The Immaculate Conception

[pheelf]

I have 2 pieces of information before I post the season 58/59 update

1) I decided that after season 58/59 ended to add all the leagues in the UK & Ireland (Ireland was added Jan 2059). I'm not going to leave Immaculata but I feel it may help balance out the game world a little better. As other teams in the league only tend to scout from the UK & Ireland if I increase the number of available players it might help them find some better players and improve the league overall. If the speed isn't too compromised then I might add the top leagues from Italy, Spain, Germany and France the season after. I may also get to see some use of my work permit affiliation with Bohemians (R.O.I) which should be good.

2) I've decided to abandon the 4-4-1-1 shape and opt for the 4-2-3-1 going forwards (I will post about the new tactic after the season review). I'm a little frustrated as I tried desperately to make it work but it just doesn't score enough goals for my taste and while it can be defensively strong it is heavily dependent on the player in the AMC position. If he has a bad game we tended to struggle and then it becomes a game of whether we can keep the opposition out and hope for a piece of brilliance from my striker. I'm willing to sacrifice a little defensively to gain a lot offensively and that is what I'm hoping the change will bring. All the Club DNA I posted about earlier still remains valid but the 4-4-1-1 is no more.

[pheelf]

     IMMACULATA F.C.

The Immaculate Conception

Season 2058 / 2059

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SEASON EXPECTATIONS

Win the league in a more convincing manner, try to clean sweep the domestic cups and reach the knockout stages of the Champions League

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      THE SEASON

 

League Table – Our record against Linfield wasn't good losing 3/4 times we played them which made the title challenge last longer than was probably necessary. We should be walking this league given the quality of our players and scoring bucket loads while doing it, especially against the likes of Queen's U and Portstewart but we haven't been which is a real concern

UEFA Champions League – This wasn't a bad campaign overall but it did have its disillusioning moments. The first was the struggle we had against Malmo in the playoff which showed me just how fragile our status is as group stage regulars. We then started the group stage badly get routed by Porto 5-1, we bounced back well however beating Dinamo 1-0 and pulling off a stunning 2-1 win over Real Madrid at home. We then went to the Bernabeu and got dismantled and held group leaders Porto at home 0-0.

 

This left the table going into the final matchday with us having every chance of making it to the knockout stages, all we needed was to win against Dinamo who hadn't recorded a single point up to that matchday and hope that Porto could do us a favour and either hold or beat Real Madrid. Well they done their bit and actually beat Real Madrid but we crumbled against Dinamo and blew our opportunity. Ah well...Europa League a decent consolation I thought...until we drew Bayern.... We then beat them at home without conceding an away goal which had me encouraged going into the second leg. I needn't have been, we even scored an away goal early but our defence let us down big time and we crashed out

Domestic Cups – Retaining the league cup for as long as we have is great from the team so I'm pleased about that. However, our performance in the final of the Irish Cup was a crushing disappointment. It was also what put the final nail in the coffin for the 4-4-1-1. We battered them in that final but still ended up losing thanks to some unbelievable misses from Zongo and some goalkeeping brilliance from their man between the sticks 

Reserves – Good stuff considering the vast majority of the players are greyed out

U18s – I was really pleased with the performance in the Youth Club Invitational, not so much with the U19 Champions League and 3rd place in the league but I'll give them a pass as they were heavily weakened throughout

    THE PLAYERS

 

Squad – The quality of player we need to play the style of football we wish to adopt is very hard to find and beyond us financially so I decided to dip back into the loan market. I find it worrying that my assists are so heavily weighted to the right midfielders and that would indicate a lack of balance in the tactic or than wingers are OP. I'm glad that Millicevic's contract is ending as £63,000pw is crippling for us at the moment, Zongo may be on the move too as he has interest and is transfer listed. That would free up over £100,000pw which I feel would be better spent on players I can develop and may hand some opportunities to some of our home grown talent. I hope that next season with the adoption of the new tactic to see a far more evenly distributed assist and goal record

Transfers – A few big moves out with Lazovic and Englund leaving but I don't feel the squad has missed them all that much to be honest. As I alluded to earlier I will be looking again next season at getting in some talented youngsters from the giants in European football on loan and will be scouting high and wide for youngsters to buy who have good Club DNA and can develop into what we need

PLAYER OF THE SEASON – Mohamed Amrani – Average Rating : 8.30
The guy is a legend here and is a breath of fresh air in this team. His level of consistency is remarkable and we just aren't the same team without him

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON – Fernando – Average Rating : 7.73
He is everything that we would be looking for from a young player, professional personality and improving well as time goes on

    CLUB DEVELOPMENT

 

Finances – This seems to be getting better but still not enough to give us any comfort. The screenshot was taken before the Champions League TV money of £1.1M came in and a cash injection of £2.7M from the board. The debt stands at £3.89M so a few more seasons and we will be debt free. The wage bill should be falling next season which should provide some relief on our income which might allow us to build up the bank balance

Facilities – The training facilities were upgraded again so should be state of the art by November next season. I may stop loaning all my youth players out and allow them to train at the club given the great facilities, my previous thought process was that by loaning youth players out it would give them first team experience but then I look at the level of the games of the club where they are getting the experience and I feel perhaps they would be better off staying at the club and playing in the U18s until they are too old to remain in that squad 

Youth Intake – One of the better intakes we've had, I can definitely see Everitt (4*), Toye (3*) & Faulkner (2.5*) becoming first team players in time so I'll be interested to see how they develop. It will also be helpful to have a few more HG players to pick from for European competition as we have been struggling with registration of late

AVERAGE LEAGUE ATTENDANCE – 29095 down 773

SEASON TICKET SALES – 4952 up 51

I can attribute the drop in attendance down to the loss of Glentoran from the top flight but we are in a good place, the domestic cup attendances can be a little low at times though. Still not quite at 5000 season tickets but it's within our grasp. Average ticket price has risen by 8p to £19.16 while season tickets have risen £3 to £330 so we are getting there slowly

    REPUTATION DEVELOPMENT

 

League Reputation – Giddy heights now, we seem to have established ourselves as a second tier league which is great, was pleased to see that next seasons title winner won't have to contend with Champions League qualification which is a nice bonus. As for the performance of the other N. Irish teams in Europe, Crusaders made the Europa League playoff losing 5-1 on aggregate to Club Brugge, Coleraine made the Europa League group stage starting all the way in the 1st qualifying round only narrowly missing out on making the knockout rounds by finishing one point behind 2nd placed Club Brugge, Linfield did magnificently and reached the group stage of the Europa League qualifying all the way from the 2nd qualifying round. Overall, a very satisfactory performance from the N. Irish contingent which racked up the nations coefficient points

Club Domestic Reputation – Was a shame to see that Glentoran couldn't make a return to the top flight at the first time of asking although Glenavon held on to stay in NIFL C1. Was a bit gutted to see Ballinamallard United get the automatic promotion spot but was nice to see the promotion of Belfast based Donegal Celtic who return to the top flight for the first time since season 2012/13 and gives us another local derby

Club European Reputation – Not bad, we won't be rising up though unless we can go deep into the European competitions

 

---

PREVIOUS 5 SEASONS

2054/2055          DBP, Irish Cup, League Cup & Co. Antrim Shield Winners, UCL Winners and M.O.T.Y.

2055/2056          DBP, Irish Cup, League Cup & Co. Antrim Shield Winners, FIFA CWC Winners and M.O.T.Y.

2056/2057          DBP & League Cup Winners, 4th in UCL Group and M.O.T.Y.

2057/2058          DBP, League Cup & Co. Antrim Shield Winners, 1st KR of UCL and M.O.T.Y.

2058/2059          DBP & League Cup Winners, 1st KR of EL and M.O.T.Y.

---

TROPHY CABINET

[pheelf]

Ditching the 4-4-1-1

I've tried and experimented with the 4-4-1-1 by changing mentalities, roles, duties and everything that I can think of but it just hasn't given me the consistency that I was looking for.

I feel the 4-4-1-1 is very dependent on two players in particular to make it tick and those are the AMC and the ST. If the AMC is having an off day as he is the main attacking pivot and only has one player ahead of him it can seriously damage the ability of the team to break through. It may not even be that he has an off day either but should the opposition adopt a DMC his life can become very difficult and when he is one of the only creative outlets it can be a problem. Similarly, if the ST is having an off day it becomes very difficult to envisage who is going to take on the mantle and score the goals with the exception of the the RM which has been proven to be the only position in the team which thrives under the tactic as he mimics a winger (attack).

As a result I'm moving on to the 4-2-3-1 given below:

I've left the GK instructions unchanged and the central defensive partnership remains the same. I've decided to retain fullbacks as given that I've pushed my wide midfielders into the AM strata I feel they need to be more defensively responsible first and foremost. If I had gone with a 4-2-3-1 DM I may have considered using a wingback at LB but an off the ball runner suits the style better I feel.

I've integrated a double pivot in the central midfield and the two have been charged with taking turns going forward and staying back to offer a bit of unpredictability for the opponent. I've taken off all PIs for the pair and have given them a bit of license to interpret how they wish.

The first major change is that I no longer have an attacking duty in the middle of the pitch. I feel that my advanced playmaker is better suited to being on the support duty for a number of reasons. Firstly, when he was on attack he would only have one target to aim for in the Advanced Forward should he receive the ball early, he would generally have to wait for the players to catch up with him to create overloads. This slowed the game down even further than wanted and gave the opposition time to get back and organize defensively.

Secondly, being on attack means he is less involved defensively which means that at times my two central midfielders could easily be overwhelmed by teams which played three in the central midfield which is not ideal when trying to boss the ball and play a short passing game.

Lastly and perhaps most significantly the positioning on the formation on support shows him as the furthest back of the front 4 which means he now has different options for forward passing. Previously, on receiving the ball he would only have the AF ahead of him which is a largely static role in that it tends to focus on being high up the pitch. Now should he receive the ball he has the AF ahead but also runners making different runs for him to pick out. One making runs from outside to inside (IF) and the other making runs from inside to outside (W) giving him options which is what he needs to operate in the role effectively.

I've pushed up the wide midfielders and given them the roles I was trying to replicate from deeper which means that I should have players in advanced positions at all times which should help our attacking potency and should give us goals from a variety of different sources.

I've also kept the only TI I had of shorter passing as I feel the shape and roles facilitates a short passing game. I can envisage plenty of passing triangles all over the pitch which is what we need to play the system well. I expect that the tactic may be a bit less solid defensively as it could be quite easy for the opposition to create some overloads on the flanks but I'm hoping that by increasing the numbers of players in the system dedicated to attack I might improve the attacking potency to compensate for the increased risk taken.  

 

[jengaehassim]

Some great progress for the country, the reputation and youth intakes show this.

About the change from 4-4-1-1 to 4-2-3-1, I'm not sure how much of a difference will it make. If you said " This slowed the game down even further than wanted and gave the opposition time to get back and organize defensively ", wouldn't it be a good ideia to try to play with higher tempo, and maybe a poacher on the attack?

[noikeee]

I think I came across this thread earlier and for some reason didn't raise my attention. I have no idea why - I spent quite a while today going from page 1 to the last update, and highly enjoyed it, this has to be one of the most interesting FM16 careers around. The European successes have been astonishing, even if you've struggled to compete at the top end consistently season after season. I also like all the in-depth tactics talk, and find it highly unusual that by 2059, even after winning the Champions League twice, you still haven't been able to settle on a system! Speaks volumes of how hard FM16 is.

[pheelf]

On 9/27/2016 at 04:27, jengaehassim said:

Some great progress for the country, the reputation and youth intakes show this.

About the change from 4-4-1-1 to 4-2-3-1, I'm not sure how much of a difference will it make. If you said " This slowed the game down even further than wanted and gave the opposition time to get back and organize defensively ", wouldn't it be a good ideia to try to play with higher tempo, and maybe a poacher on the attack?

Thanks for your comment. I was pleasantly surprised with the youth intake actually, it was nice to see a few players who could in time become part of first team, I just need to somehow get the youth recruitment improved then that sort of intake may become the norm rather than the exception.

As for what you said about the tactic, perhaps I didn't explain the issue clearly enough so I'm going to post about it with pictures.

These screenshots were taken from the Linfield game we played and lost 3-0 last season and highlights the issues I was having with the AP. Interestingly enough, during this game my AMC was my best performer getting the highest rating of a 7.3 but it didn't make any difference to the outcome.

The first screenshot comes from a counter attacking move, the ball has been intercepted and passed to Richardson my AMC, here we can see part of the problem. Both the players tasked with getting up and supporting him in the attacking midfield are behind the ball, this is further compounded by the fact that my ST has drifted so wide. Therefore what are his options? This is where I was talking about the game being slowed down even further than wanted. He can try to feed the ST which isn't a bad option but then my ST would be faced with 2 central defenders in his path to goal who are positioned well. My AMC could dribble into the space in front of him but again that is problematic as he has a player rapidly closing him down (number 7) making that a difficult dribble. Then there is the 3rd option which is the one he chooses, hold up the ball and wait for the wide players to get up in support. The problem with that is it gives Linfield time to recover and the counter attacking opportunity is lost.

The second screenshot shows us this time from an attack built from our defence. A slightly better situation this time as all the wide midfielders and ST are ahead of the ball but Linfield have recovered their defensive shape. The ball to the LM is out of the question because of the vast distance between them. A ball played into the ST is very risky to the point where it is very likely to be intercepted. Therefore the only option is to play it to the RM which is what he does which leads to a 1 vs 1 which isn't great because it's low percentage football. More often that not the defender has the advantage and provided they don't over commit themselves they tend to deal with the winger easily. I believe had the LM been in the AML slot he would have cut inside by that point in the move which would have increased passing options for the AMC.

This screenshot shows an attack which is relatively mature and highlights the issue with the slowing down of play as the AMC waits for support. All potential forward passes are being marked and Linfield's number 7 is close and ready to close down my AMC once he turns towards goal with the ball. The problem is that by the time the wide midfielders have caught up with play and are in a position to help the attacking move the space for them to operate has disappeared. He has no easy forward pass to make the attacking move progress which is the major issue here. It's taking too long for the support to arrive into a position which will hurt the opposition meaning my AMC has to hold onto the ball. Once he does that however the defending team can recover their defensive shape making scenarios like this occur which don't threaten the opposition at all.

The final screenshot I think encapsulates the whole problem most clearly. The prozone analysis shown is a heatmap overlay of the AMC, it has a blue dot to indicate his overall average position and the orange dots and lines indicate passes he attempted which were intercepted and the gold dots and lines indicate key passes with were completed successfully. First problem is that for an attacking duty look at where he is spending the majority of his time, practically entirely in the centre circle with a much fainter green in the area of the pitch where I actually want him to be, he is practically non existent as a threat inside the opposition area. This indicates to me that he is staying deeper because he lacks options and support around him and as a consequence he is holding onto the ball from a deep position to wait for the support to materialize ahead of the ball. The clearest indicator for me of the issue though is the intercepted passes. The vast majority of intercepted passes are forward passes which is the exact opposite of what I want to see. If you look at the key passes also, all of them are out wide, which is fine when trying to stretch the pitch but the fact that no forward pass into the ST actually landed is deeply concerning as that was how I intended my front 2 to operate.

I have thought about your suggestion to play a higher tempo but I feel that in the 4-4-1-1 it would exacerbate the problem as the build up would be quicker which would give even less time for the support players to take up advanced positions which would further isolate my front two. It may also lead to my less technical players rushing the play which could lead to them making more mistakes. I don't feel we are quite at the level where we could adopt a successful high tempo, short passing tika taka style but in time we could. I had toyed with the idea of playing a poacher but wanted a more creative outlet leading the line while trying to relieve some of the pressure on them to be the sole scorer and spread the goal scoring responsibility out a bit more. I also feel that the poacher needs a player high up the pitch at all times with them like a Defensive Forward or Target Man and is more suited to a more direct style of play. It could be made to work but I feel it would be difficult. Incidentally, how would you play a 4-4-1-1? As a quick fix solution when lacking bodies to play in the AMR/L position perhaps it could be useful but as a long term tactic to develop a team around I'm not so sure it has that capability. 

 

 

[pheelf]

21 hours ago, noikeee said:

I think I came across this thread earlier and for some reason didn't raise my attention. I have no idea why - I spent quite a while today going from page 1 to the last update, and highly enjoyed it, this has to be one of the most interesting FM16 careers around. The European successes have been astonishing, even if you've struggled to compete at the top end consistently season after season. I also like all the in-depth tactics talk, and find it highly unusual that by 2059, even after winning the Champions League twice, you still haven't been able to settle on a system! Speaks volumes of how hard FM16 is.

Thanks for reading and I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I definitely sense that the game has become more challenging tactically and in a sense I'm still cutting my teeth becoming familiar with it all. I would previously just set up a basic 4-4-2, put in my instructions for the style of play I wanted and then forget about it and become fantastically successful with whoever I managed, it now seems however to require a lot more thought. I think the problem I had with this save was the early realization that my 4-4-2 wasn't going to work in achieving the style of football I wanted. Then I went and thought that I could somehow force a square peg into a round hole with the 4-4-1-1 and impose my style of play onto it but the shape just wasn't right. I feel a lot more comfortable with the 4-2-3-1 (after extensive testing) as it produces the style of play I want far more effectively. 

[pheelf]

A couple more changes to update:

1) After playing the 2059/2060 season (report to follow) with the added leagues and seeing that the speed hasn't been too badly affected (except perhaps around transfer deadline day) I'll be adding the French, German, Italian and Spanish top divisions for season 2060/2061.

2) I've further refined the tactic and made a couple of changes even though I've stuck with the 4-2-3-1 formation. I've changed the duty of my winger from attack to support because he was taking too many shots and was too far ahead of the play at times which didn't help with ball possession. I was also unhappy that the gaps on the right flank were too large making the short passing game difficult. I experimented for a few games with having him as an Inside Forward in an attempt to replicate how many teams play the 4-2-3-1 with the AMR/AML cutting inside and the full backs providing the width but realized that he was cutting into the space my Central Midfielder (Support) would want to occupy when attacking which was a problem meaning that I would have to change my RB to an attack duty and change my MCR to a defend duty which would have made us too symmetrical in my opinion and too predictable.

I have also given my front 4 the PIs of 'Close Down More' after experimenting with adding the TI 'Close Down More'. I found that adding the TI 'Close Down More' wouldn't really make sense because it would force my defensive minded players to break our defensive shape which isn't what I wanted, especially the central midfielders so I restricted it to just the attacking 4 giving us what I hope is a high block.

[pheelf]

     IMMACULATA F.C.

The Immaculate Conception

Season 2059 / 2060

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SEASON EXPECTATIONS

Improve domestically and try to get the Irish Cup back after missing out on it for 4 years. Try to make strides in Europe and reach a knockout stage

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      THE SEASON

 

League Table – Linfield started with 8 straight wins and at one point in the season had a massive 7 point advantage over us, thankfully we clawed them back but this season was one in which I actually entertained the possibility that we might not win the title which would have been a devastating blow for us and might have meant we missed out on the Champions League by having to go through the best placed route but we won so we enter at the group stage which was a huge relief

UEFA Champions League – We just aren't good enough unfortunately which is becoming a real problem. We barely managed to get past Dinamo with them taking a 2-0 lead away in Croatia but we showed some fight and came back to qualify for the group stage. We should have won the 1st match of the group against Zenit but we threw it away late and that set the tone for the rest of the group. We probably should have beat AC Milan and had the chances but lacked the finishing touch. Real Madrid then came to Belfast and dominated but we matched them and should have at least managed a draw.

 

We then took a trouncing for the second time in successive seasons at the Bernabeu but then threw away a point at home to Zenit with a terrible misplaced pass which gave them a 1 on 1 against my goalkeeper which they scored. We went into the final match still with a chance of finishing 3rd if we could beat AC Milan and it looked as if we might pull it off but another late goal finished us off. Overall, a disappointing year for us and we seem to have lost our mojo in Europe. Next season it has to be the priority to get through to a knockout stage even at the expense of league and cup form if needed

Domestic Cups – It was very nice to clean sweep but I'm beginning to wonder if it would be worthwhile forgetting about the cups altogether. It gave us some horrendous fixture congestion which proved damaging for our European campaign and our performances in the league having to face at times 4 fixtures in a week. Even though I don't really want to it may be time to start playing a hybrid of reserve and youth team players for the cups and trying to get knocked out early

Reserves – They absolutely smashed it which was brilliant, no doubt helped by my new policy of not loaning players out and bringing good enough youth players to play in the team. If they can keep that up then it'll be great

U18s – A very nice improvement indeed, going with the 2 players for each position rule has really helped to develop some players as they are playing more games and has led to much improved performances

    THE PLAYERS

 

Squad – I was glad to see the back of some of the higher earning players from last season and I feel the squad is in a much better place than it has been in a while with a good blend of experience and youth within the team. I've been trying to blood some youngsters from the youth team which has worked out fairly well and they have been showing some very nice development especially the likes of central midfielder Johnny Cassidy who is almost a different player compared to when I first started to play him in the first team.

 

I must confess to having great difficulty with the squad management aspect as I'm constantly getting players knock on my door complaining about first team football while I feel that I have spread out the appearances fairly well. I also don't like that they don't consider cup games when making their analysis over whether they are playing enough games or not. I also can't understand why they don't seem to take into consideration the spacing between games, I'm not going to play a player regardless of their squad status 4 times in one week, they'd be exhausted and more than likely pick up an injury. That would be poor man management but the game seems to create a situation where that sort of management is the only way you can avoid constant moaning from your players.

 

I'm not really sure what the solution to this would be, dropping all players squad status to 'Rotation' or lower? I feel that isn't ideal as some players are worthy of a higher status and quite simply some players won't sign for us unless they have 'key player' or 'first team' status (although I know it can be changed after they sign). It may be my only real solution though to avoid the constant moaning which has very damaging effects on morale and much like a virus spreads through the whole team damaging our performances and creating a terrible atmosphere

Transfers – I was quite pleased with the transfer business this season after picking up some real bargains and shipping out some players who I have wanted to get rid of for a while. I used the 'Club DNA' filter and all players signed have all required attributes above 10. I've also began to scout more thoroughly and no longer sign players until the knowledge about them is 100% which usually takes about a month of scouting to achieve. If they are badly injury prone I won't sign them, if they are inconsistent and have a poor disciplinary record then I won't sign them either. I am also very mindful of getting players which add to the professional nature of the squad and don't have negative traits. The thorough scouting also helped me to discover that some players who I thought I couldn't sign because of work permits were possible to sign provided that I appealed the decision which led to me buying some quality South American talent.

 

Key Transfers:

Srdja Bogicevic - ST - I signed him with a long term injury (2-3 months) but he is class and was a bargain considering his £1.3M release clause, he could be a big player for us next season

Andreas Jacobsson - AMR - He is a very talented young winger who is a more than adequate replacement for the departed Gartner

Gonzalo Lombardo - DL - I had to appeal to get him here and pay a fair bit of money but this guy is brilliant and I can see him going for a much higher fee should any club be interested in signing him

Lukas Novak - AMC - I wanted to strengthen that area of the pitch and this player fit the bill nicely, I think he is a hot prospect who could develop into a real star in the team

Mario Piriz - DR - Another who signed on appeal for a work permit and he too has been nothing short of magnificent with a very good resale value should it come that

Neil Murphy - ST - He wouldn't stop complaining and didn't really fit so I was more than happy when Spurs came in with a good offer

Siaka Zongo - ST - He was 33 years old and on exorbitant wages and had interest so I offered him out to which Sparta Prague responded with an offer £500K, I agreed but he rejected the contract offered so I offered him out again at £500K to which Dynamo Kiev made the offer and he agreed terms with them. Good for him as he still gets a nice hefty £50K p/w from them but good for us as it's no longer on our dime

Alexander Gartner - AMR - No player is irreplaceable at the moment and the offer was very reasonable so I let him go

PLAYER OF THE SEASON – Jiri Mucha – Average Rating : 8.08
Unexpected from the attacking midfielder but richly deserved. Even though he isn't technically our best advanced playmaker he really did hold down the position well and started to get call ups to the national team. I'm also hoping that he can have a positive influence on Novak who is also Czech and might be vying for his spot next season

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON – Craig Fox – Average Rating : 8.04
The left back started the season in the reserve team, then my backup first team left back Glimore suffered a 3 week injury in late October. He was then drafted into the first team to provide cover but he performed so brilliantly that by the time Glimore recovered he couldn't force his way back into the team and as result has lost his place to Fox and has been dropped to Reserves. He is a HG player and looks to have plenty of room to improve so that's a win-win in my book

    CLUB DEVELOPMENT

 

Finances – We are the sick man of elite European football and the bank balance just isn't very healthy at all when it comes to the end of the season. We got £1.1M from the Champions League and a £6.75M cash injection from the board to put us up to ~ £8M but even still it's not great. Our only hope to get the balance rising is to keep getting in the youth from less reputable leagues and developing them while handing opportunities to our HG talent and develop them. The development of our youth system has been impressive and we had to reject £825K offers from Man City and Man United for young defensive midfielder Chris Toye 3* who came in our last intake. We must be doing something right if our young players are attracting that sort of interest but I won't be selling. He's in the reserves at the moment and maybe next year he can make the step up the first team but only once he has developed better and can command a bigger fee will I consider selling.

Facilities – We got a downgrade to our youth facilities that had to be rectified for £2.7M to bring us back up to maximum. I have no option as a board request to expand the stadium which is a bit puzzling as it's not at full expansion capacity but we need attendances to improve first I feel. Youth recruitment improvement is also not an option

Youth Intake – I'm beginning to like our intakes and that is saying something!!...Jason McCarthy 4* DR and Anthony Dodds 3.5* DC look like they could develop into really strong defenders for us. If we can keep this going the conveyor belt of talent may well be up and running which will make our long term investment in the youth department worthwhile

AVERAGE LEAGUE ATTENDANCE – 28927 down 168

SEASON TICKET SALES – 5003 up 51

 

AVERAGE TICKET PRICE – £19.14 down 2p

 

AVERAGE SEASON TICKET PRICE – £328 down £2

Not much progress here except for the fact that we broke 5000 in ST sales for the first time

    REPUTATION DEVELOPMENT

 

League Reputation – Not that bad a fall considering the performance of the teams this season. We also lost our automatic qualification spot for the Champions league the season after next bringing back the qualifiers again. As for the performances of the other teams in Europe from N. Ireland:

 

Linfield - Knocked out at the Champions League Best Placed 3rd Qualifying Round narrowly 2-1 on agg. by Dnipro but beat Sheriff 6-0 on agg. in the Europa League playoff to make the group stage of the Europa League and drew a group containing Spurs, Hertha Berlin & PSV. They finished 4th with 4 points after beating Spurs at home 3-1 and drawing 1-1 at home with Hertha

Coleraine - Lost in Europa League Playoff to Lech Poznan 6-2 on agg,

Cliftonville - Lost in 3rd Qualifying Round to ASA Tirgu Mures 3-3 on the away goals rule on agg.

Crusaders - Lost in 3rd Qualifying Round to Hertha Berlin 3-1 on agg.

 

Overall, a much poorer performance than last season so it needs to be stepped up

Club Domestic Reputation – Glenavon are coming back!!...they beat Donegal Celtic in the playoff which means the Mid-Ulster derby returns which means our affiliation will be lost but one of the better supported teams will grace the top flight which can only help the league in the long run. Still waiting on Glentoran to make a return, they finished 8th with a terrible mid season scuppering any chances they had of getting into the promotion picture. Dungannon will be returning to the top flight which I suppose is slightly preferable to having the poorer supported Ballinamallard United

Club European Reputation – We are about where I expect us to be if I'm being perfectly honest

 

---

PREVIOUS 5 SEASONS

2055/2056          DBP, Irish Cup, League Cup & Co. Antrim Shield Winners, FIFA CWC Winners and M.O.T.Y.

2056/2057          DBP & League Cup Winners, 4th in UCL Group and M.O.T.Y.

2057/2058          DBP, League Cup & Co. Antrim Shield Winners, 1st KR of UCL and M.O.T.Y.

2058/2059          DBP & League Cup Winners, 1st KR of EL and M.O.T.Y.

2059/2060          DBP, Irish Cup, League Cup & Co. Antrim Shield Winners, 4th in UCL Group and M.O.T.Y.

---

TROPHY CABINET

 

[noikeee]

You sure the current tactics are better than the ones you had a few years ago? Because what it looks from the outside is that you were challenging for and indeed getting some European glory, and now can't get past the group stages, and are even feeling some pressure from Linfield. Maybe the current squad just isn't as good as it used to be, but I wonder if all the fiddling messed up the balance in your side somewhere.

[Jason the Yank]

Really liking the new(ish?) format with the little icons for "the season", "club development", etc.

 

[pheelf]

20 hours ago, noikeee said:

You sure the current tactics are better than the ones you had a few years ago? Because what it looks from the outside is that you were challenging for and indeed getting some European glory, and now can't get past the group stages, and are even feeling some pressure from Linfield. Maybe the current squad just isn't as good as it used to be, but I wonder if all the fiddling messed up the balance in your side somewhere.

I sense that you are right and the tactic isn't quite what it needs to be. As a result I've kept the formation as a 4-2-3-1 but I have made some further alterations after doing some testing and watching games in the match engine. A number of things became immediately apparent to me by doing that which I used to make some alterations which I feel have improved the tactic immensely. I'll create a post about the changes

 

10 hours ago, Jason the Yank said:

Really liking the new(ish?) format with the little icons for "the season", "club development", etc.

 

I appreciate the compliment, I've tried to improve the look over time to avoid just blocks of text and try to make it as easy to read as possible. I still feel however that my season reviews are too long and wordy. I still want to present all the detail but feel I may be better served by moving more toward a pictorial representation for the more mundane aspects such as how the season ticket prices are evolving etc...It's all a learning curve for me but I'm glad to hear that my efforts to improve it haven't gone unnoticed

[pheelf]

Improving the 4-2-3-1

After seeing a lack of major improvement with the new tactic I've decided to give it some further alteration. I decided to take the approach of looking at the losses and draws of the season and assessing why they occurred. For the domestic fixtures we lost or drew there was a clear pattern in those games. We mainly dominated the games and ended with massively superior shot counts but were massively wasteful, below is a screenshot of all the shots in the Ballinamallard United game which they won 1-0.

We had 37 shots in that game and they had 4 and yet we still lost. Deeper analysis of the game showed we had a number of great chances including a number of one-on-ones with the goalkeeper plus a penalty but drew a blank. Therefore I'll chalk that result down to an off day as the quality of the opportunities we created was good but we just were unfortunate and on another day we would have scored plenty. Now lets look at a game in Europe where we also led the shot count but ultimately ended up losing 2-1 to Zenit. 

Having looked at replays of all the shots we had one thing stands out to me, not one of the them could be classed as an easy chance to score, not one. The goal we got was an error on their behalf that was gifted to El Amrani who only had to hit the target to shoot into an unguarded net. This is alarming and indicates that when you step up the quality of opposition we don't produce quality bankable chances but a large number of half chances at best which is a problem when we play lower quality opposition too but is masked somewhat because they don't attack us so we can grind them down. On the other hand, for teams that show some initiative to attack us, we often struggle to score because it becomes more about quality than quantity. Therefore the question becomes why this is the case. My answer to that question is to ask another question. What kind of chances are the easiest to score? In my opinion that would be as follows:

1) Occasions when the attacker is unmarked and doesn't have pressure from defenders giving time to measure the shot

2) Occasions when the defensive team has lost shape and hasn't recovered position well giving space to work a better shooting position

3) Shots from central positions as opposed to from wider angles

4) Shots where the opposition goalkeeper hasn't set themselves and isn't expecting them

Therefore how can I best go about achieving this? Here are three screenshots from the Real Madrid game where we were beaten 4-0 which shows us at different stages of an attack.

The space which we should attack to get the best opportunities is given by the box but look at the situation and it's only early in the attacking move. The AF is marked and should he receive the ball would be under pressure. Real Madrid is recovering their defensive shape and we only have one player attacking the zone indicated. Overall you can tell early in the move that it's an uphill struggle for us to create a good opportunity for us to score. Also look at the massive gaps between the attacking 4, not exactly conducive to a short passing game is it

Here is the scene a few seconds later and look at my AP Mucha, instead of driving the ball forward and into the space between Real Madrid's two central midfielders he has decided instead to dribble wide and to the left with the ball. The reason? We are playing with the 'Short Passing' TI and he thought that passes to either of the other players ahead of him wouldn't be wise (which is correct) and instead is lessening the gap between himself and the closest of the attacking three so he can play him a pass. This is problematic for the reason that my AF has made a run behind the defensive line awaiting a pass over the top but it hasn't arrived which means he is now offside. Secondly, it has given Real Madrid more time to recover their defensive shape which was only slightly distorted to begin with, so already we have reduced the likelihood that the attack will lead to any of the 4 situations highlighted earlier meaning the attack is going to fail

Here is the final stage of the attack and immediately we can see the issue. Yes, we've worked the ball forward into a decent position. Yes, all the players we want to be in the attack are where we want them to be but there is absolutely no threat to the opposition what so ever. None of the criteria which provides an easier chance is satisfied and neither will it be. Therefore one thing is abundantly clear, the Short Passing has to go, in addition the attack duty for my AMR has to go too as the gap between him and my AP is way too large and he is getting isolated on that wing often bolting before is appropriate.

As a result the 4-2-3-1 has become the tactic given below:

I decided to add the 'Prevent Short GK Distribution' TI as I would like to force teams to play long balls out of their defensive zone as I feel we could more comfortably deal with that. I've also removed the 'Close Down More' instruction from my AP (S) as I feel that the front 3 pressing should be sufficient, besides I want my playmaker to focus entirely on his job rather than chasing players down and leaving his zone where he has the biggest impact. I've also added the 'Shoot Less Often' PI to my AF (A) which may seem counter intuitive but is actually a reasonable decision when I noticed how many speculative shots he was taking. I want him to work better shooting opportunities before he decides to pull the trigger which might reduce the quantity of shots but I'm hoping will improve the quality.

My thought is by removing the 'Shorter Passing' TI that by removing some of the restrictions on the passing range that I might start to see more passes which take advantage of the 4 criteria I feel that is needed to create quality chances to score. I'm hoping to see more balls over the top or behind the opposition defensive line for my AF to thrive on as he loses his marker. More passes earlier when the opposition hasn't fully recovered their defensive shape. Less shots from wider positions as my winger is no longer tasked with getting into the box. By increasing the tempo it may also increase the speed at which we get the ball into the box meaning that the goalkeeper finds it difficult to set themselves. I also see that the shape of a 4-2-3-1 Wide may not really be suitable for a short passing game as it depends on having a packed centre of the park which would be more easily achieved with a formation such as a 4-1-2-1-2 or a 4-2-3-1 Narrow. It looks better after much testing but the next season review will reveal whether it needs further refinement.

 

 

[Black and Yellow]

Really interesting insight to your tactics there! Oh, and cracking career too! 

[pheelf]

On 10/3/2016 at 09:48, Black and Yellow said:

Really interesting insight to your tactics there! Oh, and cracking career too! 

Thanks, been watching your career with Wakehurst, I think next year will be the year you get promoted. The level of the division above isn't that different from the second division so I hope you can easily get through that also. I sense that you're going to need to get up into the DBP as quickly as you can though. As you can only sign non-contracts if you start performing too well in the lower leagues you risk losing your best players for nothing which might undo all the good work you have done so far. When you can offer part time contracts you gain a huge amount of control over your squad.

Of all the great youth careers that have been posted this year I think yours is the most challenging as

1) you aren't starting in the top flight

2) you can't sign contracts

3) the large amount of games you have to play each season (wait until you reach the Premier!!)

All of that considered, if you could pull off winning the Premier League in N. Ireland that would be an incredible achievement

[Black and Yellow]

Thanks for the kind words, and I hope so! It feels like we're progressing but stagnating at the same time (if that's possible?!). Is it only once you hit the Prem that you can start offering part-time deals? I'm not too concerned about losing any of my main players just yet, although that may change next year. And yeah, it's a very multi-layered challenge - it's something I'm going to attempt again when FM17 comes out! 

[pheelf]

 

     IMMACULATA F.C.

The Immaculate Conception

Season 2060 / 2061

---

SEASON EXPECTATIONS

Regain our dominance of the league, ignore the domestic cup competitions and make the knockout rounds of the Champions League

---

      THE SEASON

 

League Table – Another roller coaster ride of a season in N. Ireland. Linfield are really pushing us and this has been one of the strongest challenges we've had since we started to dominate. It came down to what could be described as a playoff on the final day at Windsor Park. We just needed to avoid defeat and the title was ours. When they scored in the 49th minute it looked like our domination was coming to an end but thankfully my new signing left winger Marius Maria scored in the 82nd minute to wrench the trophy out of their clutches. It really is getting too close and we must start the season better, I have however discovered the importance of match fitness and I won't in future be so willing to play players who aren't fit as I can attribute a lot of our slip ups this season to when we were trying to get players fit

UEFA Champions League – Much, much better. We were drawn into a difficult group and I thought we had no real chance of getting through and would do well to get 3rd. After the first two matches and seeing us sitting on 1 point at the bottom of the group my prediction looked like it may come to fruition but then we turned it around and showed class to overcome PSG on the final matchday to grab 2nd. We drew R. Madrid again...we've had to play them for the last 4 years in a row...they must be sick of the sight of us. The first leg wasn't bad and we even took a lead into half time. Unfortunately for us they scored right after half time and grabbed a late winner. When they scored the best goal of the tournament within 5 minutes of the 2nd leg with a 35 yard rocket into the top corner I knew we were stuffed. We equalized just after half time which gave us some hope that should we get another we could take them to extra time but they scored again in the 68th minute which realistically finished us off before we conceded the penalty. Overall though I'm really pleased with the campaign and to see the gap between the team and R. Madrid shrink

Domestic Cups – Even when playing a mixture of youth and reserves we still managed to win games which was a little annoying as it meant I had to reschedule other games I really didn't want to play later because of the fixture congestion it created

Reserves – They certainly cleaned up well there, even though I loaned out a few which would have weakened their ranks. I will look to give first team players fitness in the reserves from now on rather than play them in the first team for fitness

U18s – Not the best performance but they were weakened as I decided to loan a lot of the players out. I've come to see that the reputation of the games they play in is all important for their development so when teams came in with offers for players and promised first team/key player status I decided to let them go as it has to be a better standard than the youth league

    THE PLAYERS

 

Squad – On seeing the squad one thing really jumps out and that is how different it is from last season. This season we got raided, with the elite teams in Europe deciding that they wanted the vast majority of our players and were willing to pay top dollar to secure them. You'll also notice that there is a far larger South American contingent and that it is becoming increasingly difficult to spot any N. Irish flags in the nationality column. This isn't done by design as I would like to have easier registrations for Europe but the quality of some of these youngsters is amazing and for the price they are well worth the investment, nobody actually missed out on selection for Europe so it's not a critical problem at the moment. I've decided to build a squad full of young players (U21s) and as such when looking for players that is a new criteria, my hope is that by getting them in early I can develop them and become an intermediate step before they go on to play for one of the elite clubs in Europe hopefully generating me a nice profit along the way

Transfers – As I said earlier we were raided so I had to replace all the players that we lost and I feel we did a fairly decent job, even turning a profit in our transfer dealings. I've also noticed that I've been a little bit slack with my approach to scouting, at one point I was down to 9/25 scouts as slowly over time my scouts were being taken by other clubs, well I have strengthened that area up solidly now and have 25/25 scouts roaming the world and doubling up in the regions where the talent is most likely to be found (S. America, Europe). It also makes scouting huge lists of players far less time consuming with potential talent scouted for a month (or until 100% knowledge) a lot easier too (that would be a decent new feature to add to FM17 where you could set a scouting assignment to scout a player until you have 100% knowledge).

 

Key Transfers:

 

In

 

Lukas Sedlacek - CD - Has great attributes for a defender so young, even sweeter for the fact that I only had to pay a pittance in compensation for him. He could be around for a while

Marcus Lehmann - AML - It may seem an outrageous price to pay but I needed a replacement for the outgoing Lamardo who was sold for a greater amount anyway. The guy is only 20 years old and is deemed a wonderkid, no more really needs to be added

Marius Maria - AML - A replacement for the departed Fernando. He was cheaper than what I sold Fernando for and is a blisteringly quick player who can have a bright future here

Ramon Zavaleta - RB - Being only 20 years old and blessed with blistering speed and tremendous stamina he is going to have a great time here and looks to have a very nice resale value, plus he has a cap for Argentina

Miguel Angel Gama - CD - A supremely talented rock in our central defence

Hugo Henriquez - ST - El Amrani had left so I needed another quality striker and this guy is more than an adequate replacement. I had planned on adding to the striker depth by signing a Brazilian wonderkid but his paperwork didn't go through on time so I was happy that I tied this deal up a few days earlier

Sebastian Espinosa - CD - A deadline day swoop this time, the wonderkid central defender has been great since arriving and even has a cap for Argentina which no doubt will have the vultures circling

Jose Luis Sequeira - CM - Another deadline day buy, was a little bit light in the central midfield after the departures of Schaap and Gasmi and he should fill the breach

Rodrigo - CM - Our first signing of the winter transfer window, the defensively minded central midfielder has great versatility and has performed relatively well since joining

Alex Quercia - RB - I needed somebody to deputize for Zavaleta and the Italian is more than capable of doing just that

Santiago Herrera - AMR - The legend that is Amrani left after making it clear that he wanted a new challenge so I needed to replace him and the young Argentinian will do a great job in the right wing position

 

Out

 

Gonzalo Lombardo - LB - Didn't have an awful lot of choice but to let him go as Porto met his release clause, made a nice profit on him so I'm not too disappointed with his departure

Mario Piriz - RB - Again another to be lost to the dreaded release clause but another which I made a healthy profit from

Chris Toye - DM - It may appear bizarre to let go such a talented HG player but I thought it was the best decision in an awkward situation. He wasn't quite good enough for the first team while also being way too good for any of the other sides that either wanted him on loan or the Reserves so he wouldn't be developing if it remained the same. Therefore my thinking was to get him out now, slap on a massive profit from next sale clause and give him the opportunity to develop at a higher level of play

Anthony Dodds - CD - Similar situation to Toye so I'm hoping that when they next move to make a nice profit

Gabriel Estol - CD - Another lost to the release clause

Brian Lecky - AML - He was becoming restless, wasn't improving anymore and wanted to leave so I decided to cash in

Rachid El Amrani - ST - Another who was becoming an annoyance and wanted to leave so I let him go

Mohammed Amrani - AMR - You may ask how I could sell the legend that is Amrani but he's 29 years old now and was slowing down and I needed to free up a spot for Herrera. He was actually going to leave on a free at the end of the season but I decided to exercise the 'Sell Now' option and Sunderland bit when I put the price down to £600K

Jim Hodge - DR - Too old and would not stop whining about wanting to leave so when Watford came in with an offer I was more than happy to oblige

 

There are of course the obligatory free transfers out of youth players which I never felt could make it and a load of loans out for youth and reserve players, additionally there was a loan in of Abdullah Kocak who was bought in to add depth to the central midfield (he didn't end up playing much though)

PLAYER OF THE SEASON – Andreas Jacobsson – Average Rating : 8.13
He provided the most assists this year with 21 which was nice and gave an overall stellar performance in the games that he played.

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON – Marius Maria – Average Rating : 7.92
The guy is a class act and while he doesn't have the attributes of Lehmann he was the choice for the young player of the year for the DBP also. The problem I have is that I know that he along with Lehmann would be better in the WInger (Support) role but that would make us rather predictable and feel too 'gamey' for me as then I'd be exploiting the issues the match engine has with dealing with crosses and I don't really want to do that

    CLUB DEVELOPMENT

 

Finances – We once again needed an injection of cash from the board of £6.5M to make this a lot more healthy than it was looking before. However, for the first time in quite a while I'm satisfied with the situation. If I need to raise funds I have a load of clauses I can sell for good money and additionally I have been making some nice profits on my transfer dealings so could raise funds there if needed. I think we have turned the corner as we have a really impressive young core to the team which will command serious transfer fees to dislodge and should that happen I have every confidence we could more than adequately replace if needed. We are back on the rich list and the club value is now £152M, given how small the bank balance is that is quite an impressive value I feel

Facilities – No changes, the facilities are all maxed out and we are just waiting on youth recruitment and stadium expansion (I may need to clear the £2.94M debt we have first)

Youth Intake – Another fine youth intake with 3 players given a tag. Incidentally, I only tag players who have potential stars 2.5* or higher. Ross Clarke 3* looks a very competent central midfielder and I'm impressed with Calum Spiers 2.5* who I feel can become a very good Advanced Forward

AVERAGE LEAGUE ATTENDANCE – 29209 up 282

SEASON TICKET SALES – 5077 up 74

 

AVERAGE TICKET PRICE – £19.02 down 12p

 

AVERAGE SEASON TICKET PRICE – £262 down £66

That fall in average season ticket price is really quite dramatic (~20%) and I hope that it leads to a massive increase in season ticket sales next season or we could be in some real trouble if that trend continues. I don't really like that my attendances are so dependent on the teams that get promoted into the top flight as whether a team with a bigger fan base gets promoted or not is a variable totally out of my control

    REPUTATION DEVELOPMENT

 

League Reputation – To only decline that little after a few seasons of mediocrity is no bad thing really and hopefully we can start making strides and go on the upswing again.

 

As for how the other Northern Irish teams fared in European competition:

 

Linfield - Drawn into Europa League Group K with Lazio, AS Monaco & Maccabi Haifa, they finished 3rd on 3 points, ahead of Maccabi Haifa on goal difference

Coleraine - Knocked out of Champions League Best Placed 3rd Qualifying Round by Club Brugge 2-1 on agg., proceeded to lose in Europa League Playoff to Hearts 2-2 on away goals rule

Cliftonville - Made Europa League Playoff losing 5-1 on agg. to Standard

Crusaders - Lost Europa League 3rd qualifying round to FC Midtylland 3-0 on agg.

Not many coefficient points earned there then......far below the high water mark of a few seasons ago

Club Domestic Reputation – Glenavon didn't put up much of a fight and Glentoran won't be coming back either finishing a poor 6th in NIFL C1. Once again the top flight will be joined by the irrepressible Ballinamallard United and their hordes of away fans......it will be wonderful to once again glory in the magnificence of the away section of our ground that makes a rural bus stop at 3am look crowded...oh happy days

Club European Reputation – Meh

 

---

PREVIOUS 5 SEASONS

2056/2057          DBP & League Cup Winners, 4th in UCL Group and M.O.T.Y.

2057/2058          DBP, League Cup & Co. Antrim Shield Winners, 1st KR of UCL and M.O.T.Y.

2058/2059          DBP & League Cup Winners, 1st KR of EL and M.O.T.Y.

2059/2060          DBP, Irish Cup, League Cup & Co. Antrim Shield Winners, 4th in UCL Group and M.O.T.Y.

2060/2061          DBP Winners, 1st KR of UCL and M.O.T.Y.

---

TROPHY CABINET

[pheelf]

1 hour ago, Black and Yellow said:

Thanks for the kind words, and I hope so! It feels like we're progressing but stagnating at the same time (if that's possible?!). Is it only once you hit the Prem that you can start offering part-time deals? I'm not too concerned about losing any of my main players just yet, although that may change next year. And yeah, it's a very multi-layered challenge - it's something I'm going to attempt again when FM17 comes out! 

As far as I am aware if you can offer part time contracts from the start then you can continue to do so regardless of the level the team is playing at but if you can't (like in your case) then you'll only be able to offer part time contracts once you reach the top flight. There is also a bug which I reported where teams newly promoted to NIFL C2 could offer part time contracts when they shouldn't be able to but I'm not sure whether that has been fixed or not.

Perhaps I painted too bleak a picture with regards to losing players. It is certainly possible to hold onto players as I often found when going in for players on non-contracts that they would just keep re-signing contracts with their current club provided my wage offer was on a par with their current wage. However, if I offered a better wage than they were on I could easily get them so it might be a good idea to keep your better players on a higher wage to deter other clubs from poaching them and offer a bit of security for yourself.

[Black and Yellow]

Ah right, okay, bit of a pain but hopefully it won't take me too long to get there then! Ah I hadn't noticed that bug - although Newry City did just go straight through NIFL 2 so that could possibly be something to do with it. 

And yeah, I've not lost any of my players I want to keep yet, which is nice. Some are on £120 a game which is quite a bit for the club, but it keeps them here so I shouldn't moan!

[jengaehassim]

9 hours ago, Black and Yellow said:

Ah right, okay, bit of a pain but hopefully it won't take me too long to get there then! Ah I hadn't noticed that bug - although Newry City did just go straight through NIFL 2 so that could possibly be something to do with it. 

And yeah, I've not lost any of my players I want to keep yet, which is nice. Some are on £120 a game which is quite a bit for the club, but it keeps them here so I shouldn't moan!

Just pray not to find a professional club monopolizing the league once you reach it. When I played in NI this year (with Wakehurst no less) Cliftonville had become miles stronger than everyone, and beating them was tough.

[Black and Yellow]

Indeed - I've been keeping an eye on Cliftonville and Linfield and neither has changed to pro just yet.

[noikeee]

Much better season in Europe. Weird (and interesting) that you're getting some serious internal competition now!

I thought I made a lot of transfers, but your wheeling-and-dealing is something else. 

[pheelf]

2 hours ago, noikeee said:

Much better season in Europe. Weird (and interesting) that you're getting some serious internal competition now!

I thought I made a lot of transfers, but your wheeling-and-dealing is something else. 

Yeah, went a bit rogue on that one but if the very best clubs want them it indicates to me that they must be of a high enough quality. Hopefully next season won't be as bad

[pheelf]

In trying to get this tactic sorted out I've decided to take a brick by brick approach starting from the front and working my way to the back. I'll be critically looking at each role within my tactic and making alterations as I go along while trying to construct how they fit into an overall structure, first up the advanced forward

[pheelf]

ADVANCED FORWARD (ATTACK)

The Advanced Forward’s main role is to lead the line and look to spearhead attacking moves.

His primary duty is to be the focal point of attacking moves and he is required to both score and create goals.

His secondary role is to chase down through balls or clearances from deep, win possession and lay off passes or crosses to his team mates.

Base Player Instructions

Dribble More

Get Further Forward

Move Into Channels

What does the player need to perform well?

For his primary duty he needs service in the form of through balls and crosses in behind the defensive line for him to run onto, preferably early to catch the defenders out of position. He also needs to be fed passes into the vertical spaces between the lines to best utilize his propensity to move into the channels. Finally, he needs distracting runs around him to draw defenders out of position in order to create space for him to utilize his dribbling ability

For his secondary role, he needs to be capable of getting to clearances from deep by roaming off the ball. On receiving the ball he therefore needs the ability to either dribble the ball forward if he has the opportunity or dribble the ball into space while he waits for support, in order for this to work well he needs players close enough to him to be able to lay off passes to so that he can free himself to make runs off the ball into the channels and in behind the defensive line

What do I want to see from the player?

Defending (Off the ball)

Sticking close to the opposition central defenders and closing them down and generally making a real nuisance of himself, I don’t want to see him charging into tackles but I want him to make his presence felt and apply pressure on the back line

Attacking (Off the ball)

As soon as possession is won I expect to see him moving away from the defenders and trying to find space in order to receive the ball. I want to see him roam to the extent that he finds space whilst I don’t want to see him drift too far wide as I want him to be positioned centrally as that is where he is most dangerous. In order to prevent the excessive roaming behaviour I therefore need another player near enough to him at all times that he can fulfill his secondary role quickly and move into the channels and focus on his primary duty of getting in behind the defensive line

Attacking (On the ball)

As the role is inherently one in which he is tasked with dribbling frequently he needs players around him to pull defenders out of position to get the most out of his dribbling ability. I also don’t want him to take an abundance of speculative shots from distance and would rather he work better openings before pulling the trigger. I also don’t feel that he should be behaving like a playmaker and attempting risky passes. If he can’t dribble the ball forward any more I want him to pass it off to another more creative player and then make off the ball runs to get onto the end of attacking moves

Duty / Player Instruction changes

Added

Close Much Down More

This is a straightforward decision as when we don’t have the ball I want him right up in the faces of the opposition central defenders and putting pressure on the goalkeeper to play a longer pass when distributing from the back. I don’t want to give the opposition time to play from the back easily and this helps to achieve that aim

Mark Tighter

I want my striker as close to the opposition central defenders as possible which should keep my striker high up the pitch more and make it more likely that he can capitalize on any mistakes made by them

Shoot Less Often

I want him to be my main scorer and as such I need him to take shots but I want him to take shots which have a better chance of being successful. I’m willing to sacrifice quantity for quality and want to encourage him to work the ball into better positions before deciding to shoot

Fewer Risky Passes

He’s not a playmaker and that’s why I feel this is necessary. Besides, he is the highest player on the pitch, who would he be playing these passes to? It has impact on his passing length but that is fine. I want him to play simple passes off to nearby team mates and make off the ball runs into space

Recommended TI changes

Added

Hit Early Crosses

I feel that my Advanced Forward would thrive on this given that what he wants to do is make runs in behind the defensive line and attack through balls played there. If the crosses are made earlier it makes it increasingly difficult for the defenders to position themselves to react to it which I’m hoping should lead to easier chances to score

Removed

Prevent Short GK Distribution

I don’t feel the need to include this as in a way I’m doing this anyway by having my Advanced Forward so closely mark the central defenders. If I have my AMR/AML closing down the opposition full backs also then it makes it very difficult for the GK to safely distribute from the back anyway

[pheelf]

ADVANCED PLAYMAKER (SUPPORT)

The Advanced Playmaker aims to drop into the holes between the opposition's midfield and defence, making himself available for his teammates passes and aiming to turn defence into attack in an instant.

With a support duty, the Advanced Playmaker will stay in the hole and look to spray passes to support players and forwards.

Base Player Instructions

Shoot Less Often

More Risky Passes

Hold Position

What does the player need to perform well?

In a word, OPTIONS!!. He needs to be able to have players ahead of him to best make use of his exceptional passing ability. Whether it be playing passes in behind the defensive line or out wide he needs to have off the ball runners to pick out. He also requires time and space when on the ball to be able to measure those passes precisely. It's fair to say that not much should be expected from him defensively as that's not why he's in the team  and that any energy expended doing defensive work by closing down players is wasted and he would be better served by spending his off the ball time putting himself into space so when his team regains possession he's  ready to receive a pass

What do I want to see from the player?

Defending (Off the ball)

I don't want him to do anything defensively. When the opposition is on the ball I just want him drifting around in the pocket looking for space so that if we regain possession he is ready to receive the ball and start the attack, given that he is the main creator within the team and his team mates will be seeking him out the sooner the ball can be played up to him the better

Attacking (Off the ball)

What I really want him to be doing is staying in relatively close proximity to my Advanced Forward. I want him to compliment the secondary role of my Advanced Forward. The ideal scenario would be that the team wins possession and then plays a ball forward into space which my Advanced Forward latches onto. Usually this will occur with the Advanced Forward relatively deep, what I then want is my Advanced Forward to pass the ball to my Advanced Playmaker then make a run off the ball. Unfortunately, given the support role this won't be possible as he is not going to venture forward until very late in any attacking move and more importantly is tasked with  holding his position so he may not be close enough to the Advanced Forward at all. As a consequence I will be changing his duty to attack, that way he should be close enough to the Advanced Forward to link up with him more effectively

Attacking (On the ball)

When he receives the ball I want him to have his head up and be looking for the killer pass constantly. Failing that and if the opportunity is available I want him to dribble the ball forward in order to work a better position for the killer pass. I don't want him shooting incessantly either and I want him and my Advanced Forward to operate on the same wavelength so that he knows when to play the pass behind the back line

Duty / Player Instruction changes

Changed his duty from Support to Attack

Added

Close Much Less

I don't need him wasting his energy pressing players which aren't likely to be much of an immediate threat such as roles which operate in the defensive midfield positions. We may come a bit unstuck when facing opposition players in the mould of the Pirlo's of this world but the threat generated would be long balls over the top which I feel my defenders should be able to cope with

Roam From Position

In my opinion there isn't much point in instructing the rest of the team to pass the ball to him with regularity if he is never free to receive it. Even if in an attempt to nullify him the opposition decided to man mark him with a defensive midfielder I want that job to be as hellish as possible for the defender with him pulling them all over the place. Another benefit may be to the Advanced Forward as he can make some distracting runs and disrupt the defensive shape to help him

Get Further Forward

I want him as close to my Advanced Forward as possible and if he can chip in with the odd goal himself then that would be very welcome

Dribble More

This instruction is added automatically with the change to an attack duty. I feel this could compliment my Advanced Forward well having a runner from a deeper position centrally because it gives the opposition defenders a bit of a conundrum. Do they break the defensive line and try to close him down which would grant space to the Advanced Forward or do they stay in shape and grant one of the best passers in the team time and space on the ball

Removed

Hold Position

The reasoning behind this is that I need him to support my Advanced Forward centrally as soon as possible

Recommended TI changes

I don't see any changes that I could make which would enhance the ability of the playmaker to perform his role

 

[pheelf]

INSIDE FORWARD (SUPPORT)

The Inside Forward aims to cut inside from the flanks and run directly at the centre of the opposition's defence and works best when the player's strongest foot is opposite to the flank he is playing on.

This movement can open up space for overlapping full backs as well as overloading a retreating defender, although it can also end up with the player running into cul-de-sacs.

With a Support duty the Inside Forward will cut diagonally into the space behind the defence and play through balls or take long shots if the opportunity arises.

Base Player Instructions

Dribble More

Cut Inside With Ball

More Risky Passes

Cross Less Often

What does the player need to perform well?

My interpretation of the role is that in order to function well he needs space and given that the player beside him never ventures forward he should get plenty of that. I also see the role as that of a distraction runner when placed on support. I don't necessarily see his job as being a player to attack the box but rather provide runs into the centre to create space for my attacking left full back. Therefore I can see him dribbling the ball from the flank into the centre then being a creative passer once he has cut inside to feed either my Advanced Forward or Advanced Playmaker.

What do I want to see from the player?

Defending (Off the ball)

I want to see him pressing the opposition right full back and marking him out of the game as a player for the goalkeeper to pass to. Because of the large distance between my Inside Forward and attacking left full back I want to get in early and apply pressure to the opposition full backs.

Attacking (Off the ball)

I want him on that left wing and creating havoc. I think having a player in the AML position is a very awkward one for the opposition to deal with because it forces them to make a decision. Do they get the right midfielder to track back or do they get the right full back to push up and confront him, therefore if I can keep him in that corridor of uncertainty slap bang in the middle it has the potential to cause all sorts of problems for the defending team. In the event that they both go to close him down well that works out great too and creates masses of space for my attacking left fullback to exploit.  

Attacking (On the ball)

I want him to pick up the ball wide, dribble the ball forward by cutting inside and look for interesting passes ahead of him especially those to the fullback who should be overlapping naturally. I don't want him attacking the box and taking shots and should he wish to cross the ball I would prefer if he done so from a deeper position and early. Once he has run into the cul-de-sac I then want him to pass the ball off rather than being overly adventurous and trying to dribble the ball further.

Duty / Player Instruction changes

Added

Close Much Down More

I want him to press the right full back and sniff around for any mistakes

Mark Tighter

It may entail him running all the way back with the opposition full back but I can definitely see a benefit should the opposition use wingbacks or complete wingbacks who are tasked with dribbling the ball forward. If he could win the ball high up the pitch with regularity that could cause serious problems for the opposition defenders

Hold Position

I want him largely in that AML zone acting as a pivot of sorts on that left wing.

Cross From Deep

If he's going to cross I want it to be early and from a deep position soon after he receives the ball

Shoot Less Often

As he is very unlikely to venture very often into the box if he were given the chance to shoot often the majority of those shots would be long distance shots which I don't want him to attempt regularly

Recommended TI changes

I don't see any changes that I could make which would enhance the ability of my Inside Forward to perform his role

 

[pheelf]

WINGER (SUPPORT)

The Winger aims to beat his man on the outside and needs to be technically proficient as well as quick in order to do so.

The Winger hugs the touchline when the team is going forward, ready to surge into space and attack the byline.

With a Support duty the Winger's job is to try to quickly get past his man and get in an early cross for the forwards.

Base Player Instructions

Dribble More

Run Wide With Ball

Cross More Often

Stay Wider

What does the player need to perform well?

Much like the Inside Forward the effectiveness of the Winger is largely determined by the space he has to operate in. He needs the space so that he has the time to measure the crosses that he is firing into the box. In a strange way, even though he is the archetype on the ball runner I feel that the winger operates best when balls that are directed in his path are played in front of him. He can then use his quickness to best effect and in a way operate like an off the ball runner. Therefore what he really needs is a regular supply of balls into the space in behind the fullback to get the best out of him.

What do I want to see from the player?

Defending (Off the ball)

Stick to the opposition left back like glue and don't give them a moments rest. If he performs that role well then the high press is complete and it forces the goalkeepers to play longer passes out of defence

Attacking (Off the ball)

It may sound slightly strange and require revising later but I like the idea of having the winger roam about when the team is possession. I feel to get the best out of him that he has to be allowed to use his speed, if he is staying largely in the same place all game long then he is much easier to mark and he never is going to get any real opportunity to dribble with the ball as he is closed down. Whereas if he is roaming about it creates difficulty in the minds of the opposition defenders as to whose responsibility it is to deal with him. I also like the idea of the winger picking up the ball in a more central area and running wide in between the opposition central defenders and full backs to exploit a channel that is often not used

Attacking (On the ball)

It's all about the dribbling and working the space to fire a cross into the box so I don't want to see him shooting much or playing risky passes. I don't want to restrict the areas from which he crosses from either as with the increased roaming there might be times when he can fire in a lofted early cross from deep and be effective and others when a low cross from the byline would be needed so I'll leave the decision to be made on a case by case basis

Duty / Player Instruction changes

Added

Close Much Down More

The opposition left full backs need to feel that there is pressure on them so this achieves that aim

Mark Tighter

Again this will help with tracking back and mean that even though the spacing between the two players on the right flank is quite large that it reduces the possibility of many 2 vs 1 situations

Roam From Position

Could be considered a risky one but hopefully it will make him that much harder to mark out of the game

Shoot Less Often

Speculative long range shots from narrow angles is not why he's on the pitch so if I can curtail this I will

Fewer Risky Passes

I want him to cross the ball and in that way he is playing risky passes anyway. As he is likely to be hugging the touchline and the gaps between him and the rest of the front 4 will be quite large I can't see any benefit what so ever from having him make hollywood passes when he's simply not capable

Recommended TI changes

I made the change to hit early crosses which I feel fits this role like a glove, other than that there isn't much more I can see that would benefit him

[pheelf]

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER (SUPPORT)

The Central Midfielder is responsible for providing an industrious and versatile link between the defence and attack. Expected to perform a variety of tasks across the centre of the pitch, the Central Midfielder benefits from having the tactical awareness and technical ability to support both defensive and attacking play as needed.

With a Support duty, the Central Midfielder will look to judiciously balance his attacking and defensive responsibilities. he will get forward when necessary but he will mainly keep to the centre of the pitch and attempt to thread passes to player in the final third.

Base Player Instructions

None

What does the player need to perform well?

In a sense the fortunes of the central midfielders are unlike any other in the team in that they are very much dependent on how their partner alongside them plays for them to be effective. Given the 4-2-3-1 shape I feel that the judicious balance explained by the description needs to be slightly tipped toward the more defensive aspect and additionally he needs to operate in a very similar manner to the defend duty central midfielder beside him. If they are to close down they need to do so to the same extent to maintain a solid shape. The distance between them needs kept minimal where possible which means roaming is out of the question and they probably shouldn't be encouraged to dribble, take long shots or attempt risky passes from their deep positions. They are the defensive pivot of the team and should be seeking to recycle position and get the ball in relatively short order to the more advanced players    

What do I want to see from the player?

Defending (Off the ball)

To keep the closing down level consistent between the pair, the support player should be given the close down more instruction also. I want him to be anchored right in the middle of the pitch to be available for passes from defenders and more advanced players looking to recycle possession. I want him to be combative whilst not overly aggressive as he plays such a pivotal role in the team to provide the link between the defensively minded players and attack minded players. I also don't wish to see him mark players tightly as they could drag him all over the pitch which is undesirable.

Attacking (Off the ball)

I want the player to remain firmly in the centre of the park open to receive passes

Attacking (On the ball)

I don't want him dribbling, shooting or playing overly ambitious passes. I just want him to get the ball to front 4 and let them do the business

Duty / Player Instruction changes

Added

Close Down More

To provide an even level of pressure from the central midfield duo

Hold Position

I want him to take up slightly more advanced positions than the defend duty central midfielder so he can be a more effective link between the front 4 and the defence but in no way do I want him venturing too far from his partner

Dribble Less

His job is ball retention if he was to dribble with the ball and lose it that would run totally contrary to what his role is. It would be a massive problem and likely cause a chain reaction as he would find himself out of position and dependent on the defend duty central midfielder to bail him out which he would struggle with as the only shield for the central defenders

Shoot Less Often

He's never going to be in a position where him taking regular shots is going to be effective

Fewer Risky Passes

I want him in conjunction with his central midfield partner to act like a metronome passing the ball around well between them until a more advanced player comes and gets it from them. Much like all the shouts these are just tendencies so should a clear guilt edge pass be available I'd hope that he would play it

Recommended TI changes

I had toyed with the idea of pushing the defensive line slightly higher. It would have given the benefit of meaning that the space in between the midfield strata and defensive strata would be reduced but as with all decisions there is no option which has no downside. I wouldn't be reducing the size of the pitch, all I'd be doing is shifting the location of the space for the opponent to attack from in front of the back line to behind it. You could make the case that I could then play an offside trap and adopt a sweeper keeper but that's not satisfactory either because I'm pressing the opposition high so that they play long balls if I then concede space in behind to them I'm just asking for trouble. 

[pheelf]

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER (DEFEND)

The Central Midfielder is responsible for providing an industrious and versatile link between the defence and attack. Expected to perform a variety of tasks across the centre of the pitch, the Central Midfielder benefits from having the tactical awareness and technical ability to support both defensive and attacking play as needed.

With a Defend duty, the Central Midfielder will focus more on sitting deep, curtailing opposition counter attacks and controlling the tempo of the game from the centre of the pitch

Base Player Instructions

Close Down More

Hold Position

What does the player need to perform well?

The player needs to be in a double pivot that is working well. He needs to pick up the ball from the defenders and get it forward to the more creative players. He is critical to the team and needs players close enough to him so that he can fulfill his more important duty of shielding the 2 central defenders. He also needs to be able to provide cover for the more attacking left flank and would be aided if the Inside Forward occasionally helps to deal with threats in front on him

What do I want to see from the player?

Defending (Off the ball)

Sit back in front of the back 4 and provide pressure on opposition players attacking through the centre

Attacking (Off the ball)

I want the player to remain firmly in the centre and offer an out ball for the defenders

Attacking (On the ball)

Be the holding midfielder, nothing too fancy

Duty / Player Instruction changes

Dribble Less

All to ensure that he keeps the ball

Shoot Less Often

He'll be miles out throughout the game so there isn't any point him shooting

Fewer Risky Passes

Keeping it simple

Recommended TI changes

None

[pheelf]

FULLBACK (ATTACK)

The Full back is a key player in modern football, having to supplement his traditional defensive duties with overlapping runs down the wing to support forward play and help attacks overload the final third.

Although primarily a defensive player, he must be prepared to get forward when the team needs extra width.

With an Attack duty, the Full Back supplements his defensive responsibilities by overlapping the midfield and providing first time crosses into the area.

Base Player Instructions

Cross More Often

Get Further Forward

What does the player need to perform well?

Defensively he needs to be able to recover well after going forward and needs cover when he does decide to venture forward which should be provided by the holding central midfielder. He also needs to be able to hold his position and deal with any threat coming from the wing. On offense he needs to exploit the space created by the dribbling action of the Inside Forward ahead of him and get in crosses when the opportunity arises.

What do I want to see from the player?

Defending (Off the ball)

For him to stay in position and keep in line with the rest of the defensive line. It will also be important for him not to close down too much in order to prevent the defensive shape being disrupted too much. How he defends will greatly depend on how quickly he is able to recover in the attack to defend transition

Attacking (Off the ball)

A major component of his role is his off the ball movement so I expect to see him bombing up and down the left flank

Attacking (On the ball)

When he gets the ball I want him to run wide with the ball and stretch the pitch as much as possible. I don't see his role being one where he dribbles a lot and I am keen to see him lay the pass off quickly then run down the flank. He should have players in close proximity to him offering themselves for a pass so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. I don't want him shooting or trying to be a playmaker even when in the final third but to get crosses in and link up with the Inside Forward

Duty / Player Instruction changes

Added

Run Wide With Ball

This should help to create the width needed on the left flank

Dribble Less

I want an off the ball runner and I certainly don't wish to see him getting caught with the ball in possession

Shoot Less Often

Not going to be in a good position to shoot so this needs to be restricted

Fewer Risky Passes

Not a playmaking role so I don't want him spraying passes all over the pitch

Recommended TI changes

Some would argue that look for overlap would be appropriate but I'll see how it goes as I don't think it's necessary as the natural movement of the players should create the overlap

[pheelf]

FULLBACK (SUPPORT)

The Full back is a key player in modern football, having to supplement his traditional defensive duties with overlapping runs down the wing to support forward play and help attacks overload the final third.

Although primarily a defensive player, he must be prepared to get forward when the team needs extra width.

With a Support duty, the Full Back will support the midfield by providing extra width and will look for crosses and through balls when the opportunity for each arises.

Base Player Instructions

Cross From Deep

What does the player need to perform well?

To be close enough to other players to offer them support and use his off the ball running to take up advanced positions to get crosses into the box. His defensive job is similar to the left full back except he doesn't have the same running lengths so won't have to recover quite so much. On attack he will do well to provide the central midfielders with passing options out wide and play crosses from deep.

What do I want to see from the player?

Defending (Off the ball)

He also needs to keep in line with rest of the defence and I fully expect him not to be closing down players to such an extent that it affects his positioning.

Attacking (Off the ball)

Get into positions to create width in the middle of the park but close enough to the midfield to offer a viable passing option

Attacking (On the ball)

Once he receives the ball he should attempt to run wide to create the width. I don't want him shooting, dribbling and playing risky passes

Duty / Player Instruction changes

Added

Sit Narrower

By doing this it reduces the gap between him and the central midfielders which should help give them an easier way of going wide

Run Wide With The Ball

Once he receives the ball however I want him to create the width by running wide until he can make a pass forward

Dribble Less

No need for him to dribble with the ball as there are more than enough players to do that ahead of him

Shoot Less Often

Don't wish to see him shooting

Fewer Risky Passes

Don't want him taking chances with overly ambitious passes

Recommended TI changes

No changes would compliment his ability to perform his role

[pheelf]

As for the central defenders on defend I have left them with the default instructions and I have kept the Goalkeeper instructions as they were before

[pheelf]

I would have thought by now that the club would have a big enough appeal to bring out at least a respectable number of away fans for league games but no...below is the away section

I count 6 away fans from Institute, only thing needed now is a piece of tumbleweed rolling along the terraces and the picture is complete.

I'm not sure if it can be classed as a bug because I'm not really sure that it is one but something doesn't seem quite right here.

[pheelf]

     IMMACULATA F.C.

The Immaculate Conception

Season 2061 / 2062

---

SEASON EXPECTATIONS

Win the title much more convincingly and try to go further in the Champions League

---

      THE SEASON

 

League Table – That's more like it!!...We nearly halved our goals conceded from last season and even created a new record 10-0 win vs Institute for good measure

 

UEFA Champions League – The 18-0 aggregate win was pleasing, we started the group well but had a shocker in Glasgow. We went into the final group game needing to beat Liverpool to pip them to 2nd but we couldn't break through their stubborn defence so had to settle for 3rd

 

UEFA Europa League – I was pleased with our first leg performance which handed us the advantage but didn't much care for the shambles that followed in the home tie. Interestingly, Olympiakos went all the way to the final where they got destroyed 6-0 by AS Roma

Domestic Cups – Was nice to pick up the Irish Cup but still can't seem to get knocked out early in the cups even when we play a very weakened side

Reserves – No clean sweep this time

U18s – Did well to get through the U19 Champions League group but overall not all that impressive

    THE PLAYERS

 

Squad – Once again we had to replace an awful lot of players thanks to teams constantly matching the release clauses of my players. I've decided to implement a 95% rule to try and help with my squad management. It means that if the players condition is below 95% they don't play, if they aren't fit they don't play. I'm hoping that will help us field starting 11's which can perform more optimally

Transfers – We took a hammering to our playing staff once again with the release clauses. Lehmann, Espinosa, Zavaleta, Gama, Quercia and Herrera were all lost to it. Quercia's transfer was particularly galling as he had a ridiculous £110K release fee so I decided to accept a lower amount but with a whopping 50% on next sale clause. The problem is that I can't negotiate the clauses out when I sign them so have to accept that this will be the way of things for a while. All the players bought were replacements and there was a load of loans out which isn't shown. We made a nice profit but I'd much prefer the players stayed with us longer so we could develop them

 

PLAYER OF THE SEASON – Colin Richardson – AMC - Average Rating : 8.32

He is one of the more elder statesmen of the squad but he put in a string of fine performances when called upon and shows no sign of slowing down. His exceptional vision and work rate should serve him well as his physical attributes begin to decline

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON – Marius Maria – AML - Average Rating : 8.06
The youngster is still impressing and is becoming more consistent as he develops, my hope is that he doesn't attract too much attention though as I'd quite like the time to develop him at the club

    CLUB DEVELOPMENT

 

Finances – Appears comfortable but it has been buffed by the Champions League TV money, board injection and Herrera's £10.75M release clause being activated. However, even taking that all into consideration we are in a much better place than we've been

Facilities – Nothing changes here

Youth Intake – Slim pickings this year, might have a slight kink in the conveyor belt of talent. There is always next year I suppose

AVERAGE LEAGUE ATTENDANCE – 30491 up 1282

SEASON TICKET SALES – 5128 up 51

 

AVERAGE TICKET PRICE – £19.01 down 1p

 

AVERAGE SEASON TICKET PRICE – £327 up £65

We made a surprising improvement here. Maybe it has something to do with the brand of football we are playing which is bringing the punters in, there hasn't been any team with a larger fanbase enter the top flight

    REPUTATION DEVELOPMENT

 

League Reputation – On the cusp of 3.5* which is great maybe next season with a better performance in Europe we might just make it. Coleraine and Linfield got knocked out at the Europa League groups stage which will be helpful for the coefficient but the other N. Irish participants got knocked out in the qualifiers

 

Club Domestic Reputation – Glenavon is coming back to the top flight after beating Queen's University in the relegation playoff , Glentoran however finished 7th in NIFL C1...

Club European Reputation – Nothing much to say really, would be nice to the see the summit again

 

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PREVIOUS 5 SEASONS

2057/2058          DBP, League Cup & Co. Antrim Shield Winners, 1st KR of UCL and M.O.T.Y.

2058/2059          DBP & League Cup Winners, 1st KR of EL and M.O.T.Y.

2059/2060          DBP, Irish Cup, League Cup & Co. Antrim Shield Winners, 4th in UCL Group and M.O.T.Y.

2060/2061          DBP Winners, 1st KR of UCL and M.O.T.Y.

2061/2062          DBP & Irish Cup Winners, 1st KR of EL and M.O.T.Y.

---

TROPHY CABINET

[pheelf]

     IMMACULATA F.C.

The Immaculate Conception

Season 2062 / 2063

---

SEASON EXPECTATIONS

Build on last seasons superb league performance and aspire for better in the Champions League

---

      THE SEASON

 

League Table – Quite amazing what a coherent tactic can achieve, we beat the record for goals scored in a season as we went to town in Northern Ireland

 

UEFA Champions League – We were drawn into a difficult group which we couldn't get out of unfortunately. On our day we can tear apart some real quality teams (e.g. Lazio) but the problem we have is that those days don't happen often enough to give us the consistency to be perennial challengers in the later stages of the competition

 

UEFA Europa League – We suffered a terrible injury crisis leading up to this game with both the first team AML and AMR being unavailable meaning that I had to bring youth players into the team which didn't work out too well. Had it not been for that I think we could have been a lot more competitive against the Rossoneri

Domestic Cups – Before playing Crusaders in the semi finals of the Irish Cup we had scored 26 goals in three games so it was infuriating to get knocked out on penalties especially since it was my first team that played. Complacency can be very damaging it would appear

Reserves – Nothing much to note really, although for some reason they are once again playing in the Youth Club Invitational

U18s – Pfft

    THE PLAYERS

 

Squad – I can see some clear weaknesses here that will need to be addressed. The problem I'm now having is replacing the players which I'm losing to release clauses with equally good players at a reasonable price. With the exception of central defence I can see everywhere on the pitch needing some investment especially the goalkeeper department. Given the volume of interest in my players from other clubs and the need to strengthen, it's going to be a busy summer for sure

Transfers – Even though we are making bucket loads of cash through the transfer market I'd much prefer to be able to hold on to players. I did the best I could to replace the players I lost and spent big but I'd much prefer not to be spending that sort of money and having a settled side. It really doesn't help the team to gel when core components of it keep be stripped away every transfer window. A transfer not shown here is the outgoing RB Montes de Oca who will be leaving for his release clause of £20.5M to Spurs, there is also a large number of loans out and the loaning in of Frano Tolic AMR from Manchester United, he will be leaving next season as they wish to give him a chance in the first team

 

PLAYER OF THE SEASON – Timothee Gomes – AML - Average Rating : 8.27

He really came into his own this year and put in some great performances. When Marius Maria's release clause was triggered by Levante I was concerned as to whether he could step up to the plate but he proved to be more than capable. If he could up his assisting record next season then maybe he can start knocking on the door for a first French cap which would great for him or failing that if he stays here long enough he would be a definite pick for the N.Irish national team where I feel he would be a great asset to them

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON – Gabriele Tagliaferri – AMC - Average Rating : 8.80
He really impressed me and developed magnificently this year. He is without doubt the best Advanced Playmaker (Attack) we have which was unexpected for me as I never thought he would be any more than a backup player. He was superb whenever he played and it was a great shame when he suffered a 6 week injury which finished his season prematurely. In his absence we lacked the ability to turn teams over the way we had been earlier in the season which attests to his quality. Next season could be magnificent for the 19 year old

    CLUB DEVELOPMENT

 

Finances – The money worries of the past appear to be well and truly over and this is before another £20.5M comes in from the de Oca sale. The board felt we were in such a great position that they used the balance to clear the last bit of debt we had. It makes me optimistic that maybe at the end of next season we can finally max out the capacity of the stadium and then it'll be another 5 year wait for a chance at a new stadium. I want to get further in the Champions League and as a result I will be looking to spend big money next season to help us to achieve that

Facilities – Nothing new, maybe next season

Youth Intake – Not the worst we've had but nobody good enough to tag once again. I'm not really sure what we need to make improvements to the youth recruitment available again as that is still holding us back I feel

AVERAGE LEAGUE ATTENDANCE – 30422 down 69

SEASON TICKET SALES – 5179 up 51

 

AVERAGE TICKET PRICE – £19 down 1p

 

AVERAGE SEASON TICKET PRICE – £262 down £65

The season ticket price seems to be bobbing up and down like a yo-yo. It would be nice to know what the maximum number of season tickets available were for the size of the stadium as you only tend to find that out when at a club which sells out the season ticket allocation. Progress is slow here and I feel it may need another Champions League victory to really move it back in the right direction

 

    REPUTATION DEVELOPMENT

 

League Reputation – This was a disappointing decline made even worse by the fact that from the season after next we lose our 2nd Champions League place. Wasn't a stellar year for our other representatives in Europe either, Linfield got knocked out of the Europa League group stage with only 3 points, Coleraine got knocked out of the Europa League groups stage amassing only 2 points and both Cliftonville and Portadown were dumped out of the Europa League qualifiers. They really need to get their act together quickly as we could soon find the league plummeting down the standings if we're not careful

 

Club Domestic Reputation – Glentoran made it to the promotion playoff only to lose in the semi-final to Ballinamallard United who then went on to beat Glenavon and relegate them. Queen's University will also make another appearance in the top flight...this does nothing to strengthen the top league in N. Ireland at all which isn't helping us in the long run. I might need to be a bit more proactive in trying to help these teams...ultimately I'd like to see a fully professional top flight but that dream is becoming more and more distant

Club European Reputation – Falling, we must arrest the slide

 

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PREVIOUS 5 SEASONS

2058/2059          DBP & League Cup Winners, 1st KR of EL and M.O.T.Y.

2059/2060          DBP, Irish Cup, League Cup & Co. Antrim Shield Winners, 4th in UCL Group and M.O.T.Y.

2060/2061          DBP Winners, 1st KR of UCL and M.O.T.Y.

2061/2062          DBP & Irish Cup Winners, 1st KR of EL and M.O.T.Y.

2062/2063          DBP & League Cup Winners, 1st KR of EL and M.O.T.Y.

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TROPHY CABINET