Yugoslavia Reunited - A Road to Glory with FK Borac Šamac (reloaded)

Venator77

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Due to my own incompetence, I had to restart this save from the very beginning. Which means back to the fourth tier of Yugoslav football and back to our bare bones. But this time, I will be documenting my progress from the get go instead of last time where I was already in the First League by the time I started a topic here. So lets jump in.

In case you are coming here for the first time, Borac is a Yugoslavian semi-pro club, located in Bosanski Šamac, competing in one of the six 4th tier leagues in the Yugoslav Reunited database. This club holds a special place in my heart as two of my family members used to play for them years ago. Now it is my duty to take this club up to the very top of world football. So, 100 years after Borac Šamac was founded, I took charge.

For this particular save, I have two other databases loaded for added flavor. Here's my setup:
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I might do a save in the Soviet Union at a later date, but for now, I will stick with Yugoslavia.

Borac in the first season (predicted 4th originally, now Evens for 1st) of the save plays in the Premijer Liga Bosne, which covers clubs in the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here are the rules:

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Anyway, here are the summer transfers. There are a lot of them due to the relatively lack of depth in the team and generally bringing in very good players. Another interesting thing of note is that Borac holds a loan affiliation with Jedinstvo Crkvina, who play in the 7th tier.

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If you have any questions about a particular player, don't hesitate to replay below and I will provide answers including screenshots as well.

As stated in the league rules, there are 44 matches to be played and now we have reached the 11 match mark, a quarter of the way through. Here's the results:
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What an excellent start to the season! The teams to take note of as our title rivals are Budućnost Banovici and Zvijezda 09, although as of now, Leotar and Sloga Doboj have also started pretty well. Our team has so far smashed everyone in its path except Leotar, who we could only draw in frustration. Still, I expect this to be a walk in the park. Here's the current league table:

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We are eight points clear of our closest competitor, so hopefully we can build on this on our bid for the title and subsequently promotion. Our cup run has been easy so far, as we had only run into 10th tier sides so far.

Thanks for reading the first part of season 1 with Borac Šamac. I plan to divide each season into four parts: Part 1 with summer transfers and all fixtures up to September, Part 2 with winter transfers and all fixtures from September to the end of February (the end of the Yugoslav winter transfer window), Part 3 with the remaining fixtures and the end of season player review, and Part 4 with results from around Yugoslavia, Europe, and major international competitions (if applicable). Stay tuned for Part 2 of Season #1.
 
Hello readers welcome to Season 1 Part 2 of my Borac save. Lets get into the fixtures.

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We have continued our unbeaten run in the league, having not yet lost a league game yet. We also had a decent cup run, reaching the 6th Round where we were knocked out by 6th tier Jedinstvo Bihac. I wasn't too fussed about our penalty loss, as the board required me to reach the 5th round and I did just that. Despite a small downturn in form in February, we firmly remain at the top. Here is the league table:

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Budućnost Banovici had been very disappointing this season and lie firmly in mid-table, while Leotar Trebinje had been fantasic, lying in 2nd place after nearly 3/4 of the season done. Zvijezda 09 were pretty inconsistent for a side that is supposed to be challenging for 1st place. Currently we are 25 points clear and look set for promotion into one of the three 3rd tier leagues. Now, it's time for winter transfers.
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Lots of departures as some reserve players on Non-Contracts decided to move to pastures new, while some Part-Timers were sold off as they weren't good enough for the squad. Also a few loans away for gametime and development. Only a few newcomers, but they are quite important. I splashed out on centerback Anes Durakovic, who was unhappy at his club due to broken promises, and Anel Husic, Budućnost Banovici's star striker who was also unhappy with his club. Raif Husic is a free agent GK released from German club Aalen and will replace Trifun Lukic, who was over 30 and not good enough. The final notable transfer was loaning in one of Red Star Belgrade's young left backs to build some quality depth in the area. Last but not least, I have made three pre-contract signings for the next season.

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Milos Bojanic is a young GK who will replace our 34 year old GK who I will set for release at the end of the season. The other two signings are good quality midfielders who will be helping us succeed in the Treća Liga. Any further pre-contract signings will be coming in the next post.

That's it for Part Two of Season 1 of my Borac save. I will be back with Part 3, the end of the season, player review, and possible additional pre-contract signings. Thanks for reading and reply if you have any questions or comments.
 
Welcome back to Part 3 of Season 1 with Borac Šamac. The end of the season has arrived and every competition has concluded. Here are our final results.

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It has been a fantastic campaign this year, as we finished on top with 8 games to spare after beating Leotar to win the league title. We were also invincible, having not lost a game at all. We are going up! Now the focus is into consolidating ourselves in whichever Treća Liga we end up in. Hopefully, with the right signings, we can get promoted again into the Yugoslav Second League by winning next season's league title. Meanwhile, we have made three new precontract signings, all defenders.

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Both Mateo Les and Ivo Glavas are Dinamo Zagreb products who I managed to poach away before they signed new contracts, while leftback Dejan Coric was recommended to me as a quality player and someone that would fit well in the social groups. I can't wait for my per-contracts to arrive.

Now, it's time for the season's player review. I will only be discussing the best performers of the season, so if you don't see the player you want discussed, reply below.

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This experienced central and attacking midfielder was probably my best signing of the season, as he was one of our creative master minds and provided 20 assists from 45 appearances. He was also pretty good at finding goal, scoring 11 goals, most of them free kicks.

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Our star striker for much of the season, he scored 20 league goals and 7 cup goals for a total of 27 for the season. He won the Golden Boot, two goals ahead of Anel Husic. I hope to keep him as long as possible.

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A veteran center back and a dressing room leader, Novakovic provided a solid wall of defense in 39 league appearances. He also has a surprising good eye for goal, as he scored 13 league goals and 5 cup goals for a total of 18 for the season. Most of these goals came from set pieces or penalties, but he will nontheless stick around for next season.

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The OG central midfielder for Borac, he is Adnan Hodzic's creative partner, scoring 5 goals and assisting 11.

That's it for Part 3. I will return shortly for Part 4 of Season 1, where I will show results from around Yugoslavia and Europe, as well as the result of Euro 2020.
 
Alright, all of the relevant competitions have finished and the results are in. First, we will start with the Yugoslav First and Second Leagues.

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Dinamo Zagreb won the First League this season, beating out Red Star Belgrade quite comfortably. Dinamo Zagreb also won the Cup, thus completing a domestic double. From my previous experience, Dinamo is the dominant force in Yugoslavia, so they are the ones to beat. At the other end of the table, Gorica lost the relegation playoff to Vojvodina Novi Sad and will join 18th-placed Široki Brijeg in the Second League next season.

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Lokomotiva are crowned champions of the Second League and are promoted to the First League along with 2nd-placed Slaven Belupo. Shkendija, GOSK Gabela, and Zemun are relegated to the 3rd tier.

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In Germany, Bayern Munich claim another Meisterschale by quite some distance. Werder Bremen and Köln had very good showings, both having occupied the top 4 before settling for Europa League football next season. Union Berlin and Augsburg are relegated to the Bundesliga 2, Fortuna Düsseldorf winning the playoff against Hannover 96.

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This is by far the craziest season of the Bundesliga 2 that I have ever seen in FM20. Holstein Kiel of all teams win the league title and, alongside NEWLY-PROMOTED Karlsruhe, are going up into the Bundesliga. VfB Stuttgart had a horrible season, losing the first 5 matches and occupying the relegation zone until November. The end of the season was equally crazy, as anyone from 1st to 8th place had a chance of getting promoted to the Bundesliga. Absolute scenes. BTW, Osnabrück and Dynamo Dresden are relegated to the 3 Liga while Bochum win the playoff against Hansa Rostock.

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Manchester City win a third straight league title, beating out Liverpool and Tottenham on the final day. Aston Villa, Southampton, and Sheffield United are relegated to the EFL Championship.

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The Championship was won by West Bromwich, who will be joined by Swansea and Leeds United into the Premier League. Barnsley, Luton, and Derby County fall into League One.

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Juventus win another Serie A by some distance, as Brescia, Sassuolo, and Lecce are relegated to Serie B.

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Spezia and Chievo Verona are promoted to Serie A along with playoff winners Trapani as Pordenone, Cittadella, Juve Stabia, and Perugia are relegated to Serie C.

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La Liga was won by Atletico Madrid after Barcelone faltered. The head-to-head favored the Madrid club anyway, meaning even if Barca won that one game near the end of the season, they would still finish 2nd.

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Rayo Vallecano, Sporting de Gijon, and Oviedo will replace Leganes, Levante, and Real Valladolid in La Liga.

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Zenit St. Petersburg win the Soviet High League needing to avoid defeat by 3 goals or more on the final day. Astana, Ural, and Qarabag are relegated.

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Olexandriya, Dinamo Brest, and Mariupol are promoted while Karpaty, Tavria, and Anji fall to the 3rd tier.

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The Champions League was won by Real Madrid, beating Barcelona in an El Clasico final in Turkey.

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The Europa League was won by Arsenal, who beat Manchester United to qualify for the Champions League through the Europa League.

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Last but not least, Euro 2020 was won by Italy, who beat Belgium in the final. Yugoslavia was knocked out be England in the Round of 16.

And that's Season 1 of the Borac save wrapped up. Stay tuned for Season 2, where we will be participating in the Treca Liga Istok. Thanks for reading!
 
Welcome to Part 1 of Season 2 of the Borac save! Last time, we finished the season as champions of the Premijer Liga Bosne and were promoted to the Treca Liga Istok, where we are predicted to finish 11th. This new league has their own rules, which I shall post.

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Nothing too special here, except this time we will only play each team twice instead of 4 times for a total of 30 league games this season. Only the top spot is the promotion spot, so if we want to get into the Second League, we have to win the league title. And now, to summer transfers:

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This year's summer transfer window was definitely not as busy as last year's, but we did get stronger. Apart from the pre-contracts discussed in previous replies, I brought in a new first-choice goalkeeper on a free transfer as well as a couple of quality midfielders and players for the future. Two of our fringe fullbacks wanted to leave so I made some profit from them. The rest of the players here are mostly reserve players who weren't going to trouble the first team. Finally, there were a number of players released from the club upon contract expiry.

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Apart from the last two, who I released myself, these players were too old and not good enough to play any further role. I wish them the best of luck. And now, to our team performance.

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We have once again started off on a flyer, with two thrilling matches against Sindjelic Beograd and Javor Matis Ivanjica in July, where in both games we came from behind to win. We then went through most of August maintaining a 100% record before losing to Tuzla City in a tight contest where they scored a last minute winner to take all three points.

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We currently sit in 1st place on goal difference after 7 match days. TSC Backa Topola, the favorites for the league title, are our next match and they are the team to beat if we want to get back-to-back promotions. Teams to watch are recently relegated GOSK (predicted bottom) and Zemun (mid-table), Indjija, and Backa Palanka.

That's it for Part 1 of Season 2. We will return to the end of February with the winter transfer window and results from September to the end of February.
 

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Welcome back to Part 2 of Season 2, where the majority of the league season has gone and the winter transfer window has closed. There are six game left in the league, so let's see what's going on.

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Borac continues to shine at this new level, going through September and October unbeaten. We did pick up a couple of losses in November, but otherwise, we have been excellent. Victories against TSC and Tuzla City were extremely important as those two were challenging for the title. Our cup run has been nothing short of spectacular, as we demolished Second League side Čelik Zenica 5-0 and First League side Željezničar Sarajevo 4-0 before we were defeated in extra time by Olimpija in the 7th Round. Our performance in the cup shows promising signs of our future in the Second League should we get promoted this season. Here's the league table.

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We are in fantastic form, sitting at the top 8 points clear of TSC. Tuzla City are no longer a threat to the league title anymore as they got into a horrible patch of form, picking up only 2 points in the last 5 games. If TSC win all their games from this point, the earliest we can secure the title and promotion to the Second League would be our home match against Mladost Doboj-Kakanj.

Now, the winter transfer window:

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It's been a mixed bag, as despite us picking up some real gems in central midfielder Nemanja Vukmanovic from Sinjelic, we lost three of our good players on free transfers. It was my fault, I delegated the contract negotiations to my DoF and he failed, so I wasn't able to stop both of our starting wingers and midfielder Samir Isanovic from signing on with other clubs. At least Nemanja Vukmanovic will be an excellent replacement for our OG midfielder. But now I will have to look for starting wingers in the summer and I'm not sure who will pop up when the time comes.

Despite my mistakes, I did make pre-contracts myself. Here they are:

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Signed some first team youngsters who look to be great to develop as I play them as well as some quality depth for the GK and RB role.

That's it for Season 2 Part 2. I will return with the end of the season, where we will see whether or not we get promoted and the possibility of even more pre-contract signings. Thanks for reading.
 
Welcome back everyone to Part 3 of Season 2 with Borac Šamac. The final 6 games have been played and the final results are in.

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We have got promoted once again! The league title was sealed following TSC's failure to beat Backa Palanka following our 6-0 victory against GOSK Gabela. Poor GOSK, they suffered another relegation having already fallen out of the Second League in Season 1.

All credits must go to our strikers Mirel Ibrahimovic and Anel Husic, who has scored a combined total of around 60 goals, and Husic takes the Golden Boot, narrowly beating out his teammate by a couple goals.

Next season, we will be able to start signing foreign players, as now we along with the winners of the other two Treca Ligas are going up into the Second League. No Yugoslav team is allowed to sign outsiders if they are below the Second League. Perhaps I could find some foreign players from the relegated Second League sides...

Stay tuned for Part 4 very soon.
 
Welcome to Part 4 of Season 2 of the save, where we will look at the results of the top copmetitions across Europe.

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Dinamo Zagreb ran away with the First League for a second season running boasting the best attacking and defensive records in the league. Partizan Belgrade won this year's Cup so they will be entering the Europa League while Red Star and newly-promoted Lokomotiva enter the Europa Conference League. Čukarički were relegated after Željezničar fought heroically to climb out of bottom spot. They beat Vojvodina Novi Sad in the relegation playoff to stay in the First League. Vojvodina were relegated with Čukarički.

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Celje were crowned champions of the Second League having almost reached promotion last season. Interestingly enough, newly promoted Aluminji Kidričevo join them in the First League, having been promoted from the Treca Liga the season before. Relegated Gorica had a torrid time and suffered back-to-back relegations, joining Macva and Dinamo Vranje in the third tier of Yugoslav football.

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Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga yet again by quite some distance. FC Köln had a great season and finished in 4th, qualifying for the Champions League. Predictably, both promoted sides were relegated to the Bundesliga 2 along with Paderborn. Karlsruhe finished in the play-off spot and lost to their bitter rivals Stuttgart in a spicy two-legged affair.

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This season's Bundesliga 2 wasn't as crazy as last season's. Augsburg and Union Berlin were promoted directly while Stuttgart beat Karlsruhe to join the top two. Ingolstadt and Uerdingen were relegated along with play-off loser Jahn Regensburg. They will be replaced by Dynamo Dresden, Sonnenhof Grossaspach, and play-off winner 1860 Munich.

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The Premier League was once again won by Manchester City. Swansea, Leeds United, and Crystal Palace were relegated to the Championship, with West Brom barely surviving by the skin of their teeth.

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Aston Villa and Sheffield United go straight back up into the Premier League, joined by playoff winner Bristol City. Peterborough, Hudderfield, and Nottingham Forest are relegated to League One.

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The Serie A was dominated by Juventus once again, a long way from 2nd placed Atalanta and Inter Milan. Genoa, Trapani, and SPAL are relegated to Serie B.

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This may have been the most fascinating season of Serie B I have seen. Triestina, a newly promoted side from the Serie C, claimed the league title and join Lecce and Salernitana into the Serie A. Ascoli, Bari, Monza, and Cosenza are relegated to Serie C.

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La Liga was won by Barcelona, having capitalized on Atletico Madrid's slip ups near the end of the season. Mallorca, Granada, and Rayo Vallecano are relegated to the Segunda Division.

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Real Zaragoza and Las Palmas are promoted directly to La Liga, while Huesca joins them after winning the promotion playoffs. Pontevedra, Extremadura, Ponferrada, and Alcorcon are relegated.

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Zenit St. Petersburg claimed the Soviet High League for a second time in a row, managing to edge out Spartak Moscow near the end of the season. Rostov won the Kubok, qualifying for the Europa League despite their 15th place finish. Mariupol, Orenburg, and BATE Borisov are relegated to the 2nd tier.

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Astana, Kairat, and Krylja Sovetov are promoted to the top division while Nasaf, Lokomotiv Tashkent, and Chertanovo are relegated.

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This year's Champion's League was won by Barcelona in a repeat of last year's final, beating Real Madrid by a comfortable 6-1 in Munich.

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The Europa League was won by Inter Milan, who beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the final in Sevilla.

That's it for Part 4. Stay tuned for Season 3 of the save, where we will be participating in the Yugoslav Second League.
 
Welcome back to Season 3, where we will be participating in the Yugoslav Second League after achieving promotion from the Treca Liga Istok last season. The rules of the Second League are as below.

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The biggest change in the rules compared to last season is that we can finally sign non-Yugoslav players. I can't wait to see what gems we can pick up this season.

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With the loss of our two starting wingers, I signed youngster Rade Zdravkovic for the right side, though I haven't found a new left winger yet. Leon Sipos was on the transfer list and looked pretty good, so I signed him up to give me a little more depth in the striker role, as our 3rd choice. Vladimir Suiunov is Samir Isanovic's Georgian replacement, picked up on a free. I also loaned in two promising defenders from Dinamo and Sarajevo to add some quality for the season ahead. Most of the departures were development loans, while Ahcin was sold for profit as he was unhappy and I was okay with his departure.

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The start to our Second League campaign was quite promising, dropping 4 points from a possible 21 for the first two months of the season. Our media prediction had rose from 11th to 4th, which means that after our business in the transfer window, we should look into challenging for promotion into the First League by May. The higher quality of teams in this division makes me skeptical about promotion, but so far, we are doing good. Here's the league table:

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So far, we are in first place after 7 match days. Cukaricki and Vojvodina Novi Sad are predicted to be favorites for promotion, as both teams had recently been relegated from the First League. Borac's victories against both clubs show encouraging signs that we can perhaps cause an upset this season.

That's it for Part 1 of Season 3. Stay tuned for Part 2 with the winter tranfer window and the league situation for March.
 
Welcome back everyone to Part 2 of my third season with Borac Šamac. Let get right into the results.
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We have been in good form throughout the season, picking up crucial wins against Cukaricki along the way. Here's the league table.

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We are in a great position for promotion, as we are ten points clear of 3rd placed Vardar. The competition for the league title is much closer as we and Cukaricki have been closely clashing for that league title. It's entirely possible that the title might be decided on the final day as our last 7 fixtures have quite a few potential stumbling blocks ahead. On more important off the field news:

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We are upgrading our poor youth facilities and more importantly, we are finally going professional! Get in! I can finally start training my players better using a more complete training schedule. Next season shall bring much needed changes into the system here in Šamac.

Now for our winter transfers.


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Some more reserves movement and incoming foreign talent to add to the depth of the first team. Departures were mainly from the reserve side of the game, however, one particular outgoing player was Patrik Braun, a highly rated prospect who was snatched from me by Red Star Belgrade without my consultation. My damned managing director decided to cash in on Braun on deadline day without consulting me, as Red Star's increasing bids became "too good to pass up." **** it, I was saving Braun to use in the near future. Alas it's too late and I will have to continue to scrounge the bargain bin for new talents.

That's it for today's post, stay tuned for the end of the Second League season, where it's highly likely we will be among the clubs chasing for promotion into the promised land. Thanks for reading.
 
Welcome back to Part 3 of Season 3 of my Borac save. The end of the season has arrived and the results are in.

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We rounded off an excellent season by winning the league title on the final day of the season. Cukaricki were very close to pipping us to the title after an April of slip ups, but in the end, they lost on the final day while we won. They will join us into the First League next season. On the other end of the table, Proleter Novi Sad, Celik Zenica, and Siroki Brijeg have been relegated to the Treca Liga.

As it is 2022, next season's First League schedule will be somewhat different as the 2022 Qatar World Cup will be occurring in the winter time, which will influence the matchdays occurring in November and December. I will cover the World Cup in Part 2 of Season 4 of the save.

As for notable players, here they are:
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One of the loan signings at the start of the season, Stefan Milic was a rock-solid defender who helped prevent us from getting battered a lot as well as having a bright future. He will be joining us permanently next season, as our new budget was greatly expanded for the coming tranfer window.


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This left winger was signed on a free to replace Cemalovic in this role. He did very well in that regard, 4 goals and 4 assists in 21 appearances.

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Toni Gorupec was a free signing to help with the depth in the right-back area, as our loaned in first choice was going to leave. He did pretty good, making 28 appearances.

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What a fantasic season our first choice striker had! Anel Husic started all but one league game all season and scored 29 goals in the process. With that eye for goal, he won the Golden Boot once again, quite comfortably over the next challenger. He's gonna do well at the top level I can't wait!

That's it for Part 3 of Season 3 with Borac. I will return soon with results elsewhere across Europe.
 
Welcome back to Part 4 of Season 3, where we will look at results across Europe.

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The Dinamo Zagreb dominance has been broken! The First League title went to Partizan Belgrade, who's red-hot form took advantage of Dinamo Zagreb's slip ups to the final day, where their final day victory was crucial to deny Dinamo Zagreb a 3rd straight league title. Celje and Domzale were relegated at the end of the season, where we and Cukaricki will be replacing them.

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Nothing too special here. The Bundesliga was won by Bayern Munich once again, while Union Berlin and Fortuna Dusseldorf were relegated. Eintract Frankfurt won the relegation playoff and will thus stay in the Bundesliga.

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Hannover 96 won the 2 Bundesliga this year, joining Hamburger SV into the Bundesliga. Sonnenhof Großaspach, SV Sandhausen, and Arminia Bielefeld were relegated to the 3 Liga. They will be replaced by Jahn Regensburg, Magdeburg, and play-off winner Ingolstadt.

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What an exciting season of the Premier League. The Man City dominance was broken with Chelsea winning the league on goal difference. Man United made a good go, but fell short in the end. Bristol City, Sheffield United, and Watford were relegated to the Championship.

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Just like the Premier League, this was a fascinating season of the EFL Championship. Southhampton won the league title and were promoted with Millwall of all teams and play-off winner Blackburn Rovers. Luton Town, Charlton Athletic, and MK Dons were relegated to League One.

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Another league of broken dominance, Inter Milan won the Serie A after Juventus slipped up and lost top spot. Spezia, Chievo Verona, and Triestina were relegated to Serie B.

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Serie B was won by Genoa, who were promoted along with Brescia and SPAL. Juve Stabia, Cittadella, Alessandria, and Venezia were relegated to Serie C.

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La Liga was won by Barcelona, who very nearly threw the title away to Atletico Madrid. Las Palmas, Alaves, and Oviedo were relegated to La Liga 2.

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Tenerife, Numancia, and Levante were promoted to La Liga while Lugo, Mirandes, FC Andorra, and Cordoba were relegated to the 3rd tier.

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Zenit St Petersburg won the Soviet Union High League while Astana, Rostov, and Kairat were relegated.

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The second tier was won by Qarabag, who were promoted with Neftci and Dnipro-1. Tobol, Dinamo Tbilisi, and Paxtakor were relegated.

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This year's Champions League was won by Manchester United, who beat Man City on penalties in a Manchester Derby final.

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The Europa League was won by Chelsea, who beat Real Madrid quite comfortably in the final.

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Newcastle United won the first edition of the Europa Conference League, completing an English cleansweep of the European competitions. They thrashed the Austrian side LASK Linz 5-0 in the final.

That's it for today. I will return with our first season in the top flight and the summer transfer window.
 
Welcome everyone to Season 4 of my Borac save. We have finally reached the promised land of the First League, and with that, a season of consolidation. Here are the new rules.

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And the relegation playoff
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The summer transfer window was pretty busy, and this time, we were given a considerable transfer budget of around 1.7 million Euros to work with, much larger than previous seasons. Let's get into the good stuff.

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A very busy transfer window indeed and our most expensive too. Most of the money has been spent bringing in quality to our defense and midfield, while being funded by the departures of some of our reserve players as well as the big big sales of several of our hot young prospects that had been brought in long ago. I cannot wait to see how my departed prospects will develop in the bigger clubs and I cannot wait to see how this transfer window will affect my team.

If you had been paying close attention to the incoming transfers, you will notice that an old friend make his highly anticipated return to the Gradski stadion. Welcome back Abdurahman Besirovic!!! Our star winger from the first two season has been brought in on a free transfer from Macva, having not played well at that club and having his contract run down as well. I am so happy I was able to bring him back.

In the First League so far, we have played 9 matches, 8 league games and 1 cup game. Here are the results.

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We have started the season off with a bang! We had been tipped for relegation this season and yet we have played very well in all our games, including a fantasic 3-0 victory against last season's champions Partizan Belgrade, a 5-0 thumping of Radnicki Nis, and a very credible 3-2 loss to Dinamo Zagreb. We lie in 4th place with 17 points + game at hand. Zrinjski Mostar, who qualified for the Europa Conference League last season, are a bit behind with the rest of the league on matches played due to their European adventure, which is why we and Maribor have a game at hand against the rest of the league.

Thanks for reading Part 1 of Season 4 of my Borac save. I will return with results to the end of Feburary, the winter transfer window, and the results of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
 
It's time for Part 2 of Season 4 of my Borac save and things have quickly gotten out of hand in the league. Let's just jump right in, this is really crazy.

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Our form has been phenominal ever since that loss to Dinamo Zagreb. We have been smashing almost every single team in the league and combined with Partizan Belgrade's and Dinamo Zagreb's repeated slip ups before Feburary, we sit 9 POINTS CLEAR of 2nd place, leaving behind any notion of relegation. The most astonishing fact of the matter is that the three main Belgrade clubs have failed to defeat us in the league since promotion. We did lose a cup game to Red Star as I completely rotated the side, and I fully expected to lose the tie cause I didn't really care for the Cup. But, in an amazing fight back, we defeated Red Star 3-0 to mark our best cup run of the save so far. I cannot believe how good we're playing at the moment.

Winter tranfer window

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It was a busy transfer window, as I decided to trim down on my enormous squad size and get rid of the deadwood players. In the midst of all this, the big clubs of the top 4 football leagues had taken a keen interest on my Golden Generation of talents. Unfortunately, I wasn't in the position to stop my brightest prospects from seeking greener pastures, so I of course let them go on my own terms, raising a lot of money and ensuring hefty sell-on clauses. The sales enabled my to activate a bargain release clause on Zelejo midfielder Petar Bojo, who was worth over €1 million. The rest of the sales cash went to a new young striker from Napredak, who will be replacing Husic as one of our starting strikers. Alef, who went out on loan at the start of the season, developed quite good and merited a return to Gradski stadion.

As it was 2022, the FIFA World Cup in Qatar took place and here are the results.

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GET IN!!!! Yugoslavia beats Brazil 2-1 in the World Cup Final to win their first ever World Cup title. It was a tense and nervy match in which the Yugoslav barely managed to scrape the result against a Brazil side who thumped Germany 5-1 in the Semi-Finals.

That's it for Part 2. I will return with the end of the season and players to watch.
 
What an insane finale to Season #4 of my Borac Samac save. Let's take a look at the final results.

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It was an absolute master class performance from the entire team as we lifted the Yugoslav First League in our debut season in. Our Leicester-like performance ensured that we would win the league title and ensure our place in next season's Champions League group stage with a victory over Zrinski Mostar, three games to spare in the season. I was relieved, as the potential banana skin that would be the game against Dinamo Zagreb was rendered moot, not that it would've troubled us as we recorded a surprising victory over the highly rated club. At the other end of the table, Sloboda Tuzla were relegated to the Second League after a terrible season, and Zeljeznicar followed them after losing the relegation playoff against Aluminj. I reckon the wintertime departure of Petar Bojo must have hurt them real hard, but that's their fault for not following up with a new contract for the midfielder.

While our whole team played phenominally, I have to point out some special gems among the gold.

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This guy was my best signing of the season, having joined us on a free transfer after his contract at the Italian side Sicula Leanzio expired. He proved to be one of the best bargains I have achieved, assisting 10 goals in 28 league appearances with an average rating of 7.46.

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A Man Utd reject also signed on a free, he was part of a solid back line that conceded only 26 goals all season, the 3rd best in the league. His defensive duties weren't the only highlight of his good performances. His excellent heading, jumping reach, and strength led to 8 goals in 30 appearances, proving himself to be very good during set pieces, especially corners.

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The other brick in our defensive wall, Strahinja was signed from Vozdovac for €600k. He was also very good at stopping opponents from scoring. Like Will Fish, Bosnjak scored 8 goals in 30 appearances, proving his capability on goal as well.

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One of the few loan signings of the save, this Polish winger proved to be a very good option on the left wing, scoring 7 and assisting 3 goals in 21 appearances.

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A winter deadline day signing from Napredak, Jovan Runic cost me €375k, but he quickly proved to be worth every cent. He scored 7 goals in only 12 league appearances. He looks to be an excellent replacement to the aging Anel Husic, who is approaching his 30s and has already declined to a decent Second League striker.

That's it for Part 3 of Season 4 of the Borac save. I will return shortly with results across Europe and cover the previous FIFA Club World Cups, which I had completely forgotten about until now.
 
Welcome to Part 4 of Season 4, where I will cover results from around Europe and the Club World Cups.

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The Second League was won by Celje, who were promoted with Istra 1961 to the First League. It was a very close race to 2nd place, as three teams were in the running for promotion. FK Rad, Vozdovac, and Mladost Lucani were relegated to the 3rd tier.

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Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga yet again after RB Leipzig ran into a period of bad form. Hoffenheim did well this season and qualified for the Champions League. Hannover 96 and Hamburger SV were relegated to the Bundesliga 2 while Augsburg won the playoff against Union Berlin to remain in the Bundesliga.

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FC Nuremburg won the Bundesliga 2 and were promoted with 2nd placed Fortuna Dusseldorf. Jahn Regensburg, Magdeburg, and Wehen Wiesbaden were relegated and were replaced with Sandhausen, Arminia Bielefeld, and playoff winner Kaiserslautern.

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This season's Premier League was won by Manchester United, who took advantage of Chelsea's recent defeats to pip them to the league title on the final day. Predictably, Millwall were sent straight back down to the Championship, followed by Norwich City and Blackburn Rovers.

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Leeds United won the Championship title and were promoted with Watford and play off winner Swansea City to the Premier League. Mansfield Town, Nottingham Forest, and Sunderland were relegated to League One.

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Juventus took back their league title, beating out Roma and Inter Milan to the top spot. Salernitana, Lecce, and SPAL (who set a record low number of points in the Seria A) were relegated to Serie B.

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Chievo Verona won the Serie B and were promoted with Crotone and Trapani to Serie A. Cosenza, Cremonese, Padova, and Monza were relegated to Serie C.

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La Liga was won by Real Madrid, who were competing closely with Atletico Madrid for the title. A crucial victory in the Madrid derby on Matchday 35 ensureed Real got the advantage and never gave it up. Real Zaragoza, Tenerife, and Huesca were relegated to La Liga 2.

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La Liga 2 was won by Derportivo Alaves, who were promoted along with Oviedo and Las Palmas. Merida, Llagostera, Pontevedra, and Leonesa were relegated.

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The Soviet League was won by Spartak Moscow, who overtook their city rivals Lokomotiv to beat them to the league title. Neftci, Dnipro-1, and Dynamo Kiev were relegated to the 2nd tier.

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The 2nd tier was won by Astana, who were promoted with Ural and Kairat. Bunyodkor, Buxoro, and Mariupol were relegated to the 3rd tier.

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This year's Champions League was won by Liverpool, who beat Juventus on penalties after drawing 1-1 after extra time.

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The Europa League was won by Manchester United, who beat their rivals Arsenal 1-0 in an all English affair.

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The Europa Conference League was won by Atalanta, who beat Villarreal 2-1 in the final.

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Three Club World Cups have been played so far, with Liverpool winning two and Brazilian side Flamengo winnning the 2020 edition of the competition. The next edition of the Club World Cup will be taking place in 2025, two years from now.

That's it for Season 4 of my Borac save. I will return with the summer transfer window business as well as the new league season and our first ever Champions League fixtures.
 
Welcome to Season 5 of my Borac Samac save. Last season, we won the league title and qualified for the Champions League. However, due to the poor performances of Yugoslav clubs in the past years, the Yugoslav club coefficient slipped down during our journey up. Originally, the Yugoslav First League had a Group Stage spot and a Play off spot, but by the time we won the title, it became two 2nd Best Placed Qualifying Rounds. The Yugoslav club coefficient slipped again and here are the new rules.

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If we win the league title again, we will be entering the Champions Third Qualifying Round. Anyway, the season has begun and all the Champions League qualifiers have been played. Let's look at our results.

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It has been an excellent start to the season. Despite how busy our schedule has been juggling league games and Champions League qualifiers, we have played excellently. This season, we have been predicted for top half, so we should be comfortable in the First League from now on. Our Champions League qualifiers have gone splendidly, destroying AEK Athens 9-1 on aggregate and beating Sporting 5-0 away. Partizan did give us a scare in the Play Off tie, but our second leg managed to overturn this first leg deficit. With the qualifiers done, we have entered the Group Stage of the Champions League. Here's the group we have drawn in.

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We have been drawn in Group E with Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, and RB Salzburg. It is a very tough group and we would do well to even finish 3rd. Despite the difficult group, we will be rich, as we were awarded 15 million Euros for making it here in the first place. Now, the league table.

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It is a 100% start for our team, but as we had easy league matches so far, I expect this to change soon.

And now, the summer transfers. For winning the league title, we were given around 5 million to spend.

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It was another season of strengthening, with our top signings being Kamil Kasprzak, who impressed on his loan and has become a permanent addition, striker Alexander Milic, and defenders Besir Hani and Ardy Mfundu. One signing of particular interest was the famous Chelsea legend Nemanja Matic, who we signed on a free after his contract with Parma expired. Despite approaching the end of his illustrious career, he will provide valuable experience for our European adventure.

That it for the first part of Season 5 of the Borac save. I will return with part two with the winter transfer window, the results of the UEFA Champions League Group Stage, and the First League.

Thanks for reading, and leave a comment if you have any questions.
 
Not really normal that 2 teams from the same country met in the CL qualifiers...
 
Yeah, this season was a weird one because we were supposed to enter the Champion's PLayoff Round, but instead we were placed in the Best-Placed Second Qualifying Round. It might be a bug, but those extra games did allow us to collect record gate receipts for each home match.

Another anomaly is that NK Osijek were supposed to move into a new stadium that was built recently, but for some reason, they never did and the new stadium sat empty until we started playing in it due to the fact that our home stadium didn't meet the Champions League seating capacity requirements.
 
Welcome to Part 2 of Season 5 of the Borac save, let's take a look at what happened so far.

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In terms of league performance, we have been very good, only picking up a few losses along the way. Our title rivals this season are Hadjuk Split, who have been hounding us since the start.

Our Champions League Group Stage ended up being very exciting. We were unable to beat Manchester United at all and we destroyed RB Salzburg, who ended up being the group's whipping boys to our relief. That means that results against Atletico Madrid were a must in order to get out of the group. The first match against Atletico Madrid is probably my proudest achievement in the series yet, as we secured a 2-0 victory against the Spanish side. By matchday 6, we were tied on 9 points and that means we have to secure a draw in order to advance.

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We did just that, drawing 2-2 in Madrid to ensure our better head-to-head record books us a place in the Champion's League R16. We were drawn against Lyon, who beat us 4-3 on aggregate, so that's the end of our Champion's League run.

And the league table.
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First place and 4 points clear of Split, not bad if I do say so myself.

Winter transfers:

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It was a relatively quiet transfer window, as we only brought in two young talented players, a Japanese GK who looked good for the future and an English left back on loan from Norwich. I continued to clean up the reserves of deadwood players of earlier seasons, raising around 300k Euros from players not good enough to play for us anymore. There were also a number of development loans out for some of our young players.

That's it for Part 2 of Season 5. I will return with the end of the season in the First League and notable players.
 

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