FM18 - The Rise of Sepsi: Romania Strong - FINISHED!!!

[Abe Sargent]

Hello folks!

I’m not sure where my love of playing teams in lesser European divisions and bringing them to the top came from.

When I began playing FM back when it was still CM, I had two stints with lesser lower profile clubs in the EPL – Ipswich first, and then Bolton. I spent a few years at each, and really tried to learn the game. Then after I had learned the systems, I dove down into lower level English football and invested a lot of time trying to bring teams like Yeovil Town, Wrexham and Carlisle up top.

It was deep into one of my final campaigns as Carlisle when I had just finished a season where they were a few spots short of the promotion playoffs for the EPL, and I got an unusual job offer for Kaiserslautern in Germany. They were offering a large kitty, and wanted to move up. I took the job, and secured one Bundesliga win during my time there, as well as really enjoyed myself.

Next dynasty, I remember this, and I decided to head somewhere hard and far away from England. I chose Ukraine. I took over FC Metalurh Zaporizhya in the Ukrainian top league and took them high.

And I was bitten.

Over the next few years I would play in Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece and such and have a lot of fun doing so. I finally decided to come home and rebuild Crewe Alexandria in England to a EPL club, and then I did Nacional da Madeira at a top flight club in Portugal, built up UD Melillia in Spain, and then took La Liga club Athletic Bilbao to the Champions cup win in its 6th year.

Now it’s time to return to basics and head back east. I want to build a club in a new Eastern European nation that isn’t exactly at the top of the football scrapheap, and turn it into a regional powerhouse.

Welcome to Romania!

[Abe Sargent]

Now, why Romania?

Great question!

The one constant in Romanian club football is change. For example, since 1960, no nation has sent more teams to play in European football than Romania, with more than 40 teams making it. There is a constant roil of teams as old teams fade and new teams are made.

For example, take the Top League: Liga One Betano. 23 teams have won the Liga One Betano. (I am going to be nicknaming it the Betano to distinguish it from other leagues with the name “Liga One”).

The winningest club is FC SB, with more than 20 titles, and they are known locally as Steaua. It and Dinamo București have really been the best two teams and have never been relegated. The rest? 99 teams have played in the Betano.

Many teams had early success in pre-WW2 and then were folded during the Iron Curtain days. Many teams were refounded in their image or changed their name.

For example, take Venus București. It was founded in 1914. It won the Liga 8 times before it folded in the last 40s. Then it was refounded in 2014. Now it’s a current team down in Liga V.

FC Petrolul Ploiesti is a bizarre case. Founded in ’24, it had 4 wins and 3 Romanian Cup victories during it’s pre WW2 era. Then it was forcibly relocated during early communism in 52 to Ploesti. In 2014 it fell to massive debt and financial issues, and was refounded by local stars and former players and currently plays in Liga II after winning very quickly. It fact, this was almost a dynasty about Ploiesti!


FC Rapid București is even weirder. It was found in 23. Won 3 times and notched 13 cups. They made it to the quarter finals of the Euro Cup in 2006. In 2016 they went bankrupt, and a lesser team, Academia Rapid purchased the rights and history of the club, and I 2018, rebranded themselves FC Rapid București. That’s bizarre.

That’s Romania.

99 teams have made it to Liga I Betano.

Modern Liga I is basically CFR Cluj and various teams from Bucharest. Cluj was lifted from obscurity with a ton of money from a new owner in the early 2000s, and has since won the Liga I four times (including the year we are about to play in FM2018.) Meanwhile, teams like Steaua, Dinamo, and others are all from Bucharest.

8 teams from Bucharest have won 61 titles. Only 38 titles have been won by the rest of the nation.

This year we have two new teams that were promoted to the Betano that have never been there. Juventus from Bucharest and ACS Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe. (Sepsi). In real life, Juve falls but Sepsi remains, and hit 12th (out of 14).

[Abe Sargent]

The Meteoric Rise of Sepsi


After a popular local team folded in the city of Sfântu Gheorghe (St. George), called Oltul Sfântu Gheorghe, due to financial difficulties, this team was founded, with the name of the old one as OSK in it’s name as the continuation of the previous team in spirit. Like a legacy team.

The best that Oltul had ever gotten was 2nd in Liga II and it missed the playoff to make it to the top.


Sepsi was founded in 2011.

Sepsi played in 2011-12 in Liga V and they won and made it out in 2012

In 2012-3, Sepsi played in Liga IV. They notched 2nd place, but lost in the playoffs.

In the 2013-14 season, Sepsi won the Liga IV outright and made it to Liga III (the winner of a lower level league just gets the #1 seed in the promotion playoffs – they made it to the final game and won in extra time penalty kicks.

In 2014-15, they finished Liga III in 3rd place, and were continuing to push themselves to greatness, expanded their stadium and such. They did not win their play-up games.

In 2015-16, they won Liga III and made it to Liga II and this was huge news for the new regional team.

In 2016-17, continuing the drive to succeed, they got 2nd place in their first year in the penultimate league, and then won promotion.

This is the first time any team from St. George will make it to top flight play.


After getting Sepsi from Liga V to I in 6 years, winning their respective division three of those times, manager Valentin Suciu was a hot commodity.

(I am editing the real life history of the club after the 2017 season to make the manager change realistic – this is all made up from here).

He was selected to replace the manager of Lviv in Ukraine’s top league, with a big wallet.


Sepsi’s board made a bold decision.

They didn’t just want to fight bravely against relegation. They didn’t want to just spin their wheels, get some financial stability, and then take their parachute payments and head back down. They had overachieved by any measure. But they made it here because they were lean and hungry. They wanted a manager who was as well.


That was Dr. Maximillian Surubaru, Ph.D....

[Abe Sargent]

Dr. Maximillian Surubaru, Ph.D.


Born in the unofficial capital of Transylvania, Cluj, Maxi was born of a blue-collar mining family here in the mountains of Transylvania. Before his earliest memory, they moved to Covasna County, a very rural part of the Carpathian Mountains. Covasna County is the second least populous county in Romania. Like most mountain peoples, they mostly lived in the valleys, and thus they lived jam-packed closer together along rivers and valleys, rather than spread out.

They lived in a small hollow up a mountain about 25 minutes from the county capital of St. George, where his father secured work at the Căpeni Coal Mine, the largest in Romania, in Baraolt.



Unlike his father, grandfather, and uncles, Maxi didn’t take to coal mining. He displayed a strong and keen sense of sporting, as well as a love of gaming. From video gaming to sports, he was drawn to the intellectual side of games. He would outthink people twice his age at board games, was the local winner of a chess tournament in St. George at 14, and more. All of the people of the hollow where he grew up were suitably proud of him and his accomplishments, and Maxi was the pride of them. Maxi played the game quite well, and was brought in at the U17 level for Romanian National team after doing well at the local club, Oltul.

At the age of 16, Maxi was offered a hot prospect contract by two Liga I clubs, Cluj and Concordia. Maxi chose to remain close to home, and went to Cluj. He played in the Cluj youth system for three years, was loaned out to lower level Romanian clubs, and was never really caught on. His greatest achievement was helping a club in Liga III get to promotion playoffs and barely losing on PKs in extra time as a loaner. He did make the U19 squad for Romania during this run.

When his contract finished, Maxi had offers from five clubs, all Liga III or IV. He didn’t want to be playing at that level as one of those “Where is Maxi now” type stories, of someone who was once on the U19 Youth Team for Romania, but never made it higher. Plus, Maxi had always been more intellectually challenged by the game, specifically tactically.

Maxi decided to leave football behind as a career, and enrolled in Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University, one of the highest rated universities in Eastern Europe, and historically a major central house of knowledge for the region, with multiple Nobel winners, and one of the great chess clubs in Europe.

Maxi’s enrollment in the major university was a big day and a holiday of sorts was declared in his small hollow as everyone gathered to see the 19 year old Maxi off.

Maxi arrived, and embraced St. Petersburg as his new home for eight years. He studied chess under former chessmaster David Bronstein who now taught there, as well as has major, Environmental Studies. He enjoyed it so much that he stayed after getting a lower level degree, and defended his dissertation and was a doctor by 25, the sixth youngest doctorate that year of the few hundred or so to get their terminal degrees.

While in the city, Maxi developed a passion for local club, Dynamo St. Petersburg, in the 2nd division of the nation. While there, Maxi’s own history for Romanian came into play, and he was welcomed into the youth development of the city’s football programs as a scout for Dynamo and Zenit, the bigger club in St. Petersburg.

Two years later, Maxi has developed into a youth coach on the side to develop skills of those here in the city, and he was really well known for teaching people the tactics and mental side of the game. Seeing his success, Zenit approached him to be a youth coach for them, teaching tactics.

Maxi’s teaching and research has reached a natural end, as the research dollars were not there for environmental studies in Eastern Europe. He moved to teach part-time and took the full-time youth couch gig for Zenit.

Three years later, Maxi was considered the best tactics coach in Russia and he was teaching the senior squad. He had stopped teaching as the money from coaching had outpaced the others, and he was the tactics coach for the senior squad at Zenit. He was involved in planning tactics for Zenit, and helped to push them to a EURO win in 2010. In 2011, Maxi was successful moving to an Assistant Manager role for another club in Russia - FC Anzhi Makhachkala. Anzhi had just been purchased by a mega-billionaire, and he was invested in heavily upgrading the staff, personnel, and infrastructure. Maxi Surubaru was one of the folks who came into a new Anzhi. In 2011/12 it finished at 5th in the Russian Premier League, then 3d in 12/13. However, serious financial issues and scandals arose, and it was relegated next year for 13/14. After that, big names and staff were let out of jobs, and Maxi lost the Assistant Manager job three years after getting it.


Maxi had been a bright rising star of Russian tactical football, but was not making any short lists for selection for another AM role.

Then Maxi saw a job open back home. And he applied for it instead. Based on his success with youth in Zenit Russia, in 2014, Maxi took over as the U19 Youth Manager for Romania. He takes over the U21 after the coach there left for Saudi Arabia.

Its 2017, and at 41, Maxi is now the manager of the U21 squad at Romania. He won qualification to the 2017, U21 Euro Championships in Poland, but lost early. But it was just the 2nd time in Romanian history that they even had made it to the final 12. He also used these years to finish his qualifications.

After winning qualification, Maxi’s name and history became a big name in Romanian football. He was the old kid come home and take the U21 national squad to success. Maxi agreed to take over newly promoted Sepsi and to push their push. After the U21 Euro Championships finished, Maxi took over the newly promoted team.

And the board looked back and smiled. They had gotten their man. He was born and lived here in the county growing up, played for their spiritual predecessor in St. George, and had been successful managing at the national club level in Romania. Dr. Maximillian Surubaru was their guy.

[Abe Sargent]

Dr. Maximillian Surubaru
Romanian/Russian
Age: 41, born in Cluj
Favorite Teams – Dinamo St. Petersburg; Zenit
Can also speak Russian, English and Ukrainian
Tactical Head Coach Style
Continental Pro License,





Active:

All Eastern European Leagues, all major other European leagues, and Brazil/Argentina


I have not played FM 17 or Fm 18, so this is a newer experience for me. Ready?

[Abe Sargent]

The Rules of Romania:

Liga I Betano:

14 clubs, 26 games.

Match Rules:

Must be one U22 Romanian in Top 11

Match Squad Must have at least four players trained in Romania

Squad Registration –

Maximum 25 players

No more than 5 EU players

EU includes both EU nations and Cotonou signees

At least four players training at Sepsi

At least eight players trained in Romania


Quals:

Top six teams are placed in playoffs for Champion play. Two make it to the Champions Cup; 3 make it to the Euro Cup.

Cluj is suspended for Euro qualifications this year

[Abe Sargent]

Here is Sepsi and St. George










Sepsi:











The Fans are known as the Székely Légió, or Szekler Legion.





JOIN THE LEGION!!!








Ready?

[thehitcat]

This looks like fun! Love the pics can't wait for you to get the preseason underway.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by thehitcat

This looks like fun! Love the pics can't wait for you to get the preseason underway.

I'm glad you like it! Join the Legion!

[Abe Sargent]

I meet with the Board:

No specific philosophies


My Assist Man:

Sebastian Moga –

His report:





As you can see, we have some serious weaknesses. We are good in defense and weak in loads of other places, and we also lack things like passing, leadership, teamwork, and such.

This is another reason that Maxi was a good choice for the squad. He brings strengths to these weaknesses

Moga will set up friendlies, and I’ll run them


We are currently 6k/week under our budget of 35k Euros.


Several players were already brought in for the new campaign, including DC Viera.

We have almost no scouts, so I look for some to bring in to the team.

I fire a bad coach

I offer scout roles to a Serbian, Portuguese, Argentinean, and Polish; Spaniard for my Chief Scout


I actually find an AssMan I like a TON more than Mora. I send Mora off on a First Day release and make an offer to:

Goran Saula, 46 year old Serbian, professional AssMan who has been the AssMan of Serbian National team, Vojvodina and others. He’ll be coming here. He’s been out of football for almost 2 years, so he is happy to come to us, and he is taking a below market deal to do so. Goran, a former Serbian international, was a whole lot better that anyone else available who was willing to come work for us.

He has a 4 star defending training, and we’re good to go there.

[Abe Sargent]

Okay, time for a deep dive into looking at muh squad

I ask the board for permission and finances to increases our scouting database to eastern Europe from Romania. They agree.

Squad:






GK Victor Rimniceanu – This is our most valuable player at 600k. 27 years old. Romanian – best stuff is aerial 15, jump 14, and such. 13 reflexes and handling, 12 1:1s, command of area, and kicking. 1 footed and not very good at technique. He’s pretty good for this level. He stated the last two years for Viitorul, and they won the Betano (Liga I) last year.

We have 3 backup GKs, none of which are big deals. My 4th string GK is 27 year old Bogdan Miron, and I might look to move him soon.



Defenders:



DC Viera, 30 years old, Ivorian, new addition to the team, str of 15; 14, 13, and 12 are the key defensive stats. 16 fitness, and his mental stats are all strong, with stuff like 16 bravery, 14 aggression, composure, 13 at concentration, determination, etc. Poor first touch.




DC Ionut Ursu, 28 year old rotation player, not great, not that fast, savvy, good on the ball, or high jumping, just average at everything. Our coaches thing Ursa is good for the next level down, and poor degermation is a problem.

DC Constantin Dima, 17 years old, came through other youth ranks, youth deal, our coaches love his potential, he’s also got good mental stats such as 12s in determination, work rate, aggression, and such. Physically he’s 13/12/12 on the main D stats, and then 12 jump, 14 fitness, 11 acc, 12 str. On loan from another Bucharest club.

I like Dima and where he might go. I hand him a shortlist.



DR Albert Damau, Spain – 25 years old, rotation player, our coaches don’t like him at all. He’s not suited for this league of play, weak in air. He has two thing we like – speed and mental stuff – determined and such.



DC/DMC Sebastian Ghinga – 30 years, old, rotation, again, he’s a Liga II player, not Liga I, he is a leader on the team. He’s not going to win any awards, but his mentals are strong. But he’s not good elsewhere.

DC/DMC / MC – Marius Burlacu, 31 year old, he has 12s for his DC stats (these are marking, tackling, and heading, btw) , low passing, not good. He has a backup role, and I congree.





Someone is happy to join Sepsi!!! (Jure!)


DC/DR, DMC, MC Jure Obsivac, Croatia, 27 years old, key player role, stamina and fitness are 16 each, and then 12s in mark, pass, and tack (10 heading), 14 determination, 15 work rate, etc. Our coaches feel that Obsivac’s major issue is finding as role on the pitch and aerial ability. He is good, according to them, at bravery and is considered a physical player





DL Daisuke Sato, 22 years old, first team, already been capped 32 times by the Philippines, our coaches think that he’s not good for this level of play, but could be. He’s technically good – 11/11 pass/cross, 12 tack, 11 technique, 12 dribbling, etc. His 15/14 speed makes him one of the fastest players we have and he has solid stamina. He has no heading, jumping, strength, and such. His work rate is 15, 14 aggression, 12s in brave, and off the ball (OTB) and 11s in position, decisions, concentration, etc.



DL Florin Dumbrava – Backup role, 22 years old, his technical stats are better than Sato’s by far. 13/12 cross/pass, 13 mark, etc. He’s also my first solid set-piece person with 15 long throws. He’s also a bit savvier than Sato as well. He doesn’t have any 15s or 14s, but he’s at at least 10 almost everywhere. But Florin is not a physically gifted footballer. 9/10 speed, 6 agi, 11 fitness, 13 stamina, 9 jumping, you get the idea.



That’s our defense. I am sure that the ream probably had, in mind for defense, Damau, Sato, Viera and then Obsivac and rotating in Ursa, Dima, Dumbrava or Ghinga in and out. I don’t like that. Only Viera owns his role, and Obsivac marks me more as a DMC than a DC. Neither of these fullbacks have crossing or passing or magic like you want out there. I just don’t see it.

[Abe Sargent]

What about my midfield?


Midfield:


DMC/MC Miloslovan Petrovic, Macedonia, 27 years old, on loan, First Team role, weak technical stats – 11 pass, 12 mark, 14 tack, nothing else of value is in double digits. 14/12 speed, 15/14 fit/stam, and no mental stat, save for leadership, that’s useful for him is below 10. Not bad for this level of play.






He’s also happy to join Sepsi!


MC Alejandro Rodriguez, Spain, 23 years old, First Team role, our coaches like him for Liga II, not good in the air or first touch, but great in other places. Technique - I like his 13 passing, 12 mark and tackling, and 11 technique, 10 first touch. Mental? I like his 13 decisions, team work, positioning, OTB, and 12 work rate, determination, aggress, anticipation, etc. For physical, he’s 11/9 fast, so yuck. He has nothing special. His highest stat is 13 fitness. I do like that he has some solid physical and technical skills defensively. He can be more of a ball control middle sort of for me.


M/AM RLC Nick Ross, Scotland,25 yeas old, backup, ummm……yuck. Wow is he not good. The best our coaches can say is that he fits in and is versatile on the pitch, playing a lot of positions. Next?






M/AM RL – Patrick Petre, First team, 20 years old, on loan, I add him to my shortlist, and such. I don’t like his lack of passing and crossing, but he’s good with other things like speed at 14/14 and 13 technique, 14 flair, determination, and such. He’s interesting.






Welcome to Sepsi, Felipe!

M/AL RL – Felipe Olivera, Portugal,33 years old, rotation, he is, technically speaking, my best middle ( I think) that I’ve seen thus far). 13/13 cross/pass, 13s in dribbling, first touch, long shots, corners. 12 technique. Just 10/9 speed, 13/13 fitness and stamina, mentally he’s good in places although not aggressive or brave. From 14 work rate and flair down to 8 brave. Not bad. I do like that he’s set piecing it up.



AMC Alexandru Chirita – 20 years old, broke his foot, hot prospect, he’s very, very green, but our coaches like his potential, but he’s the worst of the folks I’ve seen thus far. And he’s injured




He’s the best player to come through our youth ranks…

AM RLC Yasin Hamed – 17 years old, hot prospect, he is much better now and looks to be better than Chirita. He’s our best prospect. 12/13 speed, 12 agi, that’s it of note for physical, and then 11 technique and 10s in lots of other places, 12 work rate, 11 determination, flair, 12 brave, and that’s it for mentals. I might give him a few starts or subs here and there, but I’ll look to loan Chirita.






AM RLC Ibrahima Tandia, 23 years old, Mali, key player. He’s probably our third best player after Viera
and GK Rimniceanu.


Tech – 11/12 cross pass; 13 drib, 12 1st touch and technique; 11 free kick and pks,
Mentals – 14 flair, 11 off the ball, anticip, work rate, 10s in composure and concentration
Physical – 15 in acceleration, 14 in pace, agility, 12 baalne, str, fitness,

So he’s weak mentally but fine elsewhere.

Alright, now….


Attackers:


AMC, ST – Benjamin Kuku, Nigeria, 22 years old, on loan, first team (why?),

Phy – Everything is an 13 or 14 save for jump at 11

Tech – Finishing is 8, 11 dribb is the highest stat, four are at 10.

Mental? 14 work rate, 12 OTB, flair, determination, 11 brave, teamwork, 10 vision, decisions, composure

Yuck. Not a starter.

AM RL , ST – Istvan Fulop 27 years old, on loan, first team, every physical stats is 11 save for 12 speed. Tech – 13 free kick, long shots, 12 cross, dribb, first touch, technique; 11 finish and pass; mentals – 13 OTB, 12 & 11 have eight other stats.

Now Fulop is not a bad option. Better than Kuku




Yes Sir! I do have the best name in football. I’m…

AM L, ST Attila Hadnagy, 36 years old, captain, rotation rule, 14 pk, 13 tech and head, 12 finish, pass, 11 first touch, dribb; 11/12 speed, 13 jump, 12 fitness, just an 8 stamina; 18 leadership, 15 wok rate, 14 vision, deter, 13 team, concent; 12s everything else save for 8 flair.

Attila is still a monster. I see him starting over Kuku all day long.

Here’s our last first team player:






ST Marko Simonovski, 25 Macedonia, First Team, no physical stat lower than 11 or higher than 13, mentals – 14 brave, concentr, 13 aggress, decisions; 12 flair,otb, 10 vision; 14 heading, 12 PKs, technique, 11 first touch and dribbling10 finish, long, shots.

Not that great really. Why did my predecessor have three strikers with first team roles and another with rotation who’s actually the best? That makes no sense

[Abe Sargent]

DC - Viera, Obsivac
D R, L – Sato, Dalmau

ML – Tandia

MR – Oliviera

MC – Petrovic, Rodriguez

ST - Hadnagy, Fulop


And then look to rotate in players like Simonovski, Hamed, Petre, Ghinga, and such.

We brought in too many loaners that aren’t good. Like Kuku.

I’d rather sign and develop my youth than another’s.

I need savvier players, better set pieces, and more.

Now a 4-4-2 tosses Damau out there, and he ain’t that good.

I name Viera my Vice-Captain

What tactics should I use?

Let’s take a quick look at the rest of Liga I.

4-5-1 – 6

4-2-3-1 – 5 (with 2 DMCs)

4-4-2 - 2

That’s weird.

I am going to be using a 3-5-2. It’s my favorite formation. I use it all day long. And 3-5-2 works very well against various types of 4-5-1, as I have three DCs against your lone striker. I also have doubling the attack power as you, and I match your 5 middies with my 5 middies. It makes sense. You can move the ball out wider more easily, so I run my 3-5-2 with more well-rounded wingers that can play well, but a 3-5-2 should prove very useful in a world of 4-5-1.

4-5-1’s lack offensive creativity. So a 3 DC defense is arguably harder to penetrate than a 2 DC, 2 Fullback set up.

Who am I running in a 3-5-2?

DC - Viera, Obsivac, Ursu

ML – Sato

MR – Oliviera

MC – Petrovic, Rodriguez, Tandia

ST - Hadnagy, Simonovsky

That’s better. I like Sato much better at the ML spot here given how well rounded he is. Tandia moves in to an MC role that I am probably going to break out to more of an AMC one. And then we add in Ursu at DC.

I gave Rodriguez a Deep Lying Playmaker role which suits his skill set. Actually, no I think Petre is better at MR in this set up than Oliviera.

I order around 60 scouting assignments to begin.

I offer to extend three decent youthers I have on my youth team. No wordbreakers or anything out there though.


As you saw above, we don’t have a lot of transfer cash to chase folks.

[Abe Sargent]

What would I want?

A ST who can finish. A DC that’s good for a 3-5-2. An authentic AMC (all of my AMs aren’t good here.) And talent everywhere

I make an enquiry for Petre. I like him enough to develop him. Are Dinamo interested in moving him?


I can see you are making promises for folks now before signing them.

I reach out to:

18 year old Romanian ST Gabriel Dodoi, hot prospect
18 year old Romanian ST Andrei Dumiter, hot prospect
30 year old Bulgarian DC Borislav Stoychev, first team

I hit the continue button for the first time in this dynasty….

Despite the low value of the player, the team wants more than 2.4 mill for Petre. So I cancel it


Two days later, Dumiter arrives. He’s rawer, and more of a hot prospect.

I offer my 3rd string youther Gk for loan, actually I go ahead and do the 2nd one as well. I also loan Chiritia.


I make an offer to MC Mahamane Traoure of Mali, a capped Mali player.

Two days later, Borislav joins us





DC Borislav Stoychev – My first major signing. 2.3k/week, first team, Bulgarian:

Technique – 14 mark, heading, 13 tack, 11 first touch, 10 passing, PK, technique

Mentals – 14 work rate, positioning, bravery, 13 aggress, determination, decisions, etc

Phys – 10/10 speed, 15 jump, 16 fitness, 14 str and stamina, 9 agility

He is exactly what I want in an DC in a 3-5-2. Faster than your typical 7/7 guys, powerful in the air to shut down crosses, and good on tackling and marking, keys to not getting scored on. He’s muh guy.

I cancel the loan on DC Lima.

[Abe Sargent]

Ursu is concerned about being replaced but the captain talks to him and he’s fine.

My Spanish scout knows of a nasty potential DC languishing on Sevilla’s C team. We approach.

I make offers so some other youthers. I’ll let you know if they sign.

I still covet ST Dodoi and MC Mahamane.

Youth agreements:

ST Krysten Popiela, Polish, 18 years old, hot prospect.

AM RLC Emil Abaz, Macedonian, 18 years old, hot prospect

Traore joins us!



Hush Now, and join the legion!



A/MC Mahamane Traoré – 28 years old, first team, 3.7k/week, 30 caps

Physical – 14 agility, 13 pace, accel, 12 balance, stam, 10 fitness

Tech – 14 1st touch, dribb; 13 passing, technique; 12 tack, long shots, cross, 11 corners, long throws, marking, PK

Mental – 15 flair; 13 vision, 12 work rate, team, determinnation, composure; 11 OTB, anticip, 10 decisions, concentration


What’s not to like for this level? He’ll start for loanee Petrovic in the center, and I cancel his loan and send him back. I even have another Mali player, so they can connect and such.

[Abe Sargent]

I meet with my squad. We’re going to do well, and avoid relegation!

A day later, we got him:





ST Gabriel Sodoi – Romanian, on the U19 squad nationally and was known to new manager Maxi, he is pretty good as a future star. Hot prospect. 550/k week, three year deal.

Phys – 13 pace, balance, 12 agility, accel, stamina, 11 jump, 10 str, fitness

Tech – 12 finish, 11 heading, PK, 10 first touch, technique, dribbling, passing

Mental – 13 off the ball, 12 work rate, determ, 11 flair, composure, decisions, aggression, 10 bravey


I hook up Sodoi and our captain ST Attila.


He’s a good prospect for us. I cancel Kuku’s loan.

I convince my board to get more coaches, but I fail to convince them to do a Trial Day.

I hire a Romanian Coach who’s good at teaching shooting. He signs and will give us 3.5 star training there.

[Abe Sargent]

My Seven Goals for Sepsi:


1. Create a powerful U19 squad. At the beginning of this game, we didn’t have a youth squad, just three players of note and value. Youth are the lifeblood of any team. I need to go out and sign out and jumpstart a new squad.
2. To do well enough this year to not get relegated.
3. Ideally, to do well enough this year to have a winning record.
4. Next year, to move Sepsi up to the Top 6, to qualify for the Romanian Champions Playoffs.
5. In following years to increase Sepsi’s chances to make it out of Romania
6. To turn Sepsi into an Eastern European Powerhouse like Dynamo Kiev, Sparta Prague, and such
7. So secure financial footing to cement Sepsi into that role after I leave, so that Sepsi will not fade but will remain strong.

In training, Petre is lightly injured for a week.


I make an offer to transfer in Petre. He works well, he’s young, he can develop more, and he has a minimum release clause of 40k. I go to my board and the agree to make an offer for Petre.


I link up my two Gks for tutoring.



We sign Petre officially for 2.5k/week first team deal for three years

Uh oh. Romania just dropped their 2nd Champion slot!

[Abe Sargent]

We sign Petre officially for 2.5k/week first team deal for three years

We get the season expectations. For, Steer Clear of Relegation, I am offered:


Transfer Budget – 650k
Salary – 48500k

That ain’t bad. Especially if I like where my squad is at

I go to my board and ask for upgrades to training and youth facilities. They say yes to training, but not to youth. I let it slip, and a day later they announce they are expanding both.


With my cash flush situation, anyone I want to look at now I can sign folks on contracts?

I hand out about 10 trials to unsigned youth from outside of my scouting radius, like South America and Africa.

I make a few offers for depth for my U19 squad.

I sign

ML Gianmarco Grimaldi, Italy
AM RL< ST Gabriel Morbeck, Brazil
M/AM C Aron Dobos, Hungary
ST Edi Koff, Croatia
D/M R Viveros, Brazil
MC Jean Patric, Brazil (France)
MR Jones Asare, Ghana
AM/M RC Morlaye Sylla, Guinea

I’ll let you know if they ever matter


Our first friendly arrives, and we are hosting it vs Dacia. I won’t go into too many details. It’s a friendly after all. 1-1 tie.


I secure a feeder club with my board.

I sign a Russian young player who looks good for 75k. Kirill Kolenchenko. He will join us in January.


June 27 arrives and with it the home friendly vs Slavia Prague. We lose 3-1. (Sato scored)

Yasin Hamed is injured for a week from an injury from the game.

Due to club protests the 2022 World Cup is moved to Australia

We have the highest odds for relegation

[Abe Sargent]

Welcome to July!

July


1 July – Friendly vs Zrinjski
7 July – Friendly vs Austria Wien
17 July – Away vs Voluntari, Liga I
22 July – Home vs Botonsani
28 July – Away vs Viitorul
I am given the potential 4 clubs the board narrowed it to:

Sacele – Romania Liga IV
Rasnov – Romania Liga IV
Papuati = Romania Liga IV
Ozun – Romania Liga IV

Hmmmm


My choice would be Rasnov. It’s the only one that’s not a amateur club

The board agrees and Rasnov is our new affiliate

The transfer window rises

I transfer list DL Florin Dumbrava.

Friendly? We win 1-0 (score by Tandia).

[Abe Sargent]

We’ve sold a mighty 500 season tix and expect another 100 ish.


Final Friendly? We lose 2-1. (Traore to Simonovski for the score) I was hoping to strengthen them for higher level play. We’ll see if that worked.

This year is likely to be the first year in the history of our club that it’s going to have a losing season!


Their record each year:

(I can’t easily find results anywhere in English for years 1 and 3, in real life they would finish 5-4-17 for this first year in Liga I, I’m confident we’ll do better with our influx of talent. My guess is we’ll be around 7-7-10 and finish with 31 points over their 19 points. That would be enough to get you to 9 from 12.)

2012 –
2013 – 22-4-4
2014 -
2015 – 14-4-4
2016 – 22-2-2
2017 – 21-8-5






Let’s move off from the pre-season, and kick this thang off!

By the way, like most of this region of the Carpathian mountains, St. George is, considerably, more Hungarian than Romanian. It was founded in the early 1300s, used to be Hungarian, and still have more than 70% Hungarian folk living here.


I linkup Traore and Aron Dobos.

[Abe Sargent]

Game #1 – Voluntari – We aren’t expecting loads of wins this year. So starting off with one would be awesome. We are in counter for my base strategy this year, and we’ll begin that way today as well. In the first 25 minutes, we both exchange solid chances. Then off a wonderful move where six players pass the ball back and forth quickly, Hadnagy finds Simonsvski for a score in the 38th minute. They get a yellow, then another. Half. Don’t get complacent. Sato injures their winger in the 55th and he heads off. The second half, thus far, is all Voluntari. We had even shots early, and now they are 12 total to our 5. I pull Tandia for Hamed. I send in Ursu for Rodriguez and swap him and the DC Jure. I want some fresh legs. They score in the 73rd, but it’s offsides. Burlacu for Traore. A third yellow for our foes follows. Obsivac gest a yellow in extra time and….we win 1-0. We had 8 shots to their 22. We’ll take it. DC Viera was MOM. That was great lads!


Because we need a powerful youth squad, anytime someone is coming to me and saying, “Hey I’m unsigned and would love to play for you” if they are young enough, I have been offering them Trials.


I make an offer to retain:

MR Andre Franco, Portugal


Florin Dumbrava is injured for a few weeks,

[Abe Sargent]

Game #2 – Home vs Botosani. It’s downpouring rain, by the way. They score in the 6th minute. Uh oh. But we crawl back. Sato hits goal in the 15th minute. Assist by Tandia. Then they score again in the 26th, and it’s 2-1 them at the half. I send in Dodoi, who scores in the 54th minute off a Attila assist,. In goes Ursu. They grab a goal in the 78th, and we can hit again, and we lose 3-2.


Today, we were out played. We had 18 shots to their 11, and such. So, you win and lose in the same way. Still, two games in and we have 3 points. I can’t fault the results thus far.


Chiritu is aback from his broken foot. I have placed him on loan

I sign, for my youth squad:

Gk Vittorio Antonio, Italy
M RLC Hanson Boakai, Canada
D RLC, DMC Petr Rys, Czech Republic
MR Sergey Boglaevskiy (15 years old), Russia/Romania
DC Martin Kubik, Czech, 15 years old
M RLC Kick de Geode, Dutch



Game #3 – Viitorul is the current champion, so this is a dangerous game. Away at the previous champ. This spells woodshed time for Sepsi. We have a boring 0-0 first half. Although they are getting frustrated and card. At the 55 mark I send in Ursu for Tandia and pull that position to a DMC one to help with defense. At the 65 minute mark they have had 22 shots to our 7. At some point in time, they are going to crack our goal. Oliveira for Sato. They score in the 73rd. I send in my best corner, loanee Fulop. Maybe we can magically produce one on set pieces. Nope. We lose 1-0. Close. So close….


4 of my staff aer working on various coaching licenses, by the way

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

I sign, for my youth squad:

M RLC Kick de Geode, Dutch

Best.Soccername.Ever.

[Abe Sargent]

August


6th – Home vs Astra Giurgiu
11th – Home vs Medias
19th - Away vs Dinamo Bucharest
26th – Away vs IASI


We loved the training that Sato did this month

MC Rodriguez is injured and out for a few days He’ll miss the Astra Giurgiu match.

WHOA!

I just found a youther DC who’s pretty solid. One of the issues I’ve been having defensively is that while one of my best DCs by talent is not bad, he’s just not a DC, and that’s Jure. He’s not good aerially or stuff, but he’s not bad, he’s just playing in the wrong place on the pitch. I found a 16 year old Slovakian youth player who’s really, really strong, and I just made him an offer to come join us.



Game 4 – Astra Giurgiu. I am starting Ursu and moving Jure to Rodriguez’s middie position. I drop him to DMC Ball winning playmaker with support role, where he is best. In the 16th minute we score a nice goal. Sato takes a nice long shot, deflects off the keeper after he makes a great diving save to defect it, and then Simonsvski sinks it. Then they score one back in the 27th. Yuck. It’s even at the half. You can still win this! I pull out a disappointing Attilla Hadnagy for Istvan Fulop. Then in the 65th minute I pull an underwhelming Stoychev for Marius Burlacu. A goal of thiers is called off sides in the 72nd minute. Simonsvski is banged up, and I send in Gabriel Dodoi in the 81st minute. Then in the 87th minute, it happens. We score. Traore feeds a nasty ball to Fulop on an attacking run, Fulop is double marked, and he finds Dodoi. Dodoi is marked as well, and unselfishly heads the ball to an unmarked Tandia instead of trying it himself. Tandia finishes. 5 minutes of injury time ebb off the clock. Jure with a yellow We win 2-1. MOM is Patrick Petre.

Marko tore his shin and is out for a week. He’ll miss the Medias game

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Best.Soccername.Ever.

I know! How could I now sign him?


Also we had someone in our league who's name is Helio Baptista, but because the font makes "i" and "l" look very similar, it looks like his name is Hello Baptista. It's like his name is a sentence, and I shout out Hello Baptista every time I see him name.

[Poli]

I really want to get back into FM, but Eastwood folded. I'm not sure who I'd play with now!

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Poli

I really want to get back into FM, but Eastwood folded. I'm not sure who I'd play with now!

You could hit random team!

[thehitcat]

Good start! 6 points out of your first 4 games is excellent. Would love to see a screen shot of your young Slovakian DC find as well.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by thehitcat

Good start! 6 points out of your first 4 games is excellent. Would love to see a screen shot of your young Slovakian DC find as well.

Sure thing! As soon as I lock him down....


Hey if you told me we’d be at 6 points in four games, I would have taken it too.


In champions play, one of our teams took out CSKA Moscow in quals. Another lost to Plzen. Now our remaining club has to face Dinamo Kiev to get to the Group Stage.

My board refuse to increase our scouting range.

Initially I was seeing Sepsi as this great beacon of Eastern European folks, but many of them aren’t EU, like Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Macedonia, etc. So it’s been weird to make these scouting things.


I think Africa is the key to unlock success. Most sub-Saharan nations count as Contonou signees, and thus are EU for our purposes. I want to great that next great Nigerian footballer or South African hope. Plus, I won’t need the same potential to succeed as someone like AS Monaco or Celta would need for their leagues.

YES!

I got him. Jakub joins us.

Now, I couldn’t get him for a hot prospect deal, we had to sign him to First Team 2.5k, but you’ll see in a moment that was okay. Oh, and I had to spend some cash to the lower division team that had him on a youth deal to sign him off them directly.



I’ll try to give you a screenshot of any new-gen characters come across. He comes in already smashing people (he has a youth contract until later in August when he is 17 and signs his full time deal). He is, already, my best DC. His defensive stats are strong at 13/14/15. Sure, I’d like a better passing, but I’m okay with that. His jump is okay at 13, I’d like more like 14-15 or more here, but that’s fine. 12/11 speed is good for DC. Stamina? Strength? He’s fine. And he’s got a powerful bravery, as ell as good teamwork, work rate, determination, decisions, and positioning. Normally someone develops their mentals later, but he’s already good. Shoot, he might be a wonderkid that was available for cheap, although I suspect a bigger club would have grabbed him. I suspect he might be more of an “early bloomer” who’s almost as good as he’ll get, given our scout reports. But he ain’t bad, and I’ll look to move him into my rotation soon.

[thehitcat]

For 16 Jakub is stellar. And while he might be that early bloomer he looks good enough now and with a little improvement potentially for a long time in Sepsi's back line.

The Legion welcomes him along with all the other newcomers!

[Abe Sargent]

Speaking of which, now that I have him here, I want to talk about three disappointments on my team thus far:

AMC – Tandia – He scored and had an assist, but he has not looked the part. I would be willing to try it out a little longer, but…..

I am puling Tandia’s AMC spot. I don’t have a good AMC. I have good AMR and AML, but not AMCs.

Instead I am moving the AMC role to DMC, where I have a ton of talent.

DC Stoychev – He had a 6.30 rating last game, and has been the lowest rated of my DCs, and often of my entire team, in every game and friendly he has started. Urzu has been fine, so I am moving Urzu into the starting role for a bit. And then I’ll slide Jure to DMC. Expect me to give Jakub a start for the Medias game, so I can give him some match play, before moving him for the tougher away games vs heavies in the Liga I.

ST Attila Hadnagy – Sad face.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by thehitcat

For 16 Jakub is stellar. And while he might be that early bloomer he looks good enough now and with a little improvement potentially for a long time in Sepsi's back line.

The Legion welcomes him along with all the other newcomers!

Awesome! I like him too, he th'e first signing that feels like it to could push us, you now?

[Abe Sargent]

Game #5 – Medias – I am starting back Rodriguez, Sato is benched for Felipe Oliviera, and new signee is out here as well as Urzu and not Tandia. Medias is 13th right now in the league. Sodoi is getting his first start for an injured Simonsvski.

HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP.

I’m playing against my Rondon!



Mario Rondon was my starting striker over at Nacional da Madeira when I took over, and he was, again, one of my older, strong strikers that I find I can unlock well after arriving, and he was muh guy. I didn’t realize that, in real life, he came to Romania! In fact he had the most goals in a season for me for all of European top flights for Portugal’s top flight.




Here's my old dynasty if you want to check out just how awesome Rondon was for me:

https://forums.operationsports.com/f...ad.php?t=88678


After retirement, he joined my staff, worked his way up to AssMan, and then took over the team after I retired. RONDON!!!!

I am going to do everything to beat you. And then I’ll apologize afterward. I know how to stop you. I move to tackle hard, keep possession, and countering. We are going to punch Rondon in the face. Metaphorically (I hope).


Back to our normal match already underway, and Petre is knocked in the 8th minute. I decide to pull him for Tandia. It’s raining heavily. We injure two of their non-Rondon players. They collect a yellow. Half, 0-0. We have 3 shots, 2 on target, they have 3 and 0. We have 9 fouls to their 5. Beat RONDON!!!! I pull Rodriguez for Nick Ross, to see what he can do. In the 67th, Hadnagy has a perfect shot he can’t keep on target. Traore intercepts a pass dangerously, feeds Hadnagy in the box, misses. We have to get shots on target to score. I pull Hadnagy for Fulop. Game. 0-0 tie. Unlucky!



Our injury wasn’t enough to stop Petre from coming back next game. Hadnagy comes to me for a new deal. He’s on 150/week and I extend Hadnagy’s deal by a year with just a backup role for 1k/week and he accepts.

[Abe Sargent]

Morbeck arrives today on the 20th. He’s a Brazilian & Sao Tome player we signed. I give him a jersey.


Game #6 – Away vs Dinamo – This is a rough game, Dinanmo is usually one of the best teams in the league. I get my folks ready to rock. I have Stoychev back and most of my normal folks are rocking the block. Let’s just say we are not exactly favored here. They score in the 5th minute off a DFk. Yuck. Don’t want to give up set piece goals to Dinamo. We stabilize and things slow down. In the 31st, Simovsky hits Attila Hadnagy for a goal to claw us back to even. We injure one of their players and they head out. Hadnagy collects a yellow before the half and it’s all knotted 1-1 at the half. At the half, stats are even matched – 51% possession for them, 6 shots, 4 on goal for us to their 6 and 3. Keep it up! I pull us off nasty tackling. I pull an underperforming Stoychev for Jakub Palenik. Ross in for Rod. They have a strong offensive push in the 70s. We hold and they got a yellow. Then it happens. On a counter, Ross finds Simonsvski for a goal in the 84th minute. I pull to defend. I send in Dodoi for Hadnagy. Here comes Dinamo. We win 2-1! Great comeback!

In a win, Stoychev was 6.4. It’s time to rethink Stoyvchev.

I have sent folks out on loan,, inc some GKs.

For anyone I have loaned out from a non EU place, such as Brazil, I kept them in Romania to speed up their Romaniazation.

Hadnagy has begun studying for his coaching license.

[Abe Sargent]

Game #7 – Away vs Iasi - I move Palenik to start for Stoychev. I give Ross a start over Rodriguez. It’s been all us in the first 15 minutes, but no scores to show for it. It looks like a boring first half, but they slip in and score in extra time, 0-1 them at the half. Show me something else! Petre hits Simonsvski for goal in the 50th and we have tied it. Alright then lads, keep it up! Iasi is coming at us hard. I send in Burlacu for Jure Ob at DMC. Before that happens, they score. In goes Fulop for hopefully a set piece goal or something, cause we have only had one shot this half. In a minute he gets a yellow card. In the 87th, Fulop finds Simonsvski, who puts it away. I pull back to defend. Hard. Here comes five minutes of fun injury time to watch Iasi try to get that 3rd goal and…………………………………….. that’s it. 2-2 draw. MOM is Simonsvski. Nicely done to come back and draw!


On the 31st, I spend it getting folks loaned out. I also loan out Florin Dombrova who was on my transfer list. I have handed out 13 folks, which shows the strengthening of my youth squad!

[Abe Sargent]

September


Sept 9th – Away vs Cluj
Sept 17th – Home vs FCSB
Sept 23rd – Home vs Craiova
Sept 30th – Away vs Concordia

The two biggest teams to open things up, and the current #1 team to follow. This might be the toughest slate of games on the schedule. This is not going to be easy. Good training reports on Petre, ,Dodoi and Traore.




Game #8 – I start Tandia at ML tonight. Sato is very tired from international play. They score in the 12th from a rebounded shot off the crossbar. Viera booked. We calm things down and things move to a boring push and pull for the half. Unlucky! They notch another goal in the 51st. 76 seconds later another score arrives. Tandia hits Simonovski for goal in the 58th. Jakub Palenik for a 5.9 Stoychev. Burlacu in next. Palenik a yellow card. They score in the 77th. I pull Viera. No sense keeping in someone with a card. We lose 4-1. Im not happy with that!

At some point in time, you knew we were going to get shell shocked, and it just happened. To be fair, we were not dominated in terms of stats. They had 14 shots to our 12. We had 52% possession. They just scored.

[Abe Sargent]

I am moving Stoychev to rotation. Jakob is permanently moving in front of him, not Ursu.


So the book on Jakob Palenik from my coaches is that “he lacks composure and he can be hot on the pitch…” That’s probably code for some hidden stats. However he “steps up to the competition” which may also key into a hidden stat. Stoychev? “Enjoys big matches” and “is a consistent performer”. Nothing in there to key in to what it happening. He should be working.

Our U19 squad is just dominating all other Romanian youth squads. We just crushed one 7-2, and then 4-2, 3-0, 4-1, etc. We haven’t lost a game.


Game #9 – We host the team that dropped CSKA Moscow from the Champions Cup and took Dynamo Kiev to away goal tie before losing. Sato is rested and ready. Alright, let’s get this thang moving. They score quickly in the 2nd minute, but we push back hard and in a few minutes later, Jure slides the ball to Simonovski for a tying goal in the 9th. Alright. We push back and then are pushed back. In the 41st, they score again, and we go down 1-2 at the half. You gotta show me something else! They do! I sub in Tandia at ML for a struggling Petre, and then In the 58th minute, Hadnagy hits Traore for a nice breakaway goal that slides away from the defenders. Now it’s all tied up! In send in Stoychev and Dodoi replaces an injured Hadnagy. In the 89th, they score again, off a long shot blasted into the upper corner of our goal. Uh oh. I push forward. 4 extra minutes tick off…..one, two, three. At 93:06, Tandia finds Sato on the other side for a lethal attack run across all of their defenders that are marking our attacks, and Sato slips in a tying goal. We tie 3-3. MOM is Traore.

WHEW! That was a good game. I wish we got 3 points, but I’ll take 1 point against FCSB.

We have given away too many goals early.

I offered trials to 9 people who came to me this week about being unsigned.

Game #10 – Going into today’s match, we are tied with another team for 12 points and at 7th on the table. Craiova is here. Today I am starting Dodoi at ST for Hadnagy and Felipe Oliviera at MR for Petre. Craiova have won 6 matches in a row and are currently 1st. The plaudits are already coming out. The manager for Craiova was very very warm for Sepsi’s new manager for his early success. I start defending and then will open up later. They push hard against us in the first 8 minutes or so. No score, and then I send us to counter around the 18 minute mark. They score in the 33rd. We hold. Half. Oliviera has been playing lousy, so I send in Tandia for him to push our foes. They come hard, but we hold them off. In goes Burlacu and Fulop, but we aren’t scoring. Game. The stats were worse than the 1-0 scoreline, they had like 25 shots to our 7, for example.

[Abe Sargent]

I would have hoped to have gotten more than 1 point against that nasty gauntlet of teams, but we did well in games 2 and 3 of that, so we’ll be fine, I hope.

Our youth squad won 4-0 though, so hey!

Training injury by Fulop. He’ll be out for a week.

Game #11 – We face Concordia today. Concordia won a few match and are on a high note and are now sitting at 3rd. I have Hadnagy and Petre back in lights. We have an early push and Simonovski hits goal in the 3rd minute. , but then things calm down for 30 minutes. In the 38th Somonovski again hits the net for another score and then they gather one back and we are up 2-1 t the half. After, we injure one of their players and they have to come out. They get two cards. They score in the 49th, and its 2-2 tie. Petre leaps on a loose ball and scores in the 56th. On the 67th, they penalize us, and Hadnagy sinks the PK. I sub in defenders expecting Concordia is going to come after us, so I move back and prepare. They get a 3rd, and then a 4th yellow card. I move to tackle hard. We have no cards, and maybe I can get them hot. Tandia in for Sato after he gets a yellow. Game, we win 4-2. That was our first definitive win, a strong 4-2 game we dominated from beginning to end.

Tandia was injured a bit. He was knocked around a bit after sending him in. He’s out for 10 days to two weeks with a badly gashed stomach.

[Abe Sargent]

October


14 Oct – Home vs Timisoara
21 Oct -Home vs Voluntari
25 Oct – Home vs Juventus
28 Oct – Away vs Botosani

Daisuke Sato can now get forward better and more reliably after learning that in training.

Good training notes? Sato, Petre, and Dodoi.

Traore’s goal against FCSB was the Goal of the Month for the Liga.


Game #12 – We face Timisoara today. Our youth club has continued dominance. They won 6-1 earlier today. The rain is driving today, as is Sato towards goal and we score in the 21st minute after the initial and expected push by each team. Traore found Hadnagy on an attack run and he slid it to Sato for the for the goal. For the rest of the half, Timisoara only have one shot from a corner kick and we push ahead strongly. Half. 1-0 us. Don’t get complacent lads. I send in Stoychev for Palenik. Simonovski hits Hadnagy for goal in the 69th. They played back and forth music for a bit before sinking the note. Dalmau in for Ursu. Ross for a tired Sato. They get two yellows late in the 80s, clearly frustrated. We win 2-0. MOM is Traore.

Two victories with two goal differential in back to back games? Hello Romania!

[thehitcat]

18 points in 12 games. Really playing well in the last 4 or so with 7 points to show for it. All that and the last win was at home. The Legion rejoices!

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by thehitcat

18 points in 12 games. Really playing well in the last 4 or so with 7 points to show for it. All that and the last win was at home. The Legion rejoices!

And the Abe is happy to boot!

One of the things I am enjoying about FM18 a lot (and it might have been added in FM17, the last I played was a few dynasties in FM16) are the social media Twitter-ish responses to the various news items. I love it. I love seeing the reaction - "Why did we sign Jakub Palenik from abroad instead of one of our own?" Stuff like that is awesome.

[Abe Sargent]

Our coaches are raving about Dodoi’s improvements under Hadnagy’s tutelage, and with the good training and game play he is getting.

It feels weird that my youth squad just won a game 1-0. It’s like they were replaced with changelings or something.

My best signing so far has probably been Traore. He has been running that midfield. After Marko Simonovski, who, in my opinion, came out of nowhere, he is my most in-form player with a 7.23 rating. Marko has 9 goals and 2 assists in 11 gams and has been my primary goal-maker. And if you had told me that a guy with 10 finishing was going to be my lead striker…?



Game #13 – Home vs Voluntari. Tandia’s injury keeps him from playing. His injury is done, but he’s in the low 80s in condition, so I wanted to keep him away from playing. After this game, we will have played each team once in the Basano. I will start Burlacu today for Palenik. I don’t trust Stoychecv right now. Their stud player is out for a month with a damage knee, so he is not playing today. Early in the game, DMC Jure intercepts the ball, finds Sato deep on the flank, and Sato crosses to Simonovski for goal. Here comes Voluntari. They push, and we hold for the half, but they finish ahead of us statistically. Don’t get complacent! This is a team with the same number of points this year as us on the league table. Ursu with a card in the 55th. They score an equalizer in the 59th. Simonovski lofted an amazing ball to Hadnagy with a one:one shot with the keeper and he just love tapped it over. That was a killer ball. I send in Dodai for Hadnagy and Stoychev for Marius Burlacu. We have three more strong attack s leading to nice shots on goal, nothing. Palenik for Viera. He’s been my worst defender today. There it is!!! 89:49 mark, on a corner, Traore hits Ursu ‘s head for goal. 4 minutes of stoppage time added and…………..We hold and win 2-1. Great jorb lads!

[Abe Sargent]

Liga:

1. Craiova, 32 points
2. Cruj, 25
3. Botosani, 23
4. Concordia, 22
5. Us, Sepsi, 21
6. Dinamo, 20

That three game winning streak took us from 10th to 5th.

I think we’ll return to the ground soon, but other than against Cluj, I haven’t felt the talent difference between top and bottom here like I have with other teams. We have been pretty solid, not losing by much, and not winning by much either.

I am shocked at how well Simonovski is playing and how poorly Stoychev has done thus far. Simonovski now has 10 goals. He is tied with the league lead.


Game #14, Cup – Tandia is back for today’s away match against Medias. This is a Romanian Cup match that was added to our schedule. I give Ghinga a start for today’s match at DC along with Viera and Urzu. This is not a game that should match equals. We are on a 3 game winning streak, they on a 5 game losing streak. They are currently the 14th team in the league, and, well, we aren’t. So we should be able to make this one work. We know how that goes in footy though, right? Rain is cascading in droves across the stadium. It’s not a nice warm rain, but a cold one that’s the sign of winter. We are playing in their place, and the first 25 minutes melt as very little happens. At the 30:35 mark, Sate dribbles, is free of a defender, crosses to Simonovski who heads it in, but their GK jump and stops it, it lands at Hadnagy’s feet, and he puts it away. Goal. Medias….isn’t coming forward. I was expecting it. But nope. Half. I think they are playing defensive to my counter. At the half, I have 8 shots and 3 on target to their 5 and 1. Guard against complacency. They claw one back in the 47th. I send in Jakub and Ross. Tandia next. They are really having a second half awakening. I am doing everything I can to keep them out of goal again. And there it is. Mario Rondon scores in the 83rd. DAMMIT RONDON!!! Do we have another late goal magic going for us? ATTACK THAT GOAL. Nope. We lose 1-2. I’m not happy with losing to the lowest team in the league, even in a Cup match.

I sign off trials 18 year old DM/MC Noa Benniniga, Dutch. Our scouts said (he could be a little better than our best middie, Traore). I send him to muh U19 squad to continue to blow people out.

After losing to Botosano in the Cup, FCSB fired their manager. My AssMan has finished his Romanian language course.

Game #15 – Away vs Botosano is next. (The Juve match was pushed back due to Euro play). I give Ross a start for Rodroguez and Jakub is back in the lineup. Vengeance! Meh. I’m not going to bother with the play by play for this incredibly boring 0-0 game. I’ll take the point and move on. There was a 5-4 match elsewhere in Bosano. But nope, we have to yawn our way through a tie.

[Abe Sargent]

November

Nov 4 – Away vs Astra
Nov 8 – Home vs Juvenus
Nov 18 – Home vs Viitorul
Nov 25 – Home vs Dinamo

Two of the tough teams and last year’s division winner, as well as the current #7 (Astra). No easy games this month sav for Juventus, the recent promotion candidate along with us last year! Although we’d likely just lose them anyway…

Dodoi had a great training report from last month.


Game #16 – Astra time. Rodriguez and Stoychev start. They get a goal in the 9th minute, then we claw one back in the 16th. Simonovski is set up by Hadnagy. Then they score back in the 17th. And then….nothing Half. We are down 1-2. Show me something else. They have two yellows already in the first half. I try some stuff to disrupt their rhythm, get us back into the game. I pull Stoychev. Stoychev is my Lucy. I pull Rodriguez.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAA. That was an amazing strike by Traore. Best goal anyone sunk this year so far. Long, strong, proud, in the 77th minute, and brings us back to even. I suspect Astra is about to send it. Here it comes! They come, we had an amazing break option but Hadnagy couldn’t finish it off. Ghinga has a horrible back pass to the GKm, lazy, that is intercepted and on target, but our GK stops it. I send in Jakub Palenik right now for him. That was stupid. Another wasted counter in the 86th that was set up by Simonovski. 4 minutes added. We survive with a 2-2 tie. Not bad.

[Abe Sargent]

I hand out some rests to key players. But Hadnagy is too tired. I move Istvan Fulop to the starting spot for the next game.

Game #17 – Juventus is here. Sato and Palenik are out on international duty. I start Oliveira and Dalmau. We have things under control, so at the 15th, I move to control. We have a goal called offsides in the 21st by Rodriguez. A goal by Simonovski in the 33rd is called off as well. And then we can’t score. Half. Get out there! We can’t score. We can’t; score. We can’t score. 0-0 tie. Oliviera was injured and we had to pull him out.

He’s out for 4-5 weeks with a hamstring injury

Everyone is saying that the offisdes goal for Simonovski wasn’t, by the by. It was a bad call.

Our U19 team….tied…2-2. Weird.

Tandia is not happy about the lack of play, and I agree. I have moved him from key player to first team but I am playing him as a rotation player. I’ll give him some starts for Rodriguez.

On the other hand, Borislav Stoyvhev. wants to talk, and we do, and I tell him, in no uncertain terms, that the last time I gave him some starts he wasn’t good. Because he wasn’t good. I get four other players in my office upset at not letting him play. We did! I gave him 7 starts and 3 subs. In that time he is my worst DC with 6.52 rating. Meanwhile Viera is 6.74, Jakub Palenik 6.67, Urzu is 6.81 and even Jure was 6.70 in his four games there to start the season. HE HASN’T EARNED IT. Knock it off.

[Abe Sargent]

Game #18 – Viitorul is here, and with it a chance to knock this crap off. We have been underperforming for a long amount of time, so I want to grab a win before the next two tougher games. Revenge! In the 13th minute, Ursu is set off for a red card. Ouch. One goal. Two goals. Three goals. Half. Ouch. Well I sent in Stoychev, so there you are. Four goals. Yellow to Jure. We lose 4-0. And of course the media will likely blame it on Stoychev or something.

Most of my team is happy with Stoychev’s treatment – Palenik, Viera, Hadnagy, etc. He went to the press of course, and I said, in no uncertain terms, that he’s not getting first team play, and that’s that.

Much of our competition has not been doing well, and we are still 6th going into this next match


Game #19 – Dinamo Time! It’s a quiet ten minutes, and then everything explodes and goals rain down. Rodriguez hits Simonovski for goal to get started at the 12th minute, and then they score, and then again by the 21st minute. Finally, Rodriguez hits hay and scores off an IFK. And then…….nothing. No goals, no push, nothing. 2-2 tie, MOM is Rodriguez.

Again, a failed opportunity.

We are now in a 6-game winless streak.

[Abe Sargent]

December

Dec 2 – Away vs Medias
Dec 11 – Home vs Iasi
Dec 16 – Home vs Cluj


Traore’s goal was 2nd in the month for the league and we had good training by Petre.


Game #20 – Medias arrives. Ursu is back in the lineup. Can we beat Rondon? Palenik with an early yellow. We injure one of their players around the 19th. We injure one of their players. Then they score an OG for us after trying to head away a cross. 1-0 us at the half. I send out Palenik as he can sometimes get hot, and then I send out Stoychev, and then Dodoi for a tired Hadnagy and Jure Obv is pulled after he gets another yellow. We hold and win 1-0. I will take any win right now, even that mess.

[Abe Sargent]

Traore was injured for a few days, he’ll still play against Iasi. Jure is banned for next match for having too many yellows.

I extend GK Rimnicenu for a year and raise his salary to 3k.


Game #21 – Iasi – I start Burlacu at DMC. I give Fulop the start at ST for Hadnagy. Viera with an early card. I will pull him first. Tons of time just evaporated. Patrick Petre with a goal in extra time before the half. Cards by Burlacu as well, so I send in Rodriguez at DMC and Stoychev at DC. Then eventually Dodoi, but nothing. We hold and win 1-0, and Petre is MOM.


We’ll be heading to Turkey for January Training Camp.


Game #22 – We finish the year with the Cluj match, the only game where we just weren’t in it at all this season. Right now we have climbed to #4 after those two wins. I am starting Jure again at DMC. Rodriguez and Hadnagy are back as well, as I want my normal Best 11 out there. Revenge! We have the benefit of playing in St. George. I still begin my counter strategy for this year though. We get pressure early, and then a few counters, then more pressure. Then it’s the half, 0-0. Vengeance is still on the cards folks! They get a break away score in the 55th after a set piece from us failed. Four minutes later, they score again. I send in Ross, Stoychev, they score in the 78th, Sato to Hadnagy for a goal in the 83rd. Ross is injured, in heads Tandia. We lose 3-1. They didn’t dominate us. 12 shots each, we had 6 on target to their 5. They had 52% possession, 5 fouls to our 8, etc.

[Abe Sargent]

Ross pulled his hammy and is out for 10 days or so.

Oh, and by the way, with 21 games in, we are having a winning season:

8 wins
7 ties
6 defeats


Here’s the table:






As you can see, we are currently in 5th place with 5 games left before the league divides into playoffs. We finish with a five game streak that includes four away games, and games vs FCSB, Craiova, Timisoara, Concordia and Juventus. The top 6 teams play each other, and the bottom 8 play each other. We’re about to see how that works in real life for one of these sides!

[Abe Sargent]

Is there anyone on my team who I like to retain? Here are the folks with deals expiring in July, 2018

Tandia
Viera
Ross
Backup GK Beja Fejer
Ghinga
Burlacu

Ghinga is 30, Viera is 31, Fejer is 22, Burlacu is 32, and Ross 26. I am comfortable losing Ross, Fejer, Ghinga, and Burlacu without question.

I make an offer to extend Viera by one year.

I offer Tandia a squad rotation deal.

We have entered our midseason break

I plead with the board for more coaching, and after not letting them say “no” they eventually relent. I can hire another coach.

As of right now, we have low coaching for attacking, ball control, as well as just one fitness coach splitting those training sessions.


I hire Austrian fitness coach Wolfgang Striebel for 2 years. He’ll allow us to divide the aerobic and strength coaching into two sections. He has a 4 star rating in aerobic, and is just the third person at the club for offer at least a 4 star rating training (Dr. Maxi Surubaru is 4.5 stars in tactics)

Viera extends his contract.

Tandia also agrees to a squad rotation extension as well, and appears to have our previous differences behind him. His deal finishes in 2020, and extended his contract by two years.

Hadnagy finishes his first coaching course.

I go to the board and they agree to fund his next course.

I extend GK Fejer by two years.