As we start our second season in Liga Leumit (and sixth overall), I realised I hadn’t really addressed the goals in the save. I don’t think it is ultimately necessary to define individual achievement goals in a save – that could distract from the enjoyment of the game. And that is essentially what I want to do. This is why, as I write this, I have begun season 7, because I am enjoying playing the game and writing reviews/posts has taken a back seat. I will try not to give any spoilers away – although if you are following on Twitter (@FmRiosantos) you might already know!
So, what am I trying to achieve with FC Jerusalem? I think with the progress we have already made we should be looking to get to Ligat Tel Aviv Stock Exchange – the topflight of Israeli football. Whether that will be this season, I am looking to improve on our 9th place finish. Each season we have finished higher in the league than the last. A top half finish would be a step in the right direction. As we continue to reach higher finishing positions, we have been able to sign better players. I don’t know whether it’s a quirk of the database, but other than ourselves there is very little transfer activity within the league. Nobody has wanted to sign any of our players (more on that later), maybe they just aren’t good enough. It does mean we have been able to cherry pick the players we need to increase our playing ability. Which has, in part, allowed us the better league positions.
Once in the top division I would like us to establish ourselves there and eventually push for the title and gain some European football. I suppose the ultimate goal would be to win the Champions League and World Club Cup. That would be nice! How long that will take, who knows?
What I do know, or expect at least, is that we need the backing of the board. We are still semi-professional. There are only 4 other semi-professional clubs in the league (OK, spoiler alert – one of them finished with 2 point! 2 of the others finished second and third bottom, and ninth). I would assume that in order to compete in the top league we will need to go Professional. I definitely couldn’t see us winning the Champions League as semi-professional. Could you see that happening in the real world? Several times a season I am asking the board to go professional and each time they are rejecting the request (mainly on financial grounds). We have a couple hundred thousand in the bank, but a 1.8million debt which was the new Stadium. I would like to see what will happen if/when we do get promoted to Ligat Tel Aviv. As well as turning professional I would like to see some investment into Youth Recruitment. We have had the same board response regarding this for the previous 5 seasons. There is no youth intake, or youth squads. It might happen if we turn pro, I am waiting to see. Youth Intake day is one of the events worth looking forward to in FM – the prospect of the golden generation, or even just one player with the potential to make it into the first team. The majority of the signings we have made have been younger prospects, early 20s.
Last season we had a lot of players becoming unhappy with their playing time. I had tried to move them on via transfers or loans but to no avail. I had been requesting an affiliate to whom I could move a few players to since day one. Again, with board refusal. But I have eventually convinced them this will be a benefit to the club. So, from this season we will be paying £3K/yr to a club in the fourth tier. I will try to assess the squad to see who would be best suited to a loan move.
We are moving into a new stadium next season. Granted it is still only 2000, which is a lot less than everyone in the top division. But if we can get there and start to fill it, it will be a bonus – maybe with a bit more investment we can move/increase capacity. I do believe that real progression will come once we can get the board to invest in some better infrastructure we have the opportunity to succeed.
I think that would all seem pretty reasonable as a target for the save. I feel as though it should be achievable. It might take a few seasons of grind to slowly increase the stature, finances, and reputation of the club in order for us to achieve some of them. But at the minute I am enjoying the save. I can see progress and am willing to stick it out for the foreseeable future. If we can get everybody working towards a common goal, we can achieve great things here at FC Jerusalem.
I hope you will all stay with me for the journey.
P.S. Off the back of me stating it wasn’t necessary to define individual achievement goals in a save, this is exactly what I have done with an Achievement Hunter spreadsheet. I know there are a few out there, so I have amended those to give a long list of achievements to capture. Once I work out how to link it to here I will. It contains all the usual stuff – so it’s not very earth shattering. About 150 achievements to get though. How many will I get?
FM RioSantos 