FM10 Small Club to Big Club Big Euro Nation Challenge

[Ohanzee]

We better find a way to turn things around iacovone. I think I will just stick to my tactic though, had no luck what so ever with changing it earlier.

Lost again 2-0 away. It looks like we might need more than 42 points to stay up as well this season. The best bottom teams are picking up more points. Gonna be hard, and we got Mallorca next. Hopefully we can turn it around once our injured first team players come back.

[iacovone]

Yes yes yes!! Finally a win over 4th placed Pajara Playas! Its all thanks to Elvis Onyema who is finally fully fit after 3 months out

EDIT: won 4-0 in the end \o/ - Onyema with a comeback brace!!

[Ohanzee]

Awesome iacovone!

And we did the same. Won 1-0 (own goal) at home to Mallorca who are 4th in the league!

[iacovone]

Good work Ohanzee

Big test away at 20th placed Galdar now...

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Just took out the Manager of the Year award, and also had four players named in the Team of the Year, all mentioned in my Update now.
Looking to strengthen my team where I can and getting players on FT contracts if possible.

[Ohanzee]

We followed it up with a 5-1 win away to Xerez. 41 points now, but there's 9 games to go and just 4 points down to relegation. Gonna need much more than 42 this year I fear. Next game is away to Sociedad who are top of the table so that's gonna be a trashing

I don't get it. 0-0 away to the best team in the league. I looked through the 11 players they started with. They are worth £23 million together. And we weren't even lucky. If anything we could have won it.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

I was offered a new three year contract and accepted it, very nice.

[Ohanzee]

And then we win 4-1 at home to Ejido. We're on fire now. Have a look at Belcastro's form. If only he was consistent

Here's something to think about. I was just thinking, and I believe every game we've played extremely well this season (including the surprise wins), I've told my players that "the pressure is off" as team talk. I wonder if that's the reason we've performed so well when we're huge underdogs.

(edit) My scout just found this guy in Serbia. He can't play for us this season, but he should be very helpful next season.

[iacovone]

Espanyol B just approached me

Rejected!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

2nd Division Golden Boot announced as Yordi with 25 goals, while he was also signing of the season, with Thaer as the runner-up, though we also had the Worst Signing of the season with Danny Casey.

[Ohanzee]

Saying "the pressure is off" keeps working for me. Here's the result against 3rd placed Tenerife away I said "the pressure is off" at halftime as well when we where 1-0 up.

[Uffe Johansson]

2011/2012 Casa Pia - Portuguese Second Division Central

League Graph

We finished 5th which is a huge improvement from last season. In the first ten matches
we had big problems scoring but some tactical tweaking and the arrival of Romeu (9 goals
/13 matches) changed that.

Finances

Transfers
squad

Meet the Casa Pians - Starting Eleven

GK - Ricardo Ferreira
DR - China
DL - Alejandro Marañón
DC - Buba
DC - Aurelio
MC - Djamal
MC - André Martins
MR - André Pires
ML - Ricardo Carvalho
ST - Romeu
ST - Dany

Next Season
I will try to push for a place in top 3. But the board are not helping, they just cut my
wagebudget by 1/8th. At least I get to keep all my players except André Martins who
returns to Sporting CP.

Career

 
Season   Division         Position  Achievements
2010/11  2:nd Division C   11th      Nope
2011/12  2:nd Division C   5th       Nope

[Ohanzee]

Nice season Uffe. Should do even better next season with Romeu there from the start

*edit* I'm just amazed. 1-0 win home to Albacete, and then a 4-1 win away to 6th placed Hercules. After our horrible 1-2-4 form, we are now 6-1-0 in the last 7 games. And we can't be relegated. What's even more fun is that Deportivo are relegated already, how on earth that is possible with the players they have is beyond me.

How is this for a form table

[rlipscombe]

great form Ohanzee.... well done for turning that around. and come on iacovone, you can do it!!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well we made it to the first game of our Pre-Season was against Ayr who are in the 2nd Division with us, they travelled to Borough Briggs for the game and were heavy favourites to beat us. I put my best team on the park for the first half & swapped them all at half time.
Starting Line-up: GK - Soutar, DR - Hinshelwood, DL - Zubizaretta, DC - Parker, DC - Grassi, MR - Parkinson, ML - Palomino, MC - Doyle, MC - Machaj, ST - Yordi, ST - Thaer.

The only new name in that line-up was Grassi, but I have signed about 5 players so far who I will show you at the end of the pre-season. This game started brilliantly as a beautiful cross from Thaer found Yordi for a header to get us into the lead, Yordi added a second on 35mins and then at halftime I swapped everyone out, this meant some of the guys I want to have a starting chance stepped in including Phelan who may yet be the starting DL. They held the opposition out for the whole 45 mins and then in injury time with the clock ticking away the opposition gave away a penalty which Sibierski slotted home for a delightful 3-0 victory.

Also looking at my squad right now I need a good ML to replace aging Jaime & Palomino, I also need a solid Striker, hopefully a bit younger to cover 36 year olds, Yordi & Sibierski. DR & DL are a little old at 27 & 31, but I think Phelan is ample cover for DL, & Bartlett & Rondo can cover DR.

NB: Fans Player of the Year was Yordi

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well on the signing front I am currenly chasing a ML, a DR & two new younger (25 & 28) strikers for the team, other interesting news was the League Cup & Challenge Cup draws seeing me face Inverness CT in the first round of both, both times at Borough Briggs. They knocked me out of the League Cup last year away, and they won the Challenge Cup, they are currently in the SD1, so I will try and push them around anyway.

[Ohanzee]

Has anyone seen this happen before - new club link ?

I didn't ask for a feeder club or anything, my Chairman just pulled that out of his hat on his own. Not sure what to think of it, it's nice I guess. Maybe they have some youngsters I can loan.

Season review coming up soon.

[Gilbster]

Has anyone seen this happen before - new club link ?

I didn't ask for a feeder club or anything, my Chairman just pulled that out of his hat on his own. Not sure what to think of it, it's nice I guess. Maybe they have some youngsters I can loan.

Season review coming up soon.

Yeah I completely forgot to mention it though, I was given a random link with Monaco, I believe it was the season I was first back in the First division, though it got terminated at the stat of this season in the Premier Divsion.

My form this evening has so far been awful, so I believe it is definitely a relegation battle that we are in.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Wow thats crazy, never seen the random links starting haha, but of course if a big enough club wants a link with you I wouldn't say know haha. I think working with some of the big teams can really help.

[rlipscombe]

i've seen it happen too. right now i'd love it as my chairman is determined not to let me have one!!

[DodgeeD]

It's getting tight now. 4 games to go until the end of the season and the Brancos are top but only two points cover the top three. I only have one tough game left against the side in 4th but I'm not going to make any comments for fear of jinxing myself. I'll get the season finished tomorrow.

[Ohanzee]

S.D. Noja season 2013/14

10th in LIGA adelante (pred:22nd) | Transfers | Finances | Graph

The League

• It was a roller coaster season. For the first half of the season we where incredibly inconsistent. We lost the games we should have a chance to get points in, and won the ones we really should lose. Highlights being a 3-2 win away to Deportivo (who somehow managed to get relegated) and 3-1 win away to Mallorca. At Christmas we where 15th, but not far above relegation places. Still, we where on route for 48 points and last season 43 points was enough to stay up.
• After the January window we started amazing with two great wins. Then it all started falling a part. Several injuries to first team players and we went 8 games without winning, picking up 5 losses in the process. Then it all changed as we once again upset Mallora beating them 1-0 at home. The rest of the season was a joy as we just went from strength to strenght. 8 wins, 2 draws and just 1 loss in the last 11 games and we finished in a remarkable 10th place.

The Cup
We lost 2-0 to Gimnastic in the Spanish Cup 3rd Round.

The Players
Here's the usual first team

GK - Carmelo Paci
DR - Marco Grassi
DL - Dario Romano
DC - Fabrizio Di Costanzo
DC - Avelino Oliveira
DMC - Rui
MC - Dario Venitucci
MC - Falardo
AMR - Fabio Santoni
AML - Gianluca Atzeni
SC - Luca Belcastro

• Belcastro was a 2nd choice behind Fonseca at first, but then came on to give me 2 goals in a game we where 1-0 down. After that he started most games, but was very inconsistent getting either 2-3 goals or non for several games in a row. He got 29 goals in the end though which earned him a second spot in the leagues top goalscorer award.
• Venitucci was my favorite player. His presence just seem to boost everyone. He was gone for 4 games with injury in the middle of the season and we didn't win any of those games.
• The winger position was the most unsure one. Santoni played a lot the first half of the season, but he didn't impress. So for the second half Hornsby and Indorante where the first choices and Atzeni played on the right side instead. D'Onofrio also played a lot of games in Oliveiras place, but I chose Oliveiras pace in the end.

The Finances and Facilities

• Brilliant really, the TV-money gave us a £1.4 million profit over the season. We'll have no problems paying down the loan if we stay in this league. We're below our wage budget, and we could really go miles above it and still make profit at the moment.
• Our average attendance increased by over 1,000 this year, up to 2,027. The best game was at home to Real Sociedad where 3,969 fans payed to enter the new stadium which can now take 9,000 (6k seated). The worst attendance came against Mallorca with 1,261.

The Future
We're losing our best player since Atzeni is going back to Lazio, but I'm not to worried about that. He helped us stay up and the performance we had in the last 11 games of the season was not just down to him. We have a good squad and it can only get better. Still it's obvious we can't directly replace Atzeni just yet, so I don't expect to improve much next season. I'll still be happy if we can just stay up.

SEASON	LEAGUE	POS	F-CUP		S-CUP		NOTES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
10/11	2D-B1	15th	N/A		N/A		Almost relegated
11/12	2D-B1	11th	N/A		N/A
12/13	2D-B1	2nd	1st rnd		N/A		Promotion!
12/14	LIGAa	10th	N/A		3rd rnd		Stayed up
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
2D-B1 = Second Division B1 | F-CUP = Federation Cup | S-CUP = Spanish Cup
LIGAa = LIGA adelante

[rlipscombe]

great season there Ohanzee. 10th is a great result for 1st season in Liga Adelante. Belcastro is a great little striker.

in my game, Venezia have 3 games to go. We have an outside chance of the title but will probably have to settle for the play-offs. that will have to wait until tomorrow night though.....

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Ohanzee - A great first season in the Liga Adelente, hopefully you can stay there now and build up towards the top of the league.

I in the meantime managed to sign a new right back, 19 year old Jon Fraser who is already at the level of my older players and has some potential.

Our second friendly saw our Parent Club, Division 1 Dumbarton come to town, they were heavy favourites, but I was never going to make that stop me and I had them stunned as in 52s Thaer crossed to Yordi and made it 1-0, then again same pairing same result at the 12th minute. They pulled on back just before halftime, I again changed the whole squad at halftime and my reserves did me proud as first Sibierski added a 3rd and then Jaime scored a stunner from 35 yards to give us a final 4-1 victory. The hopes are huge for this season. But I know Preseason is nothing to judge by.

Edit: And now I have managed to pick up Jamie Thorpe, the 19 year old Left Wing is better than Palomino already and is going to take up that spot from the beginning.

[PRDH]

Right. So as a new season dawns I feel the need to bring you up to speed with the transfer activity that has been happening around Romorantin.

Firstly came the freebies who were signed and sealed before the end of last season.

Vito Wormgoor is a centre-back who arrived on a free, he is head and shoulders above everyone else in my team physically so should be a very useful addition.

A compatriot of his was the second to join, Ard van Peppen is a full back who can play on the left or right of the back four, and again looks to be a big improvement on what I already had.

Next came a pair of Englishmen. First Nathan Dalton. A midfielder who came through the Manchester Utd academy before being released. He may not be strong, but he's got good technique and should make an impact in France. Joining him was more of a veteran. Francis Jeffers joined. He's not quick either, but if he finds himself on the end of moves should still be able to put them away.

Another player to arrive from England was Francisco Duran, formerly of Liverpool. He is another technically gifted if not exactly powerful central midfielder.

Yet more midfield recruits came in the form of Guillaume Quellier.

Another free transfer was wrapped up as Amin Arroub arrived, another midfielder he has could general ability.

Then came the only cash transfer. Serbian striker Marko Stevanovic arrived for the hefty £28K price tag. He's decent in the air, and with the ball at his feet. I've had my eye on him for a while.

Finally came left-footed centre-back Claude Dielna, another free transfer, he joins the largely new look defence for the new season.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Some really nice signings there PRDH hopefully they can do things for you.

I had Glen Hoddle come for a friendly and sent them packing 12-0, this game just showed the class of my squad they outplayed them all over the park, not even a challenge really.

And I managed to sign the first ST, 25 year old Pedro looks solid and is as good as my other three. Chances are he may line-up in the start early.

[sydneytilidie]

Tim Filippi and the Wee Rovers: Season One

The first season has taken me six pages of this thread to complete, but complete it now is, and I can confirm that Albion Rovers have been Promoted as Champions!
It was a funny old season, as until about the mid point of the season, it seemed that nobody really wanted the title. In fact, at one point I broke 10 points clear in a matter of 5 games aftter being tied at the top beforehand.

I won't post up any screenshots of players, because to be honest i can't see myself holding onto any of them for an extended period of time. The fact that I was able to win this league so comfortably says more about the standard of the other teams than it does of my own.

I will mention, however, that my squad is composed almost entirely of Scots, which deviates a bit from what my fellow Scottish players are doing. I have one Norwegian (who was signed after his contract at Rangers had expired), an Englishman named Stuart Lovell (who played in the Prem for Falkirk the year before and scored a good 20 goals for us) and a "Burundian" who was born in Glasgow but now has two international caps. The plan is to keep my squad as home based as possible. In fact, I'm not allowing myself to scout outside of Britain until I go professional. Any non-Brits until that point will be signed from British clubs, but I want to keep these to a minimum as well.

My aim for next year is, to be honest, another promotion. The division above looks just as gash as the division we just left. Hopefully the summer will be a productive one for the Wee Rovers in the transfer market as we hope to do a repeat performance of last year.

It took me a while to get into this game, but now that I have I am SO keen to get to the top. I really love FM.

[Twellman24]

Sin miedo, Algeciras! Third Season, 2012/13


After our amazing forth place last season, the idea was to keep it going and be in the playoffs once again. We only strengthen our team, and we felt like we couldn't possibly do worse, only better.

Transfers

- Some players arrived during the summer, but up to seven got to Algeciras during the winter transfer window, which obviously shows we really weren't doing great. Six Italians arrived in January, but Mazzel was just a signing for the future.

Transfers

___________


Segunda B - Grupo IV

- As the graph shows, we started horribly, like we were never a team that had finished forth last season. We allowed way too many goals, and at the same time, relied way too much in Falardo and Barba upfront to make things happen. The team was nbot improving, and far from the top 5 we had enjoyed pretty much all throughout last season, we were now in the lower side of the table.

- ...Which provoked a bit of a revolution during the winter transfer window. Our scout was sent to Italy for a few months and came back with several reports, but we only signed five players from Italy; two left backs and three midfielders; all young and careless, and who lifted some of the weight off of the stars of the team.

- Special mention deserve Pagano and Albano, who took over the wings, and Amato, who looked superb even with how young he is on paper. With the Italians on board, the team got his confidence back after a couple of goog matches, and we were able to end the season in the Top 10, and with only 14 points less than last season, which by the way things werw going, is an achievement. We definitely need to improve the defensa next season, and find an alternative for Barba upfront, as well.

Final table

- Copa del Rey:

- We got kicked out in the first round, sadly losing 1-2 to Marbella, even though we played better and at home.

- Copa Federacion:

- We took care of Universidad Oviedo and Villanovense with a global score of 7-1 and 8-4, to then be eliminated by a Levante who didn't play better, but counteracted our 1-0 home with a 2-0 to win the leg. We really couldn't be bothered with cups at the moment since we then were points away from relegation, but we feel like we deserved more in both tournaments.
________

Stats

- We scored 24 goals less and conceded 4 more than last season; that should be enough to show we did not handle the pressure to be expected to fight for the top 5 spots. Most people had an average season; but some did a bit better.

- Albano, Amato, Di Martino, Di Napoli and Pagano were the five Italians who gave us our confidence back. Barba completed another great season, but if he had scored half of the one on ones he had, he would have reached 50 goals at least (serious). Falardo was also class, and Strasser keeps going, he was called for his country several times and that's 110 overall, and he even scored two goals this season. One more year left on his contract, and so far I'm not in the mood to let him go just yet

__________

Economy

- Good new, we were not spending as much money in wages as in the past, and we were able to turn a profit even if our attendance went down from 4,000ish to 2,000ish due to the bad season. We are sitting on 140,000 Euros, which is nice after seeing a quarter of a million Euros deficit two years ago.

__________

In Conclusion

- It was an amazingly frustrating season, but once things settled and the Italians arrived, we did better and I realized we were never a favorite team for the promotion.We got lucky, and we need to keep building the team and the club. I am happy with this Top 10 finish, and that is what I will be looking forward to next season, maybe a bit better. One step at a time.
___________
10/11 - Algeciras CF - Segunda B, Grupo IV - 15th (avoided relegation) - 40 points
11/12 - Algeciras CF - Spanish B, Grupo IV - 4th (lost in playoff final to Ferrol) - 68 points
12/13 - Algeciras CF - Segunda B, Grupo IV - 10th - 54 points

[el sid]

Congrats on the promotion el sid. Do you think you can complete the challenge faster than last year?

I don't think so. The Munster chairman isn't giving me the financial backing the Sachsen Leipzig chairman did in FM09.

[DodgeeD]

Well, I made the promotion play-offs with B.C. Branco. We just had a chance to seal promotion with a win but blew it and drew 1-1 against 10 men. Heading into the last game, a point will get us up but we play away to Moreirense, the team with the best record from the league stage...

Promotion would be a great achievement but would it come too early?

[Gilbster]

Table at the split - We are pretty much safe, unless things go disasterously wrong. Pretty happy overall.

Sydney - Congrats on promotion.
DodgeeD - Good luck in the playoffs, it may be early, but if your team are good enough, go for it!
Ohanzee - Well done on staying up.


edit: Yesss! I got a win in my next match and now the lowest I can finish is 10th. I have actually survived a season in the Premier Division, with 4 games to go!

[rlipscombe]

PRDH - you've signed Franny Jeffers!! As an Owls fan it'll be interesting to see how he gets on. hopefully better than he does for us!! some other good signings there

Des - seems like you're really improving the team, and th\t you have a good chance this season.

Sydneytilidie - congrats on promotion.

Gilbster - congrats on survival.

[berty1978]

After much thought, I have decided to manage in Portugal after LLR last season, though I haven't gone with Fafe who were one of the promoted clubs. Instead I have gone with Futebol Clube Infesta who are based in the locality of Porto, location. I can't find much history on them apart from the fact they spent a few seasons in the Second Division between 2005 and 2009 when they were relegated.

manager link

[el sid]

Thank you SI for 48 month transfers
A lot of you are going to find it extremely useful when your team makes the first division and you find out you need to strengthen every part of your team and the only way to do this is buy.

[el sid]

congrats gilbster

[Gilbster]

Gilbster - 2018/19 - Elgin City - Premier Division - End of Season Update

Table | Positions | Squad | Transfers | Key Player

Well after the surprising promotion last season, I wasn't entirely sure how to approach this season. I had already signed quite a few players to come in on bosmans, and luckily for me it turned out they were more than good enough for the Premier Division.

We started off well with a couple of draws, a win against Dundee and Motherwell, and then managed our best result ever a 4-1 away win at Celtic. Things went a bit downhill from there as it took us ages to get another win November and then not again til January. During that period I was convinced we were going to be sucked into a relegation battle that we weren't going to win.

However fortunes do change regularly in football, and we found our form and winning ways again, and put in a spectacular run of results to get us to 7th place in the table, where we have finished.

We put in a good cup run in the League cup and lost in the semis to Aberdeen. However I would like to ignore the Scottish cup even existed this season.

In around January I noticed, that my chairman had been very kind and is now letting me scout the whole world, so maybe I will learn there are more than just Spanish players out there!

Aims

Get a new AMC
Stay up again
Improve midfield
Improve Defense
Hold onto key strikers

Career So Far

Season    Division           Position    Points     Achievements
2010/11   Third Division     3rd         59         Lost in playoff semi final
2011/12   Third Division     1st         77         Winner
2012/13   Second Division    4th         56         Promoted from Playoffs
2013/14   First Division     1st         72         Winner. Challenge Cup Winner
2014/15   Premier Division   12th        34         Relegated
2015/16   First Division     2nd         67
2016/17   First Division     2nd         60
2017/18   First Division     1st         67         Winner
2018/19   Premier Division   7th         49

[rlipscombe]

well done Gilbster - fantastic achievement. And the Celtic result is a real highlight. good luck scouting the world....

In Venice, a 2-2 home draw with Alto Adige has seen the chance to win the league go. We'll be in the play-offs.

[PRDH]

Well it's amazing the difference a few signings can make. 7 games into the new season and I'm top of the league. Not sure how long it will last, but at least it shows definite progress. Even within this season. Lost the first game. Drew the next 2. Won the next 4.

Oh and rlipscombe - Jeffers has scored 4 in 7 so far.

edit - typical. I've gone and jinxed it! 3-0 down to my favourites - Pacy Football. It's their speed that's undoing me!

[DodgeeD]

Sport Benfica e Castelo Branco – 2010/11 Season Review

2nd Division Central – 1st
Promotion Play-Off – 3rd
Portuguese Cup – 3rd Round

All in all a successful first season. The squad was completely overhauled with only Miguel Vaz left from the players I inherited. We made a solid start and soon found ourselves in a tight group of 5 at the top of the table. The only problem was goals as our attack was not producing the goods consistently. Or that reason, I brought in two more strikers in January, Adriano and Marquinho (both Brazilian), and they scored 15 goals between them as we started to dominate our opponents more. As the end of the season approached, 3 teams were in it: us, Maritmo B and Atlético CP. It all went down to the final game with us a point ahead of Maritimo and three ahead of Atlético. We had a couple of nervous moments but managed to grind out a 1-0 win to send us to the play-off group!

The play-offs pitted us against Espinho (2nd Division North winners) and Moreirense (2nd Division South winners). Unfortunately, we had Adriano and Vaz injured and both left wingers away for internationals. Nevertheless, we started well with a 0-0 draw away to Espinho and a 2-0 win at home to Moreirense. The other results meant a win at home to Espinho would get us promoted. It all seemed to be going well as we took the lead and they had a man sent off before half-time. However, we bottled it and let Espinho back in it to draw 1-1. That meant a point was needed from the final match at Moreirense. Again we took an early lead but we were pegged back to 1-1 by half-time. Again, we had a great chance as our opponents were reduced to ten men but again we bottled it as 2 goals in 5 minutes saw us go 3-1 down. We pulled one back and lay seige to the Moreirense goal but couldn’t find the goal that would have put us up.

The way the season ended was disappointing, especially as we finished behind Espinho by virtue of them scoring an away goal against us. However, promotion may have been a bad thing as we would have been hit hard by the 25% wage rise and the club is nearly ₤100k in debt.

Best match of the season: B.C. Branco 4, Camacha 1 – this came at a time when the pressure was on to win and stay in the title hunt against a side who had beaten us well earlier in the season. We produced the goods with 4 goals before half-time to move up to 1st from where we never looked back.

Turning Point of the Season: In the final round of league fixtures Maritimo B, just one point back in 2nd, had just scored as we conceded a penalty against Lusitano. My keeper stood firm to save it and 3 minutes later, we took the lead. From there, we would win 1-0 and secure the title.

Key Players:
Samir (DR) – only missed 1 game all season and was Mr Consistency at right back.
Raul (DL) – spent the first couple of months on the bench but soon displaced a player 17 years his senior at left back and even captained the side on a couple of ocassions.
Leandro (DC) – a rock at the heart of defence and very reliable.
Pedro Paula (MR) – getting on a bit and not rated highly by my coaches but kept producing the goods on the right. I seriously have to look at other options for our long-term future though.
Revy Rosalia (ML) – came on a free from Holland in January and provided the service we had been lacking on the left. A call up to the Gold Cup meant we sorely missed him in the play-offs.
Migual Vaz (MC) – Defied his age to be the driving force in midfield. We missed him when he was injured.
Adriano (ST) – one part of the solution for our lack of goals up front earlier in the season. Injured for all but the last game of the play-offs. Had he stayed fit, it may have all worked out differently.
Marquinho (ST) – the other part of the goalscoring solution. I’m looking forward to having both these guys available from the start next season.

Awards:
Fans’ Player of the Year – Samir
Portuguese 2nd Division Goal of the Season – Binho (1st)
Portuguese 2nd Division Manager of the Season – David Dodgson (3rd)



Big Three Watch:
The big three are untouchable at present. Sporting won the league with games to spare ahead of our namesakes Benfica. Porto struggled but just about secured 3rd. All the cup finals were contested by two of the three with Benfica taking the Super Cup, Porto the League Cup and Benfica the Cup. In Europe, Benfica performed best, reaching the Champions League quarter finals before being beaten by eventual winners Juventus. Sporting fell one round earlier at the hands of Inter Milan. Porto also fell foul of the Italians as they lost to AC Milan in the Europa League 1st Knockout Round.
Liga Sagres
Super Cup
League Cup
Cup Final
European Coefficients – Portugal sit 9th with 2 Champioms League and 4 Europa League places, with Holland and Turkey not far behind...



The Season Ahead (Aims):

• We have been re-loacted to the 2nd Division North but I hope to push for a promotion spot again.
• I need to bring in a new keeper as my back-up retired.
• A new younger right winger is needed too.
• Add more depth to central defence and midfield.
• More a hope than an aim but a home tie in the cup against a big tem would be good for finances.

[DodgeeD]

Congrats on staying up Gilbster. What do you expect for next season? Are you still concerned about the threat of relegation or looking upwards instead?

[PaulHartman71]

I must have forgotten to save my game last night, I have lost about 2 months worth of games

I'm thinking about starting again now, because I'll feel really annoyed if I lose games I won, and feel strangely bad if I win games I lost.

[Dave.]

Phew, we survived in Serie C1, just about. Finished 17th, 3 points from bottom after an awful second half of the season, but managed to beat Rovigo 3-2 in the Playout to hang on to our third-tier status. The board has announced a 2000-capacity extension for our stadium, which will set us back another £2.25M. Hopefully we'll start making a profit with increased gate receipts though.

Meanwhile, we've been relocated to Taranto's Erasmo Iacovone 10000+ seater stadium. Does that name bear any significance, may I ask?

[rlipscombe]

Phew, we survived in Serie C1, just about. Finished 17th, 3 points from bottom after an awful second half of the season, but managed to beat Rovigo 3-2 in the Playout to hang on to our third-tier status. The board has announced a 2000-capacity extension for our stadium, which will set us back another £2.25M. Hopefully we'll start making a profit with increased gate receipts though.

Meanwhile, we've been relocated to Taranto's Erasmo Iacovone 10000+ seater stadium. Does that name bear any significance, may I ask?

Ha Ha!!!!

DodgeeD - good first season there. i'm sure you can carry that form into the new season and gain promotion.

[Gilbster]

Congrats on staying up Gilbster. What do you expect for next season? Are you still concerned about the threat of relegation or looking upwards instead?

Board are expecting mid table safety, I personally think survival is my main aim again for the new season. I don't believe I will be able to get many players in without selling a few though, because although I have been given 220k transfer funds, my wage budget I'm starting as over on!

[Dave.]

Club: Ostuni Sport

Season: 2014/15
League: Italian Serie C1/B
Transfer Budget: £1.9k
Wage Budget: £11.0k
Opening Balance: -£726.2k
Closing Balance: -£257.4k
Board Expectations: Attempt to avoid relegation
Media Expectation: 18th
Your Expectations: Avoid relegation

League Record: Pos 17th, W 6, D 12, L 16, F 36, A 55, Pts 30
Serie C2 Super Cup: 3-2 (agg) vs Rovigo
Coppa Italia: 1st Qual. Rnd, lost 4-5e to Ternana
Serie C Cup: 1st Rnd, lost 1-3 to Frosinone
First XI: (4-4-2) Castelani; Giglio, Zochi, Feole, Basta; Calzi, Radu, Perfetti, Faedo; Del Sol, Dell'Acqua.
Top Scorer: Stefano Dell'Acqua 12
Top Assister: Lorenzo Perfetti 13
Average Attendance: 1934
Fans Player Of The Year: Lorenzo Perfetti
My Player Of The Year: Lorenzo Perfetti
Notable Results: 4-5 vs Ternana, 1-5 vs Ternana, 1-5 vs Cassino, 3-2 vs Rovigo
Transfers In: I brought seven players in, all on free transfers. I brought in two young Spaniards, Mikel del Sol and Marcos Blanco, who, although both excellent, asked for massively high wages. A couple of ageing AMCs were brought in to plug the hole there, and when I needed a new DC in January, I brought in cheap but good Greek Giorgos Apostopolous. However, my signing of the season was undoubtedly...
Best Buy: ...Lorenzo Perfetti. He fitted in brilliantly to the team on the right of midfield, and was adept at playing with both Faedo and Vaccaro, and between the three of them, many killer balls were played into the front men. If Lo, Del Sol and Dell'Acqua had all played as they should, we would have scored a bundle more.
Worst Buy: Alessandro Alessandri. He was old, at 35, and only got a couple of games for us all season. He's retiring in the summer, too.
Transfers Out: Many players were released, due to the overstretching of the wage budget, and the fact that I wanted to clean out some of the dead weight. However, some of our better players went in that contingent, including former player of the year Tony. I was sad to see him go, but it did free up a good £1k p/w in wages.
Best Sale: In January, Alaves came in with an offer for the young Spaniard I'd signed from Athletic just 6 months ago, Marcos Blanco. With a £40k profit, and a weekly saving of £1.2k on wages, I could hardly say no. Bye bye, Marcos!

Table

Round-Up: I'm not too disappointed if I'm honest. I was never expecting to set the division alight, but may have done if we'd played like we did midway through the first half of the season for the whole campaign. We didn't, and thankfully we did have that run of form at all, because we played terribly the second half of the season! Faedo didn't have quite the incredible season I was hoping he would, but more a solid one. He was still one of our better players, and came in with a few assists and goals as well as tying for the most man of the matches. He was dragged away for Italy U19 duty a lot though, where he missed a lot of our games. He has now scored 5 goals in 8 games for the youth international side though, despite being a winger and one of the younger members of the team.

Towards the end of the season, the board announced a 2000-seat increase to our stadium - doubling the capacity. This will take most of the next season, but we've been given the opportunity to play in a 10000 capacity stadium, which will nicely boost our finances. Our board is also injecting £3M to help the finances. I love them sometimes!

SEASON     DIVISION               POSITION      NOTES
2010/11    Italian Serie C2/C     17th          Won in playout 
2011/12    Italian Serie C2/C     12th
2012/13    Italian Serie C2/C     11th
2013/14    Italian Serie C2/C     1st           Promoted as champions
2014/15    Italian Serie C1/B     17th          Won in playout

Aims For Next Season: Try to achieve a safe midtable position, and start to build for a promotion push in two or three years time. Keep the finances heading in the right direction. KEEP DOMENICO FAEDO.

[rlipscombe]

congrats on survival Dave - a great achievement.

As for me, my season is over.... it'll be another season of Serie C2 football.... review to follow, probably tomorrow.

[iacovone]

Meanwhile, we've been relocated to Taranto's Erasmo Iacovone 10000+ seater stadium. Does that name bear any significance, may I ask?

That stadium right there is the reason for my username

Had an amazing Taranto file on FM07 IIRC, loved that place!

[iacovone]

Sorry to hear that rlipscombe

My Castillo team have been woeful for a while now. We've won one game in 15 now . Unsurprisingly we are now just 3 points ahead of the relegation places.

[Gilbster]

Wow, last seasons title odds had me at 1000-1, this year its 100-1, at least a 0 has been knocked off!

[rlipscombe]

Sorry to hear that rlipscombe

My Castillo team have been woeful for a while now. We've won one game in 15 now . Unsurprisingly we are now just 3 points ahead of the relegation places.

fingers crossed iacovone.....

yeah, i am a bit disappointed but i guess it was only my first season and can't grumble really. i know why i went wrong so to speak - a failure to crack the tactics and maybe an over-reliance on loanees. hopefully i can turn that round next season.

[DodgeeD]

Wow, last seasons title odds had me at 1000-1, this year its 100-1, at least a 0 has been knocked off!

Mine are going in the opposite direction. I was 6-1 for the 2nd Division Central Title last year and, now in 2nd Division North, I'm 50-1... Greater incentive to defy the odds this time I guess!

[Ohanzee]

With the Italians on board, the team got his confidence back

That sounds familiar Glad to see your teams form is going upwards. Good luck next season, hope you can keep the form and make the top 4.

sydneytilidie - Grats on promotion.
Gilbster - Grats on staying up. Rafael looks brilliant. He should come back to sunny spain and join S.D. Noja really.
berty1978 - Good luck with Infesta.
PRDH - Good luck, sounds like you could fight for promotion this year.
DodgeeD - Grats on promotion, well done.
Dave - Grats on staying up.
rlipscombe - Where did you finish? You think you'll fight for promotion next year?
iacovone - You can do it! Try saying "the pressure is off" as teamtalk both pre match and half time. Even if you're only a very small underdog. My players performed well above their ability when I did. I'm gonna try doing it for all of next season. I'm sure there's more reasons we got such a good run of form in the end, but I'm pretty sure the teamtalk was a big part of it. I was asking my assistant what to say usually and he kept telling them "You can win this" even when we where 15.00 underdogs, they didn't like that at all.

[DodgeeD]

DodgeeD - Grats on promotion, well done.

Err.. I wasn't promoted - I was third out of 3 in the promotion play-off (top 2 go up). For some reason I have been relocated to the North Division this year but that's a step sideways rather than up.

[iacovone]

Well I wish I could say it was the 'no pressure' teamtalks but I've only just read that post. Anyway last 4 games we're 2-2-0 and are on 39 points, just 1 behind last year's total. There are 6 games left so now its all about just obtaining a new points total. I'm pleased with the flourish at the end of the year, it appears as if the players have adapted to my 4-4-2 diamond now - gives me some hope for the next year

[Ohanzee]

Err.. I wasn't promoted - I was third out of 3 in the promotion play-off (top 2 go up). For some reason I have been relocated to the North Division this year but that's a step sideways rather than up.

Oww damn, sorry. I just looked at the table and saw you on top. That sucks then So close. I don't like playoffs. Especially not when you finish top. Top should mean promotion, always Better luck next year

[PRDH]

Brilliant bit of advice from my backroom staff.

I'm am overawed by teams with a higher reputation.

AND

I tend to get complacent against teams with a lower reputation.

[PaulHartman71]

I have started the challenge again due to the issue previously mentioned. I decided to return to the club where I attempted to complete this challenge on FM09, and that was RW Essen!

Initial Profile

[iacovone]

I have started the challenge again due to the issue previously mentioned. I decided to return to the club where I attempted to complete this challenge on FM09, and that was RW Essen!

Initial Profile

RW Essen are still playable? Such a sizeable club I'd have thought they'd have been promoted. Good news for you Paul, good luck with them

[iacovone]

Very pleased with our end of season form. We just played an absolute classic away at strong Burgos. We won 4-3 in the end, a truly brilliant result. Roberto Alvarez has been in sublime form.

[iacovone]

Season completed and we finished a credible 12th in the end.

Salvatore Fresi has just declared he'll retire in a month or so but I've asked him to reconsider as he was pretty good for us.

EDIT: He's confirmed his retirement along with Victor unfortunately

[Gilbster]

Never mind about the retirees, I'm sure you will find younger, fitter, better replacements. 12th sounds pretty good to me, well done.

[Polar Bear]

Well, with nearly a third of season two gone, my malodorous hands have led those poor Kickers to this position.

Which means that I couldn't really complain when this happened.

This goes down as my worst ever attempt at management, in any version of the game.

The players available for selection seemed on a par with other teams in the division. Yet, try as I might, I could not assemble them into a competitive team. Most worryingly, I can't put my finger on why exactly it went so badly, so it will be difficult even to learn from my mistakes!

I'm going to continue with this game, becaue I won't let a damned computer beat me! I'll either turn it into a career game (if anyone else will have me) or go through to the end of the season and select one of the new promoted teams for 2012-13, in accordance with the rules of the challenge.

Does the team you select have to have never been in the league before? If the promoted teams are sides that were relegated in season one or two, am I allowed to take one?

[iacovone]

Juan Baldomero's Gran Canaria Castles

Castillo C.F 2011/12 End of Season Review
Second Division B1

12th|Graph
Predicted Finish: 19th

Finances - Struggling in the red a little but this new sponsorship deal should help.
Transfers - Lots of deals, expect just as many this summer.
Season Ticket Holders - 42 (1 more than last year \o/)
Estimated Value - £350k (up by £75k)

The Generalities...

Second season was not much more fun than the difficult first but at the end of the day, survival was attained and we live to fight another season. Our enormous blip in the middle of the campaign was regrettable but the silver lining must be that I have finally found a solid tactic (4-4-2 diamond) that scores goals.

For me Roberto Alvarez was our player of the season after securing his spot in the AMC position halfway through the campaign. He always seems to find a way to get in the box and get a goal. A very likeable quality - and presumably the reason he is on the clubs favoured personel list.

Up top Elvis Onyema was very hit and miss. He started the campaign fabulously scoring a hattick versus Bilbao Ath. and also later against Lugo but his prolifagacy in the middle of the campaign was part of the reason we struggled.

My signing of the season was probably Italian 20 year old keeper Giuseppe Masini who arrived on a free transfer.

Average Attendance: 546
Fans Player of the Year: Rodolfo (CB who had a good year but this surprised me)
My Player of the Year: Roberto Alvarez
Squad

The League Campaign...

Not the most enjoyable campaign but again the important thing is - we survived! For such a small club it is a mighty achievement. We started the league strongly and turned over Bilbao Athletic 4-1 away as well as picking up a couple of admirable draws.

However come the 20th November we went on a shocking run of 1 win from 16 games. I can't really explain why or how we got into this mess but it really dragged us down the table and into relegation danger. Fortunately we had a very strong end to the season and our form looked like this - 5-2-3. There were a couple of very impressive results including the spectacular 4-3 away win at Burgos.

As impressive as our finish was, I still have doubts over a number of players in the first team squad. I need another summer of wheeling and dealing to get the right balance (as I think I've found the right tactic now).

Other Stuff....

The U19's ended up coming 11th out of 16 in their youth league. Nothing special and not unsurprising given that we don't have a single player with more than 1 star rating! Diabolical youth team at the minute.

There have been no improvements to facilities or stadia at the club.

Club Info

The Plan...

Last year I hoped we could climb the table - and we did. So again the hope must be to improve on 12th. Going on past predictions I have this year and the next to get out of the division, but in reality I'm here for the long haul . This could be an epically long challenge attempt - we are just way too small a club to attract anyone sufficient here.


Progress so far...

Season   Division          Position     Achievements
2010/11  2nd Division B1   15th         N/A
2011/12  2nd Division B1   12th         N/A

[iacovone]

Well, with nearly a third of season two gone, my malodorous hands have led those poor Kickers to this position.

Which means that I couldn't really complain when this happened.

This goes down as my worst ever attempt at management, in any version of the game.

The players available for selection seemed on a par with other teams in the division. Yet, try as I might, I could not assemble them into a competitive team. Most worryingly, I can't put my finger on why exactly it went so badly, so it will be difficult even to learn from my mistakes!

I'm going to continue with this game, becaue I won't let a damned computer beat me! I'll either turn it into a career game (if anyone else will have me) or go through to the end of the season and select one of the new promoted teams for 2012-13, in accordance with the rules of the challenge.

Does the team you select have to have never been in the league before? If the promoted teams are sides that were relegated in season one or two, am I allowed to take one?

Bad luck Polar Bear

You have to select a team that were unplayable in the very first season of the game. Its easy to check on their history page. Good luck, hope you stick around

[Polar Bear]

OK, if I get an eligible team come up then I'll go for them.

The Kickers finish 2011-12 in 19th place and are relegated.

[Polar Bear]

Glutton for punishment that I am...

Meet Klaus Kinski, the blond, unhinged new boss of FC Mageburg, a club with a history that includes winning the European Cup-Winners' Cup and three East German championships. Nonetheless, they are newly promoted to the German Third Division and are eligible for the challenge.

A 27,250- capacity stadium (22,250 seated) looks rather impressive for this level.

At least they aren't called the Kickers, unlike my last two German failures, so maybe things will be different this time!

[iacovone]

Good luck there Polar Bear - I had no idea someone so random had won the Cup Winners Cup

Excited for you to get them back up to the top flight

[Ohanzee]

Nice one in the end iacovone. Masini looks promising.
Sad to hear you're fired Polar Bear. Good luck with Mageburg. That looks like a real nice club.

Preseason update

• We offloaded a bunch of under 19 players that never looked promising. And we also sold off Fornasier, Di Domenico and Fonseca, to make room for the players that didn't need to be registered last year (under 19) and a couple of signings.
• We signed very few players. I spent a lot of time searching, but in the end we only got 3. Frédéric Kanouté being the big name. He left Deportivo when they relegated. He should do well as a backup striker and can also play in the AMC role. Giulio Rossi is a direct replacement for Atzeni. Looks very promising, but not nearly as good as Atzeni, yet (scouts said he can be a leading star in this division). And Luca Gerbo, another promising goalkeeper. Mostly brought in to free up squad registration spots, since he don't need to be registered. Gajic who was signed at the end of last season and could not be used then is also gonna be a boost.
• Liverpool asked us if the could play a friendly at our ground! We did well and only lost 1-0. Should really have won it, but Skrtl (their DC) got sent off after 8 minutes. So not sure what to make of it. Either way the fact that the bother asking us for a friendly is a boost. Our reputation must be going up. We also had a record breaking crowd of 8,834 for the match.
• We won 2-1 in the opening game of the season at home to Lorca.
• We sold 107 season tickets!

All in all our squad feel a lot like last years. Which is fine. The players have aged a year and hopefully we can finish somewhere around the middle or just below.

[iacovone]

Good luck Ohanzee - the beauty of Liga Adelante - signing the caliber of Fredi Kanoute! Awesome.

Giulio Rossi looks very promising too.

[Ohanzee]

Hehe well he only scored 3 goals in 18 games for them, and they got relegated. I guess when the management is crap no player in the world can play good though. They had at least 20 players that was better than Kanoute. They still have a bunch that are better. If they don't bounce right back up they'll be in real trouble. They have £138M in debt.

Hoping Kanoute can will score more for us, but I'll be using Belcastro mostly, he deserves it. Maybe with Kanoute behind him when we play at home.

[rlipscombe]

Ohanzee - we finished 1 point behing the league winners in 2nd in the league, but then lost in the play-off semi final.... As for next season, i think we can definately make a title challenge. i'll be going all out for it!!

Polar Bear - unlucky with the sacking but i think you might have landed on your feet with Magdeburg. look like they have plenty of potential. good luck

iacovone - well done again on survival, and good to see some progress.

[Dave.]

Club: Ostuni Sport

Season: 2015/16
League: Italian Serie C1/B
Transfer Budget: £6.2k
Wage Budget: £13.9k
Opening Balance: -£257.4k
Closing Balance: -£467.1k
Board Expectations: Avoid relegation
Media Expectation: 18th
Your Expectations: Avoid relegation

League Record: Pos 16th, W 6, D 9, L 19, F 21, A 41, Pts 27
Playout: 4-2 (agg) vs Crotone
Serie C Cup: Semi Final, lost 0-3 (agg) to Spezia
First XI: (4-4-2) Castelani; Giglio, Padilla, Feole, Montingelli; Gomez, Faedo, Perfetti, Andre Chu; Albadoro, Dell'Acqua.
Top Scorer: Stefano Dell'Acqua 11
Top Assister: Domenico Faedo 7
Average Attendance: 3043
Fans Player Of The Year: Domenico Montingelli
My Player Of The Year: Oscar Padilla
Notable Results: 0-4 vs Rimini, 4-2 (agg) vs Crotone
Transfers In: 6 players were brought in on free transfers, as well as the £22k signing of Oscar Padilla, who has an excellent season at centre back.
Best Buy: Fernando Gomez - an absolute steal of a free transfer, he's already started playing for Spain's U19 side. Another youngster to watch is 21 year old Jochem Faerber, who found his chances limited this season, although I'll be trying to integrate him with the first team more last year.
Worst Buy: Andre Chu - I decided upon buying another ageing AMC, and although he was initially good, he faded away and became less important as the season went on.
Transfers Out: 7 players left, with two notable sales - Mikel Del Sol went to Arezzo for £22k after I decided he just hadn't cut it, and Luigi Vaccaro, finding his first team appearances limited with the emergence of Faedo, went to Legnano for £20k.
Best Sale: Either Vaccaro or Del Sol, for the money they brought in, and the money we saved on their wages.

Table

Round-Up: Despite moving up one position in the league, I think this is a real step back. We scored fewer points and goals, and generally looked less potent as a team. We really need to improve if we are to stay in this division for much longer, let alone look anything like a team that deserves to be playing in a higher league. This season really just was not good enough.

I think one of the main reasons was the stadium - Iacovone just never cut it for us. Our first game back in Communale was the 3-1 playout home leg win over Crotone, so that shows where we perform best.

SEASON     DIVISION               POSITION      NOTES
2010/11    Italian Serie C2/C     17th          Won in playout 
2011/12    Italian Serie C2/C     12th
2012/13    Italian Serie C2/C     11th
2013/14    Italian Serie C2/C     1st           Promoted as champions
2014/15    Italian Serie C1/B     17th          Won in playout
2015/16    Italian Serie C1/B     16th          Won in playout

Aims For Next Season: I think we really just need a solid mid-table position to show that we've adjusted to life in this division.

[Robert_296]

Relegated Going to restart with the same team though, I think I can keep them up this time.

[berty1978]

DodgeeD - unlucky with not getting promoted, it certainly is a struggle in the Portuguese Second Division with 2 promotion spots between 48 teams. I'm not sure I'll ever get promoted, anyway good to see you got Marquinho too, got 9 goals in 10 league games so far for me, hope I haven't jinxed it now.

Good Luck everyone else in their games too, not forgetting you.

Unlucky Robert, good luck next time, at least you'll have a better idea of tactics.

[rlipscombe]

just had the weirdest message ever... my finish of 2nd was Venezia's worst ever result in Serie C2/A!! The previous lowest was 1st....... boy, am i bad!!

[Gilbster]

Gilbster -Elgin City - 2019/20 - Scottish Premier Division - End of Season Update

Table | Positions

Not really much to say about this season. We played some football, we had a couple of bad patches and ended up in 7th again. Nothing of note particularly happened, and I didnt sign any more players, due to not being able to find any I wanted, so the squad was practically the same.

My finances are pretty good at the moment at just over £3 million in the bank, but I don't want to request facility upgrades yet, due to hoping I am allowed to spend some of the money in the transfer market and get some good new players.

I have 1 new AML due already for the new season, but the positions that really need work, I am struggling to find the players for.

The good thing is that my squad has 4 really good striker, which are pretty lethal when any of them are on form.

Aims

New defenders
New central midfield
Finish mid table again
Hold onto my top players

Career So Far

Season    Division           Position    Points     Achievements
2010/11   Third Division     3rd         59         Lost in playoff semi final
2011/12   Third Division     1st         77         Winner
2012/13   Second Division    4th         56         Promoted from Playoffs
2013/14   First Division     1st         72         Winner. Challenge Cup Winner
2014/15   Premier Division   12th        34         Relegated
2015/16   First Division     2nd         67
2016/17   First Division     2nd         60
2017/18   First Division     1st         67         Winner
2018/19   Premier Division   7th         49         
2019/20   Premier Division   7th         47

[berty1978]

That truly is awful rlipscombe, give yourself a slap on the wrist.

Just won 4-1 and we're playing brilliantly at the moment but still not top, Marquinho scored again.

You're rattling through the seasons Gilbster, another good season, can you break into the top 6 next time?

[iacovone]

Tough opening day fixture for my 3rd season in charge. Away at Eibar, one of the favourites to go up.

Incidentally we received utter crap through the academy as per the first season

Dave. - well done on staying up again. You seem like a man after my own heart, slow and steady progress but not particularly fun

[Dave.]

You're completely right there iacovone... You get the odd fun season when you actually play well though. Mostly its just frustrating!

Good luck this season.

[Robert_296]

Tough opening day fixture for my 3rd season in charge. Away at Eibar, one of the favourites to go up.

Incidentally we received utter crap through the academy as per the first season

Dave. - well done on staying up again. You seem like a man after my own heart, slow and steady progress but not particularly fun

Eibar were struggling against relegation on my game.

[iacovone]

Wish they were struggling on mine...1 down after five minutes

[Robert_296]

My problem was that I conceded far too many. At one point I had the 6th most goals in the league. I had just conceded the 3rd most :/

[rlipscombe]

ooh the fixtures are out and this season we'll get to play.... COMO!!

Edit: the boards minimum expectations are for me to win the league...... Pressure. all this with a reduced wage budget.....

[iacovone]

Wow that is pressure rlipscombe - better sort those tactics out

So we lost 3-1 away to Eibar, beat Pontevedra 2-1 (great result over a good side) and then lost at home to Ferrol 2-1 despite dominating. 3 of the best teams in the league out of the way already and some encouraging performances...maybe we do stand a chance

[iacovone]

Just beat Cultural Leonosa 4-0 away from home. So 4 played, 2 wins, 2 defeats.

We've played 4th, 2nd, 1st and 3rd from last season in that order so far. 4 tough games out of the way and some very promising results.

A special season ahead??

[rlipscombe]

Just beat Cultural Leonosa 4-0 away from home. So 4 played, 2 wins, 2 defeats.

We've played 4th, 2nd, 1st and 3rd from last season in that order so far. 4 tough games out of the way and some very promising results.

A special season ahead??

let's hope so!!! that's a good start.....

[iacovone]

No let up in the fixtures for me. We drew away at Bilbao Ath. and beat promoted Vecindario 4-2 at home and now go away to recently relegated Salamanca. I don't hold any real hopes of a result here but its great to have all my tough games out of the way so early

[iacovone]

Well we lost 1-0 and got battered all game long. Should have been a lot more. Though in the end we were left ruing our missed pen 10 mins from time that would have given us a share of the spoils.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Sydneytilidie - Great work getting Albion Rovers promoted, hopefully you can build on from here and dominate the 2nd Division as well.
Twellman - Thats a harsh drop from 4th the previous season, hopefully you can figure out the problems and turn it around in the new season.
Berty - Welcome aboar and best of luck with Infesta, hopefully you can out do my effort in Portugal last season and actually win the Champs League.
Gilbster - A great pair of seasons in the Prem league, a little disappointing to not move up from 7th again, but at least you are safe this time around and can work on making the top half next season.
DodgeeD - This was a great season for Branco, a little disappointing to have come 3rd in the promotion stages, but at least it shows that you are close to that break-out that you need to get up. Good luck and hope you can add another title in 2011/12.
Dave. - Well 17th isn't bad, and 16th the year after is an improvement, but its slow and steady, I think you just need to keep working up, you will get there eventually. Just need to maybe target players always being better and hope for a bit of luck.
Iacovone - Love the name, the stadium was named after a former Italian Superstar as well. Your season looks like another solid improvement, you just need to have that extra bit of luck, and maybe some more consistency and you will make it out of the bottom leagues.
Paul - Hope you have better luck with Essen, the challenge awaits, it looks like they have a good solid backing and should be able to assist you in improving easily.
Polar Bear - Really harsh to get yourself fired, but hopefully now you can build onwards with the new team, they look like an amazing base of operations and should be able to get you up sooner rather than later which would help a lot.
Ohanzee - Good to see that you have made some moves to better the club, those players look better than what you had, I don't know about good though

I think I have now commented on everyone who has posted since my last update, if I missed you then good luck, or commiserations depending on results. Back to Elgin now see you all soon.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well the Second Division Promotion Odds have been released and we are at 20-1 & 9th of 10 teams.
Which is an improvement in position from last year, but the odds are longer so I will have to work on that.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Des Tiny's Elgin
Defeating the Old Firm: Leg II
Second Division 2011/12
Pre-Season Update

Transfers

Well I made five signings of free agents in the summer, basically aiming to fill the weak areas of DC, DR, ML & ST. These spots had been a real worry for me, the starting strikers were old and slowing down, at DC I was playing a player who was not even of that level as my second. On the Left Wing I had to AMLC's but both were old and slow.
So the new signings are:
Connor Fairley GK (SCO) - He was signed as a back-up, Soutar will still start, but I need a second GK for the Cup (Squad rules), and in case of injury. My three youngsters were just not good enough.

Davide Grassi DC (ITA) - Signed as my new starting Centre-Back, he will line-up with Andy Parker who was signed as a DM, but is better at the back.

Jon Fraser DR (ENG) - He will be starting on the Right of the defense, he may not quite be the goods yet, but he has room to improve. I really like the look of him.

Jamie Thorpe ML (ENG) - He replaces Jaime & Palomino on the Left wing, he looks like the left side version of Parkinson, so hopefully with this pair in the team we will look brilliant on the flanks.

Ryan Grant MC (SCO) - I signed a third MC, and he will most likely play rotation with Doyle & Machaj, but I am not 100% sure on him yet, he is also injured for 4 months.

Pedro ST (ESP) - I needed someone a little younger upfront to pair with Thaer, he will probably replace Sibierski & Yordi in the team from the beginning as he looks the goods already. And their pace is down to 1 & 4 respectively at 36.

So after these signings here is my brand new starting XI:

GK - Soutar (SCO)
DR - Fraser (ENG)
DL - Phelan (ENG)
DC - Parker (ENG)
DC - Grassi (ITA)
MR - Parkinson (ENG)
ML - Thorpe (ENG)
MC - Doyle (IRE)
MC - Machaj (POL)
ST - Thaer (JOR)
ST - Pedro (ESP)

Of course that line-up means some of the stars of last season are missing, Captain Zubizaretta has been surpassed in both DL & DC, Vice-Captain Yordi is slowing sooo much he just may not be the goods anymore, he will get a run or two. Rondo, Forrest, Jamie, Palomino & Hinshelwood just appear to have been beaten into the team by younger faster versions of themselves. And also as a treat here is my first youth product, average I must say, but see what he can do anyway.

Des Tiny's Elgin Youth Project 2010

Youth Product 1

John MacKenzie (SCO)
19/11/94
MR
Right Foot: VStrong
Left Foot: Strong
PPMs: None

Day 1

He looks fairly good with Natural Fitness of 17, Pace 11 & his strong Dribbling, I am seriously worried about his crossing though which looks poor. I think for the first season he will only feature for my reserves & Youth side, he may get a run if we have injuries though.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

I just got ripped off by the Penalties Bug...Score was 0-0 all the way through the game. Then it went to penalties, they scored first and the game ended saying 0-0p to them, it gets back to the matches screen and shows 0-1e, come on how is that fair I didn't even get a chance. Investigating the Bug now. On watching the replay we won 5-4 on penalties but are still knocked out 1-0 supposedly they scored an imaginary goal in ET on 115mins.

I am sooo frustrated by this game right now.

Right I apologise for the language in these screenshots, but thought I had to add a bit of fun to the situation and here we go...I am going to edit them
Here is the result clearly showing a Penalty Shootout, Here is talk of a Controversial Goal, Here is what I said at the Press Conference and here is the FA being silent.

[el sid]

Haha LLR Comic bug that

[Lower Leagues Rule]

It wasn't sooo funny when it happened, but I am willing to have a laugh about it now, gives me an incentive to now go out there and spank them a week later in the League Cup.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well because we were facing the same team again in the League Cup First Round, I had words at the Pre-Match Press Conference, and I talked about the Bribery.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well with the complete frustration of the above result, and then losing 3-0 against the same team in the League Cup. I am going to go to bed and think about it all. I am seriously unhappy to have a bug like this occur in my game, and the fact that I beat them makes it even more frustrating. I am almost tempted to just kick Elgin to the curb following that and move my game somewhere else. Maybe Turkey We will see how I feel tomorrow after work.

[el sid]

Haha wp llr Douche

[iacovone]

Well with the complete frustration of the above result, and then losing 3-0 against the same team in the League Cup. I am going to go to bed and think about it all. I am seriously unhappy to have a bug like this occur in my game, and the fact that I beat them makes it even more frustrating. I am almost tempted to just kick Elgin to the curb following that and move my game somewhere else. Maybe Turkey We will see how I feel tomorrow after work.

Ah I didn't realise a bug like that existed - that's rubbish!! Hope you stick it out. Fortunately there's no chance of me encountering that bug yet, not likely to get high enough to be entered in the Spanish cups yet

[Gilbster]

We are currently in a horrible run of form, just hovering above the drop zone in February, and to be honest, I can't see how we are going to win another game all season. Doesn't matter what I do, its wrong.

[rlipscombe]

Sydneytilidie - Great work getting Albion Rovers promoted, hopefully you can build on from here and dominate the 2nd Division as well.
Twellman - Thats a harsh drop from 4th the previous season, hopefully you can figure out the problems and turn it around in the new season.
Berty - Welcome aboar and best of luck with Infesta, hopefully you can out do my effort in Portugal last season and actually win the Champs League.
Gilbster - A great pair of seasons in the Prem league, a little disappointing to not move up from 7th again, but at least you are safe this time around and can work on making the top half next season.
DodgeeD - This was a great season for Branco, a little disappointing to have come 3rd in the promotion stages, but at least it shows that you are close to that break-out that you need to get up. Good luck and hope you can add another title in 2011/12.
Dave. - Well 17th isn't bad, and 16th the year after is an improvement, but its slow and steady, I think you just need to keep working up, you will get there eventually. Just need to maybe target players always being better and hope for a bit of luck.
Iacovone - Love the name, the stadium was named after a former Italian Superstar as well. Your season looks like another solid improvement, you just need to have that extra bit of luck, and maybe some more consistency and you will make it out of the bottom leagues.
Paul - Hope you have better luck with Essen, the challenge awaits, it looks like they have a good solid backing and should be able to assist you in improving easily.
Polar Bear - Really harsh to get yourself fired, but hopefully now you can build onwards with the new team, they look like an amazing base of operations and should be able to get you up sooner rather than later which would help a lot.
Ohanzee - Good to see that you have made some moves to better the club, those players look better than what you had, I don't know about good though

I think I have now commented on everyone who has posted since my last update, if I missed you then good luck, or commiserations depending on results. Back to Elgin now see you all soon.

what about me????

unlucky with that bug - i wasn't aware of it either... although for me too it'll be a while before it might affect me.....