Hello folks and welcome to a new episode of my Football Manager 2012 story! After reaching the Champions League semi finals last season with Viitorul Constanta I was hoping for some major changes at the club during the summer. What I hoped would change was our club reputation, still listed as «national» at the end of the season. But before going into that aspect, let’s see how the European rankings have changed following our good run last season.
The great news was that we are now the 9th best club in Europe according to the UEFA coefficients and that is simply unbelievable, no Romanian club has ever featured that high up in the rankings. That also gives us a chance to be seeded first in the Champions League group draw, if one of the top eight fails to qualify.
The Romanian First League has also made a small step up the ladder thanks to our performance.
But the qualification places remain unchanged. And, to my surprise and anger and frustration, our reputation remained unchanged as well! Why? I really do not know.
So we had a hefty transfer budget for a change but I didn’t have too many options to spend it due to the reputation remaining unchanged.
Moreover, quite a few of my players told me that they wanted to leave because the club’s reputation didn’t go up as I had promised them. Juan Belencoso wanted to leave and I did let him go for 5 million pounds to Marseille. Then goalkeeper Tomas Held wanted that too and he left for 6.75 million to Sporting. And the list continues: Ali Amara left for 6.25 million to Lille while Sebastien Verdier and Dramane Sow also wanted to leave. I didn’t let them though mostly because I was unable to find suitable replacements.
All in all we received 23.5 million in transfer fees, with Sammy Mbarga also leaving for 2.9 million, but not because he wanted to ;) Midfielder Gabriel Neacsa was sent out on loan because I had a better player coming in.
We spent less than we received, 18.25 million, and that’s not because I’m cheap :) Nicolas Salva is our new goalkeeper, a bargain at 300K, youngsters Federico Caporale and Michiel Aarts are our new backup pair at the heart of the defence while Mike Broadhead is our new guiding light in midfield.
I have also chosen to promote a very young lad from our youth team, Henning Valentin. The Dane has just turned 17, he has been at our club since he was 15, and I hope he will grow up quickly and make our fans forget all about Ali Amara.
Here’s how the 24-man squad looks like, click on the names to view the current profiles:
Goalkeepers: Nicolas Salva, Vaninho
Right Backs: Tomislav Djurdjek, Henning Valentin
Left Backs: Sebastien Verdier, Ali Amara
Centre Backs: Xavier Dumont, Georgica Dicu, Michiel Aarts, Fabian Caporale
Central Midfielders: Maximiliano Ceballos, Mike Broadhead, Alin Dicher, Yasen Zlatinski, Roman Benes, Kamel Ben Yahia, Hector Fernandez
Strikers: Juan Cruz Argenti, Manoel, Rastislav Benko, Dramane Sow, Jerome Vrignaud, Peter Guba, Guido van der Meulen
With this squad we recorded nothing but wins during the summer, including our 9th consecutive Romanian Super Cup. And we conceded just two goals in the process, both against Steaua Bucharest.
The stats so far show some improvement from Juan Cruz Argenti, who finally seems able to find the back of the net. New signing Fabian Caporale also seems to be enjoying life at the club while Kamel Ben Yahia, on the other hand, has missed all the matches this summer due to an injury.
And now, the moment you were waiting for: the Champions League group stage draw! Believe it or not, we were seeded 1st this time! We still got AC Milan from the second pot and Shakhtar from the third but we have beaten both teams in the past. In fact, we defeated AC Milan last season in the quarter finals…
The bookmakers don’t have too much faith in us though but they’ve been wrong before, as we all know ;)
We have a lot of money right now but not much to do with it. There are some improvements being built at the training ground but that’s about all. I can’t spend big money on big players because those big players don’t want to come to us due to the reputation, I can’t ask the board to expand the stadium for some reason I am unaware of, nor build a new stadium for that matter.
I guess we have hit another deadlock but hopefully, if we manage another good European run, that infamous reputation will finally move up a notch and allow me to take this club further up the ladder. Thanks for reading, looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Jack
13 июня, 2012 at 12:22
Unlucky that those players wanted to leave although after looking through your squad you have great depth, especially in midfield and upfront. I really hope you can take this team to the next level I know it must be frustrating due the restrictions imposed by the board. Good luck this season!
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:23
Thanks mate. There are no restrictions from the board though, it’s all about that reputation thing.
Laxeyman
13 июня, 2012 at 12:56
I can’t really fathom why your reputation hasn’t gone up Johnny, could it possibly be a glitch in the game? Shame that your players wanted to leave because of it, but you’ve brought in some good replacements, and judging by your start, it shouldn’t make too much of a difference :)
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:23
I guess it could be a glitch, I don’t know. Time will tell I reckon.
Calin
13 июня, 2012 at 13:02
Sorry to hear about the reputation not changing… apparently you just need more, which is really strange because you already are a legend in Romania :) And the team, of course.
The group draw in the Champions League is not an easy one but you should have no trouble qualifying as you did until now. It only remains to see if you can go all the way to the end this season… and how many goals you’ll concede in the league :)
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:25
Thanks mate, I’m quite confident that we will qualify for the knockout stage this time.
TheMightyMcPhed
13 июня, 2012 at 13:15
Seems like another one of those quirks of the game Johnny — a bit like the youth intake. Good luck with the season ahead!
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:26
Thanks mate, I’m quite curious to see whether our reputation will ever change.
vaibhavc
13 июня, 2012 at 13:28
Your reputation didnt increase, I am shocked. The start of the season was good. It is a tough group in the CL but I think you will go through.
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:28
I was quite shocked too but hopefully we will achieve that at the end of this season.
Ivo Knežević
13 июня, 2012 at 13:44
Hey Johnny,
A shame your reputation did not increase, but I believe this season you will do great in the CL and hopefully, it will grow. I’m looking forward to it.
Nice youngsters by the way.
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:29
Thanks Ivo, I hope that those youngsters will take us a bit further in the future.
Malhar Bhadbhade
13 июня, 2012 at 13:58
i am seriously shocked as well that your reputation didn’t increase. i am sure it will if you repeat last season’ run this time around though. you signed some very decent youngsters and that 17-year-old right back looks very promising indeed. all the best for this season, hope you go one better in the Champions League..and if THAT doesn’t increase your reputation, then I don’t know what will. good luck :D
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:30
Thanks mate, I hope we will get that reputation increase this time, provided we can make another good run.
Heresy
13 июня, 2012 at 15:07
Well, that’s a shame about the players leaving.. but then you found even better replacements so that’s not so bad ;) Oh, can’t wait for those CL results!
As far as the stadium problems go, has your club built a new stadium in the last 15 years? If so, you can’t do much in this department until those 15 years will have passed :(
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:33
Really, 15 years? We had a new stadium built around 8 or 9 seasons ago so I guess I’ll have to wait a bit longer.
FMLOVER
13 июня, 2012 at 15:17
Hey Johnny, good signings there but unlucky about the reputation, it’s something that SI have to think about really ;)
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:34
Thanks mate. I still am not sure whether it’s a game glitch or not, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
saltwater
13 июня, 2012 at 16:57
The reputation is surprising, sure, but honestly, i’ve never seen such stiff and mean bookies! After last seasons semi-final run you think they might have changed a bit, but they still make it seem as though you’re a newcomer in Europe.
The reputation not changing has had a sinister knock-on affect on the players and it’s a shame seeing all the big players making departures.
I’m still positive however, as not only do I think you will do the treble, but after that promising start I see an invinsible season coming up.
Good Luck!
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:35
Thanks buddy, I hope your prediction will prove right.
TheZiggy
13 июня, 2012 at 19:47
Given what you’ve achieved in the European competitions so far, it’s hard to understand why you don’t have a better reputation. I don’t see how that can be right, given my Torquay team, who have been to the Europa League quarter final with just one campaign, already have a continental reputation. Given what you’ve achieved, it feels like something is definitely wrong, especially as you were a 1st seed in the group draw.
You’ve brought in some quality players, so hopefully after a storming start to the season, you can have another successful Champions League campaign. I hope your reputation gets the deserved increase after this season.
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:37
I guess it also has something to do with the league reputation, maybe a club can’t have a much better reputation than the league it plays in?
Darren Smith
13 июня, 2012 at 20:42
Absolutely bemused how your reputation hasn’t changed…like Ziggy said, you have gone from been the worst seeded side to top in the Champions League, that should be enough to bring your rep up on its own. But still, with the youth you have and the way you are climbing up in Europe, I can’t see it been too long before the game must acknowledge your rise with an increase in rep.
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:38
Thanks Darren, I hope that will happen soon, otherwise a few more players might want to pack their bags and leave Constanta behind.
Kevin
13 июня, 2012 at 21:41
Hey Johnny
Given your European exploits I would have thought you could have encouraged bigger signings by now. Too bad you lost some players but that’s all behind you know so go out and win the darn Champions League and prove how good Viitorul are because of their great manager! Who needs big players — they just want too much money anyway:) Like your new youngsters as always.
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:38
Haha, thanks Kevin. I needed such an optimism boost :)
Tegar Triemanudigdo
13 июня, 2012 at 22:06
Yeah, reputation can be sometimes like that, and SI needs to repair this one when they made FM 2013. Btw, another domestic demolition there and the group stage looks pretty doggy there, but hey, I think you can repeat the performance last year to this one so I think this shouldn’t be any problem unless luck goes our way.
Looking forward on the CL
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 05:39
Thanks Tegar, I think we will be able to qualify for the knockout stages again and maybe reach the quarter finals, at least.
CsAtlantis
14 июня, 2012 at 07:44
You went up in the club/national league rankings but still did not get your deserved reputation increase!
Mike Broadhead, what a name, and some really amazing stats and Salva is a brilliant bargain as a keeper
Being seeded first didn’t really seem to get you an easy draw but surely after more good performances in the CL your reputation will increase (what level is it at now? National?)
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 19:39
Yep, «national». I’m quite satisfied with the draw this time to be honest, it could have gone a bit better but not much better, the Champions League is a tough competition with tough teams in the first three pots.
John
14 июня, 2012 at 10:24
Hi johnny. Not a bad start to the campaign, could have got a bit more luck with the reputation and the draw still getting AC Milan. A quick question, and I know there’s help around the site but I’d appreciate a short, quick answer but how do you find such talented young players? I’m trying to make Swansea great but I can never pull together a team good enough because I don’t have the money for top quality players. Thanks in advance
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 19:41
Thanks John. I wanted to write a scouting guide for ages but just never got the time to do it. Anyway, my suggestion is to send your scouts to under 19 and under 21 international tournaments and also go through some youth national teams yourself, like Argentina, Brazil, Holland, France, nations that have a good tradition of producing good young players. I’m sure you will find at least a few good youngsters if you do that.
Lye
14 июня, 2012 at 12:44
Shame for the unchanged qualification places. I guess you shouldn’t be afraid of facing any teams in the CL group stages now. AC Milan and Shakhtar should pose you some challenge but i don’t see any problem in qualifying.
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 19:42
Thanks Lye. We have beaten both Milan and Shakhtar before and I guess we can do that again.
Martin F.M.J.S
14 июня, 2012 at 13:18
Its a shame that the reputation didn»t change and you had to lose those players but I think you have done a good job in replacing them. Also a great start to the season, If you keep up that form I don’t see you having a problem with the CL group stage.
Ana Garcia
14 июня, 2012 at 16:26
Just to repeat myself from a comment I left on Kevin’s recent post but I have said before that the reputation feature does not work correctly and it can be very frustrating at times as you have just found out!
That said you have really bought well and your squad probably looks a bit stronger now after all those departures so nice shopping! :)
Juan Cruz Argenti looks incredible! Am sure he will be your star man in a few seasons if you can keep a hold of him.
Draw looks ok, I would be pretty happy with it so am sure you can progress to the last 16 so as always the best of luck. :)
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 19:43
Thanks for your input on the reputation issue Ana, I guess I have to remain patient and hope for the best. As for Argenti, he didn’t have the best campaign last season but he surely has the quality to make a huge difference sooner or later. I prefer sooner :)
pedro roriz
14 июня, 2012 at 19:08
hey mate, nice going there!
i understand your frustration on reputation matter, but i tend to disagree with you (and with most of the readers, it seems). rep stats HAVE to suffer small changes season in season out as the history of a club isn’t made out of a couple of seasons, solely. i know you had a great spell last UCL, but it was not the same 5 years ago, was it? so, even if you can be considered one of the finest clubs (ranking in top 10), you are not one of the greatest teams yet, a worldwide club. imagine, for instance, cyprus’ APOEL. they have excelled theirselves last UCL, right? the same happened to athletic bilbao. but still, if they don’t continually proving themselves for a bunch of seasons, that great performance won’t effect much of their rep, right?
have you ever used the game’s editor? the reputation range goes from 0 to 10000. i guess you only become regionally known after reaching 6000 and worldwide after 8000. and boy those stats take some loooong time to develop! so, i’ll take Fiorentina’s example. They have a starting 6500-7000 rating, most times. So, if you reach something above that, you will be more known it history than fiorentina, a medium sized club at present but a super power in the past, that won important titles, that had amazing players, that have nice stadium, etc etc. in order to achieve that, it is only normal to deliver good consistency through many years. what do you think?
cheers
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2012 at 19:48
I agree with your reasoning, it is logical and it makes sense: reputation is something that is built in time. However, Ziggy’s example with Torquay does contradict your theory, doesn’t it? Moreover, since you asked about 5 years ago, we won the Europa League that time. And then played another final. So we have been a constant presence in Europe for the past five seasons, winning a piece of silverware in the process. I don’t think our reputation should be «worldwide», I’m not even hoping for that, but «continental» would be correct I reckon.
pedro roriz
14 июня, 2012 at 22:31
i guess you have a point. having won europa league, you should be way ahead national stats. but it is still ‘just’ europa league. it obviously has its glory in europe, but it is almost not noticed here in brazil, so, at its best, continental would be effective. Steaua Bucureşti (is this how we spell it?) is, by far, the most famous romanian club here and I guess they owe it to their continental title in the 80s.
i really can’t imagine what you can do to improve your rep, though, since you already had a stadium built. :c/ have you tried going for partnerships with both american and japanese clubs? it should improve your stats a bit.
well, i’m cheering for you. hope this situation is solved quickly
Johnny Karp
15 июня, 2012 at 05:00
I have a partnership with a Chinese club and I am trying to seal more of those.
pedro roriz
15 июня, 2012 at 20:12
well, it seems to me it is tough indeed.
but i guess if there is anyone able to do that with viitorul it is you!
best of luck
Johnny Karp
15 июня, 2012 at 22:44
Yeah, it is tough but I’m not one to give up easily ;)
pedro roriz
14 июня, 2012 at 19:11
dude, that was some messed up english. sorry for that. i just kept being interrupted while writing. :c/
Mohammad Sadek
15 июня, 2012 at 02:02
Hey Johnny , it ‘s disappointing that your reputation didn’t improve but i admit that i agree with Pedro Roriz reasoning & i don’t know how Tourqay with Ziggy reached continental reputation after one quarter final in Europa league , Otherwise I think your team looks very well despite all those departures & i am very glad that Argenti starts to score goals however the real test is the Champions league group stage to know if your team hasn’t weakened after all this departures but i am as always confident in you :)
Johnny Karp
15 июня, 2012 at 05:01
Thanks mate, I am quite satisfied with the squad but I feel we might be a bit weaker in defence if injuries start kicking in. I hope they won’t though :)
Bence Répási
15 июня, 2012 at 10:23
Hi Johnny!
Your team had a great start, I hope they will continue this good. Personally I don’t think there will be any problem in Romania,despite the leavers, because your signings are great as always. It’s good to see that Argenti’s producing more and more goals as he’s meant to be. Good luck to CL, I think you will need more for this competition!
PS.: When will you also do a Podcast with Darren and Jake? I hope soon:D
Johnny Karp
15 июня, 2012 at 16:09
Thanks mate. I will be a guest on the podcast pretty soon, I just have to find the time ;)
Bhargav
15 июня, 2012 at 23:21
WOW! A good American player? That is a fun sight indeed. Best of luck! I hope Shakhtar have weakened somewhat from where they start in a new game.
Johnny Karp
16 июня, 2012 at 17:24
Thanks Bhargav. There aren’t too many good American players but there are a few :) As for Shakhtar, they don’t seem as good as they were at the start of the game.
Sears
16 июня, 2012 at 18:08
Hey buddy ! I’m not going to get involved in this reputation discussion because to be honest , I don’t know how it works. However , I’m currently reading a similar story on the Sports Interactive website. This one guy has endured remarkable success in Northern Ireland. I won’t spoil it for you but if you have time I really recommend you read the story (updates are short season ones so you will be able to read it quickly) … real pity to see some of you’re star players depart but thankfully you were able to replace them. Best of luck this season , hopefully you’ll be able to go one better in the Champions League and reach the final. Good luck Johnny ! :)
Johnny Karp
16 июня, 2012 at 18:14
Thanks Sears, I will look into that story.
Varun
23 июня, 2012 at 15:25
Hi Johnny i dont really follow you but i play football manager and i save with west ham and im in my 2nd season and i got promoted in my 1st season and also won the FA cup i just wanna ask how do i join the forums if i wanna do my west ham save? I also signed papiss cisse!!
Johnny Karp
23 июня, 2012 at 18:53
Go to footballmanagerstory.com/forum, create an account and then you can start posting there. You can also have a look at the help section once you register if you haven’t posted on a forum before.
Mariano
4 июля, 2012 at 11:34
Well done!
Amazing achivements Johhny.
Are the shareholders taking money away from the club through dividends.
I would invested in bribing referees and paying the opposition GK and defenders to make lots of penalties in the CL games:)!
Cheers!
Johnny Karp
5 июля, 2012 at 08:09
Thanks Mariano. The shareholders are getting some money indeed, not too much but they are. As for the briberies, you know I won’t do that ;)