DaneBramage

Slowly but surely improving each season. With the rules in place it was never going to be an easy task, so it's pretty good going.

2023 Youth Intake The warning was correct. This looks like a very poor intake. Everyone will be signed up just in case there's a diamond hidden away, but it seems unlikely. Terrible personalities, no current ability, and not much more potential either. With my only striker having signed a pre-contract elsewhere, we'll be left with A2 Marko Kozar as the only option up front, and I don't think opposition defences will have much to fear. His finishing is good, but with his lack of acceleration, pace, determination, strength, and positioning awareness, he's never going to get a chance to shoot. Edit: I've just checked the 2. SNL rules, and players under 17 aren't allowed to play. I'm screwed. A5 Lukasz Fedoruk scored twice in the Youth Candidates v Under 19 game, maybe I can re-train him as a striker.

February + March 2023 Slovenian Cup We weren't far off scoring a major upset here. We raced into a two goal lead by the half-hour mark, one goal coming from a free-kick and the other from a corner. But Koper were 2nd in the 1. SNL at the time and showed their class in the second-half to overturn the deficit. 2. SNL Utterly terrible. I'm starting to hate every stupid player in this useless team. Plummeting like a stone.

We only have 21 players at the moment, and realistically only 20 available at any one time due to the one non-EU player rule. So other than one of the EU players I'm not trying to sell anyone currently, not that there's particularly any interest anyway. If and when youth players start coming through with quality and potential that may change, but we're probably a few years off that. This year's preview is a bit of a stinker. With regard to staff recruitment, I've delegated that out for now. I generally go with the premise that if I pick Team X to manage, then I should manage Team X. I always have transfers turned off in the first window, and I don't make sweeping changes to the backroom staff. Once I've completed a full season that changes, and I will be looking at what improvements I can make then. Determination is certainly something I do take considerably into account when hiring. Although in the Slovenian second tier it's probably more a case of grabbing whoever I can rather than holding out for someone who meets the highest criteria. The current staff all have determination values between 9 and 14, so pretty average as a whole.

Manchester United legend, sign him up.

November + December 2022 Slovenian Cup Maybe the worst 3-2 win I've ever seen. We let a two goal lead slip and needed extra-time to beat a side from the 3. SNL. Good to see Sampson Wirekoh get a goal though. As we're only allowed one non-EU player in the squad for league games he's not seen much gametime, and he made the most of it here. 2. SNL The loss to Beltinci was pretty poor, conceding in the 2nd minute set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. But we more than made up for that over the next few weeks. We beat league-leaders Nafta Lendava in their own backyard, and it was a convincing performance, We had to hold on a little against Dob, but Nik Omladic was a large part of our victory with a goal and an assist. Finally we took on Brinje-Grosuplje in our final game before the winter break, and set ourselves up for a nice Christmas with a comfortable win. Wow, this is most unexpected. The closeness of the league has allowed us to make a big jump up the table into 4th place, only a single point off the top. There's another three teams just another point back though.

Thanks both. I think constantly getting upgrades is a little bit gamey, so I'm going to limit myself to only making requests at the end of each season. Depending on the finances of course. We started the year with £130k and now we're £90k in the red, so might be a struggle getting anything approved.

October 2022 Slovenian Cup We were soundly beaten by Brinje-Grosuplje when we played them in the league back in August, so it was good to get a measure of revenge here. After we scored early on they pegged us back and I thought it wasn't going to be our day, but we kept going and punished them towards the end, twice forcing the ball over the line following frantic goalmouth scrambles. 2. SNL We had serious goalscoring problems last month, so hosting Dekani was a good way to turn it around. They had the worst defensive record in the division, and we added to their woes by putting five past them. We were back to being profligate again against Triglav Kranj, but managed to grab the win from the penalty spot. Krsko was an abomination. A draw would probably have been a fair result, but a horrendous mix-up between our right-back and goalkeeper gifted them the only goal of the game. Rogaska and Ilirija are both in the midtable battle with us, but the two games couldn't have gone much differently. We blew away Rogaska in the second-half, while Ilirija gave us a battering in the first-half. Three players lost a week's wages for their poor performances. This included the goalkeeper, who conceded 4 goals from an xG of just 1.31. We remain midtable, and 10 points above the relegation spots gives us a decent buffer. Surprisingly we're only five points off the top, as nobody in the division seems able to pull away. Everyone has lost at least three games so far. Going by xG we should be four points clear at the top, outscoring everyone else by five goals. Sandro Jovanovic With 7 goals so far Jovanovic is our topscorer at the moment, but he's not happy at the club. During the transfer-window we rejected an offer from Tabor Sezana, and this got him upset. He's refusing any attempt to negotiate a new contract, and has decided he'll be leaving when this runs out in the summer. Losing literally our only striker will be fun, I will be keeping all my fingers crossed for the April youth intake.

September 2022 Slovenian Cup This is going to be a grumpy update, so I'll get the good news out of the way early. In a midweek cup game we made easy work of 3. SNL side Posavje, smashing five goals past them (all from different scorers). 2. SNL In the league though we've been absolutely miserable. I don't know how many times we've had presentable chances, only to just tamely poke them at the keeper. The only thing more annoying is the countless passages of play where we pass it around, turn and give it to a defender, who then proceeds to aimlessly hoof it forward to lose possession. The Bistrica draw was a fair result, but we should be beating sides in the relegation places. Against both Krka Novo Mesto and Primorje Ajdovscina we had more possession, shots, and xG, but were totally impotent when it came to actually getting the ball in the net. Primorje are top of the table so it would have been a boost to take something from them, but we wasted the opportunity. I hate that this view has removed the goals scored and goal conceded columns. The only alternative is the stupidly large table with the massive gap in the middle of it. Surely it's not that difficult to just provide useful information in a reasonable size? xG This is a new one for me, as I'm used to playing FM20 which doesn't have xG. But this does support my case that we are massively underperforming up front. If we were even remotely confident in front of goal we'd be top.

August 2022 Results After the first two matches and two good wins I was starting to get excited about what the season could bring. Then we were diabolical three games in a row. We had a better xG against Aluminij Kidricevo and Fuzinar, massively out-shooting our opponents, but the finishing was dreadful. It's telling that only three players have found the net so far, and all of them have been guilty of their fair share of misses as well. 2. SNL Early days, but we've already taken up our expected midtable spot. That being said, with the drastic fall-off over the last three games we should probably be looking downwards rather than up.

The Star Man Whisper it, but I might have one of the best players in the league on the books. In the build-up to the season getting underway news articles have marked out Nik Omladic as the number one player to watch, and he's also expected to be in the reckoning for top scorer. At 32 years old he has a ton of experience behind him with 350 games of senior football, including six international caps. He's returned to Slovenia this summer after spending the last eight years in the German second and third tiers. He doesn't score many though, with four league goals the most in a single season during this time.

The Tactic With the lack of strikers making my normal 4-4-2 formation a non-starter, I've simply moved one of them back into the AM strata instead. We'll see how that goes. I don't like that this screen isn't showing tactical suitability for each player's role, but now I'm wondering if that wasn't in FM20 either, or was just part of the skin I was using.

The Squad Anyone know a formation that uses seven right-wingers? Of the 21 players in our squad, a third of them could play there. Meanwhile, there's only three players who can play in central defence, and just the one striker. That rules out my normal 4-4-2 tactic then, and an injury or two could cause real trouble. Most of the squad is Slovenian or Croatian, with a couple of Bosnians, an American-Italian, a Serbian, and a Ghanaian. The last two players will have to spend a lot on the sidelines as only one non-EU player is allowed in a 2. SNL matchday squad. We have a 32 year old and a 27 year old, but the majority of the squad is fairly youthful as everyone else is 24 or younger. The U19 squad is empty. I will be keeping the three loanees as I think we'd just be too short of numbers without them.

History The trophy cabinet at the Ob Jezeru stadium is hardly overflowing, but there are a few trinkets in there. While part of Yugoslavia Rudar Velenje won the Slovenian Republic league a couple of times, but it was never a top tier league. When first won in 1976/77 it was part of the third tier, and in 1990/91 (the final season before independence) it was part of the fourth tier. A few years after the split Rudar Velenje won the Slovenian Cup in 1997/98, but since then they've bounced between the top two divisions. After relegation in 2002/03 Rudar Velenje topped the 2003/04 2. SNL, but declined promotion. After winning it again the following year they did go up to the 1. SNL, but only lasted a single season before going back down. 2007/08 saw a third 2. SNL victory, starting a period of 12 years in the 1. SNL. But another relegation was to follow in 2019/20, and they've finished 8th and 5th in the last two seasons. Expectations We're predicted to finish 9th by the media, which is just a little below the board's hopes of a top-half finish. The supporters aren't having that though, they fancy a push at the play-offs. Only the 2. SNL winners earn automatic promotion, the team in 2nd place go into a play-off against the side that finish 9th in the 1. SNL. The bottom two go down. Finances and Facilities The facilities look pretty decent, among the best in the division. I imagine that there isn't much money at this level and that our cash levels will decrease pretty quickly.

Why youth only? I've briefly flirted with the idea before, inspired of course by various topics in this forum, and now seems like a good time to commit to giving it a proper go. Why Slovenia? My last FM20 save was in Poland, and I enjoyed it, but I didn't want to go back there straight away. Playing in a new nation seemed like a better idea. A large part of my success though came from picking up Slovenian players, with five signings having a significant impact on my team (a centre-back, two midfielders, and a pair of wingers). So it's clearly a country that can produce talented young players, and hopefully I'll see some of them here. Why Rudar Velenje? There are 16 teams in the 2. Slovenska Nogomenta Liga (to be known as the 2. SNL going forward), made up of six professional teams and 10 semi-pro. I wanted to go with a pro team so I didn't have to worry about non-contracted players being stolen away, and of the six pro teams, Rudar Velenje were predicted to finish lowest in the league. Also, I recognised the name as one of the teams that I'd signed a player from in my aforementioned Polish save.

Could it be the loyalty bonus? The figures don't seem to add up, but I was under the impression this was paid out over the course of the contract, coming out of the transfer budget.

Gutting end to the league season, at least there was the Vase for a silver lining. Keep Bird and you'll be in a great spot to go one better next year.

@Jimbokav1971 will be mad that he picked the wrong club. Solid enough start so far.

And that seems like a good place to come to a halt. I don't have a solid plan for FM23 yet, so on the beta I've loaded up the Scandinavian nations to get a hang of the new game, and I'll see how it goes from there. I did enjoy this save a lot though. And I'm pleased to end the FM20 run with some success.

Season Review 2029/30 Transfers In January we made over £10 million in sales. Rodrigo Valente and Aboubacar Cisse would have been useful players to keep around, but as neither of them were in our strongest team it made sense to let them go when big money offers came in. Re-inforcements came in the shape of Pawel Bujak on loan from Chelsea (Polish, 22, MC/AMC), and Tiago Antonio (Brazilian, 23, DC). Both went into the first-choice line-up. ----------------------------------- Ekstraklasa Four losses by November gave Legia Warszawa an early lead over us. Over the course of the season we narrowed their advantage, but when we failed to beat them in the Championship Group Stage any hope of overhauling them was lost. We were miles ahead of everyone else though. ----------------------------------- Puchar Polski We won the cup with ease. There weren't any difficult tests en route, and we blew Lech Poznan away in the final. ----------------------------------- Europe We were drawn in a strong Champions League group, but we thrashed Ajax twice, and also picked up a draw with Inter to finish 3rd in the group. This saw us drop into the Europa League. Unfortunately a draw at home wasn't enough, as West Ham smashed us at their place. ----------------------------------- Players Matthew Harper was an incredible signing, scoring 28 times in his debut season. This was enough for him to be Ekstraklasa top scorer. Despite this he wasn't voted our player of the season, as Urh Bloudek took this accolade with an average match rating of 7.44. Our top creator was Luis Pinheiro with 15 assists. ----------------------------------- We couldn't make it three league titles in a row, but we still picked up a double of sorts, winning both the Polish Cup and Super Cup. This moved me up to 4th place in the Poland Hall of Fame. -----------------------------------

Fun premise, good luck with this. Though I'm sure I won't be the only person slightly hoping for a humiliating, typically Scottish, loss to minnows at some point.

GKS Katowice - Pre-Season 2029/30 We had three departures from our senior squad this month, two on a temporary basis and one permanently. Janusz Lipka is unlikely to see much gametime after additions to the squad, so he was allowed to go to Slovenia on loan. At 32 and starting to decline Emir Azemovic wanted a new challenge, so he's off to Romania for the year (at which point his contract will expire). I wanted to keep Kaka, but he had a £600k release clause which was met. I tried talking him into signing a new contract, but he was already unhappy at not playing enough as he wanted last year and he wanted out. ----------------------------------- With a transfer budget of £18 million, I've managed to spend nothing this summer. I think I've made three decent signings though Matthew Harper had been on my scout's radar after impressing in a youth tournament, but Liverpool were asking £33 million for him in January. He was coming towards the end of his contract and didn't want to negotiate at that point, but fast forward a few months and when Liverpool released him he was ready to talk. He's yet to make his senior debut but he has bags of potential. Slovenia has been a fertile hunting ground for me, and I've gone back there to pick up Jordan Snajder. He's another lad with a lot of potential, and in his case some of it has already been realised. Three season ago he helped Rudar Valenje get promoted to the top tier, and in the two seasons since he's scored a total of 14 goals. Janusz Cabaj was the best under 22 Polish player my scouts could find available for anything other than silly money, so we took him on loan from Borussia Dortmund for the year. He came through the ranks at Legia Warszawa and has some Ekstraklasa experience, before moving to Germany for £1.3 million. ----------------------------------- The aforementioned Janusz Cabaj should help with having a Polish under 22 player in all Ekstraklasa line-ups, but at the same time Piotr Bajarek has now aged out of being eligible. That leaves us with three players that meet the criteria (plus the reserves and youth-team of course), but I'm not convinced by the quality we have. Thus I've managed to get our junior coaching and youth recruitment improved. It won't help in the short-term, but hopefully will come to fruition in a few years. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - Pre-Season 2029/30 Another approach from Portugal, another interview declined. ----------------------------------- Our success is catching up with us, as a top three finish is now expected. The media predict we'll finish third. After two titles in a row my aim is of course to make it three in a row. And progression from the Champions League, even if it's finish third and drop into the Europa League. ----------------------------------- We made it three Super Cup wins in the last four years with a shootout victory over Legia Warszawa. This also bumped me up a spot in the Polish Hall of Fame. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - Season Review 2028/29 The goals didn't flow as quickly as they did last year, but we still ended up with four players in double-figures. Mohamed Medfai top-scored with 11 goals. Top creator was Uri Bloudek with 13 assists, and with an average rating of 7.37 he was also named the GKS Katowice player of the year, and the Ekstraklasa player of the season. These two both made the Ekstraklasa team of the season, along with Nikola Nenadovic, Piotr Bajorek, Rafal Kozub, Aboubacar Cisse, and Aleksander Lezon. Robert Korosec was named both Slovenian senior and youth player of the year. ----------------------------------- Around the halfway stage of the season I thought we were out of it, I'd written off all hope of retaining the title. The turnaround after Christmas was great though, as out new formation propelled us to 13 wins and 4 draws from 17 games. We ended the regular season in 2nd place, but did enough during the Championship Group stage to make our way to the top. It was also enough to put me into the Polish Hall of Fame. ----------------------------------- Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur managed to finish in 2nd place and reach the promotion play-off, but after drawing with Servette in both legs they lost out on penalties. -----------------------------------

Yeah, I think so. If something interesting comes up I might change my mind, but I'm certainly not looking to leave at the moment.