FM19 - Slaving Away in Sofia

[wynter]

Three times this exact save has been attempted, three times I have been an inch away from completion only for a bug to cripple the Bulgarian League and end me at the worst possible moment.

FM19 is released and this I'm praying this is finally the one.

So who should take over the reins for my 4th Attempt at this in the last 18 months?

"John is a man of focus, commitment, sheer will... something you know very little about. I once saw him kill three men in a bar... with a pencil, with a ****ing pencil."

John Wick

Just add a little lethal intensity and a history of lost pets.

The last thread we had with this I said it was the final attempt but I'm not leaving until it's done and I haven't been able to complete all of my goals at the same time. Some I've been able to achieve independently, but I want to do everything at once.

Goals of the Save

- Win the Champions League

- Make Bulgaria the #1 League in Europe

- Win the World Cup with Bulgaria

Other miniature goals will pop up along the way. For example, guiding a player to being the European Golden Boy, or other awards such as the Golden Boot, Ballon D'or etc; but at the heart of it is making Bulgaria and Slavia the most dominant footballing sides on the planet. Dreaming big, as always.

[BoxToBox]

Much love! Hopefully all those bugs are things of the past and you can finally hit your goals.

[oriole01]

Best of luck comrade, it's time to finish this!

[wynter]

Quick Look at the Squad

The side has some solid prospects with which I could conceivably build around. I'm very interested in Kyuchukov but he has a ton of deficiencies that need to be ironed out if I could hope to ever get anything out of him. So the best prospect we have is Andrea Hristov

Tidy Centre Back easily capable of playing any role required whether that be more of a no-nonsense sort or if I want to have some build-up from the back.

Meanwhile the clubs best player right now is Galin Ivanov.

Versatile Attacking Midfielder, and depending on my tactic he can be playing anywhere, being used left, right or centrally as the season's started and tactics are refined.

All in all, it's a solid mid-table squad that can overachieve but is a far cry from an immediate contender. It's up to me to put the building blocks in place. The players have been nerfed a bit more than they were in previous FMs or rather I'm lacking a lot of 5* prospects which came in previous years. It's still a very good side, but it should be all the more challenging this year.

[ManUtd1]

Looking forward to this, man!

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Best of luck! Hopefully you get that Champions League win.

[DazRTaylor]

All the best - Will follow and read.  

[wynter]

Crashed out of Europe earlier than we would have liked. Albeit Atromitos was a difficult draw and a massive step up from KuPS. We took a lead away but were perhaps too passive at home. Opted to control the game rather than attack and when they began to lead on away goals we got caught out again chasing a winner.

Tactics

4-1-4-1 Assymetric AML

4-1-2-3 Attacking

4-1-2-3 Control

The Assymetric was what gave us a strong result away to Atromitos, let down by the lack of a Raumdeuter which will be my immediate priority once we acquire enough funds, or find a loan/free that can slot into the side.

The 4-1-2-3 Control has lost out both times it's been tested. Albeit as seen in the Atromitos game we played well, controlled that game and more than matched a superior side. There's something in it that isn't quite clicking and I'm as likely to scrap it as I am to make the required changes. A lot of tinkering at this stage, loving the new tactics system so curious to see what limits I can push it to.

[Kingofcm03]

Good luck! I'll be keeping an eye on this due to my CSKA save

[wynter]

Solid start. The Dunav loss was an anomaly. We dominated the game yet we lost by four goals, every counter turned into a goal against us and yet we spent nearly the entire match camped in their half.  CSKA on the other hand was merely a matter of being outclassed by a stronger side.

It's been a mix of strong and weak sides so the position we're in is a pretty perfect reflection of our class and what I was saying in the preview. That we're a strong mid-table side capable of overachieving with the right system in place. Ludogorets and Levski coming up will be interesting tests.

[Kingofcm03]

1 hour ago, wynter said:

Solid start. The Dunav loss was an anomaly. We dominated the game yet we lost by four goals, every counter turned into a goal against us and yet we spent nearly the entire match camped in their half.  CSKA on the other hand was merely a matter of being outclassed by a stronger side.

It's been a mix of strong and weak sides so the position we're in is a pretty perfect reflection of our class and what I was saying in the preview. That we're a strong mid-table side capable of overachieving with the right system in place. Ludogorets and Levski coming up will be interesting tests.

Dunav are quite annoying in my save as well. Some games they just turn up and play. 

[wynter]

On 05/11/2018 at 14:04, ManUtd1 said:

Looking forward to this, man!

 

On 05/11/2018 at 18:19, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

Best of luck! Hopefully you get that Champions League win.

 

On 05/11/2018 at 20:01, DazRTaylor said:

All the best - Will follow and read.  

 

On 05/11/2018 at 03:09, oriole01 said:

Best of luck comrade, it's time to finish this!

 

On 05/11/2018 at 00:38, BoxToBox said:

Much love! Hopefully all those bugs are things of the past and you can finally hit your goals.

 

On 05/11/2018 at 22:41, Kingofcm03 said:

Good luck! I'll be keeping an eye on this due to my CSKA save

Cheers guys, tis appreciated 

[wynter]

Heading towards the end of November, Winter Break looming ever so slightly in the distance. A month of incredibly tight football, we don't win or lose by much and while eeking out some more solid wins would be good for the purposes of Goal Difference, at least we're doing what's required and making a strong showing in the league.

Poor Defence, but the 2nd best attack in the league behind the League Leaders in CSKA. Match against them in 3-4 weeks where they come the Slavia and it could have a massive impact on the table and give us some momentum to go top of the pile. Teams who'll be contesting the Championship round also look locked in already despite the fact it's November. Top 6 sides out of 26 games go H2H in the back-end of the season and the gap between 6th and 7th is already massive.

Ivanov leading the way, playing a hand in 11/24 goals we've scored. Hopefully others around him can lessen the load as they develop.

[wynter]

Winter Break Update

Positive end to the first half of the season.

Tight game, but we were also never really in it. Sounds odd when I say it like that but genuine chances for us to score were limited in comparison to the high percentage ones they concocted to grab their three goals. Again, a slight class above us which is just a slight bump on the bridge we have to overcome in the coming seasons.

Quite happy to get over Ludogorets though, into the Semi-Finals and maybe we can retain our Bulgarian Cup after winning it last year irl.

Top end of the table is even more crammed than it was in the last update, exception re Vereya who have slipped massively and opened up the race for 6th. Given the fact CSKA dominate us but are only 5 points ahead, we could strike if they manage to slip up vs other opponents and we find a way to fluke a result in the Championship rounds... Not out of 1st just yet, it's just tricky.

Stergiakis with some insane development <3

[wynter]

Youth Intake 2018/19

First Intake for the game and we got very, very lucky.

Three Potentially Great Midfielders, personal favourite is Tsvetan Makendzhiev

Gets Forward Whenever Possible and Arrives late are a pair of great traits, especially given my usual Sole Striker philosophy which means it adds an extra option into the box for us to work with. Thinking of transitioning into a Shadow Striker instead of an Advanced Playmaker and hoping his traits rub off in the form of goals.

Krastev is your more traditional, AMC

Donchev is just a ball-winner, but you need one from time-to-time and he can definitely put in a shift.

[LucasBR]

Good luck mate, eastern europe has very good youngsters. Cheers from Brazil.

[Pompeyboyz]

Another person doing a Bulgarian save.

Will have to up my game then

Best of luck

[wynter]

25 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

Another person doing a Bulgarian save.

Will have to up my game then

Best of luck

Slowly taking over SI 

[noikeee]

This career feels familiar.  Even the tactics are classic @wynter.

Also I'm sorry but,

Em 15/11/2018 em 06:10, wynter disse:



[wynter]

Got a little carried away and raced through the last two months 

We've got a 4 way battler for the title with 6 games, all of us shredding the gap between CSKA Sofia and ourselves. I still can't beat CSKA though and that's killing me because they're one of our most fierce rivals 

Final Games of the Season

We've got a genuine chance at the title, something I never expected coming into this season. Albeit Dunav's season is arguably even more impressive, pretty sure we're a better club in terms of pre-season expectations. The biggest anomaly though is Ludogorets sitting so low and with almost no shot at the title, they're almost the living embodiment of perennial contenders.

[Pompeyboyz]

CSKA and Levski annoy me.  I either beat them handily or they destroy me. 

[wynter]

10 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

CSKA and Levski annoy me.  I either beat them handily or they destroy me. 

Levski and Ludogorets I've got a handle on, CSKA I can't touch  Games aren't even close and ive got no idea why because I don't change too much. 

[Pompeyboyz]

22 minutes ago, wynter said:

Levski and Ludogorets I've got a handle on, CSKA I can't touch  Games aren't even close and ive got no idea why because I don't change too much. 

I am pretty good against Ludogorets, even though they are technically the strongest side in terms of players. But they are underachieving. 

[wynter]

A year of defeats only to beat them when it counted the most. Well done lads 

[Mandy42]

Just seen this bounce to the top of the forum, 4th time is the charm! 

Will be following with interest. 

Good luck!

[WillHoward42]

Following this one. Was going to wish you luck... but you seem to be doing just fine!

[wynter]

Heading into the final day... 

We held a one point lead over Dunav and Levski while CSKA had conspired to produce one of the most horrific chokes I've seen and have removed themselves from the running entirely. We hosted Dunav and a win or a draw was needed to at least ensure we had a shot at the title. Meanwhile, CSKA hosted Levski and we'd be hoping for a favor.

Bore draw, barely a shot on target but Levski couldn't pull off a win and so we lifted the trophy on the final day, celebrating an empthatic Double to begin our start to life at Slavia.

Player of the Season

Galin Ivanov

40 Games, 18 Goals, 12 Assists

7.33 Average Rating

Led the way all season and played far better than expected. Looking to use him next season as the core of our side.

Unlikely title win, and a win we'll need to work very, very hard to retain next season. Focusing on consolidating as a top tier side in the League and hopefully engineering a run into Europe that can provide us some much needed prize money to surge to the next level.

[wynter]

Season 2 Transfers

The start of the season saw a massive out in Stergiakis leaving. A keeper of that quality is horrible to replace and I feel we did somewhat well in Cisse, securing a cheap player to help us invest the funds from Stergiakis's sale elsewhere (Improved Coaching, Youth Recruitment and Training Facilities).

The rest of our investment this window saw us improving on our Defence, Buljat and Dimtrov are massive steps up in quality in their respective positions.

Attacking wise, very confident in the squad we built last season and their ability to score goals. Shoring up our defence was the biggest factor and I feel we've done well in that reagrd. 

Now we just need to make some inroads in Europe.

[wynter]

We finished off Qarabag, setting up a Champions League Playoff vs Basel for access to the Group Stage.

The first match was a wild contest, end to end football where we pulled off a late comeback, fighting up from 4-2 down to equalise in stoppage time with a Yomov special from outside the box barreling into the bottom corner. We couldn't hold that momentum at home and they ran over us, showing their quality on the day to send us packing.

However we did make the Europa League Group Stage out of our first shot at Europe and the money is a godsend.

Doubtful we'll progress further, ideally we can pick up a win, maybe a couple of draws and get some nice prize-money.

[wynter]

Early Season Promise has given way to a struggle for form and a loss of motivation.

Before the Transfer Window shut we lost one more player to Watford and the jewel of our backline in Andrea Hristov

This season without him and Stergiakis is a struggle in that if we can get through it, there's a 5-6mil TB waiting for us to heavily improve the squad next season. To get there though we have a makeshift core of young players who aren't quite ready with cheap loans to plug the gaps and as seen in our recent results, their lack of quality compared to better players last year shows through.

All isn't lost in the league though, we've slipped from 1st to 4th which isn't horrible at all, our aim is to arrest this slump immediately.

Europe is as expected, great result vs Ajax but we were beaten easily in our other matches.

So this season so far is a struggle, with the promise of long-term gains coming at the expense of immediate short-term success, if we'd decided to keep Stergiakis and Hristov which was well within my right we'd be doing much better. I do think however, the upgrades we've been able to get out of their sales will be more worth it in the future. 

[ManUtd1]

You're doing the right thing, no question. Long term planning is everything in this kind of save... Not that I'm saying anything you don't know  

[wynter]

A penalty shootout win over Botev was exactly what we needed to get our season back on track. With CSKA and Botev we got 2 of the best 4 teams in Bulgaria in the Round of 32 and 16 so if we manage to win this cup it'll probably be one of the toughest runs in recorded memory. 

A win over Botev lead to another win over Lokomotiv Moscow and from then it snowballed.

7/9 in the league and 23/27 points acquired.

Enough for 1st and for some semblance of a gap over the competition as we head into the Winter Break.

But while we're going great domestically, it never transferred to Europe

Great win vs Augsburg but the rest of the group was average.

https://i.gyazo.com/6aaa45eb6387925242cd1ec402d8a2fe.png

[kidthekid]

good run of form in the league. Back on top where you belong.

[wynter]

Two Transfers in over the Winter Break

Stoycho offers a rotation option behind Radoslav Dimitrov while also occupying the long-term role since Dimitrov's contract expires at the end of this window. He'll get games this season and fully take over the right side of the field in 6 months time.

Zlatinski is old and slow, but very gifted. A cheap option to plug in midfield in case of injuries who'll mentor the next wave of players to hopefully boost their stats.

[Deisler26]

The Bulgarian Pirlo

[wynter]

Youth Intake

Angelov and Kemp are the notable players.

Angelov definitely looks like he could be... Something. We don't play with Right Wingers though so I'm going to need to change things around if I want to accommodate him.