noikeee

Sold him to PSG 4 years ago, kept him on loan for his entire contract at PSG, then now hire him on a free when the contract is over.

Wait, what? What takeover? We have a large financial reserve in the bank after the dealings of the Summer and our Champions League runs, so yeah we do have the money and this is nice, but this news item reasoning for increasing the budget seems wrong?

Holy ****. He's not been THAT good for us, I'm a bit surprised by this.

2029/2030 - Mid-season report We ended up in the same position as last year in our Champions League campaign - just barely not making it out of the group. We started off with a honourable defeat at Madrid; beat Dinamo comprehensively; and then had possibly our worst European match (or any match) in a few seasons with a dismal 5-0 loss at the Emirates. That match would cost us, because we then recovered. We somehow sneaked a lucky 1-0 win over Arsenal when we met them again; and demolished Dinamo 6-0 in Croatia, to set up a mildly impossible chance of comeback in the final Ergotelis-Real Madrid match. Near the end we were winning this, and on course for 12 points which usually is a slam dunk qualification except this time it wasn't - Real would equalise but had we beat them 1-0 we'd have still dropped out to the Europa League on goal difference. At the end of this short lived campaign, I feel we're still one step behind being able to compete at this level, tactical tweaks might need to be done (I'm working on it) or progressive squad improvements. Nevertheless we continue in the EL to face Nice, a team that knocked us out of Europe a couple times years ago, but now I do think we are much stronger and should give In Greece it's been mostly fine except for just 2 matches that we lost against PAOK and AEK, which mean AEK just about lead the table rather than us. I am far more concerned about my dressing room than that slight handicap in the league though, far too many players have complained about lack of match time due to my rotation system, so I had to promise a few key players I'd play them more and I'm now resting them out of training constantly to have them fit for so many matches. I think I also clicked something wrong because I promised a couple things to new signing Adar Hadad that I have no intention of ever fulfilling, so that's an extra problem. It's just a more toxic dressing room environment than usual this year. On the tactics board I've made some subtle changes to try to make us a bit better defensively, I've switched the MEZ-A with the MEZ-S to help out a bit on the wing we have the advanced RWB; this led to switching the forwards as well; and then I decided I wanted to be a bit more cautious with my LB too who has been made CWB/S instead of CWB/A. One thing I've also toyed with is some kind of wide 4-3-3 (as I had in the earlier seasons of this career), in the tough matches to keep more solidity down the wings, I tried it in the CL but it led to the 5-0 spanking by Arsenal so quickly abandoned it again!

Nah I'm good thanks

Pre-season 2029/2030 Transfers There's... a decent amount of money flowing around at the moment. We sold 5 first team players: Gladbach came with a 13.75M€ bid for mezzala Jairo Cardozo which I took because I don't rate him that high; Liverpool paid wonderkid RB Yulian Osorio's release clause (sadly a rather low 8.75M€); I had to let Benjamin Jasarevic go because it was the last year of his contract and he wasn't doing that well (sold for just 800K); and centerback Mirko Budan, not that long ago a key man, went for 3.1M€ as we had a few too many CBs. But perhaps the most emotional departure was Filippo Tripi, the club captain, and by now the only man above the age of 25 in this squad. Off to Espanyol for 5.25M€ because he wanted to go and I didn't want to **** him off. Farewell mate. I also sold midfielder Ariel Pepe who was out on loan last year. Total incoming fees: 32.5M€. Nice profit. Because we only spent 10.75M€, albeit the list of signings is fairly long: Vangelis Kazepidis (ST) - Mildly recommended by my scouts, this 16yo has decent potential but nothing special. Came on a free. Li Jun (ML, AML, AMC, ST) - Also on a free, I intend to possibly sell him for profit, the Chinese nationality is valuable. Loaned out not to fill a non-EU slot. Patricio Cuevas (DR, DM, MC, ML) - The first addition to the first team. This is a player that can pretty much do anything well but nothing great, I am thinking of him mostly as first backup to Bamba as DM/halfback but can also be adapted to leftback or centerback, has fairly good pace and wins aerial balls. Joãozinho (DC, DR) - An absolute steal for a 300K fee, for now I let him stay for another year on loan in Portugal, but by the end of the season I want him to return and fill a first team slot, I think he'll soon start for us as centerback. Adar Hadad (MC, AML, AMC, AMR) - I think this is the signing of this Summer, I expect him to slot into the first team straightaway, possibly as the MEZ/A though he could do other things. A physical monster (18 for jumping!!) and also technically gifted and can spot a pass. Andreas Botten (ML, MC, AMC, AMR) - My scouts weren't excited about him but I am. A really well rounded player that could do anything although he mostly excels at bombing down the flank dribbling and crossing, I see him retrained to attacking fullback - but could do with a boost in pace. Nemanja Mijatovic (DL) - My scouts liked this guy more but I'm not quite seeing it. Too slow for a fullback, could probably do more of a job as DM which is what I'm retraining him as. I still picked him up because, cheap and potential. Matyas Ryska (AMC) - I possibly overpaid a little at 2.6M€ for him, he's an okay midfielder not quite excelling at anything but if he can improve his attributes by a couple of points suddenly he looks a lot better. Will be a squad player for now. Anton Coles (ST, AMC, AMR) - At the end of August I was pursuing this monster Argentinian forward to upgrade our frontline, but the deal collapsed. Frustrated, I turned to the loan market and found this kid from Arsenal who's a bit of a pace merchant. I'll give him a chance, since he only has 5 senior appearances in his career I suspect his skills will skyrocket once he gets match experience - and he's already terrifying for Greek league levels. Our squad looks like this now, the choice of first XI is a work in progress, there's a few different combos I could go with. I think this is a small but promising upgrade, Hadad looks LIT; there might be something about Coles; Fábio and Valencic now being a bit more settled after 6 months at the club could perform better - though I worry a bit about Valencic, he hasn't put his talent on the pitch just yet, I think he's a bit soft as a CB with low aggression/bravery. As for the Champions League group... Tough one, honestly I don't think we're yet at a point we can surprise Real or Arsenal, I guess it might be Europa League time again. This is the first year we don't have qualifiers because we've bloody won the league and went straight to the groups, so by the end of the transfer window we've not played a competitive match yet!

There is absolutely no way I'd ever be able to keep up with this thread but just wanted to say I really like this idea. Champions League final by the weekend?

2028/2029 - End of season update Turns out. The "close fight" for the league with PAOK wasn't close at all. They fell off a cliff with their results whilst we kept doing alright, and it was just a matter of time until we could seal it. Come the Panathinaikos match in late April, a win would do it... and a rare Yann Bamba goal won it for us. For the first time, the Greek title comes to Crete. Finally!! Now, this was great, but what would make it even better would be the double. The cup final against Olympiacos started in a tough way, as we went a goal down, but soon we equalised through the inspired Ricardo Lugo. We had a period of several major chances, but couldn't pounce on the 2nd goal, and even missed a penalty kick through Ayoub El Ouali. Later on, the match shifted and we started to have problems - our legs were more tired than Olympiacos'. To stop the plunge into the abyss, I switched to a 4-3-3 with playmakers on the wing and kept the ball. And so the match went on and on and fizzled out for 120 minutes. It was going to penalties. 9 penalties had been scored. It comes to our centerback Ludger Schade... skied over the bar. That's the 2nd Greek cup final we lose... Squad stats Top 5 players: I'm gonna have to cheat and not name Júlio César, who was way ahead on course to become player of the year, when he got poached by Leeds in January. Still ended up top scorer on 22 goals! 5. Lyubomir Stefanov (ST) - Not a starter, but his form on the first half of the season when he was playing in the league whilst the other folks rested for Europe, was just utterly terrifying - as exemplified by his 7.78 average rating, way ahead of everyone else in the squad. As the season went on he kinda stopped scoring as many and then got injured, but still, some really high highs. 18 goals, 5 assists. Honourable mention to David Samuel, the guy that pipped him to a starting position later on, who got 17 goals and 7 assists; to midfielder Svenne Van Gestel who got double figures on goal and assists (11 / 11); and to AMC Matus Prekop (can also play a variety of other positions), who really stole a first team slot this year (13 goals / 9 assists). 4. Johann Noreña (WBR, DR) - Our inconsistent rightback might not perform every week, but when he's on it... he just loooooves to ping a throughball. 13 assists - which is not the highest on the squad. Incredibly, Bayern loanee Sascha Flüthmann (usually playing LB) got 15, but he also put in a few stinker performances. 3. Ramón Navarro (DC) - Started the season horribly bad, but then forced his way through to the first team again and ended up with one of the highest average ratings in the squad at 7.37. I play him as ball-playing defender, but he could do a job as RB, as DM, or even as mezzala - he is the ultimate allrounder and just super talented. 2. Yann Bamba (DM) - Another class season from our ever reliable Ivorian DM. Could not replicate the crazy assists number from last year, but was so so solid (7.33 av.rat.) and remains rated by my staff as the most talented player in the squad. 1. Ricardo Lugo (ST) - The reason why we didn't miss Júlio César that much after January. Sort of a different player as I usually played JC as the advanced forward, Ricardo excelled more as the 2nd striker on CF/S role, largely thanks to his "plays throughballs" preferred move, but he can also be great as the AF. A superb first season for the club with 21 goals and 13 assists, and surely the world is for him to conquer in the coming years. Youth intake The expected "golden generation" didn't turn out that brilliant, but we do have a couple alright strikers in the making. Thodoris Fragoulakis (ST) - 3+1 stars of potential, 14 at finishing, 15 acceleration, 13 off the ball, but not much else and also he's "fickle". Meh. Giannis Peristeridis (ST) - I think his skills are a bit better balanced, but has half-a-star less of potential.

Bayern loanee Flüthmann is represented, and rightly so, because he has 13 assists already this season and is on course to become one of the world's best fullback/wingbacks. Osorio plays in the same position (at least on the right - Flüthmann plays both wings) and is nominated in this list for the 2nd year in a row. He's a little behind in development but will get there too. Amusingly, neither player is part of our strongest 11 - I play El Ouali on the left and Noreña on the right. Sascha Flüthmann profile Yulián Osorio profile

2028/2029 - End of regular season update Transfers January was marked by the sensational news of the exit of forward Júlio César, out to Leeds United for 15M€. An absolute cornerstone of our attack for nearly 5 years, the Brazilian-German striker was having his best season yet and had tied his record of 22 goals in a season for the club, by mid-January. A huge loss that we attempted to compensate in the transfer market, by bringing in another Brazilian-German forward. In January I also decided to sell winger/forward/wingback Christoph Goethals, back to Belgium for 850K€; and Bosnian defensive midfielder Aleksandar Dordevic, to Hamburg for 5M€. Both were fairly useful squad players but 3rd choice in their positions at the moment, and I wanted to cash in before their contracts came close to running out. On deadline day, I made two signings: Fábio (AML, AMC, ST) - Replacing Júlio César was no easy task, and after scouting a few affordable players it was clear none of them were a match for the guy that had gone. Another problem is he was a EU national, and we're already having to scramble a lot in terms of squad selection to only play 5 non-EU guys in the squad in domestic competitions. So a star EU national was a priority, and therefore I decided to absolutely smash the club record transfer fee, by paying 10M€ for this Brazilian teenager (also German, just like JC). More of a creator than a paceyboy like JC was, Fábio can either play the 2nd striker or the AMC, which is still convenient given we have 3 great pacey strikers in Lugo, David Samuel and Stefanov. Fábio has already started in magnificent form with 5 goals and 3 assists in 7 appearances. Mitja Valencic (DC, DR) - This was a surprise opportunity that came up on deadline day. I didn't really need a 5th centerback, but this Slovenian guy simply looks AMAZING; and was pretty damn affordable for just 1.5M€. We dropped out of Europe as reported earlier - fielding the 2nd XI against Hoffenheim might've been a mistake, but the focus right now HAS to be the domestic competitions. That's because we retain 1st place in the league; and have also qualified for our 2nd cup final after totally wrecking 2nd division side Panserraikos in the semi-finals - Olympiacos are the opposition in the final in May. I remind you all that we're yet to win either competition, so this is really an absolutely critical step to the development of the club, and a box I really want to tick. However, success is definitely not guaranteed - we have lost our first league match of the season against Larisa in a 5-3 thriller, and PAOK are just 3 points behind us.

Focusing on the league and leaving the 2nd XI to play in Europe backfired in the 1st leg here. The backups were no match for Hoffenheim, and we were beaten 3-1. Shockingly, we started the return match back in Germany in great form and by minute 23 we had tied everything. However, just 3 minutes later Noreña saw a red card for a bad tackle and our soilidity disintegrated. We are out of Europe and now truly 300% focused on the domestic trophies. Meanwhile, more upgrades:

It was definitely a prestigious way to drop out.

A legend moves on, after 4 and a half superb years for the club. He was having a glorious season, by far his best one yet, and half of Europe noticed...

2028/2029 - Mid-season report Transfers We picked up a loanee at the very end of the Summer transfer window: Sascha Flüthmann (DL, DR, WBR) - We have moved beyond the point we were heavily relying on loanees, and I've actively tried not to bring many or even any of them at all recently, but this looked like a good deal - we needed another player that could cover the fullback/wingback positions and this kid looks like he's going to be world class in a couple of years. This season has been different - we look to have made a step forward. For a while we looked utterly unstoppable, and as of now we are yet to be beaten in the league, although we have conceded 4 draws. 3 of them have come recently, against the big boys of AEK, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, and so we have momentarily conceded to PAOK what had been a solid lead at the top of the table - only for PAOK to drop points and gift us back the lead. It looks as if we might have this year a golden opportunity to finally clinch our first league title, perhaps. In Europe, in our first presence in the CL groups, we were so close to qualifying for the knockouts. We kicked off with an entertaining yet tight win over Porto, and then we smashed Anderlecht twice (4-1 4-0), in the mean time losing to Roma twice in 2 very close matches in which we were rather unlucky. Come the final match all we needed to do was not lose by more than 1 goal to Porto. But I think I made a serious squad management mistake - just days earlier we were facing Pana for a super important Greak Superleague match, so I repeated the first XI in both matches. I did rest them all in training for 1 day, but it was not enough to recover them - their legs were absolutely knackered in the final 30 minutes v Porto, we suddenly melted apart and were fortunate to only lose by 3. We drop to the Europa League to face Hoffenheim, but although Europe has been particularly lucrative this season, I think it's time to kind of forget about it and back the domestic competitions at 100%. We need trophies, it's time to push for them. Meanwhile... a bunch of other different stuff. First, facilities. We have done upgrades again. Then, Van Gestel. Ridiculously, PSG have let us renew his loan yet again for next year - it'll be the 4th season after we sold him. This is turning out not anywhere near as bad a business as it first seemed (board sold him over my head for 6.75M€). Finally, this year's intake is looking not too terrible...

The group could've been much, much worse. We were 4th seeds and could've had Man City-PSG-Inter; or Man Utd-Juventus-Atlético. I fancy our chances of at least coming 3rd and making it to the Europa League.

First leg... was one of those days. We shot at goal A TON, but they parked the bus and their keeper had a great day, so almost nothing went in. Then their keeper hoofs it, it flies above our defenders' heads, falls onto the striker, 1-1. It finished like that and I took the plane to Belgium rather aprehensively... ... Thankfully, our finishing in Belgium was so, so much better. We've finally made the Group Stage of the Champions League!!

Well, I guess this wasn't a problem. We totally dominated for right about 160 minutes until the final 20 minutes of the 2nd leg, by which time they were 5 goals down. Surely, surely, this is the year we make it to the groups???

Surely this HAS to be the year?

Pre-season 2028/2029 Transfers Two big sales this pre-season so far. Midfielder Camilo Rivera, brought in last year, had been disappointing, so he was shipped off back to Colombia for 1.3M€. And I hesitated but eventually accepted an offer for RB/RWB/CB Brandon Botero, leaving for Celta for 3.7M€. He had been magnificent 2 seasons ago, and always performed well, but had now been relegated to backup to Noreña on the right, and was blocking the progress of the superexciting Yulián Osorio, the yet another Colombian RB we had who has been chilling out on loan - it's time to bring him back. The new faces: Stelios Issaris (DC, DM, MC) - Let's start by some fringe, long-shot future prospects. I want to add to our Greek contingent for homegrown registation purposes so this kid that got relegated from Olympiacos was snapped up. He can read the game quite well but his physical skills are poor. Lazaros Ntiniotis (GK) - A similar profile from this keeper who is now 3rd choice, but is good enough to serve as 2nd choice in Europe freeing up a registration slot. Gabriele Cazzetta (ML, MC, AMC) - Onto the really exciting signings. I splurged 2.7M€ on this guy, which may have been slightly excessive given he only has 2 attributes at 15+, but he's such well rounded to pretty much play any of our attacking midfield roles, and we use 3 of those (the 2 mez's and the AMC). Also a EU national, which is something we've been lacking recently with all those Colombians pushing our squad registration boundaries. Jan Rezek (GK) - Another young goalie, Czech, might be only 4th choice for now. Ariel Pepe (MC, AMC) - With Rivera sold and Mateus' loan contract coming to an end, I needed depth in the midfield and snapped up this Argentinian with Italian 2nd nationality. Can really spot a pass but might otherwise be a touch below the standard of player required for now. Ricardo Lugo (AML, AMC, AMR, ST) - THE signing of the window. I am super excited about the potential of this Colombian forward, who looks an absolute killer advanced forward. For now my staff don't quite agree with him 100% yet and rate him just below Júlio César and David Samuel - if anyway he merely performs to their level and doesn't prove to be an upgrade, it's still great to add depth to the attack, given the backups for those guys, Goethals and Stefanov, are limited players with all pace and little else. Nil Álvarez (DM, MC, AMC) - Yet another mezzala kind of guy. Released from Barcelona's academy, there is something about this Catalan kid, he is feisty and can ping a great pass as well. For now I'm not sure he has a starting 11 spot just yet but he's in the mix. What we have here is a very small incremental upgrade over last season, because we seem to have hit a small ceiling: players are wanting bigger and bigger wages to renew contracts, and we aren't growing enough financially to outspend in transfers simultaneously as we do this. Nevertheless the team looked feisty in the 2nd half of last season after switching to the diamond tactic, and so I am positive we might finally grab 1 of the 3 big objectives that are just in front of us that we haven't achieved yet: to break into the Champions League group stage to win the league to win the cup Winning one of the domestic trophies would be a major breakthrough I think, because of the reputation boost it would give us. We have a huge stadium since the beginning but not enough fans to fill it. We need to have the whole damn island attending our matches and people all around the world buying our shirts. Reaching an European final last year was great, but I believe in FM it's winning trophies that really gives a big rep boost. Oh, and we're playing Dynamo Kyiv in the first playoff for the CL. We need to beat them and then go through another playoff to make the groups.

Yay more upgrades

Squad stats Top players: 5. David Samuel (ST) - There would've been a decent argument for including midfielder Jairo Cardozo here, with a couple late season excellent performances; or pacey striker Lyubomir Stefanov who was electric early season; or wingback Johann Norenã who had a cautiously promising first season for the club; or midfielder-sold-behind-my-backs Mateus who got 10 goals and 8 assists total. I'm going for January signing David Samuel, our most expensive buy ever, who got 8 goals and 5 assists in half a season. Not super amazing but solid, and the talent is here to become a key player for the club. 4. Svenne van Gestel (MC) - Average rating isn't super high but with 10 goals and 13 assists, Svenne continued to be heavily influential, specially late in the season. PSG will continue to loan him to us and I don't mind. 3. Júlio César (ST) - A pretty crappy first half of the season, but he exploded later on when I switched to the 4-4-2 diamond. Scored so many late on that he just about beat his record from the previous 2 seasons (finished on 19 goals instead of 18), also grabbing 9 assists. 2. Mirko Budan (DC) - Solid as a rock, the Croatian centerback got the highest rating in the side (7.34) and also scored 5 goals. 1. Yann Bamba (DM) - A monster season from our Ivorian DM who is now the highest rated player in the side by my staff. 11 assists is a glorious output for a DM even if he often took corners - the defence-splitting throughballs were there as well. Youth intake Holy ****, we actually have a 5 star potential player this time. Michalis Nikolaou (DC, DM) - Wonderful DM in the making. His stats aren't super high just yet, but he's also just 15. Cypriot nationality. By absolute miles the best prospect we've had yet. Giannis Karakostas (MC, AMC) - A lot less potential but decent midfielder in the making with high mental stats.

Oh **** off the BBC. We've "still" not won the competition. Assholes.

Second half Minute 48: Tierney to Smith-Rowe, dances down the flank, gains the byline, crosses low... OH NO IT'S A HUGE MISTAKE BY MIRKO BUDAN! GOAL FOR ARSENAL, 2-1, it's an own goal!!! Minute 50: Tierney to Smith-Rowe, crosses low, Alvarez is free!!! But he's tackled Minute 55: Tomiyasu down the flank, passes it low to Saka... hacked by Bamba! The ref says it's a penalty!!! VAR confirms it! Penalty for Arsenal!! GOAL FOR ARSENAL, 3-1! Alvarez has taken it! We really look up against it now! Minute 65: Van Gestel plays a long ball out left for El Ouali... the Belgian WB gains the byline and crosses... back to the head of Van Gestel... HITS THE POST!!! Minute 80: By now we've replaced Noreña, Cardozo and David Samuel with Prekop, Jasarevic and Stefanov. It's fullback-to-fullback, Tomiyasu, to Tierney. Crosses!! Alvarez heads wide!!! Minute 85: Bamba to Prekop, finds El Ouali in the area... fires a low shot... saved by Ramsdale! On the counter, Tierney crosses to Alvarez on the near post again!!! Tipped wide by Panov!! Minute 88: Tomiyasu carries it... and carries it... super dangerous low cross to Bajrami.... wide!!! Minute 92: Arsenal keep it in the corner passing the ball around themselves... Tomiyasu crosses it... GOAL FOR ARSENAL, 4-1! It's found McNeil's head! Full time: I'm afraid we were really outclassed this 2nd half. The pitch seems super wide in the Allianz Arena here, and the Arsenal fullbacks constantly found space to create danger down the flanks - we just didn't have an answer to that, neither their total different level of ability. I guess we still did push them hard in the 1st half, so I feel like the final result is kind of harsh.

Munich, 24th of May 2028 - Europa Conference League Final First half Minute 20: 20 minutes have gone by and absolutely nothing has happened!! Minute 22: I spoke too soon! Tomiyasu wins the byline, crosses low for Julian Alvarez... GOAL FOR ARSENAL! 1-0! Minute 37: A very long run from deep by Saka... is dispossessed... the ball falls back to Odegaard... long throughball to Alvarez!! Saved by Panov! Minute 39: We pass the ball around... suddenly Bamba plays a delicious throughball to Noreña who's into the area!! Parried by Ramsdale! David Samuel takes the rebound!!! Blocked! Minute 45: We ping it around in midfield.. suddenly free space down the right wing, Noreña crosses to the penalty area!! Shot and it's parried! Another shot and it's parried! El Ouali shoots again and it's tipped up for a corner!! Loads of mayhem and the equaliser so close!! Minute 45: Jairo Cardozo takes the ensuing corner... GOAL FOR ERGOTELIS, 1-1!! Júlio César has headed it in!! Half-time: Well this match started really poorly, then it looked like we had no chance as we went a goal down and we were doing nothing, and then suddenly in the last 10 minutes we burst to life. We're in the game here!

2027/28 - The there's only one match left to end the season update Ergotelis-Olympiacos, the one match that could either decide a champion or throw the title race wide open again..... I'm afraid it decided the champion. Much like the previous match against them, it was really tough, they were fired up, and eventually broke us down in the final minutes scoring twice. This mathematically crowned them champions and we were relegated to fighting Panathinaikos for the 2nd CL slot. I had to rotate my side against PAOK, and it nearly cost us dearly there. We just about scrapped a 2-2 draw to go into the final match 1 point ahead of Pana. And then on the final day, on what was essentially a Champions League playoff match, we won 5-1, that looks good doesn't it. Well it's totally misleading! Pana went 1-0 up through a penalty kick and we really struggled to get back into the match for a while, did equalise right before halftime, but then had to wait until their legs went in the final minutes and they completely disintegrated. We return to the Champions League qualifiers, let's see if this time we finally make the groups. But before that... an European final ends the season.