In Linz beginnts (FM16)

[mark1985]

As my computer hard drive died (thanks Bestbuy...) I lost my previous save with Burridge FC. I didn't have heart to start again. So I started a save with the city I used to live in in Austria. As there were several teams in the city (varying from the tragically average to the just tragic) so I chose the one who played on my road, the formerly and occasionally mighty LASK Linz. Linz is a city of 200,000 people located in the state of Upper Austria. It's an industrial city more famous for the steel works, Hitler and cake than it is for mountains

 

 

LASK play at the 20,000 seater Linzer Stadion (also known as the Stadion an der gugl) in the western part of town.

 

LASK were formed in 1908 the first team from outside of Vienna to win the top tier in 1964-65 and they also won the cup in 1965. Their best night came in 1985 when they beat Inter Milan 1-0 at home in 1985. They have rivalries with Ried (1 division higher) and cross town rivals Blau Weiss Linz (1 division lower). After some money issues and a tumble down the divisions, they started to work their way up and are supported by a loyal band of fans.

 

 

I will be doing this as a homegrown save, so will  be aiming to have as many players as possible from the Linz area but may expand into the rest of upper Austria (other than the odd loan until I get my youth system up to scratch). Any players coming through my youth system will also be eligible, but of course these regens could be from anywhere although they will initially all be from the Linz/Upper Austria area until my youth intake/rep improves. Upper Austria has a population of around 1.5m people so plenty of people to draw on. 

 

I have also made a few amendments to the database in order to test one or two things that I've always wanted to find the answer to and as this is a long term career save, this is the best place to try them. I have given myself a second nationality (Kyrgyzstan) to see if that has any effect on my youth intake, I have given Tajikistan a youth rating of 200 to see if this has any effect on the quality of their national team and I have given Kussnacht in the Swiss 6th tier a sugar daddy to see if this has any effect on them. This will have no impact on my save (other than potentially the nationality/second nationality of the odd regen).

 

Fingers crossed my laptop holds up this time and I get some success in this save. My short term aims are promotion to the top tier and long term is European domination.

[mark1985]

 

[BoxToBox]

Steel, Hitler and cake is a hell of a combination! Best of luck!

[mark1985]

Starting off, I wanted a quick look at my squad. There wasn't much chance to do this as there was only 10 days until the first round of the Austrian Cup (away to Ostbahn XI from Vienna) and the following Friday the league kicked off at home to FC Liefering.  My first thing to do was to organise the friendlies (away to Eferding and home to LOSC - which was already organised). The results were a 4-2 win and 0-1 loss respectively. I set up my tactics (a basic 4-4-2 with control, a high tempo and closing down) and looked for some backroom staff. I managed to find Felix Estl who seems a good find.

 

Allied to this, I bulked out the coaching  and scouting departments as well as asking the board to look for a senior affiliate (which was rejected). In terms of affiliates, I have the following:

 

SV Traun are a local team playing in the lower leagues and Aspire is a Qatari academy looking for good Qatari players. It is pretty random, but it helps merchandise sales and if  the Qatari Messi lands in my academy, jobs a good 'un! I am expected to fight for the title (only 1 goes up) and hopefully I can get a decent cup run going. 

In terms of players, I have the following loans in:

Wiesinger D LC 

Mayer M L

Huspek M/AM RLC

Rubin S C

 

The first 3 were already there, so I though I would keep them (Wiesdinger and Mayer from FC Liefering, Huspeck from Rapid Vienna). I loaned Rubin from FC Utrecht, who whilst being American will help me until the youth intake arrives. We have average training facilities, but I am more concerned at the moment with the youth facilities. We have good youth facilities and adequate recruitment/junior coaching. 

 

The winter break starts in late November, so I will be back with an update then (I plan to do a preseason update, winter break update and then an end of season update).

[mark1985]

27 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

Steel, Hitler and cake is a hell of a combination! Best of luck!

Thanks! Am going to need it I think

[deltablue]

Great idea to do a few experiments as well

[mark1985]

5 hours ago, deltablue said:

Great idea to do a few experiments as well

Exactly. Even after reading threads on here, I wasn't 100% sure what effect sugar daddys (especially at lower league/in non playable divisions) have,  what effect second nationality of manager/staff on youth intake have and what effect a high youth rating has for a 'minor'/non playable country has.

[Daveincid]

vor 33 Minuten schrieb mark1985:

Exactly. Even after reading threads on here, I wasn't 100% sure what effect sugar daddys (especially at lower league/in non playable divisions) have,  what effect second nationality of manager/staff on youth intake have and what effect a high youth rating has for a 'minor'/non playable country has.

I have done a simulation with different variables with the FM Editor. 1.Club Reputation, 2.League Reputation, 3. Nation Youth level, Good-bad facilities. As far as I know (I will check it when I am home). Its Club Reputation < Facilities < Youth Rating and League reputation dont hav a big affect. So it is theoretically possible to bring a club from a monor country to the top with only homegrowns. But not 100% sure.

[mark1985]

8 minutes ago, Daveincid said:

I have done a simulation with different variables with the FM Editor. 1.Club Reputation, 2.League Reputation, 3. Nation Youth level, Good-bad facilities. As far as I know (I will check it when I am home). Its Club Reputation < Facilities < Youth Rating and League reputation dont hav a big affect. So it is theoretically possible to bring a club from a monor country to the top with only homegrowns. But not 100% sure.

It will be interesting to see how Tajikistan fares in the next 10/20/30 seasons on my save. As they play in Asia, it will have minimal effect on my save, but as I have loaded a large database, it will be interesting to see if any filter through and exactly how good they will be as the facilities are exactly how they are 'out of the box.'

[Daveincid]

vor 7 Minuten schrieb mark1985:

It will be interesting to see how Tajikistan fares in the next 10/20/30 seasons on my save. As they play in Asia, it will have minimal effect on my save, but as I have loaded a large database, it will be interesting to see if any filter through and exactly how good they will be as the facilities are exactly how they are 'out of the box.'

Will follow this!

[Sheriff7]

Good to have you here mate.....Good luck!!

[mark1985]

Winter break 2015/16

Austrian erste liga

After a slightly rocky start with only 1 point from my first 2 games, I had a tinker with the tactics. Did that work? Hell yeah and then some. A 6-2 win against Floridsdorfer was followed up by a 2-0 win against Austria Klagenfurt. My form has been a bit up and down, but I have no problem scoring as I have only failed to score in 3 games out of 22 played so far. I currently sit second in the league 3 points behind St Polten with a better goal difference.

I look very well placed for the second half of season and with a little luck, I can even challenge for the title. Promotion in my first season would be amazing and wasnt on the cards (I am 3rd favourite for the title) but I wouldn't complain! The board wanted me to challenge for the title, which currently I am doing.

 

Austrian Cup

I have exceeded expectations in the cup and find myself in the quarter final with a tie away to SV Grödig who although they lie 6th in the top league, are on a 7 match run without a win so it is definitely a winnable tie

 

Youth

My youth team is playing well and until recently were top of the under 18 league but a defeat means they now lie 3rd but I am optimistic for the future as there are some good prospects there and the 2 teams above are both Bundesliga teams.

The best prospect in my youth team is the Croat Marko Raguz. Although not Austrian, he came through the youth system at LASK and therefore is part of my homegrown challenge. He is part of the Croatia U-19 set up and I will be putting him on the bench in the future with an eye for a few substitute appearances to see how he progresses.

 

There is also an interesting thing in the Austrian Erste Liga where if you have a minimum of 12 Austrian players in the match day squad for 9 matches in a row, you get 339k which is a nice boost to the bank balance for something I was planning to do anyway.

 

The board has also agreed to increase the junior funding so hopefully this will mean better a better youth intake for my save (although I will also be looking at the youth players coming through at other Upper Austrian clubs to see if there are any other local gems I can pick up!).

 

Transfers

I have added American striker Rubio Rubin (from FC Utrecht) and Austrian defender David Domej (from Hajduk) on loan to help bolster my ranks and they have played well so far. I have sold Fabiano to SPT for 160k (I didn't want to lose him but he was angling to leave plus it was a decent amount of money for an aging foreign player) plus I sent Pellegrini on loan to Kapfenberger SV (in the erste liga) and Fechter on loan to SV Seekirchen in the Regionalliga (3rd tier) to get them some first team football. When the January transfer reopens, I will be selling Imbongo to Dijon and Cabrerra to Osasuna for 100k each. This will bolster the bank balance plus they are rotation players at best who do not fulfill the homegrown part of my save.

Any other news

It seems like a tough dressing room to win over as I seem to have someone moaning about something every other week but I'm fairly confident a good league placing and a good cup run will win them over. As I said, promotion will be amazing as will making the semi final of the cup but we shall see what the second half of the season brings.

[mark1985]

23 hours ago, Sheriff7 said:

Good to have you here mate.....Good luck!!

Thanks! So far so good!

[Conndre3000]

Good luck

Great first half of the season!

 

[mark1985]

16 hours ago, Conndre3000 said:

Good luck

Great first half of the season!

 

Thanks. So far so good after the winter break as well Manged to close the gap to 1 point instead of 3 which is a good start to proceedings

[mark1985]

End of  season 2015/16

Austrian erste liga

So I bet you're wondering how I did? Well surprise surprise, I only went and won the thing didn't I? I managed to get within 1 point of St Polten after 4 games and then we went level on points a few games later (I went top on goal difference). After that it was a case of me shaking them off and after a while I did with me picking up a win and them losing. 2 games later, I beat them 1-0. After a defeat in the next game, it was back to a 3 point gap. But their form fell off a cliff and I won the league by 8 points. I would have been happy with a good second and chasing them all the way but to win the league was a hell of an achievement.

 

I actually won it with 2 games to go so put the younger players out and 1 loss and 1 draw shows they have a lot to learn but they should be better for the experience. I am speechless at having gone and won the thing!

 

Austrian Cup

I gave it a good go, but lost to SV Grödig 3-2 in extra time. I'm not disappointed as success wasn't on the cards and it was further than I expected to get. I am pleased I managed to push a better team to extra time.

 

Youth

Youth intake!!! Unfortunately not the best youth take ever, but there were a few good players available

 

I signed the following two who looked like they may be up to something, but the rest were let go.

They both look like they could be promising players for the future and are worth a youth contract so that I can see how they progress. I have been very please with the progress of Marko Raguz who had to step up to the plate in the second half of the season (see transfers) and responded with 5 goals in 16 games with an average rating of  6.79. I am unsure whether to retain him and play him off of the bench or send him off on loan (maybe to my feeder team in the third tier?). That'll depend on how I am able to strengthen in the summer. I also started to blood Alen Ahmetasevic (7 starts and 7 off the bench) to get him ready for a permanent position on the bench next season.

 

Transfers

Rubin managed to injure himself for 4 months (ligaments I think off the top of my head) just after winter break so he was sent packing back to Utrecht, which was a shame as his 7 goals in 12 games were very helpful as was some depth at forward. I sold young player Zeckanovic to Austria Vienna but loaned him back to the rest of the season.I also have Ullman and Hinum leaving on free transfers to Düsseldorf and Empoli respectively which is very frustrating as they are both local defenders (Hinum can play almost anywhere) but they refused to sign new contracts and bigger clubs came calling. I also took Tim Müller (an Austrian midfielder) on loan from Mainz to bolster the midfield who helped out a lot.

I will definitely need to strengthen before next season, mainly through loan signings I think.

Any others news

What a successful season it was for me! Cannot wait for next season. I will need to strengthen but aiming to stay up, get at least 4 points off of rivals SV Reid and maybe a really good cup run.

 

[mark1985]

Start of  season 2016/17

Austrian Bundesliga

Well, welcome to my first season in the Austrian Bundesliga! I am aiming for battling against relegation and maybe even a mid table finish. The first few games will judge how likely that will be. The first Upper Austrian derby will be on the 13th August at home to Ried so will be looking for a win there. Here's how the fixture list looks

 

My preseason was fairly mixed, but at the end of the the point of it is fitness not results.

 

Austrian Cup

Not much to say at the moment other than, jeez what a draw...

 

Youth

Not much to say here at the moment. I will be keeping all of the high potential players with me at the moment as they will get better training. Raguz and Ahmetasevic will be mainly in the U-19s but will be getting some time off of the bench with an eye to sending them out on loan in the 2017/18 season to get a full season under their belt. I have set them up with some tutoring with Gartler (my star striker and last seasons leading scorer) tutoring Raguz and Ramsebner tutoring Ahmetasevic being the main two.

 

Transfers

There have been a few comings and goings this season mainly in terms of loans in order to give me more depth.

I have signed Jakupovic on loan from Liverpool. He is an Austrian U-21 international and can sit in midfield. Rubin has recovered from his injury and is back to play up front alongside Gartler. Murphy is on loan from Norwich and will sit behind the 2 strikers. Mann from Sturm Graz is there to provide depth in midfield. I have signed the Austrian Domej from Hajduk for 150k as he was vital in defence for me last season and I have signed the 30 year old Sikov. Although he is Macedonian, not Austrian he is there as he is free, talented and can tutor the young Austrians coming through. That is the only logic in bringing him in as it is vital I stay in the Bundesliga this season.

 

Any Other news

In other news, my facilities were downgraded, but the board instantly accepted my request to boost them back up again so I am spending money to stay still

 

I am also off on a coaching course to build my skills up which lasts a year

 

Not much else to say at the start of the season, but I am aiming to stay in the Bundesliga, and blood some more of my youngsters. It is a big season and mid table will do me.

[mark1985]

Winter break 2016/17

Austrian Bundesliga

As we enter the winter break, this season has gone far better than I thought it would be. I currently lie fourth (out of 10) and even briefly (for about 2 days) lay top of the league. There have been some great results and some average ones (such as losses to Red Bull Salzburg and the Vienna clubs which I predicted to be honest). Here is how the league and my results currently look:

 

 

I have only picked up 2 points out of the last 9 which is disappointing especially against Mödling,  Altach and Mattersburg. The only 3 teams ahead of me are Red Bull Salzburg and the 2 Vienna clubs which is to be expected. I have picked up 4 points against Upper Austrian rivals Ried which is pleasing but the Best game has to be the 5-4 away win against Grödig which was a topsy turvy game where I was 3-0 up after 12 minutes (3 goals in 4 minutes) with a Rubin hattrick. If I can keep this up, I will be very pleased. A mid table finish was the best I could have hoped for, so to be fourth at this stage is amazing. Can it continue? Who knows but I'm gonna fight all the way!

Austrian Cup

As predicted, it didn't last long.

Frustratingly Rapid drew  3 non league clubs in the next 3 rounds. Talk about luck hey? Oh well, that's enough of that.

 

Youth

Haven't had much time to blood the younger players so far this season, but the youth team is flying in the U-18 league and they are a thumping 12 points clear after 13 games

My plan is to keep them playing together in the U-18s for the rest of the season so they can gel together (as well as the odd foray into the first team). Some of these players will be sent off on loan in my 3rd season to give them a full year of first team experience. They should then be ready for the first team (fingers crossed) as I am currently tutoring the best players and hopefully they will come on bounds in the next 18 months and will be a big step forward in my homegrown challenge.

Any other news

In other news, I am still receiving the bonus payments for playing Austrian players, although it is based on playing time rather than actual numbers of players

I have received a combined total of just under 400k which is brilliant stuff. I have also passed my coaching badge, which is nice which mean I can coach the players better. It's just a shame I apparently couldn't be bothered to shave for the picture...

 

 

I have also set up a link with CS Sedan Ardennes with is really good as they have good youth and training facilities so I can send some of my young players out there to get experience.

That's it for my winter break update. I will be back at the end of the season. Quick question for you though. Would you send the young players (maybe 3 or 4 of them) on Sedan (in the French National league - 3rd tier I think, who have good youth/training facilities) or to SV Traun (Austrian 3rd tier team who are a few miles south of Linz)? And why?

[Sheriff7]

Amazing start in Bundesliga mate!!You were very unlucky in cup draw Rapid looks very strong in league too..

[mark1985]

End of season 2016/17

Bundesliga

At the winter break, I sat fourth (just out of the European places) behind Red Bull Salzburg and the two major Vienna clubs. It started poorly with only 2 points from a possible 12, which led to a slide down the table. The 2 defeats were against Salzburg and Rapid Vienna, but as I had 3 home games, I was disappointed. My form started to improve and I picked up 19 of the next 21 available points (the only time I dropped points was at home to Mattersburg). I was determined to hang on to fourth place as a matter of pride (and prize money) but this became even more important when Rapid Vienna beat Wolfsburg in the cup and fourth place would mean European football next season (as the cup spot went to the league instead of the runners up). It was a shoot out between me, Altach and Sturm Graz. I drew with Altach and all I had to to was avoid defeat against Mattersburg and when Gartler slotted home his 12th goal of the season the travelling fans went wild and LASK Linz marched into next years Europa League. 

 

Austrian Cup

Not much to say here other than thank you Rapid for winning and sending me into the Europa League!!!

 

Youth

Not much to report here. A poor youth intake this season unfortunately

This led me to only keep hold of one player, Jens Amrein

In better news it was a fantastic year for my U-18 team who finished top of the U-18 league which means that I potentially have a good crop of youngsters coming through. My plan is to send some of the better players on loan (preferably together to the same team) with decent training facilities so they can play first team football and then be ready the season after to challenge for a first team place

 

Transfers

My loan signings definitely helped me this season and hopefully I will be able to get them back next season before my younger players are ready for first team football. I am very pleased with American Rubio Rubin who powered me to fourth place with 17 goals this season.

If I am able to get these players on loan again next season, then I will be chuffed. Murphy was a long term injury as he damaged his cruciates and was out for 8 months, so sent him back to Norwich.

 

Any other news

What a season! Chuffed to bits with that. My aim is to try to improve my facilities over the summer, get those loan signings back and see what happens next season. Achieved more than I could have thought this season. A cup run next season would be nice and more wins against the big three. I beat Austria Vienna and Rapid Vienna once each but lost every other game against them so a few more wins would be nice. And lets see what happens in Europe! Hopefully a taste of it will encourage my players to really fight for getting there again through the league or cup.

 

[mark1985]

6 hours ago, Sheriff7 said:

Amazing start in Bundesliga mate!!You were very unlucky in cup draw Rapid looks very strong in league too..

Thanks mate! The season ended fantastically!

[Sheriff7]

6 minutes ago, mark1985 said:

Thanks mate! The season ended fantastically!

 

[Sheriff7]

And one mistake mate Wolfsburg plays in Germany you should mean Wolfsberg??

[mark1985]

3 minutes ago, Sheriff7 said:

And one mistake mate Wolfsburg plays in Germany you should mean Wolfsberg??

 

8 minutes ago, Sheriff7 said:

 

Thanks mate! Yeah, meant Wolfsberger AC. My bad!

[mark1985]

Start of season 2017/18

Bundesliga

My plans for this season is to consolidate and maybe even challenge for European football through the league (finishing third or better). We shall see what happens here, but I am up for the challenge.

I am planning on giving the bigger boys more of a challenge rather than just be the best of the rest like last season.

 

Austrian Cup

I have been drawn away to SV Lafnitz (not going to lie, never heard of them) but I am hoping to at least make the semi finals this year and maybe further. Who knows. It is a good way into Europe potentially.

 

Europa League

I have been drawn against Icelandic team Valur in the first qualifying round. I honestly have no idea how this will go but I will give it my best shot and see how long this adventure lasts!

 

Youth

I have sent many players off on loan to my feeder team Sedan Ardennes in France so that they can gel together and get some first team football. They have decent training and youth facilities there so hopefully these players will be able to improve over the season. I have also sent Ahmetasavic on loan to Olympia Ljubljana to get him some first team football as well. No one is interested in Raguz at the moment so he will be put on the bench and get some playing time from there in order to improve him. The board has also decided to improve the youth facilities and invested in junior coaching which I am very excited about.

 

Transfers

I have brought in some more loans (including 3 from last season) but was unfortunately unable to get Rubin back on loan which is frustrating as he was a big part of ny success last season. I have managed to bring in Stipe Perica from Chelsea to play up front. I have also managed to get Aimati and Botti from Juve on loan to booster my attacking and midfield options respectively.

 

Any other business

As well as some more training facilities, the board have planned to not only give me some training facilities but to buy the stadium!

These are really good movements forward for me and will really help the team grow on and off the pitch. I have also set up Juve as my senior affiliate (hence the loans) and will be not only get some money from them, but hopefully some good loans as well. In terms of goals for this season, who knows. Top half of the league challenging for a European spot, a good cup run and whatever happens happens in Europe is my goal for this season. Wish me luck!

 

 

[mark1985]

winter break 2017/18

Austrian Bundesliga

At the start of the season I was aiming for fighting for European spots and maybe beating Salzburg and the Vienna clubs. Well, I am achieving one of them. Shockingly Austria Vienna are bottom of the league! Awful season so far for them and although they offered me the job, I decided to stay in Linz as I have unfinished business here. I currently lie 6th in the league (6-8th are all equal on points) and a few points back from fifth.

The surprise of the season is definitely Wolfsberg who are top of the league in their first season after promotion (oh what could have been last season I think! Just you wait until your second season lads). I am hoping for a better second half of the season as fourth is now a European spot due to the league rating going up and depending on how the cup goes, fifth could even be a spot! Has there ever been a league where potentially half of the league could qualify for Europe? My problem this season has been drawing too many games, mainly due to a lack of goals. Gartler has only scored 4 so far this season which is disappointing.

 

Austrian Cup

As easy first round win against some lower league no hopers mean I faced Wolfsberg in the next round and that was the end of the road for me.

 

Europa League

I had very few hopes for this competition other than to have a little fun and a holiday! I was drawn against the Icelandic giants of Valur and I coasted (kind of) through with a 4-3 aggregate win which set up a second qualifier against European giants Dinamo Bucharest who set me packing back to Austria with my tail between my legs with a 4-2 aggregate defeat. And that was the end of that. It was good experience for the lads and a good holiday.

 

Youth

In terms of my u-18 team, it has been disappointing so far as they lie sixth in the league. This is mainly due to most of them being shipped off to my various feeder clubs. Most are sunning themselves in the French third tier in the glamorous town of Sedan, the home of Sedan Ardennes. 

This gets them vital first team experience at a team with good facilities and the time to play together as a team. Ahmetasavic is on loan back in his home country at Olympia Ljubljana which will aid his growth as a player.

 

Transfers

In terms of transfers, they aren't doing too bad. Muller, Mann and Jakupovic have pretty much picked up where they left off last season and are a solid three for me. Botti is usually used off of the bench and is doing ok. I am slightly disappointed in Aimati and Perica who are not coming up with the goals that I need from them but fingers crossed they have settled in Austria now and will get firing after the winter break.

 

Any other news

Not much else in the world of FM for me at the moment other than being offered a contract until June 2020 and the training facilities almost being completed and my ground being closer to being purchased. I am aiming to fight for European football and scoring  a few more goals in the second half of the season. If I at least fight for European football and can finish above Austria Vienna and Ried, then I would be happy. I would also quite like for BW Linz to get promoted to the second tier (where they can stay) as that will be 3 Upper Austrian teams in the top 2 divisions which will improve Upper Austrian football and the quality of Upper Austrian players coming through the youth ranks which will help me in the long run. 

[Sheriff7]

Keep going mate you are going to be much better in Europe next year...

[mark1985]

End of season 2017/18

Bundesliga

After an average first half of the season, my form picked up in the second half of the season. The curse of too many draws struck again and although I finished fifth, thanks to Rapid Vienna winning the cup again, I qualified for Europe through the back door again.

 

Austria Vienna's form picked up and although it was a poor season by their standards, they finished safely mid table. I am happy that I qualified for Europe as well as finishing above Reid and one of the Vienna clubs which was my goal at the start of the season. Wolfsberg have to be the surprise of the season in finishing third and qualifying for Europe. In the second tier, SV Grodig fell straight through the trapdoor a season after their relegation from the Bundesliga and straight through the Erste Liga into the regional leagues. Ouch! Here is last seasons fixture list:

Managing to beat Austria Vienna every game this season was particularly pleasing.

 

Austrian Cup

Nothing to report here other than thanking Rapid Vienna yet again. Danke Jungs!

 

Youth

A decent youth intake this time around and I decided to keep all of them to bulk out my U-18 team.

After a poor first half of the season, they rallied and finished a close second in the U-18 league. My best youth prospects fared well out on loan and should be raring to go next season. Raguz will hopefully be sent on loan as he needs a full season of first team football especially as he is too old for U-18 football now and Ahmetasavic was called up to the Slovenia team, although he didn't play. He will get  a permanent place on the bench next season. I am particularly pleased with Tobias Feichtinger who really kicked on whilst on loan and is now in the Austria U-19 team.

 

Transfers

Here are my transfers for the season

I will be aiming to have many of my first youth intake in/around the first team next season so I am not so reliant on loans. I am particularly disappointed with the two strikers I had on loan as they misfired throughout the season hence me drawing too many. But fingers crossed Gartler can refund his form next season

 

Any other news

My plan for the next season is to actually try and get to the cup final this year, not rely on Rapid Vienna winning the cup to get me into Europe, blood the youth into the first team and get further in Europe. It is a lot to aim for, but I am confident that I can manage at least three of these. I am also very close to actually purchasing the stadium as well. I will not be extending it (struggling to fill it to be honest) but will be nice to actually own it and to keep all of the gate receipts for a change so it will probably pay back the outlay by the end of the season (especially if there is a cup and/or a European run).

[mark1985]

On 2/3/2018 at 11:23, Sheriff7 said:

Keep going mate you are going to be much better in Europe next year...

Fingers crossed! I got in through the back door again and hopefully I can get at least to the playoff this time around if we get  a decent draw

[mark1985]

Start of season 2018/19

Bundesliga

Here we go for another season. I am planning to finish at least fourth this season and therefore will not need to rely on Rapid Vienna winning the cup in order to get me into Europe! Here is the fixture list for this season

 

Austrian Cup

I have drawn Sturm Graz who are also a Bundesliga team which is a tad annoying. My plan is to at least get to the semis this season, but a nicer first round draw would have been much nicer!

 

Europa League

This season I have drawn Leicester in the third qualifying round. Tough draw and who knows how I'll do! If I could get past them, it will be a job well done in my opinion.

 

Youth

I am hoping a few more of my youth players step up to the plate this season, although a few more have been sent off on loan for a season full of first team football which means next season they will all be ready for my first team.

Transfers

I am aiming for this season to be my last season relying on bringing in loan players. I have bulked up my midfield and attack (mainly depth) in order for me to be able to loan out some of my younger players as I believe that they need one more season of first team football at a slightly lower standard before they are ready.

Unfortunately Michori was pushing to leave and refusing to sign a new contract. Therefore I decided to sell him in order to get some money for him. He was worth 900k so to get 1.5m for him wasn't so bad. Raguz is off to Sedan to discover his scoring boots and get a full season of first team football under his belt. Feichtinger has gone on loan to St Polten in the Austrian second tier to get a full season of second tier football under his belt. I am also planning on sending Ahmetasavic to the Austrian second tier as well to get a full season under his belt.

 

Any other news

The youth facilities are being improved again, which is amazing plus the stadium has finally been bought but I have to pay a massive loan back which is a pain in the proverbial. If I can improve on last season, I will be extremely happy.

[mark1985]

Winter break 2018/19

Bundesliga

So far so good in the league. I currently lie 4th but within touching distance of Sturm Graz in 1st (only 5 points separate us). I briefly lay top of the league for a few hours and I'm very please with my league form. I seem to be a lot better in front of goal this season and the team is looking confident and ready to battle to stay in the top 4.

I can't wait for the rest of the league season and I plan to battle for a third place finish at least.

 

Austrian Cup

Disappointed in how this went as I would like to win a trophy sooner or later. Could have gone either way, but my focus is very much on the league this season.

 

Europa League

As predicted it didn't last long, but I definitely should have put up more of a fight. At least the fans got to see some goals...

 

Youth

As said earlier, most of the young players are off on loan either in Sedan or in the Austrian second tier. They have been putting in some decent performances and should be ready for next season. I have also brought in Lewandowski (no, not that one) from SV Chemie Linz. He's a local boy and looks a gem. Hopefully he can progress well in my youth team (who are performing well in the U-18 league and currently lie second).

 

 

Transfers

I purchased Muller (an Austrian U-21 international) from Mainz to bolster my midfield. Apart from that, not a lot more to report other than bringing in some loans from PSG. 

 

Any other news

Not much else to report other than a new parent club (PSG) and feeder club (O'Higgins in Chile) to spread some LASK love around Europe and the world. Hopefully sme good loans/regens will come from them, but who knows. Aims for the rest of the season will be to challenge for third and entry into the Europa League third qualifier.

[mark1985]

End of season 2018/19

Bundesliga

Very successful season for me finishing third in the league, 5 points clear of Austria Vienna.

I had already bagged third by the last game of the season, so stuck the young kids in and lost both times but didn't bother me as I had already bagged my highest league position yet! Very pleased with this as it bodes well for the future. 

 

Austrian Cup

Another year another win for Rapid Vienna. Nothing to see here

 

Europa League

I will be entering in again at the third qualifying round so fingers crossed for a decent draw and I don't get battered again.

 

Youth

Not a bad youth intake this time around. I decided to keep all of them again just to bulk the youth team out. I shall be slightly more selective in future. Here is the youth intake

Probably the best player to come through is Sebastian Ammerbacher who is a striker. Not great technically but not bad otherwise

Not a bad year for the U-18s who won the cup which was a good result for the lads! Good sign for the future and when the loan signings come back with their experience they will take the place of the loan signings and hopefully lead me to bigger and better things.

 

Transfers

Here are my transfers for this season. Bit too reliant on loan signings this season, but with my players coming back from their year on loan, I should be able to grow on this.

 

I added 2 players to my youth team who are both defenders and will help me grow into a better side. Sikov went on loan as he was not happy at the amount of games he was getting and Austria Klagenfurt have an option to buy him for 20k which I wouldn't be opposed to as I can't see him playing too much next season. I shouldn't have to bring in any loans next season.

 

Any other news

Thrilled with my third place finish and really excited to see what condition the loan players come back in. They have grown with the experience I have given them and most of them should be able to slot right into the first team squad. Gartler has decided to hand in his retirement, which is a shame as he has been a brilliant striker for me. He is staying for 1 more season so hopefully he will be able to help bring some of the younger players through whilst sticking plenty in the back of the net.

 

[mark1985]

Start of season 2019/20

Bundesliga

Welcome to the start of the new season. I'm very optimistic for this season. Here are my fixtures for this season

The board think I should finish mid table but I am aiming higher for that. The league has lost a champions league place which is a pain so the only way to qualify for it is to win the league. Fingers crossed the teams in Europe can up their game and get that place back! I am aiming for third or better this season.

 

Austrian cup

Here is my draw for next season. Should make it past the first round and I would really like to win it so I can finally win a trophy! 

 

Europa League

Another tough draw and another Premier League team. Not holding out much hope but who knows. If I get a win in the first leg at home, then anything is possible

 

Youth

My players have come back from their loans and most are into the first team squad. Ahmetasavic, Raguz, Feichtinger, Scmid, Aichinger and Demircioglu are all in the first team squad. They all had good loans last season and I am confident that they can step up to the plate.  I have plenty of players in the Austrian U-19 squad so obviously something is working with my youth team. 

I have also signed Wimmer from Prambachkirchen (a small village a few miles away) who is in the U-19 squad at the age of 16 so he looks one for the future.

 

Transfers

Despite me saying I wouldn't make any more loan signings, I have made 3. A keeper from Juve plus 2 more to bulk out the midfield. I have rid of some of the dead wood and sent a few youngsters out on loan. Should be the last season of bringing some loans in and fingers crossed they step up to the plate for me.

 

Any other news

Not much else to report other than it could be a big season for my young players!

[scotty-corkcityfc]

ANy update?

[mark1985]

3 hours ago, scotty-corkcityfc said:

ANy update?

Was just rebooting this after having to take my laptop back to the shop (I remembered to back up this time!) and a brief holiday in Florida and the save must have corrupted as the laptop no longer recognises it, which is a bit of a blow! Was really enjoying this save as well which is a real shame. But such is the life of an FM'er! 

 

For my next challenge, I am considering the Liechtenstein that @Sheriff7 is doing, but starting with a lower league Liechtenstein team. Do you have a db for the lower Siwss leagues @Sheriff7 for FM16?

[BoxToBox]

That sucks!

[mark1985]

29 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

That sucks!

Yeah, you're telling me! You know the feeling though. Just amended the database to allow Swiss lower league in. If a database is 'verified' then it means it shouldn't crash right (I know you can never fully stop crash dumps, but as far as the database that should be fine right?

[BoxToBox]

As far as I know it should be fine.

[mark1985]

21 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

As far as I know it should be fine.

Good stuff. Have added the 3rd/4th/5th tier and shoved the 3 Liechtensteiner teams from the non playable 'lower leagues' into the 5th tier (but kept everything the same). Now just the decision of who the manage! Am thinking either USV Eschen/Mauren or FC Balzers in the 4th tier. And the national team, obvs.

[Sheriff7]

11 hours ago, mark1985 said:

Was just rebooting this after having to take my laptop back to the shop (I remembered to back up this time!) and a brief holiday in Florida and the save must have corrupted as the laptop no longer recognises it, which is a bit of a blow! Was really enjoying this save as well which is a real shame. But such is the life of an FM'er! 

 

For my next challenge, I am considering the Liechtenstein that @Sheriff7 is doing, but starting with a lower league Liechtenstein team. Do you have a db for the lower Siwss leagues @Sheriff7 for FM16?

I used editor mate and add all leagues down to 5th tier (Liga interregional + one category with all the other clubs from Liechtenstein, B teams of Vaduz, Eschen and Blazers and some teams who have Liechtensteiners in their roster.. If you want I can send you the file.. 

[Sheriff7]

9 hours ago, mark1985 said:

Good stuff. Have added the 3rd/4th/5th tier and shoved the 3 Liechtensteiner teams from the non playable 'lower leagues' into the 5th tier (but kept everything the same). Now just the decision of who the manage! Am thinking either USV Eschen/Mauren or FC Balzers in the 4th tier. And the national team, obvs.

Blazers for me have in the start some very good Liechtensteiners (Polverino, Meier, Kaufman)  but Eshen is affiliated with Vaduz and they can help you with some loans.. Anyway I will follow your save whatever you choose..