[FM 19] Nou Barcelona

[Sankalan]

Inspired from @abulezz Kafra FC, I am going to do a similar save in Spain on FM19(since i do not own FM20).

I chose a random club from the third tier of Spanish football, and replaced them with Nou Barcelona, a club that will hopefully one day challenge the Catalan Giants.

We start out in Segunda División B Grupo IV, and are predicted dead last with odds of 300-1. The Initial Squad, consisting of young players that I creates are as follows:

I gave myself only 12 players, so injuries will be a challenge to deal with. Our B team and U19s consist entirely of grey players. The idea for this save is to be a semi-youth save: I can only sign players aged 18 or less. 

All players are on 2 year contracts with a one year extension option on promotion, so I want to get promoted in the next couple of years, which might be tough considering the media prediction.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Sankalan

[Sankalan]

First off are the friendlies:

Good overall, though it was mostly against poorer clubs for morale building(considering all players are new, it was required)

Turns out that we inherited the affiliation to wolves from the club I replaced. I do not intend to use any loans, but I will keep it for the payout and friendly.

Next update:New year.

[Carambau]

Are they eligible to play in the league at that young age in the first Place?

[Sankalan]

40 minutes ago, Carambau said:

Are they eligible to play in the league at that young age in the first Place?

Turns out they are.

New Year 2019

Matches:

Turns out that the media prediction was very wrong, and we have been great in the league.  There have been 3 clear phasesIn September, I am guessing that everyone was underestimating us, allowing us to win every game until the Villanovense game, which was after our only mid-week fixture. Then we struggled to win during October and November, at which point, I decided to change the team mentality from Balanced to attacking.

There haven't been many injuries, and never 2 at the same time. Add that to the fact that we have few mid-week fixtures, and we have had almost no problems due to the squad size. Don Bento was the first game where we had to start with a grey player.

We are currently at the top of the table, which means we might get promoted at the end of this season itself(although that would need us to do well in a playoff)

Once the youth intake happens, we should have fewer problems with squad size. I intend to send out scouts to other clubs in our division to recruit any good youngsters they get too

Next update:End of Season

[abulezz]

Nice! Looking forward to reading this  

[Sankalan]

19 hours ago, abulezz said:

Nice! Looking forward to reading this  

Great to Have you on board

Youth Intake

I was really looking forward to having 3-4 players with 1 golden star so that they could become backups to my team. Unfortunately, that was not to be, and all I get is Oriol. I signed all of them since I need an U19 team, but no one is tagged, since they are unlikely to make it to first team anytime, what with them being older than my starting 11

We had Poor youth facilities , luckily that is going to change:

Fixtures:

With injuries and suspensions kicking in, I had to field a grey player almost every match. Luckily, that did not matter, and with the exception of Malagueno match(which had no-golden-star players starting), we dominated this level. 

League Table and Playoffs:

Which meant that:

Well, this actually was sealed after the semi-final itself. Leading to the end of the Season, my best Player Tato demanded a contract with a non-promotion release clause of 300k, which made the promotion even more important.

Awards:

Future Plans:

I was able to extend most contracts to 2021, and pushed up the release clauses to 10M at least. Hopefully, that will keep the big guys away.

Clearly, creating my own players gave me an edge over other teams in the league, but come next year, we will be taking part in the Cup, and also play in a league with 22 teams, so we need to get backups. That will be my main aim in the pre-season, made tougher by the fact that I cannot sign anyone above 18 years of age. 

Next Update:End of pre-season

[Sankalan]

Pre Season 2019-20

In our first season in Spanish second division, media expect us to finnish dead last again with pre-season odds of 200-1. Board wanted us to "Attempt to avoid relegation", which I raised to "Avoid Relegation." This year, we also take part in the Spanish King's Cup, and board wants us to make it to the second round.

Transfers:

Silva comes in as a backup to full-backs, Neves for striker, Paz and Castellano in the midfield, Rohas for wingers and martinez for central defence. Hopefully, I will not have to start with greys this season.

Friendlies:

July was mostly as expected, with lossed againgt bigger sides and wins against smaller ones. August was big, with wins against Parma and Hamburg, both First Division sides. This make me hope that we might get back to back promotions!!!

Next Update:New Year

[Sankalan]

New Year 2020

Fixtures:

It has been a dream run, with the only loss against Getafe being more of an anomaly. Luis Silva got to tart in 12 games with an additional 10 appeaance as a sub(including cup appearances). Most of the other Backups got 2-5 games each.

League Table:

We are comfortably at the top after 19 games, And it would be dissapointing to miss out on automatic promotion from here.

Cup:

It was close against Athletic. In any case, we exceeded expectations.

Players in Demand:

While all my players have 2-3 years on their contracts remaining, most of them are attracting interest from several clubs. Take for example my strker Angel:

His case is most interesting because he has not signed a pro contract yet, and believes that our squad is too weak. He supposedly is on a youth contract till 2022, and I have no idea what that means in terms of him leaving. 

One thing is sure, it is going to be a long January.

Next Update:End of Season

Edited February 1, 2020 by Sankalan

[Sankalan]

End of Season 2019-20

As expected, the Year 2020 kicked off with a flurry of transfer offers for almost all of my players. I obviously rejected them all, which meant upsetting half of my team. Javier Miguel was convinced when I told them that I would improve the squad in the next transfer window, while Parraga was satisfied on being told that we would finish top half in La Liga in 2012/22(both rather hard challenges, but better than to upset the right away). A couple got unhappy, and we needed a couple of squad meetings, luckily, only backup players showed up for these. Despite all this, the one player I could not save was Angel:

Here he is now, with a salary that is double of what he would have got if he had stayed. cannot blame him, but I do hope to get him back one day(I am allowed to re-sign my old players.

Youth Intake:

Again everyone was signed but no one was tagged. Also, another round of facility upgrade was sanctioned after this:

 

We also got outr scouting range upgraded to all over the world, so Brazil and Africa, here I come...

Fixtures

Luckily, the bad atmosphere in the dressing room did not transfer to the ground that much, and that meant:

Future:

As we had a long January, we are likely to have a longer Summer. Being in the top league should help us out though. I will also look to bring in some talent this year, especially at the front to cover for Angel's departure, and to fulfill my promises. All my players have atleast 2 years on their contracts, so hopefully, I can keep my squad together.

Next Update: End of pre-season

 

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by Sankalan

[Maw74]

Good luck with this, I will be following. 

and yeah Kafra FC  is a big inspiration.

[Sankalan]

Pre-Season 2020-21

Once again, the the media predicted us to finish last, this time with odds of 1000-1. Once again, board wanted me to fight against relegation, and I increased it to avoid relegation. Once again, I hope to do better than that...

Transfers

Unfortunately, no suitable targets were found in Brazil or Africa, so all my transfers were from Portugal. Guimaraes had to be given a first team status, since he would take nothing less, and  he was the only defensive player availbale of his caibre(he is a DM). Rest are all on rotation/backup status. Angelo is a GK, and rest are midfielders/forwards.

As for transfers out, I did manage to keep a clean slate, though no without upsetting a couple of players. Of note, Jordan and verdejo would stay if I made them Key players, but since I wanted to limit that status to 1-2 players only, I told them that they could go only if their release clauses were met. Both of them accepted, and now I feel that I might regret saying that, since they won't extend their contracts, and have clauses of 10 and 18 Million respectively.

Friendlies:

 

A tie with Barca and a win against Real...Is Europe a possibility this year

Next Update:New Year

[Sankalan]

New Year 2021

Matches:

We have been going in patches, but I will take it. While I expected to lose against Athletic and Real, Malaga, Levante and Betis were easier clubs. But then we have that win aginst Barca, so I do not know what the formula is here, but more of the same please!!!

Table:

We are in the European places with 4 points lead and a game in hand at halfway, so that would take care of a couple of promises if we can hold on. 

Cup:

 

Last time round, Athletic knocked us out. This time, we have a 2 goal advantage coming home. Fingers crossed.

Next Update:End of Season

[Sankalan]

End of Season 2020-21

Youth Intake:

Meh...

More updates please

League:

It is not often that a team beats Barcelona home and away. In face, Barcelona was leading the table till the third week of February, but then we lost to Real and won against Barca, giving Rel the advantage. In the end though, real also got overthrown by their local rivals, Atletico, who won the league. Speaking of the which...

League Table:

We are in th CL!!!! That should take care of all the promises made. In fact, I now have all my main players tied down for atleast 2 years, with release clauses more than 50M for all. Some stability is always good.

Cup:

Our cup run was as good as our league, and we beat league champions Atletico on way to the finals, which I was hoping to win, given our record against Barcelona. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

Transfer targets:

This is our current squad, with star ratings, and more importantly, goals scored. As you can see, the top scorer in a midfielder, and the second best is primarily a winger.

 

Basically, we haven't been able to replace angel, despite buying Tavares and Brito. I need a striker, and there is a very good option out there:

 

Problem is that he will not be sold at less than 26M, his release clause, and I do not have that kind of budget remaining. Also, he turns 19 This November, so I cannot get him in the winter. As for our Finances, they were good, but then this happened:

And now we have a massive loan over us. I guess I will have to live without Sahin. Hopefully, there would be other options...

Next update:End of pre-season

Edited February 7, 2020 by Sankalan

[Sankalan]

End of Pre Season 2021-22

This time Board and media both expect top half. Frankly, I would be sad if we do not make it to CL again.

Transfers

The board refused to make more than 8M available for transfers,and I could get it upto 12 with a higher aim, but decided against it as Sahin was not budging at less than 26. with no other option, I decided to do this:

 

This might be counter to youth development idea, but then he is my club's product, and only 18(though I doubt PSG will let him go). Hopefully, he will help us make enough to get a good striker(which won't be Sahin since he will be celebrating  his 19th birthday soon.

Also got this guy:

Friendlies

Next Update:New Year

[Sankalan]

New Year 2022

League:

 

Osauna and and the two Madrid sides are the  blips here, of which Osauna is just unlucky. Oh, and we continue our domination over Barcelona in the league. How did we get so much better from last season then? Here is the answer:

Angel has scored more goals in the first half of the season than our top-goalscorer did in the entirety of the last season. Sadly, PSG wont let him go for even 75M, which is already way to high for our club, even if we have a very good run in europe. In the meanwhile, here is the League Table:

If we win our game in hand, we ca go to top!!! What is even more surprising is that Both Real and Barca are out of the ECC places, though more than half odf the season is yet to go.

Europe:

Again, Angel is the , well, Angel.

This is going to mean Big money(which is why I was looking at 75M options)

Cup:

Just the one pair of Matches, and you know who won them for us...

Next Update:End of season

[Sankalan]

End of Season 2021-22

Youth Intake

Never mind. Another set of upgrades is happening by the way.

League

Let me start with the goal scorers:

Fair to say that Angel's form dropped in the second half of the season, but still, he more than doubled our top-goal scorer count from last season. Admittedly, he had more matches to play though. However, that meant that our league performance looked somewhat like this:

As to why we lost to Villarreal in the last match, We had already won the league!!!

Champions League

We went to the final, and lost. Obviously, we were called the biggest overachievers. This also means I have about 60M to spend next season on a Strikr, and I do have someone in mind:

He is ith real, and I have been trying to unsettle him for 6 months now. He has expressed desire to move, but Real won't sell him. Which means, I will have to pay his release, which is 60M. Now he is not as good as Sahin, and more expensive too, but I will stick to my under-19 rule, and Sahin is 19 now.

Cup:

While we continue to dominate Barca in the League, Barca continues to kick us out in the cup. At this point though, the cup is no longer that important to me.

Now to see if we can keep up without Angel.

Next Update:End of Pre-Season 2022-23

[Sankalan]

End Of Pre-Season 2022-23

Expectations continue to rise as this time the media predict us to finish 5th with odds of 6-1 while the board wants qualification to the Champions League. I personally want to repeat last year's achievement of winning the legue.

Transfers:

To begin with, I purchased Rodrigues, whom I have already shown, for a whopping 60M. He is the second best striker at the club behind Romero, but Romero is needed in the left wing, so I decided to bring in some competition for Rodrigues, Just to keep him on his toes.

Meet Edivaldo, who cost me 7.5 Million. He is signed as a Backup, while Rodrigues is on rotation. Hopefully, together they will fill up the gap left by Angel, who, by the way, would cost me around 130 Million.

Friendlies:

A winter world cup means that La Liga kicks off in July itself, so fewer friendlies. But Dominant ones. Also, wolves match was away this season due to this:

I did not know this was possible, but seems logical. Also, there was the Super Copa:

We continue to dominate Barca, but I would have liked it better if Rodrigues, who was the lone striker, could get himself on the scoresheet. He did have 2 assists though.

Next Update:New Year 2023

[Sankalan]

New Year 2023

League

Fewer matches due to the winter world cup, but unbeaten throughout!!

No idea why Atletico got to play 3 extra matches.

Champions League

Again, Winter World Cup means that the CL group could not conclude before new year, although, the qulifications are sealed. Crazy to see Juventus miss out. 

Cup

A single legged 5th Round, and we are through, fairly easily

All seems well, except that neither of the strikers is turning out as good as I wanted them to be

My full back is the top scorer, and my backup is outperforming my star striker. Hopefully, both these change.

World Cup:

Wales made it to quarters, rest all is normal it seems.

Next Update:End of Season

Edited February 10, 2020 by Sankalan
Put in Youth intake in the wrong update

[Sankalan]

End of Season 2022-23

 

Youth Intake

Meh.

And again another set of upgrades have been approved.

League

Ended the season Undefended, Which obviously means:

We Retain the Title!!!

Cup:

Barca Lost out to Levante, Real Lost to Celta, And Atletico met Real in the fifth rund, so this time we had a clean path. 

Champions League

 

The last Group match was really dead rubber, but we won it anyway.

 

And then we won the tournament too!!! The final was real sweet, since Angel was on PSG's starting 11, and did not manage to score. 

Striker Woes

Rodrigues finally became the top goalscorer with a goal in the CL final, but still, I want more than 36 from my striking pair. Luckily, Tato has been phenomenal. Rodrigues did not make it to the best 11, losing his place to Edivaldo, so that is sad(considering how much more I paid for him.

What Goes Next

Firstly, there is still the European Super cup and Club's world cup to win. Thereafter, I would like to see one of my players win a Ballon d'Or. 

I will skip the Pre-Season updates from now on, since there is not much to see in the transfer market

Next Update:New Year 2024

Edited February 10, 2020 by Sankalan

[Sankalan]

New Year 2024

We started this season with odds of 9-2, our best so far, while the board wants us to retain the title. 

Pre-Season

The pre season started before the season switch, so July is split into two. We did a mini League with some of the Best teams in Europe, and won it. I intend to keep doing this every season now.

Would have been nice to win the European Super Cup, but a great Pre-Season nonetheless. 

League

Perfection.

Most surprising is Atletico trailing off at 9th. We have a game in hand and 8 points

Champions League

This group is as expected, though a clean sweep would have been better.

Cup

Just the one pair of matches here, and it was perfect too.

Clubs World Cup

Much of a muchness, really, but I will take it.

Goals and Assists

Rodrigues in 5th. He has been acting out, even missed 3 matchdays due to being absent. Really Sad.

Ballon d'Or

Angel...

Next update:End of Season

[Sankalan]

End of Season 2023-24

Youth Intake

Meh

League

We won the league with several games in hand, and then it became difficult to finish unbeaten. Nevertheless, we ended up with quite the margin:

Copa del Rey:

Once again, Levante defeated Barca in the semis to lose t to us in the finals. If Betis would have lost their quarters, we could hav had a repeat of last years matches from the semis.

Champions League:

We retained our title in a spain only final. Hopefully we can make a habit of it

Squad

Looks like I will have to rethink who is my main striker.

End of Season Awards:

Tato has been attracting all sots of interest, hopefully we can keep him. He is currently on contract till summer of 2027, and does not want to extend that yet.

Next Update:New yeay 2025