The White Star - Wisla Krakow

[FM_TNSSO]

THE WHITE STAR - WISLA KRAKOW

I'm excited for my new save/story as I go to manage in a country I have never managed in before, on any previous version of FM. Poland is the country of choice, as I take over a team that has previously been right at the very top of Polish football but fallen on hard times of late.

Wisla Krakow ranks 4th on the all time Polish national title rankings. They have won the top tier (Ekstraklasa) no less than 13 times and are only bested by Gornik Zarbze (14), Ruch Chorzow (14) and Legia Warsaw (15). They've also lifted the Puchar Polski (the main cup competition in Poland) on 4 occasions, although they are miles behind Legia Warsaw on this one who have won the trophy a whopping 19 times!

Wisla Krakow were entirely dominant in Polish football throughout the early 2000s, winning the Ekstraklasa in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011! However, since 2011, the club have failed to finish above 5th and started dropping down the table gradually. Over the past few seasons, they have been finishing in the bottom half of the table and confirmed their fall from grace last season as they were relegated to the 2nd tier! There's no doubt that this is a football club on a downward spiral and in desperate need of revival.

That's where I enter and take over. My plan is to get the club back into the top tier in the first instance. From there, I want to make us a competitive force in Poland again and eventually become the most decorated club in Poland above our rivals, Legia. From there, I'd like to take us into European competitions and see what we can do. The furthest any side from Poland has ever gone in the Champions League is the semi finals (Legia Warsaw in 1970 and Widzew Lodz in 1983). Wisla Krakow's best ever performance in the competition was a quarter final appearance in 1979!

The aim for year one is immediate promotion and this is expected by both the board and fans. The board have a 5 year plan in place where the aim is to be a top half side in the top tier in 5 seasons.

To keep our supporters happy, I'll look to focus on keeping a core squad of Polish players, bring players through the youth system and play entertaining football.

As far as the club setup goes, the stadium is decent with a capacity of over 33,000, whilst the facilities are good even if they do leave room for improvement.

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

THE SQUAD

With the players I have at my disposal, the most logical formation to play was a 4-2-4 with two up front! We are one of the strongest teams in this division and should be looking to take the game to our opposition in most cases, so this is my preferred setup to start with.

Goalkeepers

We're OK here. 20 year old Mikolaj Bieganski is already my number 1 between the sticks, but looks like he could develop into a future Polish national keeper.

Right Back

I've got three players that can cover this position and won't be in a rush to make any additions here. Konrad Gruszowski is only 21 and could be the club's first choice right back for years to come!

Centre Backs

Not only do I have loads of cover at the back, I actually have three of the best centre backs in the entire division! Alan Uryga is injured for 5 months though, so won't feature until the second half of the season. With him missing, it will be up to Igor Lasicki to sit in the heart of the defence as the main man.

Left Back

Without a doubt, this is the weakest area of my whole team. Not only do I have little cover, but the two players available are also not of the highest quality. If there is one position I'll be looking to improve immediately, this is it!

Central Midfield

Plenty of players in this area although on current ability, there aren't many that set the world alight. However, just look at the potential of those youngsters coming through! Give it 3-4 seasons and we could have one of the best central midfields in the country if they progress to their full potential!

Right Wing

Michal Zyro is the main man right now in this position.

However, that could change when ex Borussia Dortmund player, Jakub Blaszczykowski, returns from injury. It's worth noting that he is now a part owner in the football club as well!

Left Wing

We are just as strong down the left flank too, with Dor Hugi being the preferred option.

Strikers

The strength of both Angel Rodado and Luis Fernandez is the main reason that I decided to play a formation with two up front. I simply couldn't leave either of them out of the team and neither of them are too well suited to playing down a wing. There's no real cover for them though, so this (along with left back) is a position I'll probably recruit for.

By the way, at this point I want to put a quick shout out for this skin! It's easily the best I have ever used in all my time of playing FM and you get so much information on all your pages as you'll see from the screenshots above. It's called Sas23.6 if you want to search it up to grab yourself! Honestly, it's like it makes FM a completely different game!​

 

[Crayth]

Good start - interesting story, good luck mate.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

JULY 2022

Our run of friendlies was useful to me as I was able to identify after a few games that the 4-2-4 formation I'd set us up for simply wasn't working! A 4-0 thrashing to kick things off, followed by a narrow win that should have been much more, followed by another defeat. The team looked disjointed and the formation just wasn't coming together like I had foreseen.

So it was time for a change. It's not hugely dis-similar to be fair as I drop the striker back to a shadow striker in the attacking midfield role, changed a load of the team instructions for a different style of play and changed some of the individual roles to better suit some players.

Then came my first signing for the club. It rectifies one of the problem positions at left back, as I bring in a talented youngster on loan.

LOAN SIGNING: DAVID HEROLD
SIGNED ON SEASON LONG LOAN FROM BAYERN MUNICH
WAGE CONTRIBUTION = 20% = £500 PER WEEK

The 19 year old is much better than all my other options in the left back position and has the opportunity here to be a regular first team starter!

With the new formation and attacking midfield/shadow striker role, I needed another player who could provide cover for that role.

LOAN SIGNING: TOMASZ PIENKO
SIGNED ON SEASON LONG LOAN FROM ZAGLEBIE LUBIN
WAGE CONTRIBUTION = 20% = £40 PER WEEK

I turned to one of the top tier Polish sides for one of their youngsters to come in and provide cover. Pienko is only likely to be a squad rotation option rather than a regular, but he isn't costing me hardly anything and can cover the wings if I get desperate too.

Following the change in tactics, the rest of pre season went entirely to plan with some much better performances! It sends me into the new season with much more confidence.

So our next game would be our first league game of the campaign. A campaign in which the bookies firmly expect us to achieve automatic promotion, but despite us being odds on to win the title, we are not favourites!! Three of my players do make the media dream 11, including both my centre backs, although they do put one in central midfield.

Saturday 30th July
Fortuna I Liga - Chojniczanka Chojnice (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki*, I.Jelic-Balta, D.Herold, V.Basha, P.Plewka (W.Szywacz 69), M.Pereira (M.Zyro 62), L.Fernandez, D.Hugi, A.Rodado

Angel Rodado will fancy himself for the golden boot in this league this season and he got himself off to the perfect start as he bagged the opener here. We went on to win the game 2-1 and although it wasn't in the most convincing fashion, it's a win on the opening day which is all that matters.

Only one game gone, but here's the league table anyway.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IGOR LASICKI

Well we only played one game and he was man of the match!

We won't waste time getting deep into the action next month with no less than 6 league games and the first round of the cup to play. The stand out fixture is the away day at Bruk-Bet Niecieza who are the title favourites.

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

AUGUST 2022

Wednesday 3rd August
Fortuna I Liga - Stal Rzeszow (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki (I.Jelic-Balta 49), D.Szot, D.Herold, V.Basha, P.Plewka (W.Szywacz 67), M.Zyro, L.Fernandez (T.Pienko 49), D.Hugi*, A.Rodado (M.Mlinksi 67)

We were well in control of this fixture throughout, having 18 shots on goal and an incredible 72% possession. We made 615 of 736 attempted passes in this match which is excellent at this level of football!

Saturday 6th August
Fortuna I Liga - Sandecja Nowy Sacz (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski (B.Jaroch 57), I.Lasicki, D.Szot (I.Jelic-Balta 57), J.Niewiadomski, W.Szywacz, P.Plewka, M.Zyro*, L.Fernandez, D.Hugi, A.Rodado

Another win to make it 3 from 3. We definitely don't look as confident away from home in these early stages of the season, but hopefully that will come in time, especially if we keep stringing together good results.

Wednesday 10th August
Fortuna I Liga - Skra Czestochowa (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, I.Lasicki (I.Jelic-Balta 57), D.Szot, D.Herold, V.Basha (P.Plewka 83), W.Szywacz, M.Pereira, L.Fernandez* (T.Pienko 70), M.Mlynski, A.Rodado

Our opponents came into this game having lost all of their opening 3 games, so we fully expected to keep up our 100% record and we did. The pick of the goals was Vullnet Basha's powerful effort from 28 yards that flew past the keeper into the roof of the net!

Then it was time for the big one! The clash between the two hot favourites to win the league this year!

Saturday 13th August
Fortuna I Liga - Bruk-Bet Nieciecza (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki, I.Jelic-Balta (D.Szot 77), D.Herold, V.Basha, P.Plewka, M.Zyro*, L.Fernandez (W.Szywacz 86), D.Hugi (M.Mlynski 71), A.Rodado

We found ourselves completely under the kosh in the first half as our opponents had 10 shots at our goal to our 3 chances on theirs. Somehow, though, we carried a 2-1 lead into the break! Despite us being ahead, I still demanded a better performance in the second half and we came out and dominated the remainder of the game, adding a 3rd goal in injury time to seal a big victory and a massive 3 points early in the season.

Saturday 20th August
Fortuna I Liga - Zaglebie Sosnowiec (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki, D.Szot, D.Herold, V.Basha, B.Talar (W.Szywacz 61), M.Zyro, T.Pienko, D.Hugi (M.Mlynski 74), A.Rodado* (L.Fernandez 80)

A very nice victory against the side that is 3rd in the table at these early stages. We rode our luck at times but overall would say that the best team won!

Saturday 27th August
Fortuna I Liga - Arka Gdynia (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski (Sent Off 86), I.Lasicki, D.Szot, D.Herold, V.Basha, B.Talar (P.Plewka 67), M.Zyro (B.Jaroch 86), L.Fernandez, D.Hugi, A.Rodado (T.Pienko 67)

We drop points for the first time this season and we just weren't anywhere near our best today. Janusz Gol put them in front early with an absolute cracker of a strike and maybe that threw us off our stride, but the lads were told at full time in no uncertain terms that we were not good enough here.

Tuesday 30th August
Puchar Polski 1st Round - Polonia Bytom (Away)
Lineup: D.Fratczak, B.Jaroch, B.Moltenis (D.Szot 66), I.Jelic-Balta, J.Niewiadomski, B.Talar (P.Plewka 77), W.Szywacz, M.Pereira (M.Zyro 66), K.Duda (L.Fernandez 66), M.Mlynksi*, A.Rodado (T.Pienko 90)

We'd drawn lower league opposition in the first round of the cup, so I took the opportunity to rest a few players, with no less than 9 changes made to the starting lineup from our last game. Half way through the second half though and the score still tied, I started to introduce the big guns and it was eventually Luis Fernandez who got the goal in extra time that put our noses in front. Mateusz Mlynksi then added his second before a lot consolation goal from our opponents. A tight game where the lower league side pushed us every bit of the way!

On the last day of the month, I received a bid for my number 1 keeper from Sampdoria. The value was just £425k and it would take more than that for me to let him go, but I just hope this hasn't turned the youngster's head.

However, my fears were quickly realised as he has been complaining to his teammates about me rejecting the bid!

And that has all of a sudden increased the interest in him! With so many big teams here, I'm going to struggle to keep the talented keeper on our books and it might come down to maximising the money I can get for him!

FORTUNA I LIGA

Our unbeaten start to the season means we have opened up a small 3 point gap at the top of the table, but maybe more importantly we are a good 7 points ahead of Bruk-Bet who were seen as our main rivals for the title this year.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ANGEL RODADO

My main striker bagged himself 7 goals (including 3 braces) and an assist this month in 7 games. He was run close by a couple of other players for the award though with a few in really good form this month.

LEAGUE AWARDS

The schedule calms down a little next month with just the four Saturday games for us. It's likely to be a testing month though with all of our four opponents inside the current top 10.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

SEPTEMBER 2022

Saturday 3rd September
Fortuna I Liga - Odra Opole (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, I.Lasicki, D.Szot, D.Herold, V.Basha, P.Plewka*, M.Zyro, L.Fernandez, M.Mlynski, A.Rodado

After taking the lead early in this game, we had chance after chance to double it. However, we squandered all of them and were punished late on as Odra snatched an injury time equalizer to deprive us of victory.

Saturday 10th September
Fortuna I Liga - Gornik Leczna (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch (D.Szot 67), I.Lasicki, I.Jelic-Balta, D.Herold, V.Basha (W.Szywacz 86), P.Plewka, M.Zyro (M.Pereira 67), L.Fernandez, M.Mlynski, A.Rodado

A narrow victory as Angel Rodado scores his 10th league goal of the season.

Saturday 17th September
Fortuna I Liga - Ruch Chorzow (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki, I.Jelic-Balta, D.Herold, P.Plewka, W.Szywacz, M.Pereira (D.Hugi 62), L.Fernandez, M.Mlynski (M.Cisse 73), A.Rodado (T.Pienko 62)

We've lost our first game of the season and I can't quite believe that we did! They got their goal through a soft penalty and despite us hammering their goal for 90 minutes, they held on for dear life! It was a game of last ditch tackles and blocks and a worldie performance from their keeper!

Saturday 24th September
Fortuna I Liga - Resovia Rzeszow (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski (B.Jaroch 54), I.Lasicki, I.Jelic-Balta, D.Herold, V.Basha (P.Plewka 54), W.Szywacz, M.Pereira*, K.Duda, D.Hugi, L.Fernandez (A.Rodado 68)

Angel Rodado hasn't been firing this month, so was dropped and the front man role was handed to Luis Fernandez. However, Fernandez was dreadful and replaced by Rodado in the second half. Although he did look lively after coming on, he wasn't able to grab a winner though and we have to settle for a draw.

FORTUNA I LIGA

It's been a poor month with us taking only 5 points from a possible 12. Despite that, we do retain our position at the top of the table, but have given the chasing pack every opportunity to catch up a bit.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DAVID HEROLD

The on loan left back was easily the most consistent player of the month, recording an average rating above 7 in every game.

October needs to be a better month for us or we will lose top spot in the table for sure. In amongst 5 league games, we have a massive cup game against bitter rivals and arguably the best side in the country, Legia Warszawa.

One thing that will help is that two of our best players have now recovered from their injuries and can be slowly integrated back into first team football!

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

OCTOBER 2022

Good news as my young goalkeeper has put a move away from the club behind him....for now at least! I'm sure I will have to face renewed interest in him come the January transfer window, but at least for now he is happy to concentrate on his football here.

Sunday 2nd October
Fortuna I Liga - Puszcza Niepolomice (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki, I.Jelic-Balta (A.Uryga 73), D.Herold, V.Basha, P.Plewka, M.Pereira (J.Blaszczykowski 79), L.Fernandez, D.Hugi, A.Rodado*

Good to get the month kicked off with a win and also good to have Angel Rodado back to his goalscoring best after a poor month in September. Maybe dropping him for the last game gave him a bit of a kick he needed.

Luis Fernandez will be out for the rest of the month at least after he picked up a hernia injury. He's been pretty much a constant in the team in my shadow striker role and will be sorely missed.

Saturday 8th October
Fortuna I Liga - Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biata (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki, I.Jelic-Balta (A.Uryga 80), D.Herold, V.Basha*, P.Plewka, M.Pereira, K.Duda (J.Blaszczykowski 83), D.Hugi, A.Rodado (M.Zyro 69)

It was 18 year old Kacper Duda who was handed the starting place in the attacking midfield central role and the youngster did well and got the assist for the second goal. However, on the whole I'm massively disappointed with the team who let a 2-0 lead slip here!

Saturday 15th October
Fortuna I Liga - Chrobry Glogow (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, I.Lasicki, A.Uryga, D.Herold*, V.Basha, P.Plewka, M.Zyro (M.Pereira 29), K.Duda (J.Blaszcykowski 67), D.Hugi, A.Rodado

This was a boring, boring game right up to Dor Hugi's moment of brilliance in the 81st minute which won the game for us!

Tuesday 18th October
Puchar Polski 2nd Round - Legia Warszawa (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, J.Colley (I.Lasicki 65), D.Szot (A.Uryga 65), K.Wachowiak, I.Jelic-Balta, W.Szywacz, M.Pereira, J.Blaszczykowski, D.Hugi, A.Rodado (M.Mlynski 75)

This cup game against our rivals came only 3 days later and so some rotation was necessary which wasn't ideal. We weren't expected to get anything from the game with Legia being miles ahead of where we are at right now, but we can proud of our efforts here as we gave them plenty to think about and kept the score more than respectable when most were expecting us to be on the end of a hiding.

Saturday 22nd October
Fortuna I Liga - GKS Katowice (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, A.Uryga, D.Herold (K.Wachowiak 68), V.Basha, W.Szywacz, P.Starzynski (J.Blaszcykowski 60), K.Duda, D.Hugi, A.Rodado*

Back in the league, we had much easier opposition to contend with and we made the most of it with a comfortable victory.

Saturday 29th October
Fortuna I Liga - GKS Tychy (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, A.Uryga*, D.Szot, D.Herold, V.Basha, W.Szywacz, P.Starzynski, K.Duda (M.Mlynski 70), D.Hugi, A.Rodado (L.Fernandez 70)

We rounded off the month with another win and it was great to see Alan Uryga get his first goal for the club this season after returning from injury. Since the centre back come into the back line, we have look so much more assured at the back too!

FORTUNA I LIGA

We were much improved this month and an unbeaten run of 5 games, which included 4 wins, has seen us extend our lead at the top of the table back to 5 points again.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DAVID HEROLD

The 19 year old left back wins back to back player of the month awards. Last month he was good...this month he has been excellent as he improved even further. Accompanied with his solid defensive performances, he also added a goal and an assist this month as well.

LEAGUE AWARDS

Just the 4 games next month which will kick off with a top of the table clash against 2nd placed Lodz.

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

NOVEMBER 2022

Saturday 5th November
Fortuna I Liga - LKS Lodz (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, I.Lasicki, A.Uryga, D.Herold, V.Basha (I.Jelic-Balta 52), P.Plewka, P.Starzynski (M.Pereira 67), K.Duda, D.Hugi*, A.Rodado

It was a case of 1st against 2nd and we got off to the perfect start with a 2nd minute penalty, despatched by top goalscorer, Angel Rodado. The game was tight from there and neither side had many chances, but Kacper Duda finally put the game to bed as he slotted home when one in one with the keeper late on.

18 year old Kacper Duda came into the side for the injured Luis Fernandez and has performed really well! So well, he's actually kept Fernandez out the team even with his recent return.

However, Fernandez will likely get his spot back now as they've reversed roles with Duda now picking up an injury.

Saturday 12th November
Fortuna I Liga - Chojniczanka Chojnice (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki, A.Uryga, D.Herold, I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka, P.Starzynski (M.Zyro 75), L.Fernandez*, D.Hugi, A.Rodado (J.Blaszczykowski 66)

Fernandez took full advantage of his return to the starting lineup as he scored a brace. Chojniczanka are bottom of the league and a big win was expected prior to the game. Now it wasn't big in terms of goals scored, but it was a pretty performance from the lads as we had possibly the most amount of possession in 90 minutes that I've ever seen and had nearly 900 passes with a 93% success rate!

Saturday 19th November
Fortuna I Liga - Stal Rzeszow (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, I.Lasicki*, A.Uryga, D.Herold, I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka, P.Starzynski, J.Blaszczykowski, M.Mlynski, L.Fernandez

Luis Fernandez picked up where he left off in the last game as he bagged another 2 goals after being given the front man role. However, it was the strong defence that was the backbone of another good performance.

That's now six straight wins in the league without conceding a single goal!

A player that has worked his way into my team of late is 18 year old winger, Piotr Starzynski. He started the season with an injury so wasn't really on my radar and then I introduced him for a couple of games last month to see what he could offer. It turns out a lot, as he is now holding down a regular spot in the team and has 4 assists in 5 starts! Oh I do love it when a youngster seizes their opportunity!

Saturday 26th November
Fortuna I Liga - Sandecja Nowy Sacz (Home)
Lineup: D.Fratczak, B.Jaroch (K.Gruszkowski 45), I.Lasicki (D.Szot 69), A.Uryga, D.Herold, I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka, P.Starzynski, J.Blaszczykowski, D.Hugi, L.Fernandez (A.Rodado 69)

Number 1 keeper, Mikolaj Bieganski had picked up an injury in training so would miss this one. The backup keeper came in and within 7 minutes, we'd conceded and our clean sheets record came to an end. It definitely shook our defence and we didn't look anywhere near as solid as we have been for the whole game. Then again, neither did theirs, as both sides played out a draw.

FORTUNA I LIGA

10 more points this month keeps us at the top of the table with a 7 point lead as we have now passed the half way stage of the season!

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MIKOLAJ BIEGANSKI

3 games played and 3 clean sheets for my first choice keeper! He was obviously a big part of that 6 game clean sheet steak too.

LEAGUE AWARDS

Looking ahead in the schedule, I'm not sure if this is normal for Poland or whether it has anything to do with the World Cup, but we don't play a competitive football game again until the end of Ferbuary!

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

DECEMBER 2022

With no domestic action for us, all eyes turned to Qatar and the 2022 World Cup.​

You could say Poland were unlucky not to qualify from their group in the World Cup with a goal difference of +4! A 6-0 win over Saudi Arabia was the highlight result of the group, but narrow 1-0 defeats to Argentina and Mexico saw them go out!

As an Englishman, natually I had one eye on my own nation too. England qualified as runners up in Group B!

England went on to make the semi finals, where there were two excellent match ups in the last 4!

England saw off Belgium with relative ease.

And they will renew their rivalry with Germany in a repeat of the 1966 final.

And England repeat the feat of 66!

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

JANUARY 2023

January saw the transfer window for a lot of Europe open, although the Polish window doesnt open until February 1st. With that came the first bid for goalkeeper, Mikolaj Bieganski, from Werder Bremen, that was swiftly rejected.

Then a couple of really poor loan to buy bids were rejected! I feel like these German sides are not taking us seriously.

For now, we keep hold of him!​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

FEBRUARY 2023

Michael Pereira has played 9 times for me this season, scoring 1 goal and getting 2 assists. However, he's 35 years old and was taking home near on £2k per week, so I was happy to let him leave the club. He joins Turkish side, Denizlispor for free.

We played three friendlies to build up some match fitness before the league campaign kicked off again, which we came through pretty unscathed.

Saturday 25th February
Fortuna I Liga - Skra Czestochowa (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki, A.Uryga, D.Herold, V.Basha (P.Plewka 66), W.Szywacz, P.Starzynski*, L.Fernandez (K.Duda 66), M.Mlynski, A.Rodado

An entertaining game for the fans after nearly 3 months away, but I would have expected us to win by a bigger margin against a side 17th in the table.

Igor Lasicki has been excellent for me at the heart of the defence all season, so when Miedz Legnica (a team from the top division) came in with an offer of just £38k for him, I quickly rejected it!

However, it has now unsettled the player and he may be looking to force through a move sooner rather than later. I am hoping the positives will outweigh the negatives in the long run and he will change his mind though!

FORTUNA I LIGA

Only one game played this month, but everything went our way and we extend our lead from 7 to 10 points at the top!

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIOTR STARZYNSKI

Easy...1 game played, 1 man of the match!

STAT ATTACK

Angel Rodado is very much in the race for this year's golden boot, sitting 2 goals off the leader at the moment. However, he does hold a better minutes per goal ratio!

Five games to play next month which kick off against pre season title favourites, Bruk-Bet. Their fans will be disappointed to be 14 points off the pace back in 5th after being 1-10 odds on to win the title at the start of the season!

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

MARCH 2023

The main thing to celebrate this month is that the transfer window closed and I managed to keep hold of all my best players.

Saturday 4th March
Fortuna I Liga - Bruk-Bet Nieciecza (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Jelic-Balta (D.Szot 63), A.Uryga, D.Herold, P.Plewka (K.Duda 88), W.Szywacz, P.Starzynski, J.Blaszczykowski, M.Mlynski (D.Hugi 80), A.Rodado (L.Fernandez 63)

A game of few chances. They took theirs...We didn't! Simple as that and we lose our 2nd league game of the season.

Wednesday 8th March
Fortuna I Liga - Zaglebie Sosnowiec (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki, A.Uryga (D.Szot 75), D.Herold, V.Basha, W.Szywacz, P.Starzynski, L.Fernandez, M.Mlynski (D.Hugi 70), A.Rodado (K.Duda 57)

We've only lost 3 times in all competitions this season, so I was eager to see how the lads would react to our most recent defeat. I got the reaction I wanted as we thump Zaglebie, although we should have scored more as we got all 4 goals in the first half.

Saturday 11th March
Fortuna I Liga - Arka Gdynia (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki, J.Colley (D.Szot 68), K.Wachowiak, I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka*, M.Zyro, L.Fernandez, D.Hugi, A.Rodado (Z.Ondrasek 68)

Despite being entirely dominant here, we could only manage a 1-0 win and we must do better with our chances. We had 17 shots at goal here!

Sunday 19th March
Fortuna I Liga - Odra Opole (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, I.Lasicki, A.Uryga*, K.Wachowiak, I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka, P.Starzynski (M.Zyro 70), L.Fernandez (K.Duda 70), D.Hugi, A.Rodado

We drew 1-1 with Odra at their place earlier in the season, but with home advantage on our side, this was a very different game and we absolutely battered them! Four different goalscorers and the pick of the bunch was a powerful 23 yard strike from centre back Alan Uryga which found the top corner.

Saturday 25th March
Fortuna I Liga - Gornik Leczna (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch*, I.Lasicki, A.Uryga, K.Wachowiak (D.Herold 67), I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka, P.Starzynski, L.Fernandez (K.Duda 67), D.Hugi, A.Rodado

After such a good performance in our last game, I stuck with exactly the same lineup in the hope of a repeat performance. However, we didn't really carry the momentum through and the first half wasn't great. A much better second half sealed the victory though.

FORTUNA I LIGA

After losing our first game this month, we went on to win 4 in a row. What that means for the table is that we are 9 points clear with just 8 games remaining!

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ALAN URYGA

The centre back played 4 of the 5 games this month and was solid in all of them, turning in a man of the match performance against Odra where he also scored a cracker.

YOUTH INTAKE

The month saw my first youth intake at the club since I took over. It's not terrible, but it's not great either.

The most promising prospect, based on current attributes, is a striker that I'll never use as he is more of a big target forward which I don't use!

FACILITIES UPGRADES

Continuing to invest in the future of the club, the board agreed to make improvements to the youth recruitment and it's now classed as excellent.

Looking ahead to next month, we have 5 games ahead of us and there is every chance we could have the title wrapped up by the end of it, especially if we get a win against Podbeskidzie who are 2nd in the table.

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

APRIL 2023

Saturday 1st April
Fortuna I Liga - Ruch Chorzow (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, I.Lasicki, A.Uryga, D.Herold (K.Wachowiak 66), I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka, P.Starzynski, K.Duda, D.Hugi, A.Rodado* (L.Fernandez 66)

We lost the reverse fixture of this game 1-0 earlier in the season, so it was nice to get a bit of revenge here. We were comfortable from 46 seconds into the game when we scored the first goal.

Saturday 8th April
Fortuna I Liga - Resovia Rzeszow (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, I.Lasicki (D.Szot 63), A.Uryga, D.Herold, I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka, P.Starzynski, J.Blaszczykowski, D.Hugi*, A.Rodado (L.Fernandez 63)

Our worst performance in a while, but this should be a small stumbling block on route to the title.

Saturday 15th April
Fortuna I Liga - Puszcza Niepolomice (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, I.Lasicki, A.Uryga*, K.Wachowiak, I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka, P.Starzynski, L.Fernandez, D.Hugi, A.Rodado

A goal in either half capped a professional performance to get us back to winning ways!

Massive contract news for us as goalkeeper, Mikolaj Bieganski, signs a new three year deal with us! I'm desperate to keep hold of him and this is a massive step towards doing that! There is a £1.2 million release clause for clubs in the higher division, but that will nullify if we get promoted.

Saturday 22nd April
Fortuna I Liga - Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biala (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, I.Lasicki, J.Colley, K.Wachowiak, I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka, P.Starzynski (M.Zyro 72), L.Fernandez*, D.Hugi (M.Mlynski 72), A.Rodado

A manic first half here as we went 2-0 down, only to come back and find ourselves 3-2 up at the break after some tactical tweaks. We added a 4th late on to secure a big victory against the side that are 3rd in the table.

It was the win that secured us the league title!

With promotion now secured, the board release the budgets for next season. There will be nothing to spend in the transfer market, but the wage budget has been handed a £30k per week boost, so I may be able to bring in some loans or move some of this money into the transfer budget if required.

Saturday 29th April
Fortuna I Liga - Chrobry Glogow (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, I.Lasicki, J.Colley, K.Wachowiak, V.Basha, W.Szywacz, P.Starzynski, L.Fernandez, M.Mlynski (M.Cisse 45), A.Rodado (K.Duda 45)

We didn't celebrate our title win in front of our home fans with a victory though. Maybe we've gone on holiday already but we were poor.

FORTUNA I LIGA

Now it's just a case of trying to finish the season on a high after being confirmed as champions.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DOR HUGI

The inverted winger turned in 3 solid performances this month scoring 2 goals and getting an assist as well.

The final three games of the season next month and we'll try to finish with a flourish.

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

MAY 2023

Saturday 6th May
Fortuna I Liga - GKS Katowice (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, B.Jaroch, A.Uryga, J.Colley, K.Wachowiak, I.Jelic-Balta, W.Szywacz (P.Plewka 45), P.Starzynski, L.Fernandez, M.Mlynski, A.Rodado (K.Duda 45)

A pretty drab and dull game and our season is definitely ending in a pretty mundane way after sealing the title already.

Saturday 13th May
Fortuna I Liga - GKS Tychy (Home)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, A.Uryga*, J.Colley, K.Wachowiak, I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka, M.Zyro, K.Duda, P.Starzynski, L.Fernandez

Much better performance and a solid 2-0 victory in our penultimate match. Piotr Starzynski has been provider this season with 8 assists, so it was nice to see the lad get his first goal for the club here!

Sunday 21st May
Fortuna I Liga - LKS Lodz (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, A.Uryga, J.Colley, K.Wachowiak, I.Jelic-Balta, P.Plewka, M.Zyro, J.Blaszczykowski, D.Hugi, A.Rodado*

A nice little away day for the fans to finish off the season!

FORTUNA I LIGA

We eventually win the league by 12 points! It is the side that were favourites to beat us that seal the second automatic promotion spot to come up with us.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
KRYSTIAN WACHOWIAK

This lad has played second fiddle at left back to the on loan David Herold most of the season. However, he came into the team properly about 10 games back and hasn't looked back since with some really good performances.

LEAGUE AWARDS

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

END OF SEASON 2022/23 REVIEW

Fortuna I Liga = Champions
Puchar Polski = 2nd Round (knocked out by Legia Warszawa)

Squad Stats

The New Arrivals

The Best 11

Club Awards

My Awards

Manager's Player Of The Season
Alan Uryga

Manager's Young Player Of The Season (U23)
Mikolaj Bieganski

League Awards

Commercial Activity

Club Finances

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

JUNE/JULY 2023

David Herold had a good season on loan with us last year from Bayern Munich and I am delighted that they have agreed to let him spend another season with us.

Now this could be useful in terms of getting loan players in! The board have only gone and got me a partnership with Napoli as a senior affiliate.

My first signing of the Summer is a new Polish keeper to play backup to Mikolaj Bieganski.

NEW SIGNING: KACPER CHORAZKA
SIGNED FROM ERMIS ARADIPPOU
FEE: FREE TRANSFER

Kacper was playing in the Cypriot league last season and managed an average rating of 7.63 in 34 appearances...that's impressive!

Meanwhile, quite a few players left the club on free transfers, but nobody of any note.

Although we managed to keep David Herold at the club on loan for another season, we were still a little weak in the left back area. Until now.

NEW SIGNING: BARRY DOUGLAS
SIGNED ON A FREE TRANSFER

Barry brings some good experience to a young team and has been at Lech Poznan for the last 2 seasons, playing 20 times in the top tier for them. He makes us stronger in that position and the fact he already speaks fluent Polish is a bonus.

Then I made my biggest sale of a player since I've been at the club. 20 year old centre back, Daniel Hoyo-Kowalski, was coming through the club and might have been introduced to the first team over the next couple of seasons. However, when Lech Poznan were willing to fork out £625k for a player that I didn't even think would be our best option here in the next 2 years, I snapped their arm off!

And with that money, I was able to bring a new striker to the club to challenge Angel Rodado for his place in the team.

NEW SIGNING: JORDI SANCHEZ
SIGNED FROM WIDZEW LODZ
TOTAL FEE: £300K
ADD ONS: £37K after 50 league appearances, 20% of profit from next sale

Widzew Lodz finished 9th in the top tier last season and only scored 34 goals in the league. Sanchez got 14 of them, so he is proven at this level. A fantastic addition to my squad!

It meant I could allow another striker to leave the club on a free transfer. Zdenek Ondrasek isn't good enough for us anyway.

Pre season saw us play 7 fixtures in preparation for the new season and it all pretty much went to plan.

We're actually not predicted to have too bad a season with the bookies expecting us to sneak into the top half of the table!

Although the board will be happy as long as I avoid relegation.

And we would kick off the season with the biggest fixture in Wisla Krakow's diary. The Krakowa Derby against our fiercest rivals, Cracovia.

Saturday 29th July
PKO Ekstraklasa - Cracovia (Away)
Lineup: M.Bieganski, K.Gruszkowski, I.Lasicki, A.Uryga, B.Douglas, V.Basha (W.Szywacz 65), N.Kuveljic, P.Starzynski (M.Zyro 65), J.Blaszczykowski (B.Jaroch 82), M.Mlynski*, A.Rodado (J.Sanchez 76)

The bragging rights are ours as we record a really solid victory away from home on the opening day! The only negative of the day was Gruszkowski's sending off late in the game as the occasion got the better of him.

PKO EKSTRAKLASA

Only one game played but a nice early 3 points on the board.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MATEUSZ MLYNSKI

Only one game played and he was man of the match.

Next month we have just 4 fixtures as we continue to ease ourselves into the top tier again.

​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Sorry guys but I'm bringing this to an end. I've been away all week for work with no FM, but came back on Friday and after a couple of days playing, I just can't get back into the save at all! I don't really know why, but the enthusiasm has all gone. I'll be starting something new soon, but need to find something that will hold my interest....more than likely going to return to England.

 

[Radjano]

Yo do you wanna make same carrier but in FM24? I'm fan of Wisła and that blog was very fun to read for me. Cheers