[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]

Gunners N' Roses. Welcome to The Emirates? Stade Rennais. May 2031.

[Jimbokav1971]

Dirty Rotten Barstewards! Stade Rennais. May 2031.

[Jimbokav1971]

25 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Gunners N' Roses. Welcome to The Emirates? Stade Rennais. May 2031.

I didn't even apply. I promise I didn't apply. 

You need me, I don't need you. Stade Rennais. May 2031.

Oh go on then .....

I told them that I wanted to develop our own youth players but I don't think they were keen. 

Nope. They weren't keen, but that just means I didn't have to turn them down. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Get out. Stade Rennais. Jul 2031.

I haven't been able to off-load either of the expensive strikers as of yet, but I'm thinking that banging in a few goals might pique interest in them a little. 

[Jimbokav1971]

On 2/11/2018 at 13:53, Jimbokav1971 said:

Revelation of the Year. Stade Rennais. Dec 2029.

 

On 2/11/2018 at 16:34, Jimbokav1971 said:

You're a joke! Stade Rennais. Jan 2030.

What do you mean he has signed for Juve? I've got a 3 year option on him. They can't sign him!

So despite the fact that I have an option for 3 more years in his contract, Juve have somehow still managed to sign him on a free? 

 

 

On 2/11/2018 at 17:10, Jimbokav1971 said:

I'm so annoyed at losing (27a) Lemoine (F.Det) (2027) * I want to leave Stade Rennais.

Is it a French thing?

Is it a FM18 thing?

Is it a bug?

Meh!    

Don't you forget about me. Stade Rennais. Aug 2031.

It's obviously been a while since this happened, and I had actually forgotten that we had lost 1 of our brightest prospects. More than that, he was on loan at Le Havre last season so he would have probably played against us, (twice!).

Well I may very well have forgotten about him, but for whatever reason I have just remembered and I am getting him back whatever it takes! 

The sharper eyed among you might very well notice that he has become a "Wonderkid" while he has been in Italy, (or been in France on loan from Italy to be precise), but I don't care even a little bit that he has cost me £30M, the boy has returned. (Now why don't I ever get a son like this kid?)

[Jimbokav1971]

Idiot. Stade Rennais. Aug 2031. 

He is one of our own you blithering idiot!!!!! 

[Jimbokav1971]

Hot stuff. Stade Rennais. Aug 2031. 

I know it's the Reserves, but 16 goals is ridiculous at any level. That's a goal every 5.625 minutes. 

It's (28g) Normand (FRA) (Realist) feel sorry for. He scores 5 goals, creates 4 assists, gets MOM but doesn't get to keep the match ball because Kara (ALG) (F.Pro) scored 6 goals and his hat-trick was secured in the 14th minute. 

In all seriousness, I need to get out of France because I've already got too many players and I can only loan 7 or 8 out to other French clubs I think.

[Edit]

By the way, the above picture epitomizes everything, (well almost everything), that is wrong with player rating and shows you just why they need fixing. The GK (27b) Mercier  (FRA) (Pro) * saved 1 single shot, and only made 10 out of 20 passes, yet is rewarded with a match rating of 9.0 because of the dominance of his team. 

Edited March 8, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Long Time. Stade Rennais. Sep 2031.

In all my time playing FM, I have NEVER been offered a 5 year contract as a Manager. 

From wanting to leave, I have been given a new lease of life by remembering and then re-signing (27a) Lemoine (F.Det) (2027) *.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

The Wonderkids Stuff. Stade Rennais. Oct 2031.

I like to keep you updated on new Wonderkids as they develop. 

We had 2 Wonderkids at the time of the last update. 

Petrous (CZE) (Bal) used to be Petrous (CZE) (L.Det), but I have managed to get a tutor in for him and things have improved somewhat. He is still in the middle of his 1st tutoring link-up, and it's going to take at least 1 more to get him to where I want him. He's non longer classed as a Wonderkid and is now classed simply as a midfielder. He's not a product of our academy so I'm not going to bother with a picture. 

Elvis (CMR) (F.Amb) * is still Fairly Ambitious and is also no longer classed as a wonderkid. He is also simply classed as a midfielder. 

(27a) Lemoine (F.Det) (2027) * is the prodigal son who has returned from Juve. He is now labelled a wonderkid. 

(27b) Mercier  (FRA) (Pro) * is a young GK who has made significant progress in the last 18 months or so after a season at Tours in Ligue 2. He becomes our Academies 3rd wonderkid in recent years. His attribute balance is not quite what I would like, but then again he is only 6'1" and it's Aerial where he is lacking a little. I would hope that it's still early enough that it won't be an issue later on. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youngest to do it. Stade Rennais. Oct 2031.

[Jimbokav1971]

Disappointed. Stade Rennais. Feb 2032.

We'be had some good intakes in recent years so I can't really complain, but this is an absolute stinker. 

2 Icelandic players but no brother for my rubbish son.

A Dutch player, (that's a 1st for me in this save).

4 African 2nd Nationalities. 

As well as (32a) Sylvère (F.Det) (3032), we also have (32b) PYC (Det), (32c) Noël (Bal) and (32j) Fréd (Amb) who are labelled by the media as "promising".

"Kriss" (32a) Sylvère (F.Det) (3032).

He's ok. I mean he's certainly not rubbish, but he is unlikely to ever make much of an impact for us because we have better options ahead of him. To add to that, he seems a bit unbalanced in terms of attributes. He isn't really anything specifically and will take some work.

[Jimbokav1971]

Semi-Charmed Life. Stade Rennais. May 2032.

We didn't win it, but we had a right good go. 

It doesn't tell the full story however as despite drawing then 1st leg of the Semi 1-1, we had a player sent off after only 39 minutes. 

That wasn't the end of the drama however we were locked at 1-1, (2-2 on aggregate), after 90 minutes of the 2nd leg, only to concede 2 Martin Ødegaard goals in Extra-time. 

We should have won this. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Missed Again. Stade Rennais. May 2032.

The way that the French Youth Leagues work, is that there are 4 leagues at the top level, and the winner of each of these top leagues goes into a Semi-Final Playoff, with the 2 winners of the 2 Playoffs fighting it out in a winner takes all. We had a 100% record in the league, winning all 26 games, scoring 150 goals and only conceding 7 in the process. 

In 2026/27 we won the league and were beaten 3-1 in extra time in the Semi Finals by Le Havre. 

In 2027/28 we won the league and were beaten 2-1 in the Semi-Finals by Monaco.

In 2028/29 we won the league and were beaten 2-0 in the Final by PSG after beating Monaco in the Semi's.

In 2029/30 we won the league and were beaten 1-0 in extra-time in the Final by Lyon after beating PSG in the Semi's.

In 2030/31 we won the league with a 100% record and were beaten 2-0 in the Semi-Final by Nice. 

This year was 2031/32 we won the league again with a 100% record and were beaten 2-0 in the Semi-Finals by Montpellier. 

UEFA Youth League. 

We have won the UEFA Youth League twice already in this save, (and once while managing HK which is pretty decent actually), but we didn't win it again this season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Liverpool? Stade Rennais. May 2032.

Liverpool weren't keen on my vision of youth development and I'm unlikely to get the job.

Arsenal? (This is the 2nd time they have invited me for an interview).

Arsenal weren't keen on the youth development plans either, but this is my 2nd interview with them so surely they knew what to expect? I wonder if I have a chance of this job? (Still not going to take it). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Belgium. Stade Rennais. Jul 2032. 

No thank you. 

[Deisler26]

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Broken. Stade Rennais. Aug 2032.

(29b) Mo Farhi (ALG)(Driven) * is one of the brightest prospects at the club. 

He is 1 of 5 big top prospect players I have at the club. 

He is developing rather nicely, but has just been injured playing for (FRA) U19's. It's a broken leg and he will be out for 3-5 months.

On the plus side, right back is at least an area of strength in this respect and 2 of the big 5 as I call them play there. It will be interesting to see what he is like after he is back playing again after his injury. 

[Deisler26]

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Atmosphere. Stade Rennais. Oct 2032.

I see and hear lots of people moaning about unhappy players this and unhappy players that. For the most part, I've got to admit that I just completely ignore them. They don't get a new contract until I want to give them one, (they can moan all they want), and if they are moaning about lack of game-time they either get given it or get  given the push.

With regards to dressing room atmosphere, I just completely ignore it, safe in the knowledge that a few wins on the bounce will cure just about everything.

Job done. 

[Dexter_Morgan]

Seems you're very close to PSG but they just edge it. 

I don't know if this is the case but I remember Stade Rennais threads were popular on the GP&TG section around 09-12 (I think) but one of the things that stopped me on it even though it looked fun was you were never able to get the new ground because there was no suitable sites to build one  This may have changed but it certainly used to be the case though it seems you're looking for a new job anyway so it mightn't bother you too much anyway  Just thought i'd warn you in case it does happen 

[Jimbokav1971]

Maxed Out. Stade Rennais. Jan 2033.

I think that's us maxed out at Level 20 now. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Bello. Stade Rennais. Youth Intake Day. Mar 2033. 

As I've said before, any intake with with a 5.0 PA player can never be classed as a bad intake.

The 2nd best player is a centre-half (6ft+), who is much needed.

The 3rd best player looks like a winger, (which would be a disaster because we don't play with wingers), but he can also play centrally and attributes suggest some suitability there too. 

The 4th player is a SC who certainly looks like he might be capable of making an impact at this level. 

The 5th player might never be our best GK, but I'm confidant that he will play at Ligue 1 level. 

(33a) Bello (Bal) (2033) *.

He looks pretty good at this early stage, although I'm not overly impressed with the "shoots from distance" PPM while his long shots attributes is just 5.

Edited March 17, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Continental Pro Licence. Stade Rennais. Mar 2033.

Well that's finally over. I can now stop fannying about with courses and qualifications and just get on with the job. My plan at the moment is to stay in France until I have won Ligue 1 at least once, and then move to England for a completely 100% Youth Only job. (At the moment I am still letting my DoF) sign the occasional player and if I am going to usurp PSG I might even have to start entering the transfer market a little myself. We are still a fair bit off them at the moment. 

[Jimbokav1971]

On 3/15/2018 at 17:28, Dexter_Morgan said:

Seems you're very close to PSG but they just edge it. 

My Nemesis. Stade Rennais. Mar 2033.

I went through a stage where I had the edge on them, but recently they have been properly sticking it to us. 

We beat them in 7 out of 8 games at one point, but since then they have won 4 on the bounce. 

[Edit]

Well this was rather timely. 

 

Edited March 18, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Glittering Prize. Stade Rennais. Apr 2033.

It wasn't all good news however as the wheels came off in Europe after the Group Stage. 

We should really have beaten Real in the 1st Knockout Rounds and I'm sure that it's only a matter of time before we go close to winning the whole thing.

It means that the trophy cabinet now looks like this, but they are not all of my doing. 

I am responsible for the following through. 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Favourite waste of time. Stade Rennais. Apr 2033.

[Jimbokav1971]

On 3/8/2018 at 21:48, Jimbokav1971 said:

The Wonderkids Stuff. Stade Rennais. Oct 2031.

I like to keep you updated on new Wonderkids as they develop. 

We had 2 Wonderkids at the time of the last update. 

Petrous (CZE) (Bal) used to be Petrous (CZE) (L.Det), but I have managed to get a tutor in for him and things have improved somewhat. He is still in the middle of his 1st tutoring link-up, and it's going to take at least 1 more to get him to where I want him. He's non longer classed as a Wonderkid and is now classed simply as a midfielder. He's not a product of our academy so I'm not going to bother with a picture. 

Elvis (CMR) (F.Amb) * is still Fairly Ambitious and is also no longer classed as a wonderkid. He is also simply classed as a midfielder. 

(27a) Lemoine (F.Det) (2027) * is the prodigal son who has returned from Juve. He is now labelled a wonderkid. 

(27b) Mercier  (FRA) (Pro) * is a young GK who has made significant progress in the last 18 months or so after a season at Tours in Ligue 2. He becomes our Academies 3rd wonderkid in recent years. His attribute balance is not quite what I would like, but then again he is only 6'1" and it's Aerial where he is lacking a little. I would hope that it's still early enough that it won't be an issue later on. 

The Wonderkid of you. Stade Rennais. May 2033.

Petrous (CZE) (Bal) is a previous wonderkid but is now classed as a Midfielder. Although still at the club, he has agreed a deal to join Wolfsburg. Incidentally, he is rated at 3.0 CA and also rated at 3.0 PA so there is not loads of improvement left in him. I'm not sure if the label was wrong or if I have miss-managed him, but I will admit that he was often over-looked in favour of poorer players who were HG at club. 

Elvis (CMR) (F.Amb) HG * is a previous wonderkid who was HG at club, albeit before my time, but is now classed as a midfielder.  He is also a 3.0 PA 3.0 CA player so there is not much development left in him either. The 23 year old has already made 177 league appearances for Stade, so nobody is going to suggest that he hasn't been given his opportunities. 

At 21 years old (27a) Lemoine (Res) (2027) * might have out-grown his wonderkid status, but he still has the potential to be a bit special. with a 3.5 CA rating and still with a 5.0 PA rating, he has become an important cog in the Stade wheel. Although he has 28 (FRA) U21 Caps, he has yet to be called up to the Senior (FRA) squad. Surely it is only a matter of time. He is now classed as just a full back.

(27b) Mercier  (FRA) (Pro) * is still a wonderkid at the age of 20 and has become our 1st choice GK. He has a CA rating of 3.0 and now has 4.5 PA so there is still room to improve. 

(30a) Ray (Pro) (FRA) (2030) * is the next wonderkid on the Stade production line. The 20 year old striker has represented (FRA) at U20 and U19 level and has scored 13 goals in 15(7) appearances for the Stade Senior team this season. Of course I give preferential treatment to HG stars like this bloke, but I am still astonished by some of his mental attributes as a 17 year old. Determination 19, Decisions 18, Off the ball 17, Anticipation 15, Work rate 15 and all this with a hidden Pro attribute that is at least 18. I'm obviously really pleased with how he is developing, and just hope that he can steer clear of injury during this key development phase. He's got 2 years left on his contract and I have an option for 3 more. By then he will be 23 and should be a hell of a player. I obviously hope he is still at the club, but at the same time if he has to leave for the good of his career, then that's fine too just so long as I have someone on the conveyor belt behind him to step into the gap. At the moment there are 3 young strikers that I usually play together and they are all developing nicely. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Next on the list, (to be named wonderkid). Stade Rennais. May 2033.

We have 9 players at the club with 5.0 PA rating and a further 3 with a 4.5 PA rating. What's pleasing is that 10 of these 12 players are products of our Academy, with just 2 Brazilian defenders spoiling things from a HG perspective. While we are getting plenty of good full-backs through, (there are 4 on this list of 12), what we really need is some good centre-backs. We play 3 of them, (and only 2 full-backs, so centre back is a really key area for me at the moment and I am trying to eke the absolute most out of the players I have in these areas.

There are s GK's and 3 strikers on the list, (and I have other strikers on the periphery of the list too), but we are also short of central players in midfield, where only (31a) Berger (Bal) (2031) * stands out currently.

You can see that I am giving significant amount of game-time even to players with very poor CA. (31b) Segla (BEN) (Res) * just has 1.5 CA stars and he has already made 18 appearances for the Senior Team this season at the age of 16, (his 1st season being available). Is this impacting negatively on our performances right now? Yes, of course it is, but it should be seen as an investment rather than a cost.  

[Jimbokav1971]

 

Take a Bow. Stade Rennais. May 2033.

I'be been waiting for something to happen in this save and I have just noticed it, so I am delighted to post about it. 

The following pic is my squad listed by PA. If you look at the names of the players you see 7 players who were labelled "A's", 4 players who were labelled "B's", but not a single player labelled as a "C"

What jumps out at me a little is the 2nd player on the list. (33e) Killian (Bal) *. He is labelled (33e) indicating that he was the 5 best player in the 2033 intake, (rated by PA), but before the end of the 2033 season, my Ass Man now thinks he has better potential than all but 1 player at the club. 

Let's have a look back at what the top of the 2033 intake looked like. (33e) Killian (Bal) * was only rated as 4.0 PA, (which if I'm honest comes across as a little underwhelming), but only about 2 months later, the same staff who rated him 4.0 think that he could be as much as 5.0, (and indeed better than quite a few other 5.0 players we have). As if that wasn't enough, now look at (33f) Fodé (GUI) (Bal) who is 18th on the top above list and 5th on the list below. He came though and this year too and the early indication was that he was just a 3.5 PA player, (and possibly as low as 2.5). I know for a fact that some of you are not even offering blokes like this a youth contract and then moaning that you never get any decent youth players through. How many of you would have discarded either or both of these players? Now look at them just 2 months later! 

To expand on (33f) Fodé (GUI) (Bal) a little I think a lot of people would have discarded him. He is best suited as a TM, but at the same time he is short, (only 5'9"), and slow, with pace of only 8, (I class anyone with pace <11 slow). I think that makes this player a little unusual, simply because he is not the sort of player I would usually go for, so maybe that makes him the perfect player to develop and keep as an option to play differently when the time asks for it. At the moment I am developing his as a DLF, but also as a bit of a set-piece specialist. I don't know how this little experiment will turn out, because there are some VERY promising SC's ahead of him on the list who don't have some of his limitations, but I still think he might have something to offer. To sort of back that up, (and I know that we dominate Youth games anyway), but he has played just 3 U19 games this season since coming through the intake. He has scored 6 goals and created 5 assists in those 3 games. 

So in case you have missed by subtle suggestion, perhaps you could think a little more about keeping your youth players for a little longer rather than just instantly releasing them. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Young Winners. Stade Rennais. May 2033.

That's the 3rd time in 5 years we have won this trophy, (and we were Runners-Up on a 4th occasion). I also won this trophy in 2024/25 while at HK in Iceland. 

I don't know why, but I just can't win the French U19 Championship though. We romp the league, but keep crashing out in the Playoffs. 

[Reggiana]

I know I had a "p" from an intake turn in to a first team regular on the FM17, although that was in Brazil where intakes are quite regularly packed with quality.

I think it was one of your careers that convinced me to always sign my entire youth intake, there's always the chance that someone will develop more than the initial ratings suggest and once you're managing a big club there's not really any downside to handing out youth contracts.

[Jimbokav1971]

Lego House. Stade Rennais. May 2033.

I'm a little confused. 

The capacity of our current stadium is 27,396 and we are spending £101M to build a new stadium with a capacity of £37,495 so the capacity is being increased by 10,099 seats.

The price of an average season ticket is £452 so if we sell out all these additional seats then we get 10,099 x £452 = £4,564,748 additional income per year. 

In order for us to make £101M, we will have to sell out these additional seats for 22 years and 1 month. 

There is mention of a loan of £96M to pay for it, (I'm guessing we will just cover the other £5M and that's not a problem), but where is the money from the sale of the existing stadium? Oh.... I forgot. It's a council owned stadium. We don't own it. We pay them £1.06M per year so that brings it down a little. 

The £50M stadium sponsorship is additonal revenue too I suppose. 

I've just got the hump because I STILL haveb#t had a stadium named after me in FM. 

[Jimbokav1971]

6 minutes ago, Reggiana said:

I know I had a "p" from an intake turn in to a first team regular on the FM17, although that was in Brazil where intakes are quite regularly packed with quality.

I think it was one of your careers that convinced me to always sign my entire youth intake, there's always the chance that someone will develop more than the initial ratings suggest and once you're managing a big club there's not really any downside to handing out youth contracts.

I love that I have managed to influence even 1 single person like this. Brilliant. 

I'm really chuffed that it was a player right from the lower end of the scale too. 

[Deisler26]

 

14 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I don't know why, but I just can't win the French U19 Championship though. We romp the league, but keep crashing out in the Playoffs. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dirty Dozen. Stade Rennais. Jan 2034.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Chelsea Dagger. Stade Rennais. Jan 2034.

I'm not ready to leave France yet, but it would be very hard to turn a job of this magnitude down, (if offered). I'm going to go to the interview and stick to my principles and if they want a Youth based club then I'm their man. 

Well this certainly wasn't what I was expecting. 

Maybe I am in with a shout. 

Chelsea are owned by the fans? When did that happen? Other than that, the facilities look amazing. 

It looks like Abramovic sold the club to a fan based consortium in 2028. They have recently fallen foul of FFP regulations however. 

They are 13th in the Premier League at the moment, but until this season they have been performing quite consistently. (Last season was only their 2nd finish outside of the top 4 since the game started).

I haven't even looked at the players yet and I really want this job.

[Jimbokav1971]

Passport Home. Stade Rennais. Jan 2034.

As enjoyable as my little sojourn in France has been, I'm a London lad, (not a Chelsea fan), so I am effectively "coming home". When a club like Chelsea allowed me to take the club in the direction I wanted, it was a no-brainer. (I STILL haven't looked at the Chelsea squad yet). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Au Revoir. Stade Rennais. Jan 2034.

The trophy cabinet is more full than it was when I arrived. 

I am responsible for the following.

2 French Cup and 2 French League Cups doesn't sound like great success, but when you have to beat PSG to win anything, then it is a big deal. Playing the way I do, I'm not sure I would have ever toppled PSG, but it was the limmit of only 7 domestic loans out each season which was the biggest issue each season rather than their dominance. I will miss France, but I will REALLY miss Stade Rennais. 

I have left them in good nick though, (and I'm sure I will be back to raid their youth ranks before too long). Au revoir. 

[Rikulec]

Great work in France, and that's quite a twist regarding Chelsea! Will be interesting to follow.

[Jimbokav1971]

Problem. Chelsea. Jan 2034.

So obviously Abramovic has gone, and in his wake he has left a trail of financial turmoil, (as you would expect). 

The board told me that I would have a wage budget of £2.126M to use and that seemed fine, (whatever the wage budget is I will be under it before too long), but the alarm bells started to ring when they told me that I would have only £5.2M to spend on new players. That's a paltry amount for a Premier League club. 

Now I know why. 

That sounds like a lot, but it actually needn't be. It could be cleared with the sale of just 1 player for example, (assuming we have players of that value of course, which I haven't actually checked). [Goes to check]

So we have 4 players valued over the £50M mark, and a further 8 players valued at £10M+. The 1st group is brilliant, but I'm surprised that I don't have more valued between £10M - £50M. 

The most valuable player is a GK, (valued at £60M, and  strangely enough we have just 1 player with a 5.0 PA and he is another GK.

GK's.

Grimm (GER) (F.Amb) is only contracted until the end of next season so despite the fact that he is VERY good, I will probably be looking to cash in on him if I can't extend his contract. I am unable to extend contracts at the moment because we are over budget. 

Ben (F.Amb) * is the future, (despite his height), and Jake (Bal) is an adequate(ish) back-up. (Alternatively, Jake (Bal) is worth £6M. I might just flog him.

Left backs and Left wing-backs.

We don't seem to have too much strength in depth and while RvB (NED) (F.Det) is excellent, young Niall (CHI) (F.Det) is still a little way off being able to step into his boots, and in any case is out for the rest of the season with a broken foot. I will be offering all players on Youth contracts who are 17+ a Pro contract, because I am starting to get a sneaking suspicion that I might need them. 

While RvB (NED) (F.Det) is valued at £59M, he is also 29 years old and his contract expires at the end of next season. Now is probably the right time to sell. 

Right backs and Right wing-backs.

Nwankwo (NGA) (Det) HG is 1st choice at WBR and not only is he only 23 years old, but he is also a product of the Chelsea Academy. 

Yerson (POR) (F.Det) might be able to play WBR, but he is actually a winger and is 31 years old and valued at £54M. Remember I mentioned clearing our debt with the sale of 1 player? Well this bloke is going for whatever I can get from him. (He scored 18 league goals and created 10 league assists last season). That's big boots to fill. 

Martínez (COL) (Driven) is a centre-half.

RvB (NED) (F.Det) we have already met and is our starting WBL.

Smith (Driven) HG is a midfielder.

Brunt (Res) HG made his Premier League debut this season, (was rubbish), but will offer some depth of some sort.

Gedson (POR) (Res) can play anywhere but is more of a midfielder and in any case he is 35 years old and his contract expires in the Summer.. He has been here for 12 years and although he doesn;t have a staff profile, if that's something I can encourage then I will. 

Davies (WAL) (Driven) HG is a young centre-half with a broken arm.

Glenn Beissel (NED) (F.Pro) HG might be a product of our Academy, but he really isn't very good. 

Lewis Middleton (Unamb) HG will hopefully never play for the senior team.

Centre-backs.

Martínez (COL) (Driven) looks decent, (is valued at £13M), but his contract expires at the end of the season. I really need to extend his contract or flog him.

Flávio (BRA) (L-Hearted) might very well be World Class, but he is a midfielder rather than a centre-half. 

Steve Clark II (Det) HG, (named so for obvious reasons), is not Scottish, but is also not very good. Despite that, he has significant potential and will surely feature. 

Ryan Davies (Driven) HG looks pretty poor of I'm honest. Is he really going to be playing? 

Owusu (GHA) (F.Pro) HG is out on loan but looks ok to add some depth for next season.

DDG (FRA) (Leader) is a leader in terms of personality, but if I'm honest with you I thought they had done away with the Leader personality when they introduced the Leader styles in FM. He is decent and will play, but his contract obviously expires in the Summer.

Davies (WAL) (Driven) HG is a young Welshman who can't jump. (Not good for a centre-half), but maybe I can use him in a cover role. 

Shawniki (F.Pro) HG looks reasonable, but looks to have very little room for growth.

Defensive summary.

This is the weakest defence of any Premier League side I have ever seen in FM. Ever. 

[Jimbokav1971]

There may be trouble ahead. Chelsea. Jan 2034.

I have never experienced anything like this before. While I have certainly inherited rubbish lop-sided squads before, and even rubbish, lop-sided squads with no money, I have never done so while managing in the Premier League, and where I needed to close a gap of 5 points and 3 places in order to meet board expectations. 

We have lots of central midfielders, and even some good AMC's, (which obviously I don't use), as well as at least 1 good winger, (don't use them either), and not a Target Man in sight. 

What have I done? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Auf Wiedersehen Pet. Chelsea. Jan 2034.

Well that's put a dent in the debt already.

[Jimbokav1971]

Busy. Chelsea. Feb 2034.

It seems as I am in more competitions with Chelsea than I was with Stade Rennais. 

Premier League. (Equivalent was Ligue 1)
FA Cup. (Equivalent was Coupe de France). 
League Cup aka Carabao Cup. (Equivalent was Ligue Coupe de France). 
Community/Charity Shield.(Equivalent was Trophee des champions).
Champions League/Europa Cup. (No change). 
U23 Premier Division 1. (Equivalent is Reserves Group 2).
U23 Premier Division Cup.
Checkatrade Paint Trophy.
U18 Division 1 South. (Equivalent is U19 Group C)
U18 Premier Division Cup.
FA Youth Cup.
UEFA Youth League. (No change).

That seems to suggest that there are 4 more trophies to play for in England, (at all levels), than there are in France. I know it might be explained away by saying that there is a Playoff structire to the U19 League structure in France and that might possibly take the place of the FA Youth Cup, (it doesn't in my opinion), but that still leaves the U21 Premier Division Cup not having a corresponding ficture in France, (I'm going to ignore the Checkatrade Trophy aka The Abomination Cup, although it's interesting that I no longer despise it at all and actually can't wait to win it with my U23's at some point, (assuming I don't get sacked pretty soon). Then we have the U18 Premier Division Cup, (which I don't actually know anything about. I love all these minor trophies and can't wait to win them, (assuming again I keep my job in the short-term). Things are toough at the moment and it's by no means certain that I can initially give the board the top half finish that they expect, (albeit that we won 3 out of our first 4 games to rocket us up the table and into 9th from a starting position of 13th), and it is by no means certain that I will be able to keep us there. 

I'm absolutely slashing the wage bill from a whopping almost £4M a month to a board instructed £2.125M. I understand that we are haemoraghing money, but the way the board are making me do this is actually costing us money. If I had my way of course I would sell players to bring in a transfer kitty and clear the negative bank balance of £52M, but I also wouldn't lose valuable players on a free just because I couldn't afford to extend their contracts. No, I would be extending their contracts, (some of them at least), before selling them to recoup some of the cash we had invested in them in terms of transfer fees and wages. Speculate to accumulate. Instead of that we are losing players as free agents, (including quality players who would otherwise have a future here), simply because I am unable to offer them reasonable deals. The Chelsea board have brought me in. They should have trusted me and I would have brought in a shed-load of money. I still will, but it will be significantly slower now. 

I've just looked and the window for the Youth Intakes here seems to be 28th Feb - 11th March, (so about a month away). It's quite possible that some of those youngsters might feature in the Senior squad the way my culling is going. 

That reminds me though, although we have no chance of winning the Premier League this season, (or anytime soon), and were beaten by Birmingham in the Carabao Cup 2nd Round, and were beaten by Ipswich in the FA Cup 3rd Round, finished bottom of a Checkatrade Trophy Group consisting of ourselves, Oxford, Bristol Rovers and Yeovil, (no, no I'm not joking), and are sitting 3rd in the U23 Premier Division, (unlikely to win the title). Possibly worst of all we somehow sit 10th of 12 teams in the U18 Division 1 South, (where the top team qualifies for some sort of Final which suggests that there is another trophy to be competed for at this level). We also got knocked out of the FA Youth Cup by Stoke, (and haven't won this trophy since 2027/28). Call Abramovic what you want, but the club was better run when he was here. I know you can blame individual Managers for individual results and performances, but this is significantly below-par management of the club at all levels. The quality of players we have, (ignoring the top top top end who are being paid absolute millions, (300,000 per week seems to be the old ceiling), is simply not good enough, but when I glance at players we have produced via our Academy and who have gone on to be successful elsewhere, there has been no issue with producing players. We have also been knocked out of the Premier Division Cup, so I will have to wait to see what that's all about. Newcastle knocked us out in the..... oh no they didn't. That was another Group Stage thingy and we finished bottom of a Group containing ourselves, West Ham, (who seem to be a VERY well run club right now at all levels), Watford and the previously mentioned Newcastle. Like I said, this isn;t simply a case of the previous Manager being poor and 1st Team performances and results suffering as a result. This is a failure at all levels throughout the club. 

We are however still technically in the U23 Premier Division Cup, (it's still in a Group stage and we sit top with 4 of 6 games played), so it's technically possible that we can still win that. 
Surprisingly, we are also still in the UEFA Youth League. I know that winning this trophy won't be keeping the board off my back but I absolutely love this trophy and haave already won it with both HK in Iceland, (once), and Stade Rennais in France, (twice, although I actually won it a 3rd time but was robbed because of a game crash when I didn;t win after the re-load, but I'm not bitter..... as you can tell by the fact that I didn't feel the need to mention the fact that I have been robbed of another UEFA Youth League trophy!!!

I think that there is a very realistic chance of me being sacked at the end of the season, (50/50 either way at the moment), but even if they give me another crack at it next season, if they want anything better than top half then it's just not doable, and I'm not even sure that top half will be doable after all the players who have contracts expiring leave and all the players I sell also leave. I think I should have said I will accept the job at the beginning of next season. Oh well.
 

Edited April 1, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Playmaker. Youth Intake Day. Chelsea. Mar 2034.

I'm always a little reluctant to pin to much hope of expectation on a generational talent. So often they flatter to deceive.

Whether the best player is a generational talent or simply a very good player, there doesn't seem to be an awful lot more in this intake other than (34a) Matty (Pro) (2034) *.

"Kriss" (34a) Matty (Pro) (2034) *.

Generational talent or not, he looks very good. Good enough in fact that I would consider starting him in Premier League games on the basis that my Ass Man will take him off at HT. If he's not the best Youth player I have ever produced, he certainly isn't far off it. What I find interesting though is his age, (16), compared to that of those I had coming through the intake at Stade Rennais, (14 & 15), and I can't stress the significance of that.

[Jimbokav1971]

Superstar. Chelsea. Mar 2034.

I know I've just gone to the effort of playing down the potential of (34a) Matty (Pro) (2034) * and suggesting that all this "Generational Talent" guff might me nothing more than that but....

£1.9M for a 16 year old on a Youth contract is mighty impressive. 

[Edit]

Edited April 1, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Safe Inside. Chelsea. May 2034.

I have survived the 1st part-season as Manager of Chelsea. I was tasked with a top half finish and although we were sitting pretty with a couple of games to go, we lost to Man Utd and then Champions Spurs on the last day of the season to see us drop down to 11th. The board didn't seem to mind though. It appears as if I had shown them enough.

We didn't draw a single game under my tenure, winning 9 and drawing 9 of 18 games played. 

Finances are looking better, (not hard from where we started I know), and I plan on being back in credit by the start of next season.

 We've got a 31yo (POR) winger going to West Ham for £30M which is just about going to clear our cash debt, (we still have a £15M loan outstanding), but it's the wages that was the big issue. The board were initially asking me to get down to £2,2M per week which was going to be a big struggle. 

This says we are spending £3.4M now and I can take off the following from that for players who will not be with us next season.

£275,000 (sold for £30M). Yerson. (POR) (F.Det) SELL. (
£350,000 (being released at end of contract which expires this Summer). Geubbels. (FRA) (Bal) SELL.
£350,000 (being released at end of contract which expires this Summer). Farjani. (BRA) (Amb) SELL.
£300,000 (being released at end of contract which expires this Summer). Flávio. (BRA) (L-Hearted) SELL
£94,000.  (being released at end of contract which expires this Summer). Kabasele. (BEL) (Driven).

Valiente. (ESP) (Perfect) is earning £325,000 per week, but he scored 17 goals for us this season, (and 9 in 18 for me), so I am considering re-signing him. £325,000 is a huge amount of money, but he might be the difference between me getting sacked and keeping my job. The jury is still out. 

Martínez. (COL) (Driven) is earning £77,000 and I had earmarked him for the door, but if he is willing to re-sign then I want the 25yo centre-half to stay. 

RvB (NED) (F.Det) is valued at £58M and is earning £190,000 per week. If I could sell him for close to his value and get 5-6 young players in for similar money then that would be nice. 

Iribarren (ESP) (Res) is valued at £56M and is earning £300,000 per week. It makes sense to cash in on him while I can, (if I can), and invest in some young blood. 

I'm hoping to be able to turn £18.6M into £162M, but I'm only being given 20% of any sales at the moment so that might be more like £44M.  That will still do me though I think. 

The big saving will be in the wage budget area where I'm expecting to go from £3.4M per week , (down £1.8M to £1.6M), and then up to God only knows what. Certainly lower than £3M but ideally closer to £2.5M.

As if things weren't tough enough....

But it's not all bad news. 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2018 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Fake News. Spurs celebrate Quintuple. May 2034.

A quintuple, (consisting of 5 parts or things), is always a good thing, but it's scraping the barrel a little when you have to include the Community Shield,, English U18 Division 1 and even the Carabao Cup.

That being said, winning the Premier League is a big deal.

 

[Dexter_Morgan]

Seems like you've got a decent challenge at Chelsea, even i'd be tempted by them in the state they're in there  Good luck 

[Deisler26]

On 4/2/2018 at 18:04, Jimbokav1971 said:

 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

On 03/04/2018 at 18:20, Dexter_Morgan said:

Seems like you've got a decent challenge at Chelsea, even i'd be tempted by them in the state they're in there  Good luck 

You know me. I'm never one to manage a club like Chelsea, but they were actually in a worse position than I could possibly imagine. 

We are now back in credit at the bank, +£56M with the new season about to start, but it's been a hell of a struggle and even though I am only expected to finish mid-table, (I think it's actually top half that the board want), I'm not at all sure that it's possible with the squad that I have left. 

What had completely slipped my mind was that as well as having not much money, the board were only giving me 20% of any sales, (and they have kept to that), so there isn't that much money to go around at all and of course everyone who is good enough to sign for Chelsea wants a Chelsea-sized signing on fee and the agents are trying to absolutely hammer me! Antonio Conte is my DoF, but he's not very good at finding players, (I'm not used to signing players so I'm pretty rubbish too), so in the main I have really just re-signed players who have previously come through our Academy and were moved on because they weren;t good enough, and I'm hoping that they will be good enough to keep us up. (I'm not convinced at this stage). 

Even with what little money there is though, it's hard to sign anyone because I had a Hard Brexit in this save so I can't pilfer the usual cheap Nations for players. And anyway, what does £18.6M get you exactly. 

I'm loving it though, (apart from the close season which was rubbish as I am just not used to having to sign players at all never mind about a whole squad on almost no money). I love a challenge and this is one I can really get my teeth into. I quite like the fact that Conte is my DoF, (I didn't realise it at first), as it adds a bit of a back-story to this part of the save. 

It might end pretty quickly if we find ourselves in a relegation scrap, but if it was easy then it wouldn't be fun. My only real concern, (if I get sacked then it will be good for the save I think), is that I am also Managing Sunderland in this save with a different Manager and playing 100% Youth Only, (see other thread), and they have just been promoted twice on the bounce from League 2 to League 1 and then the Championship. If they manage to get promoted again, (I think that's highly unlikely for a few seasons at least but who knows), then I would be forced to resign if Sunderland got to the Premier League and finished about Chelsea with Chelsea able to go and actually buy players. 

I should reiterate that there is absolutely no cross-over between the 2 sides by the way. Sunderland don't buy any players that haven't previously come through their Academy and Chelsea haven't yet bought a Sunderland player and hopefully they never will. (Not sure of what circumstances I would allow that to happen but I;m against it happening at the moment). Possibly if Conte did the deal on the Chelsea side of things I might accept that, but it still feels a little dirty to me. 

Edited April 5, 2018 by Jimbokav1971