Eastern European Journey

[JR23]

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Introduction


​

Hi! My name is Oleg. ( JR23 )


I have always wanted to do a Football Manager story and the fact lost my laptop with my main save gives me the opportunity to do so.


First of all for anyone who reads this story I am sorry for any mistakes with my English ( they will occur ) . I am still learning it and hopefully sharing my story with other people can help me!


For the past four versions of FM games I have started my saves with 3 simple rules which my friend introduced me to. He calls them the lower league management rules. I think he stole that from some website to be fair. Don't tell him that I know.


1. Unemployed , no badges , no experience ( Could be 3 rules but lets make that 1 )
2. No use of Player Search ( Scouts and manual scouting only )
3. No use of Staff Search ( Use adverts for staff search )


Those rules have always created for fun saves! ( Except no player search, it can be such a pain )


I hope to take you with me onto another one of those fun saves!


This time I decided to load up most of Eastern European countries ( I am from Ukraine ) most of them which I am familiar with .

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I will apply to the available positions in the following weeks and see if anyone wants the inexperienced manger like myself to guide them to relegation ( basing this off my last save.. sigh )

Oh! And here is my manager profile. I might be a four star fitness coach already.


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Not sure why Klopp does not like me really. Well screw you too Jurgen. I rooted for you in 2013!


Hopefully by next update I have found myself a new home ( until they realize I am not actually a four star fitness coach ) .

 

[Tracz]

This looks like a good challenge, ill be following.

With all those leagues loaded how fast is the game running? Star rating?

 

[JR23]

This looks like a good challenge, ill be following.

With all those leagues loaded how fast is the game running? Star rating?

Thanks I hope you enjoy it!

Seems decent. But I am sure it will slow down more as I go farther into the save. 21 Countries with 42 leagues!

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[JR23]

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It took a couple months but finally I got a job offer!

I am going to Lithuania!


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FBK Kaunas is the team that is lucky to have me on board.


A semi-professional club in second division of Lithuania founded in 1960. They won the first division 8 times last being as recently as 2007! ( that is actually 10 years ago , anyone else feel old ? )


To summarize I am dealing with a semi-professional club with below average training and youth facilities with a 500 seats stadium ( synthetic surface, seems important, I'm not sure ) . Oh and not to mention my contract runs out in three and a half months.


Am I on top of the world yet.


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FBK seem safe for this season as there are 6 games left with them being in 12th with 26 points. 14 points clear of relegation.


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I really feel like they just hired me to finish off the season before choosing a capable manager. Little do they know I am a four star fitness coach.


First thing that is worrying is the fact there is only one player on full time contract. Second the fact that I have about 13 players available in my scouting pool (Thanks rule 2 of LLM )


Full squad overview would have to be done at the start of next season ( if I am still am here ) since about 90 percent of the team does not want to renew their contracts, which all run out at end of this season. Great.


I feel like I should have given this more thought. Oh well.


For now it is clear as day , two man stick out of the bunch.


Levan Chapodze. Right/left full back is the best player in the squad. Quick player that can tackle and make good decisions.

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Marius Zukovas. Central defender whose composure and concentration I can't see just like you can't. Seems reliable to me.

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Also I would like to show you this 17 year old winger. He seems like a good player for this level.

Aurimas Jurevicius. Once again , just like you , I cannot see his crossing or dribbling . Considering his height maybe a wide target man could be used ? ( strength and heading are awful though) Surprisingly I have options at this club.

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The season runs from March to October.


I am going to try to finish the season as high as possible with FBK since that does mean extra cash. Club balance as of right now is 40 K.


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These are the games to come , and of course my first game in charge has to be against the 1st placed Banga.


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A simple 4-2-3-1 looks like the tactic I will have to settle for until the end of the season .


Roles still have to be adjusted during games ( left winger wide target man , the new Mandzukic in the making )


Possibly even two strikers at times due the lower leagues really depending on who scores more in my opinion. We will have to see.


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Standard, flexible , higher defensive line with closing down more and higher tempo for now.



So there it is . My first club and they actually seem way better then I was expecting. A semi professional team with some history to them . Some good players, couple youngsters.


I think all they were missing was a four star fitness coach.

 

[JR23]

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End of 2016 season​

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First goal of mine was to assemble a scouting team due to me heavily relying on them in search of players .


I put out an advert for a Chief Scout and Scouts ( we are allowed to have two)


But that was all for the future. As of right now I had a tough task ( not really, we are safe from relegation )


My first game in charge.


We are at home against the first place team and this game is actually going to be on TV. Quite overwhelming for a first game .


First thing that was done was making sure the boys know they are capable of achieving greatness ( no rules say I can't lie )


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I made sure to cheer up the starting eleven's morale.












Our opponent Banga play a 4-2-3-1 formation. The change for this game seemed obvious.


I had to use a DM due to the opponents Play maker having 13 passing and 12 vision. He had to be marked.


This is how we lined up for the game. I decided to go with the Wide Target Man on the left since Banga's right defender is 160 cm tall. Hopefully that makes a difference.


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Standard, flexible, higher defensive line, closing down more, higher tempo the usual instructions.


I also decided to add Exploit left flank for this game. ( all hope falls on our young Manzukic )


The result :


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The game could not be any more boring for the 60 fans sitting under heavy rain watching two teams kick the ball back and forth with about 2 dangerous moments on a synthetic pitch.


There are some positives. Our left flank Wide Target Man strategy impressed me .


Jurevicius won a lot of balls which brought the rest of the team into play. However Banga's defense overpowered our striker easily.


There were 5 games left into the season .


I decided to go ahead and play them out with the same tactic .


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Well, I think we all can agree it could have gone better .


I did manage to get my first win. ( Two shots on target , one of them being a questionable penalty )


Remember when I said the Wide Target Man impressed me? Yeah . Uh huh. Scratch that.


It was quite clear that the genius idea of using a player with 6 Strength and 5 Heading as a Wide Target Man unfortunately did not work out as I hoped.


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12th seems okay. Did not really improve or decline.


Also a couple weeks after joining the scouting team was ready to do work for the summer ( well winter , mid season break in Lithuania is in winter )


Chief scout and two scouts will be my best friends for the time I am here. They could have been a bit better but these are the guys that replied to my ad.


They already got some interesting players to look at (except it takes 83 years to see their full stats. yes attribute masking sucks )


Here they are :

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Things to take away for next season :

1. Who scores wins
2. Who scores more wins
3. Who scores more goals wins

Therefore two or three striker formation is something I am going to try and use with this squad. I just do not see us not conceding in this league.


This came up a couple days after the season finished.


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Yay. Soon enough I am going to be an actual four star fitness coach ( I am sorry . I just want to be a good fitness coach, that is all )

 

[JR23]

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Season 2017



Warning. Might be a long update!!​

The new season started with great news. I am a much better coach already . Only needed one win with a club for that.


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We were given a generous 3K per week in salary and a transfer budget of 4K.


We brought in 8 new faces into the team. 5 of those will be starters.


I had 193 players to choose from after our scouts finished their assignments.


A large number to be fair, but the star ratings were a bit off ( in my opinion ) and being able to see maybe half of their attributes made for a tough transfer window.


First thing that I noticed was the fact that there were barely any wingers!
I took a look at our squad and made a decision we will play with wing backs.


Then I saw Chelsea play Southampton! And I thought of using a similar formation. ( well kind off, clearly I am better than Conte )


Conte did not put Pedro or Willian in starting eleven, he had Fabregas on the pitch as the advanced playmaker.


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Attacking, fluid, push higher up, higher tempo, close down more , use offside trap and play out of defense will be our instructions .


This is exactly the tactic that will get us promoted (fingers crossed )


This will be my starting eleven ( the rest are not really worth showing )


Ideally I make no changes and have no injuries and all eleven of these players play the entire season. Just like Conte is doing.


Our bench is made up of 18 19 year olds on amateur contracts.


By the way I gave the nicknames to all the players ( well the nicknames are their last names )


GK : Kulii was here when I arrived and I did not find a better keeper so he will be our number 1.

Good reflexes but one on ones are worrying. Especially with us playing higher defensive line.
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CDs : Arnas is a player one of our scouts pointed out as soon as he arrived.

Some decent attributes . He is quick.
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Zukovas, he was here when i arrived.

You might recognize him. ( yes the invisible composure and concentration man ). Our scouts could not find a better replacement. He will do.
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Serbul. This is going to be our David Luiz.

Very decent technical attributes for this level. Quick and is our captain with 14 leadership ( pretty sure he came from my Player Knowledge attribute as he is Ukrainian )
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RD : Chapodze. We managed to hold onto him and he will be our starting right back .

Still one of the best players at the club.
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LD: Kudirka. Was in the reserves when I arrived. Unfortunately our left back from last season did not re-new his contract.

Definitely a position I would LOVE to strengthen . No options came up in the summer ( I mean winter )
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CM (D): Barba. Another Ukrainian signing .

His mentals looked WAY more promising with 50 % knowledge about him. Let's hope his physicals and tackling will do the job here.
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DLP : Manzukic. That is right, our Wide Target Man is now going to be our Deep Lying Playmaker.

He is a gamble but he is big, has good teamwork and work rate. Also his trait Tries Killer Balls Often could help ( fingers crossed x 2 )
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AM : Rokas. Our scout told me he was Incredible.

All I see is good first touch. Really not convinced with this player. Might change him for a third striker if he doesn't perform. After all we are trying to outscore everyone.
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DLF: Petkevicius. Best player last season. Got 10 goals in 26 games.

Surely that 1 vision will help. ( fingers crossed x 3 )
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AF: Tomas. This is a signing that the entire season might depend on.

Quick, 13 finishing, 12 anticipation, 12 composure, 13 off the ball. He needs to do well for us.
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Subs : Really nobody worth mentioning other than our two young strikers. Maybe one of them will have to come in and be our 3rd striker if Rokas does not perform.

Eidejus.

Good finishing and off the ball.
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Paulius.

Good technicals . Maybe will fight for the DLF position.
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Pre-season & March​

We are predicted to finish one place higher than we did last season.

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We only had 4 friendlies to prepare for the season. Mostly fitness building.

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Before our first game of the season I got these news from our Head Physio.

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Well I guess that solved the issue with Rokas.


Eidejus comes straight into the team as a Poacher.

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The gamble with Manzukic ( I am aware that is not his name ) becomes even riskier now. He needs to find a way to link up the play in the middle.


Jasaitis is the last signing we make. We need more depth with strikers after the tactics change. Good thing registration will only open in three months. Great!
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Our first game is at home against Atlantas B team ( first team 2nd in first division last year )


Tactical familiarity is at 40 percent. Match sharpness at 65. Morale is Okay . Could there be a better start to a season!


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We dominate the game. The goal comes from a cross on the right flank delivered by Chapodze.
I would have liked to see more goals from us in this game. Mandzukic played very well with some key passes .


Just in 3 days we have a tough away game against Lietava. The team relegated from the first division last season.

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A very entertaining game that could go either way. However we did have better chances in front of the goal.


Chapodze once again proving to be a key man. Making a run on the right flank and being fouled on. He stepped up and scored the penalty.


Our three strikers failing to score second game in a row.


Nor rushing to make any tactical changes because they do seem to get the chances, just fail to score so far.

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Of course very early to say anything. The tactic does seem like something that could work with a couple of tweeks.


Hopefully in the next update I figure out how to get our strikers to score and make April a good month for us.


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6 games to come in one month! Might be a struggle with fitness due to everyone being on part time contracts.


However I am confident in our fitness coaches ( one coach , really ) ( you guessed it , that would be me )

 

[JR23]

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Season 2017

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April


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Match day 3

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We lost this game in the first 10 minutes.


3rd minute, Barba with a back pass intercepted by opponents striker.


9th minute, Manzukic ( Jurevicius ) with an unnecessary foul on the edge of the box.


Our front three not showing up again.


Main issue is I am trying to understand why our possession is so high while playing attacking first half. Overload second.


I have faith in this tactic. A little bit. Tiny bit.

Match day 4​

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27th minute, Zalgiris' player bolts a long shot into the middle from who knows how far. Kulii should have done better.


75th minute, Their defensive midfielder fouls in the middle of the pitch and gets sent off! This our chance. Four strikers on the pitch .


We make zero shots in 15 minutes .


However thank god we had 59% possession.


Four games into the season and our strikers have yet to score.


Changes need to be made. Except I am at loss which ones.


Up the fitness training intensity levels?


Yes. On high now

Match day 5

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2nd minute. God **** it.


41st minute. Yup.


76th minute . Yup.


It definitely looked better when Conte was using a similar system.


Our Barcelona like possession once again is as deadly as ever.


The morale is at all times low

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Everyone is getting fined.


April so far could not have been any worse. Three games. Three defeats. Goal difference of 0 to 6. Three more games to go.


A simple man would try something new. A different tactic. Different approach maybe. But I know this is just a challenge.


The players are just waiting for the right moment to explode and do well.


We will keep grinding . Fitness intensity on very high.


With that said, minor changes were made to the tactic for the next game. Exploit The right Flank and Hit Early Crosses were added.

Match day 6

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26th minute, Manzukic with a beautiful pass on the right wing to Chapodze and he smashes it into the top corner!! TACTICAL GENIUS.


60th minute, Barba with a near post corner right onto the head of Serbul. He smashes into the net.


Our Ukrainians creating second goal.


67th minute, we get caught off guard. Chapodze loses the ball in attack and they score on counter attack. Cross from the flank and our defense has too many players to mark.


Exploit the right flank comes off. Contain comes on.


We are fortunate they did not score because the last 15 minutes Silute had two clear cut chances.


Little change seems to have paid off as we scored from the right flank.


Games : 6
Striker goals : 0


I stick to my statement that who scores more wins ( very insightful, I know )


Before the next game Paulius came in to have a chance and asked for a run in the first team. He is for sure getting the chance.


Petkevicius is benched. View attachment 95517


Exploit the right flank stays on for this game as well.

Match day 7

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48th minute, a cross from Chapodze on the far post where our left back Kudirka wins the ball , passes to Manzukic and he smashes it into the top corner.


TACTICAL GENIUS


We could have scored more . Happy with our defending in this game.


Once again Chapodze carrying our team to another win.


Exploit the right flank is becoming a regular thing in our tactic from now on.


Games : 7
Striker goals : 0


Our main man in offence ( or so I thought ) Tomas is nowhere to be found.


Unfortunately our squad is not deep enough for any big tactical changes.

Match day 8

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​

9th minute, Mandzukic with a great pass to our left full back Kudirka, he smashes it into the right bottom corner.


71st minute, Chapodze with a brilliant dribble ( 7 dribbling ) and a cross which finds Mandzukic. He calmly puts the ball past the goalkeeper.


Great game. A little worrying about the amount of yellow cards but we do close down more. Part of the tactic.


Once again amazing possession for absolutely no reason. Am I missing something?


Games : 8
Striker goals : 0


Chapodze and Mandzukic stepping up this month.


Left back Kudirka also playing very well. Proving me wrong ( I thought he would be the weak link )


Not even going to address the striker issue .

Summary
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April started poorly but our tactical changes brought us back to winning.


Next update will include 4 games in May.


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Starting with the trip to league leaders Silas.


That should be a good test.

 

[JR23]

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Season 2017

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May


​

Main goal for the month of May was to get our strikers to score.



I decide to drop one of the strikers into a central midfield. There is no use to have 3 strikers if none of them score anyways.


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BECOMES​

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The new instruction is Shorter Passing. We have so much possession that I decided to try and take advantage of that.


Extra man in midfield should help us achieve that. We will try to control the game more after we take the lead.


Yes we are ambitious for a team predicted 11th.


Games : 8
Striker goals : 0

Match Day 9​

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14th minute. A team goal by Silas. Beautiful build up play that puts their striker one on one. He does not miss.


20th minute. We concede from a corner. Our defense watching their striker score.


44th minute. Silas left winger taking on Chapodze. Beats him easily and squares the ball to their striker.


To say we got outplayed is an understatement. Silas dominated the game.


I tried some changes in the second half but they were superior on the day.


Positives. 53% possession. Kind of a positive. I guess.


Games : 9
Striker goals : 0


Game after game I start to feel like we are missing an advanced playmaker in this tactic.
Rokas is still out for 3 to 4 months .


I put some of our young strikers on new position training.

Match Day 10​

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66th minute. Left back Kudirka lays the ball to Mandzukic. He dribbles through two players and squares the ball off back to Kudirka right in front of the goalkeeper.


84th minute. Free kick right outside of the box and Mandzukic puts it into the top corner!! What a goal.


Red card definitely helped us. Mandzukic with the man of the match. One assist , one goal.


Games : 10
Striker goals : 0


Tomas' stats for the season so far.

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Might as well call this a striker less tactic??

Match Day 11​

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1st minute. Manzukic (Jurevicius. I should really re-name him ) makes a run through the middle and finishes it with a powerful shot outside of the box into the top left corner. What a goal.


Second game in a row wonders from him.


42nd minute. We get a penalty. Tomas steps up. HERE IT IS. He misses the goal completely. Shooting it way over the bar.


70th minute. Kudirka with a cross on the near post. Substitute Turauskas puts it past the keeper with a header.


Last game we had 64% possession and this game we had 67%. Short passing and switching to control after scoring lets us dominate the game completely.


Mandzukic playing incredibly right now. Unfortunately he will miss the next game against 3rd placed Nevezis due to a booking.

I refuse to talk about strikers until one of them scores.


Games : 11
Striker goals : 0

Match Day 12​

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3rd minute. A cross from Chapodze and Tomas SCORES. HE SCORED! Heading the ball into the near corner.


9th minute. Petkevicius , who got the nod in the start due to injuries passes the ball between two defenders to Chapodze. He does not miss that close to the goal. Beautiful run.


30th minute. A pass back to the keeper from Nevezis' defence intercepted by Tomas. His second goal.


37th minute. Barba with a good through ball to Tomas. He dribbles past the keeper. Third.


46th minute. Barba with another through ball to Tomas! This time he shoots from outside the box past goalkeepers hands.


What a game. It was all decided in the first half. Another red card for our opponent as well.


I guess all I have to do is show the form of a player not playing well and he scores four goals in the next game.


Games : 12
Striker goals : 4

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Great month for us all things considered. Only lost to 2nd placed team.


Finally got our striker to score.


Found a way to make possession work for us. Let's hope we can keep this up!


The league finally taking shape. We play Palanga next month.

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Next update will be June and July together due to July only having two games. Mid season break coming up as well as transfer window.


We will see if we can sign anyone .


Main priority is an advanced playmaker.


Thankfully my scouts found a ton of players ( 4. yes . four ) with passing above 8 so far.