[FM19] French Lingerie - Acre State, Brazil

[Jimbokav1971]

Very strange. Jun 2049.

There was me expecting the percentage of transfer revenue to increase, and the board have just slashed it from 80% to 55%. 

We must be having cash problems. 

Maybe we are above our wage budget and they are just being ultra-careful. 

What do they know that I don't know? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Well done DoF. Well done indeed. Jul 2049.

What are the chances of him joining Bayonne from all the way in Brazil sometimes I just love this game. 

[dap1987]

14 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

What are the chances of him joining Bayonne from all the way in Brazil sometimes I just love this game. 

This is quite possibly one of the best things I've seen on FM.  What are the chances of him joining your old team really?  And even better, he has then agreed to come back to you on loan! 

 

What is your Icon/Legend status at Bayonne?  I'd like to think the game still recognises that link and noticed he'd done well for you so he was worth buying and then when you've bid they've thought they'd help you out. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2049. 

With losing a few  big players to silly clauses, and then not having a proper GK available having sold Terra and loaning out Aboubacar, I will be honest and admit I had lost a little interest in the result of games if not the save itself. We are still doing ok, (3 wins 1 draw and 3 losses this month), so it certainly wasn't time to panic anyway, but my focus is very much still on the Copa Libertadores and the Brazil Cup, (which we are still in). The highlighted portion on the league seems to suggest that the top 13 get Continental football, (and I knew already it was something like that), so that's all my goal is. Obviously i would prefer another go at the Copa Libertadores, but if it has to be the Copa Sudamerica then so be it. At this stage I'm certainly not turning my nose up at it. 

It's brilliant that the DoF has secured the services of Dallazen on loan again, because as well as in goal, we have been struggling up front. In particular I have not enjoyed our best striker Ratinho playing as a DLF and I will dispense with that the next time he plays. Also, N'Guessan (CIV) (L.Heart) started well up top, but has been away for a while now on International duty and we really need him back. He's been in good form at the African Nations Cup though and has scored 5 goals in 2(8) International appearances this year. Dallazen will make an enormous difference to us though and is capable of winning games on his own. 

[Jimbokav1971]

13 minutes ago, dap1987 said:

This is quite possibly one of the best things I've seen on FM.  What are the chances of him joining your old team really?  And even better, he has then agreed to come back to you on loan! 

 

What is your Icon/Legend status at Bayonne?  I'd like to think the game still recognises that link and noticed he'd done well for you so he was worth buying and then when you've bid they've thought they'd help you out. 

What's even better is that I didn't do the deal myself. There was a media comment I saw that someone else was in for him on loan and instead of doing it myself I made him a target for loan and delegated it to the DoF. I didn't really think we would get him and then when we did get him we also got him for only 50% wages too. 

I'm still an Icon at Bayonne and I don't expect that to change anytime soon, but they have been really badly managed and since I left have finished 7th, 8th, 5th and 7th. Not even registering Dallazen is just an example of that. 

[dap1987]

1 minute ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Not even registering Dallazen is just an example of that. 

 

That's a major flaw in the game really, after the season he had, spending 10m on him and considering he scored 4 in 10 for them after his season with you, why wouldnt they register him really? 

 

Would you go back?  If the time came to leave Brazil, would you move back and if yes, would you still do it as Basque only? 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, dap1987 said:

That's a major flaw in the game really, after the season he had, spending 10m on him and considering he scored 4 in 10 for them after his season with you, why wouldnt they register him really? 

It wasn't even 4 in 12. It was 5 in 9(5) with a couple of assists and 3 MOM awards thrown in for good measure. I will have a look at Bayonne another time and see what's wrong with them. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, dap1987 said:

Would you go back?  If the time came to leave Brazil, would you move back and if yes, would you still do it as Basque only? 

I'm not sure. I hadn't really thought about it. 

I suppose I might. They have the infrastructure available and the Brazil part of this save is really just prep-work for FM20. If things get a bit boring then I could very well have a look back at Bayonne. Is it likely to be Youth Only if I do go back? Really don't know. Knowing me, yes, quite possibly because I'm just too lazy to scout. It's hard work. 

[Jimbokav1971]

New Records. Jul 2049.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2019.

Copa Libertadores. We are still in with a shout, but only hold a 1 goal lead going into the second leg. Our form has improved a little and I'm hopeful of getting a result in Argentina. 

First Division. As mentioned, our form has improved from last month. We ran Santos close, (and they are good), however the 0-0 at home to Sampaio Corrêa  was a poor result and a game we should have won.

We're up to 9th in the league and if we can just find some consistent form then I think we will fly up the table. 

Dallazen has made 3 appearances, but is struggling to find form. He hasn't scored yet, (but does have an assist), and to make matters worse he was sent off against Cortiba, (so missed the Chapecoense game. I really need to get him scoring. I'm sure once he does, he will fill his actual boots. 

Goal-scoring GK #2 Aboubacar (GUI) * has been recalled from his loan spell at Santa Cruz, and although he scored twice this month, bringing him to 3 for the season, they were both penalties so I won't bother showing them. 

I have been scouting the 2 your products who were "nicked" from us. 

(47a) Witinei (Merc) (2047) * has a minimum fee release clause for domestic clubs of £450,000, (he was nicked for just £250,000) and although I had a bid accepted, he wasn't willing to negotiate terms having recently joined his new club. 

(48c) Jalvan (F.Det) * has a minimum fee release clause for domestic clubs of £625,00, (he was nicked for just £425,00), and again, he is also not willing to negotiate having recently joined his current club.

Edited July 9, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Facilities. Aug 2049.

Edited July 10, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Achievements. Aug 2049.

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2049.

Copa Libertadores. We held a lead from the 1st leg, and managed to extend it in Argentina. We are in the Quarter-Finals of the biggest South American club competition. Unfortunately we play Corinthians in the Quarters, and frustratingly also in the Quarters of the Brazilian Cup, (all 4 games will be played in September). 

The Quarter-Final line-up shows that we don't have any other South American leagues loaded. If I do this again in FM20, then as well as going Youth Only I will also load all the South American leagues I think. 

1st Division. We're doing well in the league. Obviously I am happy to win or lose on the basis that 3 points for a win makes a big difference. If I was playing in a league where there are only 2 points for a win, (I think there still are some), then I think I would have a different attitude. To sort of back this point up, you will see by looking at the league table below that our Cup rivals Corinthians are unbeaten in their last 5 games where we have lost twice. They however have only gained 5 points over these 5 games where as we have taken 9 points in the same period. 

I'm delighted with how things are going in the league, but I'm also aware that with 4 important Cup games in the next month, (which will be my priority), I expect to drop a lot of points in the league over the next month. 

I've mentioned this morning, (or last night), in the @Makoto Nakamurathread that I'm a fan of prioritising some games ahead of others to try and give myself the best chance of getting a result. It doesn't always work, but if it works 1 time in 5 then it's still a result as far as I'm concerned. The other thing to mention is that I often have HUGE squads so I have lots of similar ability players to choose from. Obviously this is harder to manage in Brazil where you are limited to the number of players who can be registered for league competition, but it can still work to a degree. 

This is our fixture list next month. Because the 2 Brazil Cup fixtures are together at the start of the month, it's not easy to prioritise both of them. Rightly or wrongly, what I have decided to do is prioritise the Wednesday games so we get the away leg of the Brazil Cup, a home game against Botafogo in the league, and then both Copa Libertadores games, (which are obviously my biggest priority). Now I don't know how this will plan out, but that's my plan anyway. I will refuse to use the best 10 outfield players in any of the other matches, (taking into account injury and suspension),  

You might have noticed that I have managed to get Dallazen scoring again. He was playing on the left of a 2, (his partner was right footed only), but when he played for us before he played alongside "lefty" Valmir and it seemed to suit both of them.  So initially I dropped Trevizol (Bal) *, who is a better player than Valmir, and swapped Dallazen back to the right hand side. I did this against Ceará for the first time and was rewarded with 3 goals between them. I rotated the squad against São Paulo and then started them both again against Vasco, (where they each scored again). They will be my starting pair in the prioritised games. 

[Edit]

It's interesting that before I was swapping Valmir in and moving Dallazen to the right, the Ass Man was always selecting him on the left, (because Trevizol (Bal) * is right foot only), but since I have got Dallazen firing again, when I ask the Ass Man to pick the squad he now selects Dallazen on the right and right foot only Trevizol (Bal) * on the left, (which I don't think I have ever seen him do before). Interesting AI development by the Ass Man.

Edited July 10, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

The best laid plans . Sep 2049.

Had this game ended as a draw, (never mind about a win for us), then I would have classed it as a success. Instead we had not 1 but 2 players sent off and conceded a 95th minute own goal to lose the game. 

[Jimbokav1971]

DoF at it again. Sep 2049.

The DoF has just signed this bloke for us for only £325,000. 

It appears to be an absolute corker of a deal. 

Although the DoF did the buying, I did the signing. 

It's a 2+3 deal, but it might be just a 2 deal because I'm unsure as to whether the +3 can be triggered when the player was only 16 years old when the contract was signed. I will be keeping a close eye on it. 

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

Those release clauses look much more friendly. Any idea why the clauses are so much higher than some of your other players' were?

[davehibb]

@Jimbokav1971 what settings/criteria are you using for your DoF to make signings?

[Jimbokav1971]

5 hours ago, The_Gato_In_Goal said:

Those release clauses look much more friendly. Any idea why the clauses are so much higher than some of your other players' were?

The only clause I changed in this deal was the foreign club release clause. It was £8.75M, (or close to that anyway), and thought to myself that is going to be a problem if he's good. If  Brazilian club meets the £12M clause then I think that's fine, but I didn't think it was realistic that the likes of Real, Barca, PSG, and all the big English clubs could sign him for less than the Brazilian clubs. I could only offer him a 2 year deal, but I'm assuming that the +3 clause will work so we have him signed for 5 years and as he is 16 that will take him through to 21. Could a 21 year old go for these sorts of fees? Yes, absolutely they could. 

In terms of why the clauses are higher, I'm not 100% sure. I think partly it has to do with the basic wage of £2,500. This sets the min fee clauses at a FAR higher level than the pittance that my own Academy products were on. As the basic wage rises, then so do the min fee release clauses. I was paying my Academy products low hundreds, hence such low clauses. I should have manually upped them, or at least upped the wage, (forcing the clauses to rise). 

[Jimbokav1971]

20 minutes ago, davehibb said:

@Jimbokav1971 what settings/criteria are you using for your DoF to make signings?

I'm not really. 

When he signed Dallazen from Bayonne recently, Dallazen was on my shortlist, (as a previous player), so I saw a media comment that he hadn't been registered for Ligue 1 and 2 clubs were in fro him on loan, so I immediately just set him as a loan target on the players own profile page.

This picture shows the drop-down menu but unfortunately because the domestic window is closed I can't loan players, so the loan option has vanished but the transfer option is still there. 

So while the Dallazen loan signing was very much a "manual" operation instigated by me, the Nogueira (Bal) * deal was completely instigated by the DoF. Although we had scouted him, (he was at Flamengo).

You have to remember here that I'm not used to signing players so I'm also not used to scouting players. I've sort of been letting the DoF sign whoever he wants, with of course the one proviso that I can just veto the signing and cancel it at the contract negotiation stage, (and I have done many many many times). 

I'm not sure what that I can tell you about the DoF signings because there doesn't seem to be any settings/criteria. There is nobody on the Transfer Targets section, but I have used the "Suggest Transfer Targets" quite a few times already in Brazil, but that's generally to fill a gap in a particular position, (and the results have been pretty mixed). 

The scouting situation is a little different though. 

I generally delegate everything to everyone, (with the exception of individual training), so let's see what I could have done. At the moment the Chief Scout decides where the scouts go, (otherwise what's the point in having a Chief Scout?)

Now I know it says that we have a Senior Middle Tier Package, but that's only just been added because we didn't have a package at all, for either this or the Youth Package, so there wasn't a structure in place to assist the Scouting Team. Instead they would have had to rely on their existing knowledge and contacts.

This is an interesting looking page. 

I haven't been responsible for any of this, so what I'm going to do us click on the the Current Assignment/Time Remaining section for the top scout, Al-Jehani JPA15 JPP16.

So there seems to be a certain amount of variation here in terms of who he has been watching. 3 Brazilian clubs, an English premier league club, 2 Spanish clubs and then many many many clubs scouted on just 1 occasion here.

What stands out at me here is this bit. 

So although we have a philosophy of signings Youth Players for the 1st Team, that's not the same as our scouting focus which is set to General. So let's look at where the Scouting Focus can be set. 

Now we are getting somewhere. 

This is all still on it's default settings, and I'm not even sure if I can change it, (because it should be delegated), but it appears as if I can. I can, and this is what it looks like now. 

That's general focus and there is also a Short term focus so I have changed that to this. 

[davehibb]

Thanks for the breakdown of your setup. 

I must admit, I generally play as larger teams and whilst I set various stuff for the Chief scout and DoF, I do tend to keep a tight reign on offers and often have to veto any silly offers the DoF does make but I am contemplating a save where I just set an overall recruitment philosophy, using the  scouting focuses and leaving it all to the DoF.

Just another quick question, do you delegate your team talks etc. too? There's a lot of games in Brazil and a lot of grinding in terms of answering conferences and interviews. I'm always wary as when I have left it to the Ass Man, they usually end up upsetting a key player or something.

 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

8 minutes ago, davehibb said:

Just another quick question, do you delegate your team talks etc. too? There's a lot of games in Brazil and a lot of grinding in terms of answering conferences and interviews. I'm always wary as when I have left it to the Ass Man, they usually end up upsetting a key player or something.

I delegate almost everything. 

[davehibb]

Thanks again for the info.

I probably delegate about 60-70% of stuff but handing pretty much everything over doesn't seem to be hurting you too much. I have been toying with going down the FMT route but see how things are handing pretty much everything over.

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, davehibb said:

Thanks again for the info.

I probably delegate about 60-70% of stuff but handing pretty much everything over doesn't seem to be hurting you too much. I have been toying with going down the FMT route but see how things are handing pretty much everything over.

I really like the idea of FMT, but when I tried it in FM18, I couldn't control the tutoring and that was a big deal back then. Now with mentoring far less effective, (in my opinion), it's 1 obstacle less and makes FMT far more appealing. 

The only significant issue now, (at least for me), is where as I get 16 players through an intake in full fat FM, I think I only get 3 per intake in FMT. That's a big no-no for me in a normal save never about a Youth Only save. 

I would love to give it a proper go one year though and do a proper FMT save.

[davehibb]

The only time I fancy FMT really is when contemplating a save in Brazil or similar nation where there's a bazillion games a season. I think the last time I gave it a go was FMT14 or maybe FMT15, after the world cup when I did a Fluminese save. But yeah, I kinda gave up on it for the same reasons you quoted.

Thanks again for the feedback mate and loving this thread. Not sure if I actually said that anywhere.

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, davehibb said:

The only time I fancy FMT really is when contemplating a save in Brazil or similar nation where there's a bazillion games a season. I think the last time I gave it a go was FMT14 or maybe FMT15, after the world cup when I did a Fluminese save. But yeah, I kinda gave up on it for the same reasons you quoted.

Thanks again for the feedback mate and loving this thread. Not sure if I actually said that anywhere.

I think I'm going to be going Youth Only in South America in FM20, but at the moment FM21 Scani-Nordik is looking like a an option. I would certainly consider FMT in FM21 for that save I think. 

[davehibb]

Sounds good. 

I've been terrible for the last few editions, struggling to pin down a long term save. I put it down to my attention span shortening as I get older.

It must be 6 or 7 years since I've really gone more than 5 or 6 seasons deep.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, davehibb said:

Sounds good. 

I've been terrible for the last few editions, struggling to pin down a long term save. I put it down to my attention span shortening as I get older.

It must be 6 or 7 years since I've really gone more than 5 or 6 seasons deep.

I just refuse to change a save and keep plodding on until I get invested. After about 3-4 seasons I usually feel settled. 

[davehibb]

You have greater willpower than me  I'm thinking about Flamengo or Gremio or Sporting Lisbon at the moment. Or maybe load up Portugal, Brazil and Argentina and just flit about between them all. Hopefully one of them can hold my attention.

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfer Strategy. Oct 2049.

We've been busy buying and selling players, but it doesn't really seem like it's my save anymore. I think that's because of the large numbers of players coming and going in such a short space of time. This save is meant to be prep for a Youth-Only save in South America next season, so why am I wasting time buying and selling players? I don't really care if we win anything or not, and I'm not even bothered if we get relegated, so what exactly am I doing? 

Players in. I've bought so many players that I have to scroll down to see them all. I've also spent £3M, which is a significant amount of money, but most of these are youngsters and that fits in with the sign young players for 1st Team philosophy. I think I'm going to remove that philosophy the next chance I get though and revert to 100% Youth Only.Who cares if performances suffer. 

 

I'm not going to show you pictures for all of them, but I will show you a selected few. 

Athos (F.Det) * is an 18 year old 5.0 PA left winger. Good business. 

Evandro (Driven) * is an 18 year old 5.0 MC who is already valued at £825,00. Excellent business. 

Muriel (Unamb) is an 18 year old SC. Not sure how this one is going to work out because opportunities are limited. Poor business possibly. 

Renato (F.Amb) * is a 17 year old 4.5 PA AMR. Too early to tell how this will work out. Undecided. 

Roberto (Det) * is a 17 year old 5.0 PA DR. Still very early in his career. Good business. 

Aboubacar (GUI) * is an 18 year 5.0 PA old GK who has already scored 4 goals. The biggest issue with him is that he appears to be away on International duty a lot. Undecided. 

Vanderson. (Bal) is a 26 year old 3.5 CA DL. We signed him for £350,000 and he is valued at £700,000. I plan on selling him when I have a youngster to replace him with. Good business. 

Maninho (F.Loyal) * is a 17 year old 5.0 PA AMC who I am re-training to play MC.It's still very early in his career. Undecided. 

Ítalo (Res) * is an 18 year old 5.0 PA MR. It's early in his career but I like the look of him. Good business. 

José (Fickle) * is a 17 year old 5.0 PA MC. I really like this bloke and think he will play a lot of games. Excellent business. 

Trevizol (Bal) * is a 21 year old 5.0 SC/ We signed him for £195,000 and he is worth £1.1M. His domestic club release clause is £14.5M, but I would expect to see him move abroad before too long because his foreign club release clause is only £1M, (but that's fine). Excellent business. 

Mão (Unamb) * is a 20 year old 5.0 PA ML. We paid £500,000 for him with is a LOT of money for us, but I REALLY like him. 11 Assists in 16 First DIvision games for him speaks volumes. I don't care how players perform in the Micky Mouse Cups. We should romp those games. I do care about the league and this bloke has hit the ground running. 3 years left on his contract and with an option for +3. His min fee release clause for domestic clubs is £4.8M and while I think that will be too cheap for him, it will still prove to be an excellent return on our investment. Ideally I would like to re-negotiate to keep him here for longer. Excellent business. 

N'Guessan (CIV) (L.Heart) is a 32 year old 3.0 CA SC and a bit of a strange one. We only paid £23.5k for him so there is absolutely no risk here, (and he is already valued at £105k). On the plus side he has scored 5 First Division goals in 6(1) appearances, but on the negative side he is another who seems to be away on International duty a lot. (He has made 12 appearances for Ivory Coast since joining us. Good business. 

Ratinho. is a 34 year old 3.0 CA SC and a bit of a strange signing. I signed him on a free, (I was getting a bit desperate), and although I don't like him and will probably flog him 1st chance I get, he has actually done ok for us. 3 First Division goals in 7(6) First Division appearances isn't great, but he often plays in a weakened team when I am resting players for more important games. His legs have gone though and thankfully he only has 1 year left on his contract, (although I will be trying to off-load him before then. Poor business. 

Héctor (COL) * is an 18 year old 5.0 MC and one of the stars of the show. He has already made his senior INT debut for Colombia. He's got 3 years left on his contract but has a foreign club release clause of £3.2M that I expect someone to pay before too long. Excellent business. 

Luiz (Realist) * is a 17 year old 5.0 GK. The DoF bought him in for just £100,000 and he has already played for us. Should be able to turn a profit on him. 

Marcelo (Bal) * is an 18 year old 5.0 PA SC. A little like Muriel (Unamb), I haven't given him much of a look-in. That needs to change. Poor business possibly. 

Franck Ilouma is an 18 year old Gabon International MC. I think my DoF went a bit crazy with the African signings. I'm not sure this bloke will ever make it. Poor business. 

Mundo (ANG) * is a 18 year old 5.0 Angolan International DL and was signed my me specifically asked the DoF to suggest a DL. He only cost £40k and is our best DL by CA. Good business. 

Dallazen * is now 20 years old and not finding the First Division as easy as he did the Second, (although still doing ok). Only in on loan but I would love to sign him permanently from my old club Bayonne. We may only have a transfer kitty of £1.6M, but we have £27M in the bank and I have never really come across a save like this where there was money there but the board wouldn't let me spend it. He was valued at £10M previously but I would happily pay that for him. 

Erivânio is a 29 year old 3.0 CA DL who I think the DoF must have sneaked in when I wasn't paying attention, (or when I was drunk). Poor business. 

Nogueira (Bal) * is a 16 year old 5.0 SC starlet who the DoF signed from nowhere for £325,000. I'm guessing that we will owe Flamengo loads of add-ons for this bloke..... Nope. We paid cash. Excellent business. 

All in all I think incoming deals have been good in the main, and the only negatives are in areas where either we were desperate for an injection of short-term CA, or where the player has been away on International duty a lot. The DoF has worked wonders to be fair. 

[davehibb]

Yeah, your DoF and scouting strategy have worked out there for sure! 

[Jimbokav1971]

Players Out. 

Some of these are not worth even mentioning, but I will show the players involved in the bigger deals.

JBN (Bal) *. I wasn't happy he went at all, (Saudi club met min fee release clause), but in the grand scheme of things I suppose it's not a disaster. £400,000 rising to £500,000. Decent business. 

João Marcos (F.Amb) *. At the time I think I thought this was a good deal, but in hindsight it was a shocker. Only 22 years old and already valued at £2.2M. Centre-half is our weakest position too. Awful business. 

(47a) Witinei (Merc) (2047) *. Atlético Paranaense stole him from us before I knew what was going on. I knew it was a bad deal at the time, but it turned out to be an absolutely horrific sale. The scouts give him an 82 rating. I want him back!!! Awful Business. 

(48c) Jalvan (F.Det) *. This was a bad deal on so many levels. First of all he was rated almost at the top of the squad in terms of PA, but because I was playing him I agreed to sell Terra and loan out Aboubacar (GUI) *. Next thing I know they are all gone!  The fact that he has gone and our goal-GK goals have all but dries up is killing me. I want him back!!! Awful business. 

Estevão Cirilo. (Unamb) is a player I liked, but when you have young talent waiting in the wings, (and on the wings in this particular case), it makes sense to cash in on the older guys. Decent business. 

Vagno Célio. (F.Pro). I sold him on a bit of a whim if I'm honest and I think I made a mistake. Not for selling him, but for selling him for only £185,000. He is immediately worth £1.5M in Saudi.  poor business. 

All in all, our transfers in were significantly better than our transfers out, (which were appalling). 

[Jimbokav1971]

17 minutes ago, davehibb said:

Yeah, your DoF and scouting strategy have worked out there for sure! 

Yeah, until you see the Transfers out. 

But yeah, players coming in is pretty good. 

I might let the DoF by the odd player in a position where we are weak, but I think we should be able to survive now just on Youth Intakes 

[davehibb]

6 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Yeah, until you see the Transfers out. 

But yeah, players coming in is pretty good. 

I might let the DoF by the odd player in a position where we are weak, but I think we should be able to survive now just on Youth Intakes 

Oh dear...

[Jimbokav1971]

Sept 2049.

Brazilian Cup. 2 red cards and a 95th minute OG by my 2nd choice GK because Aboubacar (GUI) * was away on International duty sums things up here rather succinctly. The players that were sent off also missed the 2nd leg. 

Copa Libertadores. We gave it a damn good go here but the truth is that Corinthians are just better than us. We lost by 1 goal in each leg, but if I'm brutally honest the score-line flattered us. 

First Division. I prioritised the Wednesday games this month to try and get past Corinthians in either Cup. It didn't work in that we didn't beat them, but our performances were improved. We won 2, drew 1 and lost 2 of the League games this month, and despite losing 6 games in all competitions, never lost by more than a single goal, (so progress of sorts there). 

We're up to 4th in the League which is pretty astonishing really when you consider the quality of player we have. I think the fact that we either win or lose most games really impacts positively on our league position. We have lost 10 games where as the teams below us in the league have lost 9, 7, 3, 9 and 8 games. The reason we are ahead of them in the league is because we have only drawn 4 of 27 games. 

It's been pretty quiet on the goal-scoring GK front, but Aboubacar (GUI) * scored his 4th goal of the season, (1st free-kick), but had to rely on a big deflection to beat the GK.

We have a transfer kitty of £1.5M and I'm willing to spend absolutely 100% of it to bring GK (48c) Jalvan (F.Det) * and centre-half (47a) Witinei (Merc) (2047) * back home. 

[Jimbokav1971]

No great loss. Oct 2049.

I'm not that bothered because he's REALLY not very good. 

I've been anticipating this moment and have a list of potential replacements lined up. 

Lots of Spaniards and French looking to join us, but not many South Americans. I think this is related to Brazil not being an active structure for very long. 

[kidthekid]

What's the deal with Atletico Mineiro coming after your players and now staff?

[Jimbokav1971]

Easier viewing. Oct 2049.

While having staff members actually applying for a position is great, but come on, let's be honest, it's been in FM for a while now and it's time for the next step. I've suggested that we should be able to discard applicants, (so that the list just shows staff members who you are interested in signing), but maybe a better option is to be able to add them to a Staff shortlist, (which of course you can do but which I never use for some reason). All I have to do is create a staff shortlist entitled Ass Man and then go down the list and add those to the list who you are interested in and then make a more informed decision at a later date. 

When I want to sign an Ass Man, the attributes that I'm most interested in are as follows. 

Discipline.
Man Management.
Motivating.
Judging Player Ability. 
Judging Player Potential.

I wonder if I'm confused and Discipline should be Determination...... not sure now, but considering how many players we have had sent off this season I think I will stick with discipline. 

This is probably the pick of the bunch for me. 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, kidthekid said:

What's the deal with Atletico Mineiro coming after your players and now staff?

It's 2 different Atletico's I think.....

[goes to check]

Yeah, Atlético Paranaense are the absolute ******** who have nicked our 2 Academy products. 

Atlético Mineiro are just in for the Ass Man, (and they can have him). (Be careful what you say about Atleico Mineiro by the way. @Bobby_Zamorais likely to get easily offended. 

Just for him by the way....

Atletico Miniero are currently beating Atletico Paranaense in the battle of the Atletico's at the top of the Second Division. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Availability. Oct 2049.

This is the sort of thing I'm having to deal with on a pretty regular basis by the way. Between players on International duty and players serving suspensions, we are often players short for most games. 

I don't think I'd ever actually looked at the disciplinary rules before. 

A bad every time you get to 3 yellow cards? That's pretty harsh! 

Maybe it's not so different when you compare it to England though, (which is what I'm used to).

In England if you get 15 yellow cards then you would serve a 1 match ban at 5 yellows, a 2 match ban at 10 yellows and a 3 match ban at 15 yellows, so a total of 6 games missed for 15 yellows. 

In Brazil if you got 15 yellow cards then you would serve 5 individual 1 match bans which isn't too far away from the 6 served in England. It's just a slightly different way of totting things up. The additional ban for each subsequent red card in England is a good rule though and I like that.  

[Jimbokav1971]

Confusion. Oct 2049. 

We're 5th. 

[Jimbokav1971]

This isn't something I normally agree to. Oct 2049.

I think I need to concentrate more. 

It's not so much the money involved, (it's peanuts in the grand scheme of things), but I don't pay sub appearance fees and I don't usually pay this either. 

There are a couple on this list who aren't even players. They're coaches! 

[Jimbokav1971]

Strange. Oct 2049.

This is strange. Very strange indeed.

He must be a centre-half? 

Surely with our paucity of central defenders he must be a centre-half! 

He's a midfielder. A left winger to be precise. 

We are relatively strong on the left flank. We have 2 hot prospects, a WB who can cover further forward and a 4th player who can act as back-up. We can only play one of them at a time. 

Maybe we are just going to get him cheap or something? 

He's a full Italian International and he's Italian and he's only 21. Looks great. 

How much does he cost? Well he's valued at £2M and the suggestion is that we can get him for somewhere between £1.2M and £3.1M. 

They bought him for £1.4M last year. 

How much do we have available to spend? £1.52M 

This isn't going to work is it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2049. 

We're doing ok, but after my comment about winning or losing rather than drawing too often, we go and draw 3 games in a month after only drawing 4 league games in the previous 5 months. (The FM Gods are always watching!)

As a result we've dropped to 7th in the league and  7th is the cut-off for Copa Libertadores qualification. Santos are just 1 point behind us and have a game in hand, but are also in a terrible run of form so it's not over yet. Even if we qualify for the Copa Sudamerca instead, it really won't be a disaster. We can't win the Copa Libertadores at the moment and we aren't short of cash so it would be nice to maybe have a pop at the smaller competition. 

Aboubacar (GUI) * scored again from the spot to make it 5 goals for both season and career. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Recognition. Nov 2049.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Overachievers. Nov 2049.

[Jimbokav1971]

This is more like it. Nov 2049. 

Did I say that I was going to stop buying players? 

Maybe I will let the DoF loose with some cash. 

We still have 3 games left, but we have already qualified for next season's Copa Libertadores thanks to an unbeaten run of 6 games. 

[Jimbokav1971]

The DoF has gone a bit mad. Nov 2049.

I've managed to re-sign one of the 2 youth lads that got away. 

We sold him for £250,000 and we have had to pay £450,000 to get him back, but I think it was well worth it.

We've also had a bid of £625,000 accepted for our old GK (48c) Jalvan (F.Det) *, but he hasn't agreed terms yet. 

The DoF however has just launched an £8.2M bid for a 19 year old Spanish DL that I have never even heard of. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Goal-scoring GK returns. Dec 2049.

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2049.

4 wins from 4 games is great, but I don't class it as a 100% record unless we win each game without conceding. 

We've won 4 in a row and are unbeaten in 8, and this run of good form has seen us risen to 4th place in the league. The top 3 of Sau Paulo, Palmeiras and Flamengo seem a fair distance ahead of the also-rans however. Corinthians probably make it a "Big 4", but have drawn so many games that their league position has suffered as a result. 

[Jimbokav1971]

New record. Dec 2049.