FM10 Small Club to Big Club Big Euro Nation Challenge

[TanO]

Here's my profile, picked Auto as sunday league wasn't available.... is it ever not greyed out ?!

[Let the people sing]

Sorry to b a dumb ass here but do i need to download the DDT files and also what date do i return from holidaying in scotland.

[iacovone]

Sorry to b a dumb ass here but do i need to download the DDT files and also what date do i return from holidaying in scotland.

You don't need to download the ddt files its up to you. As for the holiday date I'm not sure but I expect Gilbster or LLR can tell you

Alternatively you could just download the save game of Elgin and see the date there

[Let the people sing]

Cheers i dont fancy elgin but mite end up getting them anyway will soon find out.

[Gilbster]

I holidayed to the date of the last 3rd division fixtures which is 8th May to see which team finished last. Once it was one I wanted, or more importantly when I got bored and decided to go for Elgin, I then holidayed through to 1 June which is when LLR's uploaded save is dated. However the reset is actually a week or two later, around the 16th (or just after).

[Gilbster]

Challenge Cup Final

Woohoo! Our first Cup, Elgin's first ever appearance in the final of that cup in their 120 year history, sees us win. The board only wanted me to get to the second round this season, but hey, this team seem to be able to do anything!

[iacovone]

You're going to win the CL in 5 seasons I'm convinced of it!

[Gilbster]

You're going to win the CL in 5 seasons I'm convinced of it!

Not a chance, need to get promoted first, stay up, turn pro (any ideas when that happens in Scotland as Div 1 is full of pro teams?), break the Old Firm's dominance and somehow learn how to play in Europe, which is where it usually goes really wrong for me!

[iacovone]

Haha it was a little tongue in cheek but you sure are going well! I think going pro relies on a decent bank balance - so work on that if you can. Are you in the red?

[Gilbster]

I appear to have just over half a million in the bank at the moment. I'm not even over wage budget, which with a reasonably large squad, and my buying tendencies, is a miracle.

Although it may have been tongue in cheek, I can obviously see where we are at practically the half way point of the season, and put it this way, these players must be a lot better than I thought they were!

I am though on a 600 p/a sponsorship deal due to be renewed at the end of this season. I really hope it goes up a bit as that is pathetic!

[iacovone]

Clearly! Well your finances are in great order. I can only assume it'll happen soon. Presumably after you establish yourself in the 1st Div.

[Robert_296]

Is there a quick way to work out who got promoted? Re-installed with steam which was a massive hassle because my brother decided to create an account and use that to install the game so I couldn't use my account.

[Let the people sing]

I take we r allowed to loan players

[minisav]

Of couse Try not to use text speak though

Turns out Stirling were only in Division 2. Although I just beat Morton away who are in the first division. 4-0

[Gilbster]

Well done minisav. Always nice to get a scalp from the division above you.

[rlipscombe]

Is there a quick way to work out who got promoted? Re-installed with steam which was a massive hassle because my brother decided to create an account and use that to install the game so I couldn't use my account.

available jobs can give a clue sometimes.......

[Let the people sing]

Hi just about to start this challenge with Annan Athletic.Never done one of these challanges before so here goes.Here is my profile picture.http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/2807/gavinmaley.jpg

[Gilbster]

Good luck with Annan. They were a frustrating side to play against in my first season. In fact they still were when I played them in a cup this year. Took us to penalties!

[rlipscombe]

welcome and good luck let the people sing.....

[Robert_296]

Boyle Takes over at Montevarchi

Today, Robert Boyle has become the manager of Montevarchi Calcio Aquila, a team that has just been promoted to Serie C2/B. The Italian will be looking to improve the club and the fans are hoping that he can secure their place in Serie C2 or even move up a division. When asked about his ambitions for the club he replied cheekily, "You never know, we could win the league and the Champions League one day."

The Aquilotti will be looking to catch up with their fierce rivals Arezzo who currently sit in Serie B. However, Boyle's first job will be to revamp the squad. We could see a lot of new faces coming in through the doors of Gastone Brilli Peri. And having brought past stars such as Bernado Corradi and Massimo Mezzini shows that they can produce good quality players here. Maybe they can again and shock the footballing world!

[rlipscombe]

good luck Robert... welcome to italy

[ElDani]

Damn Gilbster, half a million in your bank and playing that incredible as well. I'm doing spectacularly myself but when I see what you have managed in such a short time, that's almost unbelieveable. but I'm envious as hell

I'm currently doing my season preparation, because the Liga Vitalis will be a difficult challenge for me. The board didn't give me any additional transfer budget, so I was forced to rely on free transfers and loans. My wage budget went up from €49k to €96k though, so there's more than enough room for player improvement, since my current wages are €58k after the promotion and thus 25% increase.

In the summer 2011/12 pre-season transfer window I've signed five players, three from a free transfer, one a loan from my parent club and one with a 5k transfer, the highest paid transfer fee for SC Farense under my control. Added to this list is also my one spectacular newgen, a 16yo goalkeeper. Leaving, after I didn't offer them another contract, are four players that have not been in a single starting lineup for me.

Alphonse Aréola; 18yo GK - my scout told me that he had the potential to be a leading star in any Liga Vitalis team some day so of course I snapped him up on a free transfer after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain ran out in June 2011.

Fernando Magalhaes; 16yo GK - this is my one good newgen that should have been anything but a goalkeeper. Nevertheless, my goalkeeping-coach tells me that he has the potential to become a leading Liga Vitalis keeper in the future. Now I have two young and promising keepers and I don't know what do do about it.

Tiago Candeias; 17yo DC - I got him on loan from my parent club FC Pacos Ferreira and he looks strong enough to be a regular starter this season. I wish that one was mine, but alas € 900k is a tad too expensive

Mario Silva; 34yo DL - since this has been a weak position of mine for a while, I needed someone to help out as a left defender. Silva certainly is a good defender judging by his stats, but I've already been criticised for buying an injury-prone guy like him. Well, he's a cheap short-term solution for this season, so I hope for the best.

Magnum; 29yo AM LC - Farense's fans hailed him as the second coming, so he certainly has some pressure on him. I bought him for my as of yet largest transfer fee of € 5k because he is rather versatile since he can play ML, MC, AML and AMC which allows me some tactical freedom.

André Cunha; 33yo ST - My second best striker is already 36yo and could never live up to his talent, so I'm looking what I'll get out of this free transfer.


All in all, I have some exciting talent in the team for this season while there have also been a few improvements with aged and experienced players. Will they be enough to avoid relegation? Let us all hope so Also, welcome Robert_296 and Let the people sing to this challenge.

[Polar Bear]

Nice for a 16-year old. I hope Magnum has a big moustache

[Gilbster]

I don't believe it, I just don't believe it!

The season has just come down to the penultimate game. Wow this is an interesting turn up!

More to follow when I write up the season report.

[ElDani]

Not really Here's an image of him at his current real life club Nagoya Grampus.

[Sean06]

Iv been a member of these forums for ages, but never really posted. Gunna start up as Elgin though, as Im from Scotland and know how crap they really are Will try and contribute regulary in this thread, wish me luck!

[Polar Bear]

This is painful. Home record: W2 D1 L4, including two thumpings. Away record W1 D5 L0. Wtf?

Both my strikers on a horrendous goal drought and my 'skill' players constantly getting caught in possession. I'm finding the tactics a real struggle on FM10.

[ElDani]

I just won 3:0 in the first leg of the first round at the Carlsberg Cup against CD Feirense. They've been 1st in Liga Vitalis in 2009/10 and 6th in the season 2010/11, so I'm naturally surprised and very pleased with that result. If I can play successfully against a top-third Liga Vitalis team, then I can surely avoid relegation, right? But that's enough for today, tomorrow I'll begin my second season

Polar Bear, I wish you all the luck that your star players will be back on form soon.

[Twellman24]

Nice to see page and a half to read when I get back home Keep it up and congrats on the cup Gibs!

Regarding my Algeciras, we pulled a 180 and are now doing fabulously. Even though we again conceded a 0-1 loss at home against a much worse team, we bounced back with away wins against Roquetas 1-2 and mighty mighty Cadiz 0-1!!! This last one was a matter of defending, getting lucky, and kiling in the counterattack.

So we're third with 23 points out of 33 as of now, and what is more important, we are 12 points clear of the relegation playoff spot. We are in promotion playoff spots, but there are six teams in four points; we're not looking too much at the Top 5 atm even if we are in it as of now. We are also the best defense of the league, with eight goals in ten games, and Strasser and Silva (the old Luxembourgian and the young Portuguese) being class in the back.

We've also turned a 150k profit since the beginning of the season and the turning semi-pro; we're now with a little over 250k in debt. Also, for some reason now my players are valued lots more than they used to, probably because of the great run we've had so far.

At this pace, we will have a great season. My goal and dream for this year would be to do it well enough to play the King's Cup for the first time next year, and to maybe shrink that debt a bit more

Todo bien en Algeciras!

[Twellman24]

We just trashed our only historical rival, Linense, who are in relegation zone, 6-3 home Needless to say our fans are delighted! Record for most goals in a game for the league and the club as well. We're 12 games in and we already have 26 points, when we finished with 40 last season!

[Gilbster]

Gilbster - 2013/14 - Elgin City - End of Season Update

Table | Positions | Squad | Transfers | Challenge Cup Final

Key Players: Aitor Alcalde - GK | Kike - AMRC/FC | Isma Lopez - AM/FC | Tom Mills - DC | Roberto Platero - ST

As you are all aware I managed a shock promotion from the second division last season. Being the 4th best team in that division, I managed to navigate the playoffs and ended up in the First Division for this season.

I only had 1 real aim for the season which was to avoid relegation, ideally in 8th place. I figured it was possible since I had beaten a few First Division clubs in the cups last year.

I signed a group of new Dutch and Spanish players, with some of the Spanish forming the backbone of the side. Luckily the seemed to gel together quite fast with the existing players as we won the first match of the league season, and it went on from there. I was happy with that first win, as it meant we had the promise that we may not be relegated.

My players of course had other ideas. I had Kike and Platero both scoring for fun in all competitions, we knocked Livingston out of 2 cups, and we went on to win the Challenge Cup.

By the mid way point of the season, I had a feeling the unthinkable was going to happen, but it took until the penultimate match, against Partick Thistle, to confirm it. We had managed to win enough and frustate the other sides enough, that not only did we not get relegated, but we actually won the title!

That's right, minnows Elgin City, one of 2 semi-pro teams in the first division, has been promoted to the Scottish Premier Division. I may say this every time, but I honestly think you will have to believe me when I say, all I want to do is stay up. I will take 11th place, I will take a season where we don't win much, so long as we don't go straight back down.

Aims for next season

Stay Up
Strengthen squad in all areas
Get rid of the players only fit to be in the 2nd Division, and borderline first div players.
See if we turn pro automatically on promotion
Panic about my chairman as his status has gone to - willing to listen to offers - pray we dont get a transfer embargo as I'm building!

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

[sydneytilidie]

You're going great guns Gilbster!

I'm filled with hope for my own game now.

[Gilbster]

And there go my nicely built up finances.

Stadium Expansion plans announced. That puts me into large amounts of debt and from a chairman wanting to leave the club. All the more pressure for me to stay up and make this bigger stadium count!

edit: Debt has now been restructured so that I am back in the black at least! Will be paying off a loan for years though.

New sponsorship deal announced, gone from £600 p/a to £28k p/a on a 2 year deal

[iacovone]

Outrageous progress Gilbster...I think my 5 year prediction for Champions League success could be right

[TanO]

5 losses and 1 draw in the first 6 games of the new season. My defense do ridiculous things like watch a ball trickle between them and then let a man run around them and onto it to score. Have realised the tactics creator is far to generalised to be any good on it's own and I still need to tweak every option to make the team do what I want.
Got quite angry with it last night to be honest. My defense are blind morons and somehow Phibel has managed to concede 2 penalties already but has not been booked !
Confused and Frustrated

[Polar Bear]

Well played Gilbster. I think the stadium work would be compulsory to meet Premier league ground requirements - I imagine if this happened in reality Elgin would probably be denied promotion, as I can't imagine they'd be able to finance that much work

Stuttgarter Kickers in quicksand - can the rhythm monster that is Jaki Liebezeit turn things round?

[ElDani]

Outrageous progress Gilbster...I think my 5 year prediction for Champions League success could be right

Well, for that to be true, he'd need to be in the Champions League qualification places and without knowing Scotland all that well, that's probably second or third place. As much as I wish Gilbster all the best, that's a bit too unbelieveable, huh?

TanO I noticed as well that tinkering with tactics beyond the wizard configuration may allow for a huge boost in the quality, your team is able to show. I did that at the start of my second season and handily won the first round of the Carlsberg Cup against a regular mid-table Liga Vitalis team with 3:0 and 2:1. So don't be lazy and spend a couple of minutes tweaking your guys, I'm sure it can only help!


Now on to my game: Welcome to the Liga Vitalis! Our season ticket sales have gone way up, from 428 last season to 719 now. Judging from our first home game against FC Penafiel which attracted a sizeable crowd of 4452 we may just get by without creating too much further debt, since I'm also cutting down on wages this season. The funny thing is that I can sign about half my team for a cheaper contract and it looks like I can get part of the promotional wage increase back! This puts me at €58k wages per month with a total budget of €96k, a value so huge that I'll always try to avoid it.

My first game against top-half finisher FC Penafiel was a close 2:1 win which boosted our confidence. That boost in confidence looked to have helped, because we managed to edge out a 2:2 draw against last year's champion Associacao Naval 1° de Maio. Both my strikers scored and we were - on paper at least - the stronger team. That being said, our opponents ran circles around us for half the game but couldn't create an offensive drive from that. After two games we're in 3rd place and almost within reach of a promotion spot, but that will likely be the only time in this season because I don't believe, that we can keep repeating results like that.

[Gilbster]

Cheers for the kinds words guys. I have just hit the season reset date, and have turned professional. This is now allowing for the scouting of the whole of Europe, inclusive of indepth scouting available for just about every European country and Australia! If previous FM's are anything to go on, I'd better send a scout to Bulgaria and Czech republic pretty fast.

I have been given £250,000 for TV rights. Transfer budget of 40k and not a huge improvement of wage budget.

A few of my players are being rated as good Premier division players, with the rest still only good enough for the First Division. Fighting bravely at the moment would be an understatement!

My board appears to be in the process of a takeover, but no embargo yet.

edit: Spoke too soon, embargo in place 23 July 2014, only been able to make a few signings and my defence has remained untouched, which is probably bad.

And pre-season odds of 2000-1 for the title! I will be relegated I reckon.

[ElDani]

Another progress report: after five games I had only lost once and managed a 1:1 draw against the league leader CD Trofense. Still, with a record of 1-3-1 and 6 points I was very close to a relegation spot. The next match against CD Fereinse, who had not won a game yet, was welcome to climb a bit on the league table and get away from any relegation fears. I did win those 3 points in a match where I've never been in danger of receiving a goal, winning ultimatively 2:0. The next game was against my fellow promoted competitor CF Estrela Amadora and not being content with two draws in the playoffs, I sent them packing with a 2:1 win despite a red card in the first half.

On my players: My young defender Tiago Candeias has been out for 2 weeks with a twisted ankle already and he still has a week to go. The two Brazilians Neto and Magnum are bringing classy performances with long shots and beautiful crosses. Now if only I could get my two strikers to get their heads on straight and finally get a header targeted towards the goal! Other than that, I'm happy.

edit: my young 16yo goalkeeper Fernando Magalhaes has just played his first international game in Portugal's U19 Qualification and had a great 7.7 rating! He's one of only two 16yo starters and that makes him all the more valuable to me. But if any of you have any hints what do to about my two keeper talents, please let me know.

[iacovone]

Keep it going ElDani, seems like you're doing just fine in the new league . Love the name 'Magnum', hope he continues to fire in those long distance goals!

Gilbster - continue on your journey towards my prophecy

[Gilbster]

KUTGW ElDani. Its great that you have 2 talented young keepers.

First 2 results of the new season:

Elgin 1-1 Falkirk
Motherwell 1-1 Elgin

Well they aren't the thrashings that I was expecting yet!

[Twellman24]

Nobody is expecting that, Gibster. We all now what's gonna happen

[rlipscombe]

Gilbster - that's incredible going..... surely the bubble will burst soon?? good luck against the old firm.....

Also, i have my new favourite player for this challenge in FM2010.... MAGNUM!! love the name....

[Gilbster]

Next 4 matches have all been losses including 3-0 loss against Celtic. We are propping up the bottom of the table on goal difference. Can't figure out what I need to do, but know what the problem is.

Being given only a small increased wage budget isnt enough to get existing players onto pro contracts and to get new players in on pro contracts at dramatically higher wages than before. As a result I can't sign anyone else due to going over budget, and as a result my defence is last years.

[rlipscombe]

Next 4 matches have all been losses including 3-0 loss against Celtic. We are propping up the bottom of the table on goal difference. Can't figure out what I need to do, but know what the problem is.

Being given only a small increased wage budget isnt enough to get existing players onto pro contracts and to get new players in on pro contracts at dramatically higher wages than before. As a result I can't sign anyone else due to going over budget, and as a result my defence is last years.

i can't remember if you said you had any transfer budget?? i take it you can't change some transfer cash to wage budget?

[Gilbster]

Yeah I had some transfer budget, but its not giving me enough back in the wage budget, I looked already!

On the plus side in the 9th game of the season - Elgin 3-2 Dundee Utd. Our first win, and just a shame Falkirk also won, so we don't move up a place.

[ElDani]

Damn. Bocas (D R, WB R) my first-team full-back out with suspension. Mario Silva (D L) out with injury. Rodrigo (AM LC) out with injury for 3 months. Neto (AM C) out with injury. That will make the next 2 or 3 games a real challenge.

But there's some positives as well. I just played a 2:2 draw against Sporting Portimonense in the second round group phase of the Carlsberg Cup. Portimonense is playing in the highest league and they're our one and only fierce rivals Our fans are happy that we didn't lose. In our own league, we're back on 4th place with a record of 4-3-1 and that means we haven't lost a game in the last 5 matches. Our next fixture is Boavista Porto though and I see no hope of doing well there. They're among the top 10 most valuable squads in Portugal and I have to play without four first team players on top of that.

edit: we lost a surpringly close game 0:1 but had a record breaking crowd of 5711 in our stadium.

[Ohanzee]

Wow, so much to read through already.

TanO - Good first season, much better than me for sure. Hope you can fight for a playoff spot next year.
Dave - Nice improvement. 6 more wins and you'll be fighting in the playoffs next year.
Gilbster - I hate you I wanna be in the top division to! Hehe. Well done. Now go kick Celtic and Rangers off their thrones. Does the top division in Scotland still have that system where the league parts into two groups after everyone played each other twice?
rlipscombe - Nice squad, good luck. Mattia Collauto have a higher wage per week than 9 of mine combined
ElDani - Congrats on promotion, well done!


Personally I'm stuck in the summer transfer window trying desperately to find some good players. It's hard though, being able to give £50 a week to key players. I don't really get it as I'm below wage budget now.

Several of the Italians are wanted though. If anyone match their transfer values I'll sell in a blink. They are valued between £150k and £300k. At this point I'd love to sell someone even at £10k.

We've managed to get a few decent teams to come to La Caseta. Murcia, Sporting and Deportivo are all coming to play friendlies. We where beaten easily 3-0 by Murcia, but we also got a record breaking crowd of 2,700 and £13k from selling tickets. Much needed.

(edit) I tied up the contracts of most of my players and now no one is wanted any more. Oh well, I'll have these promising Italians for at least 3 years if I want to now.

[Twellman24]

Lost two in a row, the latter at home against Granada 3-2 after being up 2-1, conceding two goals I dont even want to comment about. Anyway, still on top 4 but not looking good atm to stay there.

Edit: Scratch that, we're fifth.

[Twellman24]

I was winning at Ceuta 0-3 and got scored three times imn ten minutes even though I was defending. Starting to get annoying.

I even told them not to relax. What the hell.

[Ohanzee]

Okey. Looks like we're gonna lose Fioravanti already. Chairman just accepted a £625k + future incentives bid from Mallorca. Is there any ways I can see the actual bid when the Chairman just accept like this btw? Always wanted to do that, but haven't found a way.

Dunno whether to cheer or cry. The money is amazing, but my board refuses to give me a bigger wage budget so I can't attract anyone anyways. Fioravanti is also reported to be a good player for any side in the division above us. Hopefully if he leaves I can push my board into giving us a bigger wage budget.

(edit) Nvm, I found out how. Going through the transfer center screen. Here's the bid. I kinda hope he accepts, that's just to much money.

[Twellman24]

Went from losing 0-2 at home against Jaen in the first half to win 4-2 at the end. We still hanging on the Top 6 and my job position is currently untouchable

[ElDani]

Ohanzee, nice, they're paying double the value. If only some of my players would finally sell. Without any transfer budget there's no chance for me to improve the team and my old guys won't bring it forever. But for you that must only be the start, because your board would be stupid not to give you a larger budget for next season.
Twellman24, looks like you're working out well I hope you'll climb a bit, as the season goes on.

I'm doing well in my season, by the way. After a total of 13 matches Farense lies in 6th place with a record of 5-5-2 and, believe it or not, the second best defense of the league, having conceded only 12 goals. That doesn't stop my assistant manager from giving them 2 and 3 stars however

In the Taca de Portucal Cup I'm in its fifth round and my next fixture is against Vitoria Setubal who are currently 4th in the highest league. Also, Farense is still going strong in the Carlsberg Cup. After I played two draws against stronger teams in the second round and got promoted solely because of an away goal rule, I'm now in the third ground group phase where I have no hope of continuing on, because my opponents are strong teams like Benfica Lissabon, Vitoria Setubal and CD Nacional.

While my scout didn't find as many good young Italians as I had hoped after I read about Ohanzee's signings, there was one I just had to snatch up. With a bit of luck (of him developing along nicely and of my chances to keep him that long), I'd love to see Giuseppe Gori as the new face of Farense's attack-minded football. Judging from the stats, he's weaker than Andre Cunha and Filipe Azevedo, but that doesn't say much. Apparently my scouts agree with me, because they rate weaker but balanced strikers better and they (like Clemente) have also shot way more goals in the past.

[Twellman24]

Just lost my DM for 3 months We're currently fifth and need everyone to try to make it up there.

[Ohanzee]

ElDani - Gori looks brilliant.

I wish I could get my scouts to find youngsters in Spain. For some reason all they come up with are 20+ and 90% of them are 30+ usually. In Italy my scout keeps finding only youngsters. Hardly any old ones. Does this come down to what players they assume we can manage to attract? So far I've had very little luck attracting young Spanish players. I got just 1 Spanish youngster I have a bit of hopes for so far.

I think signing young players is the way to go after all. The old ones do their job, but you don't get any compensation for them. They just run their contracts out and then you throw them away. All the young players I sign are instantly worth money, some of them alot for this level to. So I'm gonna keep signing youngsters for sure.

I couldn't find many improvements to my team even with the added money from the big transfer. A few more youngsters and a experienced right-back. Gonna post a update once the window closes. Only a few days now.

[Dave.]

TanO - Unlucky with the start of the season.. hopefully you'll be able to improve quickly though.

ElDani - Very well done on promotion. And not a bad start to life in Liga Vitalis either. Keep it up!

Gilbster - Wow! Well done on the back to back promotions. How on Earth did you win the First Division?! Bad luck about the takeover though, hope you can save the team from relegation this season.

Ohanzee - A shame to lose Fioravanti, but you'll be financially sorted for a long time to come if he goes!

Twellman - Great going there! Outside chance of promotion this season maybe?

[PRDH]

It's arrived! My copy of FM10 has arrived!! Time to install, update and get holidaying.

[Ohanzee]

Transfer Window Update

Diogo Fonseca (SC, Free) - Good striker, hopefully he can live up to his name.
Roberto Amodi (AMR, Free) - Another Italian winger. Looks promising. Another crap passer though.
Nicola Benedetti (DL, Free) - Another Italian left-back, but this guy looks better than the ones I had.
Carmeloa Paci (GK, Free) - Another Italian goalkeeper. Looks about the same as my current one, but my scout said I should get him. Nice to have 2 decent goalies.
Dario Venitucci (DMC/MC, Free) - Good all round midfielder. Was in Juventus in his teens.
Velázquez (DR, £20k) - Replacement for Fioravanti. Got off to a horrible start in our first game playing 5.70 and giving away a penalty
Jon Ander Gutiérrez (DC/DMC/MC, Free) - Finally a Spanish youngster that looks decent. Scouts says he has the potential to play on Salvatore Fresis level.
Fabio Farella (DR, Free) - Last ditch buy after Velázquez failed to impress in his first match. Needed a backup on the right-back anyways. He looks promising to.
Stefano Garzon (MRC, Free) - Good all round midfielder again.

Pretty happy with my squad, but looking at the performance in our first game we'll be fighting to avoid relegation once again. We haven't really improved much. Especially in the back four where we might even be a bit worse. We have more Italians than any top Italian team have in their first eleven now I think. If I could find a few Italian center backs willing to come I'd love to take them to.

First game of the season away to Cultural Leonesa. They where big favorites and we lost 4-3. Scoring 3 away is more than I'd ask for, but letting in 4 is just crap. Feels like last season already. Hopefully we can win more home games.

For the future it looks bright with so many youngsters and already having sold one for good money. I guess this will be my plan for now. Buy youngsters free and sell if anyone is interested. Build a good financial background and take it from there.

Q - Are any of you guys playing in Spain finding any under 20 players on free at all? Gutierrez is the first one I've seen that is even remotely good. Either Italian youngsters have lower standards or clubs in Spain just hang onto anything with two feet.

PRDH - Yay!! Where are you headed?

(edit) Got another Italian in overtime (few hours before window closed). Another Italian would you believe. Andrea Ciotti, a talented attacking midfielder. And this one can even pass a ball

[PRDH]

PRDH - Yay!! Where are you headed?

I don't know!

Thinking either Germany, France or Portgual at the moment.

[Thistles * player]

Those look like some good players Ohanzee, in Orleans news, my transfer policy has been slightly modified so I can get loans, as I have just set up a link with AJ Auxerre.

Whaddaya mean quitter?!

[ElDani]

You know, you play in the big leagues if you lose and have a big smile on your face That's me, lost 0:2 against Benfica Lissabon in the Carlsberg Cup but I earned about € 275k from this one game! The top Portuguese teams must have a crazy advantage over the average squad, seeing as our 3rd round game was visited by a crowd of 56248 paying customers. I still have a home game to play and then I'll get another € 60k for my last place finish in the group. This money is very much needed, since I'm still € 395k in the red and have had a loss that big last year already.

[PaulHartman71]

I've been sacked in my dafuge's challenge attempt. I have decided to drown my sorrows by drinking a lot of wine, to coincide with this I have started a new save game in France. Souhaitez moi bonne chance s'il vous plaît

[iacovone]

So a little Castillo update:

We have 12 games to go and the table looks like this. Obviously its not ideal but we're still near enough to 15th and far enough from 17th so there is hope. I'm making a bold switch of tactics back to 4-5-1 for the final dozen games as two forwards aren't pulling their weight up top and I could use another midfielder to plug the gaps. If we keep a fit squad there's hope we'll avoid the relegation playoffs.

Oscar Rocchi our Italian striker will need to score a few in the run in and I'm hoping Salvatore Fresi will shore up the defence.

[minisav]

Lost my first league game 3-2 away to Montrose. Got Queen of the South next in the Challenge Cup. Another 1st Division side. Hoping for another scalp as we will get a 3rd Division side if we do!

Good luck iacovone

[PRDH]

I am off to France. I thought long and hard.

It came to down to
Croissants or Bratwurst
De Gaulle or Hitler
The Renault Clio girl or Angela Merkel

The French won it hands down!

[iacovone]

Welcome Paul and PRDH \o/

Well my switch to 4-5-1 worked a treat as we defeated the mighty Burgos 2-1 at home. Fresi stepped up to the plate to not only score the winning penalty but to also make an incredible goalline challenge after their forward rounded my keeper. He could be my new hero

[iacovone]

Q - Are any of you guys playing in Spain finding any under 20 players on free at all? Gutierrez is the first one I've seen that is even remotely good. Either Italian youngsters have lower standards or clubs in Spain just hang onto anything with two feet.

I really couldn't find anyone of note in the summer transfer window. Thus far the scouts have been pretty inadequate in this respect. It seems odd that there are so many Italian youngsters floating around on everyone's games

Praying I get a decent batch through the youth system (despite not possessing an academy) to put some faith in next year

[iacovone]

I am off to France. I thought long and hard.

It came to down to
Croissants or Bratwurst
De Gaulle or Hitler
The Renault Clio girl or Angela Merkel

The French won it hands down!

Tough call but I think...I think you made the right one

Good luck PRDH, good to see you back involved in here

[PRDH]

Thanks. I'm looking forward to getting into it again too. These few days looking in with nothing to do have been torture!

I'm into October on holiday already. I like to imagine I'm lying by a pool in Provence sipping a nice glass of wine, waiting for the phone to ring!

[iacovone]

In my head that's exactly what you're doing, blissfully unaware of the trauma ahead of you. Sip that glass of wine like its the last you'll ever have...

[Ohanzee]

PaulHartman71 - Nice to see you here to, good luck in France. I had good fun there last year.
PRDH - Good luck in France to you to! Let me know if FC Mulhouse are anywhere to be seen
iacovone - That table looks a lot like mine did. I was slightly lower at that point though. What worries me now is that the second season seem to be going exactly the same way so far.

So far our results are as bad as last year :

away loss 3-4 Cultural Leonesa (Big sigh at the defense)
home draw 0-0 Pajara Playas (Hit woodwork twice and had 3 clear cut chances *sigh*)
away draw 3-3 Ferrol (Expected a thumping, still unhappy with the defending)
home loss 0-2 Pontevedra (Defense crap again, and offence hit woodwork twice and missed 3 sitters)
away draw 1-1 Lemona (Again defense plays crap)

Worst part about it is Salvatore Fresi has averaged 5.76 and been under 5 twice already He's supposed to be my best defender.

I'll be happy if we end up anywhere from 15th and up, again.

[Twellman24]

So we're halfway there and I'm happy to announce that we have only three points less than the entire last season! Table

So we're doing well so far, but let me elaborate on one of my key players. Adrian Barbasigned after my scout recommended him over the summer. He got released from Zaragoza B, and nobody gave him a chance for a while...we did.

I'll only post this:

Last couple of games

He's not too skilled, but he's fast and breaks defenses like there is no tomorrow. Amazing.

[PRDH]

This holiday is flying by! I'm into June already. I'll have to start looking for my club soon.

[iacovone]

The game is noticeably quicker this year, a welcome surprise!

[iacovone]

Should have beaten Real Union 1-0 away from home but CM Jaime missed a last minute pen . Still, it was another good result and as yet we're unbeaten with the 4-5-1 formation

[rlipscombe]

welcome Paul, and welcome back PRDH - good luck in France the pair of you.

and i also agree, it does seem quicker this year - Yay!! i might get through a season quicker than 1 a month.....

[Quackje]

1. FC Saarbrücken



After I failed miserably in Singapore and Iceland already on fm10 I thought I would go for the long term game properly. I noticed Saarbrücken had been promoted to regionalliga west last year in real life so it would be possible to play them in this and I should be moving to Saarbrücken soon so why not take the team to glory.

2010/11

So I took over and brought in a load of free transfers and after some initial promise we ended up a safe mid table in 8th.

2011/12

I sold a few people on expensive contracts for cheaper alternatives and loaned in some people to fulfill the 4 under 23 germans rule in the dritte bundesliga. We were running away with the league but at the half way point we suffered a major wobble getting just 2 points from 6 games. Thankfully the almighty league top scorer Sándor Torghelle found his form again and we ran away again to win the league with a pretty small squad (I took the pic after 3 loan players went home, they were only backups really). Being a Palace fan it was tough to sign Torghelle but I couldn't resist from his stats, he hasn't even been sent off for me! Also I'm proud of the fact that I still have not spent any money on transfers

Season | League | Position | Cup
 10/11 |  3rd   |   8th    | N/A
 11/12 |  3rd   |   1st    | N/A

[PaulHartman71]

has anyone been FC Martigues so far?

[Quackje]

I played with them on '07, good fun but could never get the stadium expanded.

[PRDH]

Has anyone spotted Domegliara about the place yet?

[Dave.]

Club: Ostuni Sport

Season: 2012/13
League: Italian Serie C2/C
Transfer Budget: £0
Wage Budget: £9.0k
Opening Balance: -£240.7k
Closing Balance: -£495.4k
Board Expectations: Mid-table
Media Expectation: 18th
Your Expectations: Top-half

League Record: Pos 11th, W 12, D 10, L 12, F 45, A 47, Pts 46
Serie C Cup: Group stage, finished 5th
First XI: (4-4-2) Castellani; Giglio, Zochi, Feole, Santarelli; Calzi, Vaccaro, Lombardi, Tony; Lo, Dell'Acqua.
Top Scorer: Yousuff Lo 17
Top Assister: Tony 8
Average Attendance: 1751
Fans Player Of The Year: Stefano Dell'Acqua
My Player Of The Year: Yousuff Lo
Notable Results: 4-5 vs Juve Stabia, 1-5 vs Paganese
Transfers In: Yousuff Lo and Matteo Lombardi were both brought in on frees.
Best Buy: Lo played brilliantly, slotting right into the side and netting a decent amount of goals, a ratio of 1 in 2 in the league.
Worst Buy: Neither were bad, if I'm honest.
Transfers Out: Three players were released on free transfers.
Best Sale: -

Table

Round-Up: A much better season, even though our position doesn't actually show it too well. We played brilliantly at times, going 7 games unbeaten at one point. Halfway through the season, we sat second, with 30 points from 17 games. However, somehow it all went wrong, and we got only 16 more points from the next 17 games, seeing us slide down the table. I'm very disappointed with how the season turned out, given the potential early on.

SEASON     DIVISION               POSITION      NOTES
2010/11    Italian Serie C2/C     17th          
2011/12    Italian Serie C2/C     12th
2012/13    Italian Serie C2/C     11th

Aims For Next Season: We definitely need to aim for the playoffs at least this season, because with the amount of money we keep losing, I honestly don't think we'll be able to keep going at this level much longer without having to lose our best players.

[PaulHartman71]

FC Martigues, initial profile.

[rlipscombe]

Has anyone spotted Domegliara about the place yet?

i've not seen them in my game as yet.....

has anyone been FC Martigues so far?

i had a dabble on FM09, but no one has played them this year yet.

[rlipscombe]

steady progression there Dave - good luck next season. finances look a bit ropey mind!!

[minisav]

Lost a week or two. Just the Montrose game. Here we go again.

[Ohanzee]

Sounds like you've found a decent tactic for your players there iacovone
Nice going Quakje, good luck in the next division!
Good luck next year Dave, crossing fingers for a promotion spot.

Some more results :

1-1 (home) Bembibre - A team we should have beaten, they are predicted 19th.
1-0 (away) Bilbao Ath. - I was expecting another loss. Very happy.
3-3 (home) Atletico B - Lost a 3-0 lead, but was expecting a big loss so pleased.
1-2 (away) Burgos - I don't think we'll ever beat Burgos. We deserved to win this one, but our attackers just aren't up for it atm, and our defense keep making silly mistakes.

At least we're getting a bunch of draws this year. Might actually be enough to keep us out of the dreaded relegation zone. Would be nice to just float through around mid table or just below.

[Polar Bear]

Quackje, what are you doing right?!

Seven games without a win, our third straight defeat drops us into the bottom three, then this unpleasant news item pops up

The forthcoming game referred to is away to table-topping Erfurt. I forgot just how frustrating lower-league Germany is, but at least I lasted one and a half seasons with Offenbach in FM 07...

[minisav]

Replayed the Montrose game. The previous result was a close 3-2 loss. Lost 5-2 this time

[Quackje]

I found it quite easy to get in some quality players for free Polar Bear and my tactics seemed to work alright in Germany, see I got sacked twice in fm10 already. In my game Stuttgarter Kickers are a top/mid table team in 3rd league, I was delighted with my 5-0 away win over them this season :]

[Robert_296]

Found a striker with fantastic technical attributes then looked at physical and saw: Pace - 1, Acceleration - 2. He was 41 years old

[PRDH]

Right just to clarify. In France you take over a club promoted from CFA to National right?

Must be as I can't take over a CFA club.

Right my choices are:

Saint-Priest
SO Romorantin
Sannois SG
FC Libourne Saint-seurin.

Time to have a check of where abouts they are!

[Ohanzee]

I think so yea PRDH, unless it's changed from last year.

[Charlesbeams]

Want to start this, looking at going to Portugal, just sorting some other holiday games out, so ill post again when im all sorted out

[Polar Bear]

We played well but lost. Still not been sacked though. I pray for one to bounce in off somebody's ass, or nipple, or anything!

[PRDH]

Right I'm currently thinking Saint-Priest, based in the suburbs of Lyon, a nice chance to establish a derby with Olympique Lyonnaise or So Romorantin a town in central France, population about 18K, famous for its gastronomy festival. I'll report back when I've decided!

[iacovone]

Right I'm currently thinking Saint-Priest, based in the suburbs of Lyon, a nice chance to establish a derby with Olympique Lyonnaise or So Romorantin a town in central France, population about 18K, famous for its gastronomy festival. I'll report back when I've decided!

Gastronomy festival

There's only one choice!!!

(Saint-Priest )

[Thistles * player]

Decisions, desicions PRDH, the national seems a good league to me, although I got a bit worried when I saw there were four relegation spots!

[Polar Bear]

I have a wee hunch that the gastronomy festival might have a negative effect on the players though

[Ohanzee]

After the loss to Burgos we managed to beat 3rd placed Barkaldo 2-1 away. The next two games we where at home and we where favorites to win for the first time since I can remember. We beat Tropezon 3-1 and Conquense with the same score. And we find ourselves 12th in the table, 8 points clear of the dreaded 16th spot.

Fonseca have all of a sudden found a bit of form. 6 goals in the last 3 matches. The game before that (Burgos) he played 5.8

We also found yet another Italian in the free transfer market. Carlo Santini, another winger. My fans didn't like the singing though, apparently his personality isn't all that. We'll see how he does. For now he's only 2nd choice anyways.

We have a huge squad now, and 16 players are 21 years or younger. Interestingly the last 3 games we've won the two starters over 30 years of age have been the worst players

[ElDani]

Oh god, I almost can't believe it. Ever since I got my young Italian forward Guiseppe Gori on 1st January 2012, I haven't lost a single league game. He's been essential, playing to an average rating of 7.93 and making 8 goals in 6 league games. He's been part of unbelieveable games like the 5:1 against Uniao Oliveirense, the 4:1 against FC Penafiel, the 3:1 against AD Carregado or the 3:1 against CD Trofense. While we keep conceding at least one goal per game lately, it doesn't really matter when we always shoot more.

This unbelieveable run means that I'm tied in the lead of the Liga Vitalis after game 20 of 30. I would have never thought this possible, because I really struggled at the beginning of the season, but now I have a real chance of promotion. Even the newspaper guy (who by the way fiercely hates me) keeps asking me about our possible top of the league finish.

Man, back to back promotions, wouldn't that be an amazing two seasons? Seeing as strikers are by far the moodiest players and their form is very fickle, this may just be an unrealized pipedream but I'm dreaming nonetheless.

edit: just finished another match against CD Feirense and Gori made two more goals, got an 8.6 rating and the MotM star.