Here we go, my Football Manager 2012 career is officially starting! As you know I chose Viitorul Constanta as the starting point for my career, the reasons are explained in the previous post. The club is not a big one at all, it doesn’t have much of a tradition either since it was founded in 2009, but it does have great ambition. Let’s see what happened during the summer, you’ll know all about the transfers, friendly games, league rules and so on…
As you know the board expect me to steer the club towards promotion, an ambitious goal for such a young club. The bookmakers believe that we have a good shot, not the best but good enough considering that the top two teams in the group get promoted to the Romanian top flight (we’ll go into details about the rules and league structure later).
On to the transfers now… Nothing spectacular to be honest, mostly due to the lack of funds but also because of the scouting restrictions. I am only allowed to send my scouts in Europe and with attribute masking enabled finding good players is a pretty tough task at the moment. However, I managed to bring in three players and also got some money for the players I no longer needed.
You might remember that I chose to restrict my transfer policy to only two experienced new players (over 21 years old) per season and Moroccan defender Chakib Benzoukane is one of them. He was available for free and I decided to get him because I really needed a good defender to strengthen my back line. He is fairly quick and that is important in my game plan but he also has pretty good mental attributes at this level.
My back four was not nearly strong enough though so I decided to bring in another centre back, a younger one: 21-year old Romanian defender Ionut Rada. He is my most expensive signing so far, a staggering 24K was paid to top flight side Pandurii for his signature.
Last but not least, an exciting prospect from Serbia: 19-year old midfielder Nenad Grumic. This lad has what it takes to slot straight into the first eleven but he also has pretty good margins for improvement so I believe that he might be the best signing of the season for the club.
That’s about all the transfers I could manage, I have a 22-man squad and I believe that should be sufficient for the challenge.
Or at least that’s what I believed before the friendly games… The first four friendlies were a total disaster, including a humiliating 8-0 defeat, but luckily the morale didn’t hit rock bottom and we managed some plucky wins to spare the blushes. I was expecting a lot better though, a lot better…
And since the friendlies didn’t go too well I decided to play the first three competitive games and stop the game at the end of August. We won the opening league match courtesy of a corner kick goal, then we cruised past a non-league side in the Romanian Cup, but ended the month with a disappointing 1-1 draw at home at the end of a boring match.
Now let me explain the league structure in Romanian football… The top flight is called Liga 1 and it has 18 teams while the second tier is called Liga 2 and it’s divided into two groups with 16 teams in each group. The top two teams in each group get promoted while the bottom five get relegated. In Liga 2 the matches are played from August until November and then, after a long winter break, from March until May.
There are some interesting and important rules regarding players in Liga 2: no more than 3 non-EU players in the first eleven (I have only 2 in the squad) and at least two under-21 players in the first eleven (I’ve got plenty of those :) )
That’s about it for now, not a very promising pre-season to be honest but hopefully things will pick up sooner rather than later. Thanks a lot for dropping by, looking forward to your comments.
Adam D
25 октября, 2011 at 15:00
The rule for 2 under-21s in teh starting 11 is interesting, does that apply in the first division as well?
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 15:05
Unfortunately that rule does not apply in the first division, the only restrictions there are as follows:
— maximum number of 5 non-EU players in the first eleven
— at least five home-grown players in the match squad.
ri916
25 октября, 2011 at 15:10
looks good. hopefully you can make a good start to life in romanian football
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 15:21
Thanks, I can only hope things will get better…
Laxeyman
25 октября, 2011 at 15:21
3 good players brought in Johnny, and despite the pre season results, I reckon you’ll have a good season as it seems like you’ve got a strong squad :) Good luck!
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 15:23
Thanks Laxeyman, I really don’t know what to expect after such a poor pre-season but I can hope for a good run…
TheZiggy
25 октября, 2011 at 16:44
That’s 3 pretty strong signings. I’ve never been sure how much the friendlies can really tell you about how the team will play. I know my players tend to be pretty disinterested during the friendlies, and prone to a lot of stupid mistakes.
After 4 straight defeats with the 8-0 in there, you must have been beginning to wonder though. Hopefully the players have the motivation now, and will go on to prove they are favourites for a reason. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 16:51
Thanks Ziggy. I don’t care too much about the friendly results but when you lose 8-0 you have to worry even if that defeat was against a superior team.
Sears
25 октября, 2011 at 17:03
Hey pal,
that 8-0 loss must have been a tough pill to take, but at least you found how the flaws in you’re tactic and the character of you’re players. The new signings are excellent additions, and a decent start to the league as well. The small number of non-E.U players you are allowed toplay may hurt you in the future though, so you’ll have to pick up all the Romanian talent! Good luck!
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 17:53
Thanks Sears, that loss was quite difficult to take but I hope we’ll never put on such a disgraceful show in a competitive game. About the number of non-EU players, the number will go up to five once we reach the first division and I guess that’s more than enough.
vaibhavc
25 октября, 2011 at 17:07
Pretty strong signings for you. You might have a good chance in the league. If the teams were stronger than you in pre-season, then it doesn’t matter too much. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 17:54
Thanks Vaibhav, we did meet a few stronger teams in pre-season but not all of them were bigger teams, we were expected to beat most of them.
Calin
25 октября, 2011 at 17:09
I think this was a really good start of the season, Johnny and the players you brought in, especially Benzoukane, are great for this level. Don’t worry about the 8-0 defeat, Litex is still a good team and friendlies don’t matter that much, especially during the first season when the tactic is new and it still needs some tweaking. I hope that you will get promoted by the end of the season!
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 17:55
Thanks Calin, I agree that friendly results don’t matter too much but an 8-0 defeat is not something I’m used to :)
Kevin
25 октября, 2011 at 17:09
Hi Johnny
The young Serbian midfielder Gumic looks very useful indeed. That was quite a tough start to your new career, at least the pre-season though the regular season results show a little more promise. My tranfers will pretty much mirror your activity.
Let’s hope we both have a good season to raise some funds!!
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 17:56
Hey Kevin, I would be very happy if both Viitorul and Plymouth would get promoted at the end of the season ;)
paine
25 октября, 2011 at 17:37
8-0!??
That must have been a nightmare of a game, it can’t be real….let’s face it it’s better now that during your official campaign.
Interesting league.
Is it just me or this year is more difficult to find a central defender with decent heading skills?
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 17:57
It was a bit surreal indeed, my lads were simply not there! About the central defender problem, I don’t have access to too many players given the scouting restrictions so I can’t really agree or disagree right now.
JeanPaul Borg
25 октября, 2011 at 17:41
I am also starting a career in Romania, going to play with Otelul Galati!
As for your save, I think those august results aren’t so bad consider you have as lot of youngsters. As for the pre-season, well you can only improve after that, I’m sorry to say Looking forward to your career unfolding. :)
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 17:58
That’s nice to hear Jean Paul, Otelul have quite a few good players but you will have a tough time in the Champions League.
Stromson
25 октября, 2011 at 17:41
Ouch, I see you’re having some trouble conceding goals as well. It could just be my imagination, but the opposition seems MUCH more potent on the counter this year. I feel like 80% of my conceded goals come from counter attacks; it’s nuts! Are you using a 4-4-2 again this year?
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 17:58
I’m using a new 4-3-3 but you do have a point, we conceded most of the goals on counter attacks and set pieces.
Darren Smith
25 октября, 2011 at 20:09
Well the signings were good Johnny and with few players joining you shouldn’t experience too many blending in problems. The opening friendlies were a tough eye opener but you seem to be holding your own in the competitive fixtures so I have high hopes. :)
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 20:41
Thanks Darren, I guess I have some hopes but not really as high as they were before the friendlies :)
Joe Lance
25 октября, 2011 at 20:13
All the best Johnny. This challenge might be tougher than you thought! Hopefully you will be celebrating come season end!
Johnny Karp
25 октября, 2011 at 20:42
Thanks Joe, it will surely be tough.
joycey360
25 октября, 2011 at 22:07
Hey, as your responding to all comments I’ll give this a try
Can you check out my league 2 story with Burton Albion, as I too think being a big team is boring and not worth the time on Football Manager, so I have decided to go for a league 2 team and try my luck with them. Link is here http://burtonalbionfootballmanager.blogspot.com/ and could you maybe promote it as well as you seem to have a good following!
Anyway good luck in your story, all the best, but must say I’ve never lost 8 — 0 before ;)
Johnny Karp
26 октября, 2011 at 08:47
Thanks mate, I will check out your blog.
joycey360
26 октября, 2011 at 13:01
thanks a lot, keep a look out for new posts, hoping to have a successful season!
Lye
26 октября, 2011 at 01:52
Hi Johnny,
The friendly results was disappointing but this does not say much about the team. Most important is the competitive matches ahead. Two wins and a draw is not a bad start. I guess the challenge will be bigger because of the restriction but it will be sweeter when you finally achieved some big things with them. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
26 октября, 2011 at 08:49
Thanks Lye, I guess it was a bumpy start to the career but the competitive games will give a more accurate verdict.
nielsneutron
26 октября, 2011 at 07:35
Hehe the friendlies are disappointing. Have you tried some of the new features such as team meeting and focus on the team talks?
I think you can turn it around but you might not win the league in the first season.
Johnny Karp
26 октября, 2011 at 08:50
I did have a team meeting after the first four defeats and that seems to have done a bit of good.
CsAtlantis
26 октября, 2011 at 08:04
Hi Johnny, it’s quite interesting when the Moroccan CB you signed on a free transfer comes in with 5 stars, but most of your team are young and need some more game time to improve so as the season goes on they should become better, interesting rule regarding the starting eleven, 2 under-21 players, it should be beneficial to your team
Nehad looks pretty good, his mental attributes are particularly interesting, don’t think there are that many cheap players with at least 10 in every mental attribute…….
Johnny Karp
26 октября, 2011 at 08:51
Hey CS, the stars are relative, the Moroccan CB has 5 stars in my team but he might have just half a star in a big club.
Nicholas Phipps
26 октября, 2011 at 09:58
Benzoukane (pardon my spelling) looks very good for your level and all 3 signings look very promising. Good luck, and you seem to have started life in Liga 2 well, despite pre-season :P
Johnny Karp
26 октября, 2011 at 11:47
Thanks Nicholas, that wasn’t such a good start in the league but not too bad either.
Luke
26 октября, 2011 at 21:01
Tough start, just wondering, has a patched been released concerning the goalkeeper bug yet? I haven’t bought the game so i don’t know >_<
Johnny Karp
27 октября, 2011 at 07:43
I am not aware of any goalkeeper bug.
Luke
27 октября, 2011 at 13:00
Really? I think it’s just been patched this morning, and thinking about it you’re not far enough through your game yet to notice :D But every goalkeeper in the game lost around 2 positioning every season, which was a problem after playing multiple seasons .
Johnny Karp
27 октября, 2011 at 13:34
I don’t know much about this but if it’s a serious bug indeed then I am 100% sure that it will be fixed soon enough if it hasn’t been fixed already.
John
27 октября, 2011 at 15:09
Are you using your Barcelona tactic for this team?
Johnny Karp
27 октября, 2011 at 15:14
Yes, but it was an earlier version that I used during pre-season.
Martin Pickard
27 октября, 2011 at 15:09
ouch! unlucky in the pre-season matches…it never nice seeing you team get trashed :(. On the brightside the players that you’ve signed look up to the job and you’ve definitely made a good start to the season. Best of luck and looking forward to your next update :)
Johnny Karp
27 октября, 2011 at 15:15
Thanks Martin, I hope we’ll never get thrashed again ;)
Mariano
30 октября, 2011 at 10:35
That was a hard pre season!
Good luck!
ps:
I stopped receiving your updates on my e mail
Johnny Karp
30 октября, 2011 at 10:46
Thanks mate. I’ll look into the email problem, I can see your address in the subscribers list so the problem seems to be on our end.
Johnny Karp
31 октября, 2011 at 10:31
You should receive the email updates now but if you still don’t then I’d suggest checking the spam folder, they might be directed there for some reason.
Jojo
15 июля, 2012 at 01:06
I see your not doing that bad, but it could have been better i suppose. Tough Pre-season though!