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FM Patrick

Five years in Sicily

July 14th, 2024


 


 

It's been seven months since my last update on the Catania save, and half a decade in game. I can't quite believe how fast that's gone!


I had planned to keep up with updating the blog with our progress at least every other season, or when something interesting had happened. Life gets in the way sometimes, and since December I haven't found much time for blogging.


In truth, I write these posts as a hobby, and a way of memorialising my FM saves. I do it for fun, and mostly for myself. I hadn't felt the bug to write something, and therefore had no motivation. That said, I'm motivated right now, so I think it's time for a much needed update.


 

The rise of Catania FC


Naturally, quite a lot has happened since our victory in Serie C.



We spent two seasons in Serie B before earning automatic promotion with a second place finish, picking up 72 points over the course of the campaign. That was great, but it was made even sweeter by Palermo finishing in third place. They also finished on 72 points, but an emphatic 4-1 victory at the Stade Angelo Massimino gave us the head to head advantage.


Speaking of the Stade Angelo Massimino, I had mentioned in the introduction to this save that the stadium was in a state of disrepair. Well, the board have decided that an upgrade is in order:



Officially called the Angelo Massimino Arena, the new 28,270 capacity stadium is set to open in June 2031. It's a much needed development, and I'm glad the board are matching my ambition for this team. I just hope that £26M sponsorship deal doesn't come with any ugly corporate naming rights. 'Stade Cornetto' doesn't feel quite as imposing.


The board have also been steadily allowing upgrades to youth facilities, recruitment and coaching, which are all now considered 'good'. We haven't produced any first team players yet, but this is a long term project!


With a rapid progression to Serie A has come a high squad turnover over the past few years. While we had some good players come and go, none are worthy of talking about in depth, besides two. Crucial to our promotion campaign were Kaio Jorge and Nicolas Pépé, both of whom have now left the club, but I think their contribution to our success is worthy of merit.


Kaio Jorge joined the club for free after leaving Juventus, and had an incredible first season, scoring 20 goals in 26 games and catapulting us into Serie A. Sadly, once we hit the top flight, the goals dried up. 6 in 47 appearances in Serie A wasn't enough for me to justify paying his high wages, and so at the age of 27 he's moved back to Brazil with Juventude.


Nicolas Pépé also joined the club for three, although he spent 4 seasons at the club and was ever-present during our time in Serie B. He provided 18 goals and 18 assists across that period, never quite recapturing the form that earned him a £72M move to Arsenal, but I was happy to give a disregarded and often ridiculed player a chance to shine. He left last year to join České Budějovice at the age of 32.


 

Current state of affairs


Our first two seasons back in Serie A were wholly unexciting. We finished 13th in 2027/28, then 15th the following year. We've never looked in danger of being drawn into a relegation battle (although admittedly 3 wins between January and May 2029 had me a bit worried), but equally we'd never looked like we could push higher up the table.


I'm going to tempt fate here, and channel my inner football pundit - "Whisper it quietly, but Catania could get into Europe this year!"


It's currently the 8th October 2029 in-game, and Catania are sat in 8th place in Serie A after 7 games. After our victories against Milan and Roma, I was certain we were going to win the league unbeaten. Nothing could stop us, we were invincible.



That faded pretty quickly when we stopped scoring for three games, then got hammered by Napoli. I think it's fair to say our form has been inconsistent, but promising. There's a team here capable of getting to the promised land of European football if we can string together a good run.


 

The Squad


The squad itself has obviously changed a lot. There are no veterans of the 2023/24 season still at the club, with the last of that crop leaving as we took the step up to Serie A.



Until the 2028/29 season, I had stuck rigidly to our Simeone style 4-4-2 system that had brought so much success. After our collapse in the second half of last season, I experimented with a 4-4-1-1 but that wasn't much better.


I realised we didn't have the players to set up how I wanted, I was trying to force them into a system that wasn't suited to them. We didn't have the pace for counter-attacking, and we just weren't creating anything with our pitiful amount of possession.


We weren't conceding many goals - we didn't concede more than 3 in a game last season - but we weren't scoring any either. The board and the fans were crying out for attacking football, and who am I to deny them?


For the new season, I've swallowed my pride and gone for a tried and tested 4-2-3-1 gegenpress. If you can't beat them, join them. It's yielded exciting results, and it's better suited to the players at my disposal. High levels of work-rate and stamina make this a suitable approach, and the BWM and BBM in the centre harry the opposition to win the ball back to progress it to our pacey forwards.


We've built a squad filled with promising young talent, but I've kept a strong core of more experienced players. I wasn't going to run through the whole squad, but then I wrote about eight of them, and I thought it was a bit unfair on the three that I left out. This is also my first post in seven months, and I'm happy with the team that we've built - so why not?


That said, here's the lowdown on the Catania FC First XI in the 2029/30 season:



For five years, Alessandro Russo was our undisputed first-choice goalkeeper and club captain. Newcastle put a £13M bid in for him last year, and I couldn't go against his dreams of playing in the Premier League. He's since played 1 league game for them, so I suppose the the grass isn't always greener...


I re-invested £5.75M of that sale into buying Mexican keeper Erwin Castelló from Cruz Azul. After acting as backup last season, his time has come to take Russo's mantle, and so far, so good. He's conceded 7 in 7 this season, keeping 4 clean sheets across those games. My main criteria for a goalkeeper were aerial dominance and good reflexes. At 6'6" and with a reflexes rating of 16, Castelló fit the bill perfectly. Despite being only 21, I'm going to continue with him as first choice. I'm not sure what the future holds, but top-class keepers are always in demand - and tend to fetch a pretty exorbitant price.



Obviously there's an element of recency bias here, but I think Edgar Mota might be one of my most successful free transfers in any Football Manager save.


He never got a look in at Braga, but slotted right into our first team in Serie B. He survived the transition to Serie A, and is the subject of constant interest from other teams. I don't want to lose him, but I have promised he can go if we get an offer of £25.5M or more. That would represent a tidy profit on the £0 we payed for him, and there'll be no complaints from me if he decides to stay.



And just like that, I'm going to contradict myself. Jeanuël Belocian is also one of my most successful free transfers in any Football Manager save. I just can't help myself.


In real life, he's just moved to Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen for €10M, which personally I think is a steal. He can play at centre-back and in midfield, but left-back is the position he has turned out at most often for Catania. He's been imperious too, capable in all phases of play, a productive attacker and a competent defender - just how you want a full-back to be.


Originally joining us on loan in our first Serie A season, his contract with Rennes was up and I took the opportunity to sign him following a good showing in his loan spell. I offered a new contract amidst interest from other clubs in the summer, and Jeanuël is set to be a Catania player for at least the next few years.



My first big money signing at £3.1M, Omobamidele barely played after joining Brentford and subsequently was available for a much lower fee than his value. He has been the bedrock of our defence alongside Pedro Ganchas or Giorgio Cittadini, and is now club captain and our highest earning player.


His defensive acumen is clear to see - physically imposing, positionally astute and possessing strong composure and concentration. He will stay at the club for as long as I can keep him, although I did think he was set to leave for Juventus when they triggered his release clause in the summer. After provisionally saying my goodbyes, Andrew decided that he would rather stay in Sicily. Avanti!



I've got Ganchas and Cittadini in together here because honestly I can't pick between them. Ganchas has been at the club for five years and has become one of the team leaders, so I can't not mention him. Cittadini has only been here for two, but is arguably the better out of the pair. He's also Italian, which helps with registration rules. Ganchas is left-footed though, and that's quite important in a 4-2-3-1... I could go on.


I've resorted to rotating them frequently, usually using Cittadini if I'm facing a team with fast forwards and bringing in Ganchas to rest Cittadini. Either way, I love them both. Being honest, I think Cittadini will be first choice going forward, but Ganchas has been a strong presence at the back for the last five years, and his eventual departure will be a sad day.



Anchoring the team in midfield 28 year old Filippo Ranocchia. After a bargain transfer of just £1.8M from Reims, the Italian stallion was slotted straight in as a first-choice midfielder and we haven't looked back since. He's tenacious and strong, chasing down loose balls and winning the ball back for swift counterattacks. Not just a destroyer, Ranocchia is capable with the ball at his feet and is an effective presence for both surging forward and recycling the ball. He also joined our arch-rivals Palermo in real life earlier this year, where I hope he can see as much success as he has at Catania. Sorry Rossoazzurri.



After playing a bit part role in his first season, Danish midfielder and brother of Rasmus, Oscar Højlund, has become my go-to pick in the centre of the park alongside Filippo Ranocchia. He's actually our top scorer in the league this year with 3 goals, and they were 3 edge-of-the-box screamers to boot.


Him and Ranocchia complement each other well, with Højlund acting as the more forward-thinking partner of Catania's engine room. They're both hard-working, combative midfielders, and to be honest they're quite interchangeable - it just seems to work better with Højlund as the BBM. That might be down to his good technical ability and off the ball movement, allowing him to get forward and attack the opposition area. He's being courted by Sheffield United currently, but I don't see any threat of him leaving right now. That might change come the end of the season if he keeps up his performances.



Everyone loves a wonderkid from a smaller nation, and North Macedonian Nenad Despotovski fits the bill perfectly. He's the first choice CAM in the squad, and plays regularly as a striker for his country. I prefer a number nine who can get in behind, and despite his creative prowess and work rate Despotovski isn't the paciest player around.


Like Colazo, I think he could command a big fee in the future, but he needs to start providing for his teammates. 3 assists in 36 games last season was disappointing, but I'm confident he can improve on that this year. Annoyingly, he seems to play better for his country than he does for us. I'm hoping he can bring his international performances to Serie A, and he'll retain the top spot for the foreseable future.



Colazo joined Catania from Argentinos Jrs. this summer for £9.5M, a hefty investment, but one which should see a healthy profit when he moves on in the future. Already a good Serie A player, I think he could become one of the best players in the world. We beat off interest from the likes of Arsenal and PSG to get his signature, as we were the only team to put a bid in for him.


Mostly deployed as an inverted winger off the right, he was brought in to provide competition to Yerson Chacón in the same position. So far, his form has been inconsistent. He was on fire against Milan, before disappearing for three games. Then he put in a player of the match performance against Bologna, picking up a goal and an assist. I'm hoping that as he adapts to life in Sicily he'll start performing to a level that entices a big club into splashing the cash on him. I'm under no illusion here - I'll enjoy him while I can, but Colazo's future lies at the top of the game, which we won't reach for some time.



One of the squads elder statesmen, Lukáš Vorlický is tied with Pedro Ganchas for longest serving player in the Catania squad. The game sadly doesn't say who walked through the door first on the 1st July 2026, but I think Vorlický may be going back out of it sooner than Ganchas.


A consistent starter since our first year in Serie B, he's asking for a £40k/week contract that I sadly can't justify. He will likely move on at the end of the year, but he's a player I'll remember for a while.


On paper, he doesn't look incredible. Middling attributes in pace and ball control aren't usually signs of a great wide player, but Vorlický has consistently been a top performer at Catania and has continued to do so in the current season. His height is something I've come to love, and 'tall, box crashing inverted wingers' is now one of my favourite player archetypes. I'll be sad to see him go, but we aren't lacking for replacements, so life goes on.


Edit: As I was writing this post, I asked Vorlický's agent about market interest in him, and found out Al Ahli were willing to pay £31.5M. I don't think I can decline that offer in good conscience, so Lukáš will be moving to Saudi Arabia in January.



Another free transfer from Rennes, Matthis Abline joined Catania in the summer and following Kaio Jorge's departure has taken the number 9 shirt.


The most goals he's ever scored in a top flight season was 6 in 2027/28 whilst on loan at Troyes. He never really managed to break through to the Rennes first team, but here at Catania out of favour and overlooked players will always have a home. My impetus for signing him came from a realisation that our theoretically best striker, Kaio Jorge, had failed to score in 17 appearances. We lacked any sense of pace in that area, but Abline should rectify that problem at least.


He's quick, composed, and also has an eye for a pass, which is a nice bonus. I can't speak for how good he might be at the club, but he's scored 2 in 6 so far, so he's on course for his best ever season. Here's to hoping he'll become the prolific goalscorer we need.



Ok, I know I said XI, and this is player XIII, but I had to give him a mention. Currently second-choice striker behind Matthis Abline, 22 year old Enzo Molebe joined Catania on a free following our promotion in 2027. After a fruitful loan with 10 goals at Auxerre last year, and following the departure of Kaio Jorge, I decided he was ready for the first team.


He hasn't quite met expectations so far, failing to score in 7 appearances (5 of those as a substitute), but I'm confident he'll find his feet and become a long term first choice up front.


An archetypal advanced forward, his main strengths are his pace, as well as ball control and technique. I would prefer my strikers to be more aerially dominant, though his strengths outplay his weaknesses. For now, he'll rotate with Matthis Abline for experience and development. In the long term, I would love Enzo to be leading the line for years to come.


 

There we go - all caught up.


As I alluded to, blogging hasn't been at the forefront of my mind over this past year. Since my last post I've moved house again, moved jobs, and had to adapt to a new life in a new city. If I was an FM player, my status would have been 'struggling to meet the pace of the match'.


I'm glad that I had the inspiration to write again, and hopefully that feeling will last for a while longer. I don't think I'll be updating this save until either our final season or if we win a trophy. I'll be devoting my time to planning for FM25, which with the information revealed so far looks to be a ground-breaking instalment of the series.


As for Catania, I think we can comfortably become the best of the rest, but breaking the top few teams is going to be difficult. AC Milan have won 5 of the last 6 league titles, and nobody other than them, Juventus or Inter have come in 2nd or 3rd. There's quite a disparity between the top 5 clubs in terms of wages per annum, and not much to separate the rest of the teams. Either way, I've found a new lease of life with this safe after our good start to this season, and I'm hopeful I can finish at least a few more seasons before moving on to next year. Hitting our 10th season at the club would be a nice milestone.


I've enjoyed FM24, and my 15 days and 15 hours of playtime are testament to that. I have a shortlist of about 30 clubs for the next save, and here's to hoping that FM25 meets expectations.


 

FM Patrick

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