FM10 Small Club to Big Club Big Euro Nation Challenge

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Iacovone, I asked about the Stadium Expansions in a thread this year, but it seems they think they were in last year as well, that you were forced to expand as you move up the leagues. I know this wasn't the case as we had some incredibly small stadiums in the top leagues, across the board, and also no complaints about the stupidity of spending money without loans, someone is telling porkies.

[berty1978]

I'm well aware berty after failing at the 3rd stage last year

Well I did recall correctly then , I do appologize Iacovone, I got caught up in the excitement of it all with us both being in the play offs and all.
Seriously now though, congratulations on promotion there. That's unfortunate about the stadium expansion and crippling your debts though, stupid board.

Some excellent players you got there Ohanzee, Ferri still uncapped for Italy, what is the manager thinking of.

[iacovone]

Well this is going from bad to worse. Transfer embargo has just been placed on me at the start of the summer as another consortium tries to buy the club. I really hope this is over fast otherwise I'm going to be attempting to avoid relegation with the exact same side as last year

Great round up Ohanzee on a fine season. The two Ukranians really are amazing, its rare to see one top class Ukranian regen but to find two and both CB's is awesome! I assume they're first choice for Ukraine? Ferri is becoming a bit of a legend and I hope you continue for many many years to see how Ramon and Calzado turn out! Did either of them come through the academy?

EDIT: Also what is the point of having a bloody parent team if they don't send you anyone on loan!? I think my reputation is still so hideously low that I can only convince players from the division below me to join .

[Gilbster]

Not sure how I missed this yesterday but huge congrats Ohanzee on your EURO Cup win.

Iacovone, congrats on promotion too.

At the point that I went to work yesterday, I had just gotten to the end of the group stages of the EURO Cup. We got past the qualifiers comfortably enough, and then only had 1 loss in the group, which contained Hertha BSC, Charleroi and PSV, which has set us up a 1st knockout stage tie against St Gallen.

Our league form is interesting again, lots of draws and a few wins, but maybe the period for a month and a half without European football will fix that!

[iacovone]

Iacovone, I asked about the Stadium Expansions in a thread this year, but it seems they think they were in last year as well, that you were forced to expand as you move up the leagues. I know this wasn't the case as we had some incredibly small stadiums in the top leagues, across the board, and also no complaints about the stupidity of spending money without loans, someone is telling porkies.

Haha someone is definitely lying there! I remember the same last year with Savona. There were definitely not enforced expansions on the last FM. Its ****ing me off that they're in this version though

[iacovone]

Tell you what, just escaping that bottom league after 7 years feels like I've completed the challenge . I've got sooooooo far to go in this haha. I wouldn't be too surprised if we get relegated this year /o\


EDIT: Amazing, we managed to get the pitch relaid. Except they've relaid the pitch at the wrong bloody stadium as we've moved!! More money wasted. What an incompetent boardroom I have...

EDIT2: Takeover hits the rocks again...

[el sid]

That's a superb season Ohanzee Mon you completing the challenge next season

[iacovone]

Well that is just absolutely ridiculous. Board takeover has dragged on the whole summer and I've not been able to sign a single player. The window has now shut and I'm entering the new Liga Adelante season with the bare bones of last year....

This is going to be really tough I expect.


EDIT: First game against Alcorcon away. Went 3-1 up but conceded when Abels was off the pitch receiving treatment. Then conceded in the 90th minute to draw 3-3. Bit of a disappointment but a point away from home is a good result so I'm reasonably pleased. 36 year old Ricardo Malafaia, captain of the club, started and scored 2

[iacovone]

110 season tickets sold

I really think the island has a population of about 1000 tbh. No idea why we've expanded our stadium so much! Guess its to accommodate the away fans...

[Gilbster]

Well who doesn't want a weekend break on a Canary Island? Think of all the tourists who can't be without football for so long, they may want to see a good Spanish club play!

[Oxslow]

Well who doesn't want a weekend break on a Canary Island? Think of all the tourists who can't be without football for so long, they may want to see a good Spanish club play!

I have actualy done that Well I was there for a few weeks and not a weekend.

[iacovone]

I have actualy done that Well I was there for a few weeks and not a weekend.

Brilliant!

I take offence at Gilbster calling us a 'good' Spanish club. We're nowhere near that level yet

[rlipscombe]

iacovone - great review as ever. bit of a pain in the arse the whole expansion, debt and transfer embargo saga. survival must be the only option now.

ohanzee - a great reveiw again also. looks like you have a really good spine to the team there. good luck in the CL. your successes are making me all nostalgic to Real Oviedo last year.... if only to be at that level again.....

[iacovone]

your successes are making me all nostalgic to Real Oviedo last year.... if only to be at that level again.....

It is great to be at that level isn't it! Though to be honest as painful as these years have been down a the bottom, they've also been incredibly fun (in a way). I love it when you discover a player who is just marginally better than the rest of the league and he looks like a world beater. See Alberto Merola for my example. Hero!

EDIT: No Copa del Rey heroics this year. Got blown away 3-0 by Mallorca at home . Could really have done with the gate receipt money as well!

[Gilbster]

Euro Cup 1st Knockout Round:

Leg 1: St Gallen 1-1 Elgin City
Leg 2: Elgin 4-1 St Gallen

Wow we have made progress, not got past this round before

We face Galatasary in the next round.

Leg 1: Elgin 3-1 Galatasary

I just hope that away goal wont come back and haunt us.

[iacovone]

Good luck Gilbster

We are nearing completion of the takeover apparently. Guarantee we'll receive absolutely nothing in the way of free hand outs from the new big wigs..

EDIT: Takeover hits the rocks AGAIN. FFS!! Get it sorted you useless muppets

[ToMexico!!]

2015/16 - Elgin City - Scottish Premier Division

Media Precition: 12th
Finished: 6th

League Cup: Qtr Final
Scottish Cup: 5th Round

Transfers - Hardly any activity this season due to transfer/wage budgets. A new LB in Lappin, a back up GK, when had a injury crisis earlier in the season and Ameobi as back up striker, though he played about 1 game as sub. Bosmans meant a influx of players leaving at the end of the season including Van der Post to Red Bull Salzburg.

League - We started well picking up points regularly. Then form decided to spasm and we yo-yoed between the heavy heights of 4th and lowly 9th. We picked up some decent results over the clubs below us but we were terrible against the likes to Rangers and Celtic picking up 2 points from a possible 24. We were lucky to finish 6th really, if it wasn't for their league system we would have finished 9th as we didn't win a single game in the Title play-off group.

Squad - Again pretty much the same squad for Elgin this season, will be reshaped in the forth coming season though. Smarason and Quintero were the spearheads and backed up by Van der Post and Carril.

Finances - Again started in the red due to under soil heating this time but were soon in the black after the friendlies. We then soon made money smashing our ticket sales twice during the season thanks to Rangers both times. We gained a creditable 1.4m for finishing 6th.

Next Season?

• Find some decent Scottish players
• Mid-tabled finish.

Season|Division      |Finished|Achivements
10/11 |3rd Division  |1st     |Champions
11/12 |2nd Division  |1st     |Champions
12/13 |1st Division  |6th     |-
13/14 |1st Division  |1st     |Champions, Challenge Cup Winners
14/15 |SPL           |9th     |Survived
15/16 |SPL           |6th     |Consolidation

[el sid]

Demba Ba just scored to 6th hat trick in the last game of the season to wind things up. Review should be out tomorrow or the day after.

[Ohanzee]

ToMexico!! - Well done finishing in the top half! That's one major step already.
iacovone - I've been to Gran Canaria a few times myself, lovely place and lovely people. I never got a single loan player from Werder Bremen myself either, really pointless. Sad to hear about the transfer embargo. We had ours at a much better period between transfer windows. Hope your scouts find you some free young gems for the winter window. It opens early in Spain, which is very nice. The registration window I mean.

About the Ukrainian stoppers. Actually neither of them was capped at the highest level before joining us. I don't really get why, but the obvious first choice for them have been Dmytro Chygrynskyi (of Barcelona) for the last 10 years. The second stopper for them seem to have been Serkiy Kryvtsov (of PSG). There's also 3 other regens that have 9-13 caps each. But I don't see why my regens never even got into a friendly match or as substitutes. Now they are both first choices for their country though.

On topic of national teams, Pedro Calzado got his first 2 caps already (only as a substitute though). Hard to break in with Fabregas, Busquets and Camacho all being around 30 years.

I'm just about to start on the transfer window. Scout reports and searches to go through, again. I swear I spend 4 times the time in the two transfer windows than in the rest of the season.

We already secured one major player though. I often forget to check players who's contract run out, but this time I remembered. Alan Dzagoev is the one. You've probably all heard of him already, ******* scored against Man Utd at Old Trafford. In real life he's regarded one of the hottest prospects in Europe (at least by me ) In the game he's been with Benfica for 9 seasons. He's 29 now, but he'll bring some real quality into the squad. We have 5 central midfielders I feel are real quality now, so 2 of them can get injured or suspended.

(edit) We've been given a £16M transfer budget and £516K wage budget for the season. Nothing like Real Madrids £3,5M wage budget (when they offered me the job), but it means I can try to attract a few quality players for our first Champions League season.

[PRDH]

Right this is a really short update as I've fallen behind.

**Season Update - SO Romorantin - 2011/12 Season**

League

A good start. We had an excellent first few games and actually hit the top briefly we fell away in the end though and finished 10th.

Transfers

Quiet season for them.

Story So Far

Season			League			Position			Achievements/Wins
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11			National			15th				Avoided relegation
2011/12			National			10th				Consolidated

Previous Updates

2010/11

[DodgeeD]

Congrats on the title Ohanzee and good luck with the Champions League!

Glad that you finally got promotion iacovone but the boardroom stuff must be a nightmare. I had the same with Estudiantes Santander in Mexico on FM09 - a board takeover took all summer before collapsing altogether. Of course, it coincided with a summer in which a number of players left on pre-arranged deals or Bosmans and I had to cope with just 18 first teamers in three different competitions until January!

Looks promising in the Europa League Gilbster. An early goal for the away team in Istanbul always kills off the home side's challenge.

[PRDH]

Ohanzee - Dzagoev looks quality. He's definitely good enough for a Champions League team.

Or indeed a title winning team. Just caught up!

[Ohanzee]

PRDH - Good luck next year, I was half expecting you to be on verge of promotion this year already, what happened?

I dunno how you feel about talk of real life in here, so I'll keep this in small text. Here's a video of Dzagoev against Man Utd (youtube). He's really good at driving the ball forward and the finish he had on his goal was just amazing. Although VDS could probably have been slightly better placed. He's gonna be a big star if he keeps it up.

[berty1978]

Good progress ToMexico, but are you really still in the first division.
Good luck on promotion PRDH.

Iacovone: How many coaches, scouts etc can you sign now? I can sign 10 coaches, 8 scouts and 2 physios.

[PRDH]

PRDH - Good luck next year, I was half expecting you to be on verge of promotion this year already, what happened?

I finished that season a while ago. I finished another one and I'm 6 games into the next one. So I really am behind!

I might get a similarly short update of the most recent season up tonight as well. Then I can plough on and be ready with my usual large updates again.

[iacovone]

berty - I can have 4 scouts, 6 coaches and 2 physios now. Unfortunately just adding 2 coaches (up to 4) and 1 scout (up to 3) has taken me over my wage budget! That's before I've even signed anyone . I'm in a real mess and results are mirroring this, we are 0-1-3 so far .

If I go down....


Ohanzee - I'm a big admirer of Alan Dzagoev (mainly because of my Amkar Perm file on FM09) where he took us to pieces season after season at CSKA. And I have no problem with real life talk! That goal was awesome, I too thought VDS could have done better but it was so good he can be forgiven. Milan Krasic was great that game as well.

[ToMexico!!]

Thankfully been given decent budgets this year, trying to make use of them. Secured the signings of a few 'coups' but still need to improve a couple of areas. Three 1-1 draws on the bounce now, scoring goals is becoming a problem.

Only got a couple of hours spare for this tonight but will be back in full swing tomorrow and friday going into the weekend.

Ohanzee - Dzagoev is an amazy player, good luck this season.
iacovone - well done on promotion, knew it would happen.
berty - thanks for noticing my title, has been changed now.

[berty1978]

berty - I can have 4 scouts, 6 coaches and 2 physios now. Unfortunately just adding 2 coaches (up to 4) and 1 scout (up to 3) has taken me over my wage budget! That's before I've even signed anyone . I'm in a real mess and results are mirroring this, we are 0-1-3 so far .

If I go down.....

Oh crap! Really good luck, would be such a shame if you went straight down again, even if your attendances go up a lot that wouldn't dent a huge debt like that.

[Ohanzee]

Ok, can someone please explain to me exactly how the transfer system for Brazilian players work?

I've been trying to sign two 16 year olds who have been playing for 1,5 seasons in Santos and Corinthians. Both teams play in the ND1 division according to a search. I thought there was a rule against signing so young players from Brazil so I didn't expect either of them to come, but I wanted to secure them for the future so I activated minimum fee release clauses on both.

Carlos | Career stats
Tony | Career stats

Why did Carlos join us already, while Tony won't until 2021? I see no difference in them at all.

[minisav]

Has the one that joined got a 2nd Nationality?

[bjoggi33]

After a change in tactics we have won the last 3 games . Started terrible and currently sit 12th in league after 16 games.

[PRDH]

Ohanzee - Can't help you there. They both look like great prospects though. Does Carlos have a second-nationality by any chance? It's all I can think of.

[Ohanzee]

Has the one that joined got a 2nd Nationality?

Aha, yes he does. Thank you Time to go hunting for young Brazilians with a European 2nd nationality then.

[DodgeeD]

2nd nationality? A lot of those Brazilian regens have Portuguese (or another EU country's) citzenship listed on their personal page. The same things happens with Argentina/Italy too.

[Gilbster]

Second Leg: Galatasary 1-1 Elgin City

Through 4-2 on aggregate

We are through to the EURO Cup quarter final. We have AZ Alkamaar in the quarters. They knocked us out in the first knockout round in 2023, so hopefully we can do better this time.

[Gilbster]

Second Leg: Galatasary 1-1 Elgin City

Through 4-2 on aggregate

We are through to the EURO Cup quarter final. We have AZ Alkamaar in the quarters. They knocked us out in the first knockout round in 2023, so hopefully we can do better this time.

[PRDH]

Don't do this to me team. Why do you play like world beaters for four weeks, and then. For no reason. Decide to play like a village team for the next four It's so frustrating!

[Gilbster]

Sorry to hear your team are being weird PRDH.

EURO Cup Quarter Final:

first Leg: Elgin 1-0 AZ

Clean sheet, means if we can get an early goal, we are massively ahead in the tie!

[Ohanzee]

Good luck Gilbster, you can do it!
Sounds familiar PRDH, hang in there.

I got 20 days left of the transfer window and it's busy busy. Arsenal bought my Rossi (AMR) for £17M over 30 months. Not very happy about it, but we got a couple of backups now that Bianchi can play there and Ribeiro has to step up soon, maybe he will. We also lost Saavedra to Juventus for £7M and Shalamanov to Roma for £8M. But I wanted to sell them.

[berty1978]

Lorca Deportiva Club de Futbol - Season 2011/12 summary - Spanish Second Division B4

Spanish Cup - 2nd Round: 2-2 vs Alicante (5-6 on penalties)
Media Prediction - 6th
Final Position - 1st
Final Table - Graph
Average Attendance: 7512
Results1
Results2
Squad stats
Best XI
Overall Best XI
Stadium expansion
Finances

Summary:

The league:
The first league game against Cerro Reyes is a game we should be winning but despite having numerous chances it ended 0-0, I was wondering if that was the shape of things to come. How wrong could I be as we won the next 4 games, scoring 14 while only conceding 2 (that included a 4-0 win against the team who beat me to a play-off position last season, Ejido) before getting a respectable draw at Ecija. We never really looked back from there and mid season we went an incredible 10 games without conceding a goal thus parking the tank, this was followed by our first defeat of the season, a 1-0 home defeat to Ceuta who were my closest challengers at the time. So a 22 match unbeaten run was ended then we went on another 13 match unbeaten run (12 of these were victories) before another 1-0 home defeat to surprise play off contenders Roquetas. We ended up 18 points clear of Ceuta as we set a record number of points and goals scored and goals conceded.

The play-offs:
We were drawn against Vecindario in the play-off semi finals, a team who themselves gained 91 points in their division. I knew it wouldn't be easy and when Vara got sent off I was fearing the worst but despite them having a goal disallowed we deserved to win it with 3 clear cut chances to their none but it ended 0-0. In the back of my mind was the fact that our only two defeats all season have come at home, so when Pinau then Rodri scored in the first half my mind eased because we were all over them and they never looked like coming back from there, Pinau grabbed another in the 80th minute to give us a deserved 3-0 win and we were promoted.
Then it was just the matter of playing the final to decide the Second Division B overall champions and we were up against Alcorcón with the away leg first again. This time we made no mistake as we cruised to a 3-0 win. Despite their best efforts in the second leg we went into a very early 2-0 lead and seemed to switch off but it was too late for them and they came away with a 2-2 draw which meant we were champions.

The cup:
We were entered in the cup this season and were drawn away to the team who beat me on the final day last season to make the play-offs at my expense Ejido. We came away with a deserved 3-1 win that gave me confidence for the season ahead, but a battling 2-2 draw at home to Alicante was followed by a shoot-out which we lost. I was gutted because later in the competition Alicante played against Real Madrid so that could have been me trying to emulate Iacovone's success against Barca.

The players:
1. Salvatore Sirigu (GK) - Kept an amazing 20 clean sheets including a run of 10 consecutive games without conceding. Very solid in goal.
2. Graham Kelly (DC) - Signed on a free after being released by Chelsea and really broke through this season by keeping Ochoa out of the team. Scored a hat trick in a game which is more than
3. Ivan Djurdjevic (DL, ML) - Losing his pace but still does a job when called upon.
4. Rodri (DC, DM, MC) - What a season he had, 6 goals, 10 assists and an 84% pass completion rate. Despite being 32 he will defanitely do a job at the higher level.
7. Pasquale Pinna (DM, MC) - Signed from Sampdoria on a free and played most games in the MC role and did well, his passing was also excellent.
9. Saúl (ST) - Signed on a free after scoring 17 goals for Burgos the previous season, so I knew he had goals in him. Started the season on a flyer scoring something like 18 goals in 16 games, but slowed down towards the end, ending up with 25 in total, but also an impressive 12 assists.
11. Julián Vara (DR, WBR, MR) - Played on the wing and was highly impressive getting 20 assists which I can't really ask for more from a winger.
12. Steve Pinau (AMRC, FC) - Signed on a free from Genoa and I retrained him as a striker and he made the position his own. Ended up as top scorer with an impressive 30 league goals. Not surprisingly the fans player of the season.
13. Bastien Chantry (DR) - Signed in January to replace De Wree and was very good, I'm sure he can carry on the good form next season.
14. Dorian Dervite (DC) - Arguably my player of the season, he carried on his outstanding form into this season and rarely made a mistake, also became an expert coming up for set pieces scoring 6 goals.
16. Manu Micó (DL) - Spent all season trying to get him to sign a new contract, has now signed and taken a pay cut. A good season at left back.
17. Juan Cruz Ochoa (DC) - Had a good season but had his position taken away by Kelly, but still good as a backup.
21. Enric Vallés (ML) - Excellent on the left wing, not only gets assists but also gets his fair share of goals too.
22. Manuele Benetti (DLC) - Signed on a free in anuary and came straight into the team, playing left or centre back and looks a good prospect.
Sold: Kris De Wree (DRC) - Signed at the start of the season and played very well in the right back position. An offer of £275k was accepted in January and he was gone again.

Season   | Division             | Finished | Spanish Cup | Achievements
2010/11  | Second Division B4   | 6th      | N/A         | Close to the play-offs
2011/12  | Second Division B4   | 1st      | 2nd Round   | Second Division B overall champions

[bjoggi33]

congrats on the promotion

[Gilbster]

Unfortunately the second leg is AZ 2-0 Elgin.

Fantastic achievement regardless for getting to the Quarters. I really need to figure out how to stay in the top 4 though, our league form hasnt been great.

Congrats on the promotion Berty.

[bjoggi33]

Just got this regen on free. What do you all think ?

José María.

[Ohanzee]

Very good performance anyways Gilbster. Reputation keep rising
Congrats berty. You got some very talented players there already.

I'm just watching the world cup qualifiers (real life) while shifting through scout reports. Some unexpected scores so far.

[berty1978]

Thanks everyone, I definately had the squad for promotion.

See what you mean about unexpected, hope a certain team can hold on though.

[Gilbster]

Gilbster - 2028/29 Elgin City - Scottish Premier Division - End of Season Update

Table | Positions | Squad | Transfers | European Results | Scottish Cup Final

For the first season, my chairman made me feel like I was at a real football club. I actually had a £7.5 million transfer budget and a reasonably large increase in wage budget. As a result I bought in a few good players with that money, including a goalie (who is already unhappy!), and 2 defenders who have proven themselves all to be worth the money I spent.

Our league form started a bit dodgily but then improved but we were never looking at higher than 3rd place this season which is where we ended up.

It was though a season all about the cups. First up we made it to the League Cup final, where we lost to Rangers. We in a set of draws against beatable teams made it from the 3rd qualifying round, all the way to the Quarter finals of the EURO Cup, which is a fanatasic achievement. We also won our second Scottish Cup, also against Inverness CT.

Pretty happy all around with the season we had. Consistent with previous seasons in the league and domestic cups and a huge improvement in Europe, which can only help our rep.

We have already been told we are having another 5000 seats added to Borough Briggs, which when completed will take the capacity to just over 18,000. I fear though that yet more of our good player will be leaving on bosmans, so may be another one of those seasons to rebuild.

Aims
More progress in Europe
Another Scottish Cup
Top 2 would be good in the league
Buy a new striker
Buy some more midfielders (especially DMC and AMC).

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
2020/21   Premier Division   8th         47
2021/22   Premier Division   7th         54         Scottish Cup Winner
2022/23   Premier Division   4th         69         Scottish Cup Runners Up. Euro Cup 1st Knockout Rd.
2023/24   Premier Division   1st         75         Champions!  Euro Cup 1st Knockout Rd.
2024/25   Premier Divison    6th         52         
2025/26   Premier Division   7th         53         League Cup Runners Up
2026/27   Premier Division   2nd         79         Runners Up - League and Scottish Cup
2027/28   Premier Division   3rd         69         Champions League 1st Knockout Rd
2028/29   Premier Division   3rd         64         Scottish Cup Winners. League Cup Runners Up. Euro Cup 

Quarter Finals.

[bjoggi33]

José María. just scored on his debut. In a 2-1 loss against Union Berlin

[rlipscombe]

we've guaranteed our play-off place with two games to go... hopefully we fare better this time.....

[PRDH]

16 games into this season. We are one of six teams top of the league on 27 points. This is ruddy close!!

[Ohanzee]

bjoggi33 - Jose Maria looks pretty good for lower levels. His mental attributes are a bit low for 20 years though, but his determination could make him pretty good.
rlipscombe - Good luck in playoffs.
PRDH - Good luck, sounds tense.

[PRDH]

I wish the highlights matched the commentary.
For example:

"Fernandes skids across the ground on his front - That's a proper celebration" - When he clearly isn't. It's a small thing but it annoys me.

[rlipscombe]

well league over with now - the play-offs will come tomorrow night. i've just checked and my points haul this season wouldv'e won me the league last year... Bloody Como!!

[PRDH]

Good luck rlipscombe.

I just came back from 3-0 down to take a draw. A great performance from the team.

I'm also trying to lure Kevin-Prince Boateng to Romorantin. He's gone from having no intention to being tempted if the offer was good enough in just over a year. Soon I shall have him!!

edit - Just as I was typing that he's agreed to join. He should be a top quality player for the French National division. I'm really pleased with that. I consider it as something of a coup!

[iacovone]

I wish we could buy wins tbh. Though obviously in our financial state there's no chance of that happening! Seriously though, we are getting absolutely hammered in this league. We're going to HAVE to beat the other teams that came up just to stand a chance of surviving. Personally with 1 point from 5 games I think we're going to go straight back down

EDIT: Got a point at home to Athletic Bilbao of all teams but then lost 3-0 away at Tenerife. Tough times.

EDIT2: YES!! Got our first win at the 9th time of asking , 3-0 over Cordoba. Super Alberto Merola with a hattrick! Takeover still hasn't happened. Its now November

[Ohanzee]

iacovone - Yes! Good job Just keep it up, you'll go on a string of some surprise wins eventually. I thought I was done for in January in our first season in the top division, but we got out of it when I least expected it. Really hope that transfer embargo goes away for you soon though, preferably before the squad registration opens again in December.

Summer transfer window is over. Here's our 6 new signings.

• Alan Dzagoev - Already talked about, contract was out, real catch.
• Jose Juan - Spanish left-back, bought for £4M. Might take over for Benedetti already this year. Benedetti is talking about wanting a new challenge.
• Carlos - Already mentioned. 17 year old Brazilian/Spanish midfielder. Huge talent. Cost £3,1M from Santos.
• Ion Esparza - Spanish defender. Young and talented, was part of Getafes team most of last year. Had a minimum fee release clause of just £1,7M.
• Adrian Marquez - Talented Spanish striker. Bought from Recreativo for £4,1M
• Antonio Costantini - Italian winger, another talent. £3,3M from Roma.

Interestingly all but Costantini and Dzagoev had minimum fee clauses I used. You can find some brilliant deals that way in Spain. Most clubs give really small clauses for the first contract. And of course, we got 3 new Spanish players which is really nice.

We sold a few players as well. Sanchez left and retired. Karl Barrett left for Rangers for £700K (he was just a young prospect goalkeeper). Shalamanov left for Roma for £8M, great deal I feel. Esparaza should become better. Saavedra left for Juventus for £7M. He had one year left on contract and hardly played last year. Wanderson is a good enough 3rd choice anyways. Giulio Rossi left for Arsenal for £17M. Not a deal I wanted, but it's lots of money. Been trying all summer to find a new good right-winger. Costantini might become one. For now Bianchi and Ribeiro will just have to step up. I'm confident Bianchi will do great. We won't see much of the money from transfers for a while though as all deals are over x months.

We still have £16M to spend on players if we want to. I could have gone and bought some real quality, but I'd rather not spend it all in one go. I don't feel we are big enough to risk paying £15M+ on one player just yet. And I'm happy with those I got, all talented and with potential to be good (or leading stars).

We played the Spanish Super Cup. Espanyol was beaten 3-1 away (Ferri 2, Calzado). And a very entertaining game at home ended with a 5-2 win (Krasnov, Ferri, Benedetti, Dzagoev, Vlcek). So we got another trophy already. And still scoring for fun.

We where 3rd seeded in the draw for the Champions League group stages. Manchester United!! Porto! And Rapied Wien. Two teams we've met before. We beat the crap out of Wien last year. And Porto we beat at home but lost away. So with some luck we might go through, but I'd be happy with 3rd, we're likely to get further in the EURO Cup and that would give us more reputation.

(edit) We got another trophy! Chelsea won the Champions League last year and we met them in the Super Cup. Ferri played crap, probably man marked, but we found 2 goals before they got one back. Ended 2-1 and we deserved it I think. Might have to up my goals for the season a bit.

[iacovone]

Well well well iacovone's tactical mastermind comes into play once more. Upon the realisation that every goal we tend to concede is because our crappy full backs get beaten, meaning a CB comes over to cover, then they cross to an unmarked man at the backpost who scores, I am now employing a rigid 5-3-2 with a flat back 5! So far so good - a 2-0 away win over Ejido and a 1-1 draw with resident big timers Racing Santander . Maybe the season isn't a write off after all

Now lift that damn embargo !

My scouts found an amazing young keeper who is seen as potentially a good BBVA keeper! Just need some money to sign him. They've also found a Dutch CM who is also very talented. On a free too - except I can't even sign them

[Polar Bear]

1. FC Magdeburg German Third Division 2013-14 - summary of summer

The budget for the new season left me very little indeed for new signings - zero for transfers and a wage budget I was almost on - so I knew I'd have to do some wheeling and dealing just to be able to extend the contracts of my key players. Eventually I moved on no less than six of my first team squad, plus various fringe players, while bringing in five for the first team and a couple 'for the future' - all free transfers. The arrivals first:-

Boban Grncarov (D C) - big, tough Macedonian journeyman centre-back who should be a first choice. Slightly slow but has most other stats I look for. Cheap, too.

Jose Semedo (D/DM/M C) - versatile Portuguese player I intend to use mainly as a DM. Well-rounded and should be good at this level.

Markus Heppke (AM RL) - stats don't look great, but he has played very well for Dresden for the last three years, and his ability to run both sides is very welcome.

Braganca (AM RL/S) - another Portuguese, but this winger has performed with distinction at this level for Braunschweig.

Orhan Serdar (S) - Turkish/German dual national, signed at least in part due to the 'four German under-23' rule, but does look promising enouh to make an impact off the bench.

Alejandro Puente (D L) - hummed and haahed about getting yet another young Spaniard, but Puente just looked too good to pass up. I expect him to vie with Abbas Pishyar as Voigt's successor.

Said Ali (D C) - actually signed in January as a prospect. Very promising young defender.

The departures:-

Club stalwart Philipp Haastrup (D C) would probably have been good for another year, but wouldn't have stepped up and I wanted his wages off the balance sheet - the E55k fee from Chemnitz was a nice bonus. The fans who welcomed his direct replacement Grncarov were too thick to see this and whinged about his departure, sigh.

January signing Natxo Insa (AM RC/F C) wasn't here long before E30k from Furth saw him move on. He was on too much money.

Christian Kinkela (AM R) - although I tend to be wary of selling to clubs in the same division, E250k from Erfurt was simply too much to turn down for a talented but frustrating winger.

Jim Muller (AM RLC/F C) and Elias Pech (AM L) - no longer under-23s, both became much less desirable as a consequence, and I was unconvinced they really had what it takes. E150k apiece, from Essen and Stuttgarter Kickers (I never had that sort of money to spend when I was there!), was a sweet return.

Fabian Lamotte (D R) - the sale I least expected to make. My scouts still rated him as a good Second Division player, but he didn't really stand out and E180k from Unterhaching was good business for a player who would probably have been released next summer.

Overall, the transfers left me with E5k under wage budget and with E210k available to spend or convert into wages should I feel the need to strengthen in January. Our balance is also healthy, at around E760k.

Summer transfer summary

We are predicted to finish 7th, where we ended up last season. I've told the board top half, but really I want to shoot for promotion. With Kullmann and Durak up top, and hopefully a somewhat more durable defence, I see no reason why we shouldn't go for it.

[ElDani]

iacovone, congratulations to your promotion and to some amazing cup performances. I've always said that a cup had its special rules and the same has happened in my game, with Farense being much more competitive against stronger opponents in cup matches.
Ohanzee - wow, the first European championship in this challenge, grats! Your finances look amazing, but then again Spain is a whole other world in that regard. Good luck in your future seasons, next time I expect a good Champions League performance

To all others good luck as well. As for Farense, I'll be posting a season summary for 2015/16 at some point today. It's been our first season in International waters, so to speak, and it's been a real interesting year.

[berty1978]

Well done on getting to the Euro Cup quarters Gilbster.

All I can say about my game is goodness gracious me, first friendly against Torino (a team who were in Europe last season) and beat them 4-0 with a Steve Pinau hat-trick. Then the board accept a £1.7m bid for Pinau from Murcia, don't want to lose him but that would almost take me back into the black, however he rejected the contract. Still a couple of clubs interested but no more offers as yet.

[iacovone]

Hope you can keep him berty! Try offering a new contract!

Our takeover is finally completed 5 months later! The new chairman is not providing anymore investment but has taken out a £4.3m loan to get us £1m in the black. Now this means a bit more room to work with on the old wage budget but no transfer budget as yet.

[iacovone]

well league over with now - the play-offs will come tomorrow night. i've just checked and my points haul this season wouldv'e won me the league last year... Bloody Como!!

Forgot to tip my hat in your direction mate! Shame you couldn't win the league but I have confidence you'll crack the playoffs this year


EDIT: Just secured another of our great results, beating Celta Vigo away 3-1 with ANOTHER hattick for Alberto Merola!! He's gonna keep us up at this rate

EDIT2: Yes! Embargo lifted at last and now the board have confirmed its time to improve the youth facilities! Finally we may get a Castillo household name...

[Gilbster]

I have a very bad feeling about this season. We have just lost to Brann on away goals in the 4th qualifying round, so won't even have European group stage football this season. We also only drew 0-0 with the newly promoted team on the first day of the season.

[el sid]

SC Preußen Münster

Manager Profile

Predicted finish - 17th
Actual position - 3rd

League Table & Graph

First division player Stats

Transfers


With the finances in the black, I decided to take a chance with new players. Multi million pound players bought improved the squad exponentially. Although the team took a while to find its feet, it was an exceptional season from then on as our fast, direct, counter attacking tactic worked wonders and we finished third in the league, having scored the maximum number of goals. Once the defense becomes a little better, I think we will be ready to challenge for further honours.

The German cup run ended at the Quarter final stage as we went out to a single Dortmund goal scored in extra time.


First Team

                  Neuer

Kula    Jorgensen      Esposito    Ansaldi
             
          Cana (C)     Simao
   
                Chantôme

         Bernardo        Jádson

                   Ba

Season        Division        Position       Achievements

2010-2011    Third Division      1st          Promotion
2011-2012    Second Division     3rd          Promotion via Playoffs
2012-2013    First Division      12th          -
2013-2014    First Division      3rd           -

[rlipscombe]

iacovone - looks like you may have turned the corner mate and now the transfer embargo has been lifted surely things can only get better. a couple of good free signings and you could be away. It sounds like there are a few big names in that league....

ohanzee - congrats on both super cup wins. the Chelsea win must surely give you some confidence for the CL campaign. i wouldn't rule out a semi-final appearance..... like the look of Jose Juan and Cosantini. Marquez looks potentially best signing for me. great stats already for a ST in my opinion.

el sid - great second season in the Bundesliga there. the gamble on signings seems to have really paid dividends. does that mean you're in the CL??

berty - good luck keeping Pinau. pre-season sounds promising!

polar bear - good look for the new season. Grncarov looks a good defender for that level.

[el sid]

el sid - great second season in the Bundesliga there. the gamble on signings seems to have really paid dividends. does that mean you're in the CL??

Yes Don't think I will be seeded though

[iacovone]

iacovone - looks like you may have turned the corner mate and now the transfer embargo has been lifted surely things can only get better. a couple of good free signings and you could be away. It sounds like there are a few big names in that league....

If only you were right. Despite the odd glimmer of a good run, we keep getting pegged back and are currently on a 6 game winless run. This leaves us 19th out of 22 and just in the relegation positions.

I've signed a German GK to eventually take over from Fran and a Dutch RB to play immediately. I also have another Dutch CM in but he hasn't impressed so far. Need Merola to find his scoring boots once more..

[iacovone]

Oh God we've just lost an absolutely crucial game against 21st placed Cadiz.

We went 1-0 up through Merola. He then had two goals disallowed for offside. They then equalised. Carletti put us back in front. I went defensive, they made it 2-2. Merola misses a point blank header on 90 mins and then we concede a 94th min penalty . Lost 3-2.

[Polar Bear]

At last! A central defender scores a header from a corner!

[ToMexico!!]

Struggling for any improvement this season and its putting a downer on my fun of this particular save. May take a break from the save and try Asia again, and come back when my motivation has returned.

[iacovone]

That's a shame ToMexico. This challenge certainly isn't for the faint hearted at times. 7 years it took me to get out of that bottom division! 7 bloody years! And it looks like we'll be going back down

[ToMexico!!]

That's a shame ToMexico. This challenge certainly isn't for the faint hearted at times. 7 years it took me to get out of that bottom division! 7 bloody years! And it looks like we'll be going back down

The save isn't certainly dead, its just on hold. Maybe after a few seasons on mediocrity in Malaysia then I'll realise what i've done with Elgin and go back to them.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Keep the Fafe ToMexico, just push through it.
Sorry I have been quiet guys, I am in the busiest 6 weeks of the year at work, so I am getting in one friendly a night as The Afys! and that is all, I have been reading the thread, good work appearing by all. I am also away this weekend, and next weekend for a 50th & a 30th, then it is the busiest two weeks at work and I am running it this year. Then I should be able to get into the game more, of course if you have done the math it will be the middle of December before I have a break.
Good Luck to everyone else, I will be around and watching

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Look Iacovone, if I have told you once I have told you a million times, going down can be a good thing, can let you build a better team for next year Of course that would be 8 seasons in the bottom division, ouch...Seems you are like the Tortoise.

[el sid]

Too bad he can't see

[bjoggi33]

lmao ^ ..

[iacovone]

New chairman's made his mark already. Accepted a £1m bid for my CM Lamine Thiam from Levski. Ah well, he wasn't first choice really but has great potential. Shame to see the Ivorian leave but the money will help

[StellaF1]

My Chairman at Pisa is starting to make my job a little harder!!!
With less than 1 week to go to the first game of the new Serie B season he has accepted bids for both my first choice CB's.
This could be an interesting start to the new season!!!!

EDIT - and now 1 day before the first game he has accepted a bid for my young Belgian GK that has seen us through the last 2 seasons!.

[iacovone]

Nightmare Stella, mines not quite as bad but it is seriously frustrating nonetheless.

We move back into our renovated stadium in 2 weeks \o/

The Castillo del Romeral will now hold 9150!

[bjoggi33]

Hallescher End Of Season 2011/2012

Media Prediction: 20th

Actual Position: 8th

Transfers

Finances

Graph

League. Quite happy with the season, started bad but with change in tactics we slowly found our form. I think that a promotion next season could be on the card, well atleast I hope so.

Squad 1 – Squad 2

The squad i pretty old and lots of deadwood there. Most players are reaching there latter stage in there careers so will be replaced in the next transfer window. Markus Muller was a clear Star Player scoring 12 goals, goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler did well with an avarage rating of 6.89. Backup striker José María was good scoring 4 goals in 11 apps.


Aims For Next Season

Promotion via playoffs or champions.
Get a good left winger.

[StellaF1]

Thanks Iacovone, it was very frustrating.

Thankfully i had got a good backup GK in over the summer and he is now going to have to step up.
I have some young hot prospects that i may have to play for a game or 2 at CB while i bring in 1 or 2 players with more experience with the transfer funds i will be getting.

I have had a good first game of the season at home to newly promoted Arezzo, winning 4-0.

[iacovone]

Good season there bjoggi . Sets you up nicely for a promotion charge next year! Ron-Robert Zieler is a great keeper to have at that level.

I'm not sure how but we've gone and won our last 2 games in the league! We even beat 2nd place Salamanca. Quite impressive and puts a gap of 3 points between us and the relegation zone. There is hope

[StellaF1]

You can do it iacovone, how many games have you got left?

[iacovone]

25 points from 25 games. We play 42 games so still 17 left. This is our tough run coming up so I'll take anything that comes our way.

[Uffe Johansson]

Unbelievable!

[Ohanzee]

iacovone - Glad the transfer embargo is over! And facility upgrades ohoy! Told you them wins are gonna come when you least expect it.
el sid - Awesome season! Good luck in the Champions League! Putting my money on you finishing the challenge in the least amount of seasons.
Gilbster - That don't sound good. But you've turned it around before, aim for that Champions League spot!
StellaF1 - Good to see you winning even with your chairman doing his best to ruin your season
bjoggi33 - Well done, good season that! Good luck pushing for promotion next year.

I haven't had time to play any more, but will try and get some games done now. Just need to make something to eat first.

(edit) Congrats Uffe!!
rlipscombe - How do you feel about those playoffs? Think you'll do it? Crossing fingers, good luck
iacovone - Just noticed your stadium is now bigger than ours hehe.

[rlipscombe]

Ohanzee - i don't really know. our form is so unpredictable it's hard to predict... going into the semi 1st leg now, away at Valenzana.....

EDIT: and we're through the away leg with a 1-0 win, after a tense match... We have something to protect at home.....

[rlipscombe]

just played the second leg.... 2-0 up after 60 minutes, we were coasting to the final. however, we conceded two goals and were left holding on at the end for a 3-2 aggregate win.

Final here we come!!

EDIT: In the other semi, i'd say that touch wood we have the "easier" opposition.....

[DodgeeD]

Well done Uffe! Unfortunately, I have at least one more season of 2nd Division football to come... 2 games to go in the current season and I'm locked into 3rd place. I'll finish the season and get a report up tomorrow.

[iacovone]

iacovone - Just noticed your stadium is now bigger than ours hehe.

\o/. Hurrah, we have one thing over Noja!! Do you not have any expansions coming?

just played the second leg.... 2-0 up after 60 minutes, we were coasting to the final. however, we conceded two goals and were left holding on at the end for a 3-2 aggregate win.

Final here we come!!

EDIT: In the other semi, i'd say that touch wood we have the "easier" opposition.....

Best of luck mate. Forza Venezia!!

[rlipscombe]

1st leg of the final over with and we lost 2-1 away at Pro Sesto. Never really in the match. need to raise our game for the return leg.....

[iacovone]

That's alright you have the away goal!! C'mon!!

[rlipscombe]

so so tense, but we've done it after a 2-0 home win sees us win 3-2 on aggregate!!

[iacovone]

Yes! Great work Venezia!

[Ohanzee]

\o/. Hurrah, we have one thing over Noja!! Do you not have any expansions coming?

No my board said it's not possible cause of space issues or something, so I need a new stadium, which I guess won't happen for a long time.

Grats on promotion rlipscombe!

[rlipscombe]

thanks Ohanzee.... going to celebrate with a few hours sleep!!

[iacovone]

Starting to win some big games now. Beat 2nd placed Tenerife at home 1-0 in front of our biggest ever crowd (must be islander rivalry!) and then beat Racing 3-2 to complete the double over them IIRC. 4 points safe with 12 to go.

[Ohanzee]

Sounds good iacovone. Good luck in the run in.

Our Ukrainian stopper Krasnov just tore a hamstring and is out for 2-3 months. He'll miss the entire group stage of Champions league most likely Clayton will have to step up again.

On a bright note our facilities got another upgrade. Good training / Adequate youth now.

[iacovone]

Oh God, we just lost back to back games against Lleida and Ejido, two teams below us, bringing the gap down to 2 points. This is going to be so close and it looks as if we're hitting a rough patch. 9 to go

Good luck in the CL without Krasnov Ohanzee

[Ohanzee]

Cheers. We've played two matches so far. We beat Rapid Wien at their ground 2-0. And then we managed this against Man Utd

Filippo Ferri has 14 goals in 10 matches so far, he's on fire. If anyone plays with a lone striker, try putting him as a target-man with supply "to feet". Works amazingly well for me so far. I only turn off the target man if we face 3 central defenders.

(edit) We just played Getafe with our second string attackers including new Spanish striker Marquez up front as the target man. He scored a hat-trick and we won 5-0

And then we go away to Real Madrid and are 4-0 down after 47' minutes. I swap out the 3 worst performing players, which included Ferri. And low and behold we make it 4-3 (and could easily have won the game with better finishing). I really hate how games just change from one thing to the complete opposite so fast. I don't find it realistic at all. And with that I will say good night

[berty1978]

Fantastic season El sid, Leverkusen seem a long way off but can you catch them up? Bjorn Blind.
Good season bjoggi, promotion push next season.
Well done on promotion Uffe, have you won the league as well, I guess we'll find out soon.
That is some result against Man U there Ohanzee

Yes, Pinau signed a new contract (only another year) and I increased his minimum clause to £10m, he now plays as a natural striker too.