Career (COMPLETE) Athengers Assemble! (A Greek TT)

[Aaron Thornton]

Hello and welcome to my latest career, this is going to be ambitious, my first Triple Threat attempt this year, combined with the Greek gods I've chosen will make this an interesting one for sure. Im very prepared for failure and hopeful for success, without further ado, here's the breakdown:

 

The team I've chosen if you didn't guess from the title is:

Olympiakos of course! The most successful club in Greek footballing history, they're famous Red and White stripes recognisable worldwide. 

 

My tactic at least to begin with will be this:

A 2-5-3 that should create plenty of chances for our very own Athengers, the Wide Mids will be vital for us, they need to keep the width and provide pinpoint crosses when required, the creative spark should be provided by the AP and the BBM will be a very taxing role, but they will be vital in transition and getting forward to cause overloads in the half spaces. 

 

The Players I've chosen to tackle this mountain will be:

Giorgios Vasiltsis! Who is 17 years young so development should be frequent, but that Movement, Stamina, Strength, Aerial and Shooting need some serious attention. He does have 13 for Technique though which should help a lot. 

Spyros Troboukis! Again 17 years of age, with a lot of attribute focus required all over really, he's much more of a Target Man type, so that should stand him good stead being the middle forward, with two more mobile forwards on each side of him. 

Giorgios Koutsias! The youngest of the lot at just 16, I've high hopes for this guy, very well balanced and should have at least 18 years in the tank to topple this huge structure I've decided to bestow upon myself, a lot of his key attributes are blue already with more being just 1 or 2 points away from the blue. I see Koutsias being the star of the bunch. 

 

Well that's the introduction, I hope you guys can follow along with me on this journey and provide some motivational speeches when the going gets tough. I'm nervous and excited to get going. Thanks for reading. 😁😬

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by Aaron Thornton

[Rich]

Ohhh this should be an interesting one, the boys don’t look great at the moment, hope they improve a lot and fast 🤣

[Aaron Thornton]

Just now, RichD said:

Ohhh this should be an interesting one, the boys don’t look great at the moment, hope they improve a lot and fast 🤣

They're gonna need to start fast and furious 😂 mind you before a ball has even been kicked, Koutsias is out for 2 months, I need some favour with the FM gods, never mind the Greek Gods 🤣

[Kun Aguero]

That guy with the 4 stamina 😂

Good luck! Really like the name "Athengers" 😄!

[fotakis276718]

Good luck man!! From a Panathinaikos' fan!! 😀😀

[Aaron Thornton]

44 minutes ago, Kun Aguero said:

That guy with the 4 stamina 😂

Good luck! Really like the name "Athengers" 😄!

Yeah I like it too, I watched Endgame again yesterday so the name was relevant 😂

26 minutes ago, fotakis276718 said:

Good luck man!! From a Panathinaikos' fan!! 😀😀

Thanks mate, i struggled against your boys tbh. 

 

Season 1 is done and dusted,  I'll try to upload it tomorrow, work permitting 

[broodje kip]

Oh my 4 fucking stamina 😂

Good luck anyway looking forward to this

[darlingtonvii]

4 stamina? kid wont last 15 mins on the pitch

[Aaron Thornton]

Thanks @darlingtonvii @broodje kip @hhooo, it's certainly a new experience for me managing someone with their stamina that low, it's going to need some focus training for a long time 

[Rob]

Good luck. As others have said, the name is absolutely phenomenal. 

[Aaron Thornton]

3 minutes ago, Rob said:

Good luck. As others have said, the name is absolutely phenomenal.

Cheers Rob, I'm glad you like it. 

 

Season 1:

The first year of our rather ambitious TT has drawn to a close but I must say, it was a season long struggle and I'm glad to see the back of it. Here's how we done:

 

Spoiler

A domestic double as we snatch the Greek Super League and Greek Cup, Europe was a different story, perhaps Celtic were drawn too early for our Athengers as they had plenty of chances over two legs but struggled to convert many of them with Celtic advancing 4-2 on aggregate. This defeat meant we'd be playing in the Europa League and we were apart of the weirdest group you'll ever see, all 4 teams finishing with 9 points (3 wins and 3 losses) but ultimately our head to head VS Leicester and FC Kobenhavn meant we miss out on the top two and just like that, our European run was over. 

 

Only our 3 Athengers and 3 loanees to speak of this year, as we looked to make the club some money that should stand us in good stead for the future. 

Plenty exited the group this year as we looked to trim the fat on a rather huge squad with many players being paid a lot more than their worth, when I arrived, I had a transfer budget of 925k and our wage budget was 42.5k in the red, so money was desperately needed. 

 

Giorgos Vasiltsis:

Before

After

Very nice growth in Season 1. Aerial +2, Dribbling +3, Movement +2, Shooting +4, Stamina +5, Pace +4 & Strength +3, safe to say I'm delighted with how he developed. 

20 goals in his first season, I'll take it!

 

Spyros Troboukis:

Before

After

Aerial, Decisions, Creativity & Stamina +2, Shooting and Strength +3, Movement +5! Very nice growth again. 

19 goals to speak of this year for Spyros

 

Giorgos Koutsias:

Before

After

Aerial +5, Dribbling, Shooting & Strength +3, Movement +4 & Pace +2 Once again very nice growth, especially that Aerial ability jumping by 5!

The only 1 of the 3 that picked up injuries as he had a 2 month and 1 month injury, but 9 goals is a poor return by anyones standards, however he's the baby of the group so that should help in the future. 

 

 

S1 Total:

GV: 20

ST: 19

GK: 9

 

Overall total: 48

 

Pretty happy with this start. As I mentioned above I'm just happy to get this season out of the way, the boys developed nicely and we look forward to tackling next season with a trimmed squad and a Transfer Budget to hopefully get in some quality players of my choosing. Thanks for reading. 

[broodje kip]

Impressive! That Champions League group 😂

I like how your top scorer is the guy with fo- I mean nine stamina

Edited December 8, 2020 by broodje kip

[Aaron Thornton]

4 minutes ago, broodje kip said:

Impressive! That Champions League group 😂

I like how your top scorer is the guy with fo- I mean nine stamina

Cheers Brood, yeah it was a strange European Campaign. 

Nice to see what focus training an attribute all year can do, most of my backroom staff are fitness coaches aswell which probably helped a lot, 4 fitness (including me) and 1 attacking coach

[Rich]

Well done mate, great first season and there gradually improving, I’m sure in a couple of years they’ll be half decent, good luck with the forthcoming season, unless you’ve finished it 😁

[Ashez]

You click baited me with that title and I'm not disappointed, a very solid start considering their ages! I always say anything before they're 20 is a bonus. 

[Aaron Thornton]

1 hour ago, RichD said:

Well done mate, great first season and there gradually improving, I’m sure in a couple of years they’ll be half decent, good luck with the forthcoming season, unless you’ve finished it 😁

Thanks mate, their growth was pleasing and no, I've not completed season 2, haven't even started it yet 😂 I think I'm gonna upload them as I finish the seasons for this career

48 minutes ago, hhooo said:

Nice job there, it's always tough when you have to take over a club that's full of over the hill players on wages you can't afford, things should be looking up next season. Madueke on loan is wild, he's a comfortable first team player at his home club! 

Thanks @hhooo yeah the squad needing some serious work, Madueke is quality

42 minutes ago, Ashez said:

You click baited me with that title and I'm not disappointed, a very solid start considering their ages! I always say anything before they're 20 is a bonus. 

Sorry not sorry 😂 I love the name, yeah 48 between them is decent and their still a few years away from 20 yet which is nice

[Aaron Thornton]

Season 2:

The second year of my journey has drawn to a close, with Season 1 seeing a decent total from our 3 blank slates, that we call footballers, the second season did raise my expectations as we continue to mould the team but most importantly the players into the stars we want them to be, with that said, here's how they done this year:

 

Spoiler

The league was much more comfortable this season as we finished 23 points clear of Aris, the Greek Cup was also conquered for a second consecutive season, we beat Larisa 4-2 on the Final, with 3 of those goals coming from our Athengers, both Giorgos turning up for the big games. We came close to causing a UCL upset, after a convincing 4-1 defeat away to Sporting, we invited them to our place, but could only manage a 3-1 win, ultimately losing 5-4 on aggregate. 

 

Much more money led to much more signings, the pick of the bunch being Filipe Soares from FC Porto, a central midfielder that is so well rounded that he can play pretty much any role in the centre of the park, Vlachodimos is possibly the best Greek GK available and to be fair he is pretty good. 

A lot of our cash to splash was enabled by my accepting mindset to selling players that wouldn't take us to the top level regardless of whether they were starters right now, Mady Camara being the exception, he was quality, but because I didn't notice he had a rather cheap release clause, when FC. Koln came calling they were able to snap him from our grasp with no resistance, this one's on me. 

 

Giorgos Vasiltsis:

Before:

After:

Teamwork and Movement improved by 1, Shooting dropped by 1, he needs to mature thankfully, otherwise the lack of growth would of been extremely worrying. 

 

Spyros Troboukis:

Before:

After:

Pace and Stamina+1, Strength+2, only physical improvements for Spyros this year, rather unique. 

 

Giorgos Koutsias:

Before:

After:

Aerial, Decisions and Movement +2. Stamina, Strength, Passing & Creativity +1. The shining light, at least I think he will be improved considerably. 

 

Players performances:

Much improved on last year all around, 28 goals for Troboukis, 25 for Koutsias and 22 of Vasiltsis.

 

Thsts adds 75 to our total which I can only be happy with and our ambition should see these totals rise year on year for the next few seasons till we inevtiably hit a peak. 

 

S1 Total:

GV: 20

ST: 19

GK: 9

S2 Total:

GV: 22

ST: 28

GK: 25

 

Overall total: 123/1500

 

Thanks for reading. 😊

[broodje kip]

It’s improving. Great work. KIU

[Aaron Thornton]

4 minutes ago, broodje kip said:

It’s improving. Great work. KIU

Cheers mate, the future should be bright

[George Traistă]

Just saw this career now and I already miss doing a TT. GK has developed nicely, I think you are right about him being the star of the three. Good job and keep up! 

[Kanegan]

They are improving nicely. Eventually you will be hitting big numbers once they hit 20 so no worries. 

[Rich]

There looking a bit better now mate, great season, hopefully by next years they actually have stats like the avengers 

[Aaron Thornton]

11 hours ago, George Traistă said:

Just saw this career now and I already miss doing a TT. GK has developed nicely, I think you are right about him being the star of the three. Good job and keep up! 

Thanks George, yeah Koutsias excites me, to see how far he can go, the other two look likely hit the 'unlikely to improve significantly' in the next year or two

10 hours ago, Kanegan said:

They are improving nicely. Eventually you will be hitting big numbers once they hit 20 so no worries. 

Cheers Kane, you're right mate, they're still babies yet

7 hours ago, hhooo said:

You're inspiring me to do a TT with some crappy players, but I have other challenges I'm already deep into at the moment. Keep it up! 

Its very enjoyable and it takes me out of my comfort zone, with everything, signing players I would never have signed before etc. Thanks for the support mate. 

3 hours ago, RichD said:

There looking a bit better now mate, great season, hopefully by next years they actually have stats like the avengers 

Thanks D. They've come a long way already on the development front, I'm intrigued to see how much they can develop before hitting thier peaks. I'd like to have 20 Strength like the Hulk and 20 Pace that like that wierd guy that is just Marvels dark and dreary version of The Flash 😂

[Aaron Thornton]

Woke up today with 6 hours to kill before work, so what else would I do other than blast out our 3rd season. 🤷‍♂️

Season 3:

 

Let's go! 

 

Spoiler

Well it's become customary now to win the Greek domestic double, very comfortable league campaign once again, we led by 10 points by Game 26 then the league splits into two of you aren't aware and we bossed the championship group, drawing 1 and winning the other 9, finishing a total of 29 points clear of Panathinaikos. The Greek Cup final was an entertaining affair, as our attack shone, putting 5 past the hapless OFI goalie. But once again we struggled in Europe, finished second in our group behind Dortmund, who beat us in the last group match to go top, that set us up against an exciting Ajax side who finished top of their respective with Barca second, this made me nervous that we might get battered and at times we did, but we certainly held our own vs the Amsterdam outfit, eventually losing 4-3 on aggregate, a 1st Knockout round stumble again. 

 

Yep, we somehow convinced Tonali to join us, aswell as Maxine Lopez and Milos Velijkovic, 3 players that would certainly have been way out of reach just last year, Gonzalo Inacio was one of the best bargain buys I've ever signed, a regen RM from RM (Real Madrid) 

Though we still don't have the pulling power to hold onto our stars when Europe's Elite come calling, Markovic was going to be Semedos protégé at BPD but, alas Real showed up waving a wad of cash and we couldn't convince Markovic to stay. 

 

Giorgos Vasiltsis:

Next to no growth and my assistant tells me he his now unlikely to improve significantly

 

Spyros Troboukis:

For the second season running, only his physicals improved, if those technicals can start to improve by 2 or 3 then I'd be satisfied with Spyros, though like Vasiltsis, he is also unlikely to improve significantly. Worrying times! 

 

Giorgos Koutsias:

My reliance on this guy has risen exponentially now, with the other 2 unlikely to get better, GK will need carry this team on his shoulders and this season his aerial ability jumped to 17, strength is now green also and his Dribbling went up by 1, though only to 9.

 

Goals and Games:

Just 19 for the inferior Giorgos this year, with his Av R dropping quite a bit from last year. 

Oh No! This is looking bad, Spyros managing just 14 in 37 games and seeing his Av R drop by 0.62 on last season. 

And finally some good news, Koutsias proving he is best of the three, notching 33 in 44 matches and the only player to improve on last year's Av R. 

 

So worrying times, Vasiltsis and Troboukis aren't likely to improve much more and they aren't great right now, the positive though is Koutsias continues to improve and if we are to complete this challenge, it will be Koutsias that gets us there. 

 

GV: Games-126  Goals-61

ST: Games-120  Goals-61

GK: Games-120  Goals-67

 

Total: 189/1500

 

This poor season has caused me to take action and change a few instructions, the end of Season 4 will show if they improved us or not, till then bye bye and thanks for reading. 

[Rich]

Some class signings there mate! Shame they didn’t smash more goals in, but I’m sure a couple of changes and you’ll get it right 😁

[Aaron Thornton]

7 minutes ago, RichD said:

Some class signings there mate! Shame they didn’t smash more goals in, but I’m sure a couple of changes and you’ll get it right 😁

Thank mate, i couldn't believe Tonali signed for us, he was Transfer Listed and Interested so I decided to have a go at him, expecting him to ask for 100k+ a week, he only wanted 35k a week which I was delighted to pay him 😍

On the tactic though no matter how perfect I get the tactic, I think Troboukis and Vasiltsis will still be pretty crap in terms of output, but we'll have to see if they can score 25+ a season each then ill be happy cause I expect Koutsias to hit 50 or 60+ a season pretty soon

[Rich]

Just now, Aaron Thornton said:

Thank mate, i couldn't believe Tonali signed for us, he was Transfer Listed and Interested so I decided to have a go at him, expecting him to ask for 100k+ a week, he only wanted 35k a week which I was delighted to pay him 😍

On the tactic though no matter how perfect I get the tactic, I think Troboukis and Vasiltsis will still be pretty crap in terms of output, but we'll have to see if they can score 25+ a season each then ill be happy cause I expect Koutsias to hit 50 or 60+ a season pretty soon

He’s one my favourites from last year, always turns quality 😁

Yeah very true, never know though they may all of a sudden get a big rise in stats, here’s hoping!

[Aaron Thornton]

Just now, RichD said:

He’s one my favourites from last year, always turns quality 😁

Yeah very true, never know though they may all of a sudden get a big rise in stats, here’s hoping!

Absolutely here's hoping 🤞😂

[Scratch]

Good solid start, like the choice of players (ie going homegrown for the league). They are never going to be as good as players like Esposito (who I will probably sign when I get around to a TT or DT), etc, which will make it tougher for you, but they should be good enough to do well in Greece, especially if you tweak the tactic and surround them with a top class team. 

Anyway, keep going, their output will get better even if their attributes don't improve much.

 

[Aaron Thornton]

8 hours ago, Scratch said:

Good solid start, like the choice of players (ie going homegrown for the league). They are never going to be as good as players like Esposito (who I will probably sign when I get around to a TT or DT), etc, which will make it tougher for you, but they should be good enough to do well in Greece, especially if you tweak the tactic and surround them with a top class team. 

Anyway, keep going, their output will get better even if their attributes don't improve much.

 

Cheers mate, I'm still not satisfied with the tactic, trying to get it to work is frustrating but also fun, the team though is improving year on year, we just need a good run or two in the CL and we'll be able to attract more star quality to Greece.