his EU nationality, is already getting a few appearances though, unlike Rotunno. Unfortunately he insisted on a 4.1M€ release clause which is quite low, but if someone activates that we'll still make a decent profit. Mirko Budan (DC) - The real replacement for Feratovic, again he's a EU national, however he might just be a touch below in quality of both Guerbas and Giordani, who are our starting duo of CBs right now. Either way he's already started great for the club, so we'll see how his performances develop. There's no other way of putting this: our month of January was simply a failure. We dropped our form massively, completely dropped out of the title battle, and now have to recover if we're to claim the 2nd place as we did the last 2 seasons. Even past this, in February and March, we drew 3 matches which I don't think is good enough. I'm not sure what caused this but I'm taking proactive actions, by switching to the new 4-4-2 diamond (a 4-1-3-2, really). Despite the bad performances domestically, the run to the Europa League quarterfinals is something new and exciting, and that means at least we're making serious progress somewhere.

In the 1st leg we got a surprise lead after going down to 10 men, but somehow crumbled in injury time, conceding 2 goals when it was already 10 v 10. This match did give me a little inspiration though, as after going down to 10 I switched to a duo of strikers and it seemed to work rather well. So I took the time during the weekend league match to perfect a new 4-4-2 diamond. It would work spectacularly well in the return leg as we just crushed them. The tactic: Next are Barcelona, so we'll probably end our run in the quarter-finals. In the event we somehow make it through, either Inter or Fiorentina are the semi-finals opponents.

Not a bad draw all things considered. We're kinda desperate to get a couple good results here, as the league is going down the shitter... more on that soon.

I ended up just returning to the tactic i had last year, and mirroring it occasionally (winger on the left and IF on the right instead of the other way around), depending on which players I want to use for each match. The 2nd striker never really did much of anything, helped a tiny bit in pulling back the defenders and overloading the central area but rarely performed himself - and left that hole on the wing. It was just overall a little better to have a player on each wing.

2026/2027 Mid-season report Transfers A couple things happened transfer-wise after that early pre-season report. We hired another RB/CB and we let a player go - Argentine defender Emmanuel Roggerone was sent back to his country for 1.4M€. He had potential but hadn't developed much through his time at the club, and had a chronic problem of being slow, and was a pain in the ass in terms of personality as well. Brandon Botero (RB, CB) - More a centerback than a rightback, I've been playing him as RB due to lack of options. And you know what, he's been excellent and by now has finally been the guy that's relegated Victor Maffeo to the bench, after many great years from the Spaniard with the club. I don't know whether I should start by Europe or by the league, and that reflects the... rather mixed priorities we have, as at a stage I didn't know which competition to focus on (which games should I make sure I use my strongest 11). I started by focusing on Europe, which gives us money; but we started falling back on the league a bit and I then realised I had to focus on it instead. After all, we're no longer skint, and the thing that would really push us to another level would be a league title, with the reputation it would give us and also the direct Champions League qualification. Nevertheless the EL group stage went really well. We did have a bit of a crash in Birmingham with a poor 3-0 loss, but we sneaked through a win at home over Villa with a late penalty, rather crucially beat Athletic twice including a pleasing 4-2 win in Bilbao, and just smashed APOEL twice. We win the group which gives us an automatic bye to the 2nd knockout round. In the league, as I've hinted above, we've started in an inconsistent way and we were falling back to the periphery of the title challenge rather than being in it - at a point we were 7 points behind then-leaders AEK. A super strong month of December with big wins over AEK and Panathinaikos cut that gap dramatically, and we're now only 2 points off the top, even if just in 4th place. In terms of players, Brazilian striker-turned-mezzala Mateus has been the standout this 1st half of the season, with a wonderful 11 goals and 5 assists (forward Júlio César is top scorer on 15 atm), as he's been surprisingly performing a level above both Emre Demir and Svenne van Gestel, the 2 stars of last year, now both on loan as Van Gestel moved to PSG.

Tricky group here, to have to face 2 teams from the 2 biggest leagues, we'll need a fair bit of luck if we're to proceed. Looking forward to the regional Mediterranean derby though!

I'm undecided about it... it's really effective at swamping the middle but then there's the dead obvious weakness... the opposition's leftback is left all alone. That being said, I used it after going a goal down in both legs vs Nice, and none of the goals I conceded were because of it. Mostly just our defenders getting outpaced by their striker, which isn't that much of a tactical issue, it's just slow CBs, particularly Guerbas.

We got a nice result in France but then we crumbled at home. Europa League it is. Not all is bad as this mini CL campaign gave us 5M€ in prize money, huge cash for our level at the moment:

Now, the Dutchies go home. Easier than I thought. Next up... Seriously, Nice, again? They prevented us from reaching the Champions League last year. At least we've already gone further than last year, where we were stopped at the previous round. Now, if we beat Nice, we're into the CL groups.

Pre-season 2026/2027 Transfers PSG have arrived! We have finally had a youngster poached, Svenne van Gestel, by his release clause of 6.75M€. This is a crap value for a pretty awesome player, but at least PSG offered - out of their own initiative - to loan him back to us for a season, so that's something. We have also decided to sell another promising player for a decent chunk - Moussa Doumboya went to Stoke for 4.1M€ which will become 5M€ soon with clauses. The Guinean RB never really played to his level and Matteo keeps overperforming in the position, so I felt we could sell. We also sold midfielder Juan Esteban Rueda and winger Noah Pesch for more modest values. Total transfer income for the season (so far) is 11.25M€ which is great. Onto the signings, and just before listing them I'd like to say that we managed to pick up centerback Nunzio Giordani, who was here on loan last year, on a free (and he is GREAT!) and also somehow renew the loans of Emre Demir and Giorgos Koutsias, neither of which were planned to happen. Emre was of course sensational last year so I am very happy to get that one done. Stanton Ngobeni (DL, DM) - We now have 3 leftbacks which is not ideal, but I think he's already looking really good and could soon trouble Ayoub El Ouali for the position. Goran Petrovic (MR, AMR) - Decent promising winger, a wee bit short of first team squad level, we later hired loads more wingers so I'm loaning him out. Dimitris Keramitsis (DC) - A decent well-rounded CB which will provide cover for the position whilst actually being Greek which helps for homegrown reasons, language reasons etc. Yann Bamba (DM, MC) - One of our best signings, I really quite like the look of this Ivorian DLP. Can improve a touch on his defensive skills but his playmaking ability will be a big step up on the position. Sabit Halimi (AML, AMC, ST) - Now onto the weird ones, I think he's really talented so I couldn't pass him but he doesn't really fit into my tactics particularly well, he's more of a target man. Raphael (DC, DM) - I showed him by mistake a couple posts ago already, he's an alright promising CB, provides cover, nothing special for now. Might loan him out whenever he accepts that. Christoph Goethals (ML, AML, ST) - Another player that I hired that isn't a perfect fit but couldn't pass up, the combo of eletric pace plus very good dribbling is nice. I'm playing him on the LW even though he's left-footed and I use a IW there. Aleksandar Dordevic (DM, MC) - Very similar player to Yann Bamba, I now have 3 DLPs so one of them might have to end up playing further forward as backup for the mezzala position. Might well be Aleksandar with his glorious playmaking abilities. Lyubomir Stefanov (AMR, AMC, ST) - I clearly have too many RWs now but I simply liked his absolute SPEED and couldn't pass that up. Moussa Omgba (DR, DC, WBR) - With Doumbouya gone I needed another RB and there weren't many great options in the market. This kid from Cameroon looked a great hire in theory, but I didn't have time to scout him properly, and... I should've taken the time. He's a little too short of being good enough. Álvaro Correa (MR, AML, AMC, AMR, ST) - After the sale of Van Gestel the opportunity to snap him up showed up - for 1.3M€ he becomes the club's most expensive ever signing. Another player that doesn't quite fit the system but all my scouts RAVED about him. Yes yes i know the squad is too large, don't give me **** about it. We are looking at playing like this ... IF we keep the tactic. Because I am also looking at alternative options. The following tactic is a bit bonkers and unbalanced but suits our players better. Meanwhile, the CL has kicked on... and we have sent some Danish folks back home. Next up, PSV. Tricky one...

Nah I'm good I don't want to have to keep having to write all that on the thread. Damn Greeks and their Papadapapodopolokoukis.

Squad stats Top players: 5. Victor Maffeo (DR) - We're now at a point the Spanish rightback should no longer be a key player, but he just keeps overperforming. 9 goals was excellent although he does take penalties, but the 6 player of the match awards and the 7.30 ratings, 2nd highest among the regular players, does show something extra beyond just scoring PKs. 4. Júlio César (ST) - Top scorer on 18 goals but I get the feeling he is a bit limited and not quite making the difference he should. A lot less clinical in the league than last year, although he did score 7 in Europe. 3. Ralph Nathaniel (AML) - The game gives him mediocre ratings (7.11) but he was utterly sensational with 17 goals and 12 assists from the wing. He is about to return to Frankfurt and we'll badly miss him. 2. Svenne Van Gestel (MC) - Wanted and ready to step up to a higher level, the Belgian mezzala had his breakthrough season after struggling to put his talent on the pitch last year. 9 goals, 11 assists, 7.27 rating. 1. Emre Demir (MC) - A pulsating season on loan from Barcelona, with 11 goals, 10 assists, and 7.32 ratings - although he did tail off at the end of the year, going missing in the decisive championship group matches. Barcelona want too much cash from us to renew the loan, so we'll be saying goodbye to him now. Youth intake Fairly crappy again. Lefteris Cheiritrantas (DL, MC) - Meh. 3 stars (+1 white star) of PA. Thanasis Giakoumakis (GK) - Same potential.

2025/2026 End of season report We started the championship group on scintillating form. 4-0, 2-0 and 3-0 wins over the 3 biggest teams in the country and we were top. At this point in time I firmly believed we were well on course for our first league title. And then, just, lolz. I frankly just found this very amusing - we suddenly, with no warning, totally collapsed. 5 consecutive defeats!!! It was particularly bizarre because, whilst I've had this kind of thing in the past in other FMs or careers, at no point through this career did I feel we were in danger of this sort of thing ever happening, the tactics just working beautifully. I have no idea what went on, though I suspect the injury to centerback Amir Feratovic was a factor, as we conceded a load of goals through this period. The 2 final matches did bring a silver lining though. Drawing with PAOK was enough to keep some hopes alive of 2nd place, and on the final day we did win a match again, whilst AEK lost points, and we just about sneaked into 2nd to get Champions League football again. There was still one very important match to go, our first cup final ever. And we were on top through most of the match, even more so when Panathinaikos went down to 10 with a red card. However, as they went down to 10 they settled into a deep block... and we lacked the inspiration to break it down. And then to our horror, they suddenly scored in the 92nd... Panathinaikos win the cup, and we miss out on the opportunity of what would've been our first top level trophy.

****.

More good news Our facilities are still nothing special, but we need to start somewhere

Van Gestel sneaks into the top 50 wonderkids! Just, in 49th. He's been having a great season and is indeed possibly our most talented player overall at the moment. The "Wnt" means Sporting Gijon are chasing him. He has a 6.5M€ release clause which isn't brilliant (in fact pretty damn cheap for a player like this) but it's what we could give him. Given we hired him for 93K€, it's a big profit I expect we're gonna be making sooner rather than later...

First cap, and he scores! I'm not super duper sold on him, he's fairly good but he's not technically amazing, and the fact he's on loan from what's effectively a rival, isn't helping. You probably mean in real life though!

Another signing sealed just after I had posted: Raphael (DC, DM) - Promising Brazilian centerback who arrives on a free after the squad registration period is over. I'm not sure he has what it takes to start right now, but isn't too far off. edit: I didn't notice he wasn't joining just yet... I have another 3 signings lined up for next year, he's just one more I guess.

2025/26 - End of regular season report Little look at the January transfer window first: Transfers Losing Hugo Novoa wasn't on the plans, but an influx of 3M€ was good. This allowed us to bring a couple replacements, and also start moving in the transfer market to seal deals for next season. Beyond new goalkeeper Peder Hoel Lervik whom I've shown already above - and who has been excellent, immediately grabbing a first team starting slot - I've hired the following 2 players: Jairo Cardozo (AMC, AMR, ST) - Lacking in finishing, but a very promising all-round attacker otherwise, he's been my direct Novoa replacement for the right wing for now. Giorgos Koutsias (ML, AML, AMR, ST) - Perhaps an overly expensive loan as he's now the highest paid player in the squad, but his versatility allows me to bring in another solid sub. I loaned out Noah Pesch who had been a bit crap, and he has slotted in his place as the backup AML behind Nathaniel. Already scored 4 goals for us. Our European run ends at the hands of Benfica after extra time on the 2nd leg, but good things are still happening elsewhere this season. We are firmly on the battle for the Greek title, in what's now a clear 3-way battle between us, Olympiacos, and AEK who have the slight advantage at the moment. It could be the first time the title goes to Crete, stay tuned... Another very exciting development is we've booked our place in the Greek Cup final for the first time, after a late goal in the 2nd leg of a tight tie vs PAOK. Panathinaikos await us in May in the deciding match.

Aaargh. So close. First leg was a bit of a damage limitation job, we were without a few players and were just outclassed. Kept them to just 2 goals which was okay I guess. On the return I didn't really have many hopes of taking them on, but we looked much better, and to my shock we actually tied everything up on injury time with a long range shot from Nathaniel, taking it to extra time. In ET the tired legs of our defence were eventually defeated by Belotti, and that's our European run over, but I'm pretty happy with it... It has helped fund this, by the way:

Thanks! I'd love to visit Greece one day, it's on the bucket list...

Uh, I completely missed that this was happening. They came in and paid the release clause, I missed the news item, and when I noticed it he was already gone. A fairly good deal but now we're out of a winger. Onto the transfer market...

Or have fun in Israel..