[FM16] Budapest Honvéd FC: Restoring the fortunes of Hungary's fallen giants

[Jimbokav1971]

I love saves from the new Nations of old Yugoslavia, (or the old Nations pre, just so I don't offend anyone).

There have been some amazing players produced by these Nations over the years and it is to my embarrassment that I have only managed in Serbia and... takes deep breath..... I thought Honved were a Dutch team that had since either gone bust or been relegated out of the main Dutch leagues.

I love the player names and the accents on the lettering that make everything so unique, (just look at Adam the best player from your 1st Youth Intake and you will see what I mean). Absolutely love it!

Well done on a good start and good luck. If I was to offer advice it might be to suggest that you try and link your philosophies to those that might encourage the board to improve the infrastructure you need improving.

One last thing. It would be rude to leave this thread without posting this.

[video=youtube;VpAYs7qxXqs]

[Rikulec]

Looking really tight in the league.

[endtime]

I love saves from the new Nations of old Yugoslavia, (or the old Nations pre, just so I don't offend anyone).

You know that Hungary isn't a post-Yugoslavian republic, right?

[Jimbokav1971]

You know that Hungary isn't a post-Yugoslavian republic, right?

errrrr. Yes of course I do. (Now).

[Darius1998]

Looking really tight in the league.

Yep, nothing like last season when Ujpest blasted off into the distance, collapsed and then recovered to get clear again.

I love saves from the new Nations of old Yugoslavia, (or the old Nations pre, just so I don't offend anyone).

There have been some amazing players produced by these Nations over the years and it is to my embarrassment that I have only managed in Serbia and... takes deep breath..... I thought Honved were a Dutch team that had since either gone bust or been relegated out of the main Dutch leagues.

I love the player names and the accents on the lettering that make everything so unique, (just look at Adam the best player from your 1st Youth Intake and you will see what I mean). Absolutely love it!

Well done on a good start and good luck. If I was to offer advice it might be to suggest that you try and link your philosophies to those that might encourage the board to improve the infrastructure you need improving.

You know that Hungary isn't a post-Yugoslavian republic, right?

errrrr. Yes of course I do. (Now).

Well now you do know. Hugary was part of the Austria-Hungarian empire but depsite the country's geographical location, it was never a part of Yugoslavia.

The accents on the letters do make it look unique although sometimes it might be difficult to pronounce the names by using the exact accent pronounciation.

As for the facilties, thanks for the advice. I haven't asked the board about philosophies yet but they have finally agreed to upgrade youth facilities and junior coaching.

Nice song, by the way.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2016/17

November 2016





Somehow, it's worked. I think I told them that we would fall behind our rivals if we didn't improve the facilties.



Didn't expect this.



It's a one year extension anyway (and a £200 p/w wage rise).

Fixtures



The month began with a fine comeback win over Diosgyor where Meissner got his first even goal for the club. We did have to hang on a bit in the end though as they came close, even hitting the crossbar from range. A rotated team won in the cup as our German defender surprisingly scored again. On our return to league action, we faced Debrecen at home and simply took them apart. Felipe put us ahead and then doubled the lead with Javi Camochu adding a late third by tapping in from a cross.

Good things come to an end though and our five game winning run ended against Ujpest. We failed to have a shot in the first half and were lucky to go into the break only 1-0 down. A change of formation helped us level as Filip Holender came off the bench to score but despite looking like we might get a point, we conceded once more and failed to create any chance of note after that. We were drawn against Videoton in the cup and as usual, I used a rotated team (and instant result) but we lost 3-1, two of their goals scored by our former player Gergely Delczeg, both from defensive errors.

OTP Bank Liga



It's still tight at the top as 4 points separate the top 6. At the bottom, Bekescsaba managed to pick up their second win of the season, beating Videoton (!).

[noikeee]

That is the tightest league table I've ever seen.

Just a tiny bit of luck and you might well run with the title this season. Then again, a tiny bit of bad luck and you might finish midtable, too.

[Darius1998]

That is the tightest league table I've ever seen.

Just a tiny bit of luck and you might well run with the title this season. Then again, a tiny bit of bad luck and you might finish midtable, too.

Yeah, it really could see us end up anywhere in the table. My first target would have been to avoid relegation (around 35 points for that) which we have almost achieved. Next is to secure a top half spot and beat last season's points tally. As for the title though, it would take a bad season from all of the top four teams for us to win it so I'm not really thinking about that.

[withnail316]

Always good to see somebody try to restore a classic club. Good luck with this!

[Darius1998]

Always good to see somebody try to restore a classic club. Good luck with this!

Cheers, I had been planning on doing a save with a classic club for some time and finally ended up by choosing Honved, mainly because of all the challenges (finances/facilities/poor players) at the start of the save.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2016/17

December 2016

Fixtures



I just can't work this out. I swear we used to be better at defending (and attacking) and this month was awful for a number of reasons. Ferencvaros were excellent and didn't give us much of a chance, although that wasn't much of a shock. I used instant result for the game against Bekescsaba and somehow, for the second time this season, the stats were close but they destroyed us. 5-0!? Hopefully, the winter break will help me rebuild the team.

Viotti doesn't want a new contract and has attracted interest from RB Leipzig, Napoli and Porto. Balogh looks set to move, Hidi is interesting clubs and so is Kristof Herjeczki. Just as well we managed to get a lot of points in our first 16 games as we could be on for a Crystal Palace-style collapse.

OTP Bank Liga



I think the top 4 will start to pull away after the break. Maybe I should target bettering last season's points total although that feels like a tough ask now given how we have played in the last 4 games.

Anyway, something else to consider. FM16's processing and loading times seem to be very slow and with this being my final year in school, I don't really get much time to play FM (as you will understand by the time between the last two posts). I'm just wondering if I should switch to FMT and do a career on that as I tested out the mode and it seems considerably faster. Let me know about what you think.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2016/17

Winter break

Transfers





Lots of transfer business went on over the winter as we lost three of our most influential players. Patrik Hidi, Balazs Balogh and Bruno Viotti all left, with the latter going to the Bundesliga to join Nurnberg for a deal worth £325k plus a 20% profit on next sale clause and various clauses that could take it up to £525k. I needed a left sided centre back to partner Meissner in defence and thus, brought in his compatriot Marc Stein. Some of the signings point towards a change in formation as Nelson Maluleke (AMR), Bobby Acosta (AMC) and Marcos Correa (2nd choice AML) came in. Benjamin Bellot will replace Szabolcs Kemenes in goal as I do not plan to renew his contract.

Most of the signings are for the future and I am especially excited about the potential of Maluleke, who is already a key first team player, Tamas Toth (CM), Pieter Bos (GK) and Bobby Acosta, another who is already a regular in the first team.

Friendlies



We struggled in our first two friendlies but have finally managed to get a winning run together.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2016/17

February 2017

Fixtures



We could have had at least 7 points from this month if we were finishing our chances, so it's a disappointment to get only 3. We matched Videoton at their place but despite long range goals from two of our new signings, we couldn't get a point. Everything came together against Vasas though as after being frustrated in the first half by some outstanding saves by their 'keeper, we scored early in the second half and never looked back. In truth, we could easily have scored 7 or 8.

The profligacy came back in our next match though as we first let Haladas race into a 2-0 lead and then proceeded to miss most of our chances and didn't trouble them much even after Herjeczki pulled a goal back.

OTP Bank Liga



Coupled with Csakvar continuing to defy the odds, our recent performances mean that we are in mid-table again.



Maluleke's goal against Videoton was apparently supposed to be a cross (didn't look like one at all) otherwise I'm sure he would have won this award.

Youth candidates team



Tamas Kovacs | Laszlo Lengyel | Adam Takacs

It's great that we are still producing so many prospects despite having poor facilities. I plan to sign up everyone who has at least 2.5* potential.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2016/17

March 2017

Fixtures



We're still not scoring too many goals it seems like the team are slowly adapting to the current tactic. Videoton took the lead against us in the second leg but we equalised after half-time, bowing out 4-2 on aggregate. We dominated the game at Paks but only managed a point and then threw away an early lead to draw against high-flying Csakvar. Our poor form was compounded by a defeat at Szolnok, another match we should have got something out of but finally, something happened for us in the game against Diosgyor.

Meissner gave us the lead early on but they turned it around to lead 2-1. Filip Holender equalised for us and the left winger then struck the winner 4 minutes from time to give us our first win in 4 weeks. An away game against Debrecen was supposed to be tough despite their recent poor form, however, we matched them in the first half, only for Thomas Meissner to pick up a needless second yellow card that reduced us to 10 men on the stroke of half time. We battled on and defended well to take a well-earned point.

League table



It's incredibly tight at the top with the top 3 separated by just one point. We've now dropped to 7th, behind Paksi FC on goal difference, and are 9 short of last season's points total with 6 games to play.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2016/17

April 2017

Fixtures



A few tweaks here and there and suddenly, we are flying. Bobby Acosta put us in front from Kristof Herjeczki's lay-off against Ujpest in what went on to be a thoroughly entertaining game. We had a few more chances but were denied and this was followed by an onslaught from the defending champions. Benjamin Bellot was superb in goal as we hung on for the win. The next game was a bit weird. We matched Ferencvaros but they created all the chances and we even ended the game with 9 men after Holender and Luis Ramos were sent off for picking up two yellows each.

We finally got revenge against two teams that we have really struggled against as first Acosta and Herjeczki's braces fired us to a 4-1 win over Bekescsaba and then we put in a fantastic performance at home to beat Videoton for the first time under my management. A comfortable win at Haladas followed where Acosta put us ahead and a wonderful goal from Holender gave us victory in a game where we sat deep and hit them on the break.

League table



We could be playing in Europe next season if this continues. Csakvar's form has dropped off and they are now looking more like the team that was predicted to come 12th at the start of the season instead of the one that played like Leicester for most of the year. Bekescsaba and Vasas are already down and we have one game remaining - at home to Vasas to try and get 4th, although we will have to hope that Videoton beat Tatabanya in the cup final.



In a way, it was a lot similar to Coutinho's goal against Man Utd in the Europa League last month (except that Holender passed it into the far corner). I loved both of those goals.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2016/17

May 2017

Fixtures



We did what we had to do. It wasn't free flowing or expansive but we got the job done thanks to a Maluleke penalty.

League table



Csakvar and Debrecen both drew their final games which means that we snatched 4th on the last day of the season. Attention turns to the cup final to see if we can make it through. Videoton would have won the title if they hadn't lost to us last month but could yet pick up one trophy this season (and send us to Europe).



It's happened. Budapest Honvéd FC are back in Europe.



Another increase in wage and transfer budgets.



A great season for Herjeczki, hopefully he can kick on next season and stay injury free (he had 4 separate injuries this season) while converting a few more chances.



2nd again. Someday, it will happen.

[Rikulec]

Well done getting into Europe.

[Darius1998]

Well done getting into Europe.

Thanks, I'm really pleased seeing as it looked nigh-on impossible just a few months earlier.

[noikeee]

Nice step up from last season, a little bit of European money (even if there isn't much in the early rounds of the Europa League) will help, too.

[Darius1998]

Nice step up from last season, a little bit of European money (even if there isn't much in the early rounds of the Europa League) will help, too.

Well, I guess every few thousand helps as the money earned from each round might help bring in an extra player or two.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2016/17

End of season

Squad & key players





Pretty happy with the squad at the moment and there are a few youngsters who could make the grade here. The U19s finished 7th in their league but won the cup and actually lost only two matches between January and May.

Patrick Ikenne-King - Fans' Player of the Year for the second year running.

Kristof Herjeczki - Often guilty of missing easy chances and has some injury trouble but this was a solid year for him. 8 goals and 8 assists in the league isn't bad.

Luis Ramos - Shored up the midfield alongside Marvin Weiss and sometimes got forward to great effect as well.

Nelson Maluleke - Joined in January for a paltry fee as I didn't want to wait till the summer before signing him. Paid off remarkably well.

Bobby Acosta - Another January signing and a very consistent performer despite my coaches stating in their reports that he is an inconsistent player.

Review





Praise from all quarters.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2016/17

End of season (contd...)

Facilties



Yay. They are not going to cancel this.

Finances



We made a slight loss over the course of the season.



Boo.



We'll now earn more money from sponsorships - £1.8M compared to £1.1M last season.

European Rankings



Just a slight rise.



Not much of a rise.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

Preseason

Not much to report from preseason...

Season expectations



I'm staying on the safe side as I have no idea how we will deal with the league now that we are in Europe.

Friendlies & Europa League



We won both our friendlies and are doing okay in Europe (so far, at least). Buducnost were not much of a challenge and we were the better team in both legs although they did claw back a 2 goal deficit after trailing 2-0 in the 2nd leg, only to lose. We were alright away to Hajduk Split, who were supposed to be favourites and now have a decent chance of progressing to the next round. We were better early on but as the second half wore on, we got pinned back a bit but held out comfortably. The winner of the tie will face ND Gorica or Asteras Tripolis.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

July 2017

Transfers



We have lost a few players over the summer, the biggest loss being that of Thomas Meissner after Sint-Truidense activated his £86k release clause. Tete left for Scotland and was replaced by 21 year old LB Wilfried Sarr, who is probably as good as him already. Jesus Suarez comes in to replace the departing Meissner with two right backs joining as well - 20 year old Lukas Ramser and 17 y/o Anusit Promkaew, who already has 9 caps for Thailand.

Fixtures



It is not going swimmingly well for us at all. We seem to miss chances and then concede silly goals all the time. It resulted in us losing to Diosgyor despite being the better team throughout the match but we came from 1-0 down to beat Hajduk at home which meant we drew ND Gorica in the next round (4-2 victors over Asteras Tripolis). In a dull game against MTK, we had Marvin Weiss sent off for a bad tackle and then conceded a second half goal to lose our second match running in the league.

Away to Gorica, they took the lead but we hit back through Gergely Bobal despite having Weiss sent off again, this time for two yellows. An 85th minute goal means we have to win the return leg and it was a bitter blow considering how well we played. Against Kisvarda, every shot they had on target went in and we couldn't score 4 despite Herjeczki's best efforts.

League table



I would be very concerned if we weren't playing well but at least I can say that the team are doing well despite those losses. Hopefully, the slow start doesn't continue for too long as it could become a disaster of a season if it continues for any longer.

[noikeee]

Ouch, tough start. Perhaps your squad couldn't cope with the extra European matches and the tiredness resulting from it?

[Darius1998]

Ouch, tough start. Perhaps your squad couldn't cope with the extra European matches and the tiredness resulting from it?

Yep, it's mainly down to that as I have had to rotate the squad to keep them fresh for the Thursday night games. Not really working so far.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

August 2017

Transfers



Ivan Lovric is off to Szolnok while Ferencvaros signed up Delgadillo, which is a blow because he had a lot of potential and was already a first team regular. In comes former Burnley and Reading defender Andre Bikey to replace him.

Fixtures



It got worse before it began to get better. We have a knack of hitting the woodwork on numerous occasions whenever we dominate a match and then go on to lose the game. This happened against Debrecen where we hit the post and the crossbar through Wilfried Sarr, either side of their first goal and then got killed off on the break. We matched Ujpest at their place but again lost out because we hardly seemed to convert chances into goals.

Against Csakvar, we hit the post and I thought we were going to lose again but Suarez headed in from a corner, only for the opposition to equalise against the run of play. Marcos Correa turned in a cross to finally get our first league win of the season. In an even game against Ferencvaros, we took apart last season's champions as Holender got two, Bobal scored one and Bence Batik turned Ikenne-King's cross into his own net.

League table



Looks a bit better now. This season still feels like a write-off though.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

September 2017

Fixtures



Well, I think we must be the unluckiest team on the FMCU forum. We seem to have made a habit of losing every close game and I just wish that the season was already over. First off, we lost to Videoton thanks to a dubious penalty that I am still seething about.



Everyone knows about how bad the decision was.

Bottom club Szolnok were comprehensively outplayed and beaten thanks to a Gergely Bobal hat trick but we returned to our now familiar ways by losing to Haladas. We hit the post, they took the lead, we equalised, they scored in the 85th minute. A boring game at home to Paks also saw us somehow beaten despite matching our opponents. Maybe if we are not on TV then we might win some games.

League table



I wish the season would end in December at the start of the winter break.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

October 2017

Facilities news



Unexpected? Absolutely. The chairman rejected my proposal yet again so I leaked it to the media and told them something along the lines of 'My relationship with the chairman isn't great' and they didn't even call me to a meeting, just simply announced that they were upgrading the facilities.



Below Average now.



I'm hoping for more improvements over the coming seasons.

Fixtures



Only 4 points picked up from a possible 9 in the league but thankfully, we are doing well in the cup, even though the team is getting rotated for those matches. A thumping win over Felsotrakany in the cup was followed by our second defeat of the season to Diosgyor and yes, it was another close match where we hit the woodwork. We eased past Kisvarda in a game where we were comfortably the better team although the scoreline looks close because they scored an injury-time consolation goal.

Bobby Acosta got injured in the match and has been ruled out for at least 3-4 months (damaged achilles tendon) while in an U19s game Tamas Kovacs (CM) got injured and has been ruled out for 4-5 months (broken foot). It's a shame because he is probably the most talented player from the previous youth intake.

We blew away Videoton in the cup despite some changes as Bobal bagged another treble and he has kept Herjeczki out of the team even after he returned from his 7 week lay-off. Away to MTK, it was a sort of a funny game. They created the better chances at first but we switched to their 5-3-2 WB formation and began dominating (and predictably failed to score). However, they took the lead but thankfully, a late header from Bobal gave us a point.

OTP Bank Liga



4 points clear of the drop now we've already lost 9 times this season. In the last two seasons, we only lost 11 times each season.

[deltablue]

Wow, tough going this year

[Darius1998]

Wow, tough going this year

Thankfully, we are still only 4 points from 6th place though. My job is secure so that is not a worry but I'm sure once we start winning the close games, we could be looking at around 40-45 points but then again, that will be disappointing considering last season's performance.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

November 2017

Senior affiliate





I didn't want three senior affiliates so Plzen, who were paying the least amount of money got tossed out.



Didn't really go too well.

Fixtures



Much better this month as we picked up 6 points from 3 league games. Debrecen took an early lead but Adam Szilagyi equalised with a 25 yard half volley. We still went into the break 2-1 down but Maluleke converted a penalty which Szilagyi won and the 17 year old then scored the winner from close range. The return leg in the cup saw a fine performance from another teenager. Videoton lined up with a 4-3-3 and peppered our goal with shots but Daniel Vajda stood up to it and kept us in the game while Gergely Bobal grabbed a vital away goal at the other end.

We did our best against Ujpest but the runaway leaders were too strong for us as they notched up their 8th straight win. A poor first half saw us trail Ferencvaros in our next game but a quickfire brace from Filip Holender turned it around. However, Marc Stein was sent off a minute after Holender's second and we spent the rest of the match hanging on for our second win of the season against the defending champions. The month ended with a slightly rotated team only managing a draw against Kisvarda in the cup although we did end the game with 9 men after Wilfried Sarr and Marc Stein (again!) got sent off either side of half time.

League table



Up to 8th now and it looks like we have staved off any worries of relegation despite the 5 match losing streak at the start of the season.

[Darius1998]

Just to let everyone know, the hinge in my laptop has broken so I will be unable to carry on this career for the next few weeks, which is rather unfortunate seeing as my summer holidays begin after school on Friday (and it's 30 days long). I could have made quite a bit of progress in the next four weeks or so. Sorry about this.

[Darius1998]

I got my laptop back in less time than I expected. So, it looks like I can continue with my occasional updates.

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

December 2017





Fixtures



Our recovery remains on track as we posted the first perfect month of our campaign. We dominated against Csakvar and eased through the game thanks to goals in both halves. Videoton were a tough proposition as they sat second in the table behind runaway leaders Ujpest but we held them off very well and Gergely Bobal's goal means we go into the winter break with 4 wins in our last 5 league games. What a turnaround!

League table



We've gained a place but crucially, we are only 3 points behind where we were at this stage last season. Looks like we have managed to salvage the season.



Well... it's pretty much a one-horse league now and they might set a new points record at this rate.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

Winter break



I'm not falling for that as we could easily suffer another collapse.

Transfers



We lost two influential players this month as Weiss and Acosta departed and had to be replaced at short notice by David Fox (34) and Anete (32). They are only going to be short term solutions despite being on the same level as our departed players. We could have lost more players but thankfully, Stromsgodset and Nelson Maluleke failed to agree on a contract and Herjeczki's transfer to Lyngby fell through due to a lack of time.

Friendlies



Unbeaten.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

February 2018

Fixtures



League action resumed with a trip to Szolnok where we ran out comfortable winners with goals from Herjeczki and debutant Fox. The next three matches saw us blow leads, though. At home to Haladas, we took the lead only for them to score within a minute but despite being the better team, we failed to find a winner. Herjeczki scored for the third game in a row to put us ahead at Paks and we seemed to have done enough only for Kieran Agard to strike in the 80th minute.

We travelled to Kisvarda in the cup knowing that we had drawn 0-0 at home and a score draw would be enough to send us through. Tamas Toth scored at the end of a lovely team move but Kisvarda had us pinned back for most of the match and it is possible that they could have taken the win. Thankfully, away goals do count here and we are through to face Szolnok in the semis.

League table



Up into 6th place now, ahead of MTK on games won. Ujpest actually lost a game! The points record is 85, set by MTK in 1996/97 and it seems to be within reach considering the form that they are on.

[Darius1998]

Youth candidates team

Zsolt Deutsch | Gergo Tischler | Krisztian Babocsy | Jozsef Tamasi

Looks like another talented bunch. I just wish Deutsch and Tischler had better attributes for the positions they are meant to be playing in though.

[Darius1998]

Just the 7 games to go.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

March 2018

Fixtures



Bit of a stuttering month this time around. We lost for the first time since late November in a close game against MTK but the game against Diosgyor is the one that hurts more. We were 2-0 up thanks to Marcos Correa's brace but they dragged themselves level to leave us without a win in 4. We bounced back superbly, however, by thumping Kisvarda and then outplayed Debrecen (8 CCCs to 1) although that ended as only a 2-0 win. Correa managed to hit the post thrice in 5 seconds, from the same position then crossed for Maluleke to tap in the first.

Second half, he shot at the keeper when clean through and his replacement Holender did the same before Bobal eventually got our second. We took the lead in the semi-final against Szolnok but struggled to put away our chances and went into half time 1-0 up. They equalised and then scored the winner as well, leaving us with an uphill task at their place. We tried our best against Ujpest but they seem to be way too good at getting in behind everyone's defences and eventually won with ease.

League table



It drops us down to 7th but we are still only two points off fourth place as everyone around us seems inconsistent as well. Ujpest need 14 points from 6 games to break the record now.



Two year extension but no change in wages.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

April 2018

Fixtures



A great run of form just when we needed it. We threw away a 2 goal lead againt Csakvar but a late Herjeczki goal gave us the three points. We set up on the counter attack against Ferencvaros and it seemed to work as we took the lead but this time the opposition scored a late goal to take a share of the spoils. Away to Szolnok, we went into a 2-0 lead before the break but again got pegged back and had to rely on late Tamas Toth strike to make the final on away goals. We'll play Debrecen in that.

In the league, we played Szolnok again and had a bit of luck this time. We scored early but they got themselves level before passing up a number of chances to get the winner. Filip Holender scored late on to give us another win. Away to Videoton, we were superb but had to wait until the 50th minute before getting the breakthrough. Maluleke put us ahead and Adam Szilagyi scored from 20 yards out. At home to Paks, Herjeczki scored again to put us ahead but Javi Camochu equalised for them after a rare sloppy pass from Anete. Holender scored within a minute of the restart and we held them off comfortably to win what was a very entertaining game.

League table



Up to 4th place all of a sudden and three teams could finish 3rd on the final day. Ujpest dropped points to Szolnok (2-2) and lost to Paks for the second time after the break so they won't break the points record. At the other end of the table, any one of four teams could be relegated in the final game.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC

2017/18

May 2018

Fixtures



We will be in Europe for the second season in a row. Our final game of the league season saw us travel to Haladas who were desperately trying to cling on to their OTP Bank Liga status. We knew that a win would be enough to put us 3rd as long as Ferencvaros failed to beat Kisvarda. We took an early lead through Maluleke and were clearly the better team in the match. Marc Stein made sure of victory when he scored in the 62nd minute. Ferencvaros won 1-0 so we had a straight shootout with Debrecen to decide who would qualify for the Europa League as we went face to face in the final.

Gergely Bobal's 20th goal of the campaign (7th in the cup - top scorer) put us in front and a minute later, Holender popped up with his 10th of the season. After that, we just sat back as Debrecen tried to get back in the game. They got one back but were unable to find a second, which can only mean one thing...











OTP Bank Liga



We finished with a point more than last season. I didn't think we would even get close to last season's tally especially after starting the league campaign with 5 straight defeats. Szolnok won on the last day and jumped from 11th to 8th while Haladas' defeat to us relegated them and they and Diosgyor both sacked their managers immediately after the final matchday. Ujpest tied the points record and ended up finishing 30 points clear of second placed Videoton.

[Darius1998]

I sort of recently got back to this save and I'm enjoying it so I was wondering if I could continue with it. The problem is I don't know how to insert images in this updated site.

Any help would be most welcome.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC
2017/18
End of season

Awards

I doubt anyone else would have won it this year.

2 of the 3 are our players. 

Among our players, only Maluleke makes it into the team of the season while Ujpest surprisingly have only one player in it themselves.

 

3rd place for Szilagyi and I hope he kicks on with his development as he really has the potential to become very good for both club and country.

 

Squad & key players

Few more youngsters have been promoted now although not many have played so far. A few of our players will be leaving in the summer. Bellot's contract will expire and I want Vajda to become first choice in goal while Correa and Maluleke are refusing to sign new contracts and I want to cash in on them instead of losing them on a free. Spanish winger Rafa Mella will be replacing Maluleke while 16 year old Adam Takacs will replace the departing Correa. He will be a back up to Holender on the left wing and will get chances to play himself.

Tamas Toth - Developed well this season and often played ahead of Luis Ramos in the CM(s) role.

Gergely Bobal - Started the season as second choice striker to Herjeczki but took full advantage of the former's injury troubles to finish the season as our top scorer and first choice striker.

Patrick Ikenne-King - Fans' player of the year. He was consistent as always and provided a number of assists from right back.

Anete - Joined in January and was a superb performer throughout. His flair and vision are out of this world for this league.

Nelson Maluleke - It might be his final season at the club and he was absolutely superb. 11 goals and 16 assists is phenomenal.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC
2017/18
End of season

Facilities update
 

 

That's great.

 

Review

 

Finances

As it stands, everything looks good financially.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC
2018/19
Preseason

Season expectations

Just as usual, the board are happy with just avoiding relegation but they have raised expectations for the Magyar Kupa - they want us to reach the final.

Transfers out

 

Loads of transfers out this season. Correa and Maluleke didn't want new contracts, so they both left. Bellot left because I want Vajda to be no.1 with Pieter Bos getting promoted from the B team to become no. 2. Luis Ramos, Jesus Suarez, Stein, Bikey, Sallay, Toth all left when clubs made reasonably good bids for them. Wilfried Sarr was disappointing last season so I had no problems letting him go, even though it was to a direct rival.

Transfers in

Who needs money anyway?! After losing three CBs (BIkey, Stein and Suarez), we brought in 3 without spending a penny as Marc Roberts, Reda Johnson and Diego Jimenez joins. Rafa Mella, as previously mentioned, joins as a replacement for Maluleke although he is an obvious downgrade on him. Ruben Alcaraz replaces Luis Ramos while Chris Atkinson came in to replace Tamas Toth. Unfortunately for him, it looks like we didn't even need him and he has fallen below youngsters Gergo Nemeth (18) and Laszlo Lengyel (17) in the pecking order.

Friendlies

With Europa League qualifiers coming up, we only played two friendlies this time. The first one saw us lose narrowly against 2nd tier Spartacus before we travelled to Austria and won by the same scoreline against Sturm Graz.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC
2018/19
July 2018

Magyar Szuperkupa

Just like the traditional Super Cup. The cup winners vs the league winners. Ominously for us, we were facing a team that won the league by finishing a whopping 30 points clear of anyone else. Despite this, the media only made Ujpest slight favourites.

I think this team is better than I thought it was. We started well and led through Adam Szilagyi's strike. Bobal made it 2-0 soon after and it looked like we had one hand on the cup. Ujpest came back strongly though and Daniel Gera scored for them just after half time. We held on against their continued onslaught to take a remarkable victory.

Fixtures

Our Europa League qualifiers started by pitting us against Faroese team B36 Torshavn. A comfortable first leg win was followed by an even better performance in the Faroes as we took a 7-0 aggregate victory. After beating Ujpest in the Super Cup, we were faced with a tough tie against Hapoel Tel Aviv. We went for the kill at home and althogh they scored an away goal, we had scored 4 ourselves and I was confident of seeing it through in Israel. They soon went 2-0 up and nearly scored a third before half time before I resorted to a change of formation in order to stop their attacks.

 Gergely Bobal restored a two goal aggregate lead only for them to get a third. Filip Holender scored after the break and Anete equalised. Hapoel then had a man sent off but scored to take a 4-3 lead in the game. We had enough chances to score 2 or 3 more but failed to convert and eventually came away with a 7-5 aggregate win. Next up is a tie with Swiss side Grasshoppers.

For the third year in a row, we were given an away fixture to start our campaign with. Holender put us ahead against newly promoted Vasas but they turned it around in a 5 minute spell after the break to take a completely undeserved victory. Kisvarda took the lead at our place but Rafa Mella's first goal for the club got us level. We have already picked up more points in our first two games than we did in our first 5 games last season.

League table

Looks like pretty much every team in Europe has had a slow start, except for Videoton.

This is a bit out of the blue but I'm mainly experimenting a bit here. I just happened to get a message in my inbox saying that the job was vacant and thought, why not? I am just hoping to develop a few youngsters and might well leave if I don't like it. That said, if I can achieve my aims with Honvéd, I would like to take over the Hungarian national team and win a European Championship/World Cup in the future.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC
2018/19
August 2018

Fixtures

8 games this month as we played almost every Thursday and Sunday. Unfortunately, Europe ended early for us this year as well as we fell at the same stage as last season. We took a 3-1 lead in Switzerland but had Reda Johnson sent off after commiting an unnecessary foul when their forward ran through on goal. We caved in after that and ended up taking a score draw back to Budapest. Holender's early goal put us ahead and we comfortably took the win. Being an unseeded team, we got placed in a horrible pot in which the seeded teams were AS Saint-Etienne, Stade Rennais and one more team (quite a good one but I can't remember exactly who). We ended up drawing Rennais. We twice took the lead at their place in classic smash-and-grab style but they scored two late goals to effectively end the tie.

For the second leg, we had a few injury problems and struggled to create chances with a weakened team. Daniel Vajda kept us in it but Julian Green's goal won it for the French team.

In the league, things are going pretty well considering the way in which we have started previous seasons. We were held to a draw by Debrecen but demolished close rivals Ferencvaros at home thanks to Bobal's treble. Bobal was on then on hand to rescue a point for us at MTK after we went behind and we rounded off the league fixtures for the month with a fine win over Videoton.

League table

Looks good, I guess but then again, it's still early days.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC
2018/19
September 2018

Had to threaten the chairman by saying that our rivals were going to overtake us if we didn't improve this. That said, he doesn't want to upgrade the training facilities further.

Fixtures

Near perfect month. We started off with a closely fought game against Ujpest in which they created slightly more chances but overall, a draw was a fair result. Diego Jimenez's header was enough to beat Diosgyor and high-flying Szolnok were comfortable beaten away from home. Early goals from Jimenez and debutant Chris Atkinson saw off Paks.

League table

It looks really good for us now with almost a third of the season gone. Ferencvaros have somehow been struggling horribly and sacked manager Zoran Spisljak after failing to win in their first 10 games. They have also gone six games without scoring a goal.

[Darius1998]

Budapest Honvéd FC
2018/19
October 2018

Fixtures

Another decent month for us as we picked up 7 points out of a possible 9 in the league. After beating FC Ajka, I rotated the team for the cup tie against a second tier team whose name I cannot bother to pronounce. Herjeczki's first goal of the season put us ahead but they equalised. We had loads of chances to win it but coudn't and somehow, ended up having to go to penalties. Herjeczki missed his kick but Vajda saved two of the opposition's penalties to give us a 4-3 win in the shootout.

Back in the league, Rafa Mella returned from a twisted knee to take a place on the bench against Kisvarda, despite failing a fitness test. The hosts frustrated us and seemed like taking a point but Mella came off to grab a late winner. At home to Vasas, we had the woodwork to blame as struck it three times over the course of the game. In the first leg of the fourth round in the cup, we faced Soproni and a rotated team led early through Marc Roberts. They turned it around to lead 3-1 but Szilagyi pulled one back on the stroke of half time and Gergo Nemeth scored a late equaliser - his first goal for the senior team.

League table

Ujpest are already speeding away from everyone but we are now 5 points clear of 4th place and in an automatic Europa League qualification spot.

[Darius1998]

Youth facilities are now listed as adequate and training facilities are 'good'.