FM17 Youth Academy Challenge

[MCPlay]

Season 6

Mid-season update

Is this the year?

The league now splits into two halves, and we will play the other top 6 teams twice. We're 10 points clear at the top, but as we're going to have to face TNS twice its could well be only 4 points separating us. TNS' long serving manager and club legend, Craig Harrison, stepped down before the start of the season, and his successor had trouble getting them going in the early days. They have now picked up the pace, and may well win the rest of their games. My boys need to be sharp all the way in if we're going lift the trophy!

[Sn00gle]

smp20 unreal intake

[MCPlay]

@smp20 Great team choice and great start with the amazing intake. Hopefully you'll produce a new Todorov its amazing that we to this day remember his name from a game thats 15 years old

[Braumiller]

Great first intake @smp20!

Good luck @MCPlay - unbeaten in the league to this point!

[smp20]

Cheers @Sn00gle, @Braumiller & @MCPlay - update to follow!

[MCPlay]

Season 6

Transfers | League Table | Season Review

 

Whoomp there it is! We have knocked TNS off of their f*^&ing perch, and it feels so good. Their streak of league titles ended at 9 and hopefully another streak has begun. We kept racking up the points in the last stage of the season and TSN got a chance to close the gap. They did however deny us an unbeaten season by beating us at home in one of the last games, which was annoying as an unbeaten season is an amazing accomplishment.

The season started poorly with us crashing right out of europe against bosnian side Sloboda Tuzla. It then took a turn for the worse when Tim James 2B and Big Mike both suffered long term injuries. Big Mike suffered a heartwrenching ACL tear that saw him sidelined for 9 months. The injuries might have been a blessing in disguise as it made me play my 2 remaining strikers conistently week-in and week-out. They both took amazing steps in their development and destroyed the league. It was a bit of a feelgood story when Big Mike returned to the pitch in April and got into good enough shape to start the Welsh Cup Final against rivals Aberystwyth. He scored and assisted twice which saw him named man of the match, it was probably my favorite moment of the season.

In other news we got to upgrade our junior coaching to excellent, great news for the coming intakes. We spend about 30k a month on the youth-setup, which is an insane amount given my income, but hopefully we will be able to add some money from european competetitions in the years to come. 2 of my best players refused to sign new contracts, which will probably be a bit of a blow next year, but we're just going to have to develop new talent. My star left back who left me last summer was on free transfer all year, but now I see that TNS is interested in him. Hopefully he will get a new club soon.

 

Youth Setup:

Youth Intake

Tom Coates 6A | Richie Smith 6B | Gary Lloyd 6C

 

Not at all what we were looking for this year, the stand-out player Coates 6A looks very promising, but he is a striker were I now am spoilt for choice already. Smith 6B looks like he can become a really good defender, but he has a horrible personality and I won't have anyone to tutor him for several years.

 

Next season:
It will be hard to live up to the hype after a season like this, but we will certainly try. A couple of my best players are leaving, but everyone else should improve, so we will most likely be a better team. However we were really in the zone this year, and its quite possible that we will struggle a bit more next time around. Anything lower than 2nd place is unacceptable, but if TNS return to full strength there is a good chance that they will top us again.

 

TNS watch

Craig Harrison their manager of 8 years, with 8 league trophys and 9 cups to his name resigned in the summer. Their new manager and his preferred 4-4-2 formation served up their worst point tally since the start of the game. They will be looking to strike back, and we must be ready to take them on!

Our record against TNS this year: 3 wins 0 Draws 1 Loss.

 

Player of the Year:

Huw Price 4A

After 7 goals and 2 assists in the league last year, Huw exploded to the tune of 27 goals and 13 assist in 31 league games this year. He relished the opportunity to play 90 minutes every week, an opportunity that arose after the injuries in the summer. Most of his assist came to his poaching partner Richie Morgan 3A who pitched in with 20 goals in 27 league games.

[smp20]

League Table ~ Bulgarian Cup ~ Finances ~ Facilities ~ Transfers ~Player Ratings ~ POTY: Maymunkov

We did it the hard way but we ended up getting promoted back to the top flight at the first time of asking . We started with an injury crisis where several key attacking players (2 wingers and 3 strikers) were affected, which made it difficult to find goals. We finally found some form, but then we went through patches. We were very inconsistent at times. The key turning point to our season was the youth intake, several players immediately found themselves in the first team at 16 years-old and they did not disappoint. I've ended up creating a 4-2(DM)-4 strikerless shape which I will be using next season to utilise our strength on the wings and at AMC.

Player of the season was Maymunkov, who scored and assisted whether he was playing up top or on the wing. I hope he can make the step up. Finance-wise we are looking in good shape. Our very low wage structure has stopped us haemorrhaging money and although at one point we did have over £1m, we're likely to build that back up with new sponsorship coming in soon. It will be interesting to see how we fare in the top league, it's not going to be easy. Ludogorets have just won the league for the 7th season in a row, while CSKA Sofia, Levski and Beroe all look strong.

[smp20]

@MCPlay - congrats on the title win, first of many I'm sure!

[Sn00gle]

@smp20 GREAT job, like allways your reports are great to read for me cant wait for next one!;)  Im jealous wonder when I start my journey with FM17;(

[Sanno11]

@MCPlay Fantastic work mate, great write up. Including TNS watch adds some depth to it. Good luck in Europe next year.

@smp20 I have high expectations whenever I see you start this challenge and you didn't disappoint. It is terrifying how good your team could be in a few years. Good luck in the top division.

[darren1983]

Well after 4 seasons my time in Germany has come and end. With 4 games to go we were 12th on 41 points but only 5 pints clear of the bottom 3, we managed a draw in the next game before losing our final 3 games (against 3 of the top 4) and with results against us we ended 18th on 42 points. Worst part is it's the first one my time here 40 points wasn't enough to stay up

 

Think I'll take a break from this challenge and give Dafuge a go but I will return! Good luck to the rest of you and I'll keep reading your updates.

[smp20]

Thanks @Sn00gle and @Sanno11 for your kind words, hopefully I can deliver like I have done on previous versions! The top division is a big step up it seems.

@darren1983 - that is a gutting way to finish up in Germany

[darren1983]

Yeah @smp20 was gutting, it's my own fault really as tried a new tactic at the start of the season which saw us lose 8 of the first 10 games before going back to my usual 4231 which saw us get 38 points from the next 28 games, just one more draw in any of those opening 10 games and we'd have been safe  

[smp20]

Litex Lovech 2019 Youth Intake

Youth Intake ~ Petkov 19A ~ Evtimov 19B ~ Asenov 19C ~ Dzhorov 19D ~ Penev 19E ~ Mihaylov 19F

Overall, another good intake that is certainly going to help us immediately. Personally, I see Evtimov as the best prospect but if the HOYD really likes Petkov then who am I to argue. The 6 tagged players will add some depth to the first team and I can see them becoming important players 1 or 2 years down the line.

 

[Sn00gle]

@smp20 are you kidding me You are cheating haha Again great intake you cant fail this challenge

[smp20]

31 minutes ago, Sn00gle said:

@smp20 are you kidding me You are cheating haha Again great intake you cant fail this challenge

Haha  - with such a good youth setup it's just a question of raking the talent in and letting them shine. The only downfall may be being able to keep them....

[Sn00gle]

@smp20 That shouldn't be a problem when you get in top 5 teams in League and get some group stages in Europan League.

[smp20]

League Table ~ Finances ~ Facilities ~ Transfers ~ Player Ratings

A gradual climb up the league saw us go from relegation candidates to competing in the Championship stage. I am very happy with how we got on this season, we wre only expected to attempt to avoid relegation. Instead, we came 5th finishing behind the big 4 of Levski, Ludogorets, CSKA Sofia and Beroe. Levski won the title this year, breaking Ludogorets' 7 title-streak. The big 4 seem to be of a different class,, so it's going to take a while to break into, barring any major slips from them. Slavia Sofia won the cup for the 2nd season running but despite this (and embarrassingly thrashing us 5-0) they ended up relegated. We were knocked out of the cup early.

Academy Graduates - Pick of the Bunch

• Georgiev 17A - his technical and mental attributes may be well below the standard, but at 6'6'' he is a beast and he's developed his quickness. He does the business.
• Petrov 18A - he is the heartbeat of the team. He's taken on the roaming playmaker role perfectly and picked up young player and supporter's player in the awards. I hope I can keep hold of him.
• Bosilkov 18B - his development was knocked a bit by a 4-month injury but he has come back fighting. Impressed with him so far.
• Terziev 18C - another youngster blighted by injury early on in the season, he also had a rather hit and miss time on the pitch. There will be more to come from him I'm sure.
• Dimitrov 18D - everyone needs a no-nonsense defensive mid and Dimitrov has provided us with that throughout the season and has developed rapidly. He's a bit fiesty though, 13 yellows and 2 reds!
• Zarev 18E - another one who has improved and has backed this up by performing on the pitch, particularly towards the end of the season.

 

[smp20]

8 minutes ago, Sn00gle said:

@smp20 That shouldn't be a problem when you get in top 5 teams in League and get some group stages in Europan League.

Hopefully not, though at the moment only the top 2 teams get automatic European action and 3rd place goes to a play-off, nothing for 4th/5th. The last spot goes to the cup winners, fingers crossed Bulgaria will go up in the co-efficients.

[Sn00gle]

@smp20 for sure your intakes in Bulgaria >>>>> to my intakes in Poland xD

[smp20]

Well our sponsored income has doubled . We did have around £3m in the bank, but I chose to ask for a training facilities upgrade which was agreed. t's costing us £2.7m . I wish you could see the cost of the facilities upgrades before it's signed off.

[ghost of bury]

Congrats @MCPlay & @smp20! 

Gutted for you @darren1983. If it's any consolation, Dynamo Berlin are one of the more unpopular and controversial clubs in Germany, so maybe it's good riddance haha!

Anybody else playing on FMT? One aspect of the challenge is pretty tough: the youth intakes are tiny! Getting 3 or 4 players max!

[smp20]

Thanks @ghost of bury - I'm using full fat fm myself. I can see that only having 3/4 players per intake can be very limiting for this challenge!

@Duroliponte - those English lower leagues can be a right pain - you've got a difficult start considering your facilities. Fingers crossed you get a lucky gem through soon to help spur you on!

[smp20]

Litex Lovech 2020 Youth Intake

HOYD ~ Youth Intake ~ Kamburov 20A ~ Stoychovski 20B ~ Ushev 20C ~ Iliev 20D ~ Stoilov 20E ~ Ivanov 20F

First of all, we made a huge signing. A new HOYD in the form of David Moss, a million times better than what we could find previously A very strong intake and it was particularly useful to get some first-team-ready attacking options because this season we have struggled to score goals. Kamburov will be re-trained to ML and will provide competition for Zanev, while Stoychovski will have to fight for a first team place in the AMC slot. I am very excited about Ushev as he look like he will be able to make an immediate impact up front. Iliev is the first good keeper we've had come through and Stoilov will provide cover for and soon replace Stefan Petrov.

Board Takeover ~ Petrov Unhappy ~ Petrov Sold

First bit of good news is that I survived a board takeover. We now have Swiss business tycoon in charge, but as of yet he's only invested £160k. Secondly, the inevitable happened, Petrov wanted a move. I held out as long as I could for the right deal and eventually settled on selling for over £5m to Inter, with clauses on top. Good business all round, but he will be sorely missed. 

[oulzac]

Just wanted to say I'm really enjoying reading over these, keep it up guys!

I'll be starting my own soon and will post in here also. I've never done one of these before (challenges), but this one seems really fun. FM17 is only my second FM, so I'm very much still new to FM overall.

[smp20]

13 minutes ago, Duroliponte said:

Cheers for the sympathy @smp20, maybe I'll sell a player to Inter for £5 million one day! Also, you implied that you might be a Cambridge fan, in which case I doubly wish that this is your year.

I certainly am a Cambridge fan, how about yourself? Yeah £5m is mega-bucks, i almost sold him to Liverpool a few weeks before for just over £1m. It'll be interesting to see how he turns out.

[smp20]

7 minutes ago, oulzac said:

Just wanted to say I'm really enjoying reading over these, keep it up guys!

I'll be starting my own soon and will post in here also. I've never done one of these before (challenges), but this one seems really fun. FM17 is only my second FM, so I'm very much still new to FM overall.

Welcome @oulzac - best thing to do is just throw yourself at it . Before you do, research the team that you would like to be, and any league rules etc.

[Braumiller]

Congrats @smp20, great progress!

Finished up my 3rd season last night.  I wrote most of the review from memory at lunch (work has now blocked my ability to log into my home PC - no more FM17 at lunch...) so it has a lot of placeholders waiting to be filled in with actual numbers tonight   (and the screenshots!)

[smp20]

Litex Lovech 2019/20 Season Overview 

Finances ~ Facilities ~ Transfers ~ Player Ratings ~ God-like Petrov

For some reason this time round I didn't receive a season overview message, so I've decided to post up the league table as my image . An improvement on last year, we beat Levski in  the final game to go leapfrog them based on our head-to-head record. Europa League first round here we come! It looks like a great season, however at one point we had only won 1 in 12 games and we were really struggling to score. In fact, no player made it into double figures. However, we picked up form in the end and a few teenagers were key in our attacks, ousting out the old guard.

This was the last season that Stefan Petrov played in a Litex shirt. He's off to Inter in his big money move. He was a cut above the rest of the league and I will be checking on him regularly to see how he's getting on. Could we push for the title next season? Without Petrov it's doubtful, but who knows. I'd be happy to be there or thereabouts again.

[smp20]

22 minutes ago, Duroliponte said:

Of course, God's own club! But on-field events mean I'm trying to take solace in virtual football this season...

@Braumiller That's painful. I hope my employers don't get wise to my remote access activities.

Ah yes, it hasn't been the best  I've only been to 2 games myself, Yeovil at home and Exeter away, so I do boast a 100% record. Perhaps I should go more often...

@Braumiller - look forward to your update

[MCPlay]

Season 7

Transfers | League Table | Season Review

 

Dafabet Welsh Premier League

We played TNS on the first day of the season, a game where we were blown out of the water. It was a statement win for them, and one that saw them sit top of the table for most of the season. Both teams went on a very long unbeaten streak after the game, and when the last part of the season started it was only those three points that separeted us. When we met in the 3rd last game of the season TNS were 1 point ahead of us, but an early red card saw us beating them 3-1 and subsequently cruising in to a second straight title. Champions of Wales again!

Cup runs

We won the mickey mouse cup, without facing real opposition. More silverware for the trophy cabinet. In the Welsh Cup we were humiliated 5-0 in the quarter finals by TNS. Tried fielding reserves in all the cup-matches, except the one against TNS, in retrospect i probably should have just gone with the reserves there too.

Europa

We won our first european tie, besting Dinamo Tblisi in the first round of the Champions League qualifier. After a 2-2 draw at home, we managed to beat them 1-3 in Georgia. We were awarded with a trip to Belarus and a chance to play BATE. BATE is known for their great academy, so it was a chance to measure ourselves against a team we aspire to be like. Both games ended 4-2 in their favor, but we were quite pleased to be able to put 4 goals past their goalie. The home game saw us smash our attendance record when over 8000 people showed up. The game was not played at our stadium, as it can only hold 2600 and probably isn't up to UEFA-standards. Getting our first win in europe was great, and hopefully we'll soon be seeded in the first qualifying round.

 

Youth Setup:

Youth Intake:

Dafydd Davies 7A | Matthew Griffiths 7B | Scott Price 7C

A shallow intake, with the top players in positions where I am currently well covered. But Davies 7A looks like a special talent, possessing technical abilities that few can match in this league. Griffiths 7B might be our next starting goalie if he develops well, and Price 7C could become a good defensive mid for us, although I don't think he will develop into a starter. After those three guys there was nothing that looked promising on first sight, but youngsters have surprised me before. Our reserves won their league and the U19s celebrated a double, so the academy has started showing its dominance on all levels.

 

Notable events

We got permission for both an upgrade to the training facilities and the youth facilities on the back of our european cash in the summer. These upgrades unfortunatly fell through due to lack of money in May. Next year I'll try to only upgrade one of them, hoping that it will get done.

 

TNS watch

They had their best european campaign, getting knocked out by Feyenoord in the 3rd round of the Europa League qualifier. Great news for welsh football, we need these guys to win as many games as possible in europe to help us raise the coefficient and the reputation of the league. When the season started they were ready to fight for the ltrophy, beating us 2-0 on the first day of the season. They went undefeated for a long stretch of the season, but faltered a little bit in the run-in, and we snuck past them. For the first time they didnt get the top goalscorer, but Ball scored 22 and Uche 25. They are still young, so they'll keep banging goals in for years to come. As you can see from the screenshots they are great strikers, but it feels like my guys are closing the gap on them. They won the Nathaniel MG cup aka the Official Welsh Mickey Mouse Cup.

Our record against TNS this year: 2 wins 1 Draw 2 Lost.

 

Big Mike watch

Big Mike has become a cult hero in Haverfordwest, he was never highly touted in the academy and none of the coaches ever told me he had much potential. But I really took a liking to the big fella, and even though his abilities dont match his height he has consistently payed back my trust. Last year he missed the entire year with an ACL-tear, only to fight his way back ahead of schedule and get motm in the cup-final. This year he was able to lead the league in assist, most of them flick-throughs or headers to his poaching buddies up top. This was quite the accomplishment seeing as he only started 8 games, and played in 26. This will be a regular segment of my season review from here on out, as we love the big fella in Haversfordwest, and he deserves to get the attention.

Player of the Year:

Huw Price 4A

Back-2-back poty-award for Huw, and although he had a great season last year he went crazy this year. 33 goals and 10 assist in 28 league games with an average rating of 8.01is absurd numbers. He signed a new contract which keeps him here for at least 2 more season, GREAT news. My other goal machine Morgan 3D bagged 20 goals in 23 league games, with 9 assist. Gavin Griffiths 3C might just be our best player, quarterbacking the team from a deep-lying playmaker position, and pinging balls behind the enemy line our on the head of Big Mike. Unfortunatly it seems he will be leaving us now, as his contract is up and he wont sign an extension

[Braumiller]

League Table - Squad - Results - Finance - End of Season Awards - Season Review - Injury Report - Transfers

League
A final position that looks a LOT better than last year!  We were never truly in a safe place until 3 games to go, but we didn't cause constant heart attacks all year long this time!  Digging a little deeper we still have very real issues, the second worst defense in the league for example, but the team grew this year.
We started with a brand new formation and it was an odd start to the season, losing 7 of our first 10 home games.  In contrast, away from home we only lost once in our first 7 trips.  We were getting hammered on the counter at home, so we tightened up our set pieces (sat 4 back to slow down the counters when our set pieces broke down) and sacrificed our AMC for an Anchor Man.
We finally had a settled formation by the last 8 games of the season, where we won 4 and lost 4.  We got hammered in two of those, by the league champions and by the team who finished 3rd (and lost in the promotion playoff).  Hoping we can solve that issue going forward!

Key Players
Florian Ruter - Played great as a playmaker in the AMC role, before we had to sacrifice it to try and stabilize the tactic.  Still played great at MC.
Tobias Haitz - Solid at DL and enjoyed it when given a more adventurous role after the Anchor Man was deployed and AMC withdrawn.
Nerciwan Khalil Mohammad - An unsung hero of the squad.  Chipped in with a few goals and more assists than my memory gave him credit for!
Aleksander Winkler 2017-D - Made the right back spot his own this year.  Not great technically, but covers up for it well.
Jan-Christian Maletzki 2017-C - The second youth in my back 4 , JC has grown nicely.  Attracting attention in transfer windows, I have managed to repel them for now.

Domestic Cups
At home to Bundesliga Mainz, we played very well, holding them to 1-1 in extra time until a 113th minute winner finally undid us

Europe
Nope!

Youth Development
Intake 2020
Daniel Cullman 2020-A - Our first forward of note to come through the youth setup.  I like the look of him and two interesting player traits to start off with!
Marcel Brehme 2020-B - A right back with some versatility.
Josh Tonianse 2020-C - An attacking midfielder of promise.  Currently not playing anyone in the AM strata, but who knows by the time he is first team eligible!
Roy Amberge 2020-D - Our second right back prospect this year.  Will find it tough to break through
Christian Gerhards 2020-E - This years youth GK prospect!
Adrian Frische 2020-F - A right sided midfielder with only a left foot!  Some retraining to do here!

Finances
Great again!  7.8m in league prize money this year and thankfully no major player sales.
We had a lot of interest in Dragan Marinkovic 2017-A and Jan-Christian Maletzji 2017-C in the January window, but we fended everyone off.  Both handed in transfer requests during the month and both were rejected.  This caused them to be unhappy and thankfully only two others in support of Dragan.  Once the window closed and the interest vanished they both fell back in line *phew*

Infrastructure
Our double youth & training upgrades finished during the season and we got a late junior coaching upgrade as well.  Once the prize money came in we started another youth facility upgrade (costing 3.8m on its own!).  We had the board option to ask for a training upgrade as well, but holding off until next summer for that one.

Overall
Definitely a positive after last year.  Speaking of which, our luck last year was highlighted again, as our 30 point haul would have seen us finished dead last this year and automatic relegation!
Next season should prove to be interesting.  Our first youths are growing nicely into first teamers, and our next batch hit.  All of the 2019 class are now available for selection in the first team, as is Gianni Quercetti 2018-A finally!  After missing out on being available this season by 7 days.

Season 04 Targets

Same again.  As mentioned, by choice and by circumstance, we will be playing a lot more youths this coming season.  Some should take to it like a duck to water, but others I am unsure of.  We are growing nicely, but we are playing more kids.  We may grow a little or we may regress a little.  I just hope it is not a big step backwards if it is one.

[MCPlay]

 

I was supposed to go to bed 2 hours ago, but wasn't able to put the game away. We beat a team from Malta and then a great win against Maribor allowed us a chance to face the giants of Switzerland Basel, in the 3rd qualifying round of the CL. Their highest paid player earns 7 times more than my entire squad and staff combined. After a late goal they went home to Switzerland with a 2-1 lead after a suprisingly close affair in Wales.

I never thought we had a snowballs chance in hell of getting something out of the away game, but holy mother of the welsh gods we did it. Huw Price 4A gave us the lead on the first real chance of the game in the 62nd minute and Richie Morgan 3D put away our second chance of the game in the 82nd. I was shaking for the last 10 minutes of the game, but they never got closer than hitting the post, when the ref blew his whistle I almost cried with joy. Never in a million years had i thought we could do this so soon, now we are secured group stage european football no matter what happens in the last round. This game is incredble.

"Fotball eh, bloody hell"  -Sir Alex Ferguson

 

[MCPlay]

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?!?! 7 goals by Huw Price 4A. We score with out first 6 shots on goal. They score 5 times after going down to 10 men. This is by far the craziest match I've played in my 16 years of CM/FM. They may still knock us out in the home game, but this game will live on forever. Speechless

[brenosantos]

Sacked with Stuttgarter Kickers after a predictable relegation. I'm a mess in this game.

Now I'm going to Hungary, let's see if I'll have more luck this time.

[brenosantos]

@MCPlay all I want as a FM player is a game like this! Amazing!

[MCPlay]

5-5... What his happening in this world?? The home game ended at 5-5, and we are through to the Champions League. Huw Price 4A continued his superhuman form and grabbed a hat-trick, before tearing his achilles and showing (thankfully) that he is not an alien. Devastating injury, but if he retires at this moment he will still be one of the greatest welsh footballers to have ever lived.

How we did this I have no idea, we were completely unable to defend against FC København, they produced chances left and right, but somehow someway we did the same. I am going to bed now, 3 hours too late. Probably won't be able to sleep, my body is shivering from the adrenalin pumping through my veins. Spare me a thought tomorrow, it's going to be a long day at work

[oulzac]

@MCPlay I love it. Euro games always seem to be a little crazy in my limited experience. But 12-10 agg is bonkers.

[druvo]

@smp20 - Very nice season. Shame about losing Petrov because he truly looks amazing.

@Braumiller - Looking good. Seems like you're set for life money-wise once you establish yourself in the second divison. Good intake too.

@MCPlay - Some great games there. Your strikers sure seem to be effective. Hopefully that CL-money can be used for a youth facility upgrade (or 3).

[druvo]

TSC Backa Topola - Season 2

League - Squad - Transfers - Season review - End of season awards - Fixtures

Season review
We did it. All season we were around the promotion spots but could never go on a winning run to separate us from the pack. Thankfully neither could the others. Things got very frustrating near the end of the season as we kept dropping points in important games and with two games to go we were in third place, three points behind Borac and two behind Sloboda. We drew the first game and I had my mind set on next season already but then I found out that the teams ahead of me also drew. Interestingly, my last game was going to be at home to Sloboda in what would be the decisive game in the promotion battle (top 2 gets promoted). The first half was tense and not much happened but in the second half Nenad Perovic scored a quick brace for us and we resorted to counter attacks. They couldn't break us down until it was too late and we even scored two more and beat them 4-1. We even passed Borac because apparently results between teams has higher priority than goal difference in the Serbian first league.

Top performers
1. Vladimir Siladji: Siladji was even better this year in his Shadow striker role. 15 goals and 13 assists in the league.
2. Dusan Danojevic: Another solid season from Danojevic. He's almost 32 now so in a few years I'll need a replacement.
3. Bojan Kremenovic: Our best CB by far now so he has a big burden on his shoulders. He's only 23 so hopefully he can still improve. 
4. Dejan Rahic: A very dependable CM. He's our main free-kick taker and has scored some nice ones.
5. Nemanja Jorgic: Our goalkeeper who saved us plenty of times this season. Still got a few years left!

Youth intake
A nice intake this year after the poor one last year. All the biggest prospects are CMs though but since I use 3 of them at the moment that's alright. Hoping for a little more variety next year.

Maikel de Jong (19A): The best prospect this year is a dutch-serbian CM with great passing and long shots. The only dutch connection in my team is Zenden as coach so his nationality was surprising. He will get many chances next season.
Róbert Varga (19B): Varga (my 4th Varga, popular Hungarian name I'd guess) is also a CM but he can also play as CAM which is where I'll try him next season.
Zsolt Gyarmati (19C): Another CM, a slightly more physical one this time. He will start the season with the U19s and we will see what happens.
Dávid Ágoston (19D): A CB/RB. Looks slightly more suited to RB at the moment but he's very far from being considered.
Zsolt Kiss (19E): A quick hard working striker. Will spend the season with the U19s.

Finances
It's looking alright at the moment. Right after we recieved our prize money for finishing 4th last season I asked the board to upgrade the youth facilities, which they agreed to! Then right after this season finished I found out that the club had signed a new kit sponsorship deal worth £569k per season (previous was around £150k). Because of that boost I once again asked the board to upgrade the youth facilities, which once again they agreed to! I also managed to get a junior coaching upgrade during contract negotiations so things are looking pretty good already. I have no idea what kind of money I can expect in the SuperLeague (which is the highest in Serbia) so time will tell.

Goals before season
*Top half - Success

Next season
Next season was going to be the season where I try to integrate lots of kids to get them ready to take over, probably at the expense of results. Now with the promotion my plans will have to change a bit because while I need to start integrating the kids, I also need to do my absolute best to avoid relegation to keep my job. It will be an interesting season and the only goal is to avoid relegation.

[oulzac]

Vanlose IF 2017-2018

Manager Profile  |  Club Background  |  Facilities  | Budget |  Transfers

I started trying to do this in Norway. But after having too many issues with how the game handles the league change, I gave up. And then landed on Denmark. I didn't have any team in mind when starting this. I just love how Denmark is setup. It came down to this, Iceland (which I also love their setup) or randomly picking a league I've never played in before. Upon figuring this will be a difficult challenge for me most likely, I went with the country I've been playing with in the beta so far. Since I'm already very familiar with the rules. I ended up going with Vanlose Idraets Forening due to them having a not completely horrible setup to start with. The other three teams that were promoted into 2. Division either had one really good facility and one absolute worst level facility, or they had two. Since V.I.F. had basic for everything, and I liked the background (and the kits), I decided on them.  V.I.F. made it into the top flight in the mid 70's, only lasting for two seasons. But in that first season they accomplished the biggest achievement in club history. They won the DBU Pokalen (Danish League Cup).  Now I'm going to try and add to that.

*I've started over as I signed a keeper, I rolled back my save and am now pushing on with two virtual greyed out keepers on the first team*

I overlooked something. I didn't notice this until after spending hours of setting this up. So I am breaking one of the rules, just to get this off the ground. I hope you guys don't mind (also why transfers has an *). I had to sign two goalkeepers on a free. Because, as you can see here the first team had zero keepers. Oh but what about the reserve team, the good ole B team you ask. None for them either. Okay, but surely the U19 squad has at least one keeper right? Nope. This team had zero keepers. Well, they had four. (NOW have 6 virtual keepers!) But all four were virtual players, and not usable in the first team. And then realizing that I forgot to use the add players option, and not wanting to start all over again. As I've now spent hours getting this started. I decided to sign two keepers (as the league rules require one on the bench) on a free. So shame me if you want. But it was a necessary evil. I'll replace them at the first chance with a youth keeper.

UPDATED First Team Roster with virtual keepers and updated Transfer Screen.

Key First Team Players (not trained at V.I.F.): Jacob Hilstrom | Christian Thorup | Tim Risvig
From V.I.F. academy: Emil Carlsen | Jacob Kristiansen 17A

I promoted Kristiansen to first team from the U19's as we were severely lacking in central defenders. I also kicked up a left back from the B team.

Staff: Assistant Manager | DoF | HoYD | Only Coach

And after only being the job for a few days, I convinced the board to send me on my first coaching course.

[Muttley84]

Sassari Torres - 5th Season? Or who is counting anyways

This is it. This is gonna be our season. We are gonna get promoted, upgrade the facilities, have a great youth intake, the players will develop nicely and we will become the dominant force in Sardinia, then Italy, then Europe... then my alarm clock wake me up. 

An up and down season. We finished in 6th, the highest we ever done in the League Table and that was enough to qualify us for the Play-offs. We passed on by one (though one might argue there were some scrappy wins now and then) Muravera, Como, Ternana, Teramo and stopped all the way in the final where we lost on penalties to Spal. Heart-breaking season. And to top it all, our best player and youth prospect decided to leave the club because we are not aiming high enough for his ambitions. After two weeks he signs with Como - the team we eliminated in the play-offs. Talk about aiming high, huh Fusco?

The usual youth intake for FMTouch and this career. 4 players and all in positions we already had a bit of cover, stated retraining as we speak. Another interesting thing, we went through a takeover this season. No upgrades with the new board either, but expecting them to be either pumping money in the club or firing me for no promotion (though each season we had the objective to fight bravely against relegation). Now, maybe, just maybe next season...

History
2017/18  - 17th in Lega Pro C - Not in TIM Cup - 3rd Round Coppa Lega Pro 
2018/19  - 15th in Lega Pro C - Not in TIM Cup - 2nd Round Coppa Lega Pro 
2019/20 - 11th in Lega Pro C - Not in TIM Cup - 1st Round Coppa Lega Pro 
2020/21 - 7th in Lega Pro C - Not in TIM Cup - 1st Round Coppa Lega Pro 
2021/22 - 6th in Lega Pro C - 1st Qf Round TIM Cup - 1st Round Coppa Lega Pro

[Sanno11]

@druvo Great season, congratulations. Good luck in the top division.

@MCPlay That's amazing, your updates are brilliant, each one captures your utter disbelief at what is happening. Good luck in the champions league!!!

@Muttley84 Heartbreaking to lose in the final mate. Fingers crossed next year you just have a little bit more luck.

[Sanno11]

Ilkeston FC Season 1

League | Squad | Finances | Transfers | Youth Intake| Results 1 | Results 2

Season Overview

An amazing first season that almost ended in glory. After assessing the squad, it was clear we had lots of pace out wide, but limited technical ability across the squad. I set up Ilkeston to try and take advantage of that, whilst protecting the weak spots. I opted for a direct 4-4-2, taking inspiration from Leicester. My aim for the season was to survive, with our good youth set up, I am confident in a few years time we will have a strong squad.

We began the season really well winning 5 from the opening 7 games and scored plenty of goals, Dexter Atkinson really took advantage of the oppositions often high defensive line. Our form, to my surprise held fairly well and we entered November in the play off hunt. Our only real blip this season occurred over the winter period, we managed only 2 wins from 9 games. Our morale remained good though as we slowly drifted to around 8th position in the league. I made the decision to adjust our style of play to reflect the respect teams were now showing us, we were finding a lot less space in behind opposition defences. With this new positive approach Ilkeston went on what is simply the best run I have ever experienced playing this game, we won 12 of the last 16 games, including 8 in a row. We began moving steadily up the league. I started believing in the impossible. We secured a playoff spot with 3 games to go. Then with the title within our grasp we faulted at home to Boston, only managing a draw. We unfortunately followed this up with another draw away to Nuneaton. This ended the title dreams (FC United went 4 points clear). A strong home win in the final game saw us finish second. We played Chorley in the playoff semi final and well, they were clinical and while their 3-1 defeat of us in the first leg didn't rule out a comeback, we squandered too many chances over both legs and their 1-0 win at our place sealed our fate.

A brilliant season for us and one that even with the disappointment at the end is still a massive success. We managed two wins in the FA cup and one in the FA trophy.

 

Top Performers

Ross Durrant: An exceptional keeper at this level and remarkably consistent. He is refusing to sign a new contract and so I think he is destined for bigger things

Dexter Atkinson: Played as an advanced forward and had a great season, He was deadly running on to through balls, scoring 26 goals in all competitions and 9 assists

Mark Shelton: Our advanced play maker, was just consistent, we were very shallow in midfield and although he didn't assist as many as I expected to start 46 games during the season was invaluable.

 

Youth Intake

A great first intake and one of many I hope at Ilkeston. The benefits of our adequate junior coaching are evident here with several players all capable of contributing to the first team immediately.

James Magill (YP18a) A much needed centre back, will need some polishing but is arguably my best defender already.

Ross Hope (YP18b) A pacy player, who can play out wide or up top. I used him in as a deep lying forward and he scored 4 goals in his 11 appearances, which is very encouraging

Derrick Gibbons (YP18c):A goalkeeper who, can fight for the first team spot with Durrant leaving. Weak in the air and no better than my current back ups.

 

Club overview

We did not manage any upgrades this year, though not for the lack of trying. The club already has a good set up for this level and so we are OK for a few years at least. An unexpected positive from this season was our relatively stable finances, we ended the season with a small profit (24K) which judging by others playing in England is not to be laughed at.

We are only losing two players against my will. Durrant as mentioned above and my talented right back. Both believe they are too good for Ilkeston. With promotion maybe we would have kept them, but we will never know. We do at least have replacements.

 

Summary

As I told a journalist after the playoff loss, we will just have to go again. We have far exceeded my expectations this season so I am not going to sit around and regret what might have been. I just hope we can continue this form into next season and I would hope at least reach the playoffs again.

 

 

[Black and Yellow]

On 27/10/2016 at 16:42, MCPlay said:

Unfortunatly I am unable to offer part-time contracts at all. Only non-contracts. Though it was weird given the clubs semi-professional status, but I see that all the players in the division are on non-contracts. Still I think it's a bit weird that the other teams are so aggressive in signing my players, most of the players are even going to teams that are in the divisions below us even. Will probably restart in Wales if there are part-time contracts there. Sucks to have "wasted" an entire season though, was almost promoted aswell

Not sure if I am too late here but were you offering them new non-contracts each time a bid came in? In NI it appears you don't get to offer part-time deals until you hit the Premiership, so it is a case of offering non-contract terms and hoping the players will stick with you!

edit: just seen that I am too late...some fixture against Kobenhavn!!!

edit 2: I have just holidayed until the 5th June (trying to get Austria).. however it hasn't reset on the 6th? Or have I missed something?!

[Muttley84]

End of the Journey. My fault actually, as i tried to go for a poker-esque approach of all-in. Got rid of all players which were not from youth intakes but 3 of them and forced the youths in the first eleven. The tactic backfired on me as we gathered to few point and the board fired me.

I think I will be back on this challenge, but not in Italy anymore... I think I will go to some more obscure country in the east or somewhere where I can find a strong connection :). See you soon.

[oulzac]

@Duroliponte I couldn't move the greyed out ones up, no interaction at all. Will the game add two of them to the main team eventually? It hadn't three days before my first friendly, which is why I panicked and signed two keepers. If it does, I'll roll back the save.

EDIT: I rolled my save back to the very first day, and push on again. The game did add two greyed out GK's to the first team on the day of the game. So I will continue with this and edit my first post.

[Dan BHTFC]

Was hoping to get Santa Claus in Finland but unfortunately after many loads I cannot seem to get them!

[MCPlay]

@Black and Yellow Tried the method you are describing, but didn't have any luck with it. The person who perseveres and climbs to the top in Northern Ireland will have my eternal admiration. Think you have to be a borderline masochist to do it though

[oulzac]

As @Duroliponte pointed out, I should have used virtual keepers. So I have rolled my save back to the first day. And will now be moving forward with two virtual keepers in the first team. I updated my first post to reflect this with new screen shots. I'm so totally going to get fired.

EDIT: Interestingly enough, after the first friendly, the two virtual players were removed from the squad. And then on the day of the second, two different ones were added. This should be fun.