Hello friends, I guess you were not expecting another FM 2012 story update from me so soon after the last one but what can I say, I had some time and I admit that I was quite eager to get on with the story. So, after getting promoted to the Romanian First Division my young club, Viitorul Constanta, had to step to a bigger level but with no money to buy new players. The situation was difficult from the financial point of view but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t bring in any new faces.
But before moving on to the transfers I have some other news to share, not entirely good ones… The bad news first: Romanian football is in decline, that is true in real life and sadly it’s also true in Football Manager 2012. It’s a realistic game after all… :) This will make it even more difficult for my team to achieve European glory but we’ll worry about that later…
Then there’s some good news, our chairman arranged a new and better kit sponsorship deal and that is probably because he still is a very respected person in Romania.
But then I received some more bad news, the projected transfer and wage budgets…
However, despite the financial situation I decided to ask the chairman for some help with our scouting range and I was extremely happy to see that he immediately agreed to grant my request. I have signed a few more scouts immediately after that, sent one to Western Africa, another one to Central America and another one to South America. They did find some very good players but sadly none of them were available on free transfers…
Our financial situation became slightly better once we received the Liga 1 TV rights for the season…
… but it still wasn’t good enough to grant me some transfer money. I decided to gamble and promised the chairman a mid-table finish for a bit of extra wage money.
Gheorghe Hagi probably was impressed with my courage so he offered me a new contract which I gladly accepted.
The bookmakers were not that kind though, our odds are… cosmic!
The transfers are coming up in a second, have a little patience! ;) I still have to show you the league rules so that you will be able to understand the whole context. The Liga 1 teams are allowed to field a maximum number of 5 non-EU players in the first eleven but there also is another restriction that forces a number of at least 5 home-grown players in the match squad. A player has to reside in Romania for 5 years before becoming a Romanian citizen so I guess I’ll have to bring in mostly very young players from abroad considering this rule.
As you have seen earlier the European spots are not too many any more, just the top team has a shot at the Champions League while three others can enter the Europa League (including the Romanian Cup winners). Last but not least, the bottom four teams get relegated and that’s not good at all for us considering that there are just 18 teams in the division.
OK, now is the time to see the transfers! I don’t have a screen shot with all the players that left the club simply because there were too many: 36 players were sold or released and 3 others were sent out on loan! Basically I offloaded all the players that had little perspective of becoming good top flight players and also managed to get 130,000 pounds to improve the wage budget by a few pennies.
As for the incoming names, we have 18 of them, all on free transfers. But don’t worry, most of these lads are very young and will go straight to the under 19s squad.
The first team squad has 22 players at the moment, let me introduce them (click on the player names to view their profiles):
Goalkeepers
Confirmed players: Alberto Cobrea, George Serban
Full Backs
Confirmed players: Visan Cretu
New players: Ionut Peteleu, Lucian Filip, Miroslav Sedlak
Centre Backs
Confirmed players: Chakib Benzoukane, Ionut Rada, Marius Rusu
New players: Ionut Putanu (promoted from youth team)
Central Midfielders
Confirmed players: Mihai Onicas, Alexandru Lazar, Nenad Grumic, Romario Benzar
New players: Georgian Marcu, Corado Carstoiu
Strikers
Confirmed players: Vlad Rusu, Valentin Simion, Nicolae Hertu, Marius Albu
New players: Joabe, Georgian Paun
Note: I will still be using the two versions of the Barcelona tactic, no changes there.
As you can see the squad is even younger than it was last season, our oldest player is 26!
That surely isn’t the strongest squad in the league, far from that, but what I’m sure of is that our under 19s squad might really be the best in all Romania! Have a look, we have a wealth of interesting youngsters and I hope that at least half of them will reach their potential.
Just to give you an example, here’s the lad that I think will have the brightest future: 16-year old Ciprian Nastase, a graduate from our own academy.
And now… the friendlies! You surely remember our terrible pre-season campaign from last summer and the horrendous streak that we had during the winter break. Well, this time it went a lot better as we recorded six wins out of six including a pretty glorious success against Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim. I don’t know if these results are a good sign or not though, after all we did well after losing all the friendlies last winter, now winning them all might mean that we’ll play poorly in the league? Who knows…
The schedule is not very kind to us, we’ll start with an impossible visit at defending champions Dinamo and then we’ll meet strong Astra at home, a team that achieved a remarkable 5th place last season. Then we’ll have a chance to grab some points against fellow promoted side Snagov before facing 2011 champions Otelul Galati.
That’s how it went folks, thanks for reading and feel free to predict where we will finish this season. I’d be happy to be around 10th place at the end of the season and maybe go for a good run in the Romanian Cup but I have no idea how we compare to the other teams in the division at the moment. What I know is that we have a promising bunch of youngsters that just have to survive this season in order to take a chance at a higher level next term.
Alex Murray
7 ноября, 2011 at 16:48
If your youth team fulfils it’s potential you will be dominating Romanian football very soon. Based on the fact you always finish considerable higher than I anticipate every season I’m going to predict a top three finish for you. I hope all your new players gel together quickly and you avoid a winter calamity. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
7 ноября, 2011 at 17:17
I agree on the potential thought but I think that your prediction is too optimistic, I don’t think we’ll be able to be near the top three. Thanks for the good luck wish ;)
vaibhavc
7 ноября, 2011 at 17:28
If your youth team’s potential goes to plan, then you can get some world class players. These friendlies are much better than your last one. I hope you can get higher then tenth this season, good luck!
Johnny Karp
7 ноября, 2011 at 17:32
Thanks mate, I hope these boys will help the club grow sooner or later.
Laxeyman
7 ноября, 2011 at 17:58
Your youth team is incredible Johnny, if you can keep hold of them then the results don’t matter particularly for the next couple of seasons, as long as you stay up, which I’m sure you will :) The future looks incredibly bright, so hopefully you can lay some solid foundations this season. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
7 ноября, 2011 at 19:00
Thanks Laxeyman, that is my plan too: stick around for a season or two and then unleash these boys ;)
Sears
7 ноября, 2011 at 18:35
Whoa, I’ve never seen so many talented players in a youth team before…. Let’s hope they all fill their potential! I think you’re team have enough ability to avoid relegation, hopefully you’ll finish mid table. Good luck
Johnny Karp
7 ноября, 2011 at 19:00
Thanks Sears, I hope your prediction will prove right.
paine
7 ноября, 2011 at 18:40
I really don’t know the level in FM of Romanian top league, so my prediction will be a bit random, but if your young guns might play well together a top eight finish is possible.
My advice would be not pushing them too hard, giving the right time to develop; but I’m sure you already knew that. :)
Johnny Karp
7 ноября, 2011 at 19:02
I’m not very sure about the level of the league either, I mean I watch it on TV every weekend but I can’t really tell how that would translate in FM. I will keep most of the youngest players as backups, they will play in the under 19 team and step up when they are needed or when they prove to be worthy of a first team spot.
Darren Smith
7 ноября, 2011 at 19:03
Excellent signings Johnny, I think your U19’s squad is simply outstanding and that 16 year old is one to hold onto for sure. When you mentioned the rules about players I honestly thought this may be a tough save for you, but after seeing the local talent you’re developing I am actually looking forward to a world cup winning Romanian national side…managed by the one and only of course :)
Johnny Karp
7 ноября, 2011 at 19:06
Thanks Darren. I don’t think that there are too many world class Romanian players and I doubt that many of my guys will become world class, that’s why I plan on gathering youngsters from all over the world as early as possible so that they could get the citizenship by the age of 23 or 24.
TheZiggy
7 ноября, 2011 at 21:00
Huge amount of potential in the new signings and your youth squad, so the long term future looks really bright.
The big question is how accurate your assistant manager is about the current ability of your players. If he’s about right, as those ratings should be based upon your current league, then you should okay, and you should hit the mid-table expectation, and not disappoint your chairman.
Then depending on how those players develop through the season will determine how near to my prediction you end up, hopefully on the good side of it :)
Johnny Karp
8 ноября, 2011 at 07:18
I’ve asked myself that question as well but since the assistant has pretty good attributes in that department I guess his judgement is fairly accurate, at least for the current league. I hope we’ll be near your prediction ;)
Kevin
7 ноября, 2011 at 21:02
Hi Johnny
Busy transfer as usual I see :) Your young midfielder Nastase looks very decent and I wonder if he can play tennis too!
Great pre-season results whch means the morale should be pretty good for the opening games. That wasn’t much of a transfer budget to play with and if anyone can bring Romanian football out of decline it’s you!
Johnny Karp
8 ноября, 2011 at 07:20
Hey Kevin, that guy could be Ilie Nastase’s boy, him and Hagi are good friends after all :) Bringing Romanian football out of mediocrity is just a dream at the moment but I hope it will happen, both on my PC and in the real world.
Stromson
7 ноября, 2011 at 22:17
That’s a seriously young team my friend. Hopefully the friendlies are a good indication of how your season will pan out. Looking forward to seeing you improve Romanian football. :)
Johnny Karp
8 ноября, 2011 at 07:21
Thanks Stromson, the road will be long and tricky but I hope that these youngsters will make the club grow.
Joelance
7 ноября, 2011 at 22:55
All the best Johnny. These rules are one of the reasons I don’t play outside England :) Your youngsters should help you though, they’re great. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
8 ноября, 2011 at 07:22
Thanks mate, English football has its own annoying rules (like work permits) but overall it’s a bit more «manager-friendly» :)
Ana Garcia
7 ноября, 2011 at 23:18
I am really enjoying this story, its great to see you in your element of Romanian football a place you know probably better than anyone.
Thats a lot of new players to get together into a team so hopefully they all can settle very quickly and I hope the lack of experience wont cost you in the long run.
On the more positive side at least you can build a great team for the future and a great pre-season shows your team may just defy the odds this season.
Noroc Johnny!! (or good luck, I know first hand how bad translators can be! :))
Johnny Karp
8 ноября, 2011 at 07:22
Thanks Ana and don’t worry, your Romanian is… flawless! :)
Lye
8 ноября, 2011 at 00:38
Hi Johnny,
The job has became difficult with no funds available for you. It will be tough considering 4 teams will be relegated. Nonetheless, you have brought in some pretty good youngsters and looking at the U19s squad, the future looks bright. This season will be a bit tough but i don’t think you will have any problems staying up. A mid-table position should be achievable. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
8 ноября, 2011 at 07:23
Thanks a lot Lye, I surely hope that your prediction will prove accurate.
Calin
8 ноября, 2011 at 07:38
Congrats, Johnny! You’ve managed to sign quite some players, especially for the Romanian Liga I, these are really great signings. And the best thing is that you’re already building for the future and when these lads will get better, you’ll already have a team of superstars. Either way, from how the squad looks now I think that a mid-table position is the least you can achieve this season :)
Johnny Karp
8 ноября, 2011 at 09:40
Thanks mate, you are quite optimistic and I surely hope your prediction will prove right.
Martin Pickard
8 ноября, 2011 at 10:51
Great post Johnny…alot of transfer activity which is always nice to see :P. Some really nice friendly results hopefully it isn’t a reverse of last season where this year you do well in friendlies and bad in the league…I cant see it happening tho. Nice to see the Mr Hagi is aiding you in helping Viitorul Constanta develop into a big Romanian club :). I’m really looking forward to the next post…keep them coming :)
Johnny Karp
8 ноября, 2011 at 12:27
Thanks Martin, I’m quite curious to see how the friendlies vs league matches paradigm will work out this time :)
George Dobson
8 ноября, 2011 at 16:16
Your youth team is very good and I hope you can get a mid table finish
Johnny Karp
8 ноября, 2011 at 17:24
Thanks George, I hope so too.
Zagi
9 ноября, 2011 at 18:34
Johnny, I’m just curious, how old are you? This site is great :) I’ve started to read this last year. You are great manager I have to say :) I’ve learned a lot from you, used your tactics all the seasons I played with Dynamo Dresden. It was great; I managed to promote them to Bundesliga in just 3 seasons from third division. I’m installing faces, kits, ect., and I can’t wait to start playing fm this season. I’m from Croatia, btw. At the moment I can’t decide which team to choose. Any interesting idea? Good luck with Viitorul C.
Johnny Karp
9 ноября, 2011 at 19:04
I’m 31 mate. Thanks for the kind words, I’m happy that you managed to learn something from this website. About the team to choose, I always suggest the favourite club :)
Zagi
9 ноября, 2011 at 19:28
can you help me? where could I find megapack kits or something like that? is it available yet?
Johnny Karp
9 ноября, 2011 at 19:40
I’m sorry, as far as I know there is no such kits mega pack available at the moment.
Zagi
9 ноября, 2011 at 19:54
ok.. thanks a lot anyway :) best of luck with your club in the new season once again..