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The Circle of Fitness Activists


noikeee

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Budapest, Hungary, 29th of May 2017.
 

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Breaking news! The Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre Budapest Futball Club, most commonly known as MTK Budapest, with MTK standing for, according to Wikipedia, "Circle of Hungarian Fitness Activists" (I **** you not), appears to have appointed an unknown young Bulgarian-Romanian manager of his name Henrik Santinescu.



Who are MTK Budapest and why should I care?


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Presumably after doing this exercise whilst signing the Kumbaya and munching protein bars, in whatever was the equivalent of a Crossfit class in the 1880s, a bunch of lads in Budapest decided this would be a great name for a club, and started one. Eventually, it would morph into something that actually has a pretty cool looking crest:


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Also, ****ing cool kits:

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(disregard the terrified-looking players)


Most importantly this is a team with history. You'd be forgiven for not remembering the 1964 Cup Winners Cup final but they lost the final to Sporting Lisbon, of all ****ing teams in the world. I'm making a point of calling Sporting Lisbon, Sporting Lisbon, and this was an embarrassment that obviously haunts MTK to this day, and needs to be set straight by winning big things. In other news they also won the odd TWENTY THREE Hungarian titles in the mean time as well, but nobody cares about those.

Their stadium is named after Nándor Hidegkuti, a legend of the Puskas generation, mostly known for helping smash England in the famous friendly at Wembley in an unheard-of deep-lying/false-nine kind striker role.

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What's up with the Bulgarian-Romanian manager and what's the challenge?


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Hi


The concept at the moment is, uhhh, a work in progress but basically what I'm gonna try to do here is revive the days of my FM15 CSKA Sofia challenge where I tried to build the strongest team possible all made of Eastern European nationalities. Now if you happen to be Hungarian and reading this, you are already probably fuming at the name "Eastern Europe" when you really really want to be called "Central Europe" instead, but I'm sorry to announce that for the sake of wrong geography and easier FM playing, everyone East of the Iron Curtain is fair game to sign here.

I also never managed in Hungary for whatever strange bizarre random reason, and everyone has done Honved a billion times due to Puskas, so why not pick up another historical side instead. I like Hungary after having a really nice time in Budapest earlier this year, top city. Top history in the game too, and at some point I'd love to pick up the national side even if I won't be building exclusively Hungarian players only in here.

For now the idea is to sign only Under 21 players from Iron Curtain nationalities. This is restrictive enough that should force me to bet on youth quite a bit!

The Bulgarian and Romanian nationalities of the manager should hopefully also help us catch some talent from these nations, that just like Hungary, were known in the past for producing some fine players, although they peaked in the 1990s and Hungary was far earlier...



So what's MTK up to nowadays?
 

They're ****ed. Just went down to the 2nd tier.

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We do have a B team playing in the league below us, which I've activated thanks to Claassen's excellent files. And this is our squad as it stands:

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We're favourites to go up as the strongest side in the league. Which puts me under a little pressure, but should make for a nice first warmup season if things go to plan.





That's all great. But can you give me instead some boring technical screenshots about how the game is setup and ****?
 

Sure.

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Had some good saves over the FM series in Hungary so will follow with intrigue. Will be a good battle with Ferencvaros and Videoton when you're back in the top league for sure. And a good rule to abide by, will be a plethora of talented youngsters to choose from in Eastern Europe. 

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18 hours ago, oriole01 said:

Looking forward to this, don't think I've seen a Hungarian save on 18 so far. Best of luck!

Tbf it's not exactly the most popular nation ever. :D Although I've seen Honved quite a few times in this forum over the years.

11 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Best of luck. Great idea. Think fm19 I’ll be doing something Similar finding a historic side in a country I would never really consider managing. 

 

Following 

Cheers!

10 hours ago, ToMexico!! said:

Had some good saves over the FM series in Hungary so will follow with intrigue. Will be a good battle with Ferencvaros and Videoton when you're back in the top league for sure. And a good rule to abide by, will be a plethora of talented youngsters to choose from in Eastern Europe. 

Yeah for now I haven't really poached any kids but over the long term I'm sure that's gonna be fun.

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Mid-season update 2017/2018


 

Transfers

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For now I decided to keep it very low profile and not sign any players, we only picked up one kid through the HOYD:


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There's a bit of potential here but he's got a long way to grow yet to be useful.

 

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It was a brutal arrival to Hungary as we got smashed 3-0 in our very first match, but ever since we have gotten into much more of a rhtyhm, even if not quite 100% at the level I wanted. That might seem picky given the amount of wins and the fact we're now 1st coming into the winter break, but I feel we should be comfortably topping the league as the strongest side in the division, yet we seem in a tight battle for promotion and as I said, we only just made it to 1st.

There's a bit of a cup run going on too, we were very fortunate to avoid a banana skin as a semi-pro side took us to penalties in the 1st round, but by now we're through to the 4th round. As we face a lower league side next I think we can beat them and reach the quarter-finals.

I have been perhaps rushing this first season a bit too much and not quite paying enough attention to staff, scouting, transfers, etc, and that's probably about time now in the winter break, but away from the pitch I do have some great news that the board just agreed to:

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1 minute ago, BoxToBox said:

Just noticed you have Adam Vass. :eek:

Yeah he's one of our stars, but has just ****ed up his knee:

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We have some very high profile players for a 2nd tier team, it feels like half the squad is a top tier team that got dumped here (probably because that's exactly what MTK are). The problem is that they're older than time itself. There's 42-caps-for-Hungary striker Sándor Torghelle (now 35 years old) and the incredibly talented but super slow 33 year old midfielder József Kanta.

 

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I'm using Kanta in midfield but not so much Torghelle, I'm picking the 19 year old Szerencsi instead. Nowhere near as talented but critically, much quicker:

 

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10 hours ago, noikeee said:

New HOYD.

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Not amazing but will do for now. Croatian nationality could be pretty interesting if it helps us get Croatian regens.

I'd kill for such a HoYD in my save  * salivating *

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Nice start and some interesting players you've started with - that 19 year old striker looks class and I remember Vass & Torghelle from previous FM saves. Will be following the fitness activists :thup:

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Interesting to see you get a Bulgarian at the top of the intake, looks like that manager nationality paid off right away. He looks really good for this level too! Good luck with the rest of the season.

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On 25/06/2018 at 21:44, oriole01 said:

Interesting to see you get a Bulgarian at the top of the intake, looks like that manager nationality paid off right away. He looks really good for this level too!

He's awesome, I totally like the nationality as well! Been improving straight away! I'm only a little unsure what to do with him, am training at Mezzala. Trying to get rid of the "comes deep to get ball" PPM too.

On 25/06/2018 at 21:44, oriole01 said:

Good luck with the rest of the season.

Thanks. I think it's going just fine. I just got these 2 news items:

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:cool:

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End of season update 2017/2018

 

Transfers

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Two transfers in:

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This Belarrussian keeper looked a good one to snap up until I realised I had a better 17 year old keeper already in the squad.

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My scouts insisted in him and the DOF got ahead of myself and snapped him up. I don't see great starting skills but he's got all the PA stars so why not.


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There was not much to worry about in this second half of the season as although we rarely got big wins and often relied in scrappy marginal wins and/or late goals, ourselves and Békécsaba opened up a big lead over the rest of the teams, so the 2 promotions slots were never in doubt. We clinched promotion with 4 matches to go and then went on an absolute killer run at the very end with big win after big win (the fact I decided to take over all these matches and try new tweaks here and there helped, as well as the morale through the roof). At the end Békécsaba took us to the very last day on the fight for the title but on the 2nd half of the final match we cracked Györ and became champions.

The cup could've gone a little better, unsurprisingly we beat Baja although by a smaller margin than I expected, and in the quarters Puskás Akadémia beat us twice, which is not a great indicator for next season as that's one of the weakest sides in the league above.

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Squad review 2017/2018


Best 11

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GK - Viktor Szentpéteri
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A decent season but he's way past it at the age of 38 and there's the hugely exciting 17 year old Zsolt Gyarmati at his level already - no surprises that he's retiring now at the end of the season.


DR - Máté Katona
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I started the season with him as midfielder but eventually the rightback option Gábor Bori was getting far too old and slow and Katona was needed here. He was even better at rightback than the pretty solid midfielder he had been before the switch.


DL - Bence Deutsch
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A good season but there's bigger talents in this side.


DC - Ákos Baki
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CBs isn't one of our strongest points as everyone seems slow which I hate.


DC - Gergö Gengeliczki
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Equal ratings to his CB partner Baki but he's a slightly worse player and equally slow.


DM - Ádám Vass
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On paper a huge talent, ratings aren't out of this world but usually DMs don't get them super-high so you'd think he's doing great.


MC - József Kanta
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Older than the dinossaurs and getting far too weak physically, but did surprisingly well even as Mezzala.


MC - Ádám Szabó
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... but Kanta had to settle for the BBM/S role later in the season because a better Mezzala surprisingly emerged in Ádám Szabo. Not a brilliant player on paper, but 11 goals from midfield (and 6 assists) was quite something for a player that only became a starter midseason.


AMR - Patrik Vass
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Our true stars were our IFs though and the lesser known of the Vass'es was probably THE superstar - 15 goals and 15 assists was amazing and he had by far the highest ratings in the side (7.48).


AML - Lászlo Lencse
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Hitting the penalties helps his goals scored numbers but this was a bonkers season as he became our top scorer from the left-wing - when I'm giving him a support role! 20 goals, 13 assists.


ST - Miklós Szerencsi
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The youngster (20 years old, youngest in this 11 apart from RB Katona) got the spot over the veteran Torghelle (who I then loaned midseason) based on pace. He was good, I was expecting a little better than 12 goals, 9 assists, but if you consider he missed a loooong few months of the season to injury it's a good return.


Rest of the squad and hottest prospects

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GK - Zsolt Gyarmati
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Expected to be the starting keeper from next season already at the age of 17. A prodigy.


ST - Márton Gréczi
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One of two equally promising strikers together with Zoltán Tóth but he's looked better on the pitch, is slightly younger and has a better personality, so I favour him - even if Tóth is a more complete player whereas Gréczi is more of a pure pace merchant.


MC - Georgi Krastev YP18A
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There's no denying this year's youth intake best kid is going places.


Career progress table

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On 28/06/2018 at 23:06, john1 said:

Congrats on winning the title :cool: Decent youth intakes :eek: 

Decent avatar. :D That moment will now haunt Michy forever. :D 

On 29/06/2018 at 10:18, smp20 said:

Nice work with promotion and a great intake! Foundations for the future and I like the current 11 and tactic.

Thanks, but the tactic is 90% @knap's really, see here. In the France save I had settled into a setup that I realized was pretty similar to his tactic, and then I adapted quite a few of his concepts and that made things better. These Hungarian lads can't quite cope with such a high line as his though, so I'm using Control rather than Attacking and no offside trap.

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Pre-season 2018/2019


 

Transfers

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Three new faces.


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Splashed 140K€ on him. We're pretty stacked on the wings, specially now a couple players returned from loans, but whilst he can play there, I'm giving him a go as Mezzala now and I think he's quite a big upgrade there.

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An okay centre-back, quick but that's it, lacking in some other areas. The DOF bid for him and I let the transfer happen, he was cheap and maybe can still turn into a player.

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A more exciting CB for whom I paid 110K€, by contrast to Szalai he lacks pace, but he's not any slower than the previous starting CB he's gonna replace anyway (Gengeliczki) - he's going straight into the starting 11 at the age of 18.


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1 hour ago, john1 said:

Decent players you have signed :thup: What is the club finances like after winning the league and upgrading the facilities?

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Pretty good and we have a slightly bonkers transfer budget. :D 

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Mid-season update 2018/2019


 

Transfers

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The season had already started but I still poached 3 more guys:

 
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Defensive-minded midfielder, I'm not so sure I like his attributes spread that much but has superb potential so why not. Montenegrin U21 international.
 

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Another midfielder from the country right next to Montenegro, Serbia. I thought he looked really quite good on paper but he's been rubbish! Very disappointing performances so far.
 

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One of those guys that the DOF or the HOYD snaps up (can't remember which of them) and I dunno why I didn't cancel the deal as he's awful.

 

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This has been weird. We started on incredible form with 4 straight wins! Shot up immediately to 1st place. But then we went on pretty much the reverse form with 5 consecutive defeats, and it would get even worse later with a 4-0 loss away to Diósgyör, the lowest point of the season so far. We had tanked to 8th, but in November/December we picked up a bit of form again and won 3 matches. We're still 8th but just 2 points away from 4th and comfortably ahead of the relegation spots. Overall I'd say we're sorta where we should be, it's true we just went up from the 2nd tier but we're a big side, and the media had tipped us to finish 7th in the season preview thing.

In the cup there's been little issues and the most notable thing about it was Georgi Krastev YP18A scoring a goal on his debut in round 3.

 

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Future transfers

Meanwhile whilst we were on the bad run, I decided we seriously need reinforcements, and with a large amount of transfer budget sitting unused, I decided to splash 400K€ on 4 players that will arrive in January:
 

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This RB is unlikely to dislodge Katona from the starting 11 right now, but is an exciting player for his age of 17. Very quick.
 

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Quick CB which we could grab on just a compensation fee. Needs a little work on his mentals but deal with that and there's a really good player here.
 

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Possibly the most important signing because I'm getting fed up of Adorjan's poor performances at LB this season and I don't rate Deutsch who is the other option (and who played last year). A new LB was a huge priority hence here comes this Croatian lad, hopefully to sort out the position for now.
 

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This is also a very exciting signing, this Partizan winger seems ready to immediately fight for a place in our starting 11 at the age of 17. Unfortunately he insisted on a very low release clause but I'll take it for now.

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11 minutes ago, Sheriff7 said:

What a league! Debrecen and Videoton fighting for title(normal) , 6! Clubs fight for European tickets and 3 to avoid relagation.. 

Yeah that kind of comes with the format of such a small league, when things are close you're kinda next to Europe and next to relegation all the same. :D On points we're certainly closer to Europe which is nice. :) 

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End of season update 2018/2019

Transfers

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One of those HOYD/DOF signings, a 17 year old left-back with a bit of potential but nothing amazing.

 

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This 2nd half of the season started fairly alright with never too terrible of a run, but then it went amazing at the end. In the final 7 fixtures we won 6 of them, all of those wins by 3 or more goals, and the other result was a away draw at Ferencváros who were fighting for the title... At the end we never had any prospects other than 4th place, as the top 3 were so further away before that final run, and we still had to fend off a feisty Diósgyör team who pushed us for 4th - but we got it. Finished only 4 points away from an European spot...

The cup was a bit crap though, as we somehow got beat by SZEOL, a third tier team (!) in the quarter-finals. A disappointing missed opportunity.

This overall has to rank as a pretty positive season, my only concern is I've spent a lot of money with facilities etc, and the team now has a negative -2M€ bank balance, which is pretty crazy for an Hungarian side IMO as there's little money in this league to cover such a financial hole.

 

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Solid first season at the top level. I like the look of the guys you're bringing in, especially Tejic, so there's no reason why you can't improve next time out.

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Squad review 2018/2019


Best 11

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fzw6OyP.jpg

 

GK - Zsolt Gyarmati
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Slightly disappointing first season as a starter but he's still so young for a keeper (18). However, it's a bit concerning that my staff don't think he's got that much potential beyond the player he already is.


DR - Antal Sáfár
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One of several exciting mid-season signings, this Serbian 18 year old pace merchant thrived on the position and got 4 assists plus an excellent 7.39 ratings. Now already one of our outright very best players.


DL - Luka Marin
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The other midseason signing of a fullback wasn't as good but still an upgrade over the previous options for the position.


DC - Máté Komáromi
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It wasn't planned for him to grab a spot but I got fed up with the performances of the also young Donát Horgosi, and so in came another midseason signing, another 18 year old. And, largely thanks to his pace I guess, he was amazing! Superb 7.46 ratings although he only really played a handful of matches at the very end. I think both his pace and the RB Sáfár's pace are huge assets to the team, and this has allowed us to play a slightly higher line now, which benefits us a lot.


DC - Ákos Baki
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A good but not great season from our CB which is now incredibly the most experienced player by far in our starting backline, at the age of 24.


DM - Ádám Vass
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Still on paper one of our biggest talents if not the biggest, still quietly performing under the radar in a position ratings won't bless him. Now one of the oldest players in the squad (30).


MC - Georgi Krastev YP18A
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Last year's Bulgarian youth intake star had a massive career breakthrough season. I first gave him a cup start only for him to score on his debut, then later started giving him a little league cameo from the bench here and there, until he became not just a starter but the outright best player in the whole team! 7.61 ratings! 4 goals and 4 assists from just 11(6) matches! Mostly as the BBM, that is the most cautious role of the 2 MCs. Amazing. He's just 17 too - the only issue is I was an absolute idiot and only offered him a pro contract far too late, and now he forced a ridiculously low 450K€ release clause on it...


MC - Márk Koszta
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The Mezzala in our system really seems to do well, and this Summer signing shone on the position with 8 goals and 7.26 ratings - but he now looks a class below his 17 year old MC partner... Perhaps it's a little surprising that he's holding on to a place in the team at all, as there's the likes of Veljko Nikolic and Balsa Banovic knocking on the doors of the first 11, but he's outperformed them. Only at MC though - as winger, his natural position, he's been rubbish.


AMR - Patrik Vass
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A fairly good season and still probably our best AMR throughout the year, with 7 goals and 7 assists but he looks imminently losing his spot to Ivan Tejic who was excellent at AMR, whilst P. Vass was injured at the very end of the season.


AML - Lászlo Lencse
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Whilst he still got a decent 8 goals and 7 assists, his ratings were awful (6.93) and nowhere near the impressive standards he had set in the division below. Also now already aged 30, he clearly stands out as a weak spot in the starting 11, but his luck is that the main replacements Ivan Tejic or Szabolcs Varga, have not looked good on the AML position.


ST - Zoltan Tóth
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A massive breakthrough year. Started the season as 3rd choice behind Szerencsi (who still got 10 goals) and Gréczi, but soon made the position his own with a couple of hat-tricks, convinced me as by far the most complete forward I have, and finished the year top scorer with 17 goals.



Rest of the squad and hottest prospects

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AMR - Ivan Tejic
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The mid-season Serbian signing was disappointing at first and did not hold the place at AML I expected of him, but an excellent run at the end of the season as AMR got him a great 8 assists (most in the whole squad!!) and 7.39 ratings which is all very promising. He's gonna be a starter next year for sure, I just wish he clicked with the left wing role as I need him much more badly there to replace Lencse, whereas on the right P. Vass is doing okay.


MC - Balsa Banovic
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Played for a long time this season - his first for the club - and actually did pretty well, but lost his place due to the emergence of the incredible Krastev YP18A. Might be better as DM but that's A.Vass's spot too.


DC - Donát Horgosi
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Also joined the club in the Summer just like Banovic above, but unlike Banovic I was pretty desperate to drop him from the 11 (in came the excellent Komáromi) as he just wasn't delivering. A lack of pace costs us at DC and I think he might have a better future as DM where I'm training him to - but there he'll have the competition from Banovic anyway, even once A. Vass is gone due to old age.



Career progress table

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25 minutes ago, oriole01 said:

Solid first season at the top level. I like the look of the guys you're bringing in, especially Tejic, so there's no reason why you can't improve next time out.

I'm aiming at top 3 next year (and European qualification through the league) , hopefully Tejic can start performing on the left as he'd be a big upgrade there. If not he'll play on the right where he's already proven he's lethal.

Other youngsters in the side are developing and developing so the team should indeed get better.

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