Gundo's FM12 European Adventure Challenge™

[johnnyquest409]

Jadran Dekani Champions League 2022/23 Update

So as mentioned, we qualified for the CL group stage for the first time this season, up against Man Utd, Olympique Marseille and Zenit St. Petersburg.

Game 1 - Jadran Dekani 1-3 Man Utd

Not the best start. Completely outplayed, never realy got to grips with our opponents, and only scored thanks to a lucky own goal. We did create a couple of decent chances, but bottled them.

Game 2 - OM 2-2 Jadran Dekani

Much better, the team showing some fight, coming from behind twice and grabbing the equaliser in stoppage time.

Game 3 - Jadran Dekani 1-0 Zenit

Three points! A pretty even game with not many decent chances, but a first-half penalty was enough to give us the win.

Game 4 - Zenit 3-0 Jadran Dekani

Before the game I felt a point here would put us in a good position to at least finish 3rd, but it wasn't to be. Conceded quite early and the second just before half-time killed us off.

Game 5 - Man Utd 4-0 Jadran Dekani

One-way traffic, I'm just amazed it was only 1-0 at half-time. Tough lesson, we've got a long way still to go.

Game 6 - Jadran Dekani 1-1 OM

A win here would have been enough to grab 3rd place, but it never really looked likely, in the end holding on for a draw, leaving us bottom and out of Europe.

Overall, a mixed bag, but I'm fairly happy with how our first CL group adventure went. It brought in some cash and hopefully has boosted our reputation a bit.

Now the bad news - Cervenka announces intention to leave Jadran Dekani

[Dexter_Morgan]

Well done Chris on your title.

johnnyquest409 5 points from that group is good going. I hope Cervenka can be persuaded to stay.

Bad news with my save, my laptop just wouldn't go past the start screen and in the end I had to re-install windows which meant all my saves have gone I'm not going to restart any challenge as I know i'll give in and get FM13 in the next week or so I'll be keeping an eye out on here though, so good luck to all those continuing

[johnnyquest409]

I've sold Cervenka. In fact, I've had a bit of a January firesale, selling Cervenka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Jurcik (Dinamo Moscow), Dawid (Austria Wien) and Prokes (Domzale). All had contracts expiring in the summer, and none of them would talk to me. All have 40% of next transfer clauses. Our finances are looking extremely health, we have £15m in the bank now, and have training and youth facilities ordered (as well as stadium expansion). I've still never had the option of expanding our youth recruitment though, which remains 'fairly basic'.

Despite the departures, I'm still pretty happy with my squad. Vaclav Vanak has the task of trying to fill Cervenka's shoes, whilst we've got plenty of depth in the centre to cope without Jurcik and Dawid.

That said, it's looking pretty unlikely we'll succesfully defend our title. We trailed Maribor by 6 points at the Christmas break, and the way they're playing at the moment, I'd be surprised if they drop 6 more points this season.

[chris11223]

Haverfordwest - Season Review 2016/17

The League

We opened the season with our only loss in the league, against Neath, after this we went through the season unbeaten and are currently 31 games without defeat. All of this left us 13 points clear at the end of the season and with our 3rd successive title. Since it was all pretty straight forwards theres reflectively little that needs to be said so here are some players that had good season.

Nicky Pirie - ST- He was one of two players to come to us on loan from our parent club, Motherwell, but he impressed more over the season scoring 21 goals in the league and creating another 11. I think I might try and bring him back next season on loan but I doubt he'll come again.

Matty O'Shaughnessy - DM- He has quickly developed into one of our top players and is pretty much an ever present in the starting 11, He is one of the best passers in the team and runs things from just in-front of the defence constantly causing problems and breaking up opposition attacks. I'm going to open contract talks with him soon in the hope to get him to sign a long-ish term contract.

Domestic Cups

The Welsh Cup was a bit disappointing with us only managing to reach the Quarter-Finals before being knocked out by Newport County who went on to win the competition.

The League Cup went much more smoothly with our only real challenge being against Neath in the Semi-Final after we went past them I never doubted that we would win this cup. In the final it remained goalless until the 2nd half of extra time when James Poole popped up with a 114th minute goal to settle the tie and send the cup home with the Bluebirds!!

Champions Cup

We were again drawn against a much bigger club than ours in the 2nd Qualifying round, but I went into this tie with Legia with the hopes of progression because of our previous European Performances. The first leg was very close and ended in a 1-0 win for them, I was still hopeful of progression because the 2nd leg was at our ground and we'd only need 2 goals to progress. The 2nd leg was all us, Legia didn't even get a shot in the first 90 minutes. However, our finishing yet again let us down only managing to put one past their keeper, who had a spectacular game. In extra time we kept the pressure on in the hopes that we could snatch a late winner, it was never meant to me though as Legia scored off a counter attack and their only shot on target in the 118th minute to put them through 2-1 on aggregate ... Maybe next season!

Transfers & Finances

The outs were mainly due to contract on back-up players running out and them demanding far more than what they are worth, the two that went to other clubs both have a 40% of next sale clause on them so I might get some money from them in the future. All of the players that come in were just for rotation purposes apart from the two on loan from Motherwell who both played a significant role in out title defence.

Thanks to our scout who isn't even contracted to my club but still for whatever reason is financed by us we ended the season with a huge loss and about 200k in the red. There was a club Takeover though and after the new board came in they took a bank loan to wipe out the debt which is good i guess and it's only 1.5k a month for repayments which isn't too bad.

[b]Season          Division               Position          Welsh Cup          League Cup          Champions Cup          Euro Cup[/b]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13     Welsh Premier League       1st              Winner                Winner                  N/A                        N/A
2013/14     Welsh Premier League       2nd              Winner               Semi-Final        Qualifying Round 2          N/A
2014/15     Welsh Premier League       1st              3rd Round              Final                   N/A                Qualifying Round 3
2015/16     Welsh Premier League       1st               Qtr-Final            Semi-Final        Qualifying Round 2          N/A
2016/17     Welsh Premier League       1st               Qtr-Final             Winner            Qualifying Round 2          N/A

[Twellman24]

So after attempting a Fm13 challenge and my save crashing multiple times, I've given up and will be going back to Fm12--I can't risk spending the little time I have for FM on saves that may or may not crash.

My question is--I remember doing this Challenge in 11, where I took Afan Lido to the CL group stages (anybody remember me?), so I want to try Wales again--is that OK even though this is the 12 edition?

Cheers

T24

[chris11223]

So after attempting a Fm13 challenge and my save crashing multiple times, I've given up and will be going back to Fm12--I can't risk spending the little time I have for FM on saves that may or may not crash.

My question is--I remember doing this Challenge in 11, where I took Afan Lido to the CL group stages (anybody remember me?), so I want to try Wales again--is that OK even though this is the 12 edition?

Cheers

T24

I guess It would be okay but i'd PM someone who's been on here longer or maybe Gundo just to check

[vurogj]

Eligible nations' leagues are listed in the 1st post, and yes, Wales is one of them. So go for it, and the very best of luck!

[KillerPass]

Abbey Villa FC 2012 - 2029

Hi guys, and also a hello to the lady who seems to have been absent from these pages for a while but who was quite an inspiration to me in my early struggles with the game. I hope you are well.

I should, of course, apologise to all you challenge fans who go about this the right way and chronicle their careers from the beginning; I’m sorry. In my defence I can only say that at the start I found this game to be so different from the 2009 version I had played for a couple of years that I didn’t ever think I would get the hang of it (and to be honest I don’t think I could claim to have more than scratched the surface now - it still surprises me just when I think I have got my head round most of what is going on.) I didn’t see the point of boring everyone with my learning process.

Playing that 2009 game I took several local (I’m from Northern Ireland) clubs to varying degrees of success, up to group stage in the Champions League and, I think, on one occasion, on to the knockout rounds of the Euro Cup. So I approached this game with the idea that I would manage one of those clubs (Newington, Sirocco Works, Ards Rangers), just whichever came up. I holidayed the first year and none of them appeared; instead I was presented with Abbey Villa, a little club that resides no more than 2 miles from my house - how could I say no?

The first year in NI2 we were basically outclassed, and stayed up mainly by playing solid defence, robust midfield, and a couple of quick guys up front or on the wings in a 4-5-1. By the second year we were able to attract the odd First Division or very young/aging Premier League standard player and eventually won the division in 2015. Having, by that time, a reasonably solid group of players (including, if I remember correctly, a midfielder who should, and later did do so, have been playing in the English Premier League) we won the First Division at a canter. Suddenly we were in the Big League.

Our first couple of years in the Premier League are forgettable; our third year we finished 7th (the NIP splits into top and bottom six after 33 games), 15 points clear of 8th; at that point I felt we had something. 2020 we finished 4th, 2021 we won, and the Champions League beckoned.

At this point I should say that I have tried throughout to follow Gundo’s rules - the only thing that I’m unsure of is that for the first several years I couldn’t scout outside the UK and Ireland, which was fine, but anyone outside that area who came across my radar I did invite for a trial, and, at that time, as a side that was crying out for a bit of quality, I usually signed. If someone could let me know whether this is within the spirit of Gundo’s rules I would be grateful.

Since that first win we have dominated locally, winning the Premier League every year except 2024, a year which, not coincidentally I tend to think, saw our first appearance in the Group Stages of the Champions League. We’ve also been the “best team in Ireland” (my own quote) for the past 8 years - just look at our record in the All-Ireland if you want to argue (winners 2021 and every year since 2023).

In Europe (and lets be honest here, we’re talking Champions League, as anything else is a bit Mickey Mouse) I think we have done quite well. We’ve made it to the Group Stages every year since 2023 (bar one), and while we haven’t exactly set the world alight I don’t think we’ve ever been humiliated, even against the likes of Chelsea (OK we lost 5-2 away having been 2-0 up, our first year in the Groups, but that was my fault for being a bit gung-ho, lesson learned), Barcelona and various French teams named Olimpique.

All of which brings us to the present: game date is 4th April 2029 and we need one point from our final five games to win the NIP. We are still in the Irish Cup and All-Ireland Cup and I would expect to win both of those. Perhaps more importantly, and the reason why I have finally decided that this game is worthy of your attention, is that we play AC Milan tonight in the quarter final of the Champions League/Cup, whatever its called. Colour me surprised that we have got this far (I have no idea how we won a group containing Bayern and Lyon) yet am a little underwhelmed at having beaten Celtic in the knockout round (0-0, 0-0, won on penalties). In the normal run of things I would say that we don’t stand a chance against an elite team like Milan, and yet….we did play them in the Group Stages last year and we competed, even though we lost 1-0, 2-0. And while I don’t really expect to do much better this time around, please don’t tell the players that: we’re a young side, and confidence is a factor, so I’ll be telling them to go out there relaxed and expecting to win.

[KillerPass]

0-0 in the home game; I thought it was a fairly even sort of match, but the stats show they had 16 shots to our 1, and won possession by 60-40; as our whole game is based around controlling possession I'm a bit worried by that.

PS for anyone waiting for further updates, I'm heading from my hotel room to the pub, and thence to see the Patriots at Wembley. If I can wait a while to see how the Villa do, so can you.

[KillerPass]

PPS Milan manager Luca Gotti says "Abbey Villa could do with being a bit more incisive in front of goal rather than trying to pass it into the back of the net".

[johnnyquest409]

I realise I haven't posted my end of season update from last season yet, but thought I'd just share this, Jadran Dekani's greatest result to date, by about a country mile:

Real Madrid 2-3 Jadran Dekani

[johnnyquest409]

Good luck in the 2nd leg KP, sounds like you've been making steady progress and are finally competing with the big boys

[KillerPass]

Thank you Johnny for your support. I'm now in the middle of the away leg at the San Siro and the score is 1-1 - we got a breakaway goal in the ninth minute to go 1-0 but couldn't deal with Milan at full throttle. 17 minutes gone and i just want to keep it quiet.

[KillerPass]

Half-time and I'm happy enough with 1-1; they've been all over us without actually looking like scoring, while we've looked dangerous on our occasional break. Cross your fingers...

[KillerPass]

PS they are playing a 4-4-2; when did Italian teams ever do that?

[KillerPass]

64 minutes gone and Branko Djockovic has just put us 2-1 up. Squeaky bum time.

[KillerPass]

66 minutes and they just got a very soft looking penalty, but......they missed.

[KillerPass]

67 minutes and I've just taken off my tiring creative midfielder for a young lad who I hope will live up to his promise and help close things down, gain control in the midfield.

[KillerPass]

We won 2-1; I can't believe it, Abbey Villa in the semi final of the Champions League/Cup (Can someone please tell me what it's really called at this point, thank you).

[johnnyquest409]

It's the Champions League, and congratulations Who have you drawn in the semi-final?

[KillerPass]

Thanks Johnny, we play Arsenal in the semis and that is a game which doesn't scare me; a Wenger side, yes, I will worry, but as its now 2029 they have some Norwegian guy, Stale Solbakken, in charge. I think we match up well with English sides and am more worried about the flair sides from the likes of Spain, Italy, etc. Having said that, we are way over our heads being in the semis, so any sort of respectable performance I will take.

[KillerPass]

I wasn't going to post that we'd won the league (1-0 win against Crusaders) but then the reserves went and won the Intermediate Cup (2-1 against Crusaders Reserves) which pleases me immensely.

[johnnyquest409]

johnnyquest409 - NK Jadran Dekani - 2022/23

Division - Slovenian First League

Media Prediction - 2nd out of 10

Europe

Having won the league last season, we entered the Champions League, qualifying for the group stage by beating Lech Poznan and Sturm Graz. As I've already mentioned, we took 5 points from a group against Man Utd, Marseille and Zenit, finishing bottom.

League

Last season, we capitalised on Maribor's european exploits to win the league. This season, they came out swinging, and despite beating them early on, we couldn't match their pace as we tried to keep half an eye on the Champions League. We were 8 points behind at Christmas, and managed to close things up to four points with two games to go, but it wasn't enough.

League Table

Cup

We reached the final but fell to Maribor and Ryan Collin.

Squad stats

Transfers - Quite a lot of activity, and a pretty healthy profit here. Lost some big first team players in Campara, Cervenka, Atanasov, Jurcik and Valasek, but fairly happy with how they've been replaced.

Key players

Cervenka finished as our top-scorer despite leaving in January, but a rotation of Vanak, Erixon and Kedigui has looked pretty dangerous so far up front. Just one screenshot though, of Georg Wessely. Good first season, and still has plenty of room to improve.

Finances - Very healthy, thanks to player sales and CL money. Not much to spend it on, other than facilities. The stadium is being expanded, and training and youth facilities are both being upgraded.

Season  |      League     |  Position   |     Cup      |     Europe      |     Achievement     | Top Scorer (Lge)      | FPOTY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    
2012/13 |  Second League  |     8th     |       -      |                 |       Survival!     | Marko Drljic (6)      | Etien Huskic
2013/14 |  Second League  |     7th     |      SF      |                 |        -----        | Marko Vukelic (5)     | Admir Krsic
2014/15 |  Second League  |     7th     |   1st round  |                 |        -----        | Marko Vukelic (6)     | Jerney Schwarzmann
2015/16 |  Second League  |     2nd     |   1st round  |                 |      Promotion!     | Rok Smid (10)         | Jerney Schwarzmann
|		  |		|	       |                 |      Turned pro     |  	               |	
2016/17 |   First League  |     8th     |   2nd round  |                 |                     | Dominik Ozbolt (7)    | Miha Barbic
2017/18	|   First League  |     3rd     |   2nd round  |                 |   EL qualification  | Dominik Ozbolt (11)   | Jerney Schwarzmann
2018/19 |   First League  |     3rd     |      QF      |      EL3Q       |                     | Nusmir Fajic (15)     | Vit Cervenka
2019/20 |   First League  |     2nd     |     Final    |      EL4Q       |   CL qualification  | Vit Cervenka (7)      | Ludek Urbanek
2020/21 |   First League  |     2nd     |    Winners   |    EL 1st KO    |       A trophy!     | Vit Cervenka (22)     | Vit Cervenka
2021/22 |   First League  |     1st!    |    Winners   |      EL4Q       | Slovenian champions | Jakub Zeman (20)      | Vit Cervenka
2022/23 |   First League  |     2nd     |     Final    | 4th in CL group |        -----        | Vit Cervenka (19)     | Ales Tlusty

So fighting on two fronts proved too much for us, as we hand the Slovenian crown back to Maribor. Fortunately 2nd place now gets a shot at CL qualification.

Over the summer more players have left (Segers, Zaracho, Strukelj, Schwarzmann - all defenders) so a number more have been brought in, and I've been tweaking my tactics to try and get a bit more (ie. goals) out of some of my players. (So far, it's working pretty nicely )

[KillerPass]

Hey Johnny, thats a great performance in the CL; if my game is anything to go by the next couple of years should be very interesting.

[KillerPass]

60 minutes gone at the Emirates and we're 3-0 down; I gave the guys a bollocking at half-time, brought all my subs on, and actually released a couple of the wasters I had plyaying in my midfield. Nothing seems to have worked so its heads down and pray for the last half hour.

[KillerPass]

Finished 3-0 and I'm not happy; I can see losing 3-0 to to the Man Utds or Barcelonas of this world, and don't get me wrong, Arsenal are my team of choice in the EPL, but I don't think we should have been outplayed to the extent that we were. I've sacked 4 of my highly paid (£10,000 a week, big money in Northern Irish football) midfielders, and will go with the promising youngsters for the rest of the season. Hopefully the mesage will get through to the rest of my knuckleheads.

[johnnyquest409]

Sacked them?! Brutal!

Jadran Dekani 2023/2024 - Champions League update

I've already kind of given away the fact that we qualified for the group stage this season with the Real Madrid screenshot above, so I'll only briefly mention the qualifiers here. We overcame Benfica in the 3rd qualifying round, winning 4-2 at home and drawing 1-1 away, then beat AZ Alkmaar in the playoff, drawing 1-1 away then winning 2-1 at home. My new tactic of throwing caution to the wind in favour of creating chances appeared to be working, but bigger tests were to come.

Progression to the group stage earnt us the honour of entertaining Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Metalist Kharkiv.

Game 1 - Real Madrid 2-3 Jadran Dekani

Attacking football got us to the group stage and I wasn't going to abandon our methods despite the daunting environment we found ourselves in. An early own goal left me pondering whether this could be a mistake, but was cancelled out by another OG after half an hour. 1-1 at half-time, we then stunned the Bernabeu faithful by taking a 2-1 lead on the hour mark, but it didn't last long as Madrid equalise with their next attack. Fears of a collapse were almost instantly dispelled however, as we strike back with minutes to retake the lead. A nervy end-to-end finish failed to produce any real chances and we held on to victory. Indeed it should have been even sweeter, with a missed penalty in stoppage time.

Game 2 - Jadran Dekani 2-0 Metalist Kharkiv

In theory the easiest match of the group, at home to Metalist. In the end it was a comfortable win, though we left it quite late to make the breakthrough. Not that I'm complaining, six points out of six and top of the group

Game 3 - Jadran Dekani 4-1 Bayern Munich

Incredible scenes at Stadion Ivana Gregorica. Behind to a very early penalty, we hit back in devastating style. Relentlessly attacking, Bayern crumble in the second half as we canter to a 4-1 victory. Three games played, 9 points and a 5 point lead over Bayern in second. Dreamland.

Game 4 - Bayern Munich 4-2 Jadran Dekani

Reality check. Our gung-ho approach comes undone, as Bayern pick us apart at the Allianz-Arena. One positive though is that the consolatory own goal gives us the edge on head-to-head. Still top, but both Bayern and Madrid have closed the gap.

Game 5 - Jadran Dekani 0-1 Real Madrid

Despite both teams going for it, few good chances are created by either side. Real Madrid are reduced to 10 men in the second half, and we press on for the winner that would seal qualification to the knockout rounds. It doesn't come, and we're picked off on the break by the highest-valued player in the world, Alvaro Ribeiro. Bayern go top after smashing Metalist, we cling on to 2nd place, level on points with Madrid but edging the head-to-head.

Game 6 - Metalist 1-2 Jadran Dekani

Needing a draw to guarantee qualification, we dominate Metalist for 90 minutes and come away with the win, the consolation goal making it look closer than it was. Madrid beat Bayern in their final match, so we finish level on points with them, but top the group thanks to the head-to-head

We've drawn Marseille in the 1st knockout round.

[johnnyquest409]

Jadran Dekani 2023/2024 - Champions League update

1st Knockout Round, 1st leg - (a) v Marseille

Things got off to a bad start falling behind to an early goal, but we managed to fight our way back into the match and start to create some chances. We should have scored earlier then we did, but I'm happy to take a 1-1 away from the first leg thanks to Vaclav Vanak's late equaliser.

1st Knockout Round, 2nd leg - (h) v Marseille

Rode our luck at times, as Marseille attempted to kick us off the park to grab a winner, but we held out to take the victory on away goals!

Next up, Olympique Lyonnais, essentially the best team in the world. Since the beginning of this game, they've won the Champions League in 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023. They have eight players valued over £20m, we have two players valued over £1m!

Home leg first, we came away with a superb 1-0 victory thanks again to Vaclac Vanak. Clean sheet and a narrow lead, couldn't ask for more. So of course, almost immediately after taking that screenshot, my computer crashes. Gutted, but nothing I could do but replay the week.

Quarter-final, 1st leg - (h) v Lyon

It was almost inevitable that we wouldn't keep a clean sheet this time, but conceding within 10 minutes felt like a real kick in the teeth. Defender Milan Pajko equalised just before half-time and Vanak scored a lovely goal to put us in front. Borisov's injury 10 minutes from the end reduced us to 10 men, but we held on, and this time, I was able to save the game.

Quarter-final, 2nd leg - (a) v Lyon

Lyon haven't lost a home knockout game in the Champions League since 2014. I was just praying that we didn't lose this 1-0 and go out on away goals, I'm not sure I could take that.

The match started evenly and quite tightly, until the 20th minute. Our two Germans, Georg Wessely and Branko Petkovic, combine neatly on the edge of Lyon's box, and Petkovic drills home. Huge relief, at least we've cancelled out that away goal. Ten minutes later, the tie was over. Wessely again found space to tee up left-back Stefan Sondergard to score a stupendous goal from 25 yards past old man Hugo Lloris. 2-0 up, 4-1 on aggregate, Lyon would need four goals in 60 minutes. They scored none. They barely created a decent chance and just rolled over for us in remarkable fashion. We'd beaten, quite comfortably in the end, the current holders of the Champions League and the best team in the world over the last 10 years.

Semi-final(!!!) is up next, against David Moyes' Arsenal.

[Taunton]

Jadran Dekani 2023/2024 - Champions League update

1st Knockout Round, 1st leg - (a) v Marseille

Things got off to a bad start falling behind to an early goal, but we managed to fight our way back into the match and start to create some chances. We should have scored earlier then we did, but I'm happy to take a 1-1 away from the first leg thanks to Vaclav Vanak's late equaliser.

1st Knockout Round, 2nd leg - (h) v Marseille

Rode our luck at times, as Marseille attempted to kick us off the park to grab a winner, but we held out to take the victory on away goals!

Next up, Olympique Lyonnais, essentially the best team in the world. Since the beginning of this game, they've won the Champions League in 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023. They have eight players valued over £20m, we have two players valued over £1m!

Home leg first, we came away with a superb 1-0 victory thanks again to Vaclac Vanak. Clean sheet and a narrow lead, couldn't ask for more. So of course, almost immediately after taking that screenshot, my computer crashes. Gutted, but nothing I could do but replay the week.

Quarter-final, 1st leg - (h) v Lyon

It was almost inevitable that we wouldn't keep a clean sheet this time, but conceding within 10 minutes felt like a real kick in the teeth. Defender Milan Pajko equalised just before half-time and Vanak scored a lovely goal to put us in front. Borisov's injury 10 minutes from the end reduced us to 10 men, but we held on, and this time, I was able to save the game.

Quarter-final, 2nd leg - (a) v Lyon

Lyon haven't lost a home knockout game in the Champions League since 2014. I was just praying that we didn't lose this 1-0 and go out on away goals, I'm not sure I could take that.

The match started evenly and quite tightly, until the 20th minute. Our two Germans, Georg Wessely and Branko Petkovic, combine neatly on the edge of Lyon's box, and Petkovic drills home. Huge relief, at least we've cancelled out that away goal. Ten minutes later, the tie was over. Wessely again found space to tee up left-back Stefan Sondergard to score a stupendous goal from 25 yards past old man Hugo Lloris. 2-0 up, 4-1 on aggregate, Lyon would need four goals in 60 minutes. They scored none. They barely created a decent chance and just rolled over for us in remarkable fashion. We'd beaten, quite comfortably in the end, the current holders of the Champions League and the best team in the world over the last 10 years.

Semi-final(!!!) is up next, against David Moyes' Arsenal.

Took your hint and went back in here to follow your progress. I can really understand why you want let go of this save yet.

Amazing run in the CL. :applause:Good luck in the semis. Crossing fingers for you!

[johnnyquest409]

Jadran Dekani 2023/2024 - Champions League update

Semi-final, first leg - (a) v Arsenal

Our attacking style has served us really well so far this campaign, playing against teams who think they'll steamroller us, we seem to surprise them by sitting back and defending. Arsenal, with David Moyes in charge, play a fairly cautious 4-4-1-1 that completely nullified our style. Very one-sided, and we were lucky to hold out as long as did. It's disappointing to lose 2-0 when it's still 0-0 with five minutes to play, but the scoreline is the least Arsenal deserve.

Semi-final, second leg - (h) v Arsenal

Pretty much the same as the first leg, no matter what I tried we were completely dominated and again Arsenal deserved the win. No complaints, beaten by the much better team.

Well that ended on a bit of a downer, but I'm still so delighted with our campaign. Having never made it past the group stage before, reaching the semi-final is fantastic. Hopefully, fingers crossed, this will give us the reputation boost to push on from here.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Great run johnnyquest409 Hopefully that can push you on both financially and rep wise. I don't blame you for carry it on when you've put the time and effort in like you have mate. Good luck for next year

[johnnyquest409]

johnnyquest409 - NK Jadran Dekani - 2023/24

Division - Slovenian First League

Media Prediction - 3nd out of 10

Europe

See above!

League

Emphatic! Took the crown back from Maribor in dominating style, scoring over 100 goals and finishing unbeaten. This qualifies us straight through to the CL group stage.

League Table

Cup

Lost to Maribor in the semi-final, with the team pretty exhausted from the Champions League matches.

Transfers

Squad stats

GK - Jakub Dobrovolny - Solid with 12 clean sheets in the league, recently capped by Czech Republic.

DR - Ales Tlusty - The only defender left over from last season, but he's off in the summer, refusing a new contract to sign for CSKA Moscow.

DC - Milan Pajko - New signing, great first season.

DC - Jamal Viator - New signing, very strong season, and scored some key goals in the CL.

DL - Stefan Sondergard - Another new signing, still developing but decent season, topped off with the CL goal of the season for that strike against Lyon.

CM - Stuart Gillespie - Solid holding midfielder, rotated with Caceres and Petrovic quite a bit this season.

CM - Georg Wessely - A bit disappointing in the league but superb in the CL. He's got so much potential, and is tied down for a while.

AMR - Marc Jensen - New signing, still only 19 and has edged Borisov out of the starting line-up.

AML - Ninoslav Bojovic - New signing, brought in from relegated Mura 05. Did brilliantly, probably my player of the season.

ST - Vaclac Vanak - Has filled Cervenka's shoes nicely. Top-scorer (breaking Cervenka's record), one season left on his contract, hoping I can extend it but not holding my breath.

ST - Abbas Kedigui - Handy striker, still improving and playing better now he's settled in. Rotated with Peter Erixon this season but Erixon's gone now.

Finances - Loadsa money! Expanding the stadium again (it's currently 5,625 and will become 8,437 when complete), and upgrading training and youth facilities too. Frustratingly, despite having 20-odd million, the board have just accepted an offer over my head for Peter Erixon.

Season  |      League     |  Position   |     Cup      |     Europe      |     Achievement     | Top Scorer (Lge)      | FPOTY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    
2012/13 |  Second League  |     8th     |       -      |                 |       Survival!     | Marko Drljic (6)      | Etien Huskic
2013/14 |  Second League  |     7th     |      SF      |                 |        -----        | Marko Vukelic (5)     | Admir Krsic
2014/15 |  Second League  |     7th     |   1st round  |                 |        -----        | Marko Vukelic (6)     | Jerney Schwarzmann
2015/16 |  Second League  |     2nd     |   1st round  |                 |      Promotion!     | Rok Smid (10)         | Jerney Schwarzmann
|		  |		|	       |                 |      Turned pro     |  	               |	
2016/17 |   First League  |     8th     |   2nd round  |                 |                     | Dominik Ozbolt (7)    | Miha Barbic
2017/18	|   First League  |     3rd     |   2nd round  |                 |   EL qualification  | Dominik Ozbolt (11)   | Jerney Schwarzmann
2018/19 |   First League  |     3rd     |      QF      |      EL3Q       |                     | Nusmir Fajic (15)     | Vit Cervenka
2019/20 |   First League  |     2nd     |     Final    |      EL4Q       |   CL qualification  | Vit Cervenka (7)      | Ludek Urbanek
2020/21 |   First League  |     2nd     |    Winners   |    EL 1st KO    |       A trophy!     | Vit Cervenka (22)     | Vit Cervenka
2021/22 |   First League  |     1st!    |    Winners   |      EL4Q       | Slovenian champions | Jakub Zeman (20)      | Vit Cervenka
2022/23 |   First League  |     2nd     |     Final    | 4th in CL group |        -----        | Vit Cervenka (19)     | Ales Tlusty
2023/24 |   First League  |     1st     |       SF     |     CL Semi     |        -----        | Vaclav Vanak (25)     | Ninoslav Bojovic

Great season, with fantastic progress in Europe and a very dominant league performance. Need to strengthen now and kick on. Our reputation doesn't seem to have increased that much, we're still behind Maribor and Rudar Velenje, rated as National. I'd have liked to think that a CL semi-final would have made people outside of Slovenia take notice of us, but never mind eh!

[Taunton]

Great season. And the CL-crown is not that far away. KUTGW!!

[KillerPass]

Great season JQ, and a great run in the CL.

Just to tidy up my Abbey Villa season, I probably overreacted a bit after the 3-0 loss to Arsenal but there had been a few things bubbling along under the surface all season that I felt had been holding us back (despite CL overachievement) - players underperforming, complacency, fitness/stamina issues, yet at the same time some of these guys were bending my ear for more playing time - and as a result the team never really gelled, never really played the confident football I expected. I had planned a purge at the end of the season but a bad run of results in local football, followed by the Arsenal loss, left me feeling that I had to do something a bit more drastic.

It seemed to work - we lost the following match 3-0 to Ballymena Utd, but then went unbeaten the remaining 5 games, 4 1-0 wins and a 0-0 draw in the home leg against Arsenal

to exit the CL but win the Irish and All-Ireland Cups. So all-in-all a successful season.

Looking ahead I would expect a few more departures over the summer; there is considerable interest in several of my players, including a couple of £2.7m offers for my "star" midfielder, a guy who has consistently underperformed and who would have been first out the door in my post-CL purge had there not been interest in him. All of which will lead to my usual mid-summer rebuilding exercise - hopefully I can unearth a gem or two.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Austria Salzburg – Premier Division 2018/19 – Season 7

This will be my final season as I didn't get chance to play anymore seasons before FM13 came out.

After winning the league last season the board demanded a top two finish from me this season and rather surprisngly the bookies made us joint favourites with Red Bull whilst the media predicted we'd finish second.

Transfers - A quiet season as I brought in a couple of youngsters with potential and sold off a couple of unneeded squad players, though the loss of Baddeley was annoying but his wage demands were more than I was willing to pay for a backup. Though these were blown out of the water by the extra £8.5m(!) I got for Jorge Ortega as Sporting just sold him for £17m and I had a 50% sell on clause in there

Champions League

Thanks to Chelsea winning the Champions League we were put straight into the Group Stage, however the draw wasn't kind as we drew Chelsea, Bayern and Fiorentina, on the plus side we were given £6m just for being in the Group Stage.

First up was a trip to Italy to face Fiorentina and we started well Klotz scoring a pen after 6 mins after Emilio had been tripped, however things quickly went downhill from their as Fiorentina quickly equalised, we then gave away a pen that Zach saved before Bergmann got sent off for a two footed lunge and shortly afterwards Fiorentina took the lead and controlled the game afterwards however they couldn't add add a third and in the last minute their Keeper somehow kept out a free kick from Vogler that was going in the top corner to earn their Keeper man of the match.

Next up was a home tie against Bayern and again we got off to an excellent start with Cristiano opening the scoring after 7mins and Emilio added a second after 14mins and whilst Bayern pulled one back before half-time we somehow held on to claim a famous victory.

In game three we entertained Chelsea and they battered us with Torres opening the scoring after 11 mins however they couldn't add to it and in the 55min Emilio created a goal out of nothing to draw us level and even after my replacement DM got sent off they still couldn't find a way past us and a we claimed a priceless draw.

At the halfway stage we were somehow in second place on four points with Bayern and Fiorentina (I still have no idea how the sorting worked? - GD is all zero, I scored more goals and beat Bayern, who beat Fiorentina who beat Me, the only way I can work it is if Bayern are top on away goals and we are then above Fiorentina on goals scored?)

In game four I'd return to England for the first time and it seems the draw in Austria had angered Chelsea as they moved up another gear and hammered us - it didn't help that I was down to my fourth and last choice DM who picked up a knock early in the game but was forced to continue as I didn't have anyone to come on for him.

At least in game five we returned home to face Fiorentina and despite controlling the game we just couldn't score and had to settle for a 0-0 draw.

Going into the final game we were now bottom of the group on five points with Fiorentina however Bayern only had 7 points so the winners of our game would be joining Chelsea in the Knockout round. However it wasn't to be as Bayern's class shone through in the end whilst we matched them in the first half they overpowered us in the Second to win 4-1.

In the end we finished rather disappointingly bottom of the group - we were more competitive than I would have thought at the start but it was a case of what could have been if we didn't have those two red cards or managed to beat Fiorentina at home.

FA Cup - We made it to our third final in four seasons, however we made things difficult for ourselves this season needing extra time to beat Rapid in the Quarters and in the semi we faced Red Bull in a rather thrilling 0-0 draw it was an open game but both defences were on form and it needed pens to seperate us. In the final we again faced Sturm Graz and easily brushed them aside 3-1.

League - Despite doing well elsewhere we were awful in the league we just never got going but somehow managed to capture third place it was telling that we were the same points from 7th that we were from 2nd. Whilst LASK yet again sneak into Europe thanks to the fairplay league.

Squad & Best XI

In a poor season there was some good news in goal as young Slovenian Keeper Marjan Zver who'd been snapped up for £90K as a kid is developing nicely and put in some good performances to make him first choice.

In defence with Oscar Sesma missing half the season through injury Academy graduate Reinhard Schneider was give a chance and whilst he did ok he is never going to be anything but backup to Sesma. On the left Sven Muller had a disappointing season which isn't good as with the loss of Baddeley I have no real cover for him. In the centre of defence Andreas Unger had a goodish season however his partner Diarra didn't really impress, I also gave promising Danish born Turk Tuna Bektas a run in the team and whilst he put in some good performances he isn't ready yet.

On the wings Manuel Schuttelkopf and Jens Vogler had good seasons well for what little of it they played anyway. In the centre of midfield Dieter Bergmann played well when he wasn't getting sent off anyway, partnering him was Markus Klotz who did ok.

Upfront Emilio had a poor season by his standards though he did decide to take an Austrian Passport (not sure if that is good or bad yet), whilst his partner Cristiano also failed to impress as we have just lost all ability to score goals, thankfully my capatain Rexhe Bytyci rediscovered his form and Fuat Gokkaya managed to cover for the injured Emilio.

Finances - are nice and secure thanks to the Champions League money and our new stadium that even though it's only ~60% full it more than covers our expenses.

Rankings - Premier Divison moves up from 21st to 13th behind the SPL, rankings wise Austria moves upto 12th giving us a Champions League Group spot, whilst we make it into the top 100 being ranked 96th just behind all the non-european English sides, domestically we move upto third behind Rapid and Red Bull.

Career Overview

Season          League                League Finish     Achievements         Europe   Euro Ranking Austria (UCL/EL)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13        First Division             1st        Champions - Promoted                           14 (2/3)
2013/14        Premier Division           6th                                                       13 (2/3)
2014/15        Premier Division           7th                                                       14 (2/3)
2015/16        Premier Division           7th        FA Cup Winners                                 14 (2/3)
2016/17        Premier Division           4th                                 EL GS                 13 (2/3)
2017/18        Premier Division           1st        Champions                EL Q4                 13 (2/3)
2018/19        Premier Division           3rd        FA Cup Winners           CL GS                 12 (2/3)

[Dexter_Morgan]

Know this is an old thread but i've done a career thread with Rhyl and completed it (click) worth a read just to see Steve Murray, a striker that has scored more than 100 goals a season for 4 years in a row (including a 185 goal haul last season)