My Dukla assistant manager and best friend Alessandro and I had a good conversation in Monaco when we were there for the 2024 UEFA Super Cup. We figured it'd be best to manage another season at Dukla, trying to repeat our Champions League victory for the first time, and to become Club World Champions for the third time in the Bird's Nest.
Back on the plane to Prague.
We failed to repeat our Champions League victory, being beaten by Atletico Madrid in the first KO round, but did win in China. We also won our 12th Czech National Championship, but saw our 129 (!!!) games unbeaten streak in the Gambrinus Liga, dating back to July 2020, broken in September 2024. We also won a sh*tload of other insignificant Czech F.A. Cups and Supercups... ehhh.
I'm in the summer of 2025 now, and bookies say I shouldn't hope for more than reaching the later stages in the 2025/2026 edition of the Champions League. They're quick to write us off after one bad season.
First off I wanted to freshen up the game visually, changing Dukla's standard logo to one they used in the early 90's. It features Prague's landmark building.
And we struck a deal with Adidas.
The history of Dukla Prague's home jersey
I didn't make the first Nike one... and it's the worst one, let's be honest. I only bother making these kits for my own saves occasionally. It's just filling in the colors on Photoshop templates, really.
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2010-2017-------------
2017-2023 -------------
2023-2025
THE TEAM:
I also wanted to revamp the team tactically, switching to a Chelmsford inspired 4-2-4 formation. I decided on this quit late in the summer, and so could not make my ideal signings for this formation. But I think I did all right. Main priority: strikers! Both happen to be French, and both are all right. Viale scored over 100 goals in Ligue 1 over 6 years for Saint-Etienne, and I believe he'll make a good couple with Dukla star striker (and fellow Frenchman) Farid Raffalli. Driss is one for the future, and my fourth striker will still be 33 year old Vaclav Kadlec. The rest of my team fits this formation quite well.
One important outgoing transfer: Sebastian Schulz. He only played one season for Dukla, and did good... However, when Europe's elite teams showed interest and were prepared to pay up, I decided to cash in on him considering his age (29 turning 30 this season). It'll also enable me to give young players more time.
Now, what I'd ideally want from this save before FM12 comes out is win in Europe with another Czech club. This is partially inspired by this incredible story on Sortioutsi (you'll get the drift going from the first page to the last, and there are 2 more Polish club success stories in between)...
http://sortitoutsi.net/forum/topic/47812-polish-adventure/
Obviously I won't go as far, but it'd be nice to win in Europe with at least one other Czech club. I think Mandieta6 also talked about this in the DLR discussion. On top of that I'd be interested to see how Dukla progresses without me.
I'll start looking for another club next season, as it's too late now to change teams and be effective (it's the middle of September).