FM16 Youth Academy Challenge

[Jambo98]

Hi guys.

I'm afraid I must bow out of this thread because after being sacked at Regensburg, I took over a Turkish team, but because there were so few players, I let the board appoint a DoF and let him flesh out the squad a little, (so I am no longer Youth Only).

Do you mind if I ask, how did you create your game Worlds to generate so many players being in the squads at promoted clubs?

I think I would have eventually been sacked at Regensburg anyway, but certainly in Turkey, they just weren't enough players to get the job done.

Good luck to all.

The trick, i think, is to look at the OP where you can select some additional divisions for most countries - this usually sorts out that problem

Have not noticed any contract renewal issues in Portugal, only 1 refused to renew at the end of season 1, and he was never getting a game. I have however noticed that the finances still seem wrong in LLM. I am 40% under my wage budget, spent zero on transfers, no upgrades, and i lose £300k in the first season. Seems unrealistic :/

[Shakes]

Season 2019/20 - Scottish League 1 - 3rd

League | Positions | Playoff Semis | Playoff Final | Cups | Squad | Transfers

As the squad stats show, I handed over the team largely to youth prospects, and it turns out the kids are alright! I kept those that expired around on non-contracts for a little bit to start the season as security blankets, but when it turned out we were doing fine without them one by one I told them to bugger off.

We were very inconsistent mind you, some days our defense was just awful, we did take a 7-0 thrashing at home to eventual league winnings Brechin, but we remained in the playoff positions pretty much the whole year without ever challenging for the title.

So for a second year we had to play the playoff lottery. The semi final was a solid effort, we won 3-1 at home and then 1-0 away to comfortably eliminate Morton. However the final was just awful. Going in as tghe 3rd placed team vs 4th we should have had a slight edge but instead put up a 3-0 loss at home followed by a 4-2 loss away. I guess when you play the kids they're going to be up and down sometimes.

Overall I'm very happy with our progress, just got to keep playing the young guys and keep making the playoffs and hope to hit form at the right time.

A complication will be losing my starting central midfield, [17f] Ryan Scullion still wont sign a contract (no current interest in him, so no doubt will hang around the unemployment queue) and [17e] William Watt did an ACL in the playoffs and will miss most of next year. Really hoping it doesn't derail his career, he was my best mid performing mid.

Youth Intake

Very happy with the intake this time around, hits some key needs.

[20a] Ross Watson - AMR/AMC/AML - A very physical right wing player, should be huge in my tactic that relies on the right wing for attacks.

[20b] Billy McKay - DC/DL - Big centre back with a ton of potential tops up the weakest area of the team.

[20c] Gordon Christie - ST - Isn't rated the highest potential but look at that finishing. Lets hope the staff are wrong.

[20d] Gavin Hamilton - MC/AMC - Again not rated that well, but stats look decent already so I think he'll develop, and we need mids.

[20e] Darren MacRae - DC/DL - A second central defender, needs to get quicker but otherwise looks like he can play a role.

Youth Updates

Good progress now, the highlights:

[17i] Ross McHardy - GK - Kept goal in every game this year. Tough to look good when the defense is rubbish, I'm not really blaming him.

[18a] Craig McIntyre - DL/ML - Played well and is really developing. Has gone to his head and he wont sign a contract.

[17b] Gordon Graham - MR - Wasn't the goal scorer Greg Mitchell was, but 17 assists to go with his 9 goals meant we didn't miss the league 1 player of the year too much.

[17a] Fraser Main - ST - Has tended to get injured at bad times and not get a proper run previously. This year he was healthy and banged in 24 goals.

[17d] Dean Fulton - ST - Injury interrupted year limited him to 16 goals. Even so he's at over 50 league goals before he hits his 20s, clearly the star youth prospect thus far.

Next Season

I really think the bad days where we ship a ton of goals are simply down to being a young, inconsistent team. Only way to fix it is to keep giving players games. So I'm going to stay the course on playing the way I have been rather than chop and change, and hope to win two playoff coin flips in a row.

Might wait for a patch though, in the hope that players thinking we can't meet their ambitions are toned down.

[Shakes]

Jambo98 - You never make money in Portugal until you reach the top league, and probably not even until you reach Europe. The country is a financial basket case in game.

officiallydeej - Ouch, just on the wrong side of everything there really.

XaW - Huge intake, and not all just future potential. You should be crushing it in a couple of years.

Braumiller - Welcome back to the striker club. My 4-4-2 keeps it pretty simple as well. DLP is the only "advanced" role I use, I just find it helps the structure to have one, even if the player there always gets dud ratings (been an issue since forever that holding mids get garbage ratings).

BTW if anyone else is having the ambitions problem and finds the players leaving to nowhere, please add your save to this bug.

[brenosantos]

2017 - Iceland First Division - 3rd

League Table | Positions | Fixtures | Upper League Cup | Icelandic Cup | Transfers | Staff | My Profile

COMPETITIONS

Iceland First Division: 3rd (expected 9th)

Icelandic Cup: Runner Up (expected Reach Third Round)

Iceland Upper League Cup: Semifinalist (expected Don't be Outclassed)

Sensational season! With one of the weakest teams of the Iceland First Division, we gave some work to the best teams at the second tier. We had the second best home record in the season, with 25 points in 11 matches, and our 4-4-1-1 worked very well, with 30% of our goals coming of crosses, specially in the left flank. We could secure promotion against champions Keflávik, but a heavy loss by 5-0 ended with our hope, because we needed to win Próttur R. for a margin of 13 goals, something impossible.

Talking about cups, we have started the season playing the Upper League Cup, and we did very well, qualifing to the quarterfinals with 13 points in seven games, securing the second position. We've played against first division side Breioablik in the quarterfinals, and surprisingly, we got a easy 3-0 win. But we lost in the semifinals against KR, in a tough match.

Our best run happened in the Icelandic Cup. After winning three teams from lower divisions, we have faced Fylkir, who plays in the first division, and we reached semifinals after winning in the penalty lottery. In the next round, we have thrashed our rivals HK, in our best match of the season, turning a 0-1 into a 4-1. Unafortunately, we've faced FH, best team in Iceland. I've tried to win using counter-attacks, but they have a massive attack and scored with Riki Alba at the 77 minute. We had a disallowed goal near the end of the match, but that wasn't enough.

YOUTH INTAKE

Good youth intake this year, we have signed with some talented players and some of them are already playing in first team.

(YP1a) Dragan Nikolic - Great and determinated attacking midfielder, he's nowadays first choice for the position.

(YP1b) Ottó Marinó Gréttarson - Good left midfielder, but with low determination. He's also our first choice.

(YP1c) Kristofer Eiriksson - Good central defender, he will surely be a key player in the future.

(YP1d) Kárl Marteinsson - Great and determinated goalkeeper, but I'm not using him in the first team because we have some good goalkeepers.

(YP1e) Jón Gudmundssón - He can be a good attacking midfielder, but first needs to improve his mental atributes.

(YP1f) Björn Gunnarsson - Good and determinated central defender, he can be easily our first choice in the future.

(YP1g) Matthias Már Ingáson - He's not that good, but is determinated, so I think that he can improve later.

(YP1h) Arnór Valgeirsson - I've signed with him just to complete our U19 squad, but I can't see a bright future for him.

(YP1i) Ólafur O. Benediktsson - Good playmaker, but he isn't determinated, so I don't know if he'll be useful.

NEXT SEASON

- Try to get promotion

- Try to win a cup

[brugi82]

First 11 matches:

-7 points lost in stoppage time

-4 red cards

-5 penalties against my team

-Half of my team doesn't want to extend their contracts

[brettney1980]

Brora Rangers

My Profile...

Club Background.

Starting Squad;

Things were always going to be interesting this season with only 13 names on the squad list as i took over. The formation changed a little at times but was mostly a 5-3-2, with 2 GK's on the books i only had to field an outfield Keeper' in goal twice (not like in spain at Europa where i fielded a CB regular in goal), we also had to play a GK in CM, CB and once at CF... A close season saw us finish 4th in a case of massive overacchievement. Next season will almost certainly be a different story.

Squad|Transfers|League Table|Season Review|Awards

Class of 2017 - Youth Candidates;

Shaun Nicholson, YP1a - RB/CB - Profile|Coach Report

James Higgins, YP1b - RM - Profile|Coach Report

NEXT SEASON;

With us losing Ross (CF), Rutherford (CM) and macLeod (GK), next season will be tough...

- Blood the YP's., retrain Higgins as CM.

- Do not get dragged into a relegation battle.

- Lose less than 3 of our better players.

[XaW]

Woah, load of updates here. Good luck to everyone who is starting and to the ones with the updates; good job and many exciting youth prospects there! May the youth be with you!

[Garthy_1706]

I know it's off topic but when I post a link how do I change it so instead of the text showing the link it says table or squad.

[XaW]

I know it's off topic but when I post a link how do I change it so instead of the text showing the link it says table or squad.

[.url=www.google.com]Your text here[./url] (just remove the two '.' and your good to go.

[Braumiller]

brettney1980 - wow, finishing 4th with a squad of just 13 is a fantastic performance

[Garthy_1706]

Table | Fixtures Part 1 | Fixtures Part 2 | Transfers | Finances

I knew this challenge would be difficult but to start with I didn't know how difficult it would be.

I won my first league game in charge of the club and I thought if we carry on like this survival would be easy. How wrong was I as from that point we lost our next 4 games. Things only managed to get slightly better though as we managed 3 draws in the next 5 games.

After a lot of messing around with tactics I decided to use one that I had success with on last years game and it brought me a win. The joy didn't last last as we were taken apart in our next 2 games. We then produced our best performance of the season to win 4-1. We then had another blip before my team really got to grips with the tactics. The 4 game winning streak propelled us out of the relegation places up to nearly mid table.

After that we only managed to win 1 of our remaining games but this didn't matter as we still guaranteed safety with a couple of games spare. I am now looking forward to next season and the youth intake. The only downside is 2 of my main strikers have refused to sign new contracts so I will have to play around with my tactics and find a good 4-2-3-1 formation for next season.

We were knocked out in the first round of the cup but survival was the main aim for this season which we managed.

Next Season

• Consolidate in the league
  
• Integrate Youth into the squad
  
• Get to the 2nd round of the Cup
  

[ManUtd1]

Well, that didn't take long. I picked up 16 and am starting a save to learn the new mechanics/etc. Once I've got it nailed down (and have ironed out my tactics), I'll be starting a save up in here. I'm currently debating a trip back to Sweden, or another side that I've been itching to play and is finally available for this challenge...

Good to see some familiar faces from last year's thread, of course!

[brettney1980]

brettney1980 - wow, finishing 4th with a squad of just 13 is a fantastic performance

Thanks, things are not quite going as well this season.... Which i expected!

[MADA]

is it just me or are the regen faces a lot lot worse in this version? they look awful!

[Forest]

download olt hairpack and they look much nicer

[XaW]

XaW - Volna Pinsk - Belarusian First League - 2017

Table | Past positions | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Finally I would get the chance to actually see the youngster that came through last season play. Some impressed a lot, while others failed to do so in the preseason matches. When the games started some of the youngsters were the first choice, while most were on the bench or backups. We started with great spirit and won the first 5 matches of the season. Even though we had some failures due to personal errors we still kept up with the top of the league and at the half point we actually were top. From then on we managed to hold on to the lead and secured the promotion with 3 matches remaining. An amazing feat by the young squad who proved you can win something with kids. The inconsistency I've experienced earlier in this challenge wasn't much of an issue this season, and I hope it stays that way. I'm very surprised we managed to win promotion this season, and I fear it might be a season too soon for us, but I won't complain much. Hopefully we can make a stand in the top tier of Belorussian football next season and manage to avoid relegation.

In the Belrusian Cup we beat lower level Torpedo Mogilev, before managing to beat top tier outfits Dinamo Brest and Dnepr Mogilev to progress to the Quarter final. For some reason that is played at the start of the next season, so I'll have to update after next season.

Youth:

Our youth intake this season was another fantastic one and we have got loads of talented youngsters now.

Second Intake:

Stanislav Rusak (YP2a) - Very talented attacking midfielder who will be part of the main squad next season.

Alexandr Chaika (YP2b) - Promising central midfielders, a position I needed.

Iliya Volod'ko (YP2c) - Exciting striker I think could be great for us.

Vitaliy Karnitskiy (YP2d) - A right back, we needed one of those.

Igor Panayuk (YP2e) - Promising winger who can play on both sides.

Sergey Zhdanovich (YP2f) - Central defender who might be useful.

First intake:

Iliya Krotov (YP1a) - Second choice left winger, but haven't progressed as well as expected.

Sergey Rusetskiy (YP1b) - Great season and already first choice. Also gotten some matches for Belarus U21 now. The top clubs are after him, but I've managed to keep him so far.

Alexey Vasilevich (YP1c) - Was supposed to be a backup, but took the main goalkeeper spot already this season. Got capped at U19 level for Belarus.

Sergey Matyukhevich (YP1d) - A very good season behind the striker. Also stats are growing well.

Alexey Demidovich (YP1e) - Backup striker, but got lots of more matches than expected due to injuries. Scored quite a bit.

Maxim Korzun (YP1f) - Got a couple of matches due to injuries, but he never looked back. Now the main choice on right wing. Got his debut for Belarus U19.

Denis Melnik (YP1g) - Got some matches as a sub, and are now a regular on the bench.

Denis Petrushevskiy (YP1h) - Got overshadowed by Rusetskiy (YP1b), and stalled statwise. Need to up his game.

Valeriy Trubilo (YP1i) - Got some matches, but didn't impress.

Alexandr Verbitskiy (former YP1j) - Rated down by the coaches due to "off pitch events", and have declined a lot in stats. Lost his tag.

Season	|    League	  |     Position	|    Europe	|         Top scorer   	     |    Achievments
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016	|  First League   |	     5th	|      N/A	|  Dmitriy Malashitskiy (19) |   Close to promotion
2017	|  First League   |	     1st	|      N/A	|  Dmitriy Malashitskiy (18) |   Promoted as champions

[XaW]

I'm losing him!

He is gone... and now the squad hates me.

[Braumiller]

Congrats XaW! Top for 2/3rds of the season as well

Gutted about Rusetskiy leaving.... He had a fantastic current ability coach rating for someone so young

I can see why you tagged Rusak so highly, that mixture of passing, decisions and first touch for a 16 year old is awesome!

Nice first season Garthy_1706! How was your first youth intake? Any good ones?

download olt hairpack and they look much nicer

This is officially on my to do list now for tonight. Some of my new kids hair is shocking

[XaW]

Congrats XaW! Top for 2/3rds of the season as well

Gutted about Rusetskiy leaving.... He had a fantastic current ability coach rating for someone so young

I can see why you tagged Rusak so highly, that mixture of passing, decisions and first touch for a 16 year old is awesome!

Thanks Braumiller!

Yeah, was pretty sad to see him go, and the cash isn't that good since we are far worse in debt than something like that could solve. Rusak is very talented, but he might have an injury problem, or at least he was unlucky enough to break his leg in pre-season. Hopefully he will come back as strong, and won't suffer too bad from it.

[Garthy_1706]

Nice first season Garthy_1706! How was your first youth intake? Any good ones?

Two with 3 star potential so not the best. I think I can stay in the division for a couple of seasons with the team I have so I can wait till next year to get some good ones.

[Nottingham Forest]

Salford City FC

2017-2018 Season

Vanarama Conference North

Youth Intake

Whilst my staff don't think we've had as good an intake as last year. I think we have. I do believe we've got a number of youngsters who could well be challenging for first team places in years to come.



All of the youngsters have been offered youth deals but I believe that ten of the players could prove to have reasonable careers with us. They are Lewis Thomas, David Holmes, Jack Linley, Joe Lockett, Jon Ledsham, Lee Smith, Stephen Robinson, Steve Redmond, Thomas Bowen and Tim Backhouse

[Jambo98]

Hmmm.........End of season 2. We didnt get relegated nor promoted, but i get this message.

That probably ends this attempt for me :-/

The portugese lower leagues finances are defo still bugged IMO. Bah SI.........

[Garthy_1706]

Unfortunately my optimism was short lived. We lost a few more players as they wouldn't sign new contracts. The after effect of this led me to be sacked after the club was relegated . I will definitely have a go at this again but maybe in England.

[XaW]

Rusak is very talented, but he might have an injury problem, or at least he was unlucky enough to break his leg in pre-season. Hopefully he will come back as strong, and won't suffer too bad from it.

And then in his recovery he tore his hamstring. Still no debut for Rusak...

[Nottingham Forest]

I've got a thread over in FMCU. But just thought I'd post this from there.

Salford City FC

2017-2018 Season

Vanarama Conference North

Final Game Sneak Peak

For those of you that are interested. Here is a final game sneak peak.



Here is our final game of the season........

[XaW]

Wow, that's close Nottingham Forest. Good luck!

[Braumiller]

Fraserburgh FC - Season 4 Review (2019/20)

League Table | League Positions Graph | Squad Stats | Transfers | End of Season Awards | Season Review | Injury Report

Competitions

League One : 3rd - Playoff Winners! (Fixtures (1 2)

Scottish Cup : 5th Round

Scottish League Cup : 1st Round

League Challenge Cup : 1st Round

Season Review

Hells bells, where to start.... If I wrote as much as I wanted to write this would turn into my longest post ever....

Lets go chronologically. We started the season with what turned out to be another false dawn on an team approach / identity front. We had finished last season with a 4411 tactic which showed great promise, but then stuttered and went winless in our last 6 games. Well, we started out as we finished, winning just one of our first 8 games, including first round exits in the Challenge Cup and League Cup. So, not even two months into the season and all plans are scrapped and time to hit the drawing board. After watching and talking to some other managers and how they set their teams up, I decided to try and emulate them (##). We had immediate results as we took teams by surprise, winning 4 and drawing 3 of our next 7 games. We hit 2nd spot for one week, before our overachieving came to its inevitable end. We then tinkered a lot while trying to fight our way out of a bad run of results (just two wins in 12 games). We were not playing too badly, but we were not producing.

Overtime several adjustments fell into place and suddenly we were dangerous. We are playing what some call a 41221, some call a 433. What we now have is a back 4, a defensive midfielder, 2 central midfielders, 2 wide attacking midfielders and a lone forward. The defensive midfielder supports the central midfielders, with one dropping back defensively and one pushing on as an attacking playmaker. Both full backs are attacking, looking to support wingers out wide, with a good old fashioned target man up front. Once we get the ball, we get it out wide as quickly as possible and then try and get a dangerous ball into the area. If it comes back out, our playmaker is there to try and recycle the ball or try a killer pass, or our two more defensive minded midfielders are there to try and break up any counter attacks.

The key to all of this was our switch to a target man up front. Callum Tremaine is our main goal threat, and according to all the coaches reports his best role is target man. I checked our other strikers and most of the others were the same. It only took me 3.5+ seasons to figure this out...

With six games to go we were in 7th place in the league, but as with how most Scottish seasons seem to go, you are never too far away from a promotion or relegation scrap. We started our run-in with a wild 4-4 draw (this followed an even wilder 5-6 loss two weeks earlier, which we were leading 5-3 with just 13 left in the game - these two results combined to trigger our last two changes. First, defensive match prep! No more attacking match prep. Second, whenever we have any lead, my attacking full backs are dialled back to support and sometime defensive.)

Then started a previously unbelievable run. We won all 5 of our remaining league games to propel ourselves up to a 3rd place finish (including a final day win against Queen of the South in a straight dogfight for promotion - league standings before the final day - tight!). Callum Tremaine led the line superbly, opening our scoring in all 5 games and scoring 7 in total.

So we are into our first Scottish playoff!

Here we find ourselves against Forfar, who only missed out on the title by goal difference. First leg at home and they battered us! Somehow we got away with only a 0-1 loss, and even then their goal came from the penalty spot. The second leg was just 3 days later and Forfar picked up right where they left off. Within 12 minutes they had raced into a 2-0 lead on the night and 3-0 on aggregate. Our dream run was over. Or so it should have been. With our first attack of the game in the 32 minute the ball broke to our fullback at the edge of our area, he launched a huge clearance down to towards the Forfar corner flag, our right winger raced after it, took one touch and then hung a ball up in the area for the arriving Callum Tremaine to plant a header into the back of the net! We were still not really in the game and Forfar was dominating, but we were at least not going out without a fight. Then in the 55th minute we struck again out of nowhere with only our 3rd attempt on goal. Suddenly it was 2-2 on the night, 2-3 on aggregate and we were only 1 goal away from being level. Suddenly the game flow was more 50/50 and we were having a go. Then lady luck shone down on us with 10 minutes left. An innocent whipped cross from our fullback deflected off a Forfar defenders shin and flew in at the near post! 3-3 on aggregate, back from the dead and suddenly we were scrambling to check the rules..... Nice and simple, extra time if aggregate scores are level, then penalties if needed, no away goals rule (really beginning to like Scotland - I hate away goals, even though we would have gone through with them here). No more action in the final 10 minutes and rather surprisingly in extra time either...

Penalties.... We had a total of three penalties given this season, and scored just one of them.... Interestingly, while checking through our 11 warriors available to take on, our joint highest penalty taking player stat-wise is our 16 year old new youth intake goalkeeper who has been forced into action due to an injury to our main keeper. Do I dare risk it? What the hell, I put him 2nd in the order.

We score - they score

We (our 16 yr old GK) score - they score

We miss (saved) - they miss (saved)

We score - they miss (saved)

We score and advance to the playoff final!!

Young Chris Strachan (YP 04E) scores one and saves two penalties to become an instant Broch cult hero!

In a bizarre mirroring, Alloa won the other semi final on penalties after also being 0-3 down on aggregate after 12 minutes of their second leg.

Just 4 days between the double penalty shootout drama and the first leg of the final, this time we were away first. It was a nerve-wracking, very evenly matched game. We took the lead near half time and we began to dream. They equalised shortly after the restart and the game looked to be heading towards a draw, before Alloa broke and scored with just 2 minutes to go. Heartbreak.

Again, no time to dwell on matters, just 3 days until the all important 2nd leg.

The final result obviously puts bias on this, but it was my favorite performance of the season. We have scored more, but this was a delight to watch.

Nerves were calmed early on, as Stuart Yates (01D) scored from a set piece in the 8th minute to level things up on aggregate. Then just 8 minutes later we were awarded a penalty for a push in the area and man of the match Bob Bell (YP 04D) tucked it away. An Alloa fightback never really materialized as we controlled the game. In the 65th minute Bell added his 2nd of the game and gave us breathing room. Roughly half an hour later the final whistle sounded and mission impossible was complete!

"Fraserburgh Five" - (how do I pick just 5!!!)

Callum Tremaine - Callum was the key to our revival and impressive run to end the season. Our target man finished with a haul of 25 goals for the season, but his hold up play to allow others to join the attack was just as important.

Dean Blackett (YP 02B) - Dean was easily our breakout player this year. He racked up 12 assists from midfield, which is impressive given our focus on wing play. He picked up a couple of injuries this year, the current one which has opened the door for someone later in this list.

Adam Cross - Adam has reveled in our conversion to wing play. Initially I was playing someone else in his spot as an inside forward, but when given the chance to play, and as an orthodox winger on the left, he made my selection decision easy for me.

Steve Taylor (YP 01A) - A very good season of improved performances for Steve. With only 4 DCs on our books (including one retiring this summer and one who kept missing training and as a result did not get on well with me and is now leaving this summer) this was a huge plus for the year

Dylan Honeyman - Our other first choice winger, Dylan caused constant problems with his pace. It was this pace which help create our first goal on the semi final comeback.

bonus mention - Bob Bell (YP 04D) (argh, forgot his screenshot, will take & edit in when home tonight) - Technically you haven't been introduced to him yet, as the youth intake section is next.... Bob only started two games (both legs of the playoff final!) but was so impressive for a 16 year old. He had previously come on as a sub 5 times, including early on in the semi final 2nd leg due to an injury. It was here he arrived on the scene, with 5 key passes and an assist in the comeback to end all comebacks. He then scored the decisive goals in the playoff final. If fit, I don't think I can take the advanced playmaking role away from him at the start of next season.

Youth Intake

An exceptional intake this year, which I am hoping is a foundation which we can build off of and use as a stepping stone in 4 or 5 years. A lovely mix of positions. Our squad was getting very thin in places before the intake (which probably has had an effect on inflated ability ratings of some).

Charlie Dickson (YP 04A) - A much needed central defender. A little short, but with great starting stats in key DC areas. Instant first team sub for experience.

Kris Shearer (YP 04B) - I am hoping Kris (despite his current height) will develop into Callum Tremaine's natural successor. He certainly has a lot of work ahead of him.

Adam Preston (YP 04C) - A six foot defensive midfielder / centre mid. Technically lacking, but currently looking to use him in a DM role which should mask some of this. Ended up starting 4 times for the first team. Held his nerve to score the winning penalty in the shoot-out.

Bob Bell (YP 04D) - Such a small sample size of appearances so far, but currently my new favorite youth. Needs a little work on his passing, but nice double digit stats for first touch, technique and vision, for a possible future playmaker.

Chris Strachan (YP 04E) - A youth goalkeeper, who usually do not get much attention due to lack of opportunities. This was not the case here, as an injury forced him into action early and he started 6 games, including all 4 playoff games. Penalty shootout hero.

Martin Naismith (YP 04F) - Another really nice looking central defender prospect. Has a height advantage over Charlie Dickson (YP 04A) and is only lower down on the youth tags due to the coaches initially potential ability ratings. Could easily outperform Charlie in the future.

Matthew Murphy (YP 04G) - A pacy left winger, but with low technicals. Should have time to try and develop with our current first teamers, barring injuries.

Gavin McConnachie (YP 04H) - Very similar to Matthew above. They will be competing for the same youth shirt.

Dean Lawrence (YP 04I) - An now a future right winger. Nice depth addition.

Iain McKay (YP 04J) - A nice looking defensive midfielder who may end up getting a few chances in the first team due to our lack of defensive midfielders.

Miscellaneous

Well obviously the play-offs dominate any discussion about this season, but I think I have talked about them enough above!

There is a sneaky suspicion that we may have gone up a season or two early and it is hard to argue against that. I am hoping that the new, exciting batch of kids settle in quickly and we can survive in the Championship for a couple of years.

Also, I was hoping that we might be able to turn professional next year, but looking at the current 10 clubs in there from this season only 4 of them are full time professional clubs. Man, that extra training would be extremely helpful.

Scottish seasons are just never dull. Even on the last day of our season, only 2 of the 10 teams had nothing to play for - tight last day of the season. 1st and 2nd were deadlocked for the one automatic promotion spot. 3rd through 6th were fighting for a playoff spot, while 8th and 9th were fighting to avoid the relegation playoff. One good (or bad) run of form can see promotion and relegation hopes switch quickly!

One Junior Coaching upgrade this year, negotiated as part of my new contract discussions

Facility Update

Training - Basic

Youth Training - Basic

Junior Coaching - Good

Youth Recruitment - Basic

Season 4 (2019/20) Goals

* A solid season - I am not sure I would call it solid, but hard not to claim a success here

* Definitely involve more kids, this needs to improve much more or I am just sitting on a ticking timebomb - A nice progression of the year 1-3 kids this year, before the excellent year 4 intake and their impact.

Season 5 (2020/21) Goals

* Survive. As simple as that. If we can become a stable Championship team for 4-5 seasons, that would be an excellent platform to build upon for push to the Premiership

(##) - Breaking out of gameworld character, this was on twitch. I usually have a twitch stream playing on my phone/headphones while at work, and I happened to be watching an interesting one. We chatted about his tactic and I liked it and tried to base my team around it.

[Nottingham Forest]

Awesome stuff Braumiller. Well done.

[XaW]

Congrats on promotion, Braumiller! How are your team compared to the players from the division you're heading into? Are you looking at severe beatings every weekend or do you have a chance to stay up? Seems like you have some talented youngsters there. Bell seems like a promising playmaker for you, though I usually like my central midfielder a bit more beefy than that.

[Jambo98]

Thinking of Spain next, the Portugal one is gone. Being moved to part time is just a joke for a team which finished mid table twice. The club is in so much debt that even winning promotion wouldnt turn us full time.

So it is either spain, where i had fun before and recall finances can be quite healthy, or i have a strange itch to try Finland for some reason.........

[brugi82]

@Braumiller Great job mate. 2 promotions in 4 years is an awesome achievement.

[Braumiller]

Jambo98, always try to scratch an itch if you have one

(although Spain is a nice choice as well!)

XaW, just looking now. Aberdeen and Dundee are the big clubs in the Championship currently. Annan is here and only just survived last season, I am hoping they become the whipping boys, perhaps with Stenhousemuir who came up with us. If I can stay above those two (or anyone else who has a bad season), I will be very happy.

The 10 clubs are; Aberdeen, Annan, Dundee, Falkirk, us, Hamilton, Livingston, Morton, Stenhousemuir & Stranraer.

I am definitely lowering my expectations for the coming season. Straight up survival is a success in my mind.

By the way, I love my board (for now!)....

They turned down my request to turn professional immediately after I wrote the report, but the day after the reset date they announced they decided to turn us pro. They also called me in to see if I would like to upgrade our scouting range, I said no but that money would be better spent upping our youth recruitment, and they agreed! It has now shifted from Basic to Fairly Basic.

[Forest]

Very good season Braumiller and an excellent evening read!

Annan should normally be no problem. Stenhousemuir is a bit trickier, but i think you´re going to do pretty well in the Championship

[XaW]

XaW - Volna Pinsk - Belarusian First League - 2018

Table | Past positions | Squad | Transfers | Finances

At the start of our first season in the top tier we had the final matches of the cup to compete in. In the quarter final we were up against top tier Vitebsk. We managed to beat them 3-1 at home to progress to the semi final where we drew Dinamo Minsk. A tough fought 2-0 win later and we were in the final! And to my great surprise our opponent turned out to be second tier outfit Lida! Before the match I had high hopes of winning and after a great start were we scored early, we managed to keep our cool and win the match 4-2 to give us a big cup win! This also meant we were ready to go into the Europe League later in the season.

When the league started we found out the hard way that some teams in this tier are far better than the rest. Still, we managed to grind in some wins to make sure we established us comfortably mid table. The season kept going like that throughout the season to give us a good 9th place in our first try at this level. The top 5 teams in the league, BATE, Vitebsk, Dinamo Minsk, Shakhter Soligorsk and Dinamo Brest are at a much higher level than the rest of the league. This is the main problem for us now, so my goals for the next couple of seasons are to establish ourselves as the "best of the rest", then at some point try to break into the top.

In the new cup we beat last seasons opponent in the final, Lida. In the 3rd round we got a tough draw when we got BATE away and barely lost 0-1 away to end our cup run.

Since we surprisingly won the cup this season we also got a try in Europe this season. Our Europa League adventure started against Norwegians Viking in the 1st qualifying round. A poor 0-0 draw at home was followed by a good 2-0 win away to progress to the next round. Here we drew Kazakhs Shakhter Karaganda, a team we should beat comfortably. But a very poor home match were we lost 2-3 made this look bleak for us. However, we managed to redeem ourselves by getting a big 4-1 win away to go through. In the 3rd qualifying round we drew a very tough opponent in Turkish outfit Bursaspor. Another very poor home ended with a 1-5 loss. In the rematch in Turkey we gave it our best and managed a good 1-1 draw. Of course this was not enough to go through, but we showed we could hold our own in Europe, and a very good learning experience for the youngsters. It also gave us a good financial boost to get us out of debt for the moment.

Youth:

Another very good youth intake and some talented youngster came through this time as well.

Third Intake:

Dmitriy Sokol (YP3a) - A very talented allround midfielder. Should be a part of the main squad next season.

Sergey Pyshnik (YP3b) - Promising goalkeeper. Not far of being second choice.

Valeriy Kozeka (YP3c) - Defensive minded midfielder with some skill.

Evgeniy Balanovich (YP4d) - Strong central defender with a very nice stat distribution.

Ruslan Zaleskiy (YP3e) - Attacking midfielder who should come in handy.

Evgeniy Kryakushkin (YP3f) - Mostly got the tag due to the coaches rating him highly.

Second Intake:

Stanislav Rusak (YP2a) - Out most of the season because of injuries. Broke his leg in pre-season and then tore his hamstring when in recovery. Got a couple of matches at the end of the season, but need to train a lot to catch up.

Alexandr Chaika (YP2b) - Very good progress, and are a part of the main squad. Didn't play great all the time, but had some brilliant moments.

Iliya Volod'ko (YP2c) - A very good season as second choice striker. Did complain at the end of the season as he thinks he should play more. Hopefully he will come around.

Vitaliy Karnitskiy (YP2d) - Got some matches and did well enough.

Igor Panayuk (YP2e) - Got a couple of matches, but mostly a backup.

Sergey Zhdanovich (YP2f) - Got loads of matches towards the end because of injuries and did good. Great progression as well.

First intake:

Iliya Krotov (YP1a) - Got a lot of matches and did well. Fighting for a spot in the first 11.

Sergey Rusetskiy (YP1b) - Bought by BATE, but I'll keep tabs on him. Regular for Belarus U21 and does good for BATE.

Alexey Vasilevich (YP1c) - Regular for Belarus U19s and our best goalkeeper.

Sergey Matyukhevich (YP1d) - Solid season behind the striker again. Progresses well.

Alexey Demidovich (YP1e) - 3rd choice striker, so didn't get many matches, but keeps training well. Might get a bit more matches next season.

Maxim Korzun (YP1f) - First choice right winger and does well.

Denis Melnik (YP1g) - Got some matches and did ok.

Denis Petrushevskiy (YP1h) - Got quite some matches, but don't do very well. Need to step up his game.

Valeriy Trubilo (former YP1i) - Far from impressive this season and lost his tag.

Season	|    League	  |     Position    |    Europe	    |         Top scorer   	 |    Achievments
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016	|  First League   |	  5th	    |      N/A      |  Dmitriy Malashitskiy (19) |   Close to promotion
2017	|  First League   |	  1st       |      N/A	    |  Dmitriy Malashitskiy (18) |   Promoted as champions
2018	| Highest League  |	  9th       |  EL 3rd qual  |  Dmitriy Malashitskiy (19) |   Cup winners, mid table

[XaW]

I have come to dislike a certain Russian club named Gazovik Orenburg. 'Why?' do you ask? Well, last season they bought(stole) my best defender after my chairman again took control, and now they are sniffing around more of my players. Go away, Russians, I don't want you drooling over my players! Or pay of my chairman to sell them to you, for that matter!

[Nottingham Forest]

Salford City FC

2017-2018 Season

Vanarama Conference North

End of Season Review

League: 20th(Relegated)

It was always going to be a tough second season and with the added pressure on the youngster we knew we would have to take our chances when they came. Unfortunately some of the senior players didn't stand up when we needed them to which meant I was having to play youngsters in certain games where a bit of experience may have helped. With a media prediction of eleventh I was hopeful that we would have enough firepower to finish just above the relegation places and then look to push on the season after. That never materialised and we were constantly looking over our shoulder. Conceding 91 goals in the league is embarrassing and part of that is down to myself but a lot of it is down to the players. Maybe I shouldn't have been playing a minimum of four or five youngsters in the majority of matches of the season. Maybe I'll never know.

Either way it's a shame and I'll never get to see how the likes of Gary Smith YP1c and Thomas Kenny YP1d develop especially. The latter having an outstanding season as he played in every league game bar one with an average rating of over 7.

Top Goalscorer: James Poole - 21

Top League Goalscorer: - Adam Mekki - 15

Most Assists: Robbie Threlfall - 21

Cups

If we'd have had an FA Cup run then maybe things would have be different. Getting to the FA Cup 1st Round was an achievement whilst we got to the FA Trophy North 1st Round.

End of Season League Table - Transfers

Ultimately I was sacked.............

[Nottingham Forest]

Now what is the ruling on creating a new manager and starting again on the same save?

I'd assume that is allowed as long as they haven't been promoted before?

[XaW]

Now what is the ruling on creating a new manager and starting again on the same save?

I'd assume that is allowed as long as they haven't been promoted before?

I think that's correct, you should be able to take over a newly promoted team, as long as they haven't been up during the game.

[Nottingham Forest]

I've got my next team in mind and a new manager. Named after two of my favourite Forest players .

[Forest]

no you have to restart -> rules

[Nottingham Forest]

I'm waiting for Braumiller to confirm. It says restart which technically I have .

[Braumiller]

I'm waiting for Braumiller to confirm. It says restart which technically I have .

I am not sure we have had it before (although I cannot say for sure one way or another.....)

I am good with a brand new manager on the existing save (same creation rules as the initial, now retired manager).

The team must also;

A - Be newly promoted that pre-season

B - Have never been in the Conference North/South during the save (this is the first time they have appeared as playable - no relegations and then reappeared as a promoted team)

[Nottingham Forest]

Sweet, I'm staying then . Might want to add that into the rules please.

Because I'm rubbish, I've just helped everyone.

[Shakes]

I think a re-promotion is fine. Why not allow the playing of a new fallen giant? I think it might even be fun to holiday say 10 years before you start to get one to happen.

[Nottingham Forest]

I might take a break from this save tbh. Kind of lost the love after the heartbreaking relegation. I want to go and sign some players.

[Shakes]

Once you go youth you can never go back though!

Well done Braumiller on promotion. Good to see you get to go pro when you do go up, maybe my whingers will sign contracts if I can go pro.

[Braumiller]

XaW, that is a fantastic season, congrats!

The first top domestic silverware of the challenge this year and the first foray into Europe as well

[XaW]

XaW, that is a fantastic season, congrats!

The first top domestic silverware of the challenge this year and the first foray into Europe as well

Thanks, I was pretty surprised to be honest. Luckily, other teams knocked out the biggest teams like BATE early on, and I think that was the reason I got to the final. I do think I'm going to struggle some seasons before I establish myself as a top team in the league. Hopefully, the youngsters will develop to be good enough by then.

The stint in Europe went better than expected, but I think I got lucky with the draws up until Bursaspor as well. I think it made be about £350k to really help out the economy. We had to take out a loan of £1M to install undersoil heating when we got promoted to comply with league regulations and that really screws up our finances.

[Nottingham Forest]

Shakes .

Kettering Town FC

2018-2019 Season

Vanarama Conference North

Pre-Season

Squad 1 - Squad 2 - Facilities - Board Philosphy - Club History

So after getting Salford City relegated, Jake Daly has retired and now we say hello to Des Morgan(Virtual cookie if anyone can guess who he is named after. ). Des will be taking over Kettering Town FC. Here is their Wikipedia page. I can't seem to find a decent picture of the club's stadium but they ground share with Burton Park Wanderers at Latimer Park. Des' profile 1 and Des' profile 2

Board, Media Expectations & Other Bits

Vanarama National League North: Fight Bravely Against Relegation

Media Prediction: 20th

Title Odds: 200-1

FA Cup: Third Qualifying Round

FA Trophy: First Round

Season Ticket Sales: 142(Up 17)

Finances: £623,883

Wage Budget: £5,254(+£1,456)

Transfer Budget: £110,889

Player Contract Renewals

So as with most youth challenges, you look to extend the contracts of all senior players by as long as possible. Well I do anyway. We saw most of the squad sign new deals and they were Alex Kenlock, Alex Melbourne, Andrew Teague, Andy Gooding, Ben Kirk, Billy Reeves, Courtney Baker-Richardson, Danny Harmon, Jay McFadzean, Kyle Brownhill, Matt Ruby, Melchi Emanuel-Williamson, Michael Kalu, Mohammed Hamid, Niall Duffy, Ollie Fenn, Rhys Davies, Ritchie Danquah, Roy Jacobs, Silvano Obeng, Steven Kinniburgh and Nathan Williams YP2a turned professional.

Other Player News

Gary Mulligan left the club as he was deemed not good enough whilst Brett Solhkon has announced he will retire at the end of the season and I am not able to change his mind. Elliot Sandy has retired and become my Head of Youth Development.

Other News

The board have already increased the number of first team staff we're allowed and they have also granted me the chance to go and get my National C Licence. We have seen three backroom staff depart the club and they were Alan Doyle, Nathan Marsh and Mitchell Austin. Eight staff have joined me at the club during pre-season and they are Michael Collins, Mark Phillips, Elliot Sandy, Marlon Harewood, Ben Cobbett, James Bittner, Steve Dickinson and Will Still

Pre-Season Results



We had what I would class as a great pre-season as we managed to secure a few wins along with a few reasonable defeats and draws. All the players gave a good account of themselves and we're hopefully ready for the new season.

[Nottingham Forest]

I have to say I'm particularly delighted with how much money we have and the board's insistence of developing players using the club's youth system. Hopefully we still have enough in the bank when I get chance to ask for some stuff.