Career Scratch Tries: Facundo Colidio 1KC [Season 24] - FINISHED

[Scratch]

1 minute ago, Taff said:

Getting close dude, but whatever happens you have done amazing work

Thanks mate, but really starting to be a struggle now. Got no time which doesn't help...  But will keep on, come to far to not give it a go now...

 

[Scratch]

Err @Taff I'm just catching up with your MRI challenge and you keep apologising for the delay in posting - it's less than a week each time! That's not a delay, THIS is a delay... More than 2 weeks for this one... 

[Taff]

I just don't like keeping my fans waiting 

 

[Scratch]

1 hour ago, Taff said:

I just don't like keeping my fans waiting 

 

Hehe, see that's the difference - you **have** fans!  

Seriously though, I'm just really struggling at the moment, partly because of work and other things, but partly because this has gone on so long I really need a break from it! Will keep on going, but better issue a blanket "sorry I suck at making timely updates" apology right now...

[Taff]

I'm the same, every time I load the save I just think, "Oh god this again" but IF I make it I will be over the moon, it's a lot of work to not get anything out of it

[Scratch]

2 minutes ago, Taff said:

I'm the same, every time I load the save I just think, "Oh god this again" but IF I make it I will be over the moon, it's a lot of work to not get anything out of it

Haha, that's exactly it! Don't worry we both got this! 

[Taff]

LET'S DO IT 

[Mr.Manager]

Great work as always @scratch99. Isn't there a 200 international goals challenge? You're not far off that! 

I know what you mean about finding the time to put updates in - I've fallen behind on my Monchengladbach one too.

I, for one, really enjoy the amount of detail that you put in to every season, so i'm happy to wait for each one. Better to have great but sporadic seasons rather than more frequent, rushed ones.

 

[Scratch]

1 minute ago, Mr.Manager said:

Great work as always @scratch99. Isn't there a 200 international goals challenge? You're not far off that! 

I know what you mean about finding the time to put updates in - I've fallen behind on my Monchengladbach one too.

I, for one, really enjoy the amount of detail that you put in to every season, so i'm happy to wait for each one. Better to have great but sporadic seasons rather than more frequent, rushed ones.

 

Thanks mate! I think there is an ITN goal challenge somewhere, but can't remember exactly what that is. I'll have to check it out if he makes it that close. I'm sort of waiting for a big drop off sometime time soon, so don't want to jinx myself by getting too greedy! 

Especially thanks for the kind words about my updates! Much appreciated. I do think they aren't as detailed as last year, but I try to at least get them to a certain level. I also love reading your updates, superb stuff mate - but that does brings me to this:

The thing I feel worst about isn't the slow updates I'm making, but the fact that I haven't had time to read all the great careers you're all doing. I'm trying to catch up a little tonight, but I will still be so far behind.... 

Doesn't mean I don't appreciate you all. I'll be back supporting you all sometime soon.

[Scratch]

Update - Season 20

Well, here we are in Season 20. Congratulations if you're still reading this after so long.

The 'good' news is we're not done yet! There are plenty more seasons in line for your reading pleasure. First things first however - let's see what happened in Season 20!

 

Transfers, etc

Spoiler

A couple of very good players left this season:

• Gil was only 22, but was probably the best right back I've had at the club. Unfortunately he was also high maintenance and alienated his teammates and he ended up hating me for some reason. I was always nice to him, honest!

• El Ghazi was my main centre back for many years and was only 29, but a) we had too many players; b) the youngsters had caught up to him; and c) an offer came in. Here's your gold watch!

 

Competitions

We won everything domestically again this year, but scored many less goals than we used to.

Spoiler

 

 

Elsewhere: We won the European Super Cup, the Club World Championship and the Champions League.

Spoiler

 

 

You won't notice Colidio's name in those screenshots much. At this point I'm resting him for the Champions League games and keeping him fresh for the easier SPL games.

 

Development & Awards

This is what Colidio looked like at the end of last season, followed by what he looks like at the end of this season:

Not a huge degradation, but he did lose a point across Shooting, Movement and Decision, which I consider the most important ones for a goal scorer, especially now he's playing as Poacher again (most of his career was as a Complete Forward). His first red appeared too...

He still had enough in the tank to win this 14th World Player of the Year, but I'm starting to think this might be it:

Unfortunately this has become a common occurrence at ITN level (no bloody respect, I tell you!):

 

Injuries & Suspensions

The little injuries are starting to crop up more regularly now (following on from last season).

Colidio was out for 3 weeks (or actually about 5 weeks) in February:

Then he missed the final 3 games of the season after being "out for a few days":

And there was another injury in July, but that will have to wait until next season's update...

 

Goals

Colidio is really slowing down, but he can still manage the odd quadruple:

Spoiler

At the club level, he scored 37 goals in 46 appearances:

The ratio has really dropped (and I guess will continue to do so)...

 

ITN Goals

Colidio started the season with 164 ITN goals (9 scored before I took over):

By the end of the season, he'd scored another 10 goals (in 9 games) at ITN level:

That's not bad! I'm not sure why the press is complaining about his inclusion...

 

Progress

36 years old (EOY)	Season	Total
Club Goals	37	1209
ITN Goals	10	165
Totals	47	1374

 

The Future

Colidio has 126 goals to go to make it to 1.5K. Looks so close, but he is really slowing down. Only 47 goals this year. That means we can probably expect maybe 35 next year?

At that sort of rate of decline this will take another 5 or 6 seasons... I'm not sure we have enough time left.

 

Edited March 20, 2018 by scratch99

[Mr.Manager]

Ha those international press are a joke - can you imagine the Portuguese press questioning the inclusion of WPOTY Cristiano Ronaldo?? 47 goals isn't bad at this stage, although you can really see the slow down.

I see he's still got a fair few years left on his contract. Have you been trying to tie him down to the longest ones possible?

[Scratch]

18 minutes ago, Mr.Manager said:

Ha those international press are a joke - can you imagine the Portuguese press questioning the inclusion of WPOTY Cristiano Ronaldo?? 47 goals isn't bad at this stage, although you can really see the slow down.

I see he's still got a fair few years left on his contract. Have you been trying to tie him down to the longest ones possible?

I was trying to tie him down by renewing it every year, but didn't do it this year. I actually went and found out his release value - 15.5M and they were willing to let me do it (never seen them willing when it's that high before). I'm just wondering how he'd go in the Scottish championship...

I almost certainly won't do that though, as it's too big a risk that he won't sign. He would if I used some of those second chance tactics (or took Celtic down), but I won't do that here. So I'll probably offer him another contract next year. 

BTW he's only a season or two away from 1000 games for Celtic, so I better stick around for that

[PriZe]

The dedication to this career!  Come on Facundo grant @scratch99 his 1.5K!!!!

[FuddledFox]

Crossing all my fingers that he can get that 1.5k for you.

[Scratch]

14 hours ago, PriZe said:

The dedication to this career!  Come on Facundo grant @scratch99 his 1.5K!!!!

Thanks mate... He better bloody well do it after all these months!!

[Scratch]

14 hours ago, FuddledFox said:

Crossing all my fingers that he can get that 1.5k for you.

Thanks FF! Hoping he does it too, and soon, had stopped thinking about FM2018 but now fired up to go give Oxford United a whirl...

[Scratch]

Update - Season 21

First off, sorry for the delay in posting. I finished this season a week or two ago but I'm not getting any writing time at the moment (I can still squeeze in a little playing time).

Anyway, let's get on with it!

 

Transfers, etc

Spoiler

Aquilani, a exceedingly promising 20 year old central midfielder, came in, while lots of very good players went out:

• Fischer had been a starting central midfielder for several seasons, with 20s in Creativity and Passing, but had turned 31 and a £66M bid was too much to turn down (not that I can spend the money, but he was starting to wilt and we had up and comers who needed game time).

• Donnarumma. Love him, but his attributes were way down and I had two players I needed to play (my Argentinian keeper and a young Scottish keeper with 20s across Arial, Agility, Handling and Reflexes).

• da Silva was my starting left back for 8 years or so, a truly excellent player that provided loads of assists, but his time was up.

• Kroos was perhaps the unluckiest centre back to ever play for me. He had greens all over the place, definitely in the top 2 centre backs at the club, but I had 3 very promising youngsters and a very good Scottish centre back I wanted to keep, so he didn't play. I couldn't sell him, so he spent 3 or 4 years on the sidelines. Poor bloke.

 

Competitions

We won everything domestically again this year and didn't do too badly all things considered, but our 77 game unbeaten run came to an end.

Spoiler

 

 

Elsewhere: We won the European Super Cup, the Club World Championship and the Champions League.

Spoiler

 

 

 

Injuries & Suspensions

An chest injury in the off season wasn't a great start to the season. He missed the first few games as a result. I've told him to lay off chest bumping...

December saw him get proper injury (knee cap), which meant he was out for 3 months.

He was injured again in March, but fortunately it was a ghost injury (nothing in the inbox about it).

 

Development & Awards

This is what Colidio looked like at the end of last season, followed by what he looks like at the end of this season:

His attacking skills held up well, but his physical attributes are looking worrying, especially that 3 point loss in Pace. I guess those injuries took a toll.

As for awards, those days are now over. Still, 14 World Player of the Year awards was a good run...

 

Goals

At club level, Colidio scored 25 goals in 31 appearances:

The ratio held up compared to last year, which was great, but he missed so many games because of injury.

 

ITN Goals

Colidio started the season with 174 ITN goals (9 scored before I took over):

By the end of the season, he'd scored another 6 goals (in 9 games) at ITN level:

 

Progress

37 years old (EOY)	Season	Total
Club Goals	25	1234
ITN Goals	6	171
Totals	31	1405

 

The Future

Colidio only has 95 goals to go to make it to 1.5K. He's 37 and fading, but he hasn't mentioned retirement and he's still scoring okay when I can get him on the pitch.

That's going to be the key. If he can play most of next season and keep that goal scoring ratio up, then we may just get close enough that 1.5K is realistic. Another injury affected season and I'll have to start thinking it's unlikely.

 

Edited April 6, 2018 by scratch99

[Scratch]

Update - Season 22

Only a few more seasons left now and I'm picking up the pace a little (two updates in a week!). I can see the end in sight now, one way or another.

 

Transfers, etc

Spoiler

A few more promising youngsters in, a few aging and/or borderline players out. A few of the departures were notable though:

• Bernard Anicio etc etc - our starting left winger for the last 10 years or so, who provided 20 - 35 assists every year.

• Javier Castro - a central midfielder that I converted to right back, who provided 15 assists every year for 12 years or so. I've had two players with this name for years now, but this one is the original and will be missed.

• Erik Bielsa - our starting left back for the last couple of years (since our previous starter left). He never quite made the most of the opportunity though.

• And... Matthew Cronin - yep, time for my son to move on... A good player, but not quite good enough for this version of Celtic. Screenshot of him below.

Spoiler

 

You what?!

Just as the season was finishing, I saw this in my Inbox and fell off my chair:

Took me a few moments to realise it was the other Facundo Colidio (a youngster at Independiente), rather than my one. Had to lie down for a bit after that.

 

Competitions

We won everything domestically again this year (never a doubt). A brace for Colidio in the Betfred Cup Final was some nice icing... Scored in the Scottish Cup Final as well. Still some goals in this lad yet!

Spoiler

 

 

Elsewhere: We won the European Super Cup, the Club World Championship BUT we were knocked out of the Champions League at the Semi Final stage by Athletico Madrid. Can't remember the last time we didn't win it, so it was a bit of a shock! Goes to show we're human after all...

Spoiler

 

 

At the ITN level, it was a World Cup year and we won it. That's only the second time we've done it, so we've underachieved a little.

Spoiler

 

 

It looks like we had an incredibly easy path with Norway, Tunisia and Thailand in the group stages, followed by Iran, Mexico, Scotland and Australia, but let's look at the rankings in 2038 (before the World Cup was over so not taking that into account):

Spoiler

Yep, 5 of those 7 countries are in the top 12, so not as easy as it seems!

 

Injuries

After last year's injury problems, I was thrilled that Colidio made it through this season unscathed. He ended quite a few games with low condition after receiving knocks, but no real injuries. Long may it last!

 

Development

This is what Colidio looked like at the end of last season, followed by what he looks like at the end of this season:

His attacking skills held up well again and are actually pretty good for 38 year old. His physical attributes are worrying though, especially his Pace and Stamina. His Teamwork shot up 4 points for some reason!

For the record, this is what Adam Armstrong looked like at 38 years of age in my previous 1KC:

Colidio is holding up so much better than him, especially in the critical areas of Shooting, Movement, Decisions, etc, and it shows in the number of goals he's getting compared to Armstrong at the same age.

 

Goals

At club level, Colidio scored 35 goals in 50 appearances:

The ratio dropped compared to last year, but 35 goals is way more than I was expecting at this point, giving me hope for the 1.5KC. The quadruples and hat-tricks seem to have ended, but braces are still common (maybe 6 this season) and although he has dry patches, he still scores in a lot of games.

 

ITN Goals

Colidio started the season with 180 ITN goals (9 scored before I took over):

By the end of the season (screenshot from August because I forgot), he'd scored another 6 goals (in 12 games) at ITN level:

 

Progress

38 years old (EOY)	Season	Total
Club Goals	35	1269
ITN Goals	6	177
Totals	41	1446

 

The Future

Colidio only has 54 goals to go to make it to 1.5K. He's 38 now, but still hasn't mentioned retirement and he's still scoring well for his age. If he can score at similar levels next year, we'll be within sniffing distance.

Injury is the dark cloud that looms as a threat, but if he can avoid that, I think he's nailed on to make it.

One thing I'm considering is playing him less. He played in 62 games this season, which was incredible, but for the last few seasons he's scored a lot in the first couple of months, then dropped right off. Some of that can be explained by decreasing attributes, but I'm willing to bet some of it is lack of freshness.

Anyway, on to season 23!

 

Edited April 11, 2018 by scratch99

[Nucleus]

Damn  just caught up this! What a journey mate! That 1.5k is so close now! One more season and a bit to smash it I reckon! Good luck!

[Scratch]

5 hours ago, NucleusNT said:

Damn  just caught up this! What a journey mate! That 1.5k is so close now! One more season and a bit to smash it I reckon! Good luck!

Thanks mate! I've been playing this for 6 months now...  I've always been a slow player (my first 1KC was 2 and half months I think), but this is ridiculous. Just no time. Some days I'll only get a couple of games done.

Anyway, it's looking good. Just got to Xmas and his ratio has gone up! It's not supposed to work like that is it? But I'll take it. I don't think he can make it this season, but he should be real close (if he doesn't get injured). 

[Scratch]

Update - Season 23

Only 54 goals to go to reach 1.5K. In his prime, Colidio would have blown past that in January, but at 38, it'll probably take him a couple of years. Let's see how close he gets this season.

 

Transfers, etc

Spoiler

Only one big name departure this year: 31 year old Robert Lang, a central midfielder who was on on the edge for many years, but settled into the team in the last few years. He was our biggest assist provider last year, but his attributes started to decline over the off-season, so time to say goodbye.

 

Retirement

Just as the season was kicking off, Colidio announced that this would be his last season!

Damn, 54 goals in one season is gonna be too hard. Fortunately, I talked him into continuing for another year.

Phew... But now that he's started thinking about life after football, this is likely to become a regular conversation.

 

Competitions

We won everything domestically again this year (never a doubt). A brace for Colidio in the Betfred Cup Final for the second year running - he likes the big occasions. We wrapped the league up on the 6th Feb, which around the best I've ever done. I thought this team was supposed to be in decline!

Spoiler

 

 

Elsewhere: No European Super Cup or Club World Championship this year. We won the Champions League, though, so we'll return to those competitions next year.

Spoiler

 

 

At the ITN level, we won the Copa America again, but the final was tight. We dominated, but it was 2-2 near the end. Messi (not the real one, but very good) had a 90th minute winner disallowed, but went on to score the winner in extra time.

Spoiler

 

Injuries

I thought Colidio was in line for another injury free year, but he picked up a 3 week injury in May. This meant he missed the last 3 club games and the first 4 Copa America games (he made it back for the later rounds).

 

Development

This is what Colidio looked like at the end of last season, followed by what he looks like at the end of this season:

Once again, he's held up pretty well - but that isn't showing the full picture. For most of the season he was even better than he was last year. Not much (+1 in Movement, Decisions, Pace, Stamina), but it all counts. He went up and down a few times, but mostly stayed at the higher level, before dipping at the end.

 

Awards

Just when I'd packed away the awards section, Colidio goes and gets runner up in the World Player of the year award! Not bad for a 38 year old.

He also won the Premiership Player of the year too (see screenshot in the injury section above). I've never reported those before (there were many!), but this one is worth mentioning at 38 years of age.

 

Goals

He managed a hat-trick this year, albeit one with a penalty:

At club level, Colidio scored 40 goals in 48 appearances:

That's the best ratio in years!! It should be getting worse... But, well, I'm not going to complain about it am I?

 

ITN Goals

Colidio started the season with 186 ITN goals (9 scored before I took over):

By the end of the season, he'd scored another 7 goals (in 9 games) at ITN level:

 

Progress

39 years old (EOY)	Season	Total
Club Goals	40	1309
ITN Goals	7	184
Totals	47	1493

 

The Future

Colidio only has 7 goals to go to make it to 1.5K. He's 39, but it's nailed on now!!

 

Edited April 16, 2018 by scratch99
Spacing dammit!

[Scratch]

Update - Season 24

It all seemed so simple at the end of last season:

Colidio only has 7 goals to go to make it to 1.5K. He's 39, but it's nailed on now!!

Literally days later:

So... It's over... 7 measly goals to go.... If ever there was a time I was tempted to reload, it was right then.

 

Final Total

Here's the final total. I won't repeat the screenshots from above. It's all right there in the previous post.

39 years old	Total
Club Goals	1309
ITN Goals	184
Totals	1493

 

The Future

Colidio has already boarded his plane and headed back home to Argentina. He'll always be welcome in Glasgow (one side of it anyway), but he's not the sentimental type. He's made his decision and moved on.

As for me... I'm not sure. I've been playing this career for 6 months and it's going to leave a hole... That said, I've very busy right now and I'm a bit burnt out. Don't expect another long career from me for a while.

I may finally jump into FMM 2018 and start a general team building career with Oxford United (that's been my plan for a while), but I probably won't write about that. Or I may have a break for a while...

Either way, I'll be back eventually, but I'll see you round on the forums in the meantime! Thanks for reading!  

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2018 by scratch99

[macmole]

Thanks for another entertaining journey. Shame about the retirement but well done

[FuddledFox]

Talk about gutted! All those seasons and he couldn't hang on for a few more games to get those 7 goals for you?

This has been one hell of a journey and you have done so well. Not just with the challenge but to resist the temptation of FMM18. Look forward to seeing what you come up with next.

[Scratch]

2 hours ago, macmole said:

Thanks for another entertaining journey. Shame about the retirement but well done

Thanks! Yeah, I'm slowly getting over the shock ending. I went from thinking I had no chance of getting to 1.5K, to believing I was there already, so it was a bit gutting. Now, I'm slowly realising I'm free, free at last!!!  

[Scratch]

2 hours ago, Foxy said:

Talk about gutted! All those seasons and he couldn't hang on for a few more games to get those 7 goals for you?

This has been one hell of a journey and you have done so well. Not just with the challenge but to resist the temptation of FMM18. Look forward to seeing what you come up with next.

Yeah, that was my initial reaction. Like I said in the previous comment, I went from thinking it was a no chance thing, to it being nailed on (I thought), so it was a gut punch... At one point I thought he might even make it last season, then he lost 7 games near the end due to injury. 7 goals in 7 games? Maybe not at this point, but it would have been close... Anyway, done is done...

I actually fired up FMM18 before and just for fun started a career unemployed. Got a job with Bognor Regis who I had in the second chances career last year and hired Teddy Sheringham as my coach... Half tempted to go with it rather than the U's idea (although I still like that). Was really happy the lagging that was there (Android) in previous versions is now gone.

Realistically, though I'll probably have a little break. I have other games that I bought and never played that I might check out. Might have a short detour into Motorsport Manager 2 for a start. But we'll see. I have that heady feeling now of not having anything before me and being able to choose my own direction. 

Thanks for all your support throughout this long journey, it's been much appreciated! Kept me going when most everyone else had moved over to the FMM18 forum. 

[Taff]

OH Dude, I am just so gutted for you 7 measly goals, but you can't knock the boy he has had an amazing career and to claim runner up in the WPOTY at 38 is amazing

You have thrilled us all with this one and I'm a little sad that the ride is over, but hell if anyone deserves a break it's you and Colidio

Amazing work mate, well done

[Scratch]

1 hour ago, Taff said:

OH Dude, I am just so gutted for you 7 measly goals, but you can't knock the boy he has had an amazing career and to claim runner up in the WPOTY at 38 is amazing

You have thrilled us all with this one and I'm a little sad that the ride is over, but hell if anyone deserves a break it's you and Colidio

Amazing work mate, well done

Thanks mate! Really appreciate the support you've shown through this long career - even when I haven't had time to comment much on your careers.   Much much appreciated. 

And yeah, 7 goals short... 7. I mean really... 7! But you're right Colidio has been awesome for me and I can't get too angry at the bloke...

[Taff]

39 minutes ago, scratch99 said:

I can't get too angry at the bloke...

It's ok to get a little angry 

[Scratch]

8 minutes ago, Taff said:

It's ok to get a little angry 

Well I did for a little while. I mean he skipped town and wouldn't answer my damn calls! But then I had a few drinks and looked back on what we achieved together, then a few more drinks and well, maybe a few more and I realised I love the guy...