[FM18] Uncle Jimbo's Icelandic Sound Explosion, (featuring other Countries, hopefully, if I get lucky, maybe). (You know, if there is an award for the longest thread title I have a sneaking suspicion that I might just be in with a chance of a nomination).

[Jimbokav1971]

What is this thread all about?

I know it's a completely cosmetic feature, but I really like the fact that SI have introduced some background music in the game while you are in the preferences screen or indeed loading the game itself. It's something that is actually really quite basic when you think about it, but for whatever reason, SI have always chosen to spend their time on the more "meaty" aspects of the game. I would suggest that a great many of us play FM with the sound turned off and with music, TV or something else going on in the background, (I know I do most of the time). With that in mind, and with inspiration from more than a couple of threads last year who used music to great effect, I thought that offer up something a little different. Yes an FM update thread, but a thread within which every significant update will be accompanied by a piece of music, (of very varying genres and not all entirely to my taste I might add).

Many of you know what type of saves I like to play and that might be highlighted in some of the music choices, but I am also doing something a little differently this season and that might hopefully allow for some variation within a theme. 

Edited December 2, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[Makoto Nakamura]

Goodluck with this Jimbo, I'll be following, honestly thought it'd be a youth challenge with Finn Harps though! 

[Jimbokav1971]

How did I set my game up?

Something that I encountered in the Beta was a real struggle with players respecting me because of a lack of experience on my part. I had started off in League 2 in England and let's be honest, how many ex Sunday League players are there with no coaching badges Managing there? Exactly! Then I moved on to Spain and then Sweden. I managed to get going eventually in Sweden, but in England and Spain it was a real hard slog with little progress and I actually think that's right. I could have said I was an ex Sunday league footballer who now had badges, or I could have said I was an ex Pro with no badges and I think that would have made a significant different to the way that the players took to me, (or rather didn't actually). What shouldn't have worked, (and didn't), was Sunday league past experience AND no badges. It was a double whammy that was just too much to ask of a manager with my limited ability at the game, (although I am sure we will see others doing well in just such circumstances). 

With that in mind, I had to be start off at a level where the players might be more accepting of a Manager with that sort of history and qualifications, (and if I'm honest I still don't know where and what that might be). I am adamant that I want to manage in England at some point, (and just as adamant that I don't want to manage in Italy again, (I spent a LONG time there with San Marino in FM14 so let's try something new). I almost went for a French save this time around so the French structure is also active. That's 2 pretty big structures to start with so I wanted something a little smaller where maybe I could retreat to, (to lick my wounds and rebuild after the next sacking), so I added in an old favourite, Gibraltar, who seem to have been forgotten about with all the hipster gushing over Iceland and San Marino and the Faroe Islands and the like. And then I wanted 1 more and I'm a fan of continuity so.....

The active leagues won't stay like this and I will deactivate some and reactivate others as the save demands it. 

The last change from my old style of playing is that I plan on playing some sort of Journeyman career in that I won't be staying at the same club for the whole save as I have done for so long. I will start unemployed and just see where my lack of ability and strange musical taste takes me. Something that I am adamant about is that I will not be signing players, (although this is not completely the same thing as never signing anyone ever). I really hated having to scout in the Beta after about 5 in rela life of not bothering and it got to the stage yesterday where I came home from work and couldn't even be bothered to play for a while because I knew I was in pre-season and we had just got promoted so I knew I had to get scouting and improve the squad and I just couldn't be bothered. It was just too much like hard work and I couldn't face it. 

No, I might not be scouting and signing players, (but I might have a DoF who does). That being said, I will be a manager who promotes youngsters and that will be part of the DNA of any club I manage, (at least it will be after I take over until they get rid of me). 

My goal in this save is to produce a player who becomes the greatest player in the World, (whether that be for me and the club that produced him, or by moving on to bigger and better things). To this end I will be looking to move up the ladder in terms of clubs and in particular facilities of clubs, and this might help be shorten the journey from where I start to where I want to be in order to produce top prospect players and then develop them. 

[Deisler26]

 

For that last post 

[Jimbokav1971]

Playlist (Page 1). (Be aware that the playlist is hidden because it might give away hints about how the save develops).

Spoiler

 

Playlist (Page 2). (Be aware that the playlist is hidden because it might give away hints about how the save develops).

Spoiler

 

Playlist (Page 3). (Be aware that the playlist is hidden because it might give away hints about how the save develops).

Spoiler

 

Reader suggested tracks. (Be aware that achievements are hidden because it obviously gives away hints about how the save develops). 

Spoiler

 

Achievements. (Be aware that achievements are hidden because it obviously gives away hints about how the save develops). 

Spoiler

2017. Signed as Manager of Handknattleiksfélag Kópavogs in 1.deild karla in Iceland.

2017. Finished the season in 3rd place in 1.deild karla in Iceland.

2018. Finished the season Runners Up in 1.deild karla in Iceland. Promoted. 

2019. Finished the season in 5th place in Pepsi-deildin in Iceland. 

2019. Icelandic League Cup A Champions.

Jobs offered. (Be aware that these are hidden because again it might give away some of the development of the save)

Spoiler

2020. Knattspyrnufélagið Valur Reykjavík. (Pepsi-deildin Iceland) (Declined).

Significant players produced by the Academy of a club that I managed. 

Spoiler

Capped at U19 level. (Iceland unless otherwise stated).

(18c) Harald Skúlason (Amb) * 
(19c) Einar Sigurð (Bal) *

Capped at U21 level. (Iceland unless otherwise stated). 

(18b) Daði Björg (Bal) *
(18f) Dom (POL) (Pro) (Poland).
(19b) Dagur Ingi (Bal) *

International accolades. 

(18c) Harald Skúlason (Amb) * named in the 2020 U19 European Championship Dream Team.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

 

Unemployed, with no badges and only Sunday League experience. Jun 2017.

To anyone that has followed my threads recently, HK will surely jump out. I would love to man age there again, even if not for the whole save. If I do make the jump to Iceland, then I will probably look to deactivate France and add in the other Scandi Nations instead. Lynx in Gibraltar are another option, but of course they are in the top division which I would rather avoid. 
 

[Jimbokav1971]

Appointed as Manager of HK. 3rd in deild karla in Iceland. (Tier 2). Jun 2017.

We are just made for eachother. It was clear in the early stages of the interview that I was what they wanted as much as they were exactly what I wanted. 

They even pay me actual cash money for doing this! 

League Table. 

We were 3rd when I applied for the job, but Fylkir won between then and me actually taking over so we dropped to 4th. We're approaching the half-way stage of the season already. 

All you really need to know about HK is this. 

 

[Rikulec]

[Jimbokav1971]

Did someone say 6? HK. Jun 2017.

So I'm in charge of the club for just 1 day and we face top of the table IBK Keflavik. I have a quick look at the squad and am blown away by some of the youngsters, (but dismayed at the paucity of our full-back options), so I recall a couple of kids who have been out on loan. I ask the Ass Man what formation he thinks I should play and he says 442 so I set that as a 1st tactic and then I add a basic 4231 wide tactic where I change the roles about a little bit nothing too drastic. I tell the lads to push up, close down more and get stuck in. (Don't want to over-load them too much on day 1). Then I pressed the IR button after picking a team based largely on CA/PA stars and a quick glance at the profile page. 

Atli (Bal) scored a hat-trick to seal the game by HT, but also suffered an injury and will miss the next 5 weeks, (which is a far bit of the season in Iceland). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Let's go crazy! (Goal crazy). HK. Aug 2017.

We are playing ok, if a little inconsistently, but we are having no problems scoring goals, even with injuries to our 2 main front-men. We scored 6 goals at home in my 1st game in charge, (against top of the table IBK Keflavik who are now languishing in 5th), and we have just spanked 6 past Leiknir Reykjavik away who are in 9th. I'm really just going with the flow this season, (after taking over mid-season), and next season I will give it a proper go as my 1st proper season in charge. 

There are a couple of games left of this season, and I probably won't do a full season re-cap because in my mind I haven't been in charge this season.

Edited November 11, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

HK. End of Season. Sep 2017.

The top 2 go up and there are no Playoffs so we will start next season again in 1.deild karla. We are a little over our wage budget and the squad is a little unbalanced, (short of full backs and central midfielders), but my plan is to just trim the squad a little and rely on the Youth Intake strengthening us where needed. I would like to think that we can win the league with what we have anyway, so anyone that can instantly make an impact from the next Intake is just a bonus. 

We scored in every game we played this season. (I'm not sure if I have ever done that before). We scored 6 goals in a game twice and set records for most goals in a 1.deild karla game, (8 goals) and also the quickest goal in a 1.deild karla game, (14 seconds). 

On the flip side of the coin, we only kept 1 clean sheet, (which gives me palpitations just writing it). 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

International Bright Young Thing. HK, Nov 2017.

Ágúst Leó (Amb) * is an attacking central midfielder who was added to the HK squad I assume to cover a lack of depth and bodies in the original squad. He is already having an impact on the senior squad at the age of just 17. He contributed 4 goals and 7 assists during the campaign and also added a couple of assists for the (ISL) U19 EURO qualifying campaign.

Indeed, he has become quite a regular in the National U19 squad.

I don't pretend to understand how or why these players are at the club, (we haven't had a Youth Intake), but I am not complaining. 

[Rikulec]

He looks really, really good.

[Deisler26]

Wow 

[Jimbokav1971]

Brothers. HK. Mar 2018.

I've just noticed something that I had missed until now. Partly because one of the players in question was out on loan last season and partly because they are both pretty rubbish. 

I'm pretty sure that they are brothers, or at the very least related. Same surname, same 2nd Nationality. One of them has the other listed as favoured personnel, (although it doesn't state brother). I'm assuming that they are anyway. Brothers it is! 

[Jimbokav1971]

It means nothing. Pre--Season. HK. Apr 2018.

Pre-season is nothing but a fitness exercise and potentially the ability to make money on the gate. Ok, you can also get players up to speed with new formations and tactics, but it still means nothing. The Icelandic League Cup is nothing more than a group of glorified friendlies, (played at neutral grounds for God's sake!!!), merged together and called a mini-league that then morphs into a Cup for which a trophy is eventually awarded. Who cares. It's just like a really really really long Charity Shield! It doesn't matter at all, even a little bit, (unless of course you win it, and then of course it's silverware!) 

Pre Season part 1. The 1st part of pre-season went ok as we won all the games and scored lots of goals. 

Pre Season part 2. Well it started pretty poorly but picked up towards the end and in summary I would say that it was better than expected. 

League Cup Group A.

Pre Season part 3. 

[john1]

Good luck  

[mjaferrie]

Nice idea, good luck!

[Deisler26]

I am DEEPLY upset that you didn't have 'Vienna' as the song 

[DazRTaylor]

Ah the old favourite HK.  Loving Iceland as normal so will read with interest.

[Jimbokav1971]

41 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

I am DEEPLY upset that you didn't have 'Vienna' as the song 

What has Vienna got to do with anything that has happened in the save so far?  It's got to be at least a little bit relevant, (although the links will probably get a little tenuous as the save develops). 

[Edit]

Ahhhhh. It means nothing to me! Oh Vienna.  

[Edit2]

ps. I flippin hate drake.  

Edited November 12, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

On 11/10/2017 at 22:10, Rikulec said:

 

10 hours ago, john1 said:

Good luck  

 

9 hours ago, mjaferrie said:

Nice idea, good luck!

 

28 minutes ago, DazRTaylor said:

Ah the old favourite HK.  Loving Iceland as normal so will read with interest.

Cheers lads. 

I don't know if the way I play FM, (often linked with background music), is as common as I think it is, but I'm quite enjoying it so far and it's getting me to listen to stuff that I have never listened to before, (a little bit of Country yesterday for example), that wasn't completely awful. 

If anyone has any suggestions for tracks then feel free to pm me, but at the moment I am going for linked song titles rather than stretching to artist names or even just content within a song. All genres considered. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Happy? HK. Jul 2018.

I know there is someone who posts in here who thinks that "gaming the green" is the answer to all FM problems when it comes to FM, (or at least was in FM17), and while I am not sure that I agree completely, it certainly isn't as ridiculous as it initially sounds. (The reality is that if you "game the green" in all the small areas, (no, I am not talking about team-talks here), then all things being equal, you should perform better against a similar ability team with poor whatever). I've been a "gamer of green" for a long time in terms of physical conditioning, (and that reminds me I need to look at the Medical Centre at some point because I have barely glanced at it so far), but to a certain extent I want to make players happy by winning rather than winning by making players happy.

I hadn't seen a "Perfect" player morale before and it's this that instigated this post. Players who play more in general seem to be happier than those who play less often, (shock), and "players with high ratings", (please note that I am using that term rather than the term "players who play well"), seem to be happier than players with average ratings who are in turn happier than players with poor ratings. Have a look at the player second from the bottom who has just 3 sub appearances, has superb morale and who has just 3 sub appearances to his name but a surprising 7.2 average rating for a player with just 0(3) appearances. His average rating is skewed because although he has 0(3) appearances to his name, the first 2 appearances involved just 14 and 5 minutes respectively, (and I think the minimum period for a match rating is either 15 or 20 minutes), so they don't generate a match rating, and then the 3rd sub appearance involved him coming on in the 25th minute in our last game, (we had an early sending off), but he played well and we went on to beat our fierce rivals, (and rivals for the title), 4-1 with 10 men. He made 5/5 tackles in that last game and it makes me wonder if SI have finally tweaked the match ratings so that DM's will be more rewarded for a typical DM performance where they win the ball and give it to someone else?

Anyway, no real answers here. Just thinks that are making me think at the moment. It's all very interesting. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Please don't go. HK. Jul 2018.

You might have noticed that we have a certain youngster who is our starting AMC and who has been making an impact of the (ISL) U19 squad. 

He hasn't performed as well this season as he did last season, and I think he is the reason we are not steam-rolling all before us. I know he's young and I need to give him time, but at the same time, time is not something that we have plenty of. 

Despite the fact that he is both our brightest prospect, and already best player currently, he is still on a Youth contract despite the fact that he turned 18 in Jan of this year. I have been trying and trying to get him to re-sign, but without avail. He just won't budge. Other teams are interested and I'm surprised that someone hasn't come in and just snapped him up and agreed to pay the compensation, but I guess that (ISL) football all over. There isn't the willingness to spend cash on players when all the investment is in facilities and your own player development. Why splash the cash on Ágúst Leó (Amb) * when you can just hang on for a little while and you might just produce your own for next to nothing. 

You will see that Ágúst Leó (Amb) * isn't really progressing despite the fact that he is 1st choice in his position. because he is still on a Youth contract, his training time will be limited and it is likely to have already significantly stunted his development. 

It's not all doom and gloom though. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce to you..... Andri Freyr (Unamb) *.

Although he's not as good as Ágúst Leó (Amb) *, he has a similar level of PA, (or at least PPA). I was initially training him to be a SS rather than an AP with a view to him being introduced from the bench and offering the opposition different problems than they had been caused by Ágúst Leó (Amb) *. Now though, thinking that Ágúst Leó (Amb) * might well be leaving in the near future, I am thinking of getting Andri Freyr (Unamb) * to work as a more like for like replacement. 

I really don't want Ágúst Leó (Amb) * to go, but I am resigned to the fact that any small chance I have of keeping him lies with us getting promotion this season, with 3 teams very evenly matched and fighting it out for just 2 promotion spots. 

He's not wrong, (but it soon might be). 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

I'd rather go blind, (than see you walk away from me). HK. Jul 2018.

Even though I knew it was coming, I was so annoyed that I was tempted, (just for a second), to press the sell him right now button. But no, we need to get promoted and then take every opportunity to hammer Stjarnan for the rest of the save. 

I could have matched the £425 per week wages, but nobody gets a yearly wage rise at my clubs and there is no way I could have matched the £650 after 20 games never mind about the £1,000 after 30 games. This is a good deal for the youngster and his new club, but it's a rubbish deal for us.

Ah well. Let's just hope that we will both be playing in the same league next season. 

Stjarnan are currently fighting for the Pepsi-Deildin title, and even at this early stage are just about guaranteed European football next season so I can't really blame him. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Don't let me down. HK. Jul 2018. 

We've got 7 teenagers in and around the 1st team so that augers well for the future. I'm just hoping that the imminent Intake is good enough to make an impact in the short term. 

[Boycott]

Like the idea behind this save. I've never managed in Iceland but it's something I want to try. I prefer the lower leagues of Europe than the lower leagues in England for some reason. Maybe it's because it feels less clunky if that makes sense. I feel like you can progress with young players in Europe as the other sides generally play youngsters too whereas in England you need older players and resort to signing free agents all the time. 

[Jimbokav1971]

My Generation. HK. Youth Intake Day. 3rd Aug 2019. 

I haven't even looked at a single player yet. I have just seen the "Golden Generation" and then posted this straight away.  To say I'm excited would be an understatement.  Please don't be a let-down. Please please please don't be a let down. 

Without clicking on anything else I can see that Daði Snær Björgvinsson is the top rated player and is a GK. (Good). I can also see that we have a Serbian, (Sasa Jankovic), and a Pole, (Dominik Piwowarczyk), in our ranks.

I will edit this post as I discover more.....

[Edit]

This Intake is ok, don't get me wrong, but it's FAR from a Golden Generation in my opinion and I have been left a little disappointed if I'm honest. We have 2x 5.0 PA players as I call them and the one mentioned in the initial message is actually the 2nd of the 2. 

"Kriss" (18a) Kriss Sævar (Bal) (2018).

He's ok. He's better than ok actually, (or at least he will be), but he is an AMR and we already have 2 of those with 5.0 PA rating, (so now we have 3 AMR's with a 5.0 PA rating and we are really struggling on the left). I suppose I will have to re-train one of them to play on the left, but I really don't like wrong-sided wingers, (so maybe an IF or something?) 

You will see from the depth chart at AMR that not only have we already got depth in the AMR position, but we now have so much depth that it might actually be hard to develop each of these players to reach their potential. How are they all going to play games when the campaign is so short?

AMR depth.

(18b) Daði Björg (Bal) *.

He looks great and we needed a 2nd decent GK for when Andri Þór (Bal) * is injured, (he hasn't featured yet at INT level for U19's or U21's), but I didn't want to waste a 5.0 PA player on a position where we already had one, especially where we can only play 1 at a time and these is limited risk of injury. If it had been a centre-half where we might play 2 or even 3 at a time, or central midfield where we also might play 3 sometimes, then depth is more important and dare I say vital. At GK though you want a 1st choice and then a back-up and the back-up doesn't have to be this good. 

GK depth. 

Summary. What we really wanted was a centre-half or 2, a centre-mid or 2 and then a right back and a left wing. 

The 1st position on that list is 9th of 16 on the list of players on the intake rated by PA. 

I don't know how I can be this peeved by an intake that is meant to be this good, but I am. 

[Edit2]

I've noticed that we have 2 Skúlason's in the intake but unfortunately they are not brothers. 

Edited November 12, 2017 by Jimbokav1971

[Toffle]

Krisses are back!

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Boycott said:

Like the idea behind this save. I've never managed in Iceland but it's something I want to try. I prefer the lower leagues of Europe than the lower leagues in England for some reason. Maybe it's because it feels less clunky if that makes sense. I feel like you can progress with young players in Europe as the other sides generally play youngsters too whereas in England you need older players and resort to signing free agents all the time. 

I read an article during the build-up to the last World Cup and it sort of piqued my interest. 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/08/iceland-stunning-rise-euro-2016-gylfi-sigurdsson-lars-lagerback?CMP=share_btn_tw

Then, their performances at the World Cup got me hooked. 

It's been so long since I managed properly in England that I am actually looking forward to going back, and the good thing about the English structure is that while the ceiling is high enough to produce and develop great players, it's also possible to start at quite a low level, (something that I struggled with in Germany in the past for example). 

[Wavelberry]

Some bangers here so far. Hoping they'll be a Scandanavian metal phase at some point.

[Jimbokav1971]

34 minutes ago, Wavelberry said:

Some bangers here so far. Hoping they'll be a Scandanavian metal phase at some point.

Feel free to drop me a message with some suggestions if you can anticipate what I might be posting about. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Going to the wire. HK. Aug 2018.

Top 2 get promoted. 3rd gets left behind.

IA have a game in hand on us and Breidablik, but we have 3 home games out of 4 and our home record this season is played 8 won 6 and drawn 2. 

[Jimbokav1971]

International call-ups. Aug 2018.

Ágúst Leó (Amb) *, (who is on his way to Stjarnan at the end of the season with my right back), has now played for the (ISL) 9 times, (creating 2 assists), however this is the 1st time that right winger Viktor Berg (Unamb) * has been called up. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Under Pressure. HK. Sep 2018.

It's come down to the last game of the season and we are still trailing. Although we have remained unbeaten since the last update, we have also only won once, drawing the other 3 games.  We need to win first and foremost ourselves, but we also need either of the other 2 to drop points. Whether it's a loss or a draw is irrelevant, just so long as at least one of them drop points. If they both fail to win and we win, then we are champions. 

[Jimbokav1971]

The Promised Land. HK. Sep 2018. 

We've been good at home all season, (unbeaten), so I expected to get a result in the last game. The question was whether either of the other 2 would drop points. Although IA held firm away to Haukar, (it was them whom I thought might be our best chance at not winning), it was actually our fierce rivals Briedablik who fell at the final hurdle with a loss at home to Vestri. It was their only home loss of the season as the pressure really did get to them at the death. I would have been gutted to miss out this season but it was a really close run thing and 3 into 2 simply doesn't go.

[Jimbokav1971]

Changes. HK. 22 Sep 2018.

I mentioned earlier that if I was reasonably successful in Iceland I would look to deactivate the French structure, and instead activate the rest of Scandinavia. Well I have got promoted so that suggests some sort of success at least, so I have done exactly that and also deactivated Gibraltar too. The English structure remains, because I think the link from Scandinavia to England is better than the link to France. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Money! HK. Sep 2018.

We are in a bit of trouble financially if I'm honest and I don't really see an early end to it. The biggest out-going transfers in the Pepsi-Deildn were for £100,000 rising to £230,000 and £125,000 to Everton and Sochaux respectively. There were only 2 other transfers that exceeded £50,000. in 2017 the biggest transfer was for £20,500 rising to £25,500 and that was paid by Rosenborg.

The prize money isn't worth talking about. 

I'm hoping that the TV revenue will be significant, at least in relative terms. 

This is a bit worrying. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Brexit is about to happen. Would love it to be hard.

[Jimbokav1971]

If your staff can take their coaching badges and pay for the course themselves, why can't we? 

The club are over £0.5M in the hole and I want to do my badges! 

[Rikulec]

I have exactly the same problem. Finances seem to be a big issue in this league until you play in Europe regularly.

[Jimbokav1971]

Finances continued. HK. Nov 2018.

Well this isn't going to do much to put a dent in the debt that is now up to £667,784.

We are currently spending £6,917 per week out of a budget of £13,913. Even though we are well under budget, the debt is still rising. I need to increase the capacity of the stadium from 1,600 but we also need to get more bums on seats because so far we have only sold out the stadium once, (to Breidablik last season).

[Jimbokav1971]

Hard Brexit. 26th Nov 2018.

[Jimbokav1971]

 

 

Young Americans and El Salvador.

Scouting & Transfers. Dec 2018.

I have mentioned previously, in the other thread, that I was finding scouting hard. I wasn't sure how the "Packages" work, and a lack of funds made it hard for me to learn more. I have instigated the introduction of a DoF to assist me in a couple of areas. I did this by giving the Chairman the responsibilty for hiring/firiing a DoF and then I gave the DoF responsibility for hiring/firing staff and also identifying and bringing in players, (although I retained the right of veto by keeping the responsibility to finalise all signings).

We have signed a right back to fill the void left by the 2nd player who was stolen on a free by Stjarnan.

I also had a player on loan who had (USA) as a 2nd Nationality but who was actually from El Salvador. I'm an Athlete fan and immediately thought it was the perfect opportunity to link the song, but unfortunately he has just been signed by another club as I was contemplating his signing. In the end I had just about decided that I was only signing him for the potential song titles he allowed and that if he was Icelandic then I wouldn't be signing him.

Although he hasn't joined himself, I notice from the above screen that he has a brother, who is a free agent. He has been offered a trial, (I'm not paying his air-fare), and we will see how that develops. 

I'm still at a bit of a loss to explain exactly how scouting works, although I think I have worked out the "packages" at least. 

[Deisler26]

11 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Hard Brexit. 26th Nov 2018.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

7 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

 

It makes the idea of managing in England at the upper levels far more attractive. The idea of British clubs filled with British players, (with just a light smattering of top-class quality thrown in for good measure), is very attractive. 

It's also VERY interesting for Scotland. 

[Deisler26]

Just now, Jimbokav1971 said:

It makes the idea of managing in England at the upper levels far more attractive. The idea of British clubs filled with British players, (with just a light smattering of top-class quality thrown in for good measure), is very attractive. 

It's also VERY interesting for Scotland. 

I would genuinely consider managing in England if it was the hardest Brexit of all.

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, Deisler26 said:

I would genuinely consider managing in England if it was the hardest Brexit of all.

Is this the hardest Brexit?

I think I have seen something where Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland can go their own way and of course sometimes Ireland do too. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting for Girls. Somebody new. HK. Dec 2018.

This is the page where the reports appear for my viewing and I am asked what action I wish to take with regards to each player. 

My initial reaction to this was great, but I am increasingly finding it hard to identify what action I want to take when the player is outside of my natural scouting area, (so will incur an additional cost), and I don't want to pay the additional fee to scout him. At the moment I am discarding these unless I can get them to agree to come on trial. 

I don't know what the analyst report shows yet, and I'm not sure what exactly setting the other options triggers. 

• Get analyst report - You would like to request an analyst report on this player. That's great, but what does an analyst report show and how does it differ from a scout report? I honestly don't know because although I have requested an analysts report, I'm not sure if I have ever actually seen the report. Maybe I don't have any analysts. I will have to check.
• Scout - You would like to scout this player for 1 more week before deciding what further action to take. Ok, well I didn't realise that it was just 1 more weeks worth of scouting. Now it makes sense why the whole process seemed so slow and laborious.
• Discard - You have no interest in this player and your scouting team will be informed that you no longer wish him to be recommended for 1 year. Ok, I didn't realise that there was a limit of just 1 year on this. 
• Acknowledge - You feel that no further action is required on this player and just want to remove this entry from the scouting centre. So this removes the page from the scouting centre, and triggers no further action, but what is the difference between acknowledge and discard other than the 1 year moratorium on new reports.
• Add to shortlist - You would like to add this player to your shortlist. But what is the significance of a player being on the shortlist? I guess we will get to that later when I look at the "shortlist" tab.
• Approach to sign - You would like to make an offer for this player. That seems pretty straightforward.
• Offer trial - You would like to offer a 1 week trial offer for this player. I'm making decent use of this, but I just wish there was a way to change the period of trial from 1 week to 4 weeks.
• Add as transfer target - You would like to add this player to your transfer targets list. That sounds great, but where do I actually find this transfer target list? I haven't seen it yet and I have just had a look and still can't find it. 

Scouting Responsibility.

If you want to delegate responsibilty for scouting then you can do so. You can additionally decide who it is that you are delegating responsibility to.

If you decide that this is too important an area to be delegated, then you can of course manage it yourself, (but that doesn't fit in with me having a DoF).

Scouting Focus.

I've had a little look at this previously, but again I'm not completely up to speed with how it works. There are 2 different options here as follows.  

Option 1. General.

Setting a general focus instructs the scouts as to what type of players you wish to build your squad with. Scouts will be assigned to matches automatically and the suggestions will be delivered into the scouting centre. The reason I have written the above despite the fact that it is written in the following graphic is because it's important, and, if you are anything like me you sort of skim-read a lot of stuff in the game, assuming that I will work it out later. Well often, by the time later comes, it's often too late, so let's have a look and a think at it now.

• Based - The options here range from individual competitions within an individual Country, to a region such as Scandinavia, or even a whole Continent such as Europe. Although I am not able to scout outside Europe yet, I would guess that this is an option further down the line.

• Age - The options here are All, Experienced, Peak and Young. 
• All - Open to all ages of players. 
• Experienced - These players have seen it, been there, done it, and experienced it all. They can give a team an edge, particularly towards the end of a season, when the stakes are at their highest.
• Peak - These players are at their peak, both physically or mentally and are ready to contribute immediately.
• Young - Young players add a lot of energy to a team and can often be decisive in a tight contest.

Option 2. Short-term.

Originally I thought that there was both a general focus AND a short-term focus which allowed you to concentrate on a certain type of player for a short period before reverting to the previously set general focus. This isn't quite how it works, because all work on the general focus ceases when Short-term is activated.

Recruitment Team.

Because I am delegating responsibility for this job, this is actually the 1st time I have looked at this page, (and I'm not completely sure what to make of it). 

Scouting Budget.

More confusion here I'm afraid. If the scouting budget was only £15,750, how can we have £49,890 remaining? 

 

[XaW]

You have a slider next to the budget so you can increase or decrease it to/from your transfer budget. Much like the wage budget.

Acknowledge is pretty much the same as discard, except with discard you tell your scouts to not show him again for the next year. With Acknowledge they might suggest him again in the future.

Anyway, I'm following this once again. Your Icelandic adventures are always worth reading! 

Edited November 13, 2017 by XaW