The Italian Job! Italian league thread is here!

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2022/2023

FIFTH SEASON

FEBRUARY

Expected to lose away, hoping to get an away  goal at least. But.. wow, just wow. Very surprised and delighted. I would take this!

Verdict: A good month, Foggia is starting to become my most hated opponent. Always a hard game against them.

MARCH - NEXT

 

SERIE A - END OF FEBRUARY 2023

VERDICT SO FAR

9 points is better than 8, right?

Kulusevski now after a great month personally.

My first job interview offer, ever. Unfortunately, not interested.

[MWE]

Just finished my first season with Inter on FM20

Wanyama was my only purchase and hardly featured bit of an impulse buy

Beat Juve 5-1 in the first game of the season which was a sign of good things to come, apart from getting knocked out int eh first round of the cup and two poor performances against Porto in the CL

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9 minutes ago, MWE said:

Congrats on the first title! I had not realised lots of Inter transfers this season were loans. You didn't use Esposito?

Anyway, happy to see Parma doing well! Gives me hope for FM20 with them! Any chance for a screenshot of their squad?

[MWE]

Esposito will be in the squad for the next season not Sanchez has gone back

 

[WilsonJuve]

Does this thread only cover serie A?

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4 minutes ago, MWE said:

Esposito will be in the squad for the next season not Sanchez has gone back

 

Thanks! Kulusevski gone back to Atlanta?

 

1 minute ago, WilsonJuve said:

Does this thread only cover serie A?

Any in Italy I would say, so from lower leagues to the National team.

[MWE]

13 minutes ago, quee said:

Thanks! Kulusevski gone back to Atlanta?

 

Yeah hes back there

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9 minutes ago, MWE said:

 

Yeah hes back there

Was hoping there's future transfer arranged or an option to buy at least.

[zlatanera]

19 hours ago, ParanoidBuddha said:

Let's open a new thread for FM20?

Agreed.

You're the expert, you want to do it? I'm not doing FM20 otherwise I'd offer.

EDIT: If there's no volunteers, I'll just set something up for everyone with like a copy-pasted map of the teams from Wikipedia for the 6th.

Edited November 5, 2019 by zlatanera

[ajt]

3 hours ago, WilsonJuve said:

Does this thread only cover serie A?

no mate. many people used teams from outside Serie A 

although looks like a new thread will be started for FM20

Edited November 5, 2019 by ajt

[lblanc]

21 hours ago, Ivan787 said:

I'm interested in how do you pair Lukaku and Martinez....in real life I think hey are very similar...

Lukaku is Target Man support and Martinez is Complete attack. 

Lukaku isn't really scoring but his build up play is fantastic. Ideally I'd like him to score more but I'm happy with what he's doing overall. 

[Ivan787]

47 minuti fa, lblanc ha scritto:

Lukaku is Target Man support and Martinez is Complete attack. 

Lukaku isn't really scoring but his build up play is fantastic. Ideally I'd like him to score more but I'm happy with what he's doing overall. 

Yes I agree with you, but in real life I suppose his role isn't a real target Man.

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Anybody had experience managing Kouame in FM19?

[Harryseaess]

Ignore my position in the league... But how's this for a title race!

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6 hours ago, Harryseaess said:

Ignore my position in the league... But how's this for a title race!

Wow, fun season!

Good to see Atlanta and Pedro doing well.

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2022/2023

FIFTH SEASON

MARCH

Started the month with a Despodov's hat-trick against Dortmund. Disappointed to concede the 2 goals as we switched off a bit towards the end. Two great results, though!

Got Liverpool again, the hardest team I've played in this save.

Verdict: The CL distraction affected our form a bit, but at least only draws instead of loses.

SERIE A - END OF MARCH 2023

VERDICT SO FAR

Haven't fallen off as expected, so this could be our year?

Youth Intakes

Happy to see my affiliates were contributing to my intakes this year, but still no great foreign talent through the acadmey (without Italy as 2nd nationality). Buffoli is the best of the bunch, but I have too many attacking midfielders from the academy already.

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2022/2023

FIFTH SEASON

APRIL

Was luck to be even in the game by half time. Even Kulusevski's goal from the bench was against the run of play. Hate playing Liverpool.

The 2nd leg was over in the first 15 minutes, to be honest. Couldn't really push on after getting the away goal. Chiesa loves scoring against us, 4 goals in 2 games.

Verdict: Luckily the Liverpool hangovers didn't affect our Serie A form this time. Even Juventus was surprisingly tame encounter, but they were out of the title race by this point.

Just Parma and Milan left in the tile race. We could win it as early as against Milan at home! Would be amazing!

SERIE A - END OF APRIL 2023

VERDICT SO FAR

Final stretch of the season, and for the first time in this save, I'm feeling a bit of confident as it will be in our own hands.

Youth Intakes

Pandini surprisingly has developed better than Russo. My first regen through the academy to get 3 stars CA.

Good enough room to manoeuvre in the market.

Didier returning home? Hopefully Juventus will be better with him.

 

Edited November 10, 2019 by quee

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2022/2023

FIFTH SEASON

MAY

Milan didn't even come to play for the title.. It was a boring match, even Parma didn't create many chances. Still, our first Serie A title in my 5th season! To win it at home is a treat for the supporters as well, against our title challenger no less! Surprised to find out it was Coetzee's first goal for the club as well. What a time to score it! Stulac even missed his 2nd penalty this season.

This was interesting, and I guess Sampdoria didn't get the memo 

Verdict: Disappointingly, the season was on cruise mode after the Milan win. Despodov and Ribeiro were injured for the last 3 games. Benevento got the point they needed to survive relegation against us as well, where we didn't turn up at all.

SERIE A - END OF SEASON 2023

SERIE A AWARDS 2023

Player of the Year was not won by a Parma player for the 3rd season running, Vargas of Milan got the honour this year. Got Manager of the Year award for the 2nd time.

PARMA END OF SEASON AWARDS

Despite Despodov strong debut season, he's surprisingly not in the top 3 for 'Fan's Player of the Season'. Kulusevski could have gotten 'Signing of the Season' himself.

One of my favourite success story! Can't wait to have him in FM20!

END OF SEASON REVIEW

Goals - Despodov (16), Kulusevski and Da Graca (11), Stulac and Diakhate (9), Marcos Paulo (7), Xadas and En-Nesyri (6), 13 others scored 3 goals or less.

Without a quality starting main striker, the goals were shared a bit this season.

Assists - Stulac (9), Kulusevski and Xadas (8), Despodov (8), Olaza (6), Ivonei (5) - who made 5 or more assists

Satisfied with my creative hub, with Kulusevski contributing greatly as a sub in both goals and assists.

Just how strong Liverpool is.. No wonder I hate playing against them!

RECORD-BREAKING SEASON

Might be the reason Despodov didn't get any awards this season? He seemed to play extra special in Europe.

INTERNATIONALS

CLUB NEWS

A pleasant news! Didn't even request for a new stadium!

Even Cagliari will have a new stadium, despite not playing well this season.

A return to Italy for Parma's Icon!

Next Season..

So, when I sold Gomez last summer, Stulac as the captain shared the team's concern about lack of quality in the attacking area. Since I didn't have anybody in mind to bring in then, I told him and the team that I will be using more youth for that position. When I said that I had Da Graca in mind..

Apparently, he's not considered a youth anymore, though! So, I tried using  Dionanton (regens) more.. Then nothing seemed to be working towards my promise to Stulac. Then I re-read again, it turned out it had to be an Academy player!

Hence, why I had been playing the regens more this season.. Except in the last game I didn't play any academy player and the promise-meter went back to 'disappointed' instead of green-happy.

Now, I have this problem to navigate with my captain for next season! Hope this won't destroyed my save!

 

Edited November 10, 2019 by quee

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2023/20234

SIXTH SEASON

Heading into the new season as Champione for the first time, I had a long pondering thought how I can push the squad to the next level? Whilst still trying not to break the self-imposed wage limit. Challenging for the title again and going further in Europe is the next step for Parma.

TRANSFERS OUT

With the record-breaking sale of Palacios, it will allow us to improve the depth a bit better, hoping for better quality overall. Decided to loan out some of my 'Youth Projects' as they are 22-23 now, so squad registration will be too bloated with them around. Of those out on loan, Peda and Bobsin will hopefully have a certain future at the club, depending on their progress and the situations when they came back. Only made some money on Senesi (should have been more) and Mahlonoka (failed project here, barely any progress in his development).

TRANSFERS IN

Bobsin was pre-arranged on a Bosman when it looked like Tonali was looking likely to leave in January. Nobody came in for him though, so Bobsin went out on loan as I would have to many bodies here.

I bought 3 new goalkeepers.. Why? I couldn't decide who I want to be Brazao's backup for this season. Moha Ramos's CA and PA is better than Brazao's, so he went out on loan to Leganes for 2 seasons instead of wasting all that sitting on the bench. Farinez, who just finished his 3 years loan with Leganes, came back but I decided to loan him out in Italy to see how he would do compared to Spain. Out of the 3, Carevic got the nod to stay as he's the more experience and is a current international. All 3 are Sweeper Keepers like Brazao.

As discussed in previous update, Captain Stulac was unhappy about our options upfront. Hence, the arrival of Kouame, who accepted a paycut of £20k+, to share the highest wage with Despodov at £65k. Stulac was still unhappy all summer still, and when Inter, Napoli, Leipzig made a £20m offer for Kean, I decided to get him as well, in the hope that Stulac will drop his unhappiness (I don't really want him but he did accept a paycut as well to £65k). Big nope, still unhappy and thought about leaving! My Captain!

Lucumi was brought in, initially, as cover for both DCL and LB. Then Olaza had a £32m offer from West Brom, which I accepted as he will be 30 soon and that's a good money for someone getting injury prone. I didn't offered him out, so it was up to him if he wanted to leave. In anticipation of him leaving, I brought in Ait-Nouri (this was before I found out he's one of the best young LB in FM20 as well) as another option for LB with Lucumi. Olaza rejected the chance to move, so I'm left with one extra player that I don't really need.

Now, Evander. I like his description of 'Midfield Orchestrator', never seen it before. In my mind, I have him replacing Xadas in my team at LW but maybe as AP-S instead. Whilst stats-wise Xadas is one of my best players, I found him to be missing in most games. He would usually be on 6.5 ratings before scoring a goal and sometimes making an assist. I want him to be more involved and pulling the strings. Hence, this signing. Besides, Xadas been getting interests past few season, if I get a good offer, I will sell him, just like Tonali. Evander is expensive though in terms of wages, he went from £7k to £50k p/w (he was requesting £88k!). Why the huge jump?

Coetzee is in his final year contract, and he's refusing to accept wages lower than £65k! He's currently on £15k and valued at £30m+. He's not my first choice despite better stats than Ribeiro, so was hoping I could sell him this summer but there's no interest from anyone! I will either let him leave on a free or try to sign him on a lower contract in the coming months before selling him off next summer. In anticipation of him leaving, I signed Armini as my backup option, who can cover across the back 4 and the DM, just like Coetzee.

Verdict: Lots of players, as it turned out, I don't really need. More of in anticipations of something else to happen than anything. Lucumi, Evander, and Kouame will be important part of my squad planning, hopefully.

Open to offers on Tonali, Xadas, and Coetzee. Olaza if he wants to leave, I won't get in the way but not actively trying to get rid of him.

Next update: Pre-season onwards.

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2023/20234

SIXTH SEASON

Champions League pitted us in a difficult group, all the teams I would say at around the same level. Monaco haven't lost against us in our 2 games, so they will be the favourite.

Pre-season: Evander impressed me by his style of play, his assists were beautiful to watch.

It was a hellish start to our season. To be fair, it was a very difficulty month in September.

Things started to look up against Napoli. Decided to drop Stulac for the first time to bench, as I feel his unhappiness is a contributing factor to our poor performances. And we won!

Also, credit to PoTM's Armini, who came in at RB as Birindelli and Coetzee both tried to outdo each other who can play the worse  Armini won the ball high up the pitch from his RB position, and created a beautiful assist for the opener. He created another one before scoring himself. This was only his 2nd appearance for Parma. He continued his form in the next game against Leverkusen, scoring 2 in 2.

Had injury nightmares as well since the start of the season with Olaza, Despodov, Ribeiro, Tonali, Diakhate, Xadas, Kouame, Lucumi all had overlapping injuries between 3-6 weeks out. The biggest lost I think was Ribeiro, as I could see during the matches the defence was missing something in all the goals conceded. He made his return in the Napoli's match. Coincidence?

Then the next day, I got the above message! Finally! All it took was to bench him? Our performances improved after this and Stulac made his return as sub against Leverkusen. He helped to turn around the match as Parma was going nowhere with the game before I introduced him in the 2nd half.

Will be a struggle and slow clim up the table, but interesting challenge compared to previous couple of seasons where I sort of lead the pack from the off.

Verdict: Hellish month, but our Captain is happy again! Time to start our turnaround?

CLUB NEWS

Got a new affiliate during the summer. O'Higgins of Chile. Great facilities!

Parma's not too bad, as well. State of the art now for all 3 facilities.

A bit disappointed that the new-planned stadium is only 36,175 seats. Not a huge difference from the latest expansion at 27,940.

Some of you may have noticed his name couple of times in the goalscorers section in the results page. He came out of nowhere, as it was expected another regen to be ahead of him. During the summer, he refused to sign his contract as Tottenham was major interested in him. Luckily, when the season started he signed a new one. I could have potentially lost my best regen so far on a free, otherwise. Been playing him as Mezzala in midfield since I don't use AMC in my formation.

Next update: Continuing where I had stopped and hopefully I can get to Winter Transfer window over the weekend.

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2023/20234

SIXTH SEASON

After our last update, we continued at home against Udinese. 3 good home wins, with Kulusevski performing really well from MC as Mezzala-Support (I usually played him as W-Su at LW or W-A at RW last season).

Came crashing down against Roma. I think my worse result? Bastoni had a nightmare, made 3 mistakes and finished the match with a 5.8 rating. Kean not far behind at 6.0 rating. Both accepted their 1-week fine. We did tried to make the score respectable by pushing for goals towards the end, but it wasn't just our day as we could only mustered 2. It's better than 0-6 at the 80th minute, at least.

I think Bastoni was distracted by Tottenham's interest in him, who had watched him 4 times, including the Roma's match.

The next 3 games we didn't really play particularly well, but did enough to win the games. Apart from innocuous penalty conceded in the 71st minute in the Sampdoria match - a harmless long ball from LB and Lucumi decided to get tangled up. 

Bennacer had been unhappy with his minutes and started complaining, but the other 5 midfielders went against him. Must be a lonely place for him at the moment at the club..

Finally, my first win against Monaco! Went 3-0 up before Geubbels threatened a comeback in the 29th minute. We paid back our away lost by the same scoreline. We did lost Xadas and Kean to injuries towards the end, though.

I might rest and rotate the squad for our final game away against Leverkusen.

Verdict: Performance dropping a bit in Serie A, so will try focus our efforts pushing up the table.

Roma lost their lead, and look at Palermo!

Verdict: I think Kean's my first choice striker at the moment, with Kouame always out injured for a few days at a time with niggling injuries. En-Nesyri hasn't really took his chances lately, when given.

CLUB NEWS

I hope this won't destroyed him, 3 months out with torn thigh muscle 

Next update: Continuing where I had stopped and hopefully I can get to Winter Transfer window over the weekend.

Edited November 30, 2019 by quee
Added Russo's injury

[zlatanera]

@quee Evander is great, had him in my Lyon team first as SS then AM-Su. His mentals were slightly lacking (My first choice AM, Aouar, had 15/15 Teamwork / Work Rate) but he was just so good at long shots and set pieces...then I had to loan him out due to registration restrictions. 

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2023/20234

SIXTH SEASON - DECEMBER

I'm not sure if December is a month I like or not, with so many fixtures, it can be fun rotating the team I guess.

We only dropped points against league leaders, Milan and Palermo.

A 2-0 win to start our Coppa Italia campaign. Only Birindelli and Marcos Paulo were regulars first team players involved.

Carriero (regens) finally made his debut! He has been out on loan at Palermo and Empoli for the past couple of seasons. Caputo (regens) had a particulary impressive game in an unfamiliar DM position, as he was involved in both goals by running through the midfield.

Another home tie, another chance for the youngsters to play.

A 1-0 win in the last match against Leverkusen was enough to secure top spot and be seeded for the next round.

Only wish was - not Liverpool!

Man Utd again! We had played them 4 times now so far.

5 games against Antonio Conte's sides, only 1 win..

Verdict: Happy with how the month went. Palermo was a hard game and they deserved their place above us at the moment.

6 points off Milan, the chase has begun!

Ronaldo has announced he will retire at the end of the season for Juventus.

Despodov has been one of my favourite find even in all my FM games. Always dangerous!

This is a good addition to Serie A! I'm a bit surprised to see him leave at the half way point, though Atletico languishing in 6th, 15 points behind Barcelona might be a factor! Simeone did win the La Liga and Champions League double last season as well.

Verdict: A good place at the midway point of the season for Parma.

CLUB NEWS

Our defence hasn't been as solid as in previous season, but we are scoring more at this stage of the season 

Another regen with a long term injury, 9 weeks out with a lower back stress fracture 

In the past month, I had 7 messages involving Bastoni and Tottenham.. Persistent! Assensio and Kane were effectively luring him, it is affecting his form as his heads are turned. I have a feeling I need to break my wage limit structure to tie him down to a new contract in the near future.

After six seasons, finally going on our first warm weather mid-season training camp! (I think) 

Next update: Winter Transfer window and players review so far.

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4 hours ago, zlatanera said:

@quee Evander is great, had him in my Lyon team first as SS then AM-Su. His mentals were slightly lacking (My first choice AM, Aouar, had 15/15 Teamwork / Work Rate) but he was just so good at long shots and set pieces...then I had to loan him out due to registration restrictions. 

This is him so far in my save. Unfortunately after a strong pre-season, he hasn't adapted the step up to Italy as well as expected.

It's looking up after I changed his role from AP-Su to the normal Xadas's role, W-Su at LW. Maybe not the best role for him, but it is working for my team's setup.

 

Edited December 1, 2019 by quee
Removed duplicated image.

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2023/20234

SIXTH SEASON

WINTER TRANSFER WINDOW

I had no plans to bring anybody in, so will be a quiet one on that front.

Had some big offers for Bastoni, Ribeiro, and Kulusevski.

Bastoni - £67m, £73m, £80m from Tottenham.

Ribeiro - £27,5m (Napoli), £29m (Monaco twice), £31m (Tottenham - after Bastoni's offers were rejected), £33.5 then £35.5m (both Inter).

Kulusevski - Sporting made a very low offers of £10.25m, £13.75m, and £19.25m.

ALL bids were, of course, rejected.

Luckily, Bastoni was very receptive to our conversation.

First time I had interest from the biggest clubs (Madrid, Barcelona, etc.) and it had to be Despodov 

Recalled the 4 players above because they were not used by their clubs and send them to new clubs for the next 18-months.

JANUARY

 

First trophy this season, and my first Supercoppa Italiana. UAE hosted the match and we got £1.79m as prize money.

Even though we had taken a 2-0 lead, we let it slipped away. Hyso, who made a mistake for the equaliser, was the hero for saving Barak's penalty. Russo had earlier scored his first goal for Parma.

More and more regens making their debuts now, after the 5th seasons. Will be good to anticipate for FM20 planning next time.

Genoa awaits us in the semifinal. Will persist with using the youngsters again.

Verdict: Not as hectic of a month as I thought. Stulac and Despodov are carrying the team with their performances.

Verdict: Exciting title race this year I think. Can Palermo maintained their challenge?

NEW PLAYERS REVIEW - 6 Months on

Armini - bought as backup, but has cemented himself as first choice at the RB position. I loved watching him sliding in midfield to win the ball and starting the attack. Possible cult hero!

Kean - Didn't really want him but he's playing better than both Kouame and En-Nesyri, 6 goals in Serie A and 9 total in 11(6) appearances.

Lucumi - dependable but had made 2 mistakes leading to goals. Used as both DCL and LB.

Ait-Nouri - attacking wise he is decent, contributing 2 assists but he is targeted defensively. Reoccurring injuries slowed his progress a lot.

Carevic - played in 4 Serie A matches so far (when Brazao was rested or not playing well previously), a safe hand.

Evander - expected him to displace Xadas by now, struggled to get going consistently. Appearances off the bench doesn't really change the game as well.

Kouame - biggest disappointment to date. Niggling injuries hindered him massively as Kean had pushed ahead of him in the pecking order.

CLUB NEWS

Another new affiliate, this time HJK - the Finnish Champions. Not the best one I could get, but there wasn't that much interesting options. Decided to go for HJK because as the usual champions, their participation in Europe might be useful if I have players that couldn't get any loans elsewhere.

Another regen with a long term injury, 5 weeks out with sports hernia 

This caught my eye a bit.. Bale and Neymar as the DMs? Talk about shoehorning them into the awards!

Next update: February onwards!

Edited December 1, 2019 by quee
Added images

[zlatanera]

7 hours ago, quee said:

This is him so far in my save. Unfortunately after a strong pre-season, he hasn't adapted the step up to Italy as well as expected.

It's looking up after I changed his role from AP-Su to the normal Xadas's role, W-Su at LW. Maybe not the best role for him, but it is working for my team's setup.

 

Is that AP-Su at AMC? Or on the flank? I’ve always found AMC playmakers struggling for ratings, and if you’ve changed the role out wide it’ll be slightly altering the way the whole team plays. 

I got good form out of him as due to using the overlap instruction my AMC was actually the highest mentality on the team. Also Lyon are less of an underdog, we got a lot of set pieces and a lot of space to play with on the edge of the box. 

I must have missed it, what’s your wage limit? Mine was £100k which I stretched with heavy bonuses for winning the league and getting to QF of the Champions League and each stage beyond (no wage rises though).

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47 minutes ago, zlatanera said:

I must have missed it, what’s your wage limit? Mine was £100k which I stretched with heavy bonuses for winning the league and getting to QF of the Champions League and each stage beyond (no wage rises though).

£65K, it is self imposed, though. Maxi Gomez signed on for that amount and that was the highest wage in the squad. Decided to try keep it under that amount as long as I can. Of course, Bastoni's situation will required a new limit, I think, as he's already on £50k.

With wage budget adjusted, the highest I can offer as a key player is £245k p/w.

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51 minutes ago, zlatanera said:

Is that AP-Su at AMC? Or on the flank? I’ve always found AMC playmakers struggling for ratings, and if you’ve changed the role out wide it’ll be slightly altering the way the whole team plays. 

 

In regards to this, on the flank at LW. But I've changed it now so he's W-Su, just like Xadas. Not great though, he's struggling for form. Not helped by Xadas's good form as well.

I don't really like using AP or DLP, only role I've found success with is RPM.

[zlatanera]

29 minutes ago, quee said:

£65K, it is self imposed, though. Maxi Gomez signed on for that amount and that was the highest wage in the squad. Decided to try keep it under that amount as long as I can. Of course, Bastoni's situation will required a new limit, I think, as he's already on £50k.

With wage budget adjusted, the highest I can offer as a key player is £245k p/w.

Oh yeah mine was self-imposed too - I could have signed Mbappé if I wanted to smash it. But I find it’s more fun that way.

26 minutes ago, quee said:

In regards to this, on the flank at LW. But I've changed it now so he's W-Su, just like Xadas. Not great though, he's struggling for form. Not helped by Xadas's good form as well.

I don't really like using AP or DLP, only role I've found success with is RPM.

Oh yeah so obviously those two roles play completely differently. I’m a fan of a Trequartista in a wide role. 

I had to go completely OTT with my rotation to keep everyone in form - every single game I rotated my outfield ten - but if you’re more life-like it can be tricky. It might be his adaptability could hold him back too - could come good next season

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18 hours ago, zlatanera said:

Oh yeah mine was self-imposed too - I could have signed Mbappé if I wanted to smash it. But I find it’s more fun that way.

 

Exactly. I think if the club have hundreds of millions in the bank like the biggest clubs, then it would make sense to go for those type of high earners. Even then, I found that having 20+ players in a squad having £100k+ wages doesn't seemed that much fun. I think Bastoni will be my first £100k soon.

 

18 hours ago, zlatanera said:

Oh yeah so obviously those two roles play completely differently. I’m a fan of a Trequartista in a wide role. 

 

Been thinking of trying out Trequartista (had success before from the ST or AMC position), never used it from the wing before. Even Raumdeuter I've never used so far. My previous FM prior to FM19 was FM15 

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2023/20234

SIXTH SEASON

FEBRUARY & MARCH

It showed how bad the upcoming month was that I forgot to stop and just carry on playing into March, hoping it will turn around quickly.

Looking at the results, Parma don't travel well, do we? Another bad month in February.

March was slightly better, with good win against Inter, Man Utd, and Juventus.

Was not happy conceding late to Benevento, the bottom-placed team. Olaza scored a nice volley on his left foot after a beautiful curling pass from Tonali to the back post (Olaza just had taken a corner from the right-hand side), and 5 minutes later the Benevento's player out-jumped Olaza at the back post to head in the equaliser..

COPPA ITALIA

Both goals were scored by 2 of my best academy regens, Russo and Pandini. Obi would have made his debut earlier if it wasn't for an injury.

With our poor run of form, I had decided to use a much stronger team in the 2nd leg. Even then we didn't play that well, needing a late Armini goal to secure going into the Final.

Sampdoria awaits us in the Final! They had beaten last year's winner, Roma.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

3 days before the Man Utd game, Brazao had a fall in training and bruised his thigh, out for 5 days. Now, the problem is, Carevic is not registered for Europe, as we didn't have enough HGC. So, Brazao will have to play with a knock or Hyso will step up.

Decided to trust Brazao, despite not fully fit. It backfired massively, as all of the goals seemed easily conceded in my eyes. 

2 goals too far! We dominated the game and Diakhate scored his first goal of the season! Didn't realised his early season injury affected him this badly, as his bravery dropped a lot before this match.

Now, in the first leg, Xadas was the worst player for us, at 6.1 rating. I made a big decision in starting Kulusevski ahead of him for the return leg, and it was paid back handsomely. 3 good assists and driving our attacks until the end.

It took him until March to score his first goal in the previous Man Utd match, and he carried on with a brace against Juventus in the next game. 

Welcome back, Diakhate! 

We do miss his athletic presence form midfield and his consistent-goalscoring contributions.

INJURIES:

EN-NESYRI (3 MONTHS) - ABDOMINAL TEARS

KOUAME (4 WEEKS) - TWISTED ANKLE

TONALI (4 WEEKS) - HERNIA

STULAC (5 WEEKS) - DAMAGE FOOT (during MAN UTD's 2nd leg match)

BASTONI (2 WEEKS) - PULLED THIGH (a day before the Juventus's 5-2 match)

DESPODOV (4 WEEKS) - FRACTURED WRIST, fall in training. Specialists treatment. (A day before BENEVENTO's match)

Verdict: Two morale boosting victories, hopefully will allow us to finish as strongly as we can for the rest of the season.

The injuries to key players might have been the deciding factors in our struggling 2 months.

At one point, we were in fifth place and out UCL qualification. Can't let that happen again!

Amazed to see this from Palermo. A game of 2 halves.

Deschamps was sacked after our 5-2 match. Was hoping his return to Juventus would make for a stronger league.

Despodov will miss most of April because of his fractured wrist. He would have a good chance to challenge Icardi for the topscorer, I think. This happened last season as well where he was injured for 6 weeks towards the end of last season, missing the whole of May.

Unlucky?

CLUB NEWS

YOUTH CANDIDATES - SIXTH INTAKE (2024)

I was concentrating on the 2nd leg's Man Utd game on the next day, so this came out unexpectedly (I never really take notice when the dates of Youth Intakes are, it always surprised me when they came!).

Brazilian-sounding name made me really excited! I hope he will play for Brazil instead of Italy!

Then I saw this! 2.5 CA AND 5 PA?! 

He's a leader-type too! My previous intakes tend to have physical-type players.

I couldn't even watched the usual u18s vs YC match as it clashed with the Man Utd game (first time this had happened to me).

WOW! Definitely my best regen to date!

Definitely will assign him as setpieces and penalty taker! (Good starting stats on those)

Remember the 5-2 vs Juventus? That came 5 days after he was 'born' into the game! Surprised myself that I'm giving him his debut straight away!

More so that I started him despite him only having 73% condition, as he had played the u18 vs YC match and another u18 match the day before the Juventus match.

I would have played him against Man Utd, on hindsight, if he wasn't still 'on trial' then (not allowed to play trialist in official game). That would have seen him made his debut a day after he first appeared in the game.

As that meant he will get the Youngest Parma Player's record! He played the full 90 minutes too!

I usually wait and choose my 'Project Regen Player' (or favourite young academy player at the start of the game) to give them this honour. 

So, that means, Caio Felipe (regen) is that player! He just reinvigorated my interest in the game ten-fold 

He played well too against Juventus, finishing with a 7.1 rating for his debut! He even made Team of the Week 

So, let's recap:

Appeared in-game as Youth Candidate (YC): 11/03/2024

YC vs u18 (Man Utd match as well): 12/03/2024

Debut: 16/03/2024 vs Juventus (7.1 rating) - full 90 minutes played

Contract signed: 17/03/2024

Team of the Week: 19/03/2004

Must have been a crazy one-fictional week for Caio Felipe! 

The records section before it was broken by Caio Felipe! He will have 132 days to break the 'Youngest Parma Goalscorer' as well, and I will try my best to make it happen before the season ends! 

Now he will be out for a total of 12 weeks after a reoccurrence of his previous sports hernia 

So far his stats shows no signs of decreasing, hopefully it won't affect him that much.

INTERNATIONALS & TRANSFER NEWS

Sure, now you want to stay..

After the 2nd leg of Man Utd's game, Armini is under consideration for the Italy's squad. He's been impressive! Signing of the season!

Hiekkanen, who is out on loan at Bari in Serie B, also made his Finland debut in a 0-5 lost against England.

Was looking at the current Brazil's squad and I had thought Ribeiro was called up recently. He wasn't, so I thought I had imagined it. I checked the previous round games and it was for the previous call-up instead, unfortunately didn't come off the bench in both games.

Next update: April onwards!

Edited December 2, 2019 by quee
EDITED FIFTH TO SIXTH INTAKE

[zlatanera]

3 hours ago, quee said:

Been thinking of trying out Trequartista (had success before from the ST or AMC position), never used it from the wing before. Even Raumdeuter I've never used so far. My previous FM prior to FM19 was FM15 

Funny, FM15 was my first then bought 4 consecutively after that. I’m planning on trying out Treq at ST soon as well. 

Caio Felipe looks to be one of those “freak newgens”. I’ve seen maybe 2 in 5 years and one of those was in Germany so I got bored of the save before he was old enough, so you’re very lucky!

Edited December 2, 2019 by zlatanera

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9 minutes ago, zlatanera said:

Funny, FM15 was my first then bought 4 consecutively after that. I’m planning on trying out Treq at ST soon as well. 

Caio Felipe looks to be one of those “freak newgens”. I’ve seen maybe 2 in 5 years and one of those was in Germany so I got bored of the save before he was old enough, so you’re very lucky!

Definitely lucky, since it's my first one in 6 years 

Excited about him though, and Pandini, 19. (I'll post his screenshot in my next update).

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2023/20234

SIXTH SEASON

REGENS' SPECIALS UPDATE

So, with the recent addition of my 'Project Regen Player', I thought I would look at all my intakes so far. Will only include 4 stars potential as the minimum, the next highest if there's none.

FIRST INTAKE - 2019

1. MATTEO ZANOLI

I didn't take a screenshot of the first intake group. Zanoli (9 months after) was the best at 3.5 PA but he didn't make it.

STATUS: Released on a free and is now with Carpi in Serie B. Zero appearances over 5 years at Parma, 38 appearances (4 goals) whilst on loan at Pistoiese in the 2021/2022 season.

SECOND INTAKE - 2020

Had a good group in the second intake, with Carriero, Cardona, Angeletti, and Pandini coming through.

Dubbed the 'Golden Generation', my one and only so far.

2. EMILIO CARRIERO

Carriero had a different route to his development compared to my other academy players. I guess he was my 'tester' as he was the most highly rated early on.

I sent him out on loan in the 2021/22 season to Palermo, where he made 25 appearances, 7 as a sub with 6.75 average rating in Serie A.

In 2022/23 season, he made 37 appearances, all starts, for Empoli in Serie A. Average rating of 6.76.

He hasn't developed as well as his PA suggested. So, loaning your player at such a young age might not be the best idea.

3. DARIO PANDINI

I'll be honest, Pandini came out of nowhere. I didn't really pay him any attention, then got a message that he is ready for the first team. Now he's at 3.5 CA with 5 PA.

I didn't realised he was in the second intake with Carriero, but looking back, he started as a 15 years old, hence more time to develop I guess.

STATUS: Part of first team squad now. Made his debut in the 2022/2023 season, with 6 appearances, 5 as a sub.

Now in his fifth season, 2023/2024, he has made 25 appearances so far this season, 15 as a sub. Scoring 4 goals and one assist, with one month left to go of the season still to go.

4. MASSIMILIANO ANGELETTI

Angeletti had 5 stars PA when he started, now only 4 PA. I guess he hasn't developed as well as Pandini.

STATUS: Made his debut in the 2022/23 season, 1 appearance as a sub.

Current season 2023/2024, he started 3 games in the Coppa Italia, with an average rating of 6.73.

Will need more opportunities to develop, so a candidate for loan next season.

5. PATRICK CARDONA

Started with 1 CA and 4 PA, he has actually improved really well. Now, he's 2.5 CA and 4.5 PA. 

Set-piece taker.

STATUS: Made his debut in the 2022/2023 season, with a sole start.

Current 2023/2024 season, he has made 4 appearances, 1 as a sub. Created a goal and got one PoTM, with an average ratings of 7.05. All in the Coppa Italia.

THIRD INTAKE - 2021

Hyso (GK) and Russo came highly rated from the third group. Farnedi (3.5 PA) is included due to his improvement in PA.

6. ARDIAN HYSO - GK (ALBANIA)

Hyso might be my future number 1. He only got his 3rd CA stars in April (my upcoming next update). Earlier than anticipated, he might displaced all my other goalkeepers as 2nd choice next season.

I wished he will stick with Albania as his initial nationality so he can play internationals earlier and earn more caps.

I will allow him to usurp Brazao, despite the latter being one of my 'Project Player' along with Stulac. As long as he developed into a much better GK.

STATUS: Made his debut in his 2nd season, 2021/22. Started 4 games, conceding 4 goals, 2 clean sheets, average ratings of 7.05. This was as a 17 years old!

2022/2023 season, 2 starts, 5 goals conceded, 6.85 average ratings.

2023/2024, in the current season, he has started 3 games and conceded 2 goals, with 6.90 average ratings. He is my starting GK in the Coppa Italia.

7. SAVERIO RUSSO

Started with 1.5 CA and 4.5 PA, now he's developing quite well with a potential 5 stars PA!

The reason why I thought he was the best regen from the academy last season? He was always the best rated player in training for the u20 throughout last season!

I received reports of him being ready for the first team way earlier than Pandini. After 4-5 months, Pandini jumped ahead of him and got the 3 stars CA first.

Currently retraining him as Winger for the RW position.

STATUS: Made his debut in his 3rd season, 2022/2023. 8 appearances, 5 as a sub, 1 assist, 6.84 average rating.

6 appearances this current season (2023/2024), 4 as a sub, 2 goals, 1 assist, and 6.92 average rating.

8. MARCELLO FARNEDI

His PA went up from 3.5 to 4 stars, so he's included in our review. A driven, left footed CB, who can also play as DM.

STATUS: Made his sole appearance in his fourth season (2023/2024), before injury limited his next involvement.

FOURTH INTAKE - 2022

Aprile (GK) and Obi were the 2 standouts at 4.5 PAs.

9. ROBERTO APRILE - GK

Yup, he's the one who's been having Sports hernia twice now. It seems unlikely he will be better than Hyso, but might have a future as the next backup. He's also not natural as Sweeper Keeper, unlike Brazao and Hyso.

STATUS: In his 3rd season now, but is yet to make his debut. He did increased his PA from 4.5 at the start to 5 now, so still have time to develop!

10. KINGSLEY OBI (NIGERIA)

Next up, Obi, who had been making appearances for Nigeria u20s. Recently, Italy u20s called him up, though. Like Hyso, I wish he will choose Nigeria for the long term.

Not the tallest, reminds me of Coetzee in that regards. Will need to improve his ball playing ability in order to make it.

STATUS: Made his debut in the Coppa Italia Semifinal first leg against Genoa earlier this season.

Like Aprile, his PA has improved from 4.5 at the start to 5 now.

FIFTH INTAKE - 2023

Buffoli was my 2nd 2 stars CA regens in the game, the first being 2020's Carriero.

Gaiani seems to be the most versatile regen so far and with good promise at 4 stars PA.

Special mention to Mura, who has developed beyond his initial PA.

11. GIACOMINO BUFFOLI

Is only now at 4 stars PA, despite improving quite well.

STATUS: Made his debut this season as a 17 years old, but struggled to make an impact in the 2 substitutes appearances. Not yet ready it seems. Might be the reason why his PA decreases.

12. DENIS GAIANI

His PA has gotten better now at 4.5 stars, but he hasn't improve as quickly as the others. Still a prospect to keep around as he can cover all defensive position, especially his natural LB with Olaza coming to 30 soon.

STATUS: Made his debut this season (2023/2024) as another 17 years old, making one start and one sub apperance. Average rating of 6.80 is not bad as a young defender.

13. CRISTIAN MURA

A very unique case so far, started out as only 3.5 stars PA, but now can potentially improve as high as a 5 stars PA!

STATUS: Only just turned 17 last month in April, so wasn't under consideration to make his debut yet (I don't play 16 years old until I found my 'Project Regen Player' for the 'Youngest Parma Player' record).

SIXTH INTAKE - 2024 (LATEST)

If you had been following my updates, you will know all about my best regen so far, 2.5 stars CA AND 5 stars PA!

Squizzato (GK) was the other potentially useful player, but with Hyso and Aprile just a couple of years ahead of him, will be a challenge for him to displace them.

14. CAIO FELIPE (BRAZIL)

Already showing signs of quick improvements! He will have further entry in the next season update. Started out wearing #55, so he might be given the #10 in the future!

STATUS: Already made his debut, holding the new record as the 'Youngest Parma Player'. Will be my 'Project Regen Player'.

15. MANUEL SQUIZZATO - GK

Still 15 years old, will be hard for him to challenge the 2 previous GK regen prospects, Hyso and Aprile (both 5 stars PA). A lot of time to improve, though!

Left footed but is not a Sweeper Keeper, similar to Aprile in that regard.

STATUS: Will be a while before he is under consideration to make his debut, if he make it that far.

REGENS LIST - POSITION (CURRENT AGE, CA, PA)

1. MATTEO ZANOLI - DR (20, UNKNOWN CA AND PA - RELEASED)

2. EMILIO CARRIERO - DC (20, 2.5 CA, 3.5 PA)*

3. DARIO PANDINI - M/AMC (19, 3.5 CA, 5 PA)**

4. MASSIMILIANO ANGELETTI - M/AML (20, 2.5 CA, 4 PA)

5. PATRICK CARDONA - MC (19, 2.5 CA, 4.5 PA)*

6. ARDIAN HYSO - GK (ALBANIA) (19, 3 CA, 5 PA)**

7. SAVERIO RUSSO - AMLC (19, 2.5 CA, 5 PA)*

8. MARCELLO FARNEDI - DC/DM (18, 2 CA, 4 PA)

9. ROBERTO APRILE - GK (17, 2 CA, 5 PA)*

10. KINGSLEY OBI (NIGERIA) - DC (18, 2 CA, 5 PA)

11. GIACOMINO BUFFOLI - AMLC (17, 2.5 CA, 4 PA)

12. DENIS GAIANI - DLC (17, 1.5 CA, 4.5 PA)

13. CRISTIAN MURA - MC (17, 1.5 CA, 5 PA)

14. CAIO FELIPE (BRAZIL) - DMC, DR (16, 2.5 CA, 5 PA)**

15. MANUEL SQUIZZATO - GK (15, 1 CA, 4 PA)

VERDICT: Players with ** will definitely be part of future Parma squad. Caio Felipe, Pandini, and Hyso will be the backbone of my future team.

Whilst * players have a strong chance to make it as well, or at least I'm hoping they will develop well enough.

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2023/20234

SIXTH SEASON

APRIL

Started the month losing Stulac for 3+ weeks.. So, that's him and Despodov missing for the month.

Missing two influential key players seemed to have a negative on our performance, let alone results. You would think the squad can cope readily, but performances against Bologna, Brescia, and a-meek-surrender-for-3rd-place-rival-Roma suggested otherwisse.

Yup, he's done it! He came on in the 61' and got his goal 7 minutes later!

He scored his first goal in only his second game, too! He didn't play the Benevento game (on the bench) after Juventus, as it seemed all 3 managers are trying to kill him by playing him all the games for u18, u20, and first team 

When he first appeared, in my head, I had envisioned his story as scoring his first goal on his debut or in the Coppa Italia Final against Sampdoria next month.

To go and score 18 days after his debut is good enough! Now, I don't have to play him in all games with bad conditions fitness-wise, looking for that goal!

For the first time in this save, I'm afraid.. 

I checked the confidence of the board and when they mentioned it won't be expensive to sack me due to my contract, I got worried.

I'm worried I might missed out on the season's target, challenging for the title and UCL qualification..

How low does the % of Board's confidence go before they sack you? It was 57% at this stage.

Would be disappointed if I were to lose this long career save, especially now Caio Felipe has emerged.

Kean seemed to have stopped playing by this stage, and Kouame is next to useless (no goal in 20+ games and that was a couple of months ago I think!).

En-Nesyri just came back from his 3 months layoff and he also struggled in the 2 games back..

Before scoring the 2 goals with 2 thumping headers against Fiorentina! I fist-pumped both times 

That's how frustrated I am with my strikerr 

Milan match was a weird one, we played really well compared to the previous matches. Got an early goal and did't feel threatened.

A problem of motivation playing against lower teams, I think

Inter really came out of nowhere, Diego Simeone really is something special! They were bottom half when he took over, and now they are threatening to sneak past us into the top 4, especially with their 2 games in-hand!

Part of the reason why I'm scared to lose my job! Might be Parma who dropped out!

Another example of Palermo's game of 2 halves.

Low replacing Deschamps. Don't think it's a good appointment as he didn't do well at Napoli.

Despodov amongst the favourite again, but his month out will affect the award I think, just like last season.

CLUB NEWS

REGENS WATCH

How the records are looking now after Caio Felipe early exploits! 

Alessandro Melli was a Parma's icon as well, so no mean feat to get both his records!

Hyso is developing really well ahead of schedule! This mean that he will be promoted as the backup to Brazao's next season, I think. With the hope he can challenge for the first choice starting position as the season goes.

He's already ahead of Brazao, according to the comparison. Brazao's PA has reduced, unfortunately, from at least 4 stars to only 3 now.

Interesting situation! Not sure how I would approach it now.. 

INTERNATIONALS & TRANSFER NEWS

This will be very interesting! Imagine both Ribeiro and Bastoni playing as the starting centre-backs partnership for both Parma and Italy!

Ribeiro hasn't been called up by Brazil again for the past 2 internationals since his first last year.

He also has a German nationality! (I had forgotten about this!) 

Next update: May, Coppa Italia, and how the Serie A concludes! 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2019 by quee
Removed duplicate image

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Anybody know what's affecting the change of 'player style'? Leader, physical, technical, creative, intelligent are the ones I've encountered so far for outfield player.

Caio Felipe is now just run-of-the-mill 'physical player' after getting into August 2024. Might reload my last save in July to see if I can affect it differently (he's still 'leader' in that start of July save). I hate redoing the summer window again, though. 

None of my first team squad a 'leader-style player' now, was hoping Caio Felipe can be one and hopefully become a captain in the future. I only have 2 technical (Stulac and Xadas) and 2 creative (Kiyine and Evander), the rest are physical. Even Brazao changed from 'distributor' to 'shot stopper' (just noticed this), but I think that's more clearer and descriptive as to why because of attributes focus/change?

[zlatanera]

@quee yeah it’s due to attributes. Caio Felipe is young and physical attributes grow fast so he might change again. Leadership is one of the harder ones to improve. 
Likewise with Brazao most likely his passing, first touch, technique and vision haven’t improved as much as the relevant attributes for shot-stopping. 

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On 06/12/2019 at 08:39, zlatanera said:

@quee yeah it’s due to attributes. Caio Felipe is young and physical attributes grow fast so he might change again. Leadership is one of the harder ones to improve. 
Likewise with Brazao most likely his passing, first touch, technique and vision haven’t improved as much as the relevant attributes for shot-stopping. 

Thanks! Will take a break from the save for a week or two and will see what I want to do when I come back.

Caio Felipe is involved with Italy instead of Brazil's youth setup as well. Wish they would have a preference for their first nationality and only deciding later on to switch if they're not involved.

I have 2-3 months before getting FM20 anyway (usually wait after the Winter Transfers Update to buy it).

[zlatanera]

23 minutes ago, quee said:

Thanks! Will take a break from the save for a week or two and will see what I want to do when I come back.

Caio Felipe is involved with Italy instead of Brazil's youth setup as well. Wish they would have a preference for their first nationality and only deciding later on to switch if they're not involved.

I have 2-3 months before getting FM20 anyway (usually wait after the Winter Transfers Update to buy it).

Yeah sometimes you need a break. I took a couple months off my Lyon save then smashed through two more seasons.

If you don't have Brazil loaded as an active league though, they'll have fewer options for call-ups so he might jump the queue there if that makes sense? 

I'm just flat out not buying it.

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On 09/12/2019 at 06:56, zlatanera said:

I'm just flat out not buying it.

Any reason why? Because of the ME?

Tbh, looking around the forums, there seems to be less people playing FM20 compared to FM19 previously? Or people will play after Christmas?

Just at a glance when comparing new topics etc.

[zlatanera]

3 hours ago, quee said:

Any reason why? Because of the ME?

Tbh, looking around the forums, there seems to be less people playing FM20 compared to FM19 previously? Or people will play after Christmas?

Just at a glance when comparing new topics etc.

Because of my Fm19 experience, where first due to a Mac update then due to a FM update I couldn't play it (comfortably) for about 3 months of the year - with the latter, longer-running issue I did play in 2D, whilst bingeing Game of Thrones in the background, but it still wasn't the experience I paid for. 

Also I had unfinished business with 19, like my current Ajax save, a long Manchester United save (one thing making me consider buying FM20 is having a go with them, not having to slog through a season with Sánchez), and a decent Serie A save (most likely Roma). I regretted getting 19 early as it killed off what was going to be a fun Hamburg save so I'll only get FM20 if I'm really stuck for something to do with the current edition (most likely not at all, given I fancy re-playing some of my console / handheld games).

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2023/2024

END OF SIXTH SEASON

MAY

En-Nesyri played an important role in our push to secure Champions League football next season. In Parma last 8 games of the season, he scored 5 goals, a much needed presence of front after missing most of the season.

Feels like we are included as part of the 'Title Race', despite me personally feeling we are out of it already.

At least we played a part! 2 injury time goals helped us secured our Champions League spot, whilst sending Palermo to 2nd place!

In our last game of the season, Coetzee didn't even made a token appearance off the bench.. Out of favour! Different case and situation to Inglese, who I wanted to keep!

Apparently, Parma finished their season earlier than others, with Champions League's Final played on the same day as the last round of fixtures for Serie A.

Decided to attend and watch the Title Decider match for Serie A instead, where amazingly Palermo got the win they needed to win their first Serie A! Great story! Even better than Parma winning last season, I think, as Palermo came out of nowhere with mostly regens carrying them.

Palermo..

The best of their regens, the final day hat-trick hero!

COPPA ITALIA

A chance to get a trophy this season! I'm actually quite fond of Coppa Italia, truth be told!

Not great spectacle though, it seems..

First time I've seen the Social news made good sense in all their tweets   (Usually it's half-and half)

Second Coppa Italia for me with Parma!

Closer game and actually a good one!

Caio Felipe scored his 2nd penalty for Parma! Remembered in my previous update where I had imagined he would break the 'Youngest Goalscorer Record for Parma' either in his debut or in the Coppa Italia Final? He would have got the latter, if he hadn't scored his first against Foggia in Serie A after coming as a subtitute.

Another of my Academy product took centre stage, with 3 good assists!

Apparently it's considered a double?

With that trophy, I am now considered as a Parma Icon!

SERIE A TABLE

Not a great season for us, and will be even harder next season as I think Milan has been more consistent for the past 2 seasons. I think they are due a title with their performances.

But we will remember this season as the Palermo season! 

We haven't had a player amongst the top goalscorers since Inglese.. I missed him!

Farinez had a good season at Sassuolo, helping them to qualify for Europe. Crazy amount of clean sheets for a mid table team! They almost pipped Juventus into the final Champions League spot as well!

Inter was the other team that almost overtook Juventus, what a season for them since Simeone's arrival! I think they might challenge next season for the title.

CLUB NEWS

Surprised and proud of this! At least what I'm trying to do is working, though I didn't expect to have the best wages to turnover, especially for a top half team.

£120m in the bank is good, right? It is! You will know why in the next update! Being prudent with my wages and transfers had helped us to be in this position and situation, I think.

REGENS WATCH

Caio Felipe already got his first recognition.

Pandini as well.

He's been unhappy for 2 full seasons, so happy days!

INTERNATIONALS & TRANSFER NEWS

Another non-EU spot freed up!

Surprised to see Olaza and Lucumi missing. None of my Brazilians really been involved, so not surprising they are not included.

Better news in the European scene! Good to see Tonali called up as he hasn't been involved before this. His form for Parma has picked up and he did played his best football this season.

And I don't really know who I want to definitely get at this stage..

Next update: June, Awards, Internationals and Transfer News! 

Edited December 12, 2019 by quee
Added Estori (Palermo regen) image

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2023/2024

END OF SIXTH SEASON

JUNE

SEASON REVIEW

I don't even remember the 3-0 win, but the 6-2 is still fresh on my mind 

The Palermo Season. Parma target will be to finish closer to the title next season.

Will keep playing my youth players in the Coppa Italia next season, but I do like to win the competition again. It has grown on me.

Not my priority at the moment, but will try to go as far as we can again. Need better luck in our knockout draws.

Interestingly, 2 new teams in Bari and Venezia. Refreshing the Serie A!

CLUB AWARDS

Again surprised that Despodov didn't win it, but Bastoni deserved it as well and played more consistently (37 appearances) throughout the season.

Xadas is not even an international yet with Portugal. Is it just me?

 OTHER AWARDS

My target is to have him play 30+ games in the Serie A next season, to see if he can challenge for the top goalscorer award.

This was Despodov at the end of the season, my first 'Elite' player.

Surprised Brazao finished 2nd, it wasn't his best season since the start of the save.

He deserved it as well for getting a Europa spot, but Colantuono of Palermo should have won it.

It was a good goal, but Bennacer need to do more of it to stay with the club long term.

CLUB NEWS

Big news! Unexpected! I actually think it would be 2-5 years further before I see any news about the new stadium.

Though, didn't expect it to only be 36k+ seats. Hoping for a better name than just Parma Stadium.

I think my finance played a huge part. Went from £120m to £30m (including the £24m spent on Depaoli below). Might be the reason it went ahead earlier than I expected?

New stadium should break even more records! Now I have two things to look forward to, Caio Felipe and the new Parma Stadium!

NEW AFFILIATE

Ole's team!

INTERNATIONALS AND TRANSFER NEWS

Caio Felipe with Italy u19s.. 

DESPODOV'S WATCH in EURO CHAMPIONSHIP

So, Despodov had a great tournament. I started to check on his results after the Turkey's game. 5 goals in 4 appearances! Before bowing out in the 2nd knockout round.

As shown in his screenshot above, Despodov now has 24 goals in 54 appearances! Great rate (almost 1 in 2), with most of the recent goals from freekicks, I think.

Wow, just wow! £122m! 

Offered and broke my wage structure to have Bastoni signed a new long term contract within a few days of the above offer!

In hindsight, I would have liked to delay offering the new contract and see how high Newcastle would come back in for their offers (Tottenham did came back 3 times before).

A weird transfer, I don't really need him as I'm happy with Birindelli and Armini at RB. But when Leipzig, Milan, and Inter came in for him mid June, I decided to try for him as well. Stats wise will be an upgrade for the RB position, hopefully the performance will reflect that as well.

Before he went to Leicester, he rejected my offer as they had offered him higher wages. Could have gotten him earlier for £7m!

End of the journey with Coetzee, as if he had accepted a reasonable wage offer, I would have kept him. I was willing to offer him £50k p/w but he never wanted to negotiate below £64k from the start.

At one point, he was valued at £38m, I think. Unfortunately nobody was willing to offer his value.

His mentoring group was my most successful one, I think. Will miss seeing those 3 'Driven' characteristics in my squad!

Next update: July, Awards, Internationals and Transfer News! 

P.S: This is also where I will have to decide to reload my last save in July or continued my start of August save (as indicated previously). Will take a break from the game before deciding later when I came back.

Edited December 12, 2019 by quee
Added a couple of images

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I'm thinking of moving (copy paste) all my updates in this topic to a new Parma-specific thread, is that okay?

Will use it for both my current Parma FM19 save and future Parma FM20 save. 

What do you think?

Or maybe I'll still make some updates here whilst thinking it over.

I'm in January 2025 now, last update was June 2024. 

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2023/2024

END OF SIXTH SEASON

JULY

TRANSFERS

Kean was valued £40.5m.. Very on the low side there, Man Utd! 

The fact he was my 2nd 'elite' player that I noticed after Despodov meant that he's going nowhere (Bastoni is the 3rd player I noticed now).

Besides, I'm having enough trouble finding a good striker to fit into my team anyway. Papagaio just signed a fresh new contract, so he wasn't interested in negotiation. Other players I scouted and checked were Iheanacho (more of a target man and a bit older than I would have liked), Isak (good physical presence and a good age but again might not be suitable to 'Pressing Forward' like Kouame), and Cutrone (Italian but a bit too expensive in both fees and wages).

Pinamonti was relegated with Foggia and I had a £6m offer and £65k p/w wages accepted, but he decided to choose Stoke's offer of £105k p/w instead. Would have been interesting, as stats wise, he might be similar to back-up player, En-Nesyri.

Not a huge offer but the fact it was Real Madrid made it exciting!

Doing something right with him but unfortunately he hasn't improved as much anymore. Peaking at 3 stars CA and PA, despite previously having 5 stars PA.

I guess sending him to do leadership courses 3 times and playing him from an early age really hindered his potential?

Should I be more cautionary with Caio Felipe?

Finally left the club and still commanded a good wage from Torino.

Parma Stats

January 2019 - June 2024

105 appearances

1 goal

(His only goal came in a 2-0 win over Milan to clinch the title in 2023!)

Would have easily kept him if his wages demand was lower, as he was not my first choice anymore. I lost out on his potential transfer value though, as high as £38m at one time.

INTERNATIONALS

Not sure why Olaza was needed as I preferred him to be resting this summer..

Surprised to see this! Thought someone would have overtaken him with the extra games he didn't get to have. 

Sarri's Italy won the European Championship, so he's doing a good job. They beat Croatia 2-0 in the Final.

Bastoni, Tonali, and Kean were part of the Italian squad winners.

2 players, Pride of Parma!

Tonali and Kean mostly played as substitutes from what I gathered.

Interestingly, only 2 regens included.

Macciocchi (Man City bought him from Roma for £72m in the 21/22 season) and Trbuhovic below (another Man City signing for £35m, on-loan at Dortmund for the past 2 seasons)

I haven't been paying attention to the u19s European Championship at all, and suddenly was interested when Caio Felipe won the Golden Ball! 

Italy came 2nd to France. Still wishes he will play for Brazil, though!

Checking the fixtures, Caio Felipe scored 3 good free kicks in 5 games to be in the running for the Golden Boot! Impressive from a defensive midfielder!

Of course this was rejected, but I unlocked the 'Headhunted' achievement on Steam. Didn't realised Italy's job was not bigger than Parma's!

I think I would accept an offer from Brazil, though. So I can call-up Caio Felipe! 

Next update: The rest of summer!

Edited December 24, 2019 by quee
Adding more images

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 - 2024/2025

7TH SEASON

SUMMER

TRANSFERS

A bit of shuffling around this summer.

Kouame went out on loan in the hope he will rediscover his form and goalscoring touch, as 2 goals in 26 appearances for a £26.5m player is a flop. Ait-Nouri joins him as he hasn't convinced me he is ready.

Lucumi leaving because he was devastated to miss out on the Copa America for Colombia in the summer. I didn't give him enough chances, despite using him as a LB as well. Bastoni was too imperious in front of him. Less than £2m profit, lucky.

Victor Bobsin was another player arriving at the wrong time for the club. He joined on a Bosman in the thinking Tonali was going to leave two summers ago, but since nobody offered good money, Tonali stayed and out on loan to Sevilla, Victor Bobsin goes. When he came back, Tonali just had his best season at Parma and now I don't want to sell him. PLUS, the emergence of Caio Felipe (regens) means there's no space for Victor Bobsin even as a squad player. (I also have Bennacer there, who I wanted to sell but no good offer as well, so only one can stay).

SM Caen got a new sugar daddy as well, hence why their spending good money on their squad this season. +£36m profit on a Bosman signing, who never made his debut. Really wanted to fit him somewhere. Part of the reason I decided to sell as well was because of the stadium situation, depleting our finances.

Depaoli is the one major signing this summer, as I wanted to strengthen the RB position. I've cover him a bit in the June update.

Reabciuk was discovered when I watched their match late in the summer. Only 2.5 CA and PA, but his technical attributes are amazing for a LB. Will act as Olaza's backup.

Lukasz is a regen striker, nothing special, cheap as I wanted to add more bodies for the u18s as they don't have a good striker.

SEASON REVIEW

Surprised Juventus is still favourites in these odds, as they haven't been challenging lately and will be without Ronaldo.

Milan is my pick for the title this season.

Again, surprised En-Nesyri is here instead of Kean.

Nobody from Parma.. They never learned their lesson! 

Olaza (2021), Kiyine (2022), and Despodov (2024) have made the Yellow and Blue proud!

An even group, with two teams Parma have played before in Lyon and Dortmund. Lyon will be the harder match between them, from previous encounters.

INTERNATIONALS

Will he get to partner Bastoni internationally as well? Whereas I wanted Caio Felipe to play for Brazil, I don't mind if Lucas Ribeiro gets a call-up for Italy as he doesn't seemed to be in contention for Brazil.

No notification was given, but my three regens for Italy u23s won the Olympics! Cardona was the hero even! Pandini and Hyso were the other 2 players.

Next Update: Pre-season and rest of August.

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by quee
removed extra image

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 

2024/2025

7TH SEASON

FIXTURES

AUGUST

Straight forward preseason. Good opening win against Udinese but dropped points against Calgari, conceding the equaliser in the 2nd half.

SEPTEMBER

Still unbeaten 2 months into the season.

Slow off the marks, but a good, late comeback win. Depaoli created both goals from right back!

Juventus' match was my 300th managerial involvement in the Parma's dugout! These landmarks seemed to coincide with a big match.

Kean got his goals 2 minutes after Dortmund's! It's one of those goal where the striker pressured the goalkeeper and steal the ball before scoring into an empty net (my first).

Dao (regens) made his debut for Parma, in his 5th season since signing! Though, he's been out on loan to Empoli, Stuttgart, and Roma (2 seasons) since.

Crazy first 8 minutes for us! Gung-ho football away from home! 

Caio Felipe's Watch: Made his first start this season and open the scoring from a free kick  

Also missed a penalty in the 67th minute 

Reabciuk, who has 'Oleg' on his shirt on the pitch, made his debut and did well with a 8.5 rating!

The last player to have a different shirt name for Parma was Kucka, who had 'Kuco' on his.

CLUB NEWS

This coincided with his up-turn in form, happiness really played a huge factor in players performances in this game.

INTERNATIONALS

Despite getting injured in training after his 2 assists against Atlanta, he still got called up and made the first of his 2 appearances against England and Wales in September.

Depaoli is my 4th Italian Internationals representing Parma under my tenure, with Inglese getting called up 3 times without making his debut. Birindelli was scouted by Mancini before but never called up.

Next update: October and November.

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 

2024/2025

7TH SEASON

MANAGER'S NEWS

Started the month with a new contract! 

Remember, last season I was worried I won't get to experience bringing up Caio Felipe as my first regen project and moving into the new stadium in 2026!

Now it is sorted, I am happy and can put off buying FM20 a bit longer! (I seriously almost bought it earlier when I thought I will lose my job )

FIXTURES

OCTOBER

Still unbeaten. We lost Lucas Ribeiro to a hamstring strain injury for 2 months during the Lyon game, in the 91st minute.

Caio Felipe's Watch: He missed his 2nd penalty against Torino 

Kulusevski scored a really good playing as winger at RW (he cut in to curl it to the far post )

NOVEMBER

Caio Felipe's Watch: He missed his 3rd straight penalty against Fiorentina  He would have won the game for us too! Will I removed him as the taker? 

Lucas Ribeiro made his return from injury against Sampdoria.. Before suffering a lower back stress fracture in training 2 days later! He will be out for 10 weeks! 

Kean got Parma's first hat-trick since.. Despodov vs Dortmund in March 2023 (3-2 win!)

Kulusevski created 2 goals as well!

Caio Felipe's Watch: Got an assist for Kean's 2nd goal, by heading a corner towards Kean.

His best game that I remembered! The one thing that I always liked about Kean (and a bit surprised) is he won his share of headers really well, despite not looking like a typical target man. Not even Inglese nor Maximiliano Gomez did that for Parma!

Great way to end your goal drought!

Comfortable win in the end, Dortmund's style of play suited Parma's to the wire, I think, hence better games against them so far.

Seriously, I love this guy! If you haven't been following my updates, I first knew about him when Parma announced it's first squad for a pre-season training camp in real life. I checked him in game, and he was only 3 stars CA and PA according to my scout! But I bought him anyway just to try him.

Glad I did, as he's been amazing for me! I will do everything to have him signed for my Parma FM20 save! 

Look at him now, rated as my best central midfielder (4 stars CA)! Versatile and effective as he always contributed everywhere I played him.  And everytime he came off the bench, he almost ALWAYS change the game for Parma with a good assist or goal!

Just imagine him with a boosted ability in FM20! 

Kouame scored an amazing goal! First time I've seen like that! He's doing well at Sassuolo, but from watching the matches, he doesn't fit to play as 'Pressing Forward' I think 

CLUB NEWS

INTERNATIONALS

Armini still under consideration for Italy, but Birindelli seemed to lose his chance already.

Next update: December.

Edited December 24, 2019 by quee
Added some texts

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PARMA CALCIO 1913 

2024/2025

7TH SEASON

FIXTURES

DECEMBER

Suffered our first lost against the defending champion, Palermo!

Started the month with an amazing performance and result!

GR-EIGHT.. 

Four stars from Despodov! Still waiting on my first 10.0 player rating in a match! 

Interestingly, this was not the first time a Parma player scored 4 goals in a match.

In February 2021, Gomez scored 4 goals (1 penalty) against Cagliari in a 7-0 win at home.

In May 2022, Xadas scored 4 goals also against Cagliari in another 7-0 win, this time away.

Now, in December 2024, Despodov scored 4 goals against Bari in a 8-0 win at home.

The aforementioned first lost! It was also Dao's (regen) first league match for Parma!

Caio Felipe's Watch: Created his 2nd assist by squaring the ball from the left to Tonali, who shoot from just outside the box for the opening goal.

Caio Felipe's Stats This Season So far (As of the above match)

Appearances: 11 (7 starts, 4 off the bench)

Goals: 1 (Free kick)

Assists: 2

Remember, he only played his first game this season in the last game of September against Genoa (his only goal so far this season).

Andddd.. Despodov did it again! 

In February 2021, Gomez scored 4 goals (1 penalty) against Cagliari in a 7-0 win at home.

In May 2022, Xadas scored 4 goals also against Cagliari in another 7-0 win, this time away.

In December 2024, Despodov scored 4 goals against Bari in a 8-0 win at home.

Now, again in December 2024, Despodov scored 4 goals (1 penalty) against Venezia in a 5-0 win at home.

Trivia: Interesting to notice ALL 4-goals-matches involved a Cagliari-connection! Twice against Cagliari for the same scoreline and of course Despodov, a former Cagliari player!

Still no 10.0 rating! 

Another good win, but the goals are shared this time! 

Last game of the year!

Had to be Evander's best game for Parma so far! There is still hope that he can be a long term contributing member of this Parma squad!

Despodov won 'Goal of the Month Award' but I didn't get the achievement on Steam?

COPPA ITALIA

Genoa waiting!

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Good to see Palermo making it out of the group stages! In their first try as well! Chelsea, Valencia, and PAOK were their opponents.

We played them for the first time during pre-season earlier this season, but this will be a different test! Excited!

CLUB NEWS

RECORDS

So, I've broken the record twice now? 7-0 (twice!) and 8-0!

AWARDS

Despite not playing much this season, he's still attracting interest from other clubs.

This is also where I noticed Daramy is in FM19! (He's at Bayern) 

Next update: Winter Transfer Window.

Edited December 24, 2019 by quee
Added texts

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Before my next update, is anybody even reading any of this still? 

Thoughts and comments are always welcomed!