diff --git a/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/squad.rs b/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/squad.rs
index 350db85..ce0abae 100644
--- a/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/squad.rs
+++ b/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/squad.rs
@@ -144,13 +144,28 @@ pub struct ProposedSquad {
     /// The owned instance assigned as the squad's **manager**, reverse-resolved
     /// from the wire `manager` ref to a Core `owned_card_id` (so the assignment
     /// is ownership-backed, never a dangling wire id). `None` when the save
-    /// carries no manager. A manager wire id the resolver cannot map is reported
-    /// in `unresolved_wire_ids` — a save is refused rather than assigning a
-    /// manager the club does not own.
+    /// carries no manager, or when its manager ref does not resolve — see
+    /// [`Self::unresolved_manager_wire_id`].
     pub manager_owned_card_id: Option<String>,
-    /// Occupied wire item ids the resolver could not map. A caller MUST refuse the
-    /// replacement if this is non-empty — a save must never silently drop an
-    /// owned player it failed to identify.
+    /// A non-zero manager ref the resolver could not map, if any.
+    ///
+    /// This does NOT refuse the save. FIFA 17 sends a manager ref that is not an
+    /// owned club item: production's own squad points at instance 100000427,
+    /// which is absent from production's `/club/staff` listing (1975 items,
+    /// 100000001..100004826), and the client accepts that squad back unchanged —
+    /// so the client does not validate the manager against the club, and refusing
+    /// the save would break EVERY real squad save for a field that was not even
+    /// ownership-backed before migration 0023.
+    ///
+    /// An unresolvable ref therefore means "no ownership-backed manager": the
+    /// assignment is cleared, exactly as a full replacement should, and the id is
+    /// reported so the host can log what it could not map. An occupied PLAYER
+    /// slot is different and still refuses the save — dropping one would silently
+    /// lose an owned card from the club.
+    pub unresolved_manager_wire_id: Option<i64>,
+    /// Occupied PLAYER wire item ids the resolver could not map. A caller MUST
+    /// refuse the replacement if this is non-empty — a save must never silently
+    /// drop an owned player it failed to identify.
     pub unresolved_wire_ids: Vec<i64>,
 }
 
@@ -215,13 +230,15 @@ pub fn to_proposed(put: &Fifa17SquadPut, resolver: &dyn SquadWireResolver) -> Pr
         }
     }
     // Manager: the first non-zero manager ref, reverse-resolved to an owned
-    // instance. An unresolvable manager is an unresolved wire id (refused), not a
-    // silently dropped assignment — you cannot manage with a card you don't own.
+    // instance. Unresolvable is NOT fatal (see `unresolved_manager_wire_id`) --
+    // the real client always sends a dangling ref, so refusing would break every
+    // squad save.
     let mut manager_owned_card_id = None;
+    let mut unresolved_manager_wire_id = None;
     if let Some(wire) = put.manager.iter().map(|m| m.id).find(|&id| id != 0) {
         match resolver.owned_id_for_wire(wire) {
             Some(owned) => manager_owned_card_id = Some(owned),
-            None => unresolved.push(wire),
+            None => unresolved_manager_wire_id = Some(wire),
         }
     }
     ProposedSquad {
@@ -230,6 +247,7 @@ pub fn to_proposed(put: &Fifa17SquadPut, resolver: &dyn SquadWireResolver) -> Pr
         formation: put.formation.clone(),
         slots,
         manager_owned_card_id,
+        unresolved_manager_wire_id,
         unresolved_wire_ids: unresolved,
     }
 }
diff --git a/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/squad_ext.rs b/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/squad_ext.rs
index 2224806..d15f402 100644
--- a/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/squad_ext.rs
+++ b/openfut-adapter-fifa17/src/fut/squad_ext.rs
@@ -316,15 +316,24 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(ext.kicktakers[0].index, 0);
     }
 
+    /// A manager ref that does not resolve must NOT refuse the save: FIFA always
+    /// sends one, and on a real profile it is dangling (production points at
+    /// 100000427, absent from its own /club/staff). The save commits with no
+    /// ownership-backed manager and reports the id it could not map.
     #[test]
-    fn build_refuses_an_unowned_manager() {
-        // Manager wire id present but NOT resolvable → refused, never assigned a
-        // manager the club does not own.
+    fn an_unresolvable_manager_ref_clears_the_assignment_without_refusing() {
         let put = parse_squad_put(PUT_F442.as_bytes()).unwrap();
         let mut ids = full_resolver().0;
         ids.remove(&100000427);
-        let err = build_squad_write(&put, &MapResolver(ids)).unwrap_err();
-        assert_eq!(err, SquadBuildError::UnresolvedWireIds(vec![100000427]));
+        let build = build_squad_write(&put, &MapResolver(ids)).expect("save must still commit");
+        assert_eq!(build.canonical.manager_owned_card_id, None);
+        assert_eq!(
+            build.canonical.unresolved_manager_wire_id,
+            Some(100000427),
+            "the ref we could not map is reported, not swallowed"
+        );
+        // The starting XI is untouched -- only the manager assignment is dropped.
+        assert_eq!(build.canonical.slots.len(), 11);
     }
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/openfut-launcher b/openfut-launcher
index 44ebc4b..7edf682 160000
--- a/openfut-launcher
+++ b/openfut-launcher
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 44ebc4b23cc8ac0a46801bf1b75ceee9d08833c1
+Subproject commit 7edf682291096583b5b7b4e0d04fec078b739faf
diff --git a/openfut-utas-host/src/lib.rs b/openfut-utas-host/src/lib.rs
index 0e7d8e6..38f6d7d 100644
--- a/openfut-utas-host/src/lib.rs
+++ b/openfut-utas-host/src/lib.rs
@@ -2131,6 +2131,17 @@ pub fn handle_put_squad(body: &[u8], deps: &SquadDeps<'_>) -> (WireResponse, Squ
             );
         }
     }
+    // FIFA always sends a manager ref, and on a real profile it does not resolve
+    // to an owned instance (production's own save points at 100000427, absent
+    // from its /club/staff). That is not an error: the save commits with NO
+    // ownership-backed manager. Logged so a ref we cannot map stays visible
+    // instead of vanishing.
+    if let Some(wire) = build.canonical.unresolved_manager_wire_id {
+        eprintln!(
+            "utas-host owner=RUST route=squad-replace manager_ref_unresolved={wire} \
+             (saved with no manager assignment)"
+        );
+    }
     // Commit canonical + extension atomically. No Python fallback on failure.
     let req = CoreReplaceRequest {
         name: build.canonical.name.clone(),
diff --git a/openfut-utas-host/tests/host_test.rs b/openfut-utas-host/tests/host_test.rs
index 506bd64..86d0b78 100644
--- a/openfut-utas-host/tests/host_test.rs
+++ b/openfut-utas-host/tests/host_test.rs
@@ -1216,11 +1216,13 @@ fn put_assigns_the_owned_manager_and_a_later_save_clears_it() {
     );
 }
 
-/// A manager ref the resolver cannot map is an unresolved wire id: the WHOLE
-/// save is refused and nothing is committed. You cannot manage with a card you
-/// do not own, and a save must never silently drop the assignment instead.
+/// The REAL client always sends a manager ref, and on a real profile it does not
+/// resolve: production's own save points at 100000427, which is absent from
+/// production's `/club/staff`, and the client accepts that squad back unchanged.
+/// Refusing the save would therefore break EVERY squad save, so an unresolvable
+/// manager ref commits the squad with NO manager assignment.
 #[test]
-fn put_refuses_a_manager_ref_that_is_not_an_owned_instance() {
+fn put_saves_the_squad_when_the_manager_ref_does_not_resolve() {
     let items = vec![gk(), st()];
     let (resolver, w) = resolver_with_wires(&items, ASSETS);
     let core = FakeCore::new(items.clone(), 2);
@@ -1239,10 +1241,28 @@ fn put_refuses_a_manager_ref_that_is_not_an_owned_instance() {
         Some(100_000_427),
     );
     let (resp, log) = handle_put_squad(&body, &deps);
+    assert_eq!(resp.status, 200, "{log:?}");
+    assert_eq!(resp.body, br#"{"id":0}"#);
+    assert_eq!(core.replace_calls(), 1, "the squad itself is committed");
+    assert_eq!(
+        core.manager(),
+        None,
+        "no ownership-backed manager is invented from a ref we cannot map"
+    );
+
+    // An occupied PLAYER slot that does not resolve is the opposite case: it
+    // would silently lose an owned card, so it still refuses the whole save.
+    let bad_player = put_body(
+        "f442",
+        w["oc-a"],
+        &[(0, w["oc-a"], 1), (1, 999_999_999, 9)],
+        "[]",
+        None,
+    );
+    let (resp, log) = handle_put_squad(&bad_player, &deps);
     assert_eq!(resp.status, 400);
     assert_eq!(log.outcome, "unresolved_wire_ids");
-    assert_eq!(core.replace_calls(), 0, "nothing committed");
-    assert_eq!(core.manager(), None, "no manager assigned");
+    assert_eq!(core.replace_calls(), 1, "nothing further committed");
 }
 
 #[test]