RPM13 Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Welcome to FC Kotayk Abovyan, the most famous team in all of Abovyan (with its massive population of about 44 000). Why are we here, in Armenia, you may ask. Some of you may remember a vote that I did several months ago for my next FM save. Since then, and after a 5 month long break from the game, I'm back with the newest version of the game and am ready to make all of Armenian football better. Plan for the save Get promoted to the Armenian High League Qualify for European football Achieve dominance within Armenia Improve the league's reputation through European performances Improve other teams in the league to be make other teams competitive in Europe Make the Armenian High League the most famous league in the world Disclaimer: I'm using a skin with Instant Result, so when we attain dominance in the league, I will probably IR the majority of league matches Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted July 24, 2017 Author Share Posted July 24, 2017 Club History FM doesn't really do a great job of describing Kotyak's history... It does, however, do a better job than I would. So I guess we'll have to go with what Wikipedia says: Founded in 1955, Kotayk was one of the oldest football clubs in Armenia. After playing several years in the Armenian SSR League as well as the Soviet First League, Kotayk made their debut in the Armenian Premier League in 1992. They participated in the European Cups for the first time in 1996–97. In the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winning 1–0 at home against AEK Larnaca from Cyprus. After losing the 2nd leg away from home with a result of 0–5, they were eliminated. However, the club was dissolved in 2005 due to both financial and non-financial shortcomings. In June 2016, many Armenian football websites announced that the club will return to professional football with the assistance of many contributors from the Kotayk Province, under the management of Samvel Petrosyan. After playing few games in the Armenian First League, the club was forced to leave the competition due to financial difficulties. So basically, I'm managing a club that no longer exists and trying to take them to European glory. This is like create-a-club except I didn't have to do anything. The lazy man's create-a-club! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted July 24, 2017 Author Share Posted July 24, 2017 Tactics One of my goals for the save is to give Armenian football its own distinct style. Just like Spain has Tiki Taka and the Italians have Catenaccio , I want Armenia to be known for (OK, I don't have a name for it yet, but when I do, it will be known for that style). While Tiki Taka has been accused of being boring because of its nature of keeping possession for possession's sake and Catenaccio has also been called boring because it is a defensive style, the Armenian style of play will not be boring. The team in the attacking phase In THOG's Tacticians handbook, he outlines the 7 principals of attack: penetration, possession, depth, width, support, mobility, and improvisation. In terms of these principals, to create the style I am looking for, I will be prioritizing penetration, mobility and improvisation. Penetration will hopefully allow us to carve through opposition with ease while mobility will make this easier for us. Allowing players the freedom to improvise will allow us to break down teams that may be parking the bus against us (and who doesn't like to watch Neymar pull off ridiculous skills).As a formation in the attacking phase, this is along the lines of what I'm thinking for a rough shape: At the back will be two standard center backs with the defensive midfielder providing cover for all the players that will be shooting forward. The left back will move up the pitch to provide support for the left midfielder who will run up the wing and provide the width on the left as well as playing crosses into the box. The right back will run up the wing, overlapping the right midfielder to provide the width on the right. The central midfielder on the left will move up the pitch to provide support for the striker so he isn't isolated and will hopefully make some runs into the box. The central midfielder on the right will sit in the space between the DM, LCM, RM, and RB and provide cover for the right back if he is caught too far up the pitch. The right midfielder will cut inside to provide support for the striker in addition to being another potential goalscorer. Lastly, the striker will spearhead the attack and push the opposition defense back to provide more space for the LCM and RM Updates will follow with the tactic in the transition and attacking phases and I have just realized that I was an absolute idiot with the central midfielders and central defenders. I knew my right from left with the other positions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted July 25, 2017 Author Share Posted July 25, 2017 Tactics The team in the defensive and transition phases In his tactician's handbook, THOG also outlines the 7 principals of defense. These are as follows: delay, pressure, compression, balance, cover, consolidation, and restraint. The main three I will be focusing on with this tactic are pressure, balance and restraint. This may not make any sense with using pressure with the other two, however bear with me. With this tactic, I want to play a counter pressing system where the four most advanced players in the attacking phase according to the rough formation I outlined in the previous post pressure the opposition to make a mistake so we can regain possession quickly. If we don't gain possession quickly, I want the team to sit back and not over-commit so we can retain our shape. The 4 players that I want to press the opposition are the striker as well as the left, right and central left midfielders. I don't want the central right midfielder to press high up the pitch because he is the player covering the right back and I don't want the right back pressing because I want him busting a gut to get back into his defensive position. So now I guess it's time for me to show you what my in-game tactic looks like: I have additional player instructions set on some players to make them play more like I want them to these are: Striker: mark tighter; close down much more Left midfielder: mark tighter; cross more often; run wide with ball; stay wider; close down much more Left central midfielder: mark tighter; get further forward; close down much more Right midfielder: dribble more; mark tighter; cut inside with ball; cross less often; close down much more Goalkeeper: distribute to center backs; roll it out If you have any ideas on how this tactic could be improved, feel free to tell me. I'm more than willing to consider any suggestions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted July 25, 2017 Author Share Posted July 25, 2017 Squad The first thing I notice with this squad is the complete lack of players who can play in central midfield or defensive midfield. We don't even have one! Two of our best players also play in the same position and it isn't even a position that I use in my system. I have created a system that is identical to the other except the roles are switched to the other side to suit these players more. Avetik Arakelyan is currently being retrained to play M(R) in the role that is more similar to a winger and Aram Minasyan is being retrained to play on the left in the inside forward-like role. We have a good first-choice striker, but we have absolutely no depth with our second best striker rated at only one star. The situation is similar at both center back and left back with decent first-choice options but no depth. In addition to having no CMs or DMs, we don't have great options at either GK or left back. The upcoming transfer window should be fun as I'm looking for a backup striker, at least two decent central midfielders, two defensive midfielders, a starting left back, and a starting goalkeeper. All this and almost no time to scout. Yay Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted July 25, 2017 Author Share Posted July 25, 2017 Preseason So that didn't exactly go according to plan with only 4 goals scored in 6 matches. I was however working on signing players throughout preseason with most being signed after the last match. The first two matches were against two of the top 4 teams in the country so to score 2 was actually really good. After that, though, all our matches were against lower league opposition so to lose 3-0 to Ulisses was very poor. Fortunately, since then I've strengthened the team a lot so I'm optimistic for the coming season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted July 25, 2017 Author Share Posted July 25, 2017 Transfers Of the transfers that I wanted to get from the "Squad" post, I only failed to get a backup striker. All these transfers took their toll on the wage budget that I had. At the start of the season, the board gave me a massive $25/week wage budget. After having that budget raised to $35/week, I'm still $25/week over. As a result of that, the board confidence regarding club finances is a measly 8%. This is the first of the 6 signings that made my 2 center backs who were previously stars at the team below average. This one was unexpected, but I really liked his physicals and he only wanted $3 per appearance. He performed really well in preseason despite the team's poor performances (we won't mention the own goal that he scored against Ulisses). He was the only one who was signed before the end of preseason. This is the first of two defensive midfielders that we signed and once again, I really like his physicals. He will be first choice at center mid because we're short of quality there, but he will also he backup at defensive mid. We're giving him $10 per appearance and $5 per goal. He is the weakest signing of the transfer window according to the coaches, but I still really like the look of him with both his attacking and defensive attributes. We were in desperate need of a wingback on the left and I think he is the short-term answer. We also have the added bonus that he can play at left midfield as well. He also comes in relatively cheap at $4 per appearance. I prefer Dilanyan because of his age and physicals, but Khachatryan is better mentally and will be a good option in defensive midfield. He is a huge improvement over the center back we were using a t DM during preseason. We're paying him $7 per appearance and $4 per clean sheet. We seriously needed a first team goalkeeper and while I'm not sure he's exactly what I was looking for, he's a good option and at only 20 years old he could be a starter for years to come. I really like that he's 6'5" (195cm) tall. It's definitely a bonus that we're only paying him $3 per appearance. Finally we have the incredible 19 year old Miro Antonyan (just don't look at his tackling, heading, dribbling or jumping reach). Ok, yes he has a lot of gaps, but for a 19 year old in the Armenian First League he looks very good, especially his physicals. We're paying him 6$ per appearance. Overall, I feel we've greatly strengthened the squad, especially in the central midfield department. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted July 25, 2017 Author Share Posted July 25, 2017 It's always great when you get promoted after your first match. I guess that's what happens when you're in a league where 2 teams get promoted and all but 2 are second teams for the first division teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted July 25, 2017 Author Share Posted July 25, 2017 August 2016 I'd say, considering we're supposed to finish bottom last, that this month went pretty well. The first match against Pyunik-2 wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible since it was an away game. We then had possibly the most dull televised game ever with neither team getting even one shot on target. We then showed that we could in fact score a goal by beating Erebuni, who are the only team predicted to finish below us (they have also been promoted even with their total of 0 points so far) with 5 goals! We finished the month with another great result, beating Shirak-2, who are predicted to finish 3rd. We dominated possession with 60% of the ball. That leaves us in 3rd in the table with a respectable 7 points. fyi, in the league table, the parts in green are for home games and yellow is for away games Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted July 26, 2017 Author Share Posted July 26, 2017 September 2016 Wow. Just wow. That's a lot of red. But apparently there isn't a reason to hold a team meeting. The thing is, we actually played well in most games. Against Gandzasar-2, we only lost to an own goal and it was a fairly even game. We were actually quite dominant against Banants-2 and lost to their only shot on target. We didn't deserve to get anything out of the Alashkert-2 game though, we were very poor. We played very well against High League opposition in Ararat but couldn't get anything because of our inability to score a goal (we got an own goal). Once again, we played well, just couldn't finish our chances against Pyunik-2 and lost despite Miro Antonyan, one of our new center mids, completing 159 out of 171 passes. That leaves us dead last because of our loss to Alashkert-2 (the first tiebreak is results between teams). I was going to have a player of the month, but with our performances this month, I don't think anyone is deserving of that title. Next month we play against Erebuni again, so hopefully we'll have at least one win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted July 28, 2017 Author Share Posted July 28, 2017 Mid-Season Break I was not aware of the 3 month break from December to March until just days before, however it gives me a great opportunity to give an update. I was really enjoying playing this save so I played over 2 months (instead of the 1 month of my previous updates). I'd say things went pretty well . We seemed to be the masters of drawing throughout the month of October and we turned some of those draws into wins in November. The most notable result was the 5-0 thumping of Pyunik-2 in which everything went right for us. That result sent us from 6th to 3rd and sent them from 5th down to 6th. We have been absolutely amazing against Shirak-2 , winning in each of our three matches so far this season. They were predicted to finish 2nd! This looks a whole lot better than it did last time. We've moved up 5 places but are only marginally ahead of Erebuni, the only other senior team in the First League. Our goal difference is fantastic, a whole 22 goals ahead of Erebuni. Tactics I have a bit of a confession to make, after the Ararat-2 match in October, I changed the tactics (I think the change worked). It's still similar to the original tactic, but I think the striker was too isolated in the original. We were taking far too many long shots and weren't creating many good chances. So I made a few tweaks and wound up with this... Basically, I've given up on the 'one winger cuts inside' idea, moved one of the wingers up to his more natural position and made one of the central midfielders an advanced playmaker in the attacking midfield strata. This change of tactics has seen the emergence of Karen Yeghiazaryan. He has been playing in the advanced playmaker role and has been utterly fantastic. In only 6(2) matches in the First League, he is already 4th on the assists chart. All that and he's only 17 and has lots of potential to grow. I'm excited about this kid. Injuries The more keen of you may have noticed that two of our new signings are currently out injured. Fortunately, Zakhar Dilanyan has only missed two games so far and should be back when the season starts again. He tore his hamstring and still has 2-3 months left out. Vahan Maranjyan, however, our 34 year old left wing back, damaged his cruciate ligaments and will never play professional (or semi-pro for that matter) football again. Due to this, I will be looking to sign a new left back in the break. I had someone in mind, but he wanted $25 per match! I can only offer a maximum of $15 and I'm already way over my wage budget, so he won't be joining us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 8, 2017 Author Share Posted August 8, 2017 What?!? I asked for an increased wage budget, and was not expecting this! Our wage budget was $50 per week! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oche balboa Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Great stuff mate. What leagues are you running? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 8, 2017 Author Share Posted August 8, 2017 1 hour ago, oche balboa said: Great stuff mate. What leagues are you running? Thanks, here they are: Nothing special, just the big countries to allow me to hopefully find some quality newgens when I get further into the save. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 8, 2017 Author Share Posted August 8, 2017 WTF are you going on about, we were promoted in August! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 Youth Intake We have a few really nice looking DM's and lots of potential throughout the intake. I was also very excited when they beat the current under-19's, which consisted mainly of first team players, comprehensively, winning 5-1. The three best players are as follows: He looks quite good with some very nice mental attributes, most notably his teamwork, work rate, bravery and leadership. Unfortunately, he plays in one of our deepest positions with two high quality DM's in the squad. (You may notice that his CA and PA have dropped from the Youth Candidates squad screen, I completely forgot to take screenshots of these three and have now finished the season and made some new signings) He, like Nazaryan, has some very nice mentals (teamwork and work rate) and plays in our weakest position, however his technicals are very weak and he likely won`t get much game time for the foreseeable future. He did play well for the under 19s though`. He suffers the same misfortune as Nazaryan in that he plays at right back, however he has some very solid physicals and mentals in addition to some decent technicals. He could have a future with this club (although maybe not considering he only has 1.5 (2.5) stars PA). He also played very well for the U-19`s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 Season Review The season didn't end the way I had hoped with only 2 wins in our last 10, but it could have been worse. Unfortunately our winning streak against Shirak-2 ended with a 1-0 loss and our final home game of the season was also a 1-0 loss. Our "star" striker Vardan Hovhannisyan only managed 2 goals during this stretch. We definitely need a new striker for next season. That left us in 6th position, but onl behind Erebuni and Alashkert-2 on games won (what a stupid rule). Our goal difference was one of only three that were positive, with league winners Gandzasar-2 and runners-up Ararat-2 being the others. Our home form will definitely need improving next season as only 15 of our 34 points came from home. We need to turn some of those home draws into wins. On the bright side we were second in goals for and conceded the third-least goals throughout the season! New signing Davit Levonyan finished the season with the highest average rating, however he only played the final 10 games of the season. The highest rated player that was in the first team was Avetik Arakelyan, our young right-winger who we adapted our tactics for. This was reflected in the voting for the fans' player of the season: Signing of the season was our new goalkeeper, Poghos Ayvazyan who averaged a 7.00 which is very impressive for a goalkeeper, and he's only 21! I'm a big fan thus far, we'll see how he, and the rest of the team, adjust to playing in the High League. I'll hopefully be back at some point over the weekend with my plan for next season, including a tactical "revolution". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 12, 2017 Author Share Posted August 12, 2017 Trackers Finances Year Value Balance Avg Tkt Price Avg Season Tkt Price Avg Attendance Season Ticket Holders Sponsorship Money 2016/17 $55k $25.6k $5 $13 224 65 $6.25k Facilities and Reputation Year Training Facilities Youth Facilities Junior Coaching Youth Recruitment Club Rep Club Ranking League Rep Euro League Rank (Rep) Euro League Rank (Coeff) 2016/17 Poor Basic Basic Limited 0.5 stars N/A 1 star 113th 48th If anyone knows how to center these, it would be greatly appreciated as I can't seem to figure out how. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 12, 2017 Author Share Posted August 12, 2017 The Plan For the 2017/18 season, we're in the Armenian High League and as a result of this, we've turned professional! This, combined with our new $5000/week wage budget means that we can strengthen the squad significantly. I've already made three new signings and am looking to make several others to fit my new system(s). These are the three new guys: This guy has me really excited with his exceptional physicals and mentals, along with some very good physicals (for this level). He is a huge upgrade over anyone who was previously at the club and we're only paying him $25 per appearance! He, like Narek Balayan, has some incredible attributes across the board and has no glaring weaknesses. He's getting $30/appearance. He has some very good physicals, especially pace and acceleration and has some good technicals. His heading, however, is very poor and his passing isn't great. Despite his great physicals, my favorite part about him is his great determination. He's making a massive $95/appearance and $20/goal. Tactics You may have noticed a theme with all of our signings so far. They're all central players and that has made me realize that of the 12 players that I have on my shortlist, there are no wingers and an abundance of midfield talent. That has me thinking that for the next season, we'll have either 2 or 3 narrow formations that I can easily alternate between because most of my midfielders can play at least 2 positions in the middle. These are the 2 tactics that I am currently considering: This will be used for most home games and games that we are expected to win. We will need more players who are capable of playing attacking midfield because the three in the screenshot are the only decent players capable of playing in that position. This will be used in away matches and matches that we are expected to struggle in and in games where the opposition has a high quality attacking midfielder. This highlights our need for a new striker and we desperately need a new right back and center back for both formations. I think that's it until I finish pre-season. I'll be back with an update then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheriff7 Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 Excellent with promotion and turning professional!! 👍 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 12, 2017 Author Share Posted August 12, 2017 Thanks.Promotion wasn't really an accomplishment with only 2 teams being capable of promotion and both getting promoted, but I was pleasantly surprised when we turned professional. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheriff7 Posted August 13, 2017 Share Posted August 13, 2017 14 hours ago, RPM13 said: Thanks.Promotion wasn't really an accomplishment with only 2 teams being capable of promotion and both getting promoted, but I was pleasantly surprised when we turned professional. Still is a promotion though... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 15, 2017 Author Share Posted August 15, 2017 New tactic, new squad (7 players are making their debut), new division, same old match odds... Also just noticed that Gandzasar have three out with broken legs! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 15, 2017 Author Share Posted August 15, 2017 ...same results Although it was actually a very good performance (after the first 22 minutes) including a very good debut from Edgar Harutyunyan who was unlucky to not get man of the match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 Transfers and August 2017 Yes, you're seeing that right. We actually spent money! We were also raided by Shenghavit, who were promoted to the Armenian First League. Fortunately, none of the players who left were currently in the first team. Will be our backup center back this season. Decent all-round. Will play at attacking midfield in the 4-2-3-1 and as the DLF in the 4-4-2 diamond. Has very solid technicals and physicals. He'll be our starting DM/CM with his exceptional technicals and mentals. He was out for the first three matches with sprained ankle ligaments. He completes our very quick center back partnership with Edgar Martirosyan. He has very good physicals and defensive attributes. He's also our highest payed player. Our new #1 with some very good attributes for this level, especially his aerial reach and command of area. We desperately needed a right back and our options were very limited. He has very good physicals, but his determination and crossing worry me. Our big money signing. He has solid all-round attributes and at only 19, could be the future of this club. Matches The highlight of this incredible run was definitely a 4-0 win over defending champions Alashkert. Edgar Harutyunyan was exceptional with two braces in his first two competitive matches, but then went off the radar in the next two matches only to score again against relegation favourites Erebuni. That leaves the league looking like this... Wow, just wow. At the other end of the table, the other promoted team, Erebuni, are struggling without a point and with a -16 goal difference. The real test for us will be in two matches when we face Shirak at home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 Wow, he had a good match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 20, 2017 Author Share Posted August 20, 2017 After getting interview offers from several League 1 and League 2 sides, including Portsmouth, I'm now the favourite to get the Derby job. They're 23rd in the Championship! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 24, 2017 Author Share Posted August 24, 2017 Mid-Season Break It didn't quite go as well as the month of August, but we still weren't awful. We had a poor start but it was against two of the best teams in the division. We were then knocked out of the cup by Ararat who we really could have beaten. After that though, we only lost one game and it was to league-leaders Shirak. Far too many draws though. Edgar Harutyunyan's goals sort of dried up with him only scoring 6 in 13, but it's still better than what we had last year. That leaves the table looking like this... We're just outside the European places (unless one of the top three wins the cup which would put us in the European places. This is going far better than I expected considering I just didn't want to get relegated. That looks like a guarantee now with Erebuni still sitting on only one point and with a goal difference of -61! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 24, 2017 Author Share Posted August 24, 2017 Youth Intake Not bad. Considering last year's highest potential players from the intake are now at 1-2 star potential, this is a much better intake. I really like the high teamwork ratings throughout the intake. I have signed players with decent potential or determination of at least 10. My three favourite players from the intake are: Although he plays at our strongest position, he's already gotten some first-team action. Once we had him on a contract, his potential jumped to 3.5(4.5) stars and I really like his professional personality. His 15 leadership also makes him a possible future captain. I was very excited about this guy because right back is the position we're weakest at with not having a real backup. He's been on the bench in every first-team game that I've played so far and he's available for the U-19s. He was the most promising at the time of the intake but his potential has since dropped to 2(3) stars. Although his defensive technicals are good, his mentals are very poor and will have to improve if he's to get into the first team. His chances are lower since we've signed this guy: He's our new starting center back who'll play beside Berisha. His mentals are very good for this level and so far he has been excellent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 24, 2017 Author Share Posted August 24, 2017 With only two matches left in the season, this is what the league table looks like. Banants won the cup and are in the Europa league, so as long as we finish above Alashkert, we're in the Europa League next year. Our two remaining matches are against Banants and Shirak. This won't be easy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 24, 2017 Author Share Posted August 24, 2017 Or maybe it will. Edgar Harutyunyan was incredible with a crucial brace and an assist to go with it. Fortunately, Alashkert were playing champions Shirak and only drew so I got this after the match... The transfer budget isn't great, but the wage budget has doubled again Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 24, 2017 Author Share Posted August 24, 2017 What a way to end the season! A 4-0 win away to the league champions sees us clinch 2nd place! These last two games were much easier than I thought they would be Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 Just started following the thread. Great challenge for a save. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 24, 2017 Author Share Posted August 24, 2017 1 hour ago, kidthekid said: Just started following the thread. Great challenge for a save. Thanks. It's definitely a challenge, but it's going better than I expected Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 2017/18 Season Review Look at all those clean sheets. After the signing of Artashes Arakeylan, we only conceded 4 goals in 12 games! Edgar Harutyunyan's 11 in 12 made this a fantastic end to the season and ended up pushing us to second in the league! Poor Erebuni. They still only managed to get one point. Fortunately for us, we did much better and qualified for the Europa League with our second place finish. Hopefully with all the extra money, we'll be able to challenge for the title next year, but that might be a bit too optimistic. Squad Once he came into the squad, Artashes Arakelyan was fantastic and got nearly as many interceptions as Edgar Martirosyan in just over half as many games. Our next best player was top goalscorer and fan-favourite Edgar Harutyunyan with his 22 goals in 30 matches. He was the second to goalscorer in the league. Rounding out the top 3 is surprise package Hayk Hunanyan who was signed as sort of a panic buy because we desperately needed a right back and he was basically the only one we could sign. Unsurprisingly, Edgar Harutyunyan was voted as Fan's player of the season, signing of the season, and young player of the season. The team of the season was my first choice 11 with the exception of Artashes Arakelyan who was in it after the break. I also don't know what it is with us and scoring the goal of the season in the last match of the year. We did the same last year. Here is POTS Edgar Harutyunyan's profile. Look at that form! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 I really don't know what to think of this draw and neither does my chief scout as he was "unable to find out enough information about this club at this stage to provide a decent report." I'm cautiously optimistic about this tie, but I really want to win especiall as the board expect us to reach the second qualifying round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 Pre-Europa League Signings Signed mainly to add depth to the squad. His versatility will definitely be useful. He'll be a solid backup to our center back partnership with his defensive technicals and decent pace. Very good prospect in at right back. According to my coaches, he's already as good as the current starter and he's only 16! Backup goalkeeper/ decent prospect. Our backup to the star man, Edgar. Oddly enough, his name is also Edgar. This may get confusing but he looks very good for a backup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 We were absolutely unstoppable, especially the legend himself, Edgar Harutyunyan with two goals and an assist. That's just doubled our balance! The second qualifying round sees us face off against the third-place finishers in Bosnia. As with Neftci, I really don't know what to expect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 We're putting all that Europa League money to good use Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 Trackers Finances Year Value Balance Avg Tkt Price Avg Season Tkt Price Avg Attendance Season Ticket Holders Sponsorship Money TV money Merch Money 2016/17 $55k $25.6k $5 $13 224 65 $6.25k $18 427 $2 147 2017/18 $55k $2 530 $7 $18 367 94 $13 810 $67 637 $3 885 Facilities and Reputation Year Training Facilities Youth Facilities Junior Coaching Youth Recruitment Club Rep Club Ranking League Rep Euro League Rank (Rep) Euro League Rank (Coeff) 2016/17 Poor Basic Basic Limited 0.5 stars N/A 1 star 113th 48th 2017/18 Poor Basic Adequate Limited 1 star N/A 1.5 stars 103rd 38th Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nsd Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Very interesting save and great progress so far. Incidentally, I had a save with Pyunik way back on FM12, but within a Soviet Union league setup. Edgar Harutyunyan was a god, all the way up to the top tier and into the Champions League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted September 4, 2017 Author Share Posted September 4, 2017 On 9/3/2017 at 15:07, nsd said: Very interesting save and great progress so far. Incidentally, I had a save with Pyunik way back on FM12, but within a Soviet Union league setup. Edgar Harutyunyan was a god, all the way up to the top tier and into the Champions League. He continued to be a beast in this match until he got a thigh strain in the first half of this match. I was very worried we wouldn't get anything but an away goal in this match when we went 2-1 down and had our keeper out with a sprained wrist, but I shouldn't have bothered as we made an incredible comeback scoring 4 away goals! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted September 4, 2017 Author Share Posted September 4, 2017 And then off the back of that excitement, the game crashed and I lost the result. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted September 4, 2017 Author Share Posted September 4, 2017 At the second attempt, we went one better scoring 5! I was so annoyed when the game crashed the first time, but it suddenly doesn't look so bad. I thought we were going to replicate the first attempt at this game, but then Edgar Mkrtchyan popped up with his first goal for the club. I've also saved the game now so I won't have to do this a third time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted September 4, 2017 Author Share Posted September 4, 2017 We finished the tie off in emphatic fashion by absolutely dominating the home leg with 70% possession. We now play FC Thun who I am thinking finished the season in 4th in the Swiss Super League. They will be very tough opposition but I prefer them to Bordeaux, who we could have been drawn against. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted September 4, 2017 Author Share Posted September 4, 2017 Far from an ideal result, but nothing less than we expected. Unfortunately for the 4 away fans who made the 3000 km journey didn't see us break the club record of 9 games unbeaten. I don't see us getting past them this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted September 17, 2017 Author Share Posted September 17, 2017 After a very good run in the Europa League, we're now out. This has done wonders for both our finances and coefficient though! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted September 17, 2017 Author Share Posted September 17, 2017 Mid-Season Break 2019 I'm not going to go into great detail with this as I've finished the season and just haven't had enough time to update. We started the league off with a 5-0 thrashing of Alashkert, but couldn't seem to find any sort of form (except bad) so in the last 4 games, I went strikerless. Nothing revolutionary as I just copied @Guimy's Project Libero system, but it seemed to work (sometimes). That left the league table like this... We're 5th and sitting one of the league's top scorers on the bench after going strikerless, genius ! We're also some way off the European spots with Pyunik ahead of us by 6 and with 4th place only getting us a European place if the cup winner is in the top 3 (or if we win it). We made one signing during the transfer window... The new system, that I will cover in this post, has three central midfielders and this kid is absolutely one of them. He has incredible technicals and pace that kills. He also has the same surname as our previous best CM, he must be good! Project Libero V2 Not only have I completely stolen Guido's tactic name, but I've also taken each and every one of his team instructions (except instructing the team to play narrower). Imitation is the best form of flattery as they say ! The idea behind the tactic, especially the two BBM's is that we'll have lots of runners which will cause chaos for the opposition defense. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM13 Posted September 17, 2017 Author Share Posted September 17, 2017 Youth Intake 2019 Far from amazing, but we did get a good keeper who also has exceptional determination. He's the only player of note this season. He does look quite good with 13 reflexes, but I think we should use him as a playmaker with his 13 vision! On second note, maybe not, I just looked at his passing. I guess he'll have to keep the gloves on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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