[FM13] C.D. Constància: Trading places

2013-07-15 06:31#120126 gambit84 : Great update mate! I am really happy seeing Juve and Vidal failing in the UCL final!

Have nice holidays!

Talking about failing. I might need to make a Milan writeup

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/Nordskov_dk/CD%20Constancia/CDConstagravencia_zps42f3d47b.jpg

Game changer

The first week after the season was over I was disappointed and felt that I had somewhat wasted a year. But the more I thought about it the more I liked what we had been able to accomplish the previous year.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/Nordskov_dk/CD%20Constancia/66d_zps9fdfb95a.jpg


We had not just been named the "Most improved club" in Spain for the second season in a row but we also finished our second season in the LIGA BBVA with ten points more than what we did the first year among the big cannons.
Ten points might "only" be three wins and a draw more than the year before but we had also scored a lot more goals than the year before.
Somebody of cause had to point out that we had also allowed a lot more goals than the year before, just when i was trying to be Mr Positive.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/Nordskov_dk/CD%20Constancia/66a_zps38026c9d.jpg


Our finances were also looking stronger than ever. The clubs estimated value was now over €30 M and we had only ten teams valued higher than C.D. Constància in all of Spain. We had a total of 19 sellouts the previous season and had the stadium 94% full at all times during the just finished season. The building of the new stadium was coming along nicely but the opening was still a year away as it would be ready for the start of next season.


Still I was nervous when I was called in to the office of chairman Miguel Ángel Rubio. The first week after the holiday there had been more people in suits and ties walking around the practice facilities then there had been players.


Suits and ties was never a good sign.


What was wrong?


Was it our stadium deal that had turned sour?
Was Mr. Rubio looking to cash-out and sell the team?
Was the team moving in a new direction without me?


Mr. Rubio sat me down explained that with all the money coming in the last two seasons he had made a deal with the bank. After the new stadium deal was made last year the club owned the banks close to €40M. A debt that had to be paid down over 24 years.
But with all the money made from ticket sales, TV-deals and price money the last two years, he had now been able to reduce the debt to just over €30M instead.


My heart was sinking. I was not a math-major but even I could figure out that with more money going to the banks it would mean less for the team and for new players. I saw my plans for challenging for Europe crashing and burning already before they had a chance to get off the ground.


Mr Miguel Ángel Rubio talked about the new stadium and told me that the luxury boxes in the new stadium would be named after the team legends. Currently there were just two “Legends of C.D. Constància» but Mr. Rubio told me that he had suggested to the board that my name would be added to the list for the job I had done for the team over the last nine years.
I took that as a clue that I was not getting fired-

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/Nordskov_dk/CD%20Constancia/66c_zpsd7462017.jpg


And then we came to the question about transfer and salary budget.
Mr Rubio showed great knowledge about our players and we talked for a long time about the contract of Raimond Zonneveld and the development of Edy Curri. He even had some questions about some of the players I had only mentioned to my scouts in the scouting-reports as future transfer targets. To this day I have no clue how Mr Rubio knew that these reports even existed.


When Mr Rubio was done with the “cross examination” he pushed a paper to me across the table.


At first I thought I had read the paper wrong as it was upside down.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/Nordskov_dk/CD%20Constancia/66b_zps520aff3b.jpg

But when it got it turned around it was still the same amount screaming out from the paper I bold numbers.

C.D. Constància Transfer budget 2021-22: €18.000.000

C.D. Constància Salary budget 2021-22: €175.000

Fantastic update, great writing as always. Looks like a solid budget, hopefully you can sign some top players with it

Another great update I always love to read this

That sure is a lot of money!

Finally a C.D Constáncia legend! Great update as usual and also those budgets looks nice

NeaI : Fantastic update, great writing as always. Looks like a solid budget, hopefully you can sign some top players with it

Thanks Neal. For 18M i can buy an entire new team

wellsy1498 : Another great update I always love to read this

Thanks wellsy1498. That means a lot

Louis O. : That sure is a lot of money!

It’s perhaps not Real or Barca money but it’s a LOT of money for a team like us (and most other teams in the LIGA BBVA)

lwalter66 : Finally a C.D Constáncia legend! Great update as usual and also those budgets looks nice

Thanks lwalter66. I will need to adopt a totally new approach to buying players with a budget like this. Will be fun.

Great update really enjoying reading this, keep it up!

Have you considered raising the wage budget more. I know you won't be able to buy as many players, but you could get some better one's from the increased pay.

Bourani44 : Great update really enjoying reading this, keep it up!

Thanks for reading.

a_esbech : Have you considered raising the wage budget more. I know you won't be able to buy as many players, but you could get some better one's from the increased pay.

Depending on how the next few weeks of transfers plays out that is very much an option. Guess the team moral might get upset if I start to bring inn new players on huge salaries.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/Nordskov_dk/CD%20Constancia/CDConstagravencia_zps42f3d47b.jpg

What we got and what we need part I

What was I supposed to do with €18M ?


The plans I had made during my short vacation was now completely useless. I had secretly hoped for somewhere between five to seven millions to spend on new players and that should be enough to buy three to four new players to help fill the empty spots in the 2022/23 depth chart.


Now I had €18M to spend.


With that kind of money I could buy a brand new team. The combined value of the team that had started the last game of the previous season was just over €14.5M with Raimond Zonneveld being the highest valued at €5.75M with Caio César closely following with a value a bit over €2M.


With my first plans filed away in the wastebasket I once again sat down and looked over the roster trying to identify the players I wanted to bring with me forward. When I was done this was what I had on my block.

Keeper

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/Nordskov_dk/CD%20Constancia/67BGK_zps99af7446.jpg

I had completely butchered this position last season and made almost every mistake in the book and now I had to clean up my own mess.


Martijn Pot had done a respectable job in the first season in LIGA BBVA and therefore I did not see the warning signs that he was not improving before it was too late.
With eighty-two goals allowed in thirty-two games in the just completed season that was an expensive mistake.


Another expensive mistake was the purchase of Hugo Leonardo. When I bought him I needed a keeper that could step inn and steady the ship. And even if Hugo Leonardo had all the upside in the world you simply don’t ask an 18-year old keeper to do that. For that you need a keeper in his prime (28-33 years old ?).


As it turned out his age never became a question because he never got to play. With his Brazilian passport I could not add him to the active team and I had to send him away on loan.


I was not sure what to do with him. He got all the potential in the world but he needed to play football to develop and I could not give him that.


The best solution would be to send him back home to Brazil on a loan deal to a team that could guarantee him starting minutes. Finding a team that was willing to take that chance on an 18-year old keeper was difficult even if he had experience from the Brazilian U19 team.
Another option would be to send him down to play with the U19 team. I was unsure how his moral would handle that.


Or I could simply cut my losses and sell.


The biggest blunder I made last season was with Sergio Moya. The minute the deal was done with Hugo Leonardo I quickly shipped Moya away on a loan deal. So when it turned out that I could not register Leonardo for play and with the transfer window closed I was suddenly left with only Martijn Pot as the only keeper on my roster for the second half of the season.
Had Pot gone down with injury I would have been completely screwed.


Now I had a plan.


I needed a new #1 keeper. An experienced keeper as the steady anchorman behind a young defensive line.


Martijn Pot would be the backup.


Sergi Moya wanted to stay but I saw little chance I would ever need him again and placed him on the transfer list. His agent tried to convince me to let him stay but to no avail.


The faith of Hugo Leonardo was still up in the air and I would have to make a decision on the go when the new season kicked off.

Quality update as usual I think the prime age for a keeper is 31-35 so if you got someone at 28 he'd still have potential to develop. Hope you find the right keeper and use your money wisely

I like your thinking.

"I get some money, what do I want to spend it on? Yeah I know, let me go to the Netherlands and buy Pot!"

Another great update

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/Nordskov_dk/CD%20Constancia/CDConstagravencia_zps42f3d47b.jpg

What we got and what we need part II

Left defender

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/Nordskov_dk/CD%20Constancia/d35fc728-82e8-476d-a37c-d8ec039c256a_zps70826b9d.jpg

We had the player I wanted and needed on the roster in Lucas Hoyos. Unluckily for him he carried an Argentinean passport and would therefore count as a foreigner. With Diego Batista, Andi Qosa and Caio César using up the three foreigner slots it looked like that Lucas Hoyos would be the odd man out.
Biagio Petranca was also out. The fans hated him and his performance the previous season had been below average. He was already on the transfer list.


This was a problem I would have to throw some money after.

Central defender

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/Nordskov_dk/CD%20Constancia/67DDC_zpseb0096fe.jpg

I felt very good about Zonneweld and Caio César in the middle. Caio César was still the acting captain on the Brazilian U20 team and was improving almost daily.
Zonneveld was without a doubt the best player on the team. The only concerns I had about him was getting him to sign a new contract before his salary demands would get completely out of control.


Last season had by no means been perfect for Caio César and Raimond Zonneveld in the central defends but I hoped that the more time they got to play together the better chemistry and understanding they would develop.


Behind them it didn't look so bright.
Carlos Akapo was the best option I had. The now 29-year old from Equatorial Guinea was still playing good football but he was being asked to perform to the best his talent ability every time he took the field as his talent was at this point just on the fringe of belonging in the LIGA BBVA. Another option was Turkish Ergün Kaya. He was now 24-years old and frequently complaining about lack of playing time. His development had stalled and I would be in deep trouble if I had to play him for extended minutes.

Right defender

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/Nordskov_dk/67CDR_zpsb848a0e3.jpg

Dutch defender Cihan Polat had not had the best of season last year with an AvR of just 6.86. He did have a good working relationship with Andi Qosa and his overlaps up the right flank had been a constant annoyance for opponents, even if he only had five assists. But as a defender he was struggling and found himself out of position way too often.


Behind him on the depth chart it was scary empty. Fernando Ferrer had played a few games but was not a long term solution. He was no longer a hot young prospect with a bright future but more like a decent backup player on the fringe of the 25 man squad and with very little upside.
Caio César could be moved out right in case of emergency but his skills were more valuable in the middle of the field.
If I had money left this could be a place to spend them on a young future prospect.-