Listen up, it's Fola-time

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fola

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Apologies for the poor title, couldn't think of anything hip and trendy? I have been a regular viewer of stories on this site for the past few months and have really enjoyed the Athletic Bilbao season, the one hunting for the new regen, the Icelandic one + the Sporting one with the Portuguese national mission. Apologies, I can't remember the names of the authors however they're the main ones I look for when coming to the site.

One thing that got me about their stories is the challenges that they set themselves. I've previously got bored of FM but I am thinking about starting another one now due to the challenges set on this forum. The coefficients rule is something that has always interested me and I've always wanted to make a smaller nation challenge with the big boys however I've never had the commitment.
Above is the nations that I have decided to load up. Does anybody know how I can make this image bigger? Just to make it easier for you lot to read without having to click to enlarge.

The nation that I have decided to go with is Bulgaria. The Bulgarian 'A' group is the top division which is currently ranked as the 28th best league in the world. Currently, the top team in Bulgaria qualifies for the second round qualifiers of the UCL. Second qualifies for the second round qualifiers of the Europa whilst third and fourth join in the first round.

The Bulgarian 'B' group is currently ranked 76th in the world and this is league I intend to start in. You are only allowed one non-EU national player in the squad and must have 4 under 21 Bulgarian players in the match day squad. In the "A" group that changes to 3 and 5.

So my objectives before starting are:

- Make Bulgaria one of the top nations in the world.
- Take over the Bulgarian national team.
- Make a profit EVERY season.
- If a player wants to leave the club, he can leave.
- Mainly look at bringing in Bulgarian players or people who can at least speak Bulgarian.

- If I don't bring in a Bulgarian player, he must not have been capped by a country. Hopefully he will become eligible to play for Bulgaria and if I get the opportunity to manage the national side. I will call them up.

Not sure if I'll be able to stick to any of these but we'll see. Wish me luck!

Next Update: Chosen team and more information on the Bulgarian league structure.

I will try to update this as frequently as possible. I have exams in a few weeks but I'll try my best.
 
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The team that I've decided to start with is Kaliakra, currently plying their trade in the Bulgarian 'B' group. The league itself consists of 14 team: the top two teams are promoted into the 'A' group while the bottom four teams are relegated. FM only allows these two Bulgarian leagues to be loaded so if we get relegated, we will have to leave the club. It's a weird structure this league, for some reason only two teams get promoted but four teams get relegated? Not sure how that works.

Kaliakra are predicted to finish 6th this season. We have a 5000 all-seater stadium and are a professional side so all players will have FT contracts. The side has good training facilities, adequate youth facilities and basic youth recruitment so we can't really expect many good regens at this club. If given the opportunity to move up the footballing pyramid, I will jump ship.

I will assess the squad and make any transfers if needed. Before the start of the season I will introduce my squad, transfers and the tactic I will be intending to use.
 
View attachment 386228

Squad Overview

On paper the squad is a lot better than I had expected. Click on the links below to look at the assistant manager reports for my squad. If anybody wants any specific screenshots of players then just shout up.

Goalkeepers
View attachment 386220

Defenders
View attachment 386217

Midfielders
View attachment 386216

Strikers
View attachment 386218

How can I make the images bigger?

Main Players

View attachment 386213

Mihail Minkov is a Bulgarian under 21 international and a player that I have high hopes for. He's only twenty years old however I expect him to be a key player for my side. Would of liked to have played him at CB but he's only 5'10 so think I'm going to re-train him as a DM to fit in with my tactics.


Plamen Kozhuharov is probably the most talented player in my squad. I've managed to tie him down to the club for two seasons but as you can see, he should be brilliant at this level. He's a player who I want to see capped in a few seasons time. Unfortunately, he's injured at the moment for three months.

Hristiyan Kozhuharov is the older brother of Plamen and these are two players I'm very excited about. Hristiyan is a player who I feel can set this league alight.
Three players joined the club, all on free transfer. 26 year old attacking midfielder; Wilker has joined the club after spending much of his career in Italy. He has Italian citizenship so doesn't take up our non-EU slot and in three years time, can gain Bulgarian nationality which is pleasing. Julian Matthew joins the club after leaving English side Charlton Athletic. Tbh, he's **** but I wanted to bring over a player from England with me. He's Ghanian so takes my non-EU slot, but is only young and hopefully in three years, will apply for Bulgarian citizenship. The final signing is the one I'm most pleased about. Granchov is a Bulgarian under 21 international and will be a key part of my defence, hoping he can stay here for a long time.

Transfers Out

Managed to flog some back up players. Weirdly a few managed to gain moves to the top flight.

Tactic to the used

View attachment 386200

Going to be using the tactic based around Simeone's tactic on these forums. Thanks to the person who made it. I haven't used it before so we'll see how it goes.

Best Starting XI

Iliev
Granchov - Raychev
Iliev - P. Kozhuharov - Minkov
Kichukov Vasilev
H.Kozhuharov - Wilker
Petkov

Season starts NOW!
 
Bulgarian "B" Group
Saturday 3rd August 2013


Kaliakra 2 - 1 Dobrudzha 1919
Wilker (43'), N.Iliev (81')

MOTM:
Nikolay Iliev

Really happy to grab my first win at Kaliakra manager. We went one nil down in the first half but a debut goal from Wilker grabbed us level. It looked like it would be a draw before Iliev ran forward from left back to grab the winner.

__________________________________________

Injury News: Wilker ruled out for 2 weeks with a facial injury. Mihail Minkov ruled out for 2 months with strained ankle ligaments.

__________________________________________

Bulgarian "B" Group
Saturday 10th August 2013


Spartak (Varna) 0-0 Kaliakra


MOTM:Trayan Dyankov (Spartak Varna)

__________________________________________

Injury News: Ivan Raychev ruled out for 2 months with broken ribs. Plamen Dimitrov has been ruled out for 2 weeks with a strained wrist. Sergey Stanov has been ruled out for 9 months with knee tendonitis.
__________________________________________

Transfers News: Bulgarian ring wing back Genadi Alberto-Lugo has signed until the end of the season. He will be our starting right wing back.
View attachment 386188

__________________________________________

Bulgarian "B" Group
Saturday 23rd August 2013


Kaliakra 1-1 Dunav 2010
Ivanov (56')

MOTM:Vladimir Baharov

Nice to finish the month unbeaten. We went one down but Ivanov equalised through a penalty. The players seem to be getting used to my tactics.

__________________________________________

Line Ups

[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]OPP[/TD]
[TD]RES[/TD]
[TD]GK[/TD]
[TD]CB[/TD]
[TD]CB[/TD]
[TD]RWB[/TD]
[TD]DM[/TD]
[TD]LWB[/TD]
[TD]LM[/TD]
[TD]CM[/TD]
[TD]CAM[/TD]
[TD]RW[/TD]
[TD]ST[/TD]
[TD]SUBS[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dobrudhza[/TD]
[TD]2-1[/TD]
[TD]Iliev[/TD]
[TD]Granchov[/TD]
[TD]Raychev[/TD]
[TD]Minkov[/TD]
[TD]Ivanov[/TD]
[TD]Iliev[/TD]
[TD]Vasilev[/TD]
[TD]Kichukov[/TD]
[TD]Wilker[/TD]
[TD]H.Kozhuharov[/TD]
[TD]Petkov[/TD]
[TD]Stanev,Dimitrov[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Spartak[/TD]
[TD]0-0[/TD]
[TD]Iliev[/TD]
[TD]Granchov[/TD]
[TD]Matthews[/TD]
[TD]Raychev[/TD]
[TD]Ivanov[/TD]
[TD]Iliev[/TD]
[TD]Vasilev[/TD]
[TD]Kichukov[/TD]
[TD]Petkov[/TD]
[TD]H.Kozhuharov[/TD]
[TD]Stanchev[/TD]
[TD]Stanev, Dimitrov[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dunav[/TD]
[TD]1-1[/TD]
[TD]Iliev[/TD]
[TD]Granchov[/TD]
[TD]Matthews[/TD]
[TD]Alberto-Lugo[/TD]
[TD]Ivanov[/TD]
[TD]Iliev[/TD]
[TD]Vasilev[/TD]
[TD]Kichukov[/TD]
[TD]Wiker[/TD]
[TD]H.Kozhuharov[/TD]
[TD]Petkov[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]



Player of the month
: Yanislav Ivanov.
View attachment 386168

The young Bulgarian has done well in the holding role. He's managed to score a goal too, which is pleasing.

League Table
View attachment 386170
Current League Position: 6th

 
Plamen Kozhuharov has returned from injury. He has good all round stats and I'm going to re-train him as a striker. What do you think?

View attachment 386084
 
Just did an update for September but it's not showing up. Think I'll just do screenshot results from now on.
 
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