[FM19] French Lingerie - Acre State, Brazil

[Nobby_McDonald]

This is definitely a slow grind.

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2030.

It's been a while since we had a month like this. I#m very happy. 

The teams above us also seem to be dropping points and helping us out.

Le Mans have lost 1 game and dropped 5 points over the last 5 games. 
Troyes have lost 2 games and dropped 8 points over the last 5 games. 
Vannes have drawn 4 of their last 5 games, dropping 8 points in the process.
We have lost 1 of our last 5 games, dropping 5 points in the process. 
US Sarre-Union have drawn 4 of their last 5 games, dropping 8 points in the process. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2030.

 

We've gone from an unbeaten month where we collected 10 points, to a winless month where we collected just 1 point. 

What's the reason? Well I put it down to morale as a result of the loss in the Cup to a team up near the top of Ligue 2. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

This is definitely a slow grind.

Yep. I'm just not good enough at the game to romp through the leagues using an IR button. 

On the plus side, it's a marathon and not a sprint. 

[Nobby_McDonald]

You and me both Jimbo.

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2031.

Scoring goals was not a problem this month, and while the draw with top of the table Le Mans was a very good point, (even at home), the loss away to US Saint-Malo was pretty poor. 

[Thebaker]

Need another month like nov with a 5 or 6 match winning streak. Some quality defenders in the next intake may not go amiss looking at the table. Do you think that having your gk take freekicks and penalties is maybe costing you over a season, could someone else have scored more?

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

Need another month like nov with a 5 or 6 match winning streak. Some quality defenders in the next intake may not go amiss looking at the table. Do you think that having your gk take freekicks and penalties is maybe costing you over a season, could someone else have scored more?

Having good defenders come through the intake doesn't really help in the short term because they are 15 years old and it will take them 4-5 years to be better than what we have.

The most recent update actually had an impact on our GK taking attacking free kicks and to that end he only takes direct free-kicks with an obvious goal-scoring chance now. The others are taken by outfield players. He still takes pens though. Could an outfield player have scored more? Possibly yes but... meh

 

[Jimbokav1971]

6 hours ago, Thebaker said:

Need another month like nov with a 5 or 6 match winning streak. Some quality defenders in the next intake may not go amiss looking at the table. 

Sorry, was busy earlier and couldn't respond fully. 

What I meant is that despite still having very moderate facilities, (and by moderate I of course mean pants), we are still what I would class as a "developing squad". What I mean by that is that we are a squad who are yet to reach our potential and I think this next picture shows this clearly. 

All squads ranked by CA. 

We have 0x 5.0 CA players. 

We have 0x 4.5 CA players.

We have 1x 4.0 CA players. 

We have 3x 3.5 CA players.

We have 8x 3.0 CA players, (and one of them is out on loan).

I don't have the heart to list the players below 3.0 CA level.

When I compare this to the following pic, it shows all squad ranked by PA. 

We have 12x 5.0 PA players.

We have 16x 4.5 PA players. 

To clarify, we have 28 players who have the potential to be better than the current level of our best player at this time. 

We have 13x 4.0 PA players. 

That means that we have a whopping 41 players who are capable of reaching a level similar to that of our current best player. The problem with this is that of course our facilities aren't the best, and we also don't have the best coaches either. With both those hindrances in play, there is no guarantee that the players will ever reach their potential, but I have to think that they will. The other thing to mention is that there is a balance of course between playing the best players to achieve the best results and giving younger players the game-time to allow them to reach their potential.

[Jimbokav1971]

One last related point, (ok two), in addition to the previous couple of posts. 

Age & Personality.

We are still a VERY young team/squad. If I rank player by total career appearances, let's have a look at the ages at the top, and also let's have a look at their personalities. These are the player who have played most for the club during my tenure as Manager. 

The player at the top with the most career appearances is 35yo goal-scoring GK #1 Lesec (FRA) (Bal) who is in our Reserves, (but still not getting a game there either), and has made 399 career appearances. 

Lower down you will see a 29yo back-up GK Íñigo (BAS)  (F.Pro). The reason he was kept is simply because he has a (F.Pro) personality and has a (Det) rating of 10+. He has never played a league game for us, (although he has been the strting GK in the Reserves this season surprisingly). These are 2 of only 3 players at the club who didn't come through our Academy. (The other being 23yo centre-half Mikel (BAS) (F.Pro) *.

So if you take these players out, the players who have made the most appearances for us are 27, 27, 26, 24, 26, 25, 24, 22, 23, 25, 23, 22, 21, 23, 21, 22, 24, 20, 22 & 23. 

It would be easy to think that, "it's fine, these older players are just reaching their peak and we will be able to really push on as the number of players at their peak increases", but the problem is they are being by-passed by the CA of younger players before they reach their peak, so in effect nobody is ever actually reaching their peak. They all seem to be.....  over-taken by youngsters just as I described happened to goal-scoring GK Lesec (FRA) (Bal).

The flip side of this however is of course that if the standard of players is gradually increasing, (it seems to be), then shouldn't this increase allow us to get promoted to Ligue 2 and the riches it offers? Honestly, I think the answer is yes, and I also think that someone more insightful tactically, (or even myself playing without the IR button, would probably be able to get this or previous groups of players out of this league. It is just me though and I am using the IR button so we are where we are. If I stick with it then I think we will be rewarded sooner or later. 

Other than age of players being an issue, the other thing I should mention is personality. Those of you who have read my previous threads will know that I am a bit OCD when it comes to personalities and especially Professionalism, but it's just not as easy this year trying to influence hidden attributes. Where as previously you might have expected to see me managing a squad full of (M.Pro), (Res) and (Pro) players, this issue of the game is VERY different. 

This is as good as it gets at the club in terms of personalities. I'm getting there slowly, (really slowly), but I've got to admit that I'm actually quite proud with my limited success in this area. It really is so much harder than it used to be. 

 

 

[Mbasnett6]

That level, those facilities, progress can only be slow. A grind, but a worthy, and (for me), an enjoyable one. Would you say it is more realistic than previous versions, or just this team/league?

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Mbasnett6 said:

That level, those facilities, progress can only be slow. A grind, but a worthy, and (for me), an enjoyable one. Would you say it is more realistic than previous versions, or just this team/league?

I'm honestly not sure. 

It's always been a bit of a challenge getting a small club to turn Pro, but add in that we are Youth Only, in the French Basque Country, with significant financial constraints, poor facilities, and I'm using an IR button, then I don't think it's much of a surprise that we are not romping through the leagues. Don't get me wrong, swap me with the likes of @BoxToBoxor @Makoto Nakamuraand I think you probably see them playing in Europe by now. 

[Mbasnett6]

Love their work, but your approach and save/updates is what keeps me on this forum these days. Rapid success is fine and dandy, but it's the nation/journeyman stuff that's cool in them. I'm currently in my 4th season at Sturm in Austria, and Salzburg are just ridiculous. The fun, for me, is similar to this save - youth, facilities etc. Means progress takes years, but you have given me loads of pointers which have made my games much more involved, when my attention wavered (too many bloggers insisting you had to watch the first 10 minutes in real time (minimum) - I have a child!). Hence my appreciation for not just this career, but your past ones an'all. Anyway, really appreciate the effort you put in, so thank you!

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Day. Mar 2031.

Well it's not Golden Generation....

No 5.0 PA player = not a good intake. 

Just 3 players above 3.0 PA = very bad intake. 

(31a) Fernández (Unamb) (2031).

He looks ok, but not amazing. Appearances can be deceptive at this stage though so I guess we will just wait and see. 

I'm no longer signing everyone in an attempt to micro-manage the (Det) values in the squad. Players a, b & e have low (Det) values, (3, 7 & 4), but are high enough up the PA rankings that I will sign them regardless. 

Players j, n, o & p have poor (Det) values, (7, 9, 6 & 4), but are sufficiently down the PA pecking order as to make it seem pretty reasonable to just not bother signing them to even Youth contracts. 

[Jimbokav1971]

36 minutes ago, Mbasnett6 said:

Love their work, but your approach and save/updates is what keeps me on this forum these days. Rapid success is fine and dandy, but it's the nation/journeyman stuff that's cool in them. I'm currently in my 4th season at Sturm in Austria, and Salzburg are just ridiculous. The fun, for me, is similar to this save - youth, facilities etc. Means progress takes years, but you have given me loads of pointers which have made my games much more involved, when my attention wavered (too many bloggers insisting you had to watch the first 10 minutes in real time (minimum) - I have a child!). Hence my appreciation for not just this career, but your past ones an'all. Anyway, really appreciate the effort you put in, so thank you!

No, thank you. 

Watch 10 mins of each game in real time? 

I don't think I have watched 10 mins of real-time in this save yet and I'm in 2031 now! 

My sort of strategy with FM now has morphed into something that is all about the end-goal and the long-game rather than the result of individual games, (as well as player development). (Any individual games). So with that in mind, I don't really care about losing games every, (however we lose them or however important the individual game may be). I'm looking for upwards curves and trends rather than instant results. It's a far less stressful way to play. Who cares if you lose a game. There will be another one along in a minute to try and win!  

Edited January 20, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Red card madness. Mar 2031.

We've been getting quite a few red cards, (everyone gets fined 1 weeks wages), but I haven't really looked at why or a solution until now. I have been having a little look just now though and decided to opt for a player in the DM line rather than 3 flat in the middle and thought it would give us the extra protection we needed, especially as next up for us was top of the table Troyes.

We were 3-1 up away from home against top of the table when our right back got sent off for his 2nd yellow. I feel unable to discuss the rest of the match at this time. 

The goals just kept going in. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb & Mar 2031.

I'm really not sure what to say. Despite conceding 8 goals away to Troyes, as mentioned we were actually 3-1 up and bossing it after half an hour, only to completely capitulate and get absolutely stuffed. That just about sums up these couple of months. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2031.

After the 2-0 home win at the end of last month, and the 5-1 away win at the start of this month, I was convinced that we had turned the corner and there were good times ahead. 

Then we lost at home to Bergerac, (who were in the relegation zone) and were hammered away to Bastias who are chasing the Playoff place. Well and truly back to square one. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2031.

Meh. The season has just fizzled out with very hit and miss form. Feels like I'm aquaplaning if I'm honest. Need to just push on through. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2031. End of Season. 

Overall Best XI.

Seasonal Best XI.

End of Season Awards.

End of Season review.

Squad Dynamics. 

The thing that jumps out here is that we are starting to get quite a few players who are influential. We have 3 Team Leaders, 7 Highly Influential players and 11 Influential players. (21 "influencers").

Confidence.

Stadium Expansion delayed (again).

Finances. Our finances are getting steadily worse. We have been surviving down to a few player sales, director investments, consolidation loans and the end of season prize money just about returning us to credit each season. Now though, even after we have received the prize money, we are still almost £0.5M in the red.

Reserves League. 

U19's League. 

After last years relegation at U19 level, we were at a non-playable level this season. Hopefully we will be back in a proper league next season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Job offer number 12. Jun 20301

Jobs offered.

FC Metz while 10th in Ligue 2. Dec 2025.
Dijon while 20th in Ligue 1. Dec 2025.
Troyes while 17th in Ligue 1. Dec 2025.
AJ Auxerre while 11th in Ligue 1. Nov 2026.
Strasbourg while 20th in Ligue 1. Jan 2027.
EA Guingamp were 14th in Ligue 1. Jun 2028.
Stade Lavallois were 1st in Ligue 2. Jun 2028.
Lille while 12th in Ligue 2. Oct 2028.
FC Lorient while 6th in Ligue 2. May 2030.
Nancy while 20th in League 1. Jun 2030.
AC Ajaccio while 1st in League 2. Jun 2030.
FC Lorient(2) were 17th in Ligue 2. Jun 2031.

[Jimbokav1971]

On 03/01/2019 at 22:48, Jimbokav1971 said:

Mentoring. Jul 2029.

I've shied away from looking too much into Tutoring/Mentoring basically because I'm lazy. As I seem to be struggling to get us into Ligue 2 though, I'm looking to take advantage of the "marginal gains". 

The best player, (rated by PA). to come through the last intake, did so with a Casual personality, a determination attribute of only 4 and I need to change that. 

I don't really know what a casual personality template is now, but I know what the old one was.  

Casual Pro 2-4, Det 1-9, Tem 5-20

As a result, I have been doing some research into personalities, (to try and work out how the templates have changed), and (29a) Jon Goñi (Cas) (2029) * still fits into the old template as above. While Pro and Temp are hidden, I do have access to that info. rather than trying to change that and make use of the fact that I can track it, I'm instead going to concentrate on what I should be able to see (ie. determination).

Although I have players with better personalities, I didn't have Influential players with better personalities until recently. 

Lesec (FRA) (Bal) had a (Det) value of only 7 so he's not fit for our purposes. 

(20a) Rubén (Bal) (2020) * was (F.Det) but his (Det) has dropped to 14. Despite that, he's still capable of influencing (29a) Jon Goñi (Cas) (2029) * to make him become more determined. If I can get his (Det) up to 10 then he will no longer be classed as Casual. What is possibly more likely though is that the (Pro) value will pop to 5 before the (Det) value pops to 10. (This will be a by-product of the process though because I have not checked the (Pro) values of any other players. 

(19b) Aguado (F.Det) * has a (Det) level of 16, so he will be ideal for this process. his

(22n) Garrido (Bal) * has a (Det) level of 8, so like Lesec (FRA) (Bal), he will not be suitable for this process. 

(21b) Zubizarreta (Bal) * has a (Det) level of 14, so together with (20a) Rubén (Bal) (2020) * and process. (19b) Aguado (F.Det) *, he will be influential in this.

At first glance, the Mentoring screen looks as you would expect, but when you keep looking, something that has confused me from the outset with regards to mentoring becomes apparent.

The Hierarchy seems fine. We have Highly Influential at the top. followed by a couple of Team Leaders and then the player to be mentored is at the bottom as "Other". 

I'm not really sure about the significance of "Social Groups" if I'm honest. I would expect players within the same social groups to respond to eachother possibly quicker, but I don't know that for a fact.

The personalities are fine. We know all about them and there are no surprises. The ages are largely irrelevant in my opinion, (again, I just think this, I don't know it). 

What's not as expected however, (and has always confused me since this feature was introduced), is the "estimated influence on group" column. 

If (21b) Zubizarreta (Bal) * is a Highly Influential player, (and we know he is because that's his position within the Hierarchy system at the club), then why is his influence over the group only average? 

If (19b) Aguado (F.Det) * and (20a) Rubén (Bal) (2020) * are both Team Leaders, (and again, we know they are), they why is their influence over the group significant? (Significant is greater than Average? Right?)

Oh hang on...... I know what it is. Team Leaders are higher than Highly Influential so of course they have more influence. I should have put the Team Leaders at the top and everything would have seemed right. 

Like this. 

That's better. 

When I set this up. (24th Jul 2029), I just forgot about it and today is the 1st time I have looked at it again. (30th Jun 2031, so almost 2 years later).

There have been a few obvious changes between the old pic and the new. 

(29a) Jon Goñi (Bal) (2029) * was (casual) and is now (balanced). =

Casual Pro 2-4, Det 1-9, Tem 5-20

Balanced Pro 1-14, Det 1-14, Amb 1-14, Loy & Spo 1-14

His (Det) is now 6, so still within the template for (casual), so I have checked his (Pro) using the editor. It's now showing at 5 which is what has caused the "pop" from (casual) to (balanced). 

(29a) Jon Goñi (Bal) (2029) * had a (Det) rating of 4 when this started, and it has risen only to 6 in 2 years. 3 players Mentoring him and he has only gained 2 (Det) points and at least 1 (Pro) point in 2 years. That's almost as slow going as this whole save. Still, at least there has been some success, (albeit limited success).

The other thing I notice is that (19b) Aguado (F.Det) * has dropped from Team Leader to Highly Influential Player. The reason for this is down to reduced playing time. His influence on the group has also reduced from Significant to Average.

[Jimbokav1971]

Job offer number 13. Aug 20301

Jobs offered.

FC Metz while 10th in Ligue 2. Dec 2025.
Dijon while 20th in Ligue 1. Dec 2025.
Troyes while 17th in Ligue 1. Dec 2025.
AJ Auxerre while 11th in Ligue 1. Nov 2026.
Strasbourg while 20th in Ligue 1. Jan 2027.
EA Guingamp were 14th in Ligue 1. Jun 2028.
Stade Lavallois were 1st in Ligue 2. Jun 2028.
Lille while 12th in Ligue 2. Oct 2028.
FC Lorient while 6th in Ligue 2. May 2030.
Nancy while 20th in League 1. Jun 2030.
AC Ajaccio while 1st in League 2. Jun 2030.
FC Lorient(2) were 17th in Ligue 2. Jun 2031.
Stade Lavallois(2) while 17th in Ligue 2 in Aug 2031.

[Jimbokav1971]

Anchor and Wide target Man, Jul & Aug 2031.

I had become frustrated that our form was so hit and miss towards the end of last season that I really started to look at things and analyze things in greater detail. The central of 3 midfield players had been a DM(d) and I opted to swap him to an A(d). In addition to that, I noticed that my Ass Man was occasionally using my big TM on the right flank as a W(s). That was fine and he was doing a job, but he was more suited to playing as a WTM(s) so I made that change just for him in that position. Both changes seemed to work well as we won 3 of 4 games and kept a clean sheet in all 4. 

(23e) Bouchez (F.Det) * opened his account for the season in the opening league game with a decent free-kick. 

*

[Jimbokav1971]

Sept 2031.

We continue to win at home, but we lose for the 1st time away.

We are still well-positioned in the league, and have a 3 point gap between ourselves and 4th placed team Bourg en Bresse.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2031.

Despite only losing 1 game in the league, and having 2 big wins in the Cup, we have plummeted down the league table and find ourselves in 7th place now. Converting 2 of the 3 draws into wins would have seen us go top of the table so we are not a million miles away. 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Trials and tribulations. Nov 2031.

In the UK, my general understanding of a football trial is that it is for a club to get a closer look at a potential signing who was previously not contracted to another club. 

What I have noticed in FM19 however, (certainly in this save in France anyway), is that clubs are regularly looking to take my players on trial while they are still contracted. (28f) Egoitz Aketxe (Bal) for example is 19 years old and still on his youth contract, (and is for another 8 months or so).

In this case I'm actually accepting the offer, but wouldn't it have been more sensible for them to enquire about a short-term loan so they can have a look at him? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2031.

Well we are back on track, but we are also out of the Cup. (Yes, of course I rotated the side in the Cup game). 

We're level on points with 3rd placed Nimes and only 2 points behind leaders Chateauroux.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Job offer number 14. Nov 2031.

Jobs offered.

FC Metz while 10th in Ligue 2. Dec 2025.
Dijon while 20th in Ligue 1. Dec 2025.
Troyes while 17th in Ligue 1. Dec 2025.
AJ Auxerre while 11th in Ligue 1. Nov 2026.
Strasbourg while 20th in Ligue 1. Jan 2027.
EA Guingamp were 14th in Ligue 1. Jun 2028.
Stade Lavallois were 1st in Ligue 2. Jun 2028.
Lille while 12th in Ligue 2. Oct 2028.
FC Lorient while 6th in Ligue 2. May 2030.
Nancy while 20th in League 1. Jun 2030.
AC Ajaccio while 1st in League 2. Jun 2030.
FC Lorient(2) were 17th in Ligue 2. Jun 2031.
Stade Lavallois(2) while 17th in Ligue 2 in Aug 2031.
Nancy(2) while 6th in Ligue 2 in Dec 2031.

The first 3 levels of the Spanish structure are loaded and I'm a little surprised that U haven't had interest from a Spanish club as yet. 

Edited January 27, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[zlatanera]

6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Trials and tribulations. Nov 2031.

In the UK, my general understanding of a football trial is that it is for a club to get a closer look at a potential signing who was previously not contracted to another club. 

What I have noticed in FM19 however, (certainly in this save in France anyway), is that clubs are regularly looking to take my players on trial while they are still contracted. (28f) Egoitz Aketxe (Bal) for example is 19 years old and still on his youth contract, (and is for another 8 months or so).

In this case I'm actually accepting the offer, but wouldn't it have been more sensible for them to enquire about a short-term loan so they can have a look at him? 

Is his contract expiring in the summer / a youth contract? I've noticed I get a lot of trial offers for youngsters in the January window in this game, tends only to be ones who've been set for release. Kinda makes sense for them - if they like him they can get him in early, but if not they send him back to me.

[Jimbokav1971]

6 hours ago, zlatanera said:

Is his contract expiring in the summer / a youth contract? I've noticed I get a lot of trial offers for youngsters in the January window in this game, tends only to be ones who've been set for release. Kinda makes sense for them - if they like him they can get him in early, but if not they send him back to me.

He's 19 years old and yes he's still signed to a youth contract. It's Dec 2031 now and his contract expires in Jun 2032

[zlatanera]

5 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

He's 19 years old and yes he's still signed to a youth contract. It's Dec 2031 now and his contract expires in Jun 2032

yeah, no idea if that's realistic or not but it seems quite a common occurrence in FM19. 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, zlatanera said:

yeah, no idea if that's realistic or not but it seems quite a common occurrence in FM19. 

Is that in all leagues or just in France?

[albertluque]

I've been inspired. I'm doing this save now. 

[MWE]

6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Is that in all leagues or just in France?

Been happening to me in tier 3 in Belgium 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, albertluque said:

I've been inspired. I'm doing this save now. 

Thank you and good luck. 

Will keep an eye out for you thread. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, MWE said:

Been happening to me in tier 3 in Belgium 

Maybe it's realistic and I just don't know about it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2031. 

Unbeaten sounds a damn site better than 0 losses out of 2, but either way you look about it we only garnered 2 points from the 6 available. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Latest patch shambles. Jan 2032.

Just get rid of it! 

[DazRTaylor]

12 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

He's 19 years old and yes he's still signed to a youth contract. It's Dec 2031 now and his contract expires in Jun 2032

It has happened to me in every save in FM19.

[Jimbokav1971]

22 hours ago, DazRTaylor said:

It has happened to me in every save in FM19.

Does anyone know of any real-life instances of this? In my experience of a Barnet fan, I see lots of loans for contracted young players, but don't hear about trials. (Maybe I wouldn't do though). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2032.

Our unbeaten run is now up to 7, and we sit 4th in the league, but we have drawn 4 out of the last 5 games. We need to turn some of these draws into wins. 

[DazRTaylor]

32 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Does anyone know of any real-life instances of this? In my experience of a Barnet fan, I see lots of loans for contracted young players, but don't hear about trials. (Maybe I wouldn't do though). 

Quite a few Yeovil youngsters have been on trial at other clubs down the years.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, DazRTaylor said:

Quite a few Yeovil youngsters have been on trial at other clubs down the years.

Oh. Cheers for that. 

[Willigenburg]

6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Does anyone know of any real-life instances of this? In my experience of a Barnet fan, I see lots of loans for contracted young players, but don't hear about trials. (Maybe I wouldn't do though). 

Have seen several Danish youngsters on trial in bigger European leagues, while still being on contract with their Danish side. The Danish club might score on the trial, if the trialist do well.

[albertluque]

Did you know Gonzalo Higuain's dad is Basque. Get him signed up. As will Federico Higuain's obv. 

[Jimbokav1971]

19 hours ago, albertluque said:

Did you know Gonzalo Higuain's dad is Basque. Get him signed up. As will Federico Higuain's obv. 

Yeah thanks.  

The only problem with that is that we are in 2032. 

Higuain is 44 and a HoYD now rather than a a player. 

The only problem with Higuain, (other than that he is 44 years old), is that he is also not Basque in the game. 

Federico Higuain is not in my database. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Unambitious. Youth Intake 2032.

Most gifted? I certainly hope so, (but won't be holding my breath). 

No less than 10 of this years intakes are labelled as Unambitious. 

What's in a name though? Is unambitious really a bad thing? After all, we are in the process of losing 2 players on a free, (seemingly because of their ambition to play at a higher level), so isn't a lack of ambition a good thing for me in this situation in this particular ? 

Unambitious Amb 1-5, Loy 11-20

The truth is I'm not really sure it makes much of a difference. An unambitious personality template has just 2 triggers as follows. 

Ambition 1-5. 
Loyalty 11-20. 

So it's basically very poor ambition and decent to very good loyalty? Well I quite like both of those triggers if I'm honest. 

The powers at be suggest that Pro, Det and Amb are equally significant in terms of player development, (but I'm not so sure). Pro has always been key and we now know that Det is more significant than initially thought, but Amb? Really?

[Edit]

I forgot to say that I am not signing all the intake players to youth contracts. 

(32f)

(32g)

(32i)

(32k)

(32l)

(32m)

(32o)

All these players have either low Det and/or poor personalities/poorly balanced attributes. Low Det doesn't stop me from signing a player, but it certainly makes me look at them a little deeper. 

"Kriss" (32a) Núñez (Unamb) (2032) *.

He doesn't look great, but then again he is only 14 and our facilities are rubbish. There should be significant room for development, but only time will tell how good he is.

Edited January 26, 2019 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2032. 

3 wins on the bounce without conceding sees us go top of the table. Let's hope that we can keep the run going in March. 

Even more pleasing than going top of the table, is going top of the table  virtue of a 1-0 win via a GK goal from a direct free-kick. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Bobby Blunder. Mar 2032.

We've lost 1 of the last 14 league games until this. 

Obviously NOT happy. 

It's the 1st goal we have conceded in 549 minutes.