Welcome back to Bulgaria where First League winners CSKA Sofia are preparing to defend their title in the upcoming 2027/28 season, plus there's Frank's first foray into Champions League football. Since the season I'm updating you on here turned out to be quite a long one, I've split the Save Update in to two blog posts, which keeps the word count manageable, while also adding to the suspense!

In this update I'll also talk through a small experiment I've been running as I attempt to learn the best way to develop the stars of the future. I've split this into two as well so plenty to look forward to next time as well.

Save Update

What a day, what a result! The tides are finally turning, we're becoming a dominant force at last. I love it that we beat them. Love it!

An extract from the diary of Frank M. Athlete, 19th September 2027

As May wrapped up, Frank had already identified one or two areas of the squad that needed strengthening. The priority was a new Box to Box midfielder who could offer more going forward than our current options. Frank had been admiring Partizan's Serbian startlet, Zarko Stevanovic, and we were able to secure him for £950K - a good price for a quality player.

Our options on the wings were also limited, so in came Giuliany Ben-David dos Santos on a free transfer from Feyenoord, along with Daniel Silhavy from Slavia Prague for £700K, who at just 18 was considered to be a prospect for the future. Although we weren't short of forwards, Renat Dadasov was also available on a free and would be an excellent upgrade as our target man and so he was signed to provide competition for Gioacchini.

Zarko Stevanovic (BBM-S)

Giuliany Ben-David dos Santos (MR)

Elsewhere, long-time servant Bradley Mazikou was in search of a new challenge and so was sent out on a paid loan to Dunajska Streda, leaving a gap at DL. Finding a full back who could also cross a ball was proving difficult, and so in the end, Frank opted for Gabriel Schur who was a natural DM but with the right attributes and a good left foot. The hope was he could be retrained to play at full back and give Matic competition for a starting place.

Our academy graduate Tsvetan Georgiev (DR) returned from his loan spell and went straight into the first team, while we also raked in £1.9M in sales for players that I knew wouldn't get any game time. Two of those departing were last year's box to box midfielders, who were replaced by Stevanovic, with Peychev deputising for him.

Despite Bulgaria's transfer window running from June until September, the season routinely starts in the first week of July and so Frank really didn't have much time to get everything in order. With the squad in place though, we kicked off with a Super-kupa tie against local rivals Levski in what's known locally as the Eternal Derby each time these two teams feature.

Despite the hype, the game never lived up to it and a bore draw was settled by penalties, with CSKA Sofia running out winners and securing our first piece of silverware for the season. As we headed into the league season, Frank's men suffered a disappointing home defeat at the hands of title challengers Botev Plovdiv. A minor blip as it turned out, with the side returning three wins from three in their remaining July fixtures.

As last year's First League winners, CSKA Sofia entered the Champions League at the 2nd Qualifying stage where they smashed Astana 5-1 away and then 6-4 at home to set up a tie against Anderlecht in the next round. Here we also ran out winners with two 3-2 wins, taking them into the Champions Playoff where we'd meet Shakhtar Donetsk later in August.

Meanwhile, our good league form continued, beating Levski and then Beroe before our form stalled with consecutive draws at home to Lokomotiv Plovidv, and then away at Etar - both teams we should be beating comfortably. Back to the Champions League action and despite a 2-0 defeat in the first leg, we started brightly in the return fixture, taking the lead in the first half and doubling it just after the hour mark. As it stood we were well within a chance of beating Shakhtar and progressing to the group stages, but unfortunately this was the moment they chose to wake up. 2 goals in quick succession dashed our hopes before they took the lead with a third. Stevanovic scores in the 96th minute but it's only a consolation prize as the lads were well beaten really.

An early exit from the Champions League meant we qualified for the group stages of the Europa League, with the draw proving challenging to say the least.

As we nudged into September, we returned to form in the league with a win away at Cherno more, and followed it with two 4-0 wins, one of which was against long-time league winners Ludogorets. A third 4-0 win was secured in the first round of the Cup as we progressed further than we'd managed last year. Four clean sheets in the league and cup did wonders for our morale as we neared the halfway stage of the season.

Two fixtures in the Europa League, with French titans Monaco up first on home soil. Frank expected a loss, but hoped for a draw and so was pleasantly surprised with three points following goals in the 78th and 86th minute. Norway's Rosenborg were up next and were arguably the weaker of the three teams we were up against. That said, CSKA Sofia had limited experience at this level and so we prepared for a tough fixture. Another surprise for Frank and his players though, running out comfortable 2-1 winners away form home to give us six points in the group.

Suddenly, qualifying from the group didn't seem so impossible, although we were yet to test our nerve against group favourites Chelsea so time would tell if we had the mettle to compete.

A return to First League fixtures saw us secure two away wins and two clean sheets with them as we headed into October, before our second defeat of the season to Botev Plovdiv (again!) ended our unbeaten run of thirteen league games. Despite the loss, this left us in top spot as we passed the half way stage, 2 points ahead of Ludogorets and Botev Plovdiv.

Our first game against Chelsea in the Europa League came just before that Botev Plovdiv defeat, and despite holding our own for large spells of the game, we lost 1-0 which sent Chelsea top of the group with three wins from three. In the League Cup 2nd Round we drew Ludogorets II from the division below and comfortably beat them 3-0 on the night to progress to the quarter finals against another lower-league opposition, Spartak Varna which won't be played until December.

November kicked off with the away tie against Chelsea and despite taking a 2-0 lead inside the first half an hour, they came back with full force and beat us 3-2. Rosenborg were yet to register a win after Monaco beat them twice, but their loss to Chelsea meant we were on level points with Monaco, and two group games remaining. Assuming Chelsea could beat them again and we could beat hapless Rosenborg, the deciding fixture would be our away tie against Monaco.

Before that we had two more away fixtures in the league, comfortably winning both and continuing to take strides at the top of the table. The Monaco game arrived and unfortunately, despite it being such a huge affair, we just didn't show up. Three goals from them and all we could manage in reply was a 91st minute effort that was recorded as an own goal anyway.

Three more league games to contest before the Winter break and we managed two wins and a draw with Levski holding us to another 0-0 after the Super Cup game at the start of the campaign. There was a tidy Quarter Final win in the League Cup at the start of December which set us up with our first Semi-Final in four years, this time against another Sofia-based team in the form of Lokomotiv Sofia.

Our final Europa League tie was at home to Rosenborg, ending in a 2-1 win and ensuring our total points haul reached nine. Frank hadn't expected much from the group, perhaps a win and a draw or two, so to have done so well was pleasing, albeit bittersweet when you consider how we finished. In the end Monaco secured a draw against Chelsea so it didn't matter, but had we both finished with nine points then they would still have progressed owing to their superior goal difference in the head to head.

Despite this being our second exit from a European competition this year, we were flung rather unceremoniously into a third one - the Europa Conference League. Here we would enter the competition at the Knockout Rounds, and would be joined by two other Bulgarian sides as we each vye for glory on the European stage.

Meanwhile, our title defence remains on track and our run in the League Cup means we're in good standing across three competitions as we enter the Winter break. Tune in next time to see how we got on as the season concludes...

Youth Development (Part I)

Of all the aspects of Football Manager, developing young talent has always been something I've been abysmal at. Barring the occasional success story, such as one graduate in my FM17 save with Fiorentina or Brian Eadie at Wolves in FM19, I routinely watch as hot prospects emerge from my academy and go on to achieve nothing more than a transfer to another club.

The reason for my failings is quite simply that I've never paid enough attention to this part of the game. Instead, I'll opt to scour the market for a ready-to-go bargain and bring them in, at the expense of my own young prospect's development. Whilst there's nothing wrong with this approach, it got me thinking about why i don't put as much effort in to this side of things and frankly, I couldn't think of a good enough reason to keep ignoring it.

Part of the problem for me is my lack of a structured approach. I don't really know how best to develop a player and so I decided to try a few different things to see what worked for me. I didn't want to do anything that would require huge amounts of my time in order to maintain it, so i stuck to some simple ideas that i could easily implement at CSKA Sofia and at clubs in the future.

I know that age and personality are big contributors in terms of how much a young player can be developed, so for the sake of this experiment, I've focused on a mixture and have tried to ensure a few different positions and roles are included too.

Kurt Moe (GK)

First up we have Kurt Moe, an 18yo Goalkeeper with 4.5 star potential. His personality is realist and he has a fairly average 12 for his Determination attribute.

Moe joined our U19 squad two years ago and in addition to the standard U19 training has also had his Individual Training set as a Sweeper Keeper on Defend and his Individual Focus on GK Distibution (short), working on First Touch, Passing and Vision.

As you'll notice from the screen shot, I decided to loan Moe out to fellow First Division side Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the hope that some first team experience at this level will help him push on in terms of development.

Borislav Velev (ST)

Next up we have Borislav Velev, an Advanced Forward who joined the U19s three seasons ago but began breaking into the first team squad last season.

His development has taken place mainly at U19 level, with 5 first team appearances last season and 8 appearances in the first half of this season, most of those from the bench.

His Individual Training has been as an Advanced Forward with Individual Focus set to Endurance to improve his Work Rate and Stamina.

For the second half of this season, he's been sent on loan to Slavia Sofia where he's likely to get more regular first team football.

Sladjan Pavkovic (MC)

Sladjan Pavkovic is my next prospect, joining us on a free transfer at the start of this year.

Unlike the others, Pavkovic has spent no time at all with our U19s coaches and was immediately sent out on loan to Cherno more for what I hoped would be regular first team football.

He has a lot to work on in terms of his physical and technical attributes, but his high technique, composure and teamwork should put him in good stead for the future.

He's a little older than Moe and Velev and since he'shad no time with our coaching staff, it will be interesting to see how much that matters compared to regular game time.

Zarko Stevanovic (MC)

My fourth pick is our new signing, Zarko Stevanovic. I'm interested to see how much Zarko can continue his development, despite being much older than the others at 22.

He joins from Partizan who are obviosuly a reputable club in Serbia and as such has likely had some decent coaching already.

His attributes are significantly more developed and he's the furthest along in terms of reaching his potential, but since he'll be a regular starter in our first team, i'm hopeful he can continue to improve.

He's also the only player I've picked out that will play European football and so it will be interesting to see how he does against much bigger teams than Bulgaria's First league can offer.

Grigor Rangelov (MC)

Finally, we have Grigor Rangelov, our youngest prospect in this test at just 17, and also the only one to have been directly recruited into our youth set-up (as opposed to be bought for a transfer fee).

Rangelov is training to become a Box to Box Midfielder, with his Individual Training set to Quickness to work on his pace and acceleration.

My plan for him is to keep him at the club for at least the next year or so, and then perhaps loan him out for regular playing time once he's a bit older.

The fact that his mental attributes are already at a good base level gives me hope that he'll be a regular first teamer in the future.

In summary, I've introduced you to five players here, with a mixture of ages, positions, abilities and their length of time at the club. In terms of development, players will either play at U19 level, in CSKA Sofia' first team, on loan at another club, or a mixture of all of these.

In the next update, I'll report back on what I found in terms of who developed the most and hopefully I can share my thoughts on some basic principles that I'll adopt for developing prospects in the future.

Content Corner

In this section I've highlighted some of the content I've been consuming of late. There are some excellent content creators out there, some old and some new, and the vast majority of which are all on Slack so I strongly advise you join that community and check them out here.

• Best Save Update Blog: this week I caught up on From Eleven One's FK Macva Sabac series in Serbia. Not one but two blog posts this week, check them out here.

• Best Advice Blog/Article: I suspect you all saw it but the Football Manager Byline this week featured FM Grasshopper talking about balancing your squad with older and more experienced players, something I can definitely improve on. If you missed it, you can read it here.

• Best Video/Audio: FM Rensie did a piece this week on squad numbering, which, as an avid fan fo the subject matter, I enjoyed immensely. Featured in the article was a great video on the history of squad numbering and how it differs by country. Watch it here.

And that's it for another update from me. Thanks so much for reading down this far, I hope you enjoyed it. As ever your feedback is always welcome either here in the comments, on Twitter or on my Slack channel. If you're not already on Slack then you're missing out. It's free to join, there's no pressure to post anything, and you'll find there are some excellent people who you can chat to if you want.

I'll be back as soon as I can with another update from Frank as he continues to take us Down the Danube.