FM 2016: Oooooh Lilies! - Keep Darmstadt in the Bundesliga!

[Jean-Luc]

Cazares and Olsson are very interesting players, and you even got them for a bargain, if I see that correctly. I would be a bit worried about Cazares rather mediocre attributes in teamwork and work load, compared to the rest of the squad, but that depends on your tactics as well, of course.

I like your approach, although you ripped every Darmstadt fan's heart out by selling Heller and Sailer.

But I can see how a creative midfield with Cazares, Vrancic playing for a creative forward Rosenthal could work, especially with 3 men at the back.

Very nice start! Keep us updated!

[Jean-Luc]

"Tactics" are in.

Take a look.

It's not finished yet, apart from the fact that I probably never really consider it finished and I am, as mentioned, quite open to the idea of presenting other people's successful tactics in the opening posts (as long as their Darmstadt team still somewhat resembles the original squad, because otherwise tactical suggestions are obviously quite useless).

I also plan to add a short paragraph on players to add, but not really on names, rather on what type of player could be useful.

[tmason122]

Cazares and Olsson are very interesting players, and you even got them for a bargain, if I see that correctly. I would be a bit worried about Cazares rather mediocre attributes in teamwork and work load, compared to the rest of the squad, but that depends on your tactics as well, of course.

I like your approach, although you ripped every Darmstadt fan's heart out by selling Heller and Sailer.

But I can see how a creative midfield with Cazares, Vrancic playing for a creative forward Rosenthal could work, especially with 3 men at the back.

Very nice start! Keep us updated!

Yer, they are interesting players! Cazares work rate of 12, like you said is not as high as the rest of the squad, but for a player who will be always playing as an attacking midfielder in the AMC role its good enough. He ends up doing work than Rosenthal who is a treq, haha! But both are pretty well covered, as there is always 3 centrebacks, 2wingbacks who either play in midfield or defence and the two central midfielders. Most of the team is set to closing down fast and hard tackling, so it works. I even play with a normal backline...risky I know, but if I drop too deep it leaves too much space in between my midfield and defence for the opposition to exploit to deadly effect.

Yer 1million GBP each was good money. Olsson isn´t first team yet (Vrancic and Kempe are ahead of him in the starting lineup), but he will grow into it as he´s only 20.

I´ll keep you updated, though I won´t get the chance to do another proper update until Saturday.

BTW, nice tactics thread of your own! Is that what you´re actually going to use?

[Jean-Luc]

BTW, nice tactics thread of your own! Is that what you´re actually going to use?

I am using it already, I started my save after half of the opening postings. Basically also to find out if what I am talking about makes any sense. It's not my only formation though, I have a more attacking one for my home games, which I also plan to talk about. And then I might also be able to finally post some proper pictures like you do, in some kind of chronological order and all that.

But as a first glimpse, this is how it looks at the moment. We had a pretty rough start and I was still tinkering a lot with my formation and my instructions. Really a job-as-I-go-along.

I also take pride in not losing at large margins, in fact. A 0-1 is an acceptable result.

And the last matches are looking better, especially at home.

Especially because Vrancic got injured for the last 3 weeks, and that was pretty tough. You can see that a creative spark is missing in central midfield.

[tmason122]

Originally posted by Jean-Luc

I am using it already, I started my save after half of the opening postings. Basically also to find out if what I am talking about makes any sense. It's not my only formation though, I have a more attacking one for my home games, which I also plan to talk about. And then I might also be able to finally post some proper pictures like you do, in some kind of chronological order and all that.

Nice! What is your reason for starting Gondorf over Niemeyer in CM? What´s your other attacking formation?

I also usually play with a ¨home¨ and ¨away¨ formation, but I found this formation is usually pretty good with both on previous saves, all that is required are some minor adjustments (such as play counter-attacking football rather than control football). Though I do have a more conventional narrow diamond formation just in case things get real bad.

You´re sitting pretty high up the league table! I hope I can manage that too! Even with Vrancic injured you´re getting the points! Keep it up. Just out of interest how are your finances? The board have just reduced the amount I can keep from transfers to 70%, never a good sign

[Jean-Luc]

Nice! What is your reason for starting Gondorf over Niemeyer in CM?

No real reason. Niemeyer plays a bit better on the deep lying DM position (which I use in the other formation), and Gondorf provides a bit more going forward. That depends also on the opponent.

What´s your other attacking formation?

I will post it in the days to come and add it to the opening posts. I write a note when it's in, as always.

You´re sitting pretty high up the league table! I hope I can manage that too! Even with Vrancic injured you´re getting the points! Keep it up. Just out of interest how are your finances? The board have just reduced the amount I can keep from transfers to 70%, never a good sign

If you look closely at the graph above the table, you will see that for most of the time, I was sitting between 14th and 16th place, so just barely above immediate relegation. The screenshot is just a glimpse, and helped by the recent win over Werder Bremen plus the game in hand. I actually find it pretty hard to collect points, but so far my board is happy even if I am in 15th place, which is a nice touch.

And we were looking good financially, but dropping steeply. I guess the stadium does not provide enough money, obviously because we have only 4000 seats out of 17,000. My board just reduced the transfer amount to 40%, so go figure...

I checked out Cazares in my save, and he will be a free agent in January... I normally don't really like it if everybody everywhere is walking around with the same players, because they've been recommended in the forums, but I couldn't resist and made him an offer. He is in talks with Sevilla as well, though, and he actually would make my wage structure explode. Highest wage so far is € 65,000 per month (sorry for the double mess by counting in Euro and in months instead of weeks), and Cazares will settle for € 88,000 per month.

[BoobyBlah]

Once I get the game I've decided this will be my first save. Hopefully I can stick with it as I just moved to Darmstadt and I've got the fever! Can't wait to play as them

[Sapačko]

So far the best looking thread on this version Good job on that one!

[Jean-Luc]

Once I get the game I've decided this will be my first save. Hopefully I can stick with it as I just moved to Darmstadt and I've got the fever! Can't wait to play as them

If you really moved to Darmstadt, you should definitly try and get tickets for a match.

Short update on my save, and yes, I know, I still haven't set up the whole thing properly and not talked about transfers etc. yet. But it's just a nice coincidence that I reached matchday 12, like it is at the moment in real life.

And, lo and behold!, I managed to get 1 point more than real life Darmstadt.

But it's all very, very tight. Every time we lose, we drop down immediatly to the relegation zone. And I do expect Dortmund and Mönchengladbach to get out of there anytime soon. Very funny though, Gladbach were indeed struggling IRL. Not anymore though. What Dortmund does there in my save is a complete mysterium to me. They even fired Tuchel already...

[BoobyBlah]

If you really moved to Darmstadt, you should definitly try and get tickets for a match.

Yeah once I'm settled in I'll be going to a few matches for sure.

Just starting my save up now, trying to decide on a formation then I'll worry about transfers. I'll mainly be using loans first season I think.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

3rd time unlucky, ended up relegated, doing it one last time, not selling anyone like Heller, Heller is out for 3 months though lol, will keep you posted guys.

[MichaelBrown]

Did you keep your job Ronaldo?

[BoobyBlah]

So this save is turning out as difficult as I thought. Bringing in players has been especially difficult. Almost as hard as selling players.

Sold:

Sailor 175K

Kempe 1.4M

Bought:

Amr Gamal 500k

Carlos LOAN

Andrea Pereira LOAN

I'm playing a 442, but will occasionally slot Pereira in the hole and switch to a 4411.

EDIT: Won first round of German Cup, only to draw Bayern in the second round :/

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Yeah kept my job but the aim is to stay in the division and I aint going to stop until I do this lol, even if it takes me a 100 go's lol.

[macca72]

Great thread. I may just start one up, sounds like a brilliant challenge.

[smplfc123]

This is going to be my first challenge on FM16. Thank you for this thread, it has inspired me

I'm also starting with no past experience and transfers turned off for the first window.

Wish me luck.

[Jean-Luc]

This is going to be my first challenge on FM16. Thank you for this thread, it has inspired me

I'm also starting with no past experience and transfers turned off for the first window.

Wish me luck.

I definitely want to know how you fare.

Transfer window off sounds all well and good, but no past experience on top sounds pretty fearsome to me.

[smplfc123]

It's not going to be easy that's for sure.

I shall keep you posted

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I finally did it 4th time the charge, what I suggest guys is basically don't sell all of your players, just keep the squad you have, I did this and managed to stay up by 8 points in the end, really proud of myself to achieving this as it was bloody hard lol.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=554048634 - Transfers Ins & Outs

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=554048607 - Tactics

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=554048568 - My Team at the end of the season

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=554048519 - Final League position.

[Jean-Luc]

I finally did it 4th time the charge, what I suggest guys is basically don't sell all of your players, just keep the squad you have, I did this and managed to stay up by 8 points in the end, really proud of myself to achieving this as it was bloody hard lol.

Congratulations!

And you finally managed to get Hamburg relegated! They escaped that fate twice in the last two years in the relegation play-offs.

[Jean-Luc]

I added a 2nd tactic.

I also added a few short paragraphs about Darmstadt, the city, for those of you who are not familiar with Germany. There's also some minor adjustments, a picture about closing down, some funny insight in your scouts, etc.

There are a few minor things missing, but for now, I consider the opening posts "complete".

And I can, finally, tell you what I did with my save.

[sgevolker]

Great Tread, Jean-Luc

Heller? In Frankfurt we've called him forest gump

He's has a great development and is a fantastic player.

I'm looking forward to see Darmstadt in Frankfurt playing in December. I think there will be a great atmosphere.

If you're interested in a Darmstadt FM15 Story and if you understand german, then I've got a story for you.

http://www.meistertrainerforum.de/index.php/topic,21374.0.html

Avoid relegation and then go into champions league with the lilies.

BTW: Lilienschweine

[smplfc123]

Not a big update as I've been busy with work all weekend so I haven't had chance to get much game time, but I thought I'd just let you know I'm still taking on this mighty challenge.

So I faced Jera away in the 1st round of the cup. I wanted to stamp my authority on the 3rd division side and we were comfortable 3-0 winners. We have however, drawn Bremen home in the next round, not that a cup run is my main priority for this season anyway.

First up in the league was a tough away trip to Hertha. I was so pleased to see my solid tactical approach work so well, with Hertha managing 29 shots in the game, but only 5 on target as my narrow, hard-working set up led to us coming away with a very credible 0-0 draw.

Without transfers turned on, I feel scoring could be an issue for me this season, but if you don't concede you don't lose and I plan to build on my 2 clean sheets in my first 2 competitive games.

[tmason122]

No real reason. Niemeyer plays a bit better on the deep lying DM position (which I use in the other formation), and Gondorf provides a bit more going forward. That depends also on the opponent.

I will post it in the days to come and add it to the opening posts. I write a note when it's in, as always.

If you look closely at the graph above the table, you will see that for most of the time, I was sitting between 14th and 16th place, so just barely above immediate relegation. The screenshot is just a glimpse, and helped by the recent win over Werder Bremen plus the game in hand. I actually find it pretty hard to collect points, but so far my board is happy even if I am in 15th place, which is a nice touch.

And we were looking good financially, but dropping steeply. I guess the stadium does not provide enough money, obviously because we have only 4000 seats out of 17,000. My board just reduced the transfer amount to 40%, so go figure...

I checked out Cazares in my save, and he will be a free agent in January... I normally don't really like it if everybody everywhere is walking around with the same players, because they've been recommended in the forums, but I couldn't resist and made him an offer. He is in talks with Sevilla as well, though, and he actually would make my wage structure explode. Highest wage so far is € 65,000 per month (sorry for the double mess by counting in Euro and in months instead of weeks), and Cazares will settle for € 88,000 per month.

Ouch, Cazares is expensive for you. A little more than I paid, but I have to say he is best player.

A quick update, I´m now 7 games in and sitting 5th in the league. So pretty happy with that. Putting in some really good quality performances, but got players rebelling due not enough playing time (Rausch, Diaz, Molders to name the 3 main cupltrits). Rausch I am probably going to have to sell, which I really don´t want too, but he really wants to leave :/

[Jean-Luc]

I'm looking forward to see Darmstadt in Frankfurt playing in December. I think there will be a great atmosphere.

If you're interested in a Darmstadt FM15 Story and if you understand german, then I've got a story for you.

http://www.meistertrainerforum.de/index.php/topic,21374.0.html

Avoid relegation and then go into champions league with the lilies.

Nice stuff. So there was an updated database with FM15?

As mentioned before, I took the 2. Bundesliga Darmstadt squad to the Bundesliga, quite to my surprise. (Which was only topped by the fact that this also happened in real life). Obviously the story is also in German, but if you are interested, you can look here.

Not a big update as I've been busy with work all weekend so I haven't had chance to get much game time, but I thought I'd just let you know I'm still taking on this mighty challenge.

Great to her from you.

First up in the league was a tough away trip to Hertha. I was so pleased to see my solid tactical approach work so well, with Hertha managing 29 shots in the game, but only 5 on target as my narrow, hard-working set up led to us coming away with a very credible 0-0 draw.

Without transfers turned on, I feel scoring could be an issue for me this season, but if you don't concede you don't lose and I plan to build on my 2 clean sheets in my first 2 competitive games.

That's really fascinating stuff. If you find the time, I'd love to see your tactics and Team instructions. As mentioned, I am trying the same thing: Building a successful season on solid, solid defense, and I find it quite nerve wrecking to watch those Bundesliga teams take away all the possession, all the shots and celebrating a draw in the end.

Ouch, Cazares is expensive for you. A little more than I paid, but I have to say he is best player.

A quick update, I´m now 7 games in and sitting 5th in the league. So pretty happy with that. Putting in some really good quality performances, but got players rebelling due not enough playing time (Rausch, Diaz, Molders to name the 3 main cupltrits). Rausch I am probably going to have to sell, which I really don´t want too, but he really wants to leave :/

Cazares decided to join Malaga. Or Sevilla. Some club in Spain with a bigger reputation (although they were paying him less).

5th in the League? That's quite something!

I hope I can start my story on Darmstadt tonight. If not tonight, then in a few days. Promise.

[smplfc123]

Unfortunately it was a false start. Unable to keep clean sheets and our inability to create chances led to me getting the sack after 12 games. I don't think it was the best idea to make this my first challenge, especially with no transfers and a low reputation. I think I needed to get a few saves going first as well to get used to FM16.

It's definitely a challenge i'll be coming back to and i'll be keeping an eye on your updates

[Jogo Bonito]

Unfortunately it was a false start. Unable to keep clean sheets and our inability to create chances led to me getting the sack after 12 games. I don't think it was the best idea to make this my first challenge, especially with no transfers and a low reputation. I think I needed to get a few saves going first as well to get used to FM16.

It's definitely a challenge i'll be coming back to and i'll be keeping an eye on your updates

Oh dear, I was looking forward to seeing how you did in Germany

[smplfc123]

Work has got in the way of me fully concentrating this weekend which led to me being 10 games in without even sorting my tactics etc properly.

I will be back though.

I've moved on to a challenge with my mate at Fulham now, so I'll be popping over to the FL72 thread when I get the game going

[tyro]

Probably one of the best team threads this year. Don't know much about Darmstadt but just because of this thread I might try.

[tmason122]

Cazares decided to join Malaga. Or Sevilla. Some club in Spain with a bigger reputation (although they were paying him less).

5th in the League? That's quite something!

I hope I can start my story on Darmstadt tonight. If not tonight, then in a few days. Promise.

Dropped down to 9th in the league after poor 3-0 defeat against Inglostadt. This next month is going to be tough with Holland, Niemeyer and Cazares now all out for a minimum of 4 weeks. All are key players for me. It´s a really tight league at the moment (apart from Bayern who are shooting away into the distance), meaning that although I am 9th I am still only 3 points above the relegation zone..... Wish me luck for this next month :/

[nico_france]

Keep it up guys, really nice thread here !

Definitely my next save !

[georgey]

Right , i have decided to abandon my premiership games as i have done it so often and i have started a game.

Just literally finished setting it up now.

I have offered a couple of the poorer players who i don't see me ever using regularily like Stegmayer and i offered both backup keepers out with the hope of selling one of them.

I wanted to ask everyone , how have you got on with requests to the board ? I would like to build the club and want to improve training and youth facilities , i also notice you can ask for a parent club , will they allow this ? I'm being greedy now but has anyone asked for more money for transfers / wages at the start of the game and did they give anything ?

Thanks all , i don't really want to ask them if it is going to be a "no" to everything !

[Jean-Luc]

Season 2015/16

Jean-Luc

So, here we go...

These are my transfers...

Transfers

I sold Stegmayer to Turkey and sent Gorka on loan ... also to Turkey. No idea why the Turkish clubs are so keen on my players. I would have parted with the likes of Sirigu, Platins or Ivana, but nobody wanted them.

I signed 6 players, but only 2-3 are relevant at the moment.

First: I couldn't resist to accept the advertisement of the agent of Del Piero. Not realistic? Yes. And no. I can totally see it, right?

I mean:

Journalist: "Mr. Del Piero - you are a true legend in football, you have played for a reputable club like Juve - why would you sign for Darmstadt?"

Del Piero: "Aaaaah, but because they share my vision!"

Journalist: "What vision would that be?"

Del Piero: "Look at me! Do you think I am old? Do you think I am too old for football?"

Journalist: "Uhm ... well ..."

Del Piero: "See? See, you think I don't have it in me anymore, right? I am 40 years old! Too old for professional football. Right? That's what you all think! That I should go to an exotic league somewhere, earn money like ... a retirement pension. I was great once, but I am not anymore, that's how you see me. I tell you: This is why I want to go to Darmstadt. Because here, they believe in people. In what they still can do right now, although nobody else believes in them. I will show you what I am made of! I want to play against Bayern Munich and hammer a goal. A direct free kick against Manuel Neuer. With 40 years. And then we'll talk again!"

Right?

That's exactly how it would happen!

Anyhow...

Del Piero is sloooow, he is weak (in football terms) and he's not very fit. But his vision, his composure, his decision, his passing still make him a very useful player, if you don't ask him to run. Seriously, in the match engine, he looks as if he would dragging his feet. Use him as a classic striker, and you'll likely despair, because the defense will close him down every time. But as a playmaker or trequartista, he is excellent in passing the ball around. In fact, once he has the ball, he always has the technique and the vision to keep it until he passes it in the right direction. Of course, his fitness does not really allow him to play 90 minutes. I often use him as a substitute for the last 20 minutes or so.

Also: With Del Piero, I try to counterbalance the fact that Rausch is in FM16 so much weaker with free kicks than in real life. Darmstadt needs set pieces as one of their goal threat.

Dwamena, Pagliarini and Kiwomya are Youngsters for the future.

If I want to keep Darmstadt in the Bundesliga, not only one season, but the following ones, I need to start building for the future. Pagliarini is a young Belgian attacking midfielder who was suggested by a French scout, and he seems to have great potential.

I am a bit worried about some of his mental skills, but I can't really be too picky as Darmstadt. I want some players in that I can develop, and I have thrown in Pagliarini already a few times just to give him some match practice.

Dwamena is a young striker from Ghana who played in Austria. In fact, he comes from FC Liefering, which is basically a farm team for Red Bull Salzburg. There are some Youngsters with a lot of prospect hidden there.

His physical attributes look good and he has a solid foundation in technical skills. We have to work on his mental attributes though.

Maybe the most important Youngster is Kiwomya.

He's only on loan from Chelsea, but I have a buying option for € 750,000. If we manage to stay in the Bundesliga, that's something I should be able to afford at the end of the season. If I find him useful then. Again, there were many much more useful players on loan at Chelsea, but I could not afford them or they did not want to come. Bernard Traoré would have been a much better option, for example.

Kiwomya brings an almost incredible Accelaration 20 and Pace 19 to the table. I am actually not sure if this young guy is really faster then Heller (faster then Heller?!) - has anybody of you seen Kiwomya play once? Anyhow, he could develop into a great double for Heller, and he in fact does so already. When Heller is tired, I sometimes bring him on, and when he's fresh, his speed is kind of useful just by itself, without the rest of his attributes.

Bangura and Samir are two Central Defenders.

I got a bit carried away there. I actually don't need both. Samir, I admit, was the player I spotted through the "Egypt"-thread here in the forum. He's the only player my scouts would not have found. He's solid and sturdy, and I was thinking of swapping him against Caldirola, although, admittedly, Caldirola is the better player. Samir asks for lesser wages though, and his contract is with Darmstadt. Caldirola I will have to send back to Bremen at the end of the season... Plus: As defense is such a crucial part of my playing style, I wanted four equal defenders.

Bangura ... I don't even know exactly why I signed Bangura. Because he was cheap. Because I didn't know if Samir would say Yes.

He's weaker then the others. But he's professional and he can tutor my Youngsters. Then again, I don't really have good hot prospects at the moment...

Well ... one of those moments when you get carried away in the transfer window. Happens, right?

Results

After 12 league matches

We had a dire start and got kicked out of the Cup by Third Division club Unterhaching.

Then followed a 0-1 loss against the second newcomer Ingolstadt. Basically, we had our first two matches of the season against the weakest teams possible - and we blew them.

Things got a bit better from there, Darmstadt salvaged it's first point against VfB Stuttgart at home: 1-1.

In fact, we are unbeaten at home (!!). Four incredible wins and two draws. At home, we even managed to beat Champions League participants Wolfsburg 1-0. At the same time, we are not successful at all away, even not against teams like Hannover, which are clearly among the weaker ones.

And the big guns are yet to come: Dortmund, Leverkusen, Bayern.

That's exactly our next 3 matches. Nothing to lose, of course. But we might find us quickly down the table.

Marcel Heller and Del Piero are the top goalscorers. Del Piero had one direct free kick. Heller has been incredible the last few games, since I switched his duty to "Attack". I am very curious to see more of him.

Niemeyer is very important as Ball Winning Midfielder. Highest rating of the squad. Often a great help for defense.

Gondorf was surprisingly useful as Playmaker. His Pass Completion of 77% is ... well, it's far above Darmstadt standards.

The league table is extremely tight. Only 3 points to the drop zone. And at the bottom a club I simply cannot believe will stay there. Dortmund have already fired new manager Thomas Tuchel.

Taking on Favre actually sounds rather realistic to me. David Moyes would be an ... interesting choice.

Stats

After 12 league matches

Darmstadt has won most of their headers. Not percentage wise, but in terms of raw numbers. That's of course also because we play with long balls and there's a lot of bouncing and bumping the ball on the pitch. Still a very interesting piece of stat from the new FM16 stats centre.

Böllenfalltor also had the highest average attendance by capacity.

98% full.

Only 3 sellouts is, of course, highly unrealistic. All matches sold out would be right.

The Lilies are also impressively effective:

Best shots on target ration together with Bayern München.

Of course, Bayern had 92 shots on target and Darmstadt had ... 38!

But still...

Also, as expected, Darmstadt is very aggressive and determined in their style of play:

555 tacklings. By far the highest number of the Bundesliga.

... ahem ... as is "272 fouls" ...

And ... last one:

Lowest salary.

We are spending € 12 million on salary per annum.

Bayern München spends € 163 million. Word.

[Jean-Luc]

Great thread. I may just start one up, sounds like a brilliant challenge.

Probably one of the best team threads this year. Don't know much about Darmstadt but just because of this thread I might try.

Keep it up guys, really nice thread here !

Definitely my next save !

Thanks so much guys.

Dropped down to 9th in the league after poor 3-0 defeat against Inglostadt. This next month is going to be tough with Holland, Niemeyer and Cazares now all out for a minimum of 4 weeks. All are key players for me. It´s a really tight league at the moment (apart from Bayern who are shooting away into the distance), meaning that although I am 9th I am still only 3 points above the relegation zone..... Wish me luck for this next month :/

Niemeyer and Cazares out for 4 weeks sounds indeed horrible. Diaz should be a somewhat useful replacement for Holland, no?

And: Goog luck!

Right , i have decided to abandon my premiership games as i have done it so often and i have started a game.

Just literally finished setting it up now.

I have offered a couple of the poorer players who i don't see me ever using regularily like Stegmayer and i offered both backup keepers out with the hope of selling one of them.

Yes, I agree, that's basically what I did as well.

I wanted to ask everyone , how have you got on with requests to the board ? I would like to build the club and want to improve training and youth facilities , i also notice you can ask for a parent club , will they allow this ? I'm being greedy now but has anyone asked for more money for transfers / wages at the start of the game and did they give anything ?

Thanks all , i don't really want to ask them if it is going to be a "no" to everything !

I asked for increasing wages and it worked, but I am not sure how much depended on my attributes as manager and/or the right way to ask the question. I never really understood the secret mechanism behind the multiple choice questions when dealing with the board.

I used the "... we run the risk of losing our best players to our rivals" argument.

I have also found, in general, the best way to make a board agree to improve everything Youth related (facilites, network, etc.) is to take on a Youth related philosophy.

I honestly doubt Darmstadt has enough money to develop Youth and/or training facilities, though. Maybe better try at the end of the season, when you can secure the Bundesliga money for the coming season.

[Reedy_1988]

Nice update to you're career Jean-Luc fingers crossed you can get get through you're next three games without being battered too badly

For Darmstadt if I were to try to keep things as realistic as possible, what players would I be attempting to sign? Any names linked to joining them IRL over the previous transfer window?

[Jean-Luc]

Nice update to you're career Jean-Luc fingers crossed you can get get through you're next three games without being battered too badly

For Darmstadt if I were to try to keep things as realistic as possible, what players would I be attempting to sign? Any names linked to joining them IRL over the previous transfer window?

I love that question, that's a nice one!

Darmstadt definitively wanted to sign Mensur Mujdza (SC Freiburg, full back), but then SCF assured him that he would have a place in the first squad, so he declined, and Darmstadt got Garics instead.

They also trailed Mohamed Abdellaoue (Striker), who went from Stuttgart to Oslo instead, and Milan Djuric (AC Cesena). That was before they got Sandro Wagner.

Another one was Henrique Sereno, but FSV Mainz got him instead, so you will have difficulties to get him "back", I guess. Darmstadt was quite annoyed about this. They were also in talks with Nikolce Noveski, but couldn't agree on a contract with him. He's 36 years though, so not exactly building for the future. And he freshly signed with EA Guingamp in France.

They tested Adrian Winter (FC Luzern), but decided against him. He's playing for Orlando City and I could not find him on my large database.

There were rumors about Patrick Ochs, but Darmstadt never acknowledged those, basically saying that they were offered a great many players who were deemed to old/unfit/unsuccessful for other clubs. Quite a few people realized that Darmstadt is a great place to offer a "last chance" to players.

There were also rumors about Donis Avdijaj, and that's a very interesting one, because he's one of those hot prospects who fail to break through because of their sloppy character. But that's something FM can't really mirror properly within their game mechanics, so players like him often rank as quite good potentials. The problem is that he's on loan from Schalke 04 to Sturm Graz, so there's also almost no chance to get him. Funnily enough, I got him on loan last year when I played Darmstadt with FM15. Obviously did not know about any rumors back then. Anyway, SVD said they had no contact to him in any case.

And Darmstadt did offer a trial to Abneet Bharti (17 years, Real Valladolid), and were apparently interested. That's the newest one, just from October. I did not load Spanish league though and could again not find him. My database is definitely too small.

I am afraid there are not that many names which are a great improvement to the current squad. Darmstadt was quite realistic in their expectations on who to sign right from the start.

[georgey]

Thanks for the reply !

I might attempt the parent club after a week or so in the hope of scoring a couple of decent youngsters on a free loan after asking for more wages.

[tmason122]

I love that question, that's a nice one!

Darmstadt definitively wanted to sign Mensur Mujdza (SC Freiburg, full back), but then SCF assured him that he would have a place in the first squad, so he declined, and Darmstadt got Garics instead.

They also trailed Mohamed Abdellaoue (Striker), who went from Stuttgart to Oslo instead, and Milan Djuric (AC Cesena). That was before they got Sandro Wagner.

Another one was Henrique Sereno, but FSV Mainz got him instead, so you will have difficulties to get him "back", I guess. Darmstadt was quite annoyed about this. They were also in talks with Nikolce Noveski, but couldn't agree on a contract with him. He's 36 years though, so not exactly building for the future. And he freshly signed with EA Guingamp in France.

They tested Adrian Winter (FC Luzern), but decided against him. He's playing for Orlando City and I could not find him on my large database.

There were rumors about Patrick Ochs, but Darmstadt never acknowledged those, basically saying that they were offered a great many players who were deemed to old/unfit/unsuccessful for other clubs. Quite a few people realized that Darmstadt is a great place to offer a "last chance" to players.

There were also rumors about Donis Avdijaj, and that's a very interesting one, because he's one of those hot prospects who fail to break through because of their sloppy character. But that's something FM can't really mirror properly within their game mechanics, so players like him often rank as quite good potentials. The problem is that he's on loan from Schalke 04 to Sturm Graz, so there's also almost no chance to get him. Funnily enough, I got him on loan last year when I played Darmstadt with FM15. Obviously did not know about any rumors back then. Anyway, SVD said they had no contact to him in any case.

And Darmstadt did offer a trial to Abneet Bharti (17 years, Real Valladolid), and were apparently interested. That's the newest one, just from October. I did not load Spanish league though and could again not find him. My database is definitely too small.

I am afraid there are not that many names which are a great improvement to the current squad. Darmstadt was quite realistic in their expectations on who to sign right from the start.

Nice, Milan Djuric is a really good player! Ha, and I´ve actually been scouting Mohamed Abdellaoue for my own Darmstadt side! Funny little world!

Does anyone know any cheap German talent that would be interested in coming to Darmstadt? I´ve played FM for years but this is my first ever game with a team in Germany so I don´t really know which teams are known to have good youth academies or if there are any good players in the lower leagues who could make the step up.

[Jean-Luc]

Does anyone know any cheap German talent that would be interested in coming to Darmstadt? I´ve played FM for years but this is my first ever game with a team in Germany so I don´t really know which teams are known to have good youth academies or if there are any good players in the lower leagues who could make the step up.

VfB Stuttgart and Schalke 04 always have excellent Youngsters, but both are relatively big clubs and probably want to keep their best prospects to themselves.

My actual favourite club SC Freiburg, has a top notch Youth academy and has been relegated to 2. Bundesliga last year. There are players like Höhn, Günter, Höfler, Philipp, Kempf, Grifo you could explore, almost all of them under 22 years, but all of them also have first squad status at Freiburg and will probably come with a price tag Darmstadt cannot really afford. Höfler in FM16 is not as good as I would like him to be.

It's no coincidence that I took on foreign players in my save. I did scout the German U19 league, but the real hot prospects are often tied tightly to their clubs.

German research is also known to be a bit more cautious before declaring a Third Division talent a "5 star super hot prospect", and rightly so, I'd say.

Hertha Berlin and 1860 München ("Lions Munich" in the sortitoutsi names file) are also clubs which are often cited with great academies. 1860 München is also 2. Bundesliga and not looking good. I remember I plucked quite a few regens in my FM13 save from them.

As mentioned in my update, I also found FC Liefering in Austria an interesting club to plunder. There were quite a few players my scouts came up with on their own.

[georgey]

I have hit continue a couple of times now although i have not finished setting up the club staff etc properly quite yet.

I got a 150k bid for Stegmayer , not great but he can go.

I have also received an 800k bid for Sirigu so i am hoping he leaves also.

I got my transfer revenue put up to 85% so i will get most of the money back, chuffed.

Played my first friendly which was against Castiglione , obviously a much smaller team and i should have won easily...which i did.

My boys played superb , dominated all game and won 7-0 ! A nice starting victory.

[tmason122]

2015/2016 Mid-Season Update

Cor, talk about a fall from grace! hahaha. So from a league high of 5th after 6 weeks of games in the league my team has slowly but surely plummeted down the table, hahaha. Our lowest position was 14th and we've since stablised at around 13th.... so not in the relegation places! Yayayayay! hahaah!

Talk about a hard save/ game though! I had one month without three of my key players in Cazares, Niemeyer and Holland which was real though. But the hardest part for me has been the insane amounts of moaning from my squad players! Does anyone else have this? I have never experienced so many unhappy players in one squad. Is this am FM16 characteristic? I had Rausch, Diaz, Vrancic, Sulu, Gorka, Boulaherouz, Garics, Gondorf, Wagner, Ivana, Jungwirth, Stark and Kempe all complain to me in the first half of the season.... this inevitable resulted in some pretty catastrophic fallouts and further accelerated my teams downwards spiral. Kempe and Wagner have now both left on permanent deals in the January transfer window and Gondorf as left on a loan, with Ivana and Rausch also trying to seek an exit too. I've never experienced so much discontent at one club before, hahaha.

Anyway, Darmstadt are just about keeping their heads above water! Below you can see our league position, and it's real tight in the bottom half of the table (Hannover are 2nd from bottom and BMG are bottom).

Things are tight, but I think I can just about keep us up! The new Winter recruits I think will help the cause. In came Anthony Annan (of FM fame) for a free! Not as great as he once was, but Niemeyer is rapidly fading and Jungwirth is injured so he seemed a good fit:

Also came in a genuinely good, young, German LWB on loan! So I am also really happy about that! He can cross a ball AND tackle! I am so happy, haha.

And finally to help with the lack of goals upfront in came this Premier League striker:

He's already got an assist and a goal in first 2 appearances so its a good start.

General observations:

Some players have been real disappointments for me, these mainly being: Garics, Diaz and Rausch. No matter what I did, I could not get these guys to perform. On the other hand Sigru has been immense at RWB, with Rajkovic and Hegazi particularly shining in defence. Mathenia I am indebted for life. He's kept us in so many games single handed.

Overall starting 11 looks something like this:

Vrancic, Stark and Olsson rotate between the left CM spot depending on the oppostion, with Annan and Niemeyer rotating through the RCM. Rosanthal and Del Piero rotate through the Treq position.

Thats it for now folks!

P.s. thanks Jean-Luc for the hints for clubs with good youth centres

[georgey]

Well that sucks , won all my friendlies , won the first cup game, played 4 in the league , w 1 d 2 l 1 which to be honest i would take as i was mid-table after that ( yeah only 4 games and it could change ) but i got a crash dump last night and i can't reload my save.

Grrr i cant even remember many of the staff i had signed or anything. Going to start again as i am relishing the challenge of trying to build this club into something but that was a sickener last night.

[MANUMAD]

This is the best and most useful team presentation I have EVER seen!!!

[MANUMAD]

Well that sucks , won all my friendlies , won the first cup game, played 4 in the league , w 1 d 2 l 1 which to be honest i would take as i was mid-table after that ( yeah only 4 games and it could change ) but i got a crash dump last night and i can't reload my save.

Grrr i cant even remember many of the staff i had signed or anything. Going to start again as i am relishing the challenge of trying to build this club into something but that was a sickener last night.

Well - HAVE YOU HEARD OF A WEEKLY 3 FILE ROLLING SAVE?! Also in the first couple of weeks you should manually save every day almost.

[Jean-Luc]

Well that sucks , won all my friendlies , won the first cup game, played 4 in the league , w 1 d 2 l 1 which to be honest i would take as i was mid-table after that ( yeah only 4 games and it could change ) but i got a crash dump last night and i can't reload my save.

Grrr i cant even remember many of the staff i had signed or anything. Going to start again as i am relishing the challenge of trying to build this club into something but that was a sickener last night.

Pains me to hear that.

But happy that you are still willing to give it another try!

(Sometimes, you are nevertheless much quicker the second time. Although it still sucks, obviously.)

This is the best and most useful team presentation I have EVER seen!!!

Thank you very much

[georgey]

Well - HAVE YOU HEARD OF A WEEKLY 3 FILE ROLLING SAVE?! Also in the first couple of weeks you should manually save every day almost.

Well arn't you a fountain of knowledge lol, saving daily wouldn't help when i can't reload the game at all. I don't have the HDD space for 3 files , this PC is crammed to the neck as it is with things that are slightly more important than FM! Well my work think so anyway

Yeah it is not getting rid of me that easily Jean-luc , i have restarted the save !

Will sort out a few coahes and get Del-Piero and Eboue back aboard hopefully

[Jean-Luc]

Season 2015/16 - Winter break

Jean-Luc

17 matches over.

And the "fearsome three" matches (Dortmund, Leverkusen, Bayern München) have been a disaster indeed.

Of course, you could call this a quite useful result:

Leverkusen has 22 Shots and 3 CCC, but only scores once against us.

Unfortunately, they had another goal right before stoppage time.

Same goes for this here:

14 Shots, 5 CCC, by the unstoppable force of Bayern München, and, indeed, this time, only 0-1. In Munich.

That's kind of alright.

Even more so, because right before the Bayern match, this here happened:

Vrancic got injured.

AGAIN!

4-5 weeks.

There was also the little problem of our hard style of play beginning to show.

The team was collecting too many cards, and was paying for it. Besides Vrancic being out with injury, Niemeyer and Holland were out with bans.

That left the squad pretty decimated.

Niemeyer and Vrancic are really both key players. Although Jungwirth (DM) and Gondorf (CM) can cover.

In fact, we only got beaten by Bayern München because of ONE penalty.

Which, of course, was not a penalty. Of course.

We even got a second one against us, which Mathenia held. Unfortunately, a loss is still a loss, although Darmstadt, at that time still looked pretty decent in 14th place, with a goal difference of -4. Against Bayern München, every goal you DON'T get, counts. Of course, a "bonus point" with a draw would still have been nice. Look at them: Won 12/15 matches. Frightening.

After this match, Darmstadt got its ever first call up into the best player of the week squad.

Well... Mathenia got. He really saved our asses there.

So, all in all, things looked still kind of alright after the "fearsome three" matches:

0-0 against Dortmund

0-2 against Leverkusen

0-1 against Bayern

Then came Augsburg.

THEN came the disaster.

Basically, after 33 minutes, we were down to 9 men.

Heller was sent off with a red card after two minutes, Holland was sent of with two yellows after 33 minutes.

I start to wonder if I should not have talked down the hard tackling of my team in the press talks, or if I should have been stricter in warning players after being sent off with a yellow-red card (normally I don't fine players for this; I only do it for straight red cards).

So what you see here is a team without Vrancic (still injured), without Sulu (banned), without Heller (red card) and without Holland (yellow-red).

In the end, Augsburg banged in 4 goals.

We scraped another point against Berlin.

1-1 at home, but we haven't been good. Morale is pretty weak in the team, people are unhappy. I reacted quite harsh after THAT game, and some players accepted it, but others didn't.

So those are the results.

No win since my last update.

And only one more goal (by Rausch, against Berlin).

We are sitting in the relegation playoff spot now.

Basically, I guess I should be happy if that's how it looks after matchday 34. It's also what's been agreed on with my board, so I should be safe. There would be the gamble of relegation playoff, of course.

And our wonderful neat and tiny goal difference has evaporated into "-8", so we really have to be careful there...

In any case, it's going to be interesting for the second half of the season...

Some tiny updates on squad building ...

Several people asked me about German young prospects, Darmstadt could afford.

My scouts found one:

Bayern München will let him go for something between € 100,000 and € 250,000, depending on the construct of the contract.

He is probably that cheap because his contract is running out on 7/2016. I could also try to get him on a free transfer. However, I gambled a bit too much in talks with him, and he wants at least a rotation spot and a useful salary.

Lucas Scholl is, in fact, the son of Bayern München player "legend" Mehmet Scholl, and I don't think real life Bayern would let him go so easily. He is still a bit raw around the edges, but he has great potential, and I like his mental and part of his physical attributes. Dribbling 15 and Technique 14 is also nice for a 19 year old.

I also sealed a new deal with Vrancic, who is now the highest earning player in the squad.

Before, highest wages was € 65,000 per month. Several players had that: Diaz, Rausch, Caldirola, Vrancic.

Vrancic will get € 80,000/month now. That's still acceptable within the structure of the team.

What is NOT acceptable is this, though:

Heller's agent wants a wage of € 144,000/month.

That's almost the double amount ot Vrancic's new contract.

Don't really know what to do with this. Heller still has 18 months left, and I guess I should look at selling him in the summer.

Well, let's see where we stand in summer.

[Jean-Luc]

I signed Luca Scholl for the Winter break.

Strangely enough, if you agree on a transfer fee with the club, but the wage talks with the player afterwards fail, the club next time wants a higher transfer fee. Was suffering from that twice, because after first break down, I went back too early, and Scholl still did not want to talk to me. In the beginning I could have gotten him for € 100k, but hat to pay €300k in the end. Not sure if this looks a bit buggy to me. Still a bargain.

I went a bit bonkers on January 1st and signed a bunch of high potential Youngsters who will be out of contract in July. In fact, I could probably field a whole team with 19-21 year olds. Did not get the one I wanted most, though, Karl Madianga from St. Etienne, he had great attributes already, and I urgently need a back-up for Niemeyer.

I just have to survive the second part of the season and then I can really start to build for the future.

Winter and summer break are always very sloooooow playing phases for me, because I get so lost in the checking, analysing, comparing of transfer targets.

[georgey]

Well second time round after my game corrupting i am finding things much tougher.

Del Piero is a shadow of the Del Piero i had first time round. I didn't get Eboue this time as he went to hull. The coaches i got in i don't like as much as the time before.

I have been tortured by injury including losing Mathenia for near 2 months which cost me bad.

After 17 games i am in 17th position ! 2 points from 15th which of course is probably the goal.

On a positive note i am into the Quarter Finals of the cup

I need more good results badly , i keep losing games late on which is getting annoying now.

I have a 750k transfer budget so i will try to strengthen in January but not sure i will get anyone to make a difference.

My signings so far are as follows

Del Piero - not as good a performer as the last del piero from first time round

Jason Cummings - I am scottish and i like this lad in real life , he was interested so i moved for him , decent striker but keeps hitting the woodwork!

Gabriel Obertan - Loan - Pacey winger who comes on late in the game and has done alright.

Oscar - R.Valladolid - 30k potential to go to 120k. AMC playmaker , has had a few excellent games , very creative for the money.

Just reached the first day of the winter break , i need to get scouting big time or i fear we are going down. Will have the keeper back by the time the league restarts though !

[Jean-Luc]

Del Piero is a shadow of the Del Piero i had first time round.

I am retraining Del Piero to AMC at the moment. As mentioned, I find his skill set much more usefull as a playmaker than as a striker. But of course, he is not the saviour, and I never saw him as one. My assistant manager also does not like him and keeps complaining, but I still find him useful for the occasional 20 minutes. Especially because the squad is simply so thin.

I have been tortured by injury including losing Mathenia for near 2 months which cost me bad.

Ouch. Who did you field instead? Mathenia has been absolutely vital for me. His reflexes are life saving.

Just out of the winter break, and I lost Vrancic for a third time, this time for 2 weeks. I start to suspect that he has some kind of high injury proneness. Or maybe I am just very unlucky.

I have a 750k transfer budget so i will try to strengthen in January but not sure i will get anyone to make a difference.

I spent all my money on future prospects. Nobody who will really help us for the second part of the season. I really just hope to survive somehow, but if I don't start to invest in the future, I seem the club in a vicious circle: A lot of players will not get better in 2016/17. In fact, they will probably get worse.

My finances are not looking good at all neither. I really hope for some fresh TV money at the end of the season. If we are going down, the club will have to rebuild itself completely. Might be interesting to see this ... or ... maybe rather not.

Jason Cummings - I am scottish and i like this lad in real life , he was interested so i moved for him , decent striker but keeps hitting the woodwork!

That sounds like a great catch, the guy is young, right?