A Tale of Greed - The Slavia Sofia Story

[wynter]

I don't know why I find this save so much fun but it's rapidly consuming any time I spend playing FM. You'll be joining me from the 2nd Season onwards. After a first season of massive highs where we finished 2nd against pre-season expectations of a disappointing 8th. Led by a fantastic cohort of Youth that's injected the club and it's supporters with hopes of ending a 21 year long drought.

Into the 2nd Season we've kept up that momentum, launching a great Europa League campaign.

Setting up a Playoff vs Croatian side Rijeka

Next batch of updates will be more History behind the club, the squad, including transfers in and out that I and the board (Prepare for despair) have conducted and the Europa League Playoff as we target the Group Stage. 

 

[Keano16]

Great first season and good luck with the playoff.

[ManUtd1]

Good luck, man!  Rijeka should be a good matchup.

[wynter]

Who Are Slavia Sofia?

Slavia Sofia are the oldest sporting club in the Capital of Bulgaria, first formed in 1913. The Whites (So many jokes) as they are known operate out of The Slavia, a 24000 capacity stadium, which was under renovations during the first season. From this season on we'll playing out of our home. 

The club have been successful, their greatest period during the 1930's and the early 1940's where they picked up 5 of their 7 titles. 1996 saw them reclaim the first division title for the first time in 53 years.

They haven't won it since. 

(It's also worth noting that they've never been relegated. A staple of the Bulgarian First Division since it's inception.)

The Original Squad

People often throw out the term 'Stacked' and that's exactly what Slavia were at the start of the save. The main players in the team were horrendous of that there's no dispute, but their youth was already just as good and barely scratching the surface of their potential. Almost all of these guys have since been snatched away, quite rightly by bigger sides, but I've been able to keep around most as loans which has been great for our chances.

The one who remains at our club is Stergiakis

Stuck between a 40 year old Keeper/Coach or his 17 year old, slightly worse deputy I bit the bullet and opted for youth. It's paid brilliant dividends. He's already floating about as the deputy of the National Team, and it's only a matter of time before he claims the Number 1 spot for his own. It's also just a matter of time before he likely leaves the club, contract expires in the summer and without silverware he's off.

The Hristov Twins are next on the list.

You ever have that moment where you fight the board to keep a player and they agree, then accept another for a different player and refuse to let you negotiate with them?

That's the Hristov Saga

I in all my infinite wisdom fought the board to hang on Petko, believing I'd be hanging onto Andrea as I simply refused to accept anything for him.

The board agreed to keep Petko and an hour later accepted a bid for Andrea, and because they let me keep one, I couldn't keep both.

One of these players is MUCH better than the other. One left for 1.7 mil, a loan back and 40% of his next fee. The other was stolen from me for 700k and some installments (1.3 total). One decided to play for our arch rivals in the league because to be fair, they're a much better place to be.

For now.

Volkov, sitting behind the two was more willingly moved on at the start of the window, a decision I later regretted when Andrea was cruelly snatched from my nurturing clutches.

He was good, I believed the brothers were better. It was a simple and professional departure and we got 1 million from it.

The last great youth player that has since left us but not really through the power of Loan is Karabelyov

Can play anywhere, do anything and extremely reliable. Would never have been Champions League winning quality, but definitely a player to bridge that gap from Domestic Winner to European Threat, the stage that comes in-between success and the true glory.

Losing them was a harsh blow, but the combined 5.4 Million coming from their sales (I forgot Yomov)

Gave us a chance to do something different, to invest in some new facilities and sign the next batch of youth to immediately replace them and simultaneously play alongside them, because Loans <3.

The New Squad

Yoskov - 300k

Ignore the Striker aspect, he's our Shadow Striker, part of our front 4 and our biggest threat bagging 10/15 goals last year after we signed him over the Winter Window. Still raw, with a lot to be improved upon, but if I'm able to lure it out he's going to be a star.

Ivanov - 450k

Not as good as Andrea, but just as good as Petko with more room to grow. Expect he'll be third choice in their NT for decades, provided he isn't ousted by any quality regens (Already happened, Metodiev has the makings of a god) but he'll hopefully be in our lineup and squad for years.

Tsonev - Free

Lured away from Italy on a free. He's our star, slotted next to Yoskov and our primary playmaker.

Tircoveanu - 775k

Stolen. He's not the most versatile player but keep him in his role, doing what he does best and you'll never look back. Classic No. 10 Material and fills out our 3 CAM line that I've been all over since about a month ago.

Mijailovic - 375k

Injured for another two months, his injury lowered the price though and at 20 he'll definitely be able to get his mojo back fast. Added bonus of him being far better than our other options at RB already so he's straight into the first team the moment he's available.

Kukolj - 120k

Not as impressive as the others, but he had something about him that I liked and I went with my gut. Needs more nurturing than the others, but there's something there.

 

[wynter]

Leg One Slavia vs Rijeka

Clinical. I was happy taking a 0-0 draw, but with the sending off I decided to charge forward, snatching a goal right at the end giving us even more to work with on the Away Trip.

Leg Two Rijeka vs Slavia

Despite our dominance they struck in the first half, locking the tie at 1-1. A through ball into Vukusic and he burned past both our centre backs, slotting into the bottom corner of a one on one. We weren't shaken by it though, chances to snatch that vital away goal were at a premium, controlling 63% of the ball and 9 shots to 3 in the first half, we were well in control and it looked like a matter of time.

How long it was taking made it horrifying though as we entered the 75 minute mark with nothing to show for our dominance.

Dimitrov assesses his options...

Lasers it perfectly through three defenders and Kosovic was off (God I love Partizan).

No mistake made and it's 1-1 13 left to go and Rijeka needing 2 goals to win the tie.

Bring on the Group Stage

[wynter]

I can hardly do English. That's the one thing I like about Europe, though. You don't have to learn any of their languages.

No one knows how Jason Price landed the Coaching Role at Slavia Sofia. The Australian Born manager who lists Diego Simeone as his fashion icon has however seen the club go from strength to strength under his tenure.

Unlike his Argentinian Idol though Price lives by a very different philosophy when it comes to the football.

Price: "I like to the keep the ball, I like to score goals. If we're doing both at once then realistically, nothing should be stopping us."

Easily stated, but not so easily achieved. Especially given his fascination with developing youth in place of buying first team ready players. As seen by the inclusion of Georgi Metodiev, almost a permanent fixture in the starting line-up this season at just the tender age of 16. 

While Price lavishes praise on the potential of his young starlet, whether he or the youth embedded within a squad possessing the average age of just 22 is ready for the rigours of the modern game is questionable. Promising form throughout the Europa League Qualifiers has since diminished into a frustrating lack of goals and an inability to turn draws into wins.

6 points afloat in the league after seven games it would seem that Price should be far more concerned than he appears, appearing the textbook definition of relaxed in the dugout after a nailbiting 2-1 loss to Kobenhavn. A game where they once again dominated the game yet failed to put the ball into the back of the net.

"It's a process." Is all he said in a recent conference, snorting to himself in amusement at a joke that none of the reporters understood.

Could he know something that the rest of Bulgaria doesn't? Time will tell.

[wynter]

Matchday 2

vs

Post-Match Press Conference

Price takes his seat, a sea of confused and stunned faces stare at the Australian manager who leans back into his chair smirking at the journalists who've been criticising him for the whole month. Antonia, bless her soul decides to get questions underway.

"Mr Price says you can ask whatever you wish." She tells them, utterly unsurprised by the generous mood her boss is in.

Silence.

Not even the cameras flash as they take in the presence of the mastermind behind one of the most clinical upsets ever seen on a football field.

He frowns, looking to his secretary.

"Can I go now or..."

Slowly a hand rises among the sea of faces, someone finally stirred into action.

Antonia motions for him to ask his question and the man stands up.

"ESPN FC here." The man says, slightly shaken by the glare the Australian levels him with as he holds the microphone forward, asking the question that everyone has on their mind.

"... How?"

Price grins as he leans forward into the microphone, uttering a word that he wishes will be feared across the football world one day.

"Avarice."

The word jolts the rest of the reporters into action, screaming questions at him as he looks at Antonia already thinking of dinner plans for later in the evening.

I'm feeling very optimistic about European Football for some reason...

So the objectives for this save are less defined than they would be RE: Win the Bulgarian First Div etc;

I'm more interested in the tactical side and especially the focus of trying to keep the ball against any team we come up against. Regardless of how superior they may be to us in terms of skill and ability. I want to keep at least 50% of the ball regardless of opposition, much like the game above and see how being able to control the game, ultimately aids us in terms of whether we're still overwhelmed due to the sheer quality or whether we can turn our own possession into the flurry of chances that the Valencia game saw.

I suppose it's a test of tactics vs skill, but rather than nabbing people on the counter, we're going to try and dominate any game we play, even with the squad we have on hand.

We are targeting a Champions League title of course, but with Greece, Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary and more open. Slavia won't be the sole nation we tackle this challenge from.

 

[LPQR]

oh boy, that's some stacked up young talent right there... where all the bulgarian ones at the club when you started?

[wynter]

5 minutes ago, LPQR said:

oh boy, that's some stacked up young talent right there... where all the bulgarian ones at the club when you started?

Yeah, aside from the notable signings of Yoskov and Ivanov all the guys started there including Stergiakis. 

No real idea why they had that many highly rated players, although as we discussed in the Careers thread most of the main team was trash, so their PA was probably elevated as a result seeing as 4 of those 5* guys haven't been able to make the grade since we invested. 

[LPQR]

that's insane, you'd say Ajax has an offshore satellite in Bulgaria

[Sheriff7]

Good luck!!

[Keano16]

A surprising but amazing result! Now if you'd just hop on a flight to Norway.....

[DodgeeD]

Certainly a promising start - good luck with unearthing the new Stoichkov and putting Bulgaria back on the footballing map!

[john1]

Superb win over Valencia 

[wynter]

17 hours ago, Sheriff7 said:

Good luck!!

Danke Comrade 

17 hours ago, Keano16 said:

A surprising but amazing result! Now if you'd just hop on a flight to Norway.....

I'd probably look at Finland haha, can't just steal your thunder

12 hours ago, DodgeeD said:

Certainly a promising start - good luck with unearthing the new Stoichkov and putting Bulgaria back on the footballing map!

They've got some insanely good prospects, hopefully that resurgence isn't too far out 

10 hours ago, john1 said:

Superb win over Valencia 

Still don't get it. Not complaining though 

[Jimbokav1971]

I love things like the Balkans Club Cup and if I knew how I would re-introduce these things again into the game via the editor, even with much reduced reputations so that clubs wouldn't prioritise them and possibly even just play Youth/Reserves. 

I remember when the Gundo Challenge was 1st introduced, a big pull for Scandi Nations was an inter-Scandi Cup, (can't remember the name), but I have a feeling that it was dropped after 1 couple of issues of the game in real life. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans_Cup

Greece and Turkey are not included in the Balkans in my head, but when you look at a map they are directly South so it's perhaps not as far fetched as it seems. Saying that, I don't think I have ever even heard of Beroe Stara Zagora. (They are regulars in Europe in my game so a bit of a surprise that I haven't heard of them). 

I also quite like the name Bulgarian Soviet Army Cup, and initially I ignored the "Bulgarian" part of the name and had delusions of another inter-Nation Cup competition that was participated by all Nations under Soviet rule. What a competition that would be and almost worth a return to widespread Communism in that part of the World. (Almost is used VERY loosely in that last sentence by the way so please just breathe and ignore me if you are offended) .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_Cup

The 1 thing I can't see however is a pic of a Youth Intake. If you forgot to take 1, even a belated screenshot of the Current Youth Team will do. (15 yo DL looks impressive, as does Metodiev). 

Anyway, well done on a great start and really glad you are enjoying it. Isn't it weird the way that some saves just get you hooked and other are just...... meh!

[Jimbokav1971]

19 hours ago, LPQR said:

oh boy, that's some stacked up young talent right there... where all the bulgarian ones at the club when you started?

I did a little research when this was first raised as it looked buggy and it's not actually at all. 

The issue isn't that the Youth players are rated too highly, (they are still rated highly so don't get me wrong), but they appear so so good because basically the squad that @wynterinherited is all PA and very little CA. The best player at the club, (against which all others are judged), are not that good right now, so of course many of the youngsters are going to reach and even surpass that level. 

It was a really good spot and is probably why the save is so much fun. 

[wynter]

We blitzed them out of the starting gate, and fell away quite harshly in the 2nd half after Dimitrov was sent off the field due to injury. The result we wanted, but the real test will be how we hold up in Away trips to Valencia and Celtic before we host Kobehavn.

Still anything to play for in this group, very difficult to forsee which way it's going to end up going. I want 1st of course, if only because we have a very solid chance of getting the League coefficient up to 15th and an Extra CL place would be great for the league. So long as I somehow manage to navigate it though, I'll be fairly happy.

Botev was the game we needed to kickstart our campaign, 2-1 down with 10 men before we turned it around and played them off the park. Still too tight in the league for my liking, I want more goals. It's a promising sign though.

Youth intake above, Ivanov may seem promising but he isn't worth investing in.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

5 minutes ago, wynter said:

 

Youth intake above, Ivanov may seem promising but he isn't worth investing in.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what makes you think that Ivanov is not worth investing in? He's a 5.0 PA player. I know you have loads already, but how do you know this bloke isn't way better than anything that has gone before him? 

[LPQR]

8 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

If you don't mind me asking, what makes you think that Ivanov is not worth investing in? He's a 5.0 PA player. I know you have loads already, but how do you know this bloke isn't way better than anything that has gone before him? 

agree there, only thing that could make one sure of that is genie scout, i would definitely start developing him asap  

 

3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I did a little research when this was first raised as it looked buggy and it's not actually at all. 

The issue isn't that the Youth players are rated too highly, (they are still rated highly so don't get me wrong), but they appear so so good because basically the squad that @wynterinherited is all PA and very little CA. The best player at the club, (against which all others are judged), are not that good right now, so of course many of the youngsters are going to reach and even surpass that level. 

It was a really good spot and is probably why the save is so much fun. 

yes, of course, it's PA in comparison to the squad. but even so, those kids look amazing by Bulgarian league standards, I mean... I can't remember how many years I had to wait at Sparta just for one as good as that. Well done for the spot indeed, and enjoy the save

[wynter]

5 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

If you don't mind me asking, what makes you think that Ivanov is not worth investing in? He's a 5.0 PA player. I know you have loads already, but how do you know this bloke isn't way better than anything that has gone before him? 

It's a fair question. I guess the basic answer is our squad isn't good enough to blitz the title yet, and if I was to be playing him on the field he'd be a liability, unlike Metodiev who's already more than capable of performing in the league. 

If I was crushing the league and 5 points up I'd  have few qualms about playing him but I still haven't been able to turn our Europe Form into form on the domestic front. Combine that with a lack of capable tutors and I can't develop his mental attributes either. It's a case of, at this point in time, playing him or focusing strongly on his development is more of a hassle than it's worth. At least from my view. 

Would be happy to be proven wrong though, there's just something about him that doesn't inspire me with confidence, gut feeling in essence. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, wynter said:

It's a fair question. I guess the basic answer is our squad isn't good enough to blitz the title yet, and if I was to be playing him on the field he'd be a liability, unlike Metodiev who's already more than capable of performing in the league. 

If I was crushing the league and 5 points up I'd  have few qualms about playing him but I still haven't been able to turn our Europe Form into form on the domestic front. Combine that with a lack of capable tutors and I can't develop his mental attributes either. It's a case of, at this point in time, playing him or focusing strongly on his development is more of a hassle than it's worth. At least from my view. 

Would be happy to be proven wrong though, there's just something about him that doesn't inspire me with confidence, gut feeling in essence. 

So you mean that when you said "wasn't worth investing in", you simply meant that although you would be offering him a contract, you weren't going to be fast-tracking him into the Senior side straight away to push his development? 

[wynter]

8 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

So you mean that when you said "wasn't worth investing in", you simply meant that although you would be offering him a contract, you weren't going to be fast-tracking him into the Senior side straight away to push his development? 

Yeah pretty much, he doesn't look good enough for it just yet. Although I might look at letting him train with the 1st team to see if it does anything worthwhile for him. I probably should have said 'investing in yet' since I'll still look at developing him, it's just that he's not on the list of priorities unlike Meto. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Ahhhh. Now that makes sense. I thought you weren't even offering him a contract. 

I completely get that you don't want to throw him in with the seniors, but was worried that you were going to be discarding him completely. 

[wynter]

3 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Ahhhh. Now that makes sense. I thought you weren't even offering him a contract. 

I completely get that you don't want to throw him in with the seniors, but was worried that you were going to be discarding him completely. 

Oh no. I'm hard to please, but I'm not psychotic 

... At least I hope not 

[wynter]

Sorry for the lack of updates guys! Assessments and Essays took over and unfortunately University comes first haha.

We controlled possession but we made it count for little, fashioning no CCC's. Our discipline was more than a little lax with the sheer amount of fouls we committed and hopefully that doesn't come to bite us with suspensions in the last few games.

Domestically we're back on track and the league is definitely more interesting than it was last year, turning into a 4 way shoot-out between Levski, Ludogorets, CSKA Sofia and ourselves. If the league stays close the Championship stage will be thrilling (Top 6, 10 games at the end of the season).

Dimitar Georgiev is of particular note this season justifying the 17k outlay we made for him last year.

17 games with 10 goals is cracking for an Attacking Midfielder, he's been winning us games singlehandedly both domestically and in Europe. Here's hoping it continues.

[wynter]

Final Day in the Group Stage

So long as we don't lose 5-0 we're through. I think we can manage it.

 

The biggest issue facing the club at the moment is Stergiakis's contract, which expires in 6 months. With no plan to renew unless we win Silverware, we're in a very disadvantageous position given the sheer amount of interest on him which will likely be taken up on in January.

(If he goes to Torino though, I won't complain too much <3)

[noikeee]

Enjoyable thread so far. One of my favourite careers was with CSKA Sofia so I'll be following this. 

[wynter]

Very interesting tie, especially after what we did to Valencia at home. Repeat of that massacre is unlikely though.

A moment of silence as Stergiakis is leaving me </3

[wynter]

I should have buried this tie.

I'll offer a full commentary of Leg 2, slightly irritated with this result even though we really should not be winning these matches yet. Tis an odd feeling.

[ChallengeMeFM]

Good start here and looks like a really interesting save!  Definitely going to keep tabs on this, the future looks bright.  All the best for the away leg against Bilbao!

[wynter]

Leg 2 - Europa League Round of 32

 vs

16th Minute

Williams speeds past the line off a lovely pass by Itturaspe, races into the box as Stergiakis comes out for the One vs One...

SAVED

Tipped past the post for a corner, fended off by Slavia Sofia as they hold onto their lead.

25th Minute

Itturaspe has the ball, Aduriz sees the opportunity...

The through ball bypasses our defence and he's off.

GOAL

1-0 to Athletic, still another half to play.

37th Minute

Machuca forced off the field with a head injury.

Half Time

Holding on, but if things remain as they are we go into Extra time and the advantage is firmly in Bilbao's court. We need a goal.

54th Minute

FREE KICK - SOFIA

Dimitrov to take it...

He hits...

GOAL! Flying into the Top Corner

1-1, 1-2 On aggregate with Away Goals in our favour.

Could we keep them out?

 

... We couldn't.

Poor positioning by Metodiev gave Aduriz another chance at the goal and he buried it past Stergiakis to bring us to 2-1.

Sustained pressure would pay dividends in the 70th as Balienzaga swept past Mijailovic and Aduriz was once again perfectly positioned.

3-1, a Hat-Trick to the great man.

Goodbye Europe, see you next season.

[wynter]

Transfers

Two ins, two players loaned out for development and one released because he started complaining and I really couldn't be bothered to concede to his demands.

Daniel Naumov

Replacment for Stergiakis, young and Bulgarian. He's got plenty of potential to still unlock and plenty of time to bring it out. Looking forward to developing him.

Lazar Vujanic

Deadline day signing. Agent brought him to my attention and well...

I was never saying no to this.

Two Australians have also been paoched from the FFA Centre of Excellence, they join next year.

Banfield looks an interesting striker, will need some tutoring but looking forward to seeing what he does. Cain is the real prospect and one I'm definitely excited for.

[wynter]

Youth Intake

Tomov and Nikolov both look good. Don't know how good they'll get, but I'm optimistic of getting a few seasons out of them. 

[wynter]

Not enough goals. Simple fact and one I've been repeating this whole season. The position we most need to look at in the summer.

10 games left, and with us all having to play each other twice the title could go any conceivable way. All of the top 4 have traded wins and losses against each other this season.

[DodgeeD]

A shame the European dream had to come to an end, but you'll always have Valencia

Good luck in the Championship Stage!

[wynter]

5 Games left, the gap's been closed after a lovely 1-0 win over Ludogorets away from home.

Still, anything less than 5/5 victories will have me nervous, Ludogorets generally don't lose except for when it's against us 

[wynter]

End of Season Update

A near flawless run in. Would it be enough?

We clinched the title in the game against Ludogorets, the final day we went wild and backed it up with a convincing win over Levski to end the season on a high.

Our most impressive stat for the season in my view, utterly dominated in the midfield.

Player of the Season

Valentin Yoskov

40 Appearances, 17 goals, 8 assists 7.32 AR

Bulgarian First Div Player of the Year

Bulgarian First Div Young Player of the Year

Injury prone over the course of the first half of the season hampered him and we suffered as a result. Once he was back in the side and fully fit he was an integral part of our side. Dominance has been costly though with Villareal and Fiorentina taking peeks. Trying my best to keep hold of him though as we mount a tilt for the Champions League Group Stage.

Plans for Next Season

We've brought in two new midfielders as we look to expand our style of play, opening up the flanks.

Ivanov looks a very solid prospect, Petkov needs a bit more work but I can definitely work with both. Added bonus of the fact they're both Bulgarian is also helpful.

Won't be renewing loans for Hristov, Karabelyov or Kosovic, we're going to try and get by with the team we have now.

Aiming for the Champions League Group Stage and a Domestic Double. Consolidating our position as one of the best teams in Bulgaria is a top priority.

[BoxToBox]

What a run in!

[wynter]

[wynter]

On a lighter note...

We're beginning to attract a crowd. League Rep went up to 20th in Europe as Coefficients rose to 17th. Another good Europe Run this year and we might be able to get the league as a whole thriving.

And we Loaned Yoskov back ASAP, board can **** off </3

[wynter]

Season 2018/19 - Transfers

A window where I had to backtrack on some prior goals, but it was necessary if we were going to succeed. We didn't get much money for this window. 500k in total and while selling Tsonev gave us some breathing space there wasn't much actual quality out there to really strengthen our team and move on to the next level.

First Team Signings

As above, we loaned back Yoskov following his signing by Inter. I've decided to bench aspiration of him playing at AMC for now and he's moving up into our striking slot. Ideally he'll be able to score a bagful of goals as our other signings come in and strengthen the team.

Yomov - Loan

The man that renders Yoskov unnecessary in the midfield. Used to be at our club in the first season and Bournemouth didn't want to let him out on loan until this year. Still room to develop and easily into our side as he plays along Vujanic and Tircoveanu. Since signing for us he's also been called into the Bulgarian squad after showing some sensational form in the Champions league Qualifiers.

Karabelyov - Loan

Anyone as good or with the potential to be better than him was outside of our price range. In addition, none of those options would be homegrown either. Back for another season and as he hits 23 next season, maybe we might look at bringing him back permanently if we can acquire the appropriate funds.

Kotev - 170k

Been trying to convince this guy to sign for 2 years, since he first came into the game at CSKA Sofia. Each time he's stated he'd prefer to continue his development with them over us. The League title finally gave us the influence to let him give us a chance and he's been brought into the squad. He does need work, some of his attributes aren't very well suited to his role but I have faith.

Lyaskov - 450k

Little bit pricey, but a significant upgrade on anything we have at Left Back with room to develop.

Ivanov - 185k

A pure out and out winger with a good personality, definitely gives me a dilemma as to what our primary tactic will be this season. Whether we'll flood the midfield again this year, or go for something with a more attacking flavour.

Youth Signings

The Yoskov deal gave us some additonal funds to play with and I decided to rejuvenate the Youth Stocks in the wake of the mass clearout the board has conducted over the past few seasons.

Most notable are Enchev and Simeonov, interesting buys although Simeonov has a little bit of a cloud hanging over his future viability (My AMC role is loaded at the moment.)

Include Elezaj, Nikolov and Zhelyazkov and we're starting to restore our youth stocks. A little more work needs to be done though.

 

On 2017-5-28 at 04:51, DodgeeD said:

Certainly a promising start - good luck with unearthing the new Stoichkov and putting Bulgaria back on the footballing map!

Might have found him already!

Came in through our intake and has been exploding. Currently our 4th choice attacking midfielder and I'm slowly giving him increased gametime vs the Lower First Division teams. Not a pure striker like Stoichkov, but a player you can build the National team around if done right. 

Tactics

Difficult decision this year... Buying Wingers has granted me the option of sticking to our very successful 4-2-3-1 Narrow or instead transitioning into a more goal oriented 4-2-3-1 Wide.

Avarice - Fluid

Shorter Passing, Push Higher Up, Close Down More

Allows me to utterly dominate games sometimes but it comes at the cost of us lacking a bit of a Killer Instinct in front of the goal, sometimes we're just a bit too fancy instead of just burying the chances we create.

4-2-3-1 Wide - Fluid

Push Higher Up, Close Down More, Roam From Positions

Trades off Possession, but increases our threat in front of the opposing goal. Takes games a little less out of our control, but simultaneously gives us the ultimate currency of Goals.

Champions League Update Next.

[wynter]

Champions League Qualifiers

Bit harder than I wanted to fight our way through. Legia was very touch and go, could have easily went behind at home a couple of times but once we got the goal away in Poland we made their life substantially more difficult, a 2nd was great insurance as they leveled in the 92nd minute. Could have been heartbreak otherwise.

Playoff

Probably the worst team we could have drawn out of a field including Basel and Olympiakos.

Leg 1

A tense 0-0 Draw, went for the jugular the moment their man was sent off but we weren't able to get the goal we needed. Not the ideal result given a goal on their end at home would make life very difficult. 

Leg 2

Yomov justified going back instead of looking forward. A brilliant display and we're into the Group Stage.

Our group is a nightmare, but we have made life hell for Spanish Teams every time we've faced them in Europe so maybe we can continue that trend against Atletico. I've already got a story in mind for when Price meets his fashion and managerial icon 

Biggest impact of Group Stage qualification is of course related to our finances though.

Finances are soaring, aided by the fact our wage budget is still only 31k p/w when I have the potential to raise it to 50. Gate receipts for European Matches have been huge, drawing in 400k and our Domestic matches are giving us a strong 50k each week as we attract 10k crowds.

More feel-good news.

[john1]

Tough CL group but nice to see finances have been boosted  

[DodgeeD]

Tomov looks promising - from what I remember about 90s Bulgarian football though, he needs higher aggression to be the next Stoichkov!

[wynter]

One piece of Individual Brilliance and then that second goal. Every aspect of our game showed to its full extent, gorgeous interplay that sliced through their defence like butter.

Little concerned as to how many times Kiev got in on our goal given the difference in possession, but a win is a win and I'll take every one I can get at this stage.

[Benjoe]

Great thread, @wynter! Interesting journey so far and nice talents.

On 28/5/2017 at 10:13, Jimbokav1971 said:

I remember when the Gundo Challenge was 1st introduced, a big pull for Scandi Nations was an inter-Scandi Cup, (can't remember the name), but I have a feeling that it was dropped after 1 couple of issues of the game in real life. 

Just spotted this. If you're referring to a cup that once existed irl. I think you're referring to 'Royal League'. Held three times from 2004/05-2006/07, with Danish dominance as Fck (yuck) won it the first two years, and Brøndby one the last year - making them the reigning champions. 

[Jimbokav1971]

45 minutes ago, Benjoe said:

Great thread, @wynter! Interesting journey so far and nice talents.

Just spotted this. If you're referring to a cup that once existed irl. I think you're referring to 'Royal League'. Held three times from 2004/05-2006/07, with Danish dominance as Fck (yuck) won it the first two years, and Brøndby one the last year - making them the reigning champions. 

Yep. The Royal League was the one.  Never played in it myself, but love the idea of it. 

[wynter]

Just doing some Christmas Shopping, Gheorghe probably not pleased though...

All three are great, but Coman is my main interest.

[wynter]

Estadio La Peineta

“Boss.” 

Diego turns around to look at his assistant. “What’s wrong?” 

“He’s staring at you again.” 

Simeone chances a quick glance to the opposition’s manager, noting with some irritation that they’re decked in exactly the same outfit. Except for the horrendous blue tie the Australian manager is wearing. What man that claims him as his fashion icon would ever be seen wearing dark blue? Utter madness if you asked the Argentine. 

Price immediately looks away as his icon stares at him, focusing instead on the players as the whistle gets ready to blow. 

This time would be different. He and Martin had already discussed it after the debacle in Sofia.

Just shake his hand and move on, just shake his hand and move on, autographs are not proper conduct. Don’t squeal, don’t faint. Price recites in his mind, the instructions clear in his head.

Don’t faint seemed to be the definitive one to focus on this time, waking up at half-time to find his team still at 0-0 hadn’t been the greatest of moments.  After the match Martin had provided the great idea to put it down to exhaustion from studying Atletico so much in the lead up to the game. 

The supporters still hadn’t forgiven him if the Wake-Up Chants were anything to go by. 

Today would be different though. 

Today they’d get a result. 

He’d make his icon proud. 

We should have beaten them. We controlled the game, made the majority of chances and left their side clueless a number of times. A last minute shot clipped the post before it went wide, scuppering our chances of a famous win but we walked out of Madrid with pride.

A great batch of results proving we can play in Europe and with the right additions over the summer window, we might target a run in the Euro Cup. Hopefully a Quarter Final appearance, that being me at my most optimistic.

This shouldn't be a problem.