zacram

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So I usually wait until the game has been fully released before I start a save, but as I'm currently have a few weeks to kill before starting a new job the time seems rather fitting to get stuck into a new FM 22 story.

I would have quite liked to embark on a journeyman save, but as my laptop just about struggles through on the lowest graphic settings I'm trying my hand at a minnow nation save instead. I'll be taking over at Gerrard Piqué's newly acquired side, F.C. Andorra.


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Piqué has expressed his dream of hearing the Champions League anthem being played at F.C. Andorra and it's a dream that I will be looking to fulfil. Initially this is going to be my sole objective, but over time I will hopefully see some high quality Andorran players coming through the academy and feeding into the National side. So I may well look to take over the National side in the future, but will unlikely be until we are at least in La Liga.

The club's facilities aren't actually as bad as I initially thought, although the stadium itself is tiny, with a max capacity of just 1,300


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Just to add an extra dimension to the save I have decided to start myself with the minimum qualifications and experience as I look to try and build a name for myself alongside F.C. Andorra.


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Here is a quick look at the squad I have inherited...


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Key Players

Carlos Martínez

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Marc Pedraza

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Roger Riera

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We have been predicted to finish 7th this season by the bookies, so potentially have a good shot at reaching the playoffs (2nd-5th) in our first season. I have zero knowledge of the Spanish leagues below La Liga so this really is a novel save for me to embark on.


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Looking forward to this, great idea for a save. I also feel your pain of having a struggling laptop... the reason why I tend to do a save in only one country!
 
So, my FM22 career got off to an unbelievable start, romping to a 6-2 victory over San Fernando! Unfortunately only 2 Andorran fans made the trip to see my debut performance, but they were treated to quite the spectacle as we smashed in 6 goals inside 50 minutes of play.

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That opening day victory really set the tone as we went on to win 8 consecutive games!

Our run was blipped with a goalless draw to Real Hispalis B, but after 10 games we remain unbeaten having dropped just 2 points. We are already over a quarter of the way through the season and after the start we've made I'll be extremely disappointed to miss out on at least a playoff spot.


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I highlighted Carlos Martínez as being a potential key player for us this season and the veteran striker has scored an incredible 17 goals in just 10 appearances so far this season!

Fingers crossed he remains fit for the remainder of the season.


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This is the formation I have decided to go with, I some had success with it towards the end of FM21 and have tried to replicate it, and so far cannot fault it. I cant decide if the formation is incredible, the league is really bad or its a Beta bug, but whatever it is we have made a flying start to the campaign using it.

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The main concern I have is the clubs finances... We are making a loss of £350k every month and literally have no revenue coming through the doors.

I havent signed any players and am under the wage budget but we are just haemorrhaging money at the moment and a promotion might be essential this season.


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Our unbeaten run continues as we drop just 2 more points in our next 7 fixtures - In which we scored 20 goals and conceded just 1!

I still really cant work out if I've stumbled across an incredibly good tactic or if this is a bit of an issue of the Beta game. Either way we have opened up a 7 point gap over Barcelona B at the top of the table as we are just 1 game off the halfway stage.


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Our fist fixture outside of the League, was against our division rivals, Sanluqueño in the Spanish Cup. I actually fully rotated the starting XI and used a change of formation and we still got the victory so am now thinking the League might just not be very good.

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We should get a better idea in our next game after the Winter break against Tenerife, who are in the division above. It will be interesting to see how that fixture goes considering we are currently cruising in the 3rd tier.

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I also managed to take my first step on the coaching qualification ladder

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In a desperate attempt to bring in any additional revenue I managed to get the board to agree a partnership with Espanyol. It's only £50K a year but we may also be able to snap up some loan players without any fees.

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The early assessment of the youth intake indicates that it could be very good indeed. I'm interested to see if that will actually be the case come March but we could really do with some decent youth prospects coming through the side on low wages.

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Our first game of 2022 handed me my first ever career defeat on FM22, as we narrowly went down to Second Division opposition, Tenerife in the Spanish Cup second round. We were underdogs for the fixture and were only separated in the end by a late penalty after we fought back from 2-0 down. Promising signs should we get promoted this season.

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We bounced back with our biggest victory of the season, smashing Alcoyano 6-0

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Before Barcelona B handed us our first League defeat of the season, ending our run of 18 games unbeaten. They have an incredibly strong side and actually had the likes of Gavi playing so losing really wasn't a massive surprise. It's just wether or not we can keep ahead of them before the end of the season.

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Fortunately we responded with a couple of victories, although our form has dipped a little, losing to the likes of Linares despite complete domination in the game. Despite all of that we are still 6 points clear at the top of the table with 12 games left to play. We still have fixtures against both Barcelona B and Real Madrid B, games which could decide the outcome of our season.


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Carlos Martínez is one of the main reasons we are performing so well, scoring 32 goals in 25 appearances. He has been a goalscoring machine for us at the tender age of 35 and man we need to keep injury free for the remainder of the season.

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We kicked our next run of fixtures off with a narrow 1-0 victory over Tarragona

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Before we completed the double over Real Madrid B, battling to victory after letting slip a 2 goal lead. This was highlighted as one of our big fixtures in the season run in and a big 3 points to come away with.


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Our terrific season continued as we racked up a further 5 victories on the bounce before being held to a couple of 2-2 draws. We have been scoring for fun all season and has been far too easy for us at times.

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To emphasise this point we then hammered Linense 5-0 away from home. A result which coincided with Barcelona B dropping points and subsequently handing us the League title with 2 games to spare!

Only 1 lucky supporter had made the trip to see us lift the trophy - A day i'm sure he wont forget anytime soon!


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That also confirmed our best ever finish in the League.

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We finished the season in style, winning our last 2 games, scoring a total of 100 goals across the campaign. It was close to an unbeaten season and I couldn't really have asked for a better debut FM22 season. I'm sure much harder times will come.


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So we managed to get a few decent players coming through the academy and all of Andorran nationality which is good. Hopefully they can develop into decent players in the future.

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Francisco Matos is the pick of the bunch, an exciting attacking midfielder.

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Incredible first season and loving the story so far - Keep up the good work!
 


So as mentioned, my debut season went pretty much as well as it could have done. Our minimum expectation was to reach the playoffs, with the aim of realistically reaching the Spanish Second Division in a few years time. However, we ended up winning the division by 11 points over a Barcelona B side riddled with young talent.

Our average attendance was a measly 688, but when you consider the Andorran population to be around 78,000 it's not too bad a turnout. Either way this will hopefully rise next season with the prospect of playing at a higher level.


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As seen above Carlos Martínez was our competition top scorer with an incredible tally of 42, which unsurprisingly won him the Golden Boot award.

It's quite amazing considering he really isn't anything special on paper, but just seems to have knack of being in the right place at the right time. The question now is how will he perform in a higher division at the age of 36.



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Our best XI is pretty much bang on expect for the inclusion of Ivan Gil. I've been pretty lucky with injuries this season and never had anything too serious so have basically played the same team every game due to a lack of depth in the squad.


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So we have decided to delay the league-required stadium expansion for at least the next year. Probably a wise decision considering our average attendance last season and the financial trouble we seem to be in. So we will again be playing in the tiny 1,300 stadium this year.

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My FM22 record makes a good reading after last season, with a 77% win percentage. Unfortunately it's only going to go down from here so i'm making the most of it whilst I can.


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Now to see what improvements I can make to the squad with very limited financial resources....

 

It has been a rather busy summer at the club as I finally get an opportunity to start shaping the squad. With the club's financial stability still in question it's been a summer of free transfers and loan signings, although that hasn't stopped me from bringing in some household names.

Whilst no players are listed as being sold I think I ended up releasing over 25 players as their contracts expired to free up the wage budget.


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Ximo Navarro was a regular for Alvés in the La Liga last season, but still found himself being released from the club. I desperately needed the addition of wingbacks for my formation and he joins us on only a 12 month deal but for a very reasonable salary considering his stature.


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Ebu Bedia adds some extra experience to the midfield. He has been playing his football in Goa most recently so am hoping he can quickly readjust to the higher quality of football back in Spain after 5 seasons in India.

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Ashley Young is one of biggest name signings and joins on a rather hefty salary in comparison tot he squad. Again, we needed to strengthen our wingbacks and his ability to play on both sides is extremely beneficial. Here's hoping the former England international still has another top quality season left in him.

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Jairo Morillas adds some extra depth to our frontline. He isn't anything special, but is the best I managed to find within our price range.

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Manu Sánchez was playing in the lower tiers of Spanish football last season, but I've identified him as being a useful acquisition for us. He will likley be our starting HB, but can also slip back as a central defender if required.

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Diego López joins us as a veteran goalkeeper, and arguably still our best option at the club. I do vaguely remember him playing for Real Madrid back in the day and is a highly experienced individual that was still playing as a regular for Espanyol in La Liga last season.

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So I have clearly turned to experience to try and help us survive our debut season in the Spanish Second Division. I usually focus on bring youth prospects through but we really need well established players now if we are to try and build on last seasons success.


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I didn't actually look at the registration criteria for the League during my summer business and was caught out by one clause in particular. To register players over 19 years old they are meant to be earning a minimum of £1.3k p/w.

I therefore did have to give some players new contracts in order to register them and also cannot register a loan player I brought in from Barcelona who earns just £650 p/w and also cannot terminate the deal. So that's a complete waste of money for a year....


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So we aren't expected to come bottom, although I guess the quality of the B teams is rather unknown until the season starts so are a bit of a mystery. Either way we need to finish 18th or above to avoid relegation

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The season started in familiar fashion for us, carrying over last seasons form with a couple of victories over both Real Madrid B and Real San Sebastian B. Carlos Martínez also managed to continue his fine form, bagging 4 goals in 2 games.

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We then lost a very close encounter with Fuenlabrada after Manu Sanchez picked up a red card just minutes after we'd fought back to lead the game 3-2. I feel like we were rather hard done by to lose the game, but it goes to show that mistakes will get punished in this League.

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That sent us into a bit of a spiral as we picked up just 1 point in our next 3 games.


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We then ended September with an exhilarating comeback against Las Palmas in front of a sellout crowd. Our new striker, Jairo Morillas scored a brace off the bench in the final stages of the game to secure us a point. Considering the chances we created I'd have been fuming to have lost the game, but will take a draw.

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So after 7 games we are currently 14th in the League. It's been a steady start as we adjust to the higher level of football in the Second Division. Going forward we still look dangerous but are certainly getting punished a lot more at the back this season, but i'm confident of avoiding relegation.

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As expected we are working with the lowest wage budget i the Division....

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The experience of our squad is evident as we set new club records for oldest goalscorer and player.

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The board have pumped more money into the club to level our finances and the increased TV and sponsorship revenue is helping us to maintain balance on the books.


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The board even agreed to improve our youth recruitment as we hope to see some more emerging stars come through the academy in 2023.

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We finally started to find our rhythm, picking up 13 points out of a possible 18 in our next 6 games. Bar the win over Tenerife they have all been close games, whilst our veteran striker Carlos Martínez continues to bang in the goals up front.

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Despite all the experience in the squad this season, injuries have provided opportunities to our academy players, as Francisco Matos becomes the club's youngest ever player and goalscorer.

He's already capped for Andorra at U21 level and i wouldn't be surprised to see him get a senior cap in the near future.

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Our form then dipped off a little, as we continue to pick up valuable points. We also managed to progress to the Second Round of the Spanish Cup and can hopefully win our next game to progress further than we did last season.

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In the Spanish Cup it was another of our youth prospects catching the headlines, as Ernest Vidal scored to become our youngest ever cup goalscorer. Again he is capped at U21 level already and could be a future star for the National side.

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Our last game before the winter break was a humbling defeat to Granada. They are top of the League and the bookies favourites to return back to La Liga this season. We actually played pretty well but they have the quality to convert half chances where as we appear to be squandering ours this season.

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So as we near the halfway point in the season we are still in a strong position to push for the playoffs. I think it would be very unlikely, but the main thing is that we are 13 points clear of the relegation zone .

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The board continue to invest in my coaching qualifications

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Our youth intake this season isn't expected to be as exciting, despite improvements in our recruitment. Hopefully some of those A rated players will prove to be a pleasant surprise.


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Brazil also went on to win the World Cup.

Unsurprisingly Andorra didn't qualify...


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Just like last year our opening game of the New Year saw us exiting the Copa del Rey in only the second round. We had home advantage over Huesca, who are currently below us in the League so was a rather disappointing end to our cup run.

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We followed that up with another loss at home to Oviedo, a side still battling down near the relegation zone. I was starting to worry that our season was going to get derailed as we entered 2023, but we bounced back with 4 consecutive victories. This included big results away to both Espanyol and Real Madrid B.

As a result we are up to 5th in the standings at the end of January and reaching the playoffs has suddenly started looking much more feasible.


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We did also have some transfer activity, even if it was rather forced upon me.

Roger Riera, who is one of our best players basically told me he wasn't going to renew his contract which expired at the end of the season. So i decided to get ahead of the game and make some money off him before his departure, and amazingly we managed to squeeze a transfer fee of £775k despite him having just 6 months left on his contract!

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Then with that money we bought Esteban Saveljich for £200k from Granada. He's a former Montenegrin international with plenty of experience and although he is 4 years senior, think he is a very good substitute. His salary is less than half what we were paying Riera and we are still up £575k in transfer fees, as I continue to try and balance the books.

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Finances that are now looking rather healthy...


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Our new signing made an instant positive impact, picking up the MOTM award in a comfotable 2-0 victory over Ponferrada.

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Unfortunately things quickly changed, as we conceded 6 goals in our next game, as we were on the receiving end of a thrashing from Huesca. We actually had more possession and the same amount of shots, but we just lacked the quality at both ends of the pitch.


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We did bounce back with a win, but since then it has been a rough few weeks, as we are now winless in 6 games.

Despite this poor vein of form we are still only a point off the playoff places and I would say with almost certainty that we are safe of relegation.



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López has set the record as the oldest player for the Division, but in truth he has been looking very ropey between the sticks. Whilst I'm not really happy with either of my goalkeeper options, López has definitely become the backup.

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Another coaching qualification in the bag and off with the next.

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Our increased finances from the transfer window meant an improvement to our youth recruitment just before this seasons intake (not sure if it would have impacted it or not). Either way we do have a couple of very tidy players coming through the academy once again.


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Here is a look at our "Elite Talents" (Hopefully Dos Santos chooses the Andorran path)

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We have just 9 games to go in the season as we look to hit some form and make a final push for the playoffs. Unfortunately we have a pretty difficult run-in so will need a little miracle from somewhere I feel.

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We didn't get off to the best of starts in our season run-in, but following our defeat to Tenerife managed to scramble together some decent results.

With all that said and done, we now only had 4 games left to play in the season and a number of teams all fighting for the final few playoff positions.


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In our next game we managed to hold out a barrage of attacks from Valladolid , who already had their place booked in the playoffs as a minimum. We really were hanging on by the end so am rather pleased we came away with a point.

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Next up, we managed to come from behind twice against Granada, scoring a penalty in extra time to earn us a monumental 3 points. I'd say we were rather fortunate but either way its a massive result for our playoff hopes.

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Unfortunately we were then on the receiving end of an extra time winner, as strugglers, Oviedo, inflicted a crushing defeat in our penultimate game of the season. With the scores level I was asking us to push for the winner and I guess that left us exposed at the back.

Despite the loss we are still clinging on to a playoff position by the skin of our teeth going into our final game.


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That final game was against the Division leaders, Espanyol... and unfortunately went the way many had predicted. They were just too strong for us in the end and the result means we miss out on the playoffs.

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Despite the sense of disappointment, it has still been a fantastic season for us, finishing well above the drop zone.

Our attendance has gone up dramatically, recording 97% attendance across the season and reason to expand our tiny 1,300 Stadium.


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However, the board have decided to once again delay any stadium expansion for another season. Probably not a terrible idea considering we aren't exactly financially stable.

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I have been given a slightly boosted wage bill to work with and a small transfer budget. We do need to overhaul the squad a bit, especially as 4 players are retiring.

I am also going to make sure we adhere with registration rules this season as well!


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Here is our supposed best XI of the season. Once again Martinez was our top goalscorer, but he will in fact be one of the players leaving us for retirement. He definitely hasn't been as effective for us and time to bring in some new faces to try push us into the playoffs next year.


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random throwback seeing Kelechi Nwakali score against you for Huesca as he was class for me with Sligo on FM19. Should be a really good long-term save for you this, excited to see how many Andorran players you can produce - reckon you can get the national side to qualify for a Euros or World Cup if you played the save long enough?
 
Just caught up with this. Great read mate and not a bad first season which gives you something to build on. That golden generation will be interesting to watch develop over the coming years as well.
 

This has arguably been the most hectic and frustrating transfer windows i've experienced in a long time.

A combination of transfer targets opting to join "stronger squads" or even rejecting our contract offer after it had been agreed with their agent, has left me pulling my hair out at times. Especially as our scouting network isn't the most extensive to get reliable data.

Although we did manage to bring a lot of new faces in to replace a host of retiring and released players.



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EUGENI - He chose not to renew his contract with Arouca in the Portuguese Second league last season, enabling us to pick him up on a free transfer. Although his attributes are apparently on the decline, he is still a top playmaker for us and am hoping for big things.

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GENTIAN SELMANI - Is an Albanian international, who joins us from Boluspor in the Turkish Süper Lig. He looks to be a big improvement between the sticks for us and am hoping he can cut down on some of the soft goals our keepers appeared to be letting in last season.


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BORJA GARCÉS - We spent £68k to bring him in from Atlético Madrid as he was never going to be breaking into their first team. He was the best we could find/afford and on paper is immediately down as the best striker at the club... hopefully he delivers on the pitch.

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ANTONIO ARANDA - Was released form Barcelona B after having a very strong season with them last year. He is more comfortable playing out on the wing but am confident he can slot into central midfield as I don't usually utilise wingers in my formations.

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JAVIER PASTORE - Is our Marquee signing of the season. The former Argentine international has played at the highest level for PSG, Roma and more recently Elche. Physically he is clearly on the decline at 34, but is still very technically gifted and my possess the quality required to help us unlock some defences.

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So here is our squad for the 2023/24 season. I had hoped it would be a bit stronger than it is and am still going to have to rely on some of our youth prospects to fill the squad.

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That is particularly evident as we approach the start of the season with quite an injury list. Four of those players would have been in my starting XI at the start of the season had they been fit.

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As expected we are still operating with one of the smallest wage budgets in the division.

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We also didn't have a particularly good pre-season, winning just the one game. I was rather distracted with the transfer side of things and we did play some decent opponents but is always slightly concerning to look at.


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Again we are predicted to be in a relegation scrap at the end of the season, although I'm secretly looking for another playoff push after last season.

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I also received the rather concerning news that they are scaling down our financial support. We are at a point now where further investment could see us reach La Liga and grow massively, but it appears I will have to try and achieve that goal on a shoestring budget.


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random throwback seeing Kelechi Nwakali score against you for Huesca as he was class for me with Sligo on FM19. Should be a really good long-term save for you this, excited to see how many Andorran players you can produce - reckon you can get the national side to qualify for a Euros or World Cup if you played the save long enough?

Haha always good to spot an old FM legend! Yeah, i'm actually pleasantly surprised of the players already coming through the academy. I mean they probably wont be world class but are definitely going to improve the Andorran squad in a few years time (if not already). Once i get into La Liga i'll be tempted to try get the Andorran National job, hopefully i can stick the save out long enough to qualify for a major tournament!
 
Just caught up with this. Great read mate and not a bad first season which gives you something to build on. That golden generation will be interesting to watch develop over the coming years as well.

Thanks mate. Yeah, have some decent youth players coming through the academy. Hopefully they can develop well (I mean some are already getting first team football as teenagers).
 
Great read, loving the story. Be good to see how you get on without major backing from the owner. Looking forward to the next installment.
 
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