*** When will you realise...Andorra waits for you *** [FM16 youth challenge]

[deltablue]

Here's hoping you can pick up points against Cluj and Dnipro

[PleasedToMichu]

Just read all of this right from page 1, absolutely brilliant to follow. Amazing what you've managed to do at club and international level!

Looking forward to seeing more updates as they come, would love to see you get through to the knockouts in Europe!

[noikeee]

I feel a bit lost trying to comment, in normal circumstances beating Aalborg with a squad from Andorra would be absolutely amazing, but I don't know whether that's anything out of the ordinary for your side these days or not. 

[iacovone]

On 8/26/2016 at 11:14, deltablue said:

Here's hoping you can pick up points against Cluj and Dnipro

SPOILER: It's not started well

5 hours ago, PleasedToMichu said:

Just read all of this right from page 1, absolutely brilliant to follow. Amazing what you've managed to do at club and international level!

Looking forward to seeing more updates as they come, would love to see you get through to the knockouts in Europe!

So would I mate! Pleased you're enjoying it and thanks for commenting  

4 hours ago, noikeee said:

I feel a bit lost trying to comment, in normal circumstances beating Aalborg with a squad from Andorra would be absolutely amazing, but I don't know whether that's anything out of the ordinary for your side these days or not. 

Haha I hear ya. I think we've got a benchmark in these qualifiers now - the Rangers/Aalborg level are just about beatable but beyond that we'll struggle until I get a few good attackers through the academy. The board selling Portilla was a real blow and we're feeling it this season unfortunately.

[oriole01]

Everything good iacovone? We're not used to going more than a few a days without one of your updates.

[Njeroe]

Read this a while ago really nice progress

[AScarvaci01]

Just read this it is much better than any of my youth challenge attempts XD. Also very interesting seems you have made great progress 

[BillHoudini24]

I'm playing in Andorra too, Youth Challenge as well, so I'm really looking forward for your updates. 

[iacovone]

Hey guys! Sorry had a bit of a break from FM playing a bit of No Man's Sky (5/10), Battlefield 1 (6/10), Madden 17 (8/10) and NBA 2k17 the Prelude (8/10). Have decided I'll be getting NBA 2k17 as it's just a great game and Fifa when that comes out so my activity in here might dip a bit in the next couple of months. 

But that's not going to stop me diving back into Andorran football tonight and beyond! On we go!

[iacovone]

Andorra vs Poland (Euro 2036 Qualifier, Group E)



Cracking result in our penultimate Euro qualifier, defeating Poland who were sat just above us, and to be honest it was far easier than I expected. They barely turned up. Plus, this was actually their last fixture, meaning it was all down to our trip to Albania...

Albania vs Andorra (Euro 2036 Qualifier, Group E)



Well. Where do I begin? For starters, we knew we'd qualify for Euro 2036 with a win in Albania. That was the simple part. We then proceeded to absolutely bottle it and found ourselves 2-0 down at HT and going out with a whimper. That led to a double substitution and a change in tactic at half time, which led to a serious comeback...

Ivan Lopez came off the bench and scored twice in the last five minutes before the main man Munoz sent the small pocket of away fans into delirium. We were through, we'd done it, we'd... OH. We've conceded immediately from kick-off, the final whistle's gone and we've blown it. :( 





So that's how it finished up. We were a goal away from leapfrogging Poland into second and into Euro 2036. Devastating to be honest.



Oh. Well that's harsh. F**k you Andorran FA. I'll be back. 

[iacovone]

Not much to see here. Nowhere close to the seven points we picked up last year and a couple of very frustrating results against Dnipro and Cluj. They were both much better than I expected, although the loss of Jorge Portilla last summer has clearly dealt us a massive blow - I'm not sure we can compete with these sides in Europe anymore 

[Ceching You Out]

6 minutes ago, iacovone said:

Not much to see here. Nowhere close to the seven points we picked up last year and a couple of very frustrating results against Dnipro and Cluj. They were both much better than I expected, although the loss of Jorge Portilla last summer has clearly dealt us a massive blow - I'm not sure we can compete with these sides in Europe anymore 

Thin margins when it comes to winning games against the secondary European sides. One (missing) star can make the difference.

[iacovone]

Exactly @Ceching You Out, you're not wrong. Tell you what though, this has turned into a really poor season. We'll do well to recover and get back into Europe to be honest. 

Still can't believe I got sacked by Andorra ffs

[iacovone]

To expand on the above - we're 14 points off top at the halfway stage. We're looking at our lowest finish since our very first season back in 2015-16! This is a horrible feeling - hoping for a much improved second half of the year.

[noikeee]

Sacked because you've only just missed qualification for the Euros with Andorra.  That's mental.

[iacovone]

We tried to bring him back and he actually listened to our offer but Crotone's reputation was too big. We actually offered him £17k pw . Oh well. 

[iacovone]

I just don't get what's gone wrong this season - we've been on an awful run, out of the domestic cup, struggling against pretty much everyone - I can't even remember the last time we won a game by a few goals! I can't settle on a new tactic (maybe I shouldn't have changed it in the first place, I really don't know). 

My best guess is the astronomical rise in league reputation, because looking around at the best players in the league I'm in all sorts of bother. Every top half side has a better star and near enough better first XI than us. So after four consecutive titles and good runs in Europe I think I've inadvertently shot us in the foot. Every other club is benefitting because they can go out and buy interested (good) players, whereas I still have to depend on the academy, which at the moment isn't producing the goods. Also, on top of that - this database is actually a problem that they come through as 14-year-olds - they take a while to start developing and by the time they do they're either picked up by someone in Europe or too slow to add to the other squad members who have stuck around and become the spine of the team. So I'm in a bit of a pickle, essentially. I guess I just don't like struggling - particularly in Andorra ffs!

[iacovone]

Youth Intake - 2036



On the face of it, this is probably one of the best overall intakes we've had. Sadly if you look at the personalities these guys need a bit of work. That said, fresh blood on both wings is very welcome, so let's take a look. 



He's a right winger who can't dribble is my first observation but on closer inspection he should develop nicely. It may mean we eventually more to an AMR winger over an inside forward but I like his potential. 



I'm more excited about this guy because he's two-footed, quick and can actually dribble a bit. With a bit of work he should become our next major left-sided wideman. 



Another right-back. Getting sick of them to be honest, and given the one from last year's intake is the highest rated PA at the club I don't think this lad will reach anything beyond backup. 



Tagged this guy because (1) he's Italian (a foreigner, wow!) and (2) he's potentially, maaaaaybe our future left-back. We're still so weak there and I reckon this guy is more suited to full-back than he is centre-back. One to keep an eye on. 



So I really hope this guy develops into a decent striker because our two senior forwards have been terrible this season. He's a great finisher already so I'm hopeful. 

So a pretty good intake. No outright stars but players more than good enough to become regular first-teamers. 

[MichaelBrown]

Just read this from start to finish and it's been a great read, thank you for posting it up. I'm glad that youth saves are popular this year (I follow Abulezz's and JupJamies, both brilliant to follow) and I love the ups and downs that follow - doing well in Europe, great intakes to then losing them players and getting the sack internationally

Hope you continue to make this a regular thing. KUTGW

[Tullem]

Sacked for not qualifying! How Andorra's ambitions have changed! Unlucky with that last game against Albania, I'm sure you'll be back in the main job soon! 

[iacovone]

Thanks guys! @MichaelBrown get ready for a pretty big down in the next update!

@Tullem I'm so annoyed by it I'm not even sure I want the senior job again. My replacement lost the Euro 2036 semi-final playoff 2-0 to Macedonia. Pretty sure I'd have done better there, so that was doubly frustrating!

[iacovone]

End of Season 2035-36 - FS Massana - Competitions

Lliga Grup Becier: 5th

Analysis: I really didn't see this coming. We've slipped from winning the title four consecutive times to finishing 5th - our joint-lowest finish under my management EVER! Why did this happen? Well, I think the opposition finally got wise to our tactics - we only scored 54 goals in 38 games - plus the standard of player coming into the league now is just much, much higher than ever before. Then you've got the obvious European distraction which definitely cost us a few domestic results. Sant Julia won the title by 9 points.

Copa Constitucio: Quarter-finals

Analysis: Same as last year - quarter-final defeat to Lusitanos this time.

Champions League: 3rd Qualifying Round

Analysis: Narrow 2-1 aggregate defeat to Crvena Zvezda at the same stage as last season.

Europa League: Group Stage

Analysis: Defeated Aalborg to make the groups before a lacklustre showing saw us finish bottom of our group with two points.

Supercopa Andorra: Runners-Up

Analysis: Battled hard in the two-legged final but lost to Sant Julia 4-2 on aggregate to ensure we finished the season trophy-less.

[iacovone]

End of Season 2035-36 - FS Massana - The Players

Squad Statistics

Top goalscorer: Jose Perez (YP26c) - 15 league goals is the most he's scored in three years so I'm happy with that, although it's still nowhere near the 46 he scored in his breakout year back in 2029-30.

Highest rating: Noa Le Breton (YP24a) - really good season replacing Portilla in the AMC position. Never going to be that good but he's produced a good number of goals and assists and stayed injury-free. 

Hot prospect: Patricio Garcia (YP34a) - only played four first-team games but at 16 that's just fine. I really want his attacking attributes to improve because the rest of him looks very promising.

Notable impact: Ismael Carcaba - has become a really useful inside forward for us and scored way more than his stats suggest he should. His flair and pace always mark him down as a threat.

Worth a Shout: Jose Miguel Formigo (YP31b) - now our best defender and key to our set-up. He's wanted across Europe so it'll be hard to keep hold of him but I'm hoping we can for another year or two at least.

[noikeee]

Ouch, that's a pretty big step back. Surely it's due to the tactical changes? What kind of tactics did you use to play, and what are you using now?

[iacovone]

End of Season 2035-36 - FS Massana - The Club

General - Facilities - Finances - Competition Overview - End of Season Awards - Overall Best XI

OTHER BUSINESS:

- Youth facilities get their final upgrade

[iacovone]

End of Season 2035-36 - FS Massana - The Watchlist

Juan Carlos Munoz (YP22c) - not at his absolute best this season at St James' Park, equalling last season's Premier League tally of 9 as Newcastle finished a very strong 6th-place. He still has another four years on his deal there and at 28 should be entering his prime now. Would be nice to see him win a trophy.

Jose Sarrio (YP17a) - at the business end of his career now at 33, Sarrio actually broke the Levante goalscoring record this year, ending the year with 96 league goals for the club. He also signed a contract extension so should see out another two years in Spain.

Miquel Velasco (YP28a) - the left-back's had a tough time at Celtic, breaking his leg early on and never really threatening to break into the first XI. Then lo and behold, he makes his breakthrough in his final year at Celtic Park before he leaves on a free for Crotone in Serie B. Weird move and a shame we couldn't tempt him back home.

Ivan Lopez (YP33a) - his first year in Greece has probably gone to plan for the youngster. 13 appearances, a goal, a decent average rating - not a bad start to life away from Andorra.

Jorge Portilla (YP30a) - I'm still convinced he's the best player we've had - more so than Munoz, believe it or not - and his first year at Hertha gives me no reason to think otherwise. He made 33 appearances, helping Hertha to 8th in the Bundesliga and signed a new five-year extension at the end of the season. Hopefully he'll continue to go from strength to strength and we'll see a nice return on that 50% sell-on clause one day!

[iacovone]

Interestingly - the Sant Julia boss has left to take up the reins at Getafe in La Liga - shows the kind of level Andorran clubs are operating at now. That's obviously good news for us as we might be able to catch them a bit this year but bad for Andorran football - I was hoping they'd make an impression in Europe this year. They still might, of course, we'll see...

[iacovone]

[iacovone]

Forgot about this.

[PleasedToMichu]

4 minutes ago, iacovone said:

Forgot about this.

You haven't had much luck with sell on clauses so far! 

Hopefully the Portilla one will come up trumps in the future.

[iacovone]

I know! That's what I'm hoping too @PleasedToMichu

[iacovone]

Annoyed.

Sant Julia lost in the 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League = out of Europe completely. 

Encamp, Lusitanos and FK Santa Coloma went out in the 2nd or 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League.

That means the fine coefficient I've been working on as the trendsetters of Andorran football has been dealt a blow. Not sure how big just yet but we'll probably see the league rep fall as well as club reputations. Rubbish. 

[Tullem]

Can't rely on any other Andorran team to do well in Europe! 

[iacovone]

So, given there's no European updates or national team fixtures for me to report on, I thought I'd give you an idea of who the big Andorran sides are signing this season. 

In at No.1 is Alex Roman, a right-back signed by champions Sant Julia for £77k off Liga Adelante side Mirandes. He looks like just a solid addition to the squad if you ask me. 



Next up is Igor Sesma, who moved to Les Bons for an Andorran transfer record! The £475k deal took the former Sociedad youngster from non-league Spanish football to Andorra... This looks like a bad deal to me. 



We move onto Lusitanos's new centre-back, the Italian Massimiliano D'Antonio who swapped Fiorentina for Andorra for a fee of £56k. This looks like a good deal for a very handy defender.



Finally we have FC Encamp's new playmaker, Roberto Larrucea. The 23-year-old pink-haired Spaniard moves from Zaragoza for £240k. He's got nine La Liga appearances under his belt and quite simply looks excellent. I'm jealous!

[iacovone]

Oh in national team news - the new manager has got them off to a flying European League start! Wins in Hungary and at home over Andorra have them sitting on the brink of another promotion! Surely Andorra can't rise to Division B can they?

[PleasedToMichu]

1 minute ago, iacovone said:

Oh in national team news - the new manager has got them off to a flying European League start! Wins in Hungary and at home over Andorra have them sitting on the brink of another promotion! Surely Andorra can't rise to Division B can they?

It's a bit unfair when they get to play themselves isn't it, no wonder they are on for promotion! 

Some interesting signings from the other clubs. I would be jealous of Lurrucea just for his hair alone. 

[iacovone]

2 minutes ago, PleasedToMichu said:

It's a bit unfair when they get to play themselves isn't it, no wonder they are on for promotion! 

Some interesting signings from the other clubs. I would be jealous of Lurrucea just for his hair alone. 

 

Hahaha good spot. Dammit. I meant a home win over Austria - pretty impressive result!

[iacovone]

Thought I'd let you see how the season is shaping up. We flew out of the blocks but have recently lost a couple. The big surprise is seeing Sporting Engordany at the top - they've done nothing for 20 years! Beyond that Sant Julia, Lusitanos and Encamp are all struggling. The European curse, I'm tellin' ya!

[MichaelBrown]

Pas De La Casa

[iacovone]

Sarrio probably won't be ending his career at Levante then 

[oriole01]

Since when does Andorra have a 20-team top league? Is that something that's happened over the course of your game or did it come like that with the database pack? I didn't think there were that many senior clubs in the whole country tbh. 

[iacovone]

1 hour ago, oriole01 said:

Since when does Andorra have a 20-team top league? Is that something that's happened over the course of your game or did it come like that with the database pack? I didn't think there were that many senior clubs in the whole country tbh. 

Ha glad you've been paying attention . It's the database pack I used. In hindsight, I'd have liked to have looked into it more than I did and not just grab the first one I saw. I think claasen's version would have had the proper structure. That said, I've enjoyed the 20-team division - more games has been good for player development, even if seasons do take longer. And yeah, it has most of the senior clubs in the top flight. Division 2 has 11 teams. 

[iacovone]

Big news in Andorran football. Encamp have had a shocking first half of the season and are only 8 points above the relegation zone after finishing 3rd last year. It's led to the sacking of Garcia; the man who's been in charge since 2017!

[tyler16]

Long time no post, but this is fantastic as ever. The extra detail you go to keeping us familiar with the game world is greatly appreciated. 

Some unorganized thoughts (it's 3am after all)...

Amazing how quickly the league is growing. £475K for a player. Huge signs of progress.

Always fascinated by the updates on how former players are getting on. A shame you couldn't bring Velasco back. 

Unrelated, but loving the facepack with every other player resembling Jesus or having pink hair.  

Hope FM sucks you back in from your vacation. Here's to a better domestic season!

 

[abulezz]

Munoz has turned out to be quite the player - can we get a career stats screenshot?

[iacovone]

Thanks for the comments guys, glad you're enjoying the read 

As for Munoz, here's his career stats: 



On top of that he's got a quite incredible 69 goals in 78 caps for Andorra. Whatever he ends up setting (he's still only 28), I doubt that will ever be beaten. 

[Tullem]

Seeing one of your former players (and an Andorran!) go on to score 20+ goals in the PL (in a season) must be a proud moment for you iacovone  

[TheMakeleleRole]

What a fantastic read this has been, I've managed to get through it all over the last 24 hours. The way you write it is entertaining and engaging, with just the right amount of info and screenshots. You had me on board instantly when you nicknamed that early academy product  'The Cutlass'... Thought you could've done something nicknamey with your man 'Le Breton' but no-one's perfect!

A few questions:

1. What is your wage budget compared to the rest of the league? And what's a standard wage for your best players? From the latest screenshots, it looks to be around 3.3k p/w.

2. Tell us about (or show us!) the career of Miguel Castro (YP19a). We didn't get a Castro Watch, but I notice he scored a fair few for the nation team when you were in charge, but we didn't hear much about him after he left the club!

3. Not a question, but more a note on FM16... I noticed that your not-great-stats RB had the highest Av Rat for a few years. Full-back seems to be the big position on this game, with way over-inflated assist stats and therefore higher ratings. I would suggest that may have played a part.

4. Will this reach its natural end around the time FM17 comes out? 

[iacovone]

On 9/16/2016 at 13:11, Tullem said:

Seeing one of your former players (and an Andorran!) go on to score 20+ goals in the PL (in a season) must be a proud moment for you iacovone  

I've just been constantly in awe of Munoz. Love him and yes, to score 20 Premier League goals is superb. Very proud. 

On 9/16/2016 at 15:31, TheMakeleleRole said:

What a fantastic read this has been, I've managed to get through it all over the last 24 hours. The way you write it is entertaining and engaging, with just the right amount of info and screenshots. You had me on board instantly when you nicknamed that early academy product  'The Cutlass'... Thought you could've done something nicknamey with your man 'Le Breton' but no-one's perfect!

A few questions:

1. What is your wage budget compared to the rest of the league? And what's a standard wage for your best players? From the latest screenshots, it looks to be around 3.3k p/w.

2. Tell us about (or show us!) the career of Miguel Castro (YP19a). We didn't get a Castro Watch, but I notice he scored a fair few for the nation team when you were in charge, but we didn't hear much about him after he left the club!

3. Not a question, but more a note on FM16... I noticed that your not-great-stats RB had the highest Av Rat for a few years. Full-back seems to be the big position on this game, with way over-inflated assist stats and therefore higher ratings. I would suggest that may have played a part.

4. Will this reach its natural end around the time FM17 comes out? 

Thanks very much @TheMakeleleRole, really appreciate the kind words, makes it all worthwhile. I'm glad someone enjoyed 'The Cutlass'  

1. Yes, bang on. Our average for our key starters is £3.3k p/w. However, I've pushed the boat out on our star keeper Maximillien Masson (YP28b). He's always open to renewing his contract after the transfer window so although it costs us, it's worth it to get him tied down to fresh five-year-deals. 

2. Haha glad you noticed. For some reason I chose not to track his progress - I guess because it was early on in the save and he didn't have the most inspiring move. That said, he's scored 58 goals in 92 appearances for Andorra, as well as over 100 career league goals. So here's his screenshot and career history!

3. Yes - you're spot on with this observation. My tactic in those years was heavily reliant on marauding full-backs and even though Ortega isn't much good on paper, he thrived.

4. It will, yeah. To be honest, I'm struggling for time at the moment so haven't made much progress recently. It will peter out and as you can tell I won't be winning any European trophies anytime soon! Sad to not make further progress but I'm pleased with what I've produced both on the file and on these forums - it's definitely been one of my more enjoyable saves. Still deciding what to do with FM17 but I reckon there's a strong chance I'll do another youth-only save and try to keep it going all year. No promises just yet though!

[iacovone]

First FC Encamp, now Lusitanos! What a strange season this has been. Two of the three Andorran powerhouses (us being the third) have sacked their manager in 2036-37.