DaneBramage

GKS Katowice - May 2029 Our first game of May was the massive encounter with Legia Warszawa. To the neutral it was probably a bit of a letdown, as we took the lead early on and restricted them to half-chances, and then we killed off the game in the final 10 minutes. But for us it was a huge result. Our second game was the other massive encounter, with Lech Poznan. Another letdown for the neutral, a bore draw, but it'll do. We had the advantage at this point (Kat 81, LP 80, LW 79), but Pogon Szczecin was a tricky tie. We weren't great by any means, going behind early and struggling to mount any meaningful attacks, but finally a deflected effort from Wojciech Bartoleski earned us a share of the points. Legia Warszawa could also only draw, while Lech Poznan lost, so the missed opportunity didn't punish us. Going in to the final day we knew we needed a win to guarantee the title. A draw would have been enough if neither of the other contenders won, but best to keep it in our hands. So we smashed Lechia Gdansk. The game was done by half-time, we knew the Ekstraklasa was coming our way again. ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - April 2029 The draw with Gornik Zabrze was disappointing, we were just misfiring upfront and not looking like scoring. But that was sandwiched with two good home wins, Mohamed Medfai and Robert Korosec the stars of the month with goals in each of these games. And of course the goalie and defence for 3 clean sheets in a row. ----------------------------------- It couldn't be much closer, but we've just about made it into top spot. After the first three games in the Championship Group stage we've dropped a couple of points, but each of our rivals have suffered a loss. We play Legia Warszawa next, then Lech Poznan immediately after. They play each other on the final day. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - March + April 2029 We started March with a top of the table six-pointer against Lech Poznan. They had much more possession than us, but we had double the chances. We were a bit slow in taking them until Wojciech Bartolewski came off the bench to grab an equaliser, and then a stoppage-time winner. While momentum could have swung in our favour, we didn't take full advantage by only managing a draw at Pogon Szczecin next time out. We quickly got back on track though with three consecutive wins to end the regular season. Our Polish Cup campaign came to an end in the semis. ----------------------------------- It's suddenly all very close at the top. We've dropped two points in this period, but Lech Poznan lost twice, to us and Legia Warszawa. The three of us are now split by just two points. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - February 2029 I received a couple of offers from Portugal this month. I turned down the interview from Vitoria (12th in Liga NOS) but attended the one from Sporting (9th). I was tempted with the opportunity to try out another league I haven't played yet in FM20, but with FM23 not being too far away and this probably being my last save in this version, I decided to stay put for now. There's still work to be done in Poland, rather than start something elsewhere I won't have time to do properly. ----------------------------------- With the Champions League money burning a hole in my pocket I splashed out £9.5k a week to bring in Jose Antonio Blanco on loan from Manchester United until the end of the season. Five minutes into his debut he knackered his knee, ruling him for three months and probably ending his season. ----------------------------------- We're not scoring enough goals this season. After 20 games we're at an average of 2.0 goals per game, which is good, but a long way behind the 2.8 average we had at the same time last year. I've switched from our 4-4-2 formation to a 4-5-1 line-up instead. Rodrigo Valente has impressed as a sub, so hopefully he can do the same and more from his preferred starting role. ----------------------------------- The new formation has had an immediate effect, with 13 goals in 5 games for an average of 2.6 per match. Coupled with 3 clean sheets at the other end and we've managed the perfect month. This started with a brilliant 4-0 win over Legia Warszawa, the new tactic took them by surprise and they couldn't handle it. The only game where we struggled was away at Arka Gdynia. We were two-down at the break, but the substitutions turned the game around. ----------------------------------- Legia Warszawa followed up their loss to us with a loss to Stomil Olsztyn, and we've managed to overhaul them. Lech Poznan also dropped a couple of points, so we've brought the gap down to five. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - December 2028 ----------------------------------- We gave it a good go in the Champions League, but ultimately there were just three better teams in the group. We finished in the expected 4th place, but did set the cat amongst the pigeons with wins over Liverpool and Inter. In the Ekstraklasa we're comfortably clear of Lechia Gdansk in 4th, but not looking like we're going to be part of the title race. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - November 2028 From the sublime to the ridiculous. We had an incredible night to remember at Anfield, three times falling behind, three times equalising, and then scoring a 92nd minute penalty to take the lead. Hearts broke in the 94th minute when Liverpool seemingly made it 4-4, but VAR saved the day by spotting an offside in the build-up. We had just as many bookings as we did shots on target (seven of each), but were deadly with our chances. Then we returned to league action against Piast Gliwice, saw Piotr Bajorek get sent-off, and lost 1-0. Infuriating. At least we rebounded with a couple of Ekstraklasa wins and progression in the cup, and Wojciech Bartolewski and Aleksander Lezon both ended a couple of goalscoring droughts (15 hours and 9 hours respectively. ----------------------------------- Our final Champions League group game is against Inter. At this point any outcome is possible - we could end up in the knockout stages, we could drop to the Europa League, we could finish bottom and go out of Europe entirely. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - September + October 2028 We made one signing at the end of the window, under the recommendation of a new coach. Amir Ahmetovic was the first-choice left-back for Legia Warszawa, so hopefully we'll be weakening them while also strengthening our starting line-up. I've only just noticed that he's Bosnian, I'm sure he was Polish when I approved this, don't know that I'd have gone through with it otherwise. ----------------------------------- We've had a good, albeit frustrating, couple of months in the league. Seven games unbeaten can't be scoffed at, but three draws in this time does mean that we've dropped six points. I can't complain about the draw with Lech Poznan, but not beating either of Cracovia or Gornik Zabrze is annoying. Amir Ahmetovic made his debut in the big win over Arka Gdynia. He scored an own goal. In the Conference League we suffered the expected defeats to Valencia and Liverpool, but pulled off a big upset against Inter. They had double the chances we did, but we made the most of ours and Janusz Lipka got on the scoresheet twice. ----------------------------------- The draws show that we're not scoring enough goals. This is a large part of it: 25b Daniel Kowalski isn't holding up his head of the deal, with zero goals so far. This can't continue. I'm not willing to put 25a Pawel Szymanski in goal, he's a long way off the standard of Nikola Nenadovic. And putting Piotr Bajorek at right-back would mean taking out the attacking threat of Luis Pinheiro. So I think I'm going to have put Piotr Bajorek in central defence, which then means I can cycle Aleksander Lezon back in up front. ----------------------------------- Lech Poznan and Legia Warszawa are pulling away. We've won a total of one point from our first round of games against them, I think we need to beat both next time around, otherwise we're out of the title race. I missed taking a screenshot of the Champions League group, but it was Valencia - 7 points, Liverpool - 6 points, GKS Katowice - 3 points, Inter - 1 point. The surprise win means we're not bottom of the group and we've exceeded the zero points I expected, now I just hope we can add to it. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - July + August 2028 Last season I had great success with the approach of playing the first-team in the league, and a completely different second XI playing cup games (an approach stolen from Jimbo). That's gone out the window immediately this year, as the whole first-team was dropped in disgrace after the Rakow Czestochowa game. We should have smashed them, but at the very least it looked like we were heading for a draw. Then we conceded twice in stoppage-time to throw even a point away. Three players lost a week's wages. The second-string took over the league fixtures, and won three in a row comfortably. The first-choice line-up then came back in for the Champions League play-off game, and blew Celtic away in a match I expected to be tougher. They then lost to Legia Warszawa, but it's not the first time we've lost to them and it won't be the last either. The second-leg against Celtic didn't really matter, the commanding lead from the first-leg meant the 1-0 loss had little effect on the aggregate scoreline. We made it to the group stage, and earned a cool £13 million for the privilege. ----------------------------------- We've already given up an early advantage to Lech Poznan and Legia Warszawa, and it'll take a miracle to get anything from this Champions League group. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - July 2028 The season started with the Superpuchar Polski game against Lech Poznan. They had most of the ball but failed to do much with it, while we always looked dangerous in our limited possession without getting the final touch right. Ultimately it went to a shootout, and for the second time in three years we lifted the Super Cup on penalties. ----------------------------------- Just the one change to our first-choice starting line-up from last year, as February signing Rafal Kozub comes into central defence to replace the departed Seweryn Michalski. This eleven will play the bulk of our Ekstraklasa matches. Rodrigo Valente will be on the bench and hopefully get enough playing-time to stay happy, and after a while we can see where he fits in. There are no changes to our second-string, who will mostly play in the domestic cup and in Europe. Again, Rodrigo Valente will be on the bench. ----------------------------------- EDIT: The above line-ups are already outdated, before I've even played the first game. I forgot about this Ekstraklasa rule. Aleksander Lezon had been filling this role, but he's too old for it now. We only have the three players before who fit this role, so I've had to swap 25b Daniel Kowalski into the first-team instead. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - 2028/29 Season Preview The board have taken note of our performances last season, as they've increased their expectations and now want us to finish in the top three. The media don't share the same confidence, predicting that we won't come any higher than 4th. As the reigning champions I'd of course love to retain the title, but at the very least we need to be in the fight. ----------------------------------- After the sponsorship and TV rights money for the coming season were paid out we had a balance of over £10 million, so we used this to improve our youth recruitment to an excellent standard. ----------------------------------- Just the one departure, as Seweryn Michalski was let go when his contract expired. He was a very important player for us over the last four years, making up half of our first-choice centre-back partnership most of this time, but at the age of 33 his physical attributes have rapidly declined and masters football is probably more his speed now. ----------------------------------- I wasn't planning on making any signings this summer. If I added anyone I wanted it to be a Polish player, to have more domestic players in the squad. I was lining up a loan offer for a midfielder from Napoli, but cancelled it on 1st July when this popped up. I don't remember signing Rodrigo Valente, let alone making him my top earner, but it has been a few days since I last played. I'm not sure I want to break up either of my existing midfield partnerships, my midfield playmakers are two of my better players, so I guess I'll just have to go a few months and see where he fits in. The flexibility of also being play up front or on the right should mean he gets chances. -----------------------------------

Thanks! I really enjoyed this season, everything just seemed to click. And the fact that Lech Poznan were also really good and pushed us so far made it even sweeter. Legia lost 3-1 on aggregate to Stade Rennais, who then went on to beat Feyenoord in the final.

GKS Katowice - 2027/28 Season Review Heroes, all of them. Put up 25 statues. Actually, make that 26. I want one of me too. Erik Ceveli was voted the fans' player of the season after an impressive debut season with 22 goal contributions. Aboubacar Cisse was top scorer with 19 goals, and was equal top creator with Luis Pinheiro on 14 assists apiece. Urh Bloudek won the Slovenian player of the year award for a second time, making it four successes in a row (after two Slovenian young player of the year awards previously). Aboubacar Cisse, Aleksander Lezon, Urh Bloudek, Nikola Nenadovic, Mohamed Medfai, Erik Ceveli, and Jan Barnert all made the Ekstraklasa team of the season. ----------------------------------- We received £1.8 million for winning the league. I believe this is only the second top tier division I've won in FM20 (after Israel). That decision to leave Winterthur looks like a genius move now. For the first time we'll be entering the Champions League next year, in the third qualifying round. ----------------------------------- Swiss Challenge League: Winterthur couldn't put together any kind of consistent form in 2028, and bounced around between 1st and 4th in the table. A win on the final day would have put them into the play-off spot; instead, a loss doomed them to miss out in 3rd. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - May 2028 In the two week gap between fixtures we won a couple of friendlies, while Lech Poznan won the Puchar Polski. Championship Group - Game 4 Balls. A two point gap remains, but we play Lech Poznan next. The momentum has shifted. Our two regular right-backs are injured, a centre-back who can cover and a reserve are injured, and the fifth choice had to go off during this game. We're in trouble. Championship Group - Game 5 Yeah!!! Mohamed Medfai scored the opener with a fine solo goal in the first-half, before Piotr Bajarek (the reserve right-back who'd recovered enough to play) set up the second for Nikodem Zajac after the break. Lech Poznan had more of the ball than us, and were probably the stronger side, but a fine defensive effort stopped them doing much with all their possession. When we got the ball we went forward at all times, and it paid off. Championship Group - Game 6 By my count a point would have been enough to guarantee us the title, but we took all three anyway. A brace from Aleksander Lezon, both assisted by Aboubacar Cisse (who scored the other himself) saw us take the victory and the Ekstraklasa title in style. Championship Group - Game 7 With the league already won, and it being our fourth game in nine days, a mixture of the second-string and whoever was fit took the field for the final day celebration. Fittingly, the first-choice strike pairing of Aleksander Lezon and Aboubacar Cisse scored our final goals of the season. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - April 2028 Championship Group - Game 1 Lech Poznan's game was the day before ours, and a 1-0 loss gave us all the ammunition I needed for my team-talk. Sebastian Milewski put us into the lead from the spot, but we conceded an equaliser shortly after. So we didn't take full advantage of their failure, but still grew the lead at the top by another point. Championship Group - Game 2 Both games were being played simultaneously, and when Lech Poznan scored within the first 10 minutes and we conceded at near enough the same time, things were looking dodgy. That is until Robert Korosec and Joan Andres Escobedo came off the bench and turned the game around. And when Lech Poznan shipped a 93rd minute equaliser an even bigger cheer rang out. Championship Group - Game 3 A 3-0 lead after 24 minutes (strikes from Sebastian Milewski, Erik Ceveli, and Aboubacar Cisse) should have seen a more comfortable win, but despite letting Lechia Gdansk back into the game we held on for a tense final 15 minutes to take all three points. Lech Poznan matched our victory a day later. We have a five point lead with four games remaining. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - April 2028 Our European adventure came to an end as Legia Warszawa got the better of us over two legs. Ultimately I'm not too disappointed about going out; we've had a few injuries over the last month or so and we had to scrabble together a bit of a patchwork side for these two games. But it would have been nice to have at least scored against them - I think these are just the third and fourth games all season that we haven't managed to score a single goal. We continued to go strong in the league, two wins and two clean sheets. ----------------------------------- If only this was it. Lech Poznan could only get a point from Arka Gdynia on the final day, giving us a two point lead. But we now go into the Champions Group, with seven games still to play. We take on Lech Poznan in the fifth of these ties. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - 2028 Youth Intake As normal I left my HoYD in charge of signings, and he picked up 10 players from this batch. Quite a few professional personalities here, and a couple of different nationalities too. The highest rated prospect, 28a Vadym Zharikov, doesn't look bad at all, but as only two graduates have made it into my senior squad so far he probably has a difficult task ahead of him.

GKS Katowice - March 2028 Three wins in the league, and comfortable progression in Europe. Nothing flashy, but it did the job. We won't have far to travel for the Conference League quarter-finals, being draw in an all-Polish clash with Legia Warszawa. ----------------------------------- We had a slice of luck with Lech Poznan losing to Wisla Krakow, but they stay above us on head-to-head record. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - February 2028 We returned from the winter break with a pair of victories, making it 16 wins in a row. The run was ended though away at Stomil Olsztyn, we gave them a battering but they scored from their only shot on target. We also contributed to our own downfall, courtesy of a missed penalty from Sebastian Milewski. The real damage came a couple of games later. We were chasing shadows against Lech Poznan, and never looked like getting anything from the tie. At the time it was 1st v 2nd in our favour, but they were the much better side. ----------------------------------- That loss hurts, and it's seen Lech Poznan climb above us in the table. With the form they're on it's difficult to see them slipping up and letting us back into the race, got to hope someone does us a favour and that we can go back on another streak. ----------------------------------- Accidentally made a signing at the end of the month. Thought I was negotiating for the summer, didn't realise there was an open transfer window underway. Two of our centre-backs are the wrong side of 30, and Seweryn Michalski's physical attributes are starting to decline pretty quickly, so we needed a new face sooner rather than later. Rafal Kozub has several years of Ekstraklasa experience with Piast Gliwice, so I think he'll be going straight into the first-team. He's by far my most expensive signing in this career so far, and has brought the total that I've paid for players almost up to the level of total sales. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - December 2027 Splendid stuff. 14 wins in a row. As our top-earner (£6.5k per week) I had been a little underwhelmed with Erik Ceveli's numbers, especially with Mohamed Medfai leading our scoring charts on the opposite wing, but a hat-trick against Wisla Krakow gave him a timely boost. Our cup side completed the job in Europe with a comfortable win in Finland, and they also got a rare runout in the Ekstraklasa against struggling Wigry Suwalki. Joan Andres Escobedo scored on his first start for the club, after being signed on loan (from Pogon Szczecin) by the DoF to cover the right-wing following the retirement of Alves. ----------------------------------- We overtook Lech Poznan on goal difference after game 19, and their slip-up the following week has given us a slender lead. The win over HJK meant we finished top of our Conference League group, and we now get a bye to the second knockout round. ----------------------------------- Swiss Challenge League - Five wins from the opening six games saw Winterthur take an early lead at the top of the table, but a dodgy Autumn saw them drop a lot of points. Despite this, no one else has taken advantage, and they somehow still retain 1st place going into the winter break. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - November 2027 Another great month, five more wins. The win over Pogon Szczecin saw them ditch their manager in the aftermath, but the following game against Gornik Zabrze was more important. It was 2nd versus 3rd, and they were coming into this tie off a loss in their previous game. I don't think we can quite call it a six-pointer at this stage of the season, but when we scored within 25 seconds of kick-off this rattled them, and there was only going to be one winner from that point. The third league game of the month saw us beat Lechia Gdansk, avenging our only Ekstraklasa loss of the season so far. Several players have hit minor milestones this month, with Luis Pinheiro reaching double figures for assists, Mohamed Medfai doing the same with goals, and Aboubacar Cisse hitting this tally for both. In the Conference League we won both games, but I'm still a little disappointed. Not by the first game of course, when we gave Partizan a second hammering of the campaign. 25b Daniel Kowalski channelled his inner Haaland, smashing home a hat-trick and getting two assists. But the TNS match should have been more emphatic. We still won, but it was pure dominance, 28 shots to zero, 71% possession. The scoreline should have been a lot higher. ----------------------------------- In the league we've dropped Gornik Zabrze and it's very much a top two now, but Lech Poznan stay ahead due to their cracking defensive record. Our dodgy start to the Conference League is in the rear mirror, with qualification to the knockout rounds confirmed. Our final game against HJK will determine who tops the group and gets a bye through the first round. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - October 2027 Five wins in a row, got to be happy with that. The goals were all spread around the team, with eight different players scoring in the league. If you include the Conference League game we had 11 different scorers this month, as we absolutely hammered Partizan. So much for my prediction they'd be the strongest side in the group. ----------------------------------- Ridiculously close at the top, there's barely anything splitting Lech Poznan, us, and Gornik Zabrze. We've left the rest behind. Not sure what's going on with the form column though, it's not correct at all for us. The big win over Partizan has put us back on track in Europe. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - September 2027 The confidence around our Conference League chances appears to be massively misplaced, as our cup side has had an awful month. We bossed TNS but just couldn't score, and somehow left Wales with a 2-0 loss. Against HJK we had even more chances (30 shots, 20 on target), and again were utterly wasteful. In the end we were lucky to scrape a point with a late equaliser after going down to ten men. We were also knocked out of the Puchar Polski, though at least that was a bit more respectable. We took Lech Poznan to penalties, but they were more accurate from the spot. The strongest XI continued to go well in the league. Large victories over Stomil Olsztyn and Rakow Czestochowa made it seven wins in a row, before this run ended with a competitive draw against Lech Poznan. ----------------------------------- In the Ekstraklasa we're part of a top three that has already pulled away a little, but our Conference League prospects are looking dismal. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - August 2027 Sad news to start the update. Tiago Alves had been a stalwart in the team during my team here, never putting up amazing numbers but always being a solid, dependable performer on the right-wing. A hip injury ended his 2026/27 season early, and his return to action was struck by disaster. His leg was broken making a challenge, and at the age of 31, Alves decided to retire with immediate effect. ----------------------------------- We put July's terrible Ekstraklasa start behind us with a much better August. Five wins from five and 16 goals scored, the only way it could have been any better would be if we were a bit tighter at the back. Aleksander Lezon took last month's warning to heart, with goals in his next three games, plus a hat-trick of assists against Wigry Suwatki. Wojciech Bartolewski was also on the scoresheet in Europe, making it goals in four consecutive Conference League qualifiers. We made hard work of it against Ferencvarosi, giving up a two goal lead at their place. We looked strong but somehow gave up three goals, including the decisive strike in the 95th minute. At home we had no such problems and killed the tie off. The Durgardens game were a close affair, but again we won the home leg to make it through. ----------------------------------- Lots of green in the final column, you love to see it. We're top-scoring so far, but have also conceded more than the sides around us. ----------------------------------- That's a nice reward for making it as far as the group stage, and I think that's definitely one we should make it through. FK Partizan will be the danger side - they made it to the quarter-finals last year. But I don't think we should have any trouble from the other two. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - July 2027 Not happy at all with the league form. We dominated on the opening day against Gornik Zabrze (24 shots, 65% possession), but managed to concede twice from just five shots, including a 94th minute equaliser. Then we were massively profligate upfront against Lechia Gdansk, scoring just once from 23 efforts. Aleksander Lezon was the main offender, just one shot on target from six, earning himself a 6.1 rating and a week's fine. In Kazakhstan things weren't much better, as we left with just a one goal lead despite taking 33 shots (20 on target). With our poor league form I was slightly worried for our home game against Kaysar Kyzylorda, but a professional performance put us comfortably through to the next round. Wojciech Bartoleski and Kaka both grabbed their first goals for the club in this game. -----------------------------------

GKS Katowice - 2027/28 Pre-Season Time to go back to Switzerland? No. ----------------------------------- The board want a top-half finish, while the media think we can make top five. Due to recent improved Polish efforts in Europe the qualification spots have changed from 1 Champions League + 3 Conference League, to 2 Champions League + 1 Europa League + 2 Conference League. So I'm hoping for a top three placing to take advantage of this. ----------------------------------- Gilson Costa was the main player to leave. He was in our second-string cup team, but when he were knocked out of Europe and the Puchar Polski last year he began to complain about not getting enough gametime. Due to injuries elsewhere he got his chance in the league, but didn't perform, and there's only ever going to be one outcome when that happens. We also lost two academy players, poached away by Slavia Praha and Legia Warszawa. ----------------------------------- With a war chest of over £5 million, more than normal was spent this summer. Three of the incoming players were my signings, while the other two were picked by the HoYD. Erik Ceveli was the first transfer confirmed, joining on a free after his Salernitana contract expired. He probably under-performed in Serie B, but I like the look of him. And with 25 Albania caps he must have something about him that hopefully we can unlock. I've had success here with Slovenian signings, so I've added another with Robert Korosec. The fee ended up higher than I wanted (plus 50% of any profit), but if he does as well as the others it should pay off. Bostjan Horvat was my third signing, but he's gone in the reserves for now. Nowhere near ready for first-team football yet, we'll see if he develops. I wasn't looking for another striker, but the HoYD agreed a deal for Wojciech Bartolewski and I agreed to sign it off. His physicals, finishing, dribbling, and determination are all impressive. He didn't play much last year, but the season before he reached double figures in the Ekstraklasa from just 11 starts (plus 18 appearances from the bench). The other HoYD signing was right-back Kaka. At just under £150k this might be a bit of a bargain. ----------------------------------- Most of the starting league XI remains the same, with Erik Ceveli the only new addition on the right-wing. The second-string cup team has had a few more changes, with new faces Wojciech Bartolewski, Robert Korosec, and Kaka all coming in, as well as Thiago Alves dropping down. -----------------------------------