Dave Posted September 18, 2022 Author Share Posted September 18, 2022 2027 Split pt. 2 Spoiler Pohang drew their first game in the split 3-3 against Gyeongnam, which meant that all I needed to do was not lose to Seongnam to secure the first K-League title in Suwon FC's history. Spoiler Lovely stuff. Will get the last two dead rubber league games and the FA Cup final done this afternoon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted September 30, 2022 Author Share Posted September 30, 2022 October 2027 - February 2028 My last update covered up to the Seongnam game on 24/10 which is where the league was won, but just posting the whole month to show the end of the season. Despite it being a dead rubber, pumping Pohang on the last day of the season was the cherry on top of a very lovely cake of a league season. The FA Cup however was a disaster. I actually lost it 0-1 and then 0-3, but I then played on until the end of December doing a bit of scouting and that...and forgot to save the game before closing it. So I holidayed from after the Pohang game as my last save point until I lost the FA Cup again, thankfully only took two attempts, but that's a mistake I won't make again. So at this point, I have just got to the beginning of March 2028. As well as the league & FA Cup again, we now have the Asian Champions League to compete in which will be fun. First time in Suwon FC's history they have made this tournament. I've been drawn against Sydney FC (2nd in A-League after 20 games), Tokyo Verdy (16th in J-League after just two games, finished 4th last season) and Kitchee of the Hong Kong Premier League. At this point I've played each team once, one league game, and a whole heap of friendlies to make sure players were up to fitness for the ACL... Spoiler And it's paid off as we are off to a superb start. I did rotate the squad a fair bit for the Kitchee game, and played a number of youth players including my now #2 goalkeeper who is only 17, but so far we remain undefeated. There is still one more month of the transfer window to go, and while for the most part it has been mostly reserve or youth players not good enough to step up that have left, there has been one big bit of movement that was both inevitable and a cock up of mine. The £725k release clause of star midfielder David Tavares Fernandes was finally met by a number of foreign clubs (after I actually had to protest the board accepting £1m from rivals Daegu, I'd rather lose him for less than to a club in the K-League, yes I'm petty) and I also accepted a couple offers that were just below the release clause but included a sell-on. And come July, he will be off to Vitoria Guimaraes back in Portugal, and hopefully a nice wee boost to the finances in a couple years when Inter Milan or Man City are not competing with me for his signature this time. So that was the inevitable part. The cock up part was signing Peruvian international Jose Palomino on a pre-contract. He came up as a scout recommendation and was sitting at 4.5* with 5* potential, "Leading K-League player", all the stats that I could actually see indicated he was an absolute gem. I asked the scout to keep scouting him, but they couldn't give me anything else due to his playing situation, which should have been a red flag. But the transfer went through and when I could view his full page I was completely whelmed... Spoiler I mean it could definitely have been worse, but I'll be looking for new scouts at the end of the season, the lying b*****ds. And due to K-League registration rules, I had to deregister one of my foreign non-Asian players I already had in order to get Palomino in the squad. Therefore, while I will have him until July in the ACL, I can't use Fernandes in the league which is so painful. The other signing so far is Kim Sung-Jae, who I'm eyeing up as the replacement for last seasons POTY Murilo who is now 33 and into the last year of his contract. Cost me £375k from Incheon and with regular game time which he's going to get I can see him getting even better. Spoiler Got money to spend but not sure if any more players will come in. Some of last seasons signings are really kicking on and improving rapidly. Chiu Wing Kin, Ben Soumahoro (who just accepted a new contract to keep him here for years) and Edmundo Alberto are the new spine of the team in the middle of the park, and An Seong-Hyeon up front, who was made permanent for £1.3m following last seasons loan, will hopefully reproduce what he did last year too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 16, 2022 Author Share Posted October 16, 2022 I haven't been playing this as much as I would like for a number of reasons, but going to try and set time aside each week to get through it. March - April 2028 The transfer window slammed shut at the end of March, and after An Seong-Heong, Palomino and Kim Sung-Jae in the previous post, there were two more signings that came in. No-one of note left the club, couple of loans going out and my now backup 36 year old keeper left on a free. Park Jae-Hyun came in for £500k from my usual picking ground of Pohang. Cover at CM and I am going to train him to play RB as a wing back, I think he could be very, very good there. Spoiler Kang Kyung-Hyun is a free transfer from Seongnam and provides cover at right wing, where I have an entrenched started in Lee Young-Woong but he is incredibly inconsistent. Kang has already started to complain about only being a squad player, and to be fair its justified, as he has been excellent every time he's played. Spoiler After the silly amount of friendlies I played to help start the season in February, March and April were absolutely chock full of games and it actually is ridiculous that the game schedules fixtures like this. Five games in 14 days in March, and then NINE games in 30 days in April. The squad depth was going to be tested to the absolute max... Spoiler But oh my god. Have you ever seen anything like this? I certainly haven't. Absolutely incredible stuff from the Suwon FC boys. We qualified from the Champions League group with 6/6 (including the final game against Kitchee where five players got their full debuts, such was the extent of the rotation), and we are due to face Gamba Osaka of Japan in the next round. Currently sitting 3rd in the J-League, should provide a better test than any of the group stage opponents. In the league we are absolutely flying. Not even Pohang have been able to keep up with us. Pending an apocalyptic midseason collapse, I think we already have enough to retain the league. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 20, 2022 Author Share Posted October 20, 2022 (edited) May - June 2028 Another two months have passed in South Korea, and in the last week of June the midseason transfer window opened. There have already been some big moves made by Suwon FC, so no better time for an update. First though, how we're doing on the park. We started the season winning all six Champions League group games, and only dropping two points in our first 13 league games. Could we keep this unbelievable run of form up? Spoiler Well, it had to come to an end at some point, and it did. But still an incredible first half of the league campaign, and we have an incredible 12 point lead at the top of the league with over half the league season gone. Every possibility of the league being sewn up before the split, which is the aim for me personally. With the summer transfer window opening, I've got a chance to make a few signings to ensure we keep this excellent run going. It is only a week old, however we have two departures that were pre-arranged before the window & now confirmed, one big player in talks with other teams, and a wonderkid coming in... Of the two transfers going out, one was a complete nobody, the other was anything but. David Tavares Fernandes, my first superstar midfielder who joined Suwon over the likes of both Milans and Man City, has left for Vitoria Guimaraes back in his native Portugal. The sum involved was a paltry £425k given the issues I had with his release clause, but this agreement contains a 30% sell-on clause. And now that he's back in Europe, the 21 year old is valued at £17m-£22m, so I think in time that will prove to be worthwhile for Suwon FC. Gutted he has finally gone, but nothing I could do to keep him. Spoiler Edmundo Alberto, who I brought with me from Bahrain, is now in talks with two clubs after bids of £1m were accepted by the board. Again I will be absolutely gutted to lose him, but he was signed for £50k so it is an excellent return there, and he is refusing to sign a new contract with 18 months to go on his current one, so I am as well cashing in now. Besides, I have already signed a player who will be taking his foreign player slot in my squad... Spoiler The first major signing of the window is Cesar Hernandez, an American 19 year old wonderkid who has been signed on a free transfer after his release from UNAM Pumas in Mexico. Once again, like Fernandes a couple of seasons ago, I have beaten some of the biggest names in football to his signature. And also like Fernandes, I have had to insert a ridiculously low release clause in his contract to get him to sign, but if I have him for a year and he goes for £1.2m I'll take it. His wages are a little bit high for my liking, but moving on Alberto and another depth option RB who is on nonsense money will free up most of that wage itself. He looks fucking tasty. Spoiler Edited October 20, 2022 by Dave 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 3, 2022 Author Share Posted November 3, 2022 (edited) July - September 2028 The rest of the summer transfer window turned out to be a damp squib. Hernandez was really the only signing. I say really, because I brought in Yoo Sung-Jae on loan who wasn't interested on a permanent signing but would join on loan. His contract is expiring this season, so I hoped I could give him a run of games to bring him round to signing a pre-contract. Unfortunately for me, not only is the player insisting he's staying with his parent club to continue his development, but he's actually still on a "Youth" contract, so he is therefore ineligible to play in the K-League. I have finally been given the chance to register players for the latter stages of the Asian Champions League, so he will get a run out there but since he joined he's just been in the reserves. A real shame because he looks decent. Spoiler Transfer shambles aside, it's been a big second half of the season. In my last update I said the aim was to have the league won before the split. I also had some domestic cup action to attend to, and the next round of the Champions League... Spoiler And aside from a couple more league defeats, it's been another superb run of form. The FA Cup Semi was frustrating as I absolutely scudded Gimcheon three days prior but had to wait until injury time to break them down, but it sets up a repeat of last seasons final against Pohang who beat me last year. The Gamba Osaka game was a great result. On paper it looked very difficult and could easily have went against me, but we were dominant and just couldn't get past the 22 year old Japan #1 between the sticks who saved everything we threw at them. Victory in that game sets up a ACL Quarter Final against... Pohang. Can't escape these p***ks. So the current lie of the land in all competitions is this: Spoiler There is one more game to go before the split, away to Seongnam. Win that, and the league is over with 5 games to go. I can then rest all of my main players for the big games in the FA Cup and the ACL. Edited November 3, 2022 by Dave 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 11, 2022 Author Share Posted November 11, 2022 October - November 2028 So a big end to the season lies ahead. The league should be absolutely no bother, but this month it's all about the cup tournaments. In the Asian Champions League, I have a Quarter Final match with old rivals Pohang to navigate before I can start to dream of ticking off the first of the five points of the Pentagon Challenge. And I also have the same opponents in the two-legged FA Cup final. So, first up, the league. In my last update. I said I had one more game before the split, and if I got a win in that game it was mathematically over... Spoiler And it was indeed done before the split. I had three games of playing the backups before getting fed up of the poor results and went back to playing stronger line-ups. Murilo signing off the season with a hat-trick, 34 years old and not yet showing signs of slowing down. League absolutely dominated in the end. Didn't dominate the player stats quite as much as last year though, the goals being very spread out throughout the team with four players scoring at least 10, An Seong-Hyeon my top goalscorer for the second year in a row with 18. Up next, the Asian Champions League Quarter Final. My three league meetings against Pohang to date had finished 2-1, 5-1 and 1-3, so what were we going to get here... Spoiler A pumping, and a rare clean sheet in this matchup. Had to wait for it but the substitutes saved the day, Murilo and Pham Duc Anh turning on the style. That moved us into the Semi Final, and it's another domestic rival, this time Suwon Bluewings. Spoiler Pain. A very even game but they just edged it. Gutted at this, but for a first time in the competition it's a good effort and I think with some decent recruitment (and maybe a little bit more luck) I can go the distance next season. And finally, the FA Cup final(s) against Pohang... Spoiler An absolute pumping. Ending the season in style after the disappointment of the Champions League exit. So ends another year in South Korea with Suwon FC going from strength to strength. However, the transfer window is underway and already there have been some big moves... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 11, 2022 Author Share Posted November 11, 2022 2029 Pre-season & transfer window Already there are some big names leaving Suwon FC, and hopefully a couple of new big names to replace them. Once again, the curse of the release clause has come back to haunt me, and Ben Soumahoro is the victim this window. His release clause was there for £1.9m, and he agreed to being sold for that price, but when bids started coming in of £1.5m he started his shit again so I just accepted them and he has joined Saint Etienne in France. Again, like the David Fernandes transfer last season, despite not getting the full release clause I have instead got a percentage of profit clause. He's already valued at £12m-£19m just by being in Europe so hopefully in future it will be worth it. But gutted to lose him. Spoiler In his place comes Gaeten Igbene from Vita Club in his native DR Congo. He costs half of what I've sold Soumahoro for and looks every bit as good, maybe even better. He is a 4.5* right back or 4* left back as well, but he will primarily be playing defensive mid again. Spoiler My backup striker Pham Duc Anh has left the club for £400k, which is £300k more than I paid for him and he had two alright years but wasn't quite doing it for me. I have replaced him with young Thai striker Narasak Chaowana for £550k, who I actually scouted at the same time as Pham Duc Anh before choosing to sign the Vietnamese striker instead. Chaowana has since continued to develop and is scoring for fun at international level, and again he had all the big clubs sniffing around him so I jumped in first to sign him. His release clause expires at the end of his first year, so if I can hold onto him until then I could have a gem for a while. Spoiler I lost a backup defensive option to Gimcheon again as he was called up for military service. So Ko Jong-Min comes in from city rivals Suwon for £150k (overpaid due to the rivalry) as a backup option but looks good enough to be rotated in and get some good playing experience. Spoiler And finally, I previously mentioned my loan issues with Yoo Sung-Jae and being unable to play him. He did well in the two Champions League games I could actually give him a run out, and thankfully he continued to reject contracts from his previous club Incheon so the day that his loan ended and he became a free agent I offered him as much money as I could stomach, but frustratingly his agent put a £300k release clause in that I could not get rid of. He is good enough stats wise to be my new first choice left winger, and I just hope I can keep offering him new contracts in order to get that release clause to f**k. Spoiler So the transfer window is only open for a day, but four in and three out already. I've been fighting off interest in An Seong-Hyeon as well and got a few more on the transfer list to move on. Going to be a busy one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted December 22, 2022 Author Share Posted December 22, 2022 February - April 2029 Work and personal life dramas have taken up all my time for the best part of the last month which severely impacted my gaming time. But, with things returning back to what normal should look like, as well as a nice bit of annual leave over the festive period, I'm hoping to get a good bit of this battered out. There was only one more addition in the transfer window from my last post, midfielder Georges Zeze joining from ASEC Mimosas for only £250k. A solid start to his time in South Korea, expecting him to kick on a bit more soon though. I also discovered that ASEC Mimosas have a ridiculous youth setup, so I'll be keeping a very close eye on that talent pool as the game progresses... Spoiler Season is off to another very good start, finished top of our Champions League group so through to the next stage with ease, and we already have a 10 point gap at the top of the league. The boy Narasak Chaowana has started the season in some style, 12 goals in 17 games in all competitions so far. He's pushing long time favourite An Seong-Hyeon out of the starting lineup, which was unthinkable when he signed. And he was even named in the NxGn top 50 wonderkids in my game at #47, proud moment. However, unfortunately there is some sad news. Murilo has announced his intention to retire at the end of this season, and has refused to reconsider it after my request. Turned 34 years old this year and his physical stats have decreased significantly, but he has been absolutely superb for me since I joined Suwon FC. In the last two seasons he's had 20 goals and 27 assists from centre mid, which has been exceptional. Will now just be aiming to give him the send-off he deserves. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 16, 2023 Author Share Posted January 16, 2023 May - July 2029 By our own particularly high standards that have been set in the last two seasons, this run of games will probably have to go down as one of the toughest spells yet for Suwon FC. Only seven wins from 13 games in these three months, and a couple of defeats including a bruising 5-2 derby pumping. However, we are still sitting top of the league, although only just... and I don't think it'll be for long. Up next is a game against 2nd placed Jeonbuk, and it has fallen in the middle of an international window where I am missing six first team players. The latest game against Daegu was at the start of it, and only getting a draw against the team in last place in the league was bad enough, not sure how I'll do going into this one. Another month until the Asian Champions League is back with my second round game against Yokohama F Marinos. The summer transfer window has also came and went, and it was a big one. Wonderkid Cesar Hernandez got his wish and left Suwon for his release clause of £1.2m to his new home of Borussia Dortmund. Once again though because they initially lowballed me, I was able to negotiate the deal back up to £1.2m and included a sell-on clause and a friendly as well. Both should come in very handy. Spoiler A couple of other squad depth options were sold for decent money, although I didn't really want to sell either of them but when they kicked up a stink about bids not being accepted I decided to just let them go. One of the squad depth options is Stephen Adelson, who I signed on a free 18 months ago and is due to leave in the next week or so to FC Tokyo for £750k. So with Hernandez and Adelson leaving, I could bring in one Southeast Asian player and another foreign player from anywhere. George Sithole comes in from Kaizer Chiefs for £550k, and he was initially signed to be the #1 defensive midfielder, but he will be playing centre back for the rest of this season for a very irritating reason I will explain down below. Spoiler I swapped an Aussie for an Aussie, and I'm just going to call this guy Niyas because he has one of the longest names I've seen in FM. He'll be my new #2 striker behind An Seong-Hyeon, and Chaowana now becomes the first choice left winger. He joined on a free transfer. Spoiler I needed domestic defensive options, so I went all out and spent £1.2m on Kim Jung-Ho from Incheon, however there is a problem. He finished his military service at Gimcheon in July, and when I signed him it said he had played no games for Incheon this season. However, it turns out he did play in a cup game which is not ... Meaning that he has played for two teams this season and therefore cannot be registered with me until next season. Fuming. Spoiler Finally, another domestic defensive option but he won't be joining me at all until next season, young Jung Min-Keun has signed a pre-contract and looks like he could be a decent player in the near future. Spoiler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share Posted January 20, 2023 August - September 2029 It's actually an update up to the first week in October, as the regular league season has finished and the split is here. Spoiler A bit more like it. Another loss to Jeonbuk but rallied after that, and thankfully they also dropped a few more points elsewhere so the gap at the top of the league table has now opened up to 5 points. Hoping to get the league wrapped up as quickly as possible to allow me to rest some players for the other tournaments we're still in. A convincing win over Yokohama in the Champions League sets up a Quarter Final against Central Coast Mariners of Australia, and I am also into the Korean FA Cup final after a good 2-0 victory over Jeonbuk. My opponents in this two legged final will be Daejeon who are in the K-League 2, so on paper it should be an easy win for Suwon FC. I've spoke a few times before about some of the young talents that I've picked up at Suwon and sold on for profit and sell on clauses, and I'm delighted to report the first one came good. David Tavares Fernandes, who was an absolutely sublime centre midfielder for me, moved from Vitoria Guimaraes to Borussia Dortmund (joining Cesar Hernandez who left me just a couple months ago as mentioned in my previous post. I sold Fernandes for £500k + 30% profit of the next sale, and he moved to Dortmund for £17.75m, which gave me a lovely windfall of just over £5m. A lovely wee bonus so given I am still in the midst of a squad depth crisis I decided to spend some of it on a couple of players to come in for next season. Lee Chang-Hee will come in and allow me to move Zeze to CDM, and Sithole to CB. I am still looking for an attacking centre midfielder to replace Murilo who is retiring in two months (and still being an absolute baller, very upset he is retiring). I've probably overpaid for him by spending £1m, but it's very hard to find decent value in domestic players. Spoiler Another defensive option in Kim Yong-Woo has been secured, and he is coming in for only £400k and is happy to be a backup option in the squad, so I'm happy with that. Haven't even fully scouted him . He'll be well behind some of my youth prospects in defence, so will just be an insurance policy for injuries/suspensions. Spoiler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 October - November 2029 A huge end to the season with three trophies still on the line. The league is all but confirmed at this point, the FA Cup Final against second tier Daejeon is scheduled for the start of November, and I have the Asian Champions League QF against Central Coast Mariners to see if we can continue to progress and tick off the first of the continental titles... Early in October was hit with the brutal news of losing first choice goalkeeper Noh Ji-*** to an achilles injury, so I had to go to my 20 year old back-up Kim Sang-Jun who is rated 2* ability. K-League Spoiler No point wasting any time on it, the league was absolutely skooshed in the end. Chaowana with an unbelievable debut season, but even more unbelievable was An Seong-Hyeon who has been an absolute icon since signing. 15 goals and 19 assists, incredible production from him. Korean FA Cup Final This game was rescheduled due to international call-ups for me, so it ended up being right at the end of the season. My opponents are Daejeon Hanacitizen who finished their season in 9th in K-League 2. Only a 10 team division as well, how they made it I'm not quite sure but a good effort by them. Could they stop the Suwon juggernaut? Spoiler A really disappointing first leg result where we absolutely dominated the game but could not find the back of the net. Having the penalty saved late in the first half had me fearing the worst, but I suppose at least they presented little threat. Thankfully there is a second leg at home... Spoiler That's more like it. A sea of green match ratings, and another absolute pumping but this time goals to show for it. Double secured. Asian Champions League The big one. Going the distance and lifting this title would allow me to leave Asia for a new continent and a new challenge. We're in a great place domestically right now, could we carry this over to the continental stage? Up first, Central Coast Mariners in the Quarter Final. Spoiler Scenes. Feared the worst with the red card (no idea why it's showing 11 players on the screen there), but stayed with the Attacking mentality and it paid off. We were drawn against FC Seoul in the Semi Final, and rather annoyingly it was scheduled for the following Wednesday after the QF... but I also had a league game on the Monday! I spent ages trying to find a way to fill my team full of grey name players to save my first XI but ended up having to play all three games with the same 16 players. Champions League Semi Final vs FC Seoul Spoiler A tense game but we came out on top once again, and we're into the Asian Champions League final! Our opponents in the final will be Al-Shabab from Saudi Arabia, and the final is at their home stadium as well. They currently sit 3rd in the Saudi Premier Division, and despite being a team full mostly of ridiculously good newgens the biggest name in the squad is Marco Asensio who moved there from Real Madrid when he was still in his prime at 27. So, into the final we go... Spoiler What a half. Coming back twice to be level at the break in such a tight game as well. Did we have enough to kick on and take the lead... Spoiler You fucking bet we did. What a game, and with the second leg of the FA Cup being the very last game of the season, what a way to end my time at Suwon FC, South Korea and Asia. Time to figure out how to load the new databases to the game and look at where I want to move to next... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 So I'm trying to look at where I want to go next, but I can't decide if I want to take a shot at North America or even see if I can get a big team in Europe. And with this indecision, a news article that popped up just before the end of the season was very, very interesting to me. I decided to declare my interest in the job, which pissed of the Suwon board to the point they held a meeting with me and nearly sacked me until I said I've won enough I've deserved the right to ask the question, and they backed down. And sure enough... The SFA wasted no time in appointing me Scotland manager, which I duly accepted. I am just about to hand in my resignation at Suwon FC, remove all the Asian leagues from the game and load up everywhere else. The Scotland job will keep me going until a club that interests me is available. Thankfully I think my time in leagues like Nepal and Bahrain is over! This is still very much a Pentagon challenge, but while I remove the ridiculous amount of Asian leagues and replace them with North and South American leagues, I'll have a shot at international football until the leagues are fully updated as they move mid-season. Coming up next: Meet the Scotland squad of 2030... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 1, 2023 Author Share Posted February 1, 2023 The Scotland experiment is already over. Absolutely nothing was happening, I was getting no information for players playing in their leagues because I didn't have the right leagues active, and I had no fixtures scheduled at all. I resigned mid-January, and holidayed for three months to allow some of the Asian leagues to drop off my game and the North & South American leagues to activate. I was offered a couple of interviews back in South Korea, but that time of my career is over. And it hasn't taken me long to find a new home... My record looks utterly ridiculous there but that's thanks to my time utterly dominating Bahraini football Time to get my head around the wildest squad registration rules on the planet and take on the CONCACAF Champions League (eventually!). I've taken the hot seat at the Philadelphia Union, replacing outgoing manager Jim Curtin who had been in the job for 15 and a half years since 2014! The Union are currently toiling away in 12th place in the MLS East Conference, which is actually an increase from the 14th place they were in since I interviewed for the job. They've won twice this season in 14 games, both since sacking Curtin. I've no idea if I'll be able to drag Philly up to the top of the league and win the CONCACAF CL, but this is a good start in the country and I'll take it from here. Time to meet the squad (3* rating is decent for MLS, 4* is leading player for MLS): I only have one goalkeeper listed there, but there are two others at the club currently out with injuries but returning soon. Stuart Findlay is the only recognisable name in the squad, having racked up over 270 appearances since his move in 2021. An abundance of central midfielders means I'll be looking to offload some of them as soon as possible, just as well there are at least three transfer windows a season for different players on different contracts. Some of the key players in the squad: Laecio is club captain but I think I can do better. Spoiler The aforementioned Stuart Findlay is a squad player at this time, and I'm already looking to bring at least one central defender in to push him down to a backup option. Spoiler Jean Escribano is the highest rated player in the squad and looks like a talent. Spoiler And finally, Mauricio Mosquera is my strongest winger, although Alberto Grosso on the other wing is not far behind him. Spoiler And I'm yet to decide which of the three relatively average strikers will get to lead the line, they all have varying pros & cons. So along with checking out the squad, I sacked a whole host of shite backroom staff and brought in my own, and played my first game at home to Columbus Crew. I picked who I thought were my best eleven, set up my tactics, and away we went... Spoiler Literally could not have gone any better. Oscar Hironimus goes into pole position for the sole striker spot after that. And a fabled 10.0 performance from Mosquera as well, achieved after 70 minutes so I'll be honest I subbed him off to preserve it. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 8, 2023 Author Share Posted February 8, 2023 (edited) May - June 2030 It's been a great start to my time in the USA on the park. Just the one league defeat to Atlanta United who are one of the top teams in the league and an abundance of goals. Mosquera is a baller on the right wing, I reckon one of the hardest tasks ahead will be to keep him at the club. Coming up in July is a US Cup Quarter Final against Charlotte FC, and something called the Leagues Cup which appears to be a club tournament specifically for MLS teams to take on Mexican top flight teams, I've been drawn against Cruz Azul. However, I did specify it's been a great start on the park, because off the park it has been a bit frustrating to say the least. I have been active in the transfer window including trades with other MLS teams, but working out the value of things like draft picks is at times baffling. Plus, you have all these different categories of protected money you can offer as well, and international slots, and it's been rather confusing. Another issue I'm facing I think is due to me loading the league partway through the save itself. The MLS has "home-grown" player requirements and you can also only sign a certain number of HG players to Reserve contracts, but because the game hasn't been able to generate players histories, virtually no-one has HG status therefore squad registration is a nightmare. And I still only have one goalkeeper, because the MLS has a temporary injury list that players can go on if they're injured called the Disabled list. They should then be able to be reregistered after a minimum of 6 games, and I have one player who has been injured recently, I put on the Disabled list, and it gives me a countdown of when he can come back on. But the two goalkeepers that are on the list since before I joined do not have a countdown, and still cannot be registered. So yeah, great fun . But moaning aside, the results have been good and I have made a good few changes to the squad. Bearing in mind I joined Union in mid-May, here is the transfer history for this season: I had no idea until I was getting this screenshot that Tommy Farber cost the club £1.8m this season, but he's currently a free agent! They must have waived him after signing him. Dodgy as f**k IMO... Gazdag was 34 years old and taking up a Designated Player spot, and Wasilewski was rubbish so happy to get him sold. So far I have three signings (and a fourth with a contract offered) and I've also completed two trades, getting rid of one player and bringing one in, which aren't listed above but will cover them also. Ty Cannon came in as #2 option on either wing, but if the latest transfer target signs he will become #2 on the right wing. Attempting to retrain him as a central midfielder also which will increase his options for playing time. Spoiler Adam Munjoma is currently #3 striker option, but I think I'll be getting rid of the current #2 and #4 as they are again taking up international slots, and he has proven to be a decent player already, chipping in with a couple of goals in limited playing time. Spoiler I tried to go back to Suwon FC and bring my boy Narasak Chaowana with me, but twice the signing was cancelled due to "squad registration issues". It was saying I couldn't have more than two "Young Designated Players" (under 24 years old on a DP contract meaning they don't fully count towards the salary cap) but I only have one. So I had to look to the domestic market, and Stuart McAuley comes in for double what Chaowana would have cost but still looks just as good. With a name like that as well I'm hoping he's got a Scottish granny somewhere. Spoiler In terms of the trades I have made, I moved on 31 year old midfielder Jesus Bueno to Portland, and I got back two 1st round & a 3rd round draft pick for him. I'm a fan of NFL and have done MLS saves in previous games, so I'm familiar with the draft process, and looking forward to that coming around at the beginning of next season. I traded away some General Allocation Money and a 2032 3rd round pick for Bobby Yazzie, who provides some cover at centre back and brings with him a superb surname. I struggled for a while to find a decent player to bring in in this position, he was the best of a relatively average bunch. Spoiler Edited February 8, 2023 by Dave -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 22, 2023 Author Share Posted February 22, 2023 July - October 2030 A quick update for the latest follower to the thread, fellow QP fan Bring Your Own Socks, welcome along MLS: Spoiler In the league, things were going superbly until we hit September and then we just really started struggling. Despite the three draws going into it, the game against NYRB actually gave us a chance to get within 2 points of them at the top of the conference if we won, but we lost two goals after we went 2-1 up and I went in a full blown huff and transfer listed the team leader CB who caused both of them. We managed to do enough to secure a playoff spot though, and I am waiting to see who we are drawn against. US Cup: Spoiler A brilliant cup run using lineups almost entirely made up of reserve players, and we have a cup final this season to look forward to! Our opponents are FC Cincinnati, who at the time of the cup final I had played once before and scudded 4-1, so I was feeling confident going into it... Spoiler A superb performance in the US Cup Final. Silverware secured in my first season and, more importantly for this save, that comes with a spot in the NACL for next season. Leagues Cup: Spoiler I had absolutely no idea this tournament existed until it popped up in my game here, but it's an interesting concept. The two best leagues in North America, the MLS and the Liga MX, send their teams to play each other to see who comes out on top. Like the US Cup, I tried to mostly use backup players to keep the key members of the squad fresh for the league. A run of Mexican opponents and not too many problems. I was aided with two own goals against Puebla though, but all that matters is that I'm through to another final, and it's another Mexican opponent in Toluca. Spoiler One of the first times I can remember the xG going against me and yet still getting the result. Two trophies won this season! I didn't play any of the top teams in Mexico in this tournament, but I still feel like this bodes well for my foray into the NACL for next season... I've continued to be very active with transfers throughout the season, and there have been some big changes in the last few months. The MLS Roster Freeze date passed in September, so no more changes for the rest of the season. Sullivan is a backup who needed gametime. Hironimus was my #1 striker when I joined the club, but with the additions of McAuley and Munjoma he quickly became #3, and taking up one of those precious International slots meant he had to go. Nadir Boni was my starting RB at the time and was a decent player, but the offer came in after I signed a younger player who I was lining up to replace him at the end of the year, and I decided to just go for it now. Fabrizio Vasquez has come in and overtaken Grosso as the starting left winger. Once again aided by the fact he has American citizenship so doesn't count against the squad registration limit. He's been so good I'll be considering selling Grosso when the season ends. Spoiler Mauricio Patino is my first attempt at signing a Designated Player, who is meant to be an absolute superstar and take the team to the next level. He has been solid, but not quite the level I had hoped for so far. He really lives up to the Aggression 20 stat though, he is constantly aggressive in games and is constantly picking up bookings Spoiler Edoardo Di Livio is going to be my new #1 goalkeeper, I have ridiculously high hopes for him. Perfectionist personality and 18 Determination, hope to see him improve rapidly when he gets to start every single game. Spoiler Gianbattista Torricelli was signed to be backup to Nadir Boni, but became my defacto first choice once I sold him to Cruz Azul. A pretty decent free agent signing and I hope again he can kick on and develop a bit. Spoiler However, when I sold Boni, I had to have a team meeting as the vast majority of the squad, led by Stuart Findley, were unhappy about the lack of depth at right back. This is despite the fact I sold one and signed one... Anyway, to keep them happy I had to go and find another right back, so in came Kobe Franklin. Trying to find someone that wasn't either rubbish or too good & expensive to be a rotation option was difficult, and I eventually settled on him. Thankfully it was enough to keep the squad happy. Spoiler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 23, 2023 Author Share Posted February 23, 2023 2030 MLS Playoffs So into the playoffs we go. New York Red Bulls and Vancouver get a bye in the first round for topping the Eastern & Western Conferences respectively, and for the rest it's a simple concept of 2nd vs 7th, 3rd vs 6th and 4th vs 5th in the first round. I finished 6th in the Eastern Conference, so I come up against big spending Atlanta United in the first round. A grudge match for my main man Stuart McAuley... Spoiler And what a way to get his revenge. A very good result and we're into the EC Semi Final. We're drawn against NYCFC, while DC United take on top seed NYRB. Spoiler What a comeback. I didn't give Oluwaseyi much of a look when I joined the team, but every time he's been brought on he's been a solid contributor. And with this comeback, I actually start believing we might be able to do something here... The Eastern Conference Final is NYRB vs Philadelphia Union, to be played at the home stadium of NYRB. Can I win the whole conference, and take a place in the MLS Cup Final, after coming in mid-season to a team in 12th place and only finishing 7th in the standings? Spoiler It needed extra time, but yes I can! Absolutely dominated them all game but just couldn't find the net. Both teams playing extra time with 10 men due to injuries a bit of an oddity, but thankfully didn't impact on us. I have somehow ended up in the MLS Cup final after half a season in the country in the MLS Cup Final my opponents are Vancouver, who dominated the regular season and gained 22 more points than me throughout the season. I wasn't expecting much from the Final, but then again I also wasn't expecting to still be in it at this stage, so anything could happen... Spoiler Madness. Actual fucking madness. Two of my mid-season free agent signings scoring the 4 goals in the MLS Cup Final, and we've only gone and won the whole fucking thing having been the 10th best team in the country this season! A final look at the league this season. Just absolutely wild. Will be using the offseason to focus fully on recruitments that will help the NACL challenge instantly, if that could be won at the first attempt it would be unreal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 8, 2023 Author Share Posted March 8, 2023 2031 Pre-season I'm still not over the hectic end to last season, but time stands still for no-one and the new MLS campaign is upon us. And of course this season, I will have my first shot at the North American Champions League. Not quite sure when that'll start, as last seasons competition is still running until April. But I'll worry about that later. As always with pre-season, there have been plenty of incomings and outgoings. Not only do we have the usual transfer market as an option, but there have been some trades, and of course the MLS Draft, but firstly a quick look at the outgoings. Laecio was club captain last year, but he was distinctly average and it was a pretty good offer so I decided to go for it. It once again nearly led to a squad revolt led by that p***k Stuart Findley due to the lack of depth at left back this time, but that was resolved later in the window. Mitchell Robson & Quinn Sullivan were not good enough for the league, and Al-Otaibi lost his #1 jersey due to the incredible talent of Di Livio who I brought in for free last season and is now being dubbed "the new Gianluigi Buffon". 2031 MLS Draft Despite winning the MLS Cup and therefore giving myself the last pick in every round of the draft, due to trades that had occurred prior to my arrival, particularly with LAFC, I had the second overall pick this year. There were only four players deemed by scouts to be worthy of a C grade or higher, so this was very handy. I used the #2 pick to draft John Ruiz who provides cover across the entire back line, with the potential to improve and become a very good player in the league. Spoiler I then had a total of 7 draft picks left for the draft, with the first not coming back around until #28. I completed a mid-draft trade for Jose Garcia who should be challenging Pereira and Riccelli for a starting spot at centre back. I tried so hard to find someone better than him out-with the MLS, but I was rejected or missed out on a number of better players so settled with him. I was also able to get rid of 5 pointless draft picks plus a little bit of General Allocation money for him, unfortunately there's nowhere to view trade history so I can't remember how much exactly. Spoiler My last two draft picks I used were late in the first round and early in the second round, and they aren't even worth a screenshot to be honest. A fullback that can play either side, and a left midfielder, who'll both sit in the B team and only be called on in case of absolute emergency. I have made one big trade this off-season, and it was for a player I'd been after for quite a while. Atlanta United started making offers for my left winger Andrea Grosso, and I was able to package him and £3m in General Allocation money for Caleb Wiley, who is an upgrade on Laecio and a lot cheaper on wages as well. Added bonus of also being able to play left wing if required, I love a player with multiple natural positions. He does unfortunately start the season injured for the first few weeks though. Spoiler Before I acquired Wiley, I had already made my big signing and he is a natural left back, but thankfully for me he can also play right back, defensive midfielder, and I'm training him to play central midfield too. I went back to Suwon FC and brought Gaeten Ibenge stateside for his release clause of £2.9m. Giving him a taste of a central midfield role in preseason, he got five assists in four games, so it's looking promising. Spoiler And the final signing (for now) is one that I probably didn't need to make, but it's just a game, isn't it? My scouts previously informed me of Ewen Gibson, a Scottish-Ecuadorian born in Coupar Angus but playing for Barcelona (S.C, in the Ecuador ProLiga) who had been transfer listed for well below his market value. Losing Grosso in the trade to Atlanta meant I could make an excuse of needing some back-up, and he joined for a cool £140k. Spoiler So that concludes the winter window activity, but there is one pre-contract agreed for the summer. Scott Guest was attracting interest from the usual top tier English clubs, but he has agreed to join Philadelphia first and when he does I'll have yet another promising young player that could go on to big things. He is a Rangers supporting Englishman but maybe I can get back into the Scotland job quick enough to convince him to play for the good guys at the senior level. Spoiler Friendlies results have been encouraging, so hopefully hit the ground running in the league and keep up this good form. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 Well I was distracted for a fair bit of time, firstly by Queen's Park actually being exciting for the first time in forever, followed by being absolutely miserable at the end of last season, to then away from football getting so addicted to Valheim with a few mates that it has become a daily play, but over the last 2 weeks I have made time for some Football Manager and got right back into this save. So, time for a huge update... March - September 2031 MLS: Spoiler The league has been well and truly skooshed. Supporters Shield secured with 5 league games to go before the playoffs, and it was rarely in doubt this season. Some incredible performances from McAuley and Mosquera, so much so that McAuley has just signed a big new contract and I'm about to attempt negotiations with Mosquera, but I fear he may be too expensive now. MLS Draft 2032 prep - I have the first round picks of both Charlotte and Columbus, which are currently on track to be #2 and #3, so that is potentially exciting news. US Cup: Spoiler Again, skooshed. You can see why I've enjoyed getting back into this save Second bit of silverware this season including the Supporters Shield. NACL: Spoiler The big one, the whole point of the Pentagon Challenge. A quality start in the group so far, America have also won 2/2 but I think a win against LA Galaxy will be enough to see me definitely through into the next round. So that covers everything on the park, but as usual off the park I have been wheeling & dealing, and replacing ageing players with potential future stars. Going out of Philidelphia have been 31 year old Federico Pereira (Al-Faisaly for £1.1m), 35 year old Philadelphia legend Stuart Findlay (Hibs for £45k) and 32 year old Riccieli (Eibar for £2.1m). Findlay was not involved at all for me, but Pereira and Riccieli were my 2nd and 3rd choice centre backs, so I needed to make two more signings. The domestic market was terrible, so once again I had to bring in some more foreign players. Ed Hercules joined from Southampton as a free agent in July. Despite his excellent surname and some good performances already, he slots in as the 3rd choice CB for now... Spoiler ...because I have a new clear #1, although I doubt he'll be here long. I first scouted Matarr Sillah back in March, but he was demanding a Designated Player contract and I didn't have the money nor the space in the squad to accommodate that. However, I kept him on my shortlist and despite attracting attention from some big names when his contract at Atletico Madrid expired, he lowered his demands enough that I could afford to bring him in. And I'm delighted to say I have found yet another superstar, and my penchant for playing 3 hours a night but only playing two games and scouting the rest of the time has paid off. He does have a release clause of £5.25m in his contract, and I also had to waive Ewen Gibson (the Scottish-Ecuadorian player I signed for the hell of it) to free up the international player slot for him, but that's fine because Gibson was rubbish and Sillah is incredible. He'll be gone in January for sure. Spoiler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.