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"Waalwijk know where we're going, but we don't know what we've RKC'n!"

Deisler26

By Deisler26,
in FM Career Updates

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Deisler26

Deisler26

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22566586548_8936818463.jpg

RKC Waalwijk

2023/24 August Transfer Window Roundup

Results

After last season's disappointment in both the league and cups, I needed to do better this season. So I were given a brief to make the club Qualify for the Champions League, make the UEFA Europa League First Knockout Stage and to make the Semi Final of the KNVB Beker. To do this, I was given a final transfer budget of £40m and a wage budget of £500k.

We kicked off the 2023/24 Eredivisie season at home to AZ Alkmaar. A controlled performance saw us win 2-0. Ezra Walian picking up where he left off last season by netting the first goal. We then faced Roda JC Kerkade away. The pre game buzz was that we hadn't beaten them in five games and not scored in three. So we took great pride in demolishing both those narratives as we thumped them 5-0. Ezra Walian netting two goals in the rout. 

Our attacking juggernault was stopped at home to FC Utrecht, as we drew 0-0 despite dominating the game. Finally in August, Ezra Walian continued his great form by scoring the opener in a 2-0 win over FC Twente Enschede.

Again, due to last season's failures, we were forced to qualify for this season's UEFA Europa League. Our 3rd Qualifying Round adventure started in Denmark at the home of Esbjerg fB. And it was a rout as we stormed past them 5-1 on aggregate, after beating them 4-1 away and 1-0 at home. This put us into the UEFA Europa League Playoff against Videoton of Hungary. And, despite playing a lot of the backup players, we still triumphed 1-0 at home, thanks to a pinpoint volley from the on-fire Ezra Walian. Walian struck again in the away leg to put us 1-0 up and on the way to a 2-1 win. This put us into the Europa League Group Stage.

- Table - Results - Euro Results - 

Transfers

We bought just one first team player this summer. Dutch international defender Karim Rekik was signed on a free from Olympique de Marseille. Also coming in on frees were English midfielder Max Clayton-Robb, Senegalese striker Babucar Faye and the return of Italian midfielder Zakaria Hamadi. These guys would bolster my reserves and backup the first team. Hot goalkeeping prospect Arjan van der Linden was signed from Vitesse Arnhem for £1m. Finally, we brought in three loans. Goalkeeper Mickaël Bernard & midfielder Kylian Langlois came in from A.C Milan and we welcomed Guillaume Dupont back on loan for Paris Saint-Germain for the next two seasons.

First out the door was left wing back Jordy Swinkels. I had no intention of selling him, but for a £1.3m (£1.8m) from FC Augsburg I was happy to left him go. I reluctantly let Mark Schaap go to LOSC Lille to £9.25m (£13.5m). Reluctant sales were a part of this transfer window as Australian striker Liam Berry was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £4.5m. FC Augsburg came a-calling again later on in the window, picking up Icelandic midfielder Julius Magnussen for £1m. Finally, I shipped out forward Brandon Plat for £4.6m (£6m) to AS Nancy-Lorraine. He was going to be an integral part of the team this season, but I was also happy to let him go.

- Transfers -

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Deisler26

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INTERNATIONAL WATCH!

My youth striker Teun Veerman was banging them in for FC Den Bosch on loan, so I put him in the squad for Gibraltar and this happened.. 

Which led to...

32770248943_0ace85e98b_b.jpg 

Again, an easy run and I was getting bored, so...

32770248663_03623ec481_b.jpg 

They finished 3rd in EURO 2024 Qualifying, behind England and Serbia, so it'll be a rare chance to qualify twice for the same tournament!

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Deisler26

Deisler26

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2024 Youth Intake

33637293810_a468e7bfb1_b.jpg 

Full Intake Overview.

First time ever that I have had a player brought in from an affiliate club. Plus we had a banging right back that can be trained as a wing back, plus an AMC who could be my Bergkamp.

DC José Antonio Terol - Will probably go on loan back to Spain and be sold off eventually.

GK Giovanni Quekel - Tim Holder is here to stay, so probably a career backup.

AMC Stavvos Michaildes - Great stats as an AMC, but will try to turn him into Juric's long-term successor.

DR Ronald Kuijpers - Antonio Candela's time at the club is now up...

 

 

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Deisler26

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16 hours ago, padelno91 said:

i wish i could play long term save like this, i just load new saves every now and then because the game just could not keep me interested long enough :(

It took me the longest while, but eventually I found a project I was passionate about.

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Deisler26

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2023/24 KNVB Beker Final

28 April 2024

1800hrs, Mandemakers Stadion, Waalwijk

RKC Waalwijk 2-0 AFC Ajax Amsterdam

A dreary wet late afternoon in Waalwijk heralded the end of the KNVB Beker competition. The team lineup looked like so:

33866668810_562e3e0542.jpg

 

Having seen off SBV Excelsior, Almere City & MVV Maastricht earlier in the competition, we were then matched up with FC Utrecht in the Quarter Final where we sailed into a 3-0 lead, before conceding two in the last 15 minutes and making it a little uncomfortable until we ran out 3-2 winners. Our Semi Final was to be against Helmond Sport. We had a lot of history with them in this competition during my reign. We'd beaten them in the Final for our first ever silverware, but we'd also lost to them two seasons later to end our unbeaten streak in the competition on THEIR way to the Cup. So this was gonna be a battle for the ages and we were not disappointed.

Helmond scored a 25 yard free kick on 15 minutes to put them 1-0 up and we were awful for most of the game. Just when my frustration was reaching it's height, Filip Juric picked up the ball and hit a unbelievable strike into the corner. 1-1. It stayed that way until the very end of First Half Extra Time, as Helmond passed their way through my defence and fired home to give them a 2-1 lead. Fuming, I threw everyone forward and on 117 minutes, a raking ball from the back found a rampaging Doria down the left-hand channel. He took it under control and curled in a dangerous cross which was converted emphatically by that man Filip Juric. 2-2 and that was the end of extra-time. Penalties beckoned and after a great Holder save, Sherel Floranus fired home the winning penalty to take us into the Final, where we would meet AFC Ajax Amsterdam, in a replay from two years ago.

The game started off with a bang. A booking for Ajax in the first minute meant that we had a good attack to start with and Bay's inch perfect through ball found Filip Juric, who lashed it high into the net to make it 1-0 with only 2 minutes gone!! The game was a shock from the start and the dismissal of the Ajax playmaker for a two-footed lunge on Juric on 35 minutes only made things easier. That being said, we still couldn't break them down and they posed a threat on the counter.

It took us until 86 minutes, when Juric escaped the shackles of the opposition right back and ghosted into space. His inside ball to De Boer saw room to feed Candela on the right. He took a few steps and cut back a ball to Filip Juric, who had arrived late in the box. He fired the ball high into the net and we'd sealed the game 2-0.

 

34105694495_1dbfcf32fc_z.jpg33294127053_b398fa36f1_b.jpg

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2023/24 UEFA Europa League Final

22 May 2024

1945hrs, Vodafone Arena, Istanbul

RKC Waalwijk 4-1 FC Schalke 04 

A blustery wet evening in Istanbul seemed a strange venue for revenge, but there we are. The team lineup looked like so:

33866668810_562e3e0542.jpg

We were back after last year's disappointment vs Manchester City. After making it through the Group Stage, we faced Borussia Mönchengladbach in the First Knockout Round and a 2-1 win at home, coupled with a fantastic 3-1 win away saw us through 5-2 on aggregate and into the Second Knockout Round against Stade Rennais FC. A Kylian Langlois penalty just after HT put us ahead in France, but we were pegged back mid way through the half to leave them on level terms at 1-1. However, an Antonio Doria hat-trick in the 4-1 home leg win saw us sail into the Quarter Final 5-2 on aggregate again.

FC Internazionale were to be our Quarter Final opponents and I thought our European adventure had come to an end to be honest. And in the first leg away in Milan, we went 0-2 down midway through the first half, which left me fearing the worst. However, two goals in three minutes from Filip Juric & Antonio Doria tied it up late in the first half and saw us escape Italy with the 2-2 draw and two away goals! The home leg was a tight affair. Antonio Doria scoring just before HT and, despite Inter scoring very late on to ruffle our feathers, we basically smash and grabbed our way into the Semi Final on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate draw.

The Semi Final saw us matched up with Italian opposition again, ACF Fiorentina. It was also the home of our erstwhile midfielder Sami Boucetta. I was hoping to make it an unhappy reunion for him. And a 3-1 win at home, followed with an intelligent 1-1 draw away in Florence saw us through to the Final, 4-2 on aggregate.

The Final was to be against German opposition in the shape of FC Schalke 04, and we had a perfect start as Filip Juric fired home from the edge of the box on 10 minutes to put us up 1-0. However, the lead lasted 9 minutes as the Schalke 04 striker's fizzed shot flicked off the leg of Rekik, taking it beyond the desparing Holder's dive. 1-1.

We restored the lead barely two minutes later. Juric was fouled on the edge of the area and Antonio Doria slammed the resulting free kick into the top corner over the wall. 2-1. On 33 minutes, a corner was swung in and, after chaos in the Schalke box, Karim Rekik stepped up to thunder the ball in from close range to put us 3-1 up and into dreamland.

There was even time in the second half for Markus Bay to put the cap on it with a fierce low shot from the edge of the box to make it 4-1 and give the boys the biggest win of their careers as when 90 minutes was up, we were EUROPA LEAGUE CHAMPIONS.

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33294123713_10083fffb3_b.jpg 33294125003_76634a09ba_b.jpg 

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Deisler26

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Shamelessly bumped for awards season.

And the reason I gave up on this save, was because I'd beaten Barcelona 4-1 in the Super Cup and found it so totally unrealistic (I know, I know) it killed all enthusiasm for the save.

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Pompey1978

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I've been browsing this thread this lunchtime and have concluded that the Dutch 2nd tier is a great place to start life in FM2018.

I've even chosen a club - FC Eindhoven. As PSV's cross-city poor neighbour, it's high time they overtook their illustrious namesake.

Also, according to Wikipedia, they're the longest serving member of the Eerste Divisie (39 years) and next year will mark their 40th consecutive season in that division. Next year is also my 40th birthday. It's a sign, I tell you!

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Deisler26

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21 hours ago, Pompey1978 said:

I've been browsing this thread this lunchtime and have concluded that the Dutch 2nd tier is a great place to start life in FM2018.

I've even chosen a club - FC Eindhoven. As PSV's cross-city poor neighbour, it's high time they overtook their illustrious namesake.

Also, according to Wikipedia, they're the longest serving member of the Eerste Divisie (39 years) and next year will mark their 40th consecutive season in that division. Next year is also my 40th birthday. It's a sign, I tell you!

Good luck then, dude! Hope that you'll do well with them! Get all your money in your youth development and raid Ajax/PSV/Feyenoord as much as possible

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7 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

Good luck then, dude! Hope that you'll do well with them! Get all your money in your youth development and raid Ajax/PSV/Feyenoord as much as possible

From reading your experiences, it seems youth development will be crucial. It's not something I've particularly focused on before so I'm looking forward to that change in playing style too.

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