Career Royal AM Time

[YungGaffer]

After a long break from playing FMM and a failed career (Athletic Bilbao), I am starting a new save with a club closer to home.

With the 21/22 DSTV Premiership done and dusted, Mamelodi Sundowns have won the league once again making it 12 league titles (5 in a row). This league is slowly becoming a farmers league. For this save, I will be managing a club that performed better than expected.

Royal AM FC, a club that purchased a license from Bloemfontein Celtic in August 2021 by Durban business woman & her son. Bloemfontein Celtic finished in 11th place in 20/21. A new owner who then rebranded the club, a few signings and a season later, they finished in 3rd place, qualifying for the CAF Confederation Cup. Impressive.

A club with "no history" with a "rich" owner, this is the perfect club to manage.

Objectives

To make the save fun, I have set myself realistic goals;

• Break the All Time League Goalscorer record ( 123 goals )
• Break the Most Points in a Season record ( 71 points )
• Break the Most League Titles record ( 12 league titles )

I will also look into breaking some CAF Champions League records in the near future but let's first win it then start setting goals.

Now to set up the save ( playing as the current manager ) and to identify the player to break the goals record.

Until the next update. Thanks.

[Rob]

Best of luck.

[YungGaffer]

On 02/06/2022 at 14:18, Rob said:

Best of luck.

Thanks Rob

[YungGaffer]

For this career, I want to try something different. Instead of signing free players to improve the squad or to sell in order to buy better players and gradually improving the team , I have decided to keep the clubs cream of the crop and sell everyone else. This will be a rebuild. With the funds that I make from sales, I will only buy players who are under 21. Why? 1) Who doesn't like managing wonderkids ( well technically, none of these players are going to be wonderkids as they don't appear on the FMM22 Wonderkids List but they have good potential) and 2) The league's average age is 27 years old which means young players don't always get a chance to play. Hence I will attempt to "win with kids".

With that out the way, shall we?

A quick look into the squad revealed everything I expected, an ageing squad with no current / potential ability to compete, poor facilities and staff and little money. 

Spoiler

Expectations are set to bravely battle against relegation so I don't have any pressure to perform this season.

After looking into the squad, there are only 9 players worth keeping. Some Honourable Mentions;

Victor Letsoalo - The best player in this team. A relatively fast striker whose comfortable on the ball. 

Domingues - An experienced winger who surprisingly looks deadly even at the young age of 37. 

Hugo Nyame - Cat-like agility at 35 years old, just amazing ( who cares about reflexes? ).

Siphelele Luthuli - An intelligent player with good passing and technique.

Transfers Out

This is the biggest offloading of players I've ever done ( 48 players! ). Due to my good negotiating skills, I managed to pull in 3.2M from these sales.

Spoiler

Transfer In

With roughly 3.3M at my disposal ( A LOT OF MONEY FOR THE PSL ), Here are the "kids" that i bought

Spoiler

Some Honourable Mentions;

Luke Fleurs - If he develops well, he is going to be wiping the "fleurs" with these strikers. ( I'm sorry, I just had to )

Nkosingiphile Ngcobo - A versatile pacy dribbler whose only going to get better.

Tashreeq Matthews - Playing in Europe at young age made him very expensive to buy but with these stats, he could just be worth it.

Mduduzi Shabalala - He may look average now but just look out for him.

Now onto the main man of this save, the striker which I will try to break the 123 PSL league goals record with. The man, the myth, the ( soon to be ) legend;

Bongokuhle Hlongwane - One of SA's hottest prospects. The perfect player to break the record with. Smart training and game time is going to make him an absolute menace. 

Until the next update. Thanks.

Edited June 3, 2022 by YungGaffer

[StuartM]

Good luck mate, it will be interesting to see which of the new players make it and how good you can get them

[YungGaffer]

Something I want to bring into this save is having a particular playing style which suits my players and South African culture, mentality and lifestyle. Simply put; I want this team to play the "South African Way".

Tactics

What is this "South African Way"? This quote by a former AmaTuks FC manager beautifully explains it;

 “For me, the SA Football Philosophy is based on three legs – technique, mobility and creativity. It is evidenced by short pass combinations, continuous movement – physical and psychological-, and a lot of improvisation. Players are always looking for new ways to express themselves in the game. It is very offensive, in nature. Defending is a ‘default’ moment. You can go on and on – self-expression, exuberance, team cohesion, individual arrogance, technical, fun, carnival, intriguing, etc.”

Now how am I going emulate this style of play? I am no expert of FMM so I stand to be corrected ( Honestly I'd appreciate it if someone else has a different view on how to do this and commented below ), so this is how we are going to play;

The First Team ( Original 9 players and some additions )

The "Wonderkids"

Instructions

NB: I am not going to use "Expressive Creative Freedom" just yet ( There's no need for a group of players who aren't familiar with each other and the tactic and a group of inexperienced under 21's to be playing Bruno Fernandes-esque passes).

I think we now set to begin.

Until the next update. Thanks.

Edited June 4, 2022 by YungGaffer

[YungGaffer]

Season 1

August

A good pre-season with two deserved wins. Victor scored the sole winning goal in our opening league game. Hlongwane on his debut for the club.

Spoiler

September and October

After two 2-1 wins, we then lost our 1st, 2nd and 3rd game of the season, all in a row. Our Knockout Cup run began with an extra-time win over Marumo Gallants. 

November and December

A hectic two months. 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses in the league. Our Knockout Cup run was followed by another extra-time win over TS Galaxy in the Quarter Finals. A nerve-wrecking semi final.

Spoiler

A win over AmaZulu crowned us SA Knockout Cup winners. A trophy in my first 6 months on the job.

January

With Afcon taking place, we have no matches this month. This is perfect because it gives me time to look into the expiring contracts market. Some gems have been found which will be revealed when they officially join.

 

Until the next update. Thanks.

Edited June 11, 2022 by YungGaffer