[FM16] Partisan (adj) strongly supporting a person, principle, or political party,

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Day 2017.

Internet forums can often be filled with aggressive, angry young men, (and women), who seem unwilling to listen to another point of view and who are seemingly intent on nothing other than forcing their own opinion on whoever has the misfortune to read and reply. This forum, (certainly the GQ section of it), has had it's moments and certainly at times over the years, has felt like a war-torn battle-zone. Amid all the debris and carnage, there was often a calming influence in the form of a Moderator called Kriss. He ruled not with an iron banning rod, but with a quiet word and a great deal of humour, (no, an enormous amount of humour). He did so with a quiet, humorous, intelligent and warm style, that endeared him to many. I found out today that he is gone from this World and both the World and especially the GQ forum is hugely the poorer for his absence. It's people like Kriss that made the GQ forum, (it's now called the GD Forum), what it is. Before all the sub-forums existed, GQ was a huge beast of a forum with an enormous volumes of traffic and I dread to think of what would have happened had Kriss not been about. He was the calmness in the madness. The still in the eye of the storm. He will be missed. As a result of his passing, (I found out today and today just happens to be Youth Day), I intend to re-name each and every best player of each Youth Intake Kriss in memoriam. Just a little thing that will remind me, (if nobody else), who we are missing.

Meet Kriss #1.

[Jimbokav1971]

In other news.... for as long as it has been a thing, I have never been trusted by the board, (any board in any save in any issue of any FM), to such an extent that they allowed me to choose my own Feeder team. (That, despite some decent success in some saves). Until now that is.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Good job I'm not your Chairman then Jimbo.

[leonavich]

That is a very nice tribute. A great contributor to influencing and setting up these forums.

[deltablue]

Great idea to pay tribute to Kriss. Also, the steam achievements have some very strange images

[Jimbokav1971]

Great idea to pay tribute to Kriss. Also, the steam achievements have some very strange images

Strange images like what?

[deltablue]

Well that one you just showed of someone being cut in half with a chainsaw is a great one. Out of the ones I can see on my (offline mode) steam there's a comedy 'spy' disguise for 'Undercover agent', a bloke being caught up in a tornado for 'Unstoppable Force and someone doing a handstand for 'flexibility' (as in tactically).

[JD nawrat]

1a. Stefan Savic. There are 2 Stefan Savic's in my game and both have played for Partizan. 25yo Montenegran International centre-half is playing for Atletico in Spain, but unfortunately he was not produced by Partizan. He started at Vozdovav before moving on to BSK Borca before Partizan grabbed him for £250k before flogging him to Man City for £10.5M 1 season later. He then went to Fiorentina in an exchange deal, (don't know who for), before Atletico bought him in game for £8.5M

Funny enough, Savic was swapped for Matija Nastasic, another player you'd previously mentioned in here

And Savic is at Atletico in real life, also

Small world, huh?

[JD nawrat]

I've only read the thread up until the part I quoted just above, but I'm enjoying the read so far. Will definitely be finishing where I left off shortly

[Jimbokav1971]

Well that one you just showed of someone being cut in half with a chainsaw is a great one. Out of the ones I can see on my (offline mode) steam there's a comedy 'spy' disguise for 'Undercover agent', a bloke being caught up in a tornado for 'Unstoppable Force and someone doing a handstand for 'flexibility' (as in tactically).

Haha. You know I was wondering what it was a picture of, but that never sprang to mind. #Trust

[Jimbokav1971]

Funny enough, Savic was swapped for Matija Nastasic, another player you'd previously mentioned in here

And Savic is at Atletico in real life, also

Small world, huh?

Very small!

Thanks for the info. I love stuff like that.

[Jimbokav1971]

I've only read the thread up until the part I quoted just above, but I'm enjoying the read so far. Will definitely be finishing where I left off shortly

Thanks.

I'm enjoying a save at a big club for a change. It's easier in some ways but the pressure is certainly on from the off and I have a feeling that if I don't win the league just once I will be gone. Even when I was he best team in the World with San Marino, I have never been under this sort of pressure. The fact that we lose 50% of our lead after the Preliminary Phase fixtures makes things far tighter than they might otherwise be, (but I suppose also gives us a chance if we have a bad start to the season).

[Jimbokav1971]

That is a very nice tribute. A great contributor to influencing and setting up these forums.

Great idea to pay tribute to Kriss.

With the exception of the creator of a certain hugely successful challenge that bears his name, (no, not you Gundo), he had the biggest impact on my use of these forums, (and I have spent a loooooooooong time in here over the years). It seems a bit "small" as a tribute, but it's the most important part of the game the way I play, (so it's big to me if nobody else).

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Summary May 2017.

League Stage Table.

We started off the season in really good form and were unbeaten in the first 15 games, (I think), in all competitions, (drawing just once). It meant that we had strolled through to the group stages of the Champions League for the 1st time under my tenure, and had also created a decent lead at the top of the table, (while Red Star languished in the bottom half). Red Star improved as the season went on though, (and indeed it was them who beat us to end our run of consecutive wins (13), and games without a loss (15), (although I am not counting the end of last season in those totals). Red Star did well to get into the top half of the table for the run-in and then romped up the table winning 4 and drawing 2 of their Final Phase games, before we beat them on the last day of the season, (having already won the league), and playing an under-strength team that contained 6 teenagers in the starting line-up. For the 2nd time in an Eternal Derby under my management, a Partizan player scored a hat-trick.

League Stage Graph, (with comparison to Red Star).

You can see from the graph below that they snuck into the Top half at the death of the season and performed really well to finish as Runners Up, (despite a last day battering by our Reserves.

Final Phase Table.

League Fixtures to winter break.

League Fixtures after Winter break.

Final Phase Fixtures.

Champions League Fixtures.

You can tell that my focus was elsewhere, (the league), and I had really done the job just by getting there and securing the cash that came with it. I rotated every squad and purposefully played youngsters at every opportunity. Not just to rest the senior players, but also to give some of these youngsters the game-time that their development requires. The Benfica result was obviously sobering, (and shows how far we have to go), but a creditable draw at home against the same opposition hinted at a future filled with promise.

Champions League Group.

Serbian Super Cup.

Serbian Cup.

This really isn't a priority in the way that the league is. I have to build up a relationship with the board before I get to the stage where they might allow me to stay were I not to win the league. (At the moment I am pretty sure that they would sack me if we finished 2nd for any reason). Until then, I will be prioritising League Fixtures over Cup fixtures and any success we get in the Cup will likely come as our kids improve.

End of Season Awards.

Fans Player of the Season. Zivkovic (SRB) (F.Det).

Obviously it was great to get him to re-sign after he left, (and this is why he also won signing of the season as well as Young Player of the Season), but I must admit that I don't think that I used him well at all. In hindsight, I think that I was so resigned to losing him that I din't give enough thought to either his development, nor where I should actually play him and in what role. Instead, I just left him as a wrong-sided IF(s) on the right hand side, and sort of rotated him and Stevanovic (SRB/SUI) (F.Pro). It was only late in the season, (when the wheels appeared to be coming off and I was starting to sweat), that I opted to play him as a proper W(s) on the left hand side, allowing me to make the pitch bigger and creating more space for my AP(a) to work in.

Goal of the Season.

[video=youtube;vzI8x1kiwJw]

Signing of the Season. Zivkovic (SRB) (F.Det).

Young Player of the Season. Zivkovic (SRB) (F.Det).

Stats 1.

Ozegovic, (thinking of nick-naming him Ozzy), is the 1st decent striker we have had at the club. We have had decent PA before, but nothing in terms of attribute balance linked with CA and indees role suitability. He should have scored more than 17 goals though. We paid £1M for him, (wow! did we? I don't remember paying £1M to another Serban club!!!), as we signed him from Vojvodina after 11 league goals last season. I obviously decided that he was my man and the fact that he is 22 tears old and looking good already suggests that although I might have paid over the odds, (I most certainly did), with our financial situation it was probably money well spent. He actually started at a club in Bosnia, (he has dual Nationality), before joining the Red Star academy. I rotated him out against them for the last game of the season, but he scored against them in the 2nd game this season and it was the in game commentary that brought to light his past with Red Star. (I am trying not to hold it against him).

Stats 2.

I'm not really sure what to make of the 4 red cards given to 2nd choice left back Stefan Milosevic. He looks decent but has the "gets forward whenever possible" PPM. I'm worried that this is dragging him out of position, (position attribute only 12 by the way), and this is causing him to receive cards when trying to make up ground and tackle back. He's quite aggressive (15), but not overly so, so it's probably a mix of the 2 and I need to rein him in a little.

[Jimbokav1971]

Rivalry with Red Star.

Season 2015/16.

Season 2016/17.

Although Red Star beat us for the 1st time under my tenure, (you will be pleased that I was properly peeved and the animosity is already there despite me not really caring either way before I started this save), we still took 6 points from a possible 9, (where as they took just 3). To put things into perspective, had they won the last game of the season against us, then we would have won the league by just 1 point. The way that the Final Phase works is that all points earned during the Preliminary phase are halved after 30 games, effectively meaning that 3 points earned early in the season are only with 1.5 points once the group stage starts. We had a league of 7 points after the Preliminary stage and I am guessing that this was reduced to either 3 or 4 points depending on if they round up or down. What it effectively means is that the end of the season is where it counts.

I have been trying to do a bit of research and "build" the ant-Red Star feeing within me, (falsely of course), but it has bloomin well worked and I can now say that I have an intense dislike for Red Star purely as a result of this save.

[Edit]

Red Star sacked their 2nd Manager after a poor start to the season.

It means that they are now onto their 3rd permanent manager, (and a caretaker), in the 2 years that I have been in charge.

I've got to admit that I have been quietly impressed by Dejan Djurdjevic, (so I obviously hope they sack him on the hurry-up). It was actually Nicula Puaca who was in charge when they beat us to end our run, (so I was delighted when he got the boot despite their lowly position).

[Jimbokav1971]

Training Facilities upgrade. £3.9M for the next upgrade which will be ready in October of this year.

Youth Facilities upgrade. £4.2M for the next upgrade.

Current Facilities.

Finance Summary. We've got £15M in the bank, owe $4.82M in loans, have a transfer kitty of £11.5M and we are only spending approx 50% of our £106k per week wage budget.

Affiliates.

U19's League. Although we didn't win, we were more competitive and I thought we were going to win it at the death. We lost 5 games all season but dropped 13 points when we played Cip games mid-week.

U19's Cup. It was good to win this without managing it.

U19's Champions League. I'm really not looking at this at all at this stage.

Transfers In. £3.71M on a total of 15 players.

Transfers Out. £2.08M on a total of 7 players.

Although I would obviously prefer to produce my own players, the fact just is that I will have to scout around and also bring in the best Serb younsgters from elsewhere. The key here is signing them to long term deals, (3 tears minimum), and then also adding a 3 year option on each of them, meaning that if we sign them at 17, (which is what I am trying to do), then we get to keep them on that original contract until they are 23. If we were selling them, then a 22yo roa 21 yo is going to fetch considerably more in the transfer market than the same player at 17. (That's my thinking anyway).

[leonavich]

Good results in that one.

The second half group stage makes things a little more tight! As stated, a loss would of made it a 1 point win despite the first half form. Does that add an extra element of excitement and tension to your save?

I do feel like my next save on FM17 is going to have to be something with multi tiered systems, like Belgium or Serbia.

[sherwinriga]

I'm very funny with the Red Star story! Well, at least you get better in the league.

[Jimbokav1971]

The second half group stage makes things a little more tight! As stated, a loss would of made it a 1 point win despite the first half form. Does that add an extra element of excitement and tension to your save?

It really does.

I didn't really notice it last season, but this season.I was hugely aware that I should have had a big lead after such a good start to the seaso , but I was certainly looking over my shoulder during the run in

As luck would have it, out from was good at the and, no doubt helped by my love from Inside Forwards to Wingers, and if I was to hazard a guess, I think I would have lost the league and been sacked had I persisted with my old IF tactic.

I can't tell had if I like Serbia As a league, but it's certInly not both, and it should me mentioned that the Cup winners in both way and end seasons both came from the end group of teams.

[Jimbokav1971]

Marseille make bid for Playmaker Stefan Jankovic.

Marseille have come in with a bid of £1.3M up front + add-ons that will add up to £6M.

£1.3M up front.

£675k over 12 months

£800k after 10 games

£160k per 10 league appearances

£800k after 1 INT appearance.

£800k after 10 league goals

40% of profit

Total £6M.

The only problem with this however is that, (as anyone knows who uses a playmaker), when your playmaker isn't available, well the team pretty much sucks unless you have a reasonable replacement. We don't have a replacement of a similar ability at all so this is horrendous news. As a result I begged them to reconsider and hoped that this save could provide me with not only the 1st time that I managed to over-turn a board approved player sale, but also the 2nd.

Although there is no media message to confirm it, the board did respond positively to my remonstrations.

There was just no reason to sell. 20yo Stefan Jankovic (SRB) (Bal) HG has 3 years remaining on his contract and we have an option for an additional 3 years after that. He is the sort of player that could really take us places if he were still at the club upon reaching his potential. Get a whole team of these guys to hang around long enough and who knows what might be possible?

[Jimbokav1971]

Now I remember why I enjoy Youth Only saves so much... The amount of effort it takes to go through a close-season is just horrendous with a large squad. I'm starting to think that "yer mum" should be an option as a response to a bid for any of your players.

I've got lucky with the last 2 bids that have been accepted by the board and that they have agreed to reverse their decision. Not so much this time.

The Bogosavac deal is decent but not spectacular for a 20yo valued at £600k and with 3 years remaining on his contract and an option for 3 more that would see him through until 26 years old

Hoffenheim have bid £1.4M up front, £475k over 12 months, £350k after 50 league games, £18 per 10 league games and 30% of profit on the next sale.

It is a good deal and I don't really like moaning, but how hard is it to just do 40% re-sale each and every time? I would love that to be a feature of future FM games where we could prioritise the future for a greater potential future return. If Bogosavac goes for £5M next time around, then this clause is only worth £0.78M. If they had included 40% of future. fee, (as I do in 95% of my deals), then the same deal for the same player generates £2M straight away. It's just throwing money away and I hate it!

What makes it worse is that I have already sold/loaned 2 left backs and I have deals in the pipe-line to sell/loan 2 more.

I will have to have a long hard look at who is actually going to play for us now at left back.

[leonavich]

That would be a good edition, to allow as a permanent fixture for the HoY to include a resale percentage for all negotiations for youth players (i.e. under 18 or even 21). So often I try negotiating that myself, and it seems quite an obvious thing for a young player, going for peanuts, to have added as a potential wallet stuffer some years on down the line.

[deltablue]

It's good that you have a chance of stopping such sales now.

[lvzifer]

Looking good so far. Nastic from Vojvodina is good DL (if he's still around) Basanovic too .

[Jimbokav1971]

That would be a good edition, to allow as a permanent fixture for the HoY to include a resale percentage for all negotiations for youth players (i.e. under 18 or even 21). So often I try negotiating that myself, and it seems quite an obvious thing for a young player, going for peanuts, to have added as a potential wallet stuffer some years on down the line.

You might not even have to go into great detail.

It could just be asking the Director of Football, (or whoever), to focus on, now/balanced/future heavy deals.

[Jimbokav1971]

It's good that you have a chance of stopping such sales now.

It really is.

This is the first save I have ever had where I have managed it. It's actually quite well balanced too. We are in a less good financial position now than when the previous bids were turned down, (we have less than £10M in the bank), and they aren't to know that in the next couple of days my plan was to off-load quite a few players so balance the books a little and bring in some more cash to boost the coffers. I would hope that if the bank balance had been £15M+, then they wouldn't have seen the need to accept the bid over my head in the first place.

[BoxToBox]

Amazing that you managed to get Zivkovic to return, despite already being at the club it's a massive coup.

[Jimbokav1971]

Amazing that you managed to get Zivkovic to return, despite already being at the club it's a massive coup.

I was astonished actually.

I think there were a few contributing factors that all came together nicely for me.

1. He's a Partizan supporter so was more inclined to return anyway.

2. I'm on his favoured personnel list so he was also more inclined to sign again for me.

3. As I mentioned previously he had struggled quite a bit with injuries throughout that season and I think it diluted the interest in him a little.

4. As well as diluting interest in him, I also think it tempered his expectations a little.

5. We had just won the league again, (and with a new manager with zilch experience that was not a foregone conclusion).

6. At the time he was released, for whatever reason, I don't think that there was a single club chasing him, (because I had put them all off earlier).

It would be interesting to hear if anyone else managing Partizan has managed to get him to re-sign?

[Jimbokav1971]

Looking good so far. Nastic from Vojvodina is good DL (if he's still around) Basanovic too .

Yeah Nastic is decent, and there are some other decent options too, but in view of the way I play, (HG Youth based), I am considering just coping with what I have and giving Kriss#1 (2017) some game-time in the easier games.

Bogosavac is going.

Milosevic was sent off 4 times in 19(1) appearances last season, (which I think is more related to my tactics, individual instructions and PPM's than the player as a rule). I certainly think it is something I should be able to resolve.

Subic probably needs to be sold, but I also probably can't sell him this season because if Milosevic gets injured then I will need him. (Actually I will probably need him even without Milosevic getting injured just to cope with mid-week games.

Nikola Dukic has probably been a little neglected by me and was out on loan at OFK Beograd last season, (who I have just realised were somehow relegated). If he is too old to play in the Youth team, and is 4th choice if I am going to prioritise the development of Kriss#1 (2017), then he really needs to go out on loan. He really needs the extra training though so I'm undecided.

Miljus is out on loan but isn't going to cut it and is going to be sold sooner or later. He was loaned to SuperLeague side Dinamo last season, but has gone to First League side Backa this season, (which isn't a good sign). Interestingly, I have just sold his brother to a Greek side, and I have a feeling Miljus was just here to keep his brother happy, (and because it's a novelty), so his sale will probably be sooner rather than later.

Petrovic is 25yo and is marked to sell and unfortunately there are just loan bids in at the moment. Oh, that's a mistake on my part. If I want to sell him I shouldn't also be giving them the option to loan him. Must fix that!

Islamovic has also been earmarked to sell, but again he is listed for loan so I need to change that.

Lazar Sajcic, (must shorten his name), has decent potential but looks like he is a little confused as to whether he is a centre-half or a full back. That's all well and good in a defensive team, but when we want our full backs romping up the flanks, we really need them to specialize. In any case, he is staying.

(17a) Kriss Ratko (Bal) (2017) is Kriss#1. He really isn't great at the moment, but then again he only came through the system at the end of Feb last year, although I did give him his debut in the last day demolition of Red Star, (have I mentioned that enough yet?)

Summary. It's a real shame that Bogosavac is going, (he really is rather good), but after writing the little bits above, I am probably going to flog Subic if I can and play Dukic when required. There is no point playing a player that I'm not keen on when there is a youngster with better PA who is not far off his CA.

[Jimbokav1971]

In other news, Vojvidana sold an 18yo centre-half to a Greek side 12 months ago for £40,000.

Barca (and others), have just made bids for him. The highest seems to be £3.5M +clauses from Benfica. What's the betting Vojvidana get very little of the £3.6M?

[BoxToBox]

In other news, Vojvidana sold an 18yo centre-half to a Greek side 12 months ago for £40,000.

Barca (and others), have just made bids for him. The highest seems to be £3.5M +clauses from Benfica. What's the betting Vojvidana get very little of the £3.6M?

20% of profit I'd guess, so, 700k and the same percentage of any clauses that are activated?

[Jimbokav1971]

20% of profit I'd guess, so, 700k and the same percentage of any clauses that are activated?

He's on my shortlist so I should get a media message if and when the deal goes through and I will let you know.

[Jimbokav1971]

Frankfurt have just come in for one of our youngsters.

He's valued at £350k, so this is obviously a great deal, but he has 4 years left on his contract and then of course we have a 3 year option on top of that. He's 20 years old now and we could at least kept him for another couple of years.

The deal is £1.7M up front, £1.1M over 12 months and 30% of re-sale profit. Of course it's a great deal, but I have loads of sales in the pipe-line and we really don't need the money that badly.

He was in line to start the season on the bench when everyone is fit, so with that in mind I can't really complain too much, (apart from the sell on clause of course).

[Edit]

In fact, he hadn't even made the bench!

[Jimbokav1971]

Red Star have just sold a 17yo "promising striker" called Dejan Joveljic to a Greek side for £300,000 +clauses.

This bloke should have been playing for them last season rather than being out on loan. He would get in my team.

He is going to be worth a fortune!

On the plus side, I couldn't buy him from Red Star, but now he is going to Greece I might just be able to entice him away.

[Jimbokav1971]

Dual Nationality considerations.

Something that I noticed last season was that we were losing players for International duty, (who were then coming back tired), however what I noticed was that these players weren't Serbs, (or at least not only Serbs).

We only had 2 players in the Senior (SRB) Squad last season, (the GK who I have now moved on and wide starlet Zivkovic).

It seems unlikely, (unless they are a starlet like Zivkovic), or unless they are just there as back-up like the GK, that many of our players are going to make the Senior Serb squad.

That's not the case at all however with players of dual Nationality who choose to play for Montenegro, Bosnia, Bulgaria etc etc. As a result it's making me look at players with Dual Nationality in a negative way. I don't want them playing when they can be sitting at home with their feet up!

[Edit]

As a result, (and on a bit of a whim), I have just countered an offer from Celtic for one a 22yo Montenegran midfielder, and they have accepted!

They offered £1.2M up front and I think possibly £300,000 in add-ons.

I countered with £2.5M up front, £1M over 12 months, £500,000 after 50 league games, 40% of re-sale value and a friendly.

I should have gone for even more!!!

(He's valued at £300,000 by the way!)

[Jimbokav1971]

Porto have just come in with a bid of £6M rising to £9M for Zivkovic and the board have accepted it.

£4.8M up front.

£1.2M over 12 months.

£1.7M after 50 league games.

£1.7M after 10 INT appearances.

30% of re-sale profit.

I'm going to offer him out to others for a better deal to see what I can come up with.

[BoxToBox]

Porto have just come in with a bid of £6M rising to £9M for Zivkovic and the board have accepted it.

£4.8M up front.

£1.2M over 12 months.

£1.7M after 50 league games.

£1.7M after 10 INT appearances.

30% of re-sale profit.

I'm going to offer him out to others for a better deal to see what I can come up with.

[Jimbokav1971]

If Zivkovic is going, he's going in style!

4 goals, 2 assists and a 10.0 rating.

It's also worth mentioning that 16yo (17a) Kriss Ratko (Bal) (2017) played the full 90 minutes in a squad that was rotated apart from wingers and GK.

[Jimbokav1971]

I've already sold £7.88M worth of players even before the Zivkovic deal goes through to bring us back up to £15M+ in the bank. I was desperately trying to get the cash in quickly so that they wouldn't do just this.

[Jimbokav1971]

Vojvodina sold a 20yo DM to Celta in Spain 4 years ago for just £725,000.

Benfica have just made a bid of £9.25M for him and Vojvodina are going to get £2.76M of it.

I think that's a 30% profit clause. Nice and well done to them, but if it had been one of my 40% re-sale clauses, they would be getting £3.7M.

That extra £1M is 2 top players in Serbia!

[BoxToBox]

To be honest, I've walked on clubs for less than this Zivkovic debacle.

[Jimbokav1971]

To be honest, I've walked on clubs for less than this Zivkovic debacle.

I know, but the reality is that I was outrageously lucky to get him to re-sign in the 1st place and then I was outrageously lucky a 2nd time when I got them to change their minds about accepting the bid a year ago.

I can't really complain.

[Jimbokav1971]

He's gone.

But you can see that he is FAR too good to stay in Serbia. He really came on leaps and bounds last season, (after an injury-hit 1st season).

What a way to go out though! 4 goals, 2 assists and my first 10.0 player match rating in a long long long time.

[Jimbokav1971]

Dual Nationality considerations.

Something that I noticed last season was that we were losing players for International duty, (who were then coming back tired), however what I noticed was that these players weren't Serbs, (or at least not only Serbs).

We only had 2 players in the Senior (SRB) Squad last season, (the GK who I have now moved on and wide starlet Zivkovic).

It seems unlikely, (unless they are a starlet like Zivkovic), or unless they are just there as back-up like the GK, that many of our players are going to make the Senior Serb squad.

That's not the case at all however with players of dual Nationality who choose to play for Montenegro, Bosnia, Bulgaria etc etc. As a result it's making me look at players with Dual Nationality in a negative way. I don't want them playing when they can be sitting at home with their feet up!

[Edit]

As a result, (and on a bit of a whim), I have just countered an offer from Celtic for one a 22yo Montenegran midfielder, and they have accepted!

They offered £1.2M up front and I think possibly £300,000 in add-ons.

I countered with £2.5M up front, £1M over 12 months, £500,000 after 50 league games, 40% of re-sale value and a friendly.

I should have gone for even more!!!

(He's valued at £300,000 by the way!)

Damn!

He only went and refused the bloomin contract!

[sherwinriga]

There are chances that a dual nationality players can compete internationally, am I right? How's Serbia in the UEFA Euro and FIFA World Cup qualifications?

[Jimbokav1971]

There are chances that a dual nationality players can compete internationally, am I right? How's Serbia in the UEFA Euro and FIFA World Cup qualifications?

Yes.

What's happening is that the best players at my squad generally aren't good enough to be selected for the (SRB) NT.

Zivkovic. 4 Caps.

Old GK. 0 Caps, (but has been called up a few times).

My 32yo DR has 3 Caps. (Has never been called up in game).

My 26yo AML has 3 Caps. (Has never been called up in game).

Now all 4 of these were comfortably 1st choice in their position, (the AML played opposite wherever Zivkvic played). They were among the best players at the club and the old GK has only been sold because I have loaned in a young Serb from Man Utd and I have to hot prospects at GK so I thought I might as well flog him.

Basically, unless you are a bit special, you are not going to be making the Serbian Squad.

Poorer ability players representing other Nations were being called up.

The young central midfielder who just snubbed Celtic has 17 NT Caps for Montenegro.

The 23yo Utility left sided player has 9 Caps for Bosnia.

I've just sold a Slovenian with 18 NT Caps to Aston Villa.

I sold a 30yo Bulgarian right back with 16 Caps in the close season.

I sold a 25yo Macedonian left back with 15 Caps in the close season.

I sold a Cameroonian SC with 16 Caps last season.

I sold a Bulgarian SC with 50+ Caps last season.

I sold an Ivorian SC with 4 Caps last season.

I sold a Montenegran winger with 8 Caps at the start of the save.

What I am saying is that generally, players in my squad aren't going to be good enough to play for Serbia.

If however they have Bulgaria, Macedonia, Montenegro or the likes of Slovenia as a 2nd Nationality, they ARE likely to be good enough to be called up. As a result I don't really want them to.

Serbia are doing ok.

They are ranked 46th in the World, (I think they start off 44th).

They got out of the group at EURO 2016, but lost to Croatia in the 2nd Round.

They are currently 2nd in a tight World Cup qualification group.

The U19's got to the Semi's of the U19 EURO's in 2016, (losing to ENG on pens).

The U20's got to the Semi's of the U20 World Cup in 2017, (losing to ITA), (but beating ENG in the 3rd place playoff).

The U21's didn't get out of Group B in the U21 EURO's in 2017.

[BoxToBox]

I know, but the reality is that I was outrageously lucky to get him to re-sign in the 1st place and then I was outrageously lucky a 2nd time when I got them to change their minds about accepting the bid a year ago.

I can't really complain.

It's really the lack of control that rustles me. I'd have probably sold him in the end, but I'd have gotten a far better deal than the board would have accepted at any time. Other than that, long as we're financially sold and the player is relatively happy, they can bounce.

[Jimbokav1971]

I've had the scouting team really working hard to bring in the Serbian talent that is both going to drive our bank balance forward with sales and future clauses, but also in terms of on the pitch.

The way the league is structured means that we play twice a week most weeks throughout the first half of the season. We have 3 rounds, (of 2 matches each), of qualifying for the Champions League, (6 matches), and then we have the Champions League itself, (or Europa League if we aren't good enough), and that's another 6 matches bringing us up to 12, and then we have the Super Cup, (that's us up to 13), and even if we are knocked out in the 1st Round of the Serbian Cup as we have been on the last 2 occasions, that still means 14 weeks of mid-week games in the first half of the season!

As a result I need a larger squad than the 25 I am able to register and these players obviously come from youngsters who do not require registering under the age of 19, (just so long as they have spent 2 full years at the club). To give you an idea of the numbers involved, we have played just 10 games in the 2017/18 season so far and we have already used 31 different players and have suffered few if any injuries.

No player has featured in more than 8 of the 10 matches, 6(2), 5(3), 3(5) are the most appearances by players so far. It seems to be working ok, but the crunch will obviously come when we have injuries and suspensions and are stretched even further.

I've spent £2.68M bringing in 12 new players, (all of them 20yo or under), and none of them costing me more than £0.5M.

I am obviously still looking to bring more players in and to be honest this will be on an on-going and continuous basis from now on.

As well as signing youngsters however, I have started to also look for older players with a view to using them as Tutors for our young starlets. This isn't easy, but obviously we are in a good financial position and as far as I'm concerned, this is only going to strengthen moving forward. I already have an idea of who will be sold next, (possibly even in the Winter window if things are going well), but I'm determined that I will be the one deciding on which players gets sold and the only way to do that is to give the club so much money that they just don't even think about selling those I want to keep.

As a result of the above, I have been sort of creating little groups of players that I will keep an eye on.

All players are Serbian, (or at least have Serbian as a 2nd Nationality by the way).

1. These are "star" players, (5.0 PA), who we have 100% scouting knowledge of.

There might be some names here who are familiar to those of you who have been paying close attention.

Luka Belic is the young striker from West Ham who we had in on loan and who didn't really perform in our first season. Last season he went to Novi Pazar on loan, and although he was better, still didn't break any records.

Stevanovic is one of my old players and is someone I chose to sell right at the outset of the save, (for £2.4M). He was alsoys going to be too good for us and we had other excellent options at right back so it seemed a good deal. We haven't missed him so far but our starting right back, (and captain), is Vulicevic who is 32 now and won't be around forever. We are likely to feel the loss of Stevanovic more keenly when Vulicevic is no longer around. At the moment I am happy with the decision tough.

Luka Lukovic is a bit of a strange one. I spotted him early, (he's a AMC playing in Germany), but what jumped out at me was his apparent proneness to injury, (which hasn't shown itself at all in the first 2 and a bit years of the save at all it must be said). He's interested in joining us and wages wouldn't be a problem if we could stump up the £2.6 valuation and persuade Schalke to sell, (not very likely).

Radovan Pankov was sold by Vojvodina at the beginning of last season for £650,000. They will be kicking themselves if they haven't got a % of future fee when he is next sold. He looks excellent and if there seems to be an area that the Serb clubs are weak at producing, it's centre-half.

I forgot to mention that these are all one of the following.

Realistic transfers. Stevanovic, Lukovic & Pankov.

Realistic fee paying loans.

Realistic regular loans. Belic.

These are the players that I have found with the absolute greatest potential who it is thought I have the ability to sign. The problem is that they will cost me a fortune and if I do that it will just lead to other players being sold by the board, (so I look for other targets).

This brings us on to the next group of players.

2. These are "star" players, (5.0 PA), who we have LESS THAN 100% scouting knowledge of.

Now less than 100% might mean that we just have 1 brief scout report, but it also means that we might be almost there as we are with Milojevic on 98%. Some of these players might no longer be classed as "star" 5.0 PA players once the scouting knowledge reaches 100%, and one of the decisions I have to make is whether I wait for more reports and more reports and still more reports, or if I just go for it and gamble that the scout isn't too far off with his current assessment.

Straight away I see that there are 2 players with a maximum asking price of less than £0.5M, (what I deem my threshold to be for a normal player at the moment).

Predrag Radic is an AMC/ST and although he is at Cukaricki who are in my opinion historically the best producers of Serbian Youth in the game, he actually came through our academy here at Partizan, (which makes him a more attractive target. He made his first appearances for Cukaricki last season, and now might be a good time to bring him back into the fold. Our scouting % is currently at 72%, so even if we assume that he isn't "star" 5.0 PA quality, and is of only superb 4.0 quality, then a £245,000 investment seems like a decent idea. Bid placed for £200,000 cash.

[Edit]

I signed him for £200,000 up front on a 4 year deal, (with an option for 3 more), and I gave him no annual % rise and he gets nothing for sitting on the bench. I refuse to use those clauses and if an agent insists then they don't sign.

Marko Ilic is the other player on the list who has a minimum asking price shown and 72% is again a reasonable level of knowledge. He is cheaper at £160,000 and what I do is make sure before we go any further that he is a balanced GK and by that I mean that his attributes are in the areas you would expect for a GK and that he hasn't wasted attributes elsewhere that make him a pants GK despite a decent CA/PA rating. Everything looks fine with him, but the only thing stopping me is that he is already 19 years old. I have 2 bright prospects at the club already, (1 is the rotation choice and 1 is out on loan. Both have 5.0 PA and are a year younger than Ilic, and have significantly better CA than him. I'm going to hold off on him until we get to 100% and I'm more sure about what I'm getting.

Next up is the 3rd group of players.

3. These are "excellent" players, (4.5 PA), who we have 100% scouting knowledge of.

Ivan Saponjoc will hopefully ring a few bells with a few of you. He is the young striker that was sold during the 1st WInter transfer window for £3.1M rising to £5.1M + 40%, AND we got him back on loan. The problem I had with him was that while I knew he was going to be good, I wasn't convinced that he was going to be the right sort of good for me and what he was good at just wasn't what I wanted my lone-striker to be doing. I was delighted with the sale at the time and although he scored 9 goals in 1(14) appearances for Valencia last season, (Super-sub indeed!), I'm still very happy with my decision.

If we ignore the players with a max asking price of more than £0.5M, and the player at Red Star, (he is not worthy of redemption), then there are 2 that jump out.

Sasa Curko has a max asking price of £425,000, (so within my budget), but he is in the Reserves at Vojvodina and it's initially not clear why. His physicals aren't great, (in fact they are poor for a 21 year old, but he does certainly have qualities in some areas that might make him an attractive target. I would say that £425k is probably too much to pay for this player, but his min asking price is only £175,000 and that's far more doable. In this situation when I think that I will be buying the player to loan out and then sell again, I would sweeten the deal with significant add-ons after appearances and goals for Partizan, safe in the knowledge that he was never going to hit those targets. Bid placed for £100k up front, £250k after 50 league games and £250k after 50 league goals.

[Edit]

They asked for more and I gave them more, (in add-ons that will never be paid), but I made my £100,000 up front payment non-negotiable so whatever the final deal was, they were only ever getting £100,000 from me. The deal looks like it is for £800,000, but it isn't.

Assuming that I can work a little on his finishing and his physicals, I think it's a pretty reasonable expectation that I can turn a tidy profit on him, (but time will tell). He does have "something" about him though.

Zoran Vukcevic is a 17 year old with potential, but his report suggests an issue with injuries, although that has not been seen so far in his short career. Spartak are not what I would call one of the historic big boys in Serbia, (but what do I know!!!), and his valuation is quite low so I might be able to nick him away cheaply, but again, this will be a purchase with a view to re-sale rather than a purpose with a view to becoming a long-term Partizani, (yes, I have indeed just made up the word Partizani). Bid placed for £100,000 up front.

4. These are "excellent" players, (4.5 PA), who we have LESS THAN 100% scouting knowledge of.

You will see straight away that there are older players on this list for the first time.

Milan Bisevac is 33yo and while a £1.9M price tag is silly for a player at that stage of his career, he Professional personality makes him an attractive proposition to sign as a free agent when his contract expires and use as a tutor even if his playing ability really drops off. He also wants a LOT of money at the moment, but lets look at him again once he is out of contract, (assuming it isn't renewed).

Dusan Vukcevic (SRB) (Bal) HG really jumps out at me because of the low max asking price of only £75,000. Upon further inspection however, I notice that there is a "HG" on the end of his name indicating that he is actually Home Grown here at Partizan so I go and look at his history. I sold him to the Greeks 5 weeks ago after I decided that while he was decent, at 21yo his best development years were already behind him and he would never reach his potential. I sold him for a modest £58k up front and I have a feeling that I stuck a 50% of future fee clause in this one. [Goes to check]

Thank God for that! I was beginning to doubt myself there!

I think that my thinking at the time was that this bloke was never going to reach his potential and we had soooo many players ahead of him in the pecking order we might as well let him go. I was never going to register him for a league campaign, he is too old for the U19's, he needs to go out on loan so just let him go on the cheap and have 50% of any future deal. Had he been 17 he certainly wouldn't have gone, and possibly at 18 I might have kept him too, but not at 21.

I can even continue this and drop down to "superb" 4.0 PA players, and I would still certainly sign players with 4.0 PA, but the above gives a gist of what I am doing and why.

[BoxToBox]

I need to copy that scouting filter.

[Jimbokav1971]

I need to copy that scouting filter.

I really created it this morning so I could post the pics.

Before that, I didn't have the personality included, and instead of club I had "based". I also had minimum asking price, but I realised this morning that I didn't need the minimum, just the maximum.

In the past I have just viewed the shorlist and added/deleted things as and if the mood took me.

I'm probably going to get rid of scout recommendation at some point because if I have both the CA and the PA on view, then I really don't need the scouts interpretation of them.

What I really want to see included is the name of the clubs at which the club is classed as Home Grown. I can add "Home Grown Status" but that only shows me if the player is HG at club or HG at Nation, (or neither), but what I want to see is where the player was HG at.

[Edit]

You've got me thinking about it a bit more now.

I've removed scout recommendation and I've also removed best position and replaced it with best role.