And that's why you need depth [2028/29]

I'll show you the fixtures first.

And here's our form. We peaked exactly midway.

And here are the excuses... I mean reasons for our terrible second half of the season. The squad lacked depth beyond the starting 11 so when players started to get tired I had planned to rotate a few reserve or youth players in. Maintaining a reasonably strong team without tiring everyone out.

What actually happened was a horrible spate of injuries and difficult call ups. Fassi got injured in our 18th game I think and was out until the last two games of the season (where he was unfit anyway). Abbes got called up for the African Cup of Nations, missed games, and came back in need of a rest. I had no wingbacks to set up and take their place. Initially I used defenders who could play on that side of the pitch (DL and R).

It didn't take long for a second injury crisis to kick in though and I ended up having to use a central defender and an AMR to try and cover. They did okay but I lost a lot of attacking threat and defensive cover from the wingback positions. I couldn't switch to a normal back four either as I didn't really have the players for it.

On top of this los Riscos also ended up injured, twice, and missed a lot of the season. The games he did play he played half fit. Villia started to play more in AMC as did Fengqi when Flanagan had the ST role but it wasn't as effective as my first choice line up.

My central midfielders also ended up run ragged as there wasn't a great deal of cover for them (players that could were already covering elsewhere).

It wasn't until my final two games that I had most of my team back, though not fit.

I changed tactics for my final game to a 352 (with wingbacks) and got a good result. I'm considering using that and alternating it with my normal tactic if I could get the players to cover it. I liked the idea of having Fengqi and Flanagan both upfront at the same time.

All in the all the team did do pretty well despite this. We were predicted mid-table (13th) and got a healthy 10th and 47 pts. What's more we were only a few wins off being in the players. I know that doesn't count for a great deal in real terms but it did at least mean that if we could get some cover in and make sure we didn't flop like this again we could maybe creep into contention.

We also had some promising signs in the fact that we recorded wins over the big '2' (Panathiniakos and Olympiakos) and were only stopped from reaching the semi finals of the cup by an away goal.

End of Season Review

So a reasonable showing for our first season. The team gelled, most of the players were a success and we had a platform for next season.

The big issues were fairly easy to identify. As mentioned above we needed more depth so we needed to invest in more players. Ideally I wanted to bring in youth players and ease them in. I needed actual cover for the wingbacks, maybe some cover in midfield. I was fairly happy up front.

The next issue was slightly less obvious. Finance. I'd made some mistakes with the wages. I thought I was only just break the budget but towards the end of the season a lot of appearance clauses got activated and we ended a clear £10k over it. With more to come next season. Financially (before the end of season payouts and next season's tv money) we were almost £2m in the red. That would get pretty much wiped out but it would only get worse next season. I needed to bring players in without making the situation worse (or much worse) and hope for success or a sale. I think there'll be interest in my players but I'd need a bid for them that would make sense, on and off the pitch.

What about the player of the season? I couldn't really decided so I've just put some screenshots below of the key ones.  I think maybe Tavima just pips it but it's close.

Tavima

Fengqi

Thoniatis

 

Lehman

Villia

Helmer

Pleasing Platanias [2028/29]

Have to say I've been pleasantly surprised by Platanias and the start we had made. 17 games in, the halfway mark saw us in the top half of the table after a nice run of form. 4th place at the end of the season would put us into the European play off spots. I know I should be more concerned with survival and then reaching mid table as per the expectations but European football...

We had a few blips initially as the team settled in but the points started to come in. The team got used to each other, the tactic and many of the said they were glad that a certain player was in the team to help them settle in. I think that sped things up a little.

Some games we just lost out on in the final 10 mins. The losses to Iraklis and Xanthi for example. Our defence was pretty decent but with such a small squad we tended to tire in the 2nd half and didn't have much cover to combat it.

The squad was doing fairly well though. Fengqi was starting to find his feet up front and Tavima was really doing well. As was Thoniatis.

Villia was seeing more playing time than I'd planned from the bench as well but he was performing well. I started training him as an AMC to increase the amount of cover we had, as he seemed suited. He would run onto the ball in the pocket and cause all sorts of problems above and beyond what his stats would suggest.

I was impressed with the squad and the place in the table. It was made even more impressive, I think, by the amount we were spending on wages.

  

That meant I could add another player without feeling too guilty. I did break the wage budget to do it but Korey Flanagan was too good not to really. On a free and looked more all round than Fengqi. Fengqi scored a lot of his from balls over the defence where as Korey looked like he could do that plus more.

 

  

Second half of the season

The plan was basically more of the same. I was worried about the squad depth but there wasn't a great deal I could do. I didn't have the money to bring in extra players worth bringing in. I just had to hope that the team would stay fit and rotate where I could.

Correction

In the last post I suggested it'd be easy to become the top Cretan club but I completely missed the fact that Platanias are one of two Cretan sides in the top flight. The other is Ergotelis. There are also more in the division below that could join us later. I made it a secondary season aim to finish above Ergotelis.

This all added to my love for the current game. I've found myself researching Greek teams to get a feel for it. Always a good sign in FM.

Playing as Platanias [2028/29]

 Job Offers

I holidayed for a bit and applied for as many jobs as possible. I got quite a few offers but only some really stand out.

Udinese, Ascoli, Sampdoria, Blackpool, Zaragoza.

All apart from Blackpool were in or had at the end of the season been relegated to the second tier. Blackpool were a level below in league 1. All apart from Blackpool were pretty much spent financially and had small transfer budgets and wage budgets with no real room in them. Blackpool had a whopping £2.6m to spend plus about £10k spare in the wage budget.

They were all tempting but I held off on accepting them. They would all be high pressure in that they'd all expected promotion but with limited resources (apart from Blackpool). Success wouldn't be met with much fan fare and failure would be punished pretty quickly. That on it's own wasn't too bad but they all had recent (ish) history of top flight or cup success. I wouldn't be reshaping them I'd just be returning them. I'd also been burnt the last time I'd taken over a team in a similar position (Leeds).

I held on until...

Recently promoted to the Greek Superleague, little history silverware wise. A big gap in the wage budget and some money to spend (in a league that some players wouldn't probably come to).

I delved a bit further (wiki to the rescue) and found the team was based on the Island of Crete. This added another incentive. I could become the main power on the island and then beat the mainland. Admitted there weren't a great deal of teams to beat on Crete but I liked the flavour it would give to the game. I'd had a similar job in a previous save where I'd taken over Maritimo in Portugal. To be dominant there I'd had to beat the other Madeira team and become the power

Added to this was the fact that since 2013 only 2 teams had won the title in Greece - Panathinaikos and Olympiakos. There was a monopoly to be broken.

So I accepted.

Small stadium of 3.5k probably meant we wouldn't be making much money, and would have to sink cash into a new stadium before long but that would all be part of the club development. Same with the facilities. I did managed to get them to upgrade the coaching and recruitment after a few weeks at the club though but they were still quite low.

Expectations wise I was predicted 13th and the board wanted midtable. After looking at the standard of the players in the team and standard elsewhere it became apparent that this would be a complete rebuild job. I needed a new starting 11.

Transfers

Goal and Defence

First up with have Lehman as our keeper. He came well recommended and the name is kind of reassuring.

[Pic to come - check next update. I forgot to take one initially]

For the wingback positions I brought in Fassi and Abbes. Both aren't great defensively to be honest. The tackling leaves a lot to be desired but would do well. Fassi certainly. Abbes might need replacing next season.

For the back three I brought in 5 possible players: Marengo, Courtoglou, Baltimas, Philippe & Helmer. I had high hopes for all of them really but my starting 3 would probably be Helmer, Philppe and then Marengo as the limited defender. I think they all have the potential to develop quite well, and as only Courtoglou and Baltimas came with a transfer fee it's quite a cheap back line. Or in other words a back line full of profit.

 [Pic to come for Marengo - check next update. I forgot to take one initially. That's what happens when you sign an entire team in one go!]


Midfield

For the BWN and DLP roles I brought in 4 players: Heese, Larsson, Thoniatis and Carrera. Thoniatis cost £375k but I had a feeling he would be worth the outlay. The others all came in on a free. Larsson would be there as back up and for a little bit of experience. I didn't expected him to stay much beyond next season, he'd be replaced by a younger player.

Santi Carrera I originally looked at because his name reminded me of Santi Carzola. Different player and standard entirely but I was glad I looked at him. I think he'll be a good ball winner in the future. Heese again looked like one for the future too.

At the moment it looked like a first choice of Carrera and Thoniatis for BWN and DLP respectively.

For the two AMC slots (IF and T) I brought in 2 players. Tavima and the extravagantly named Pedro Fernandez de los Riscos. Tavima looked a bargain at only £60k.

Attack

3 players this time which would be more than enough when playing one up front, but left us a little light when we wanted to switch to two but at this point funds were getting tight. There was another striker I wanted as first choice from China but it would have taken almost £900k to get them and I just couldn't manage it.

Instead I got Villia, Fengqi and Skarlatos. I had to pay a fee for each of them but the most expensive only came in at £160k. Villia and Fengqi with a bit of training would also be able to act as cover for the AMC roles.

My first choice here was likely going to be Fengqi despite his low finishing. Skarlatos would be making his appearances from the bench or in the cup. Villia would get rotated in and gradually developed.



Tactics

I felt fairly confident that we could do well enough (meet expectations at least) with the players we had. I just needed to make sure the tactics would suit. I decided I wanted in the long run to be able to play 3 different formations but in the short term I'd only really have the players/flexibility for 2.

I decided I would use my 32221 (or 541 depending on how you look at it) or my 4312. Both would be counterattacking initially and would try and play on the fact that as a relative underdog teams would be attacking me. So I could catch them on the break.

I would start with the 32221 and then ease into the other tactic for cup games or against smaller teams once the players were comfortable with it. It would give me some tactical flexibility without demanding a bigger or more talented squad. Next season all things being well I'd bring in some youth wingers/AML&R to allow me to play a  41221 at times.

The Season

So I was fairly confident of getting midtable but there were some potential issues I could see already.

1) Lots of new players - We had a new starting eleven and then some. That many new players will throw the team cohesion out completely and will take a while to actually mesh. I needed them to do this sooner rather than later. If it took too long then we'd find ourselves at the wrong end of the table.

2) Lots of different languages - A knock on effect of point 1 really. We had quite a few different nationalities so there was a language issue. Greek, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish, Chinese and French all in the first team. Some players had more than one which would help and everyone, aside from Fengqi had another team mate from the same country or who spoke the same language.

3) All spent up - All my transfer budget was gone and I didn't have much room left in the wage budget. If I needed another player I might be able to squeeze one in or break the budget slightly but that would be it. I had to hope that the team would be good enough, and injury free enough. I had back up players in the form of the Greek players already there but they weren't great.

I was happy though and I'm looking forward to the adventure at Platanias!

Oh... and as is tradition I thought I'd make some kits for them.

Home

Away

3rd Kit

No sponsors as I thought I'd leave that off until they get a new sponsorship deal. In the meantime I'll just assume that due to the harsh economic climate they are sponsorless.

False Start [2028]

Well I gave it a go but my heart wasn't in it. After 7 games in the premiership with Vasteras, despite being in a healthy 13th place, I decided to resign.

Things weren't bad but I wasn't enjoying it. To be fair this was my 12th or 13th season in Sweden so a change of scenery was probably about due.  I was also struggling with the fact that we had become a default selling club but the players weren't raising much even by Swedish standards, and there was little to reinvest it in. The facility upgrades cost too much and players just weren't interested, even those from lower down (not without a big price tag).

So I left. Head held reasonably high. Two promotions with Vasteras. All the way from the 3rd tier to the 1st on a shoestring. It had been fun, but it was time to go.

Where next?

Well I'd like a bigger club in a bigger league. Ideally a club without a great deal of history (silverware wise) or a league where there was a monopoly on the title that hadn't been broken for some time. I wanted the difficult balance of potential for building yet a size that meant I wouldn't be a complete minnow. Which league or country I didn't really mind.

At this point I had leagues loaded in England, Scotland, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Greece, Turkey, Portugal and Holland. Some only the top flight but there was plenty of places to go. I also didn't mind revisting somewhere I'd been before.

Career Recap

I would just put up the club history from the manager profile but it is horribly broken, and one of the few things in FM13 that really disappoints me. For someone playing a long career a working club history screen would be fantastic.

So I've broke it down into some key information. I think I'm at that the definite journeyman stage. Several clubs, some limited success. Silverware is silverware though.

Clubs Managed: 8

Oskarshamn
Eskilstuna City
Leeds
Aberdeen
Houstan Dynamo
Boavista
Degerfors
Vasteras SK

Countries Managed: 2

Republic of Ireland u19's (and 1 Republic of Ireland Senior game as caretaker!)
Morocco

Countries Managed In: 7

Sweden
England
Scotland
USA
Portugal
Ireland
Morocco

Silverware: 5

Swedish Second Division SS Title
Swedish First Division North Title (X2)
Scottish First Division Title
Scottish Challenge Cup

Prophecy Lite? [2027]

With 5 games to go the title seemed unlikely, although not impossible. We were in the fight for automatic promotion or a playoff just like last season though. So in a way we seemed to be potentially fulfilling a 'lite' version of the prophecy - 3rd place finishes leading to some sort of success the season after.

Our form at the end wasn't anything special but we held onto 3rd place to grab a playoff spot for the 2nd season running. At this point I should be pleased. We had performed above expectations, well above, two seasons running considering we had one of the lowest reps and smallest budgets in the league. All this alongside having to sell our two best players. But honestly I was just nervous. Losing in the playoffs would crush me.

This season we had Brage, who had gone up last year. Probably the best opponents we could get from our point of view.

Playoffs

Two goals and a clean sheet put us in a commanding position against a team that looked ordinary. We then followed it up with a 1-1 draw away. They went ahead and we didn't equalise until the 89th minute through Broberg, again, so it looked a little dodgy at times.

But that was it we had been promoted to the Swedish top flight!

In the process I managed to get the Manager of the Year award too. Not bad, not bad at all.

End of Season Review

We had definitely punched above our weight. The team pulled together well though despite the loss of key players. The new players in didn't quite fill the gap but it was enough.

I'll be honest I don't have a great deal of confidence for next year. We've done well against top flight sides in the cup, or even relegated sides but the squad is small, young and doesn't have very many players that I would consider top flight. They are all very replaceable players (Sorry Wallinder!) but the problem for me (not for them) is I doubt I can bring many decent replacements in. Our rep is lagging behind us, we're not very rich and the players that are interested have inflated prices.

I'll do what I can and see how we performed. But I think relegation straight back down is on the cards, and I'm not attached enough to the club for that. I'll be keeping an eye out for opportunities elsewhere.

Steady as she goes: Consistency for Vasteras [2027]

I had been a bit doom and gloom before with the sale of Wallgren but it seemed a little premature. Despite losing his goals the rest of the team stepped up. I don't think anyone took over directly but the extra goals got spread around. We weren't quite making up for the loss but our goal difference improved as the defence tightened up a little - so overall there was an improvement.

4th wasn't bad at this stage.

A potential hiccup arose though. Posing the same question as before. Would we push for promotion or become a selling club? Bids came in from all over for Alexandersson. I was hoping we could sell and still push for promotion.

I managed to offload him for £250k and another 30% sell on. The money got reinvested fast. First of all the board agreed to improve the youth facilities for £350k and then I brought in three players.

Jijdso and Niscosia for the AMC and ST role - young and promising but pricey. Holmberg was proven at the leve below, and whilst not cheap would hopefully shore things up front whilsts we got on without Alexandersson.

The sale demonstrated something a little worrying as well. Qviding had £250k to waste on a single player. They were in the same division and much lower. Mid-table Elite mediocrity was their standard at the moment yet they had much more financial muscle then we could hope to have at this stage. We were very much minnows.