[FM11] Messi? Nah...

**Nobby_McDonald** · 31-03-2011 23:21

500th reply in the thread.

**SnakeXe** · 01-04-2011 10:18

Originally Posted by Blue_magic

Not showing that you added :s

Maybe cause I did it when I was offline? Haven't signed on since, been busy - had a gig last night, a Battle of the Bands, which we won

Originally Posted by Murrayzoster

Can't wait for your next season would be good to see you claim a league/champions league double!

It'd be nice definitely! I've got one eye on a clean sweep myself, but then I'm greedy

Originally Posted by L-Wiz

gotta say, what a great read. that's taken me over the course of 4 days at work to get through that. great achievment mate.

Thanks! Glad I'm distracting you so effectively from work - actually that's a point, I wonder how many millions of pounds FM has cost the UK economy between people playing it and reading about it on here instead of working?

Originally Posted by MattSpurs94

500th post in the thread

Anyways, good luck for the rest of the season

Originally Posted by Nobby_McDonald

500th reply in the thread.

Well done guys...

**Blue_magic** · 01-04-2011 11:10

Congrats on the win

**Nobby_McDonald** · 02-04-2011 11:51

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

Well done guys...

I was being sarcastic towards Matt.

**SnakeXe** · 02-04-2011 11:58

SnakeXe's Messina - Season 22 - 2032/33

Story of the Season:
Serie A - 1st, Champions
We were in a good position coming out of the winter break, and we kept up our form in the new year, with a huge home-win over title-challengers Palermo the perfect start. A run of 5 wins from 8 (the rest being draws) was decent, but the performance in losing 1-0 at home to Lazio was not. This game saw a bizarre decision as Marco Antonio was tripped whilst shooting, the keeper parrying the shot away, and the striker reacting quickest to seemingly be about to pass into an empty net - but no, a penalty was given. Which the keeper saved, of course. Ridiculous.

Our slightly ropey form continue with narrow wins over relegation candidates Andria and Gubbio interspersed with a draw against Grosseto and a horrible loss to Napoli. That was to be the end of our bad form, though, as a 5-0 drubbing of Mantova inspired us to remain unbeaten for the rest of the season! Was that enough though?

A 5-1 win over Roma with a crucial 1-1 draw against challengers Inter left us with two games which, if we won both, would see us champions on head-to-head results over Juve at worst.

The first was against Palermo away, a very tricky tie, and we started poorly, Hector Portillo finally giving them the lead after 36 minutes. We gradually got back into the game, and although time was running short I began to think we could get something from this. Off the bench came the veteran right-winger Filippo Vitone. Gonzalez ran with the ball down the left, trying to tease a mistake out of the Palermo fullback. The mistake came, swiftly followed by the cross. It angled towards the far post. The goalkeeper came for it...

He missed it.

Vitone rose.

GOAL!!!!

But what had happened elsewhere? Roma had inexplicably beaten Juve 1-0, giving us a one-point advantage going into the final match of the season, a home game against mid-table Parma. The club from the city most famous for its ham didn't have anything to play for, and it showed.

Marco Antonio struck after 6 minutes and we never looked back. It ended 4-0. Messina were champions of Italy once again!!

Coppa Italia - Winners
After finally winning the trophy after 21 years of trying last season, could we retain the trophy? We had an easy couple of games in the first round and quarter final, Udinese going down 3-0 and Serie B Livorno putting up no resistance - despite a stupid red-card for Javier - losing by the same scoreline.

Fiorentina in the semi was similarly easy, the giants being on the road that would ultimately end in relegation. We took a 2-0 lead in the away leg only to be pegged back by a stupid concession just before full time. It wasn't to matter though, as Marquinhos Parana's double set us on the way to a 3-0 win at home to make the final again!

Finally, a decent side. Palermo. We hadn't lost to them in the two league encounters this season so I was fairly confident, but you never know what will happen in a cup final.

Martinez Gonzalez struck first. Only it was in the wrong net. Still, the lad had had a superb season so I couldn't blame him over one mistake - particularly as he later atoned to make it 2-1 to us after Marco Antonio's equaliser! Palermo were strong though, and we were tired, and Fabao finished sharply with 10 minutes ago.

Extra time. Nothing happened.

Penalties.

Daniel Martin saved all four. Antonio and Misic scored. Champions!!!

Supercoppa - Winners
A tricky one against title-holders Inter, but we snuck it 1-0.

European Super Cup - Winners
Should have made far shorter work of Rangers than we did, but we did it eventually on penalties.

Champions League - Winners
After a poor showing the group stage, we had to lay down a marker in our first knockout round tie against Dinamo Moscow. And that we did, 4 goals each home and away to send the Russians packing!

Juventus were again our opponents in the quarters, but after the way we dispatched them last season I wasn't particularly concerned. A narrow 1-0 win at home was a decent result, even though we should really have scored 3 or 4 on the night. The away leg was a tough affair, but with Martinez Gonzalez nodding in an early away goal we were always in the driving seat, and despite Edu and Bruneau putting Juve level on all but away goals, Marquinhos Parana's goal was cushion enough to see out the game and the tie.

Porto were up in the semi final, the Portuguese side were formidable opponents, and we'd have to be on top of our game to get through. We played quite poorly in the away leg, but somehow Daniel Martin held firm whilst Marco Antonio and Martinez Gonzalez yet again gave us a remarkable 2-0 win!

One foot in the final is what I thought - surely we'll play better at home? We didn't. Mwaba gave Porto the lead after 28 minutes, and we struggled to hold back the flow of horrible yellow away shirts. Things got worse as Arnautovic got himself sent off and suspended for the final with a stupid second yellow. Fortunately, Marco Antonio was in irrepressible mood, and scored a fantastic solo goal to ease the pressure. Arriola got another for Porto in the 88th minute to ensure a worrisome ending for me, but we held out for a fourth successive final!

Barcelona awaited yet again - imagine how many Champions Leagues they might have won had we never showed up? My lineup was pretty much dictated to me by injuries and form, the headline news being Marco Antonio getting the nod up front, Vitone starting on the right, Sanchez instead of the unfit Vega, and Kooiman on the bench in favour of Egger and Martinez Gonzalez.

Things started badly, as Russo gave the Catalans the lead after just 8 minutes. Sanchez justified my faith on 16 minutes, though, slotting home his 6th goal of the season to level things up. And that's the way it stayed in a very even first half. The second half was much of the same, both sides going close but neither able to provide a winner.

Extra time was dull.

Penalties again. Could we win our third shootout of the season?

Not if Barcelona had anything to do with it. All 5 of their penalties found the mark. Fortunately, so did ours, Antonio, Misic, Mikhailov, Juarez and Sanchez keeping their heads. Kooiman also kept his for the 6th. It was all on Barcelona's Assane Sow. He shot to the left. Martin dived to the left. He punched the ball away. Out of the goal.

Clean sweep!! 4-times champions of Europe!! Absolutely ridiculous!

Club World Championship - Winners
Two games, 8 goals, 1 easy trophy.

Results 1 - Results 2 - Results 3 - Results 4 - Squad

Transfers - £12.9m Loss
Again, this screen seems to be screwed since the patch so calculators out! On the ins were three players for the future, in Marquinhos Parana, Enrique Lala and Fernando, with an old legend in Walter Aguero leaving after all these years the only out for any money.

5 Most Important Players:
5. All Our Strikers - ST - Couldn't choose the between the three of them, they all chipped in at various points, Marquinhos Parana with an excellent 15 goals from 19 starts in his debut year in Italy. I'm slightly concerned about Arguelles as he finished the season poorly - hopefully his time isn't up at this level.
4. Nauzet Martinez Gonzalez - DC - Has progressed from fourth choice to indisputable number one at centrehalf in just two seasons - cracking player.
3. Walter Gonzalez - AMLC - Another excellent season for the Argentinean international, in double figures for goals and assists.
2. Igor Mikhailov - AMRC - Wow, so that's what he's capable of! 20 assists and 6 goals is a phenomenal return from the converted winger, and to think he still missed gilt-edged chances with abandon...
1. Jose Luis Vega - AMC - The creative hub of our team, although he got fewer assists than usual this season, his probing passing and intelligent movement created the space for Mikhailov, Gonzalez and the strikers to do the damage.

History:

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Achievements                   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12   Serie C2/C              2nd       Serie C Cup Runners Up, Playoff Finalists
2012/13   Serie C2/C              1st       Serie C2/C Champions, Promoted
2013/14   Serie C1/B              5th       Playoff Semi-Finalists
2014/15   Serie C1/B              2nd       Playoff Winners, Promoted
2015/15   Serie B                 12th      
2016/17   Serie B                 2nd       Promoted
2017/18   Serie A                 20th      Relegated
2018/19   Serie B                 2nd       Promoted
2019/20   Serie A                 7th       Qualified for Europa League
2020/21   Serie A                 6th       Qualified for Europa League
2021/22   Serie A                 9th
2022/23   Serie A                 5th       Qualified for Europa League
2023/24   Serie A                 3rd       Qualified for Champions League, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2024/25   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2025/26   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League
2026/27   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League
2027/28   Serie A                 3rd       Qualified for Champions League
2028/29   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2029/30   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Champions League Winners
2030/31   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Champions League Winners, CWC Winners
2031/32   Serie A                 3rd       Champions League Winners, Coppa Italia Winners, CWC Winners
2032/33   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Champions League  Winners, Coppa Italia Winners, CWC Winners

Messina 100 Club:
A list of those Messina players who make 100 or more appearances for the club under my management.

Code:

Name                Pos        Era                    Apps   Goals     AvR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rene Kooiman        DC         2019-Present            584      75    7.16
Filippo Vitone      AMRC       2018-Present            521     119    7.13
Jose A. Loureiro    DR         2020-Present            429       3    7.20
Jon Pagola          AMLC       2019-Present            415      78    7.20
Walter Aguero       AM/ST      2021-2032               414     146    7.06
Victor Amoruso      MC         2018-2029               380      33    6.98
Mauro Quiroga       DM/MC      2019-2031               372      17    6.96
Abel Petrillo       AML/ST     2016-2031               366     153    7.13
Daniel Martin       GK         2027-Present            285       0    7.00
Stefano Tulino      D/DM/MRC   2019-2030               274      17    7.12
Joaquin Arguelles   AM/ST      2025-Present            259     162    7.28
Nenad Arnautovic    DM/MC      2025-Present            254      27    6.98
Jose                D/WB/M/AML 2026-Present            242       3    7.07
Mauro Vigorito      GK         2011-2023               217       0    6.82
Walter Gonzalez     AMLC       2026-Present            214      32    7.08
Javier              AMR        2025-Present            213      27    7.00
Philipp Egger       DC         2023-Present            211      28    7.17
Juan Jose Godoy     GK         2023-2027               207       0    6.96
Jose Luis Vega      AMC        2028-Present            205      23    7.22
Patxi Rodriguez     DM/MC      2017-2026               203      14    6.87
Nenad Lukic         MLC        2021-2026               188      23    6.98
Mauricio Martin     D/DM/MC    2020-2027               187       9    6.96
Nicolas Amodio      DM/MC      2012-2018               183      12    6.93
Remi Thouvenin      DL         2021-2026               181       0    7.06
Antonio Marino      DLC        2013-2021               180       5    6.88
Da Silva            DC         2027-Present            183      15    7.10
Sergio Real         ST         2024-2030               174      31    6.87
Adem Ljajic         AMRLC      2019-2027               170      26    6.91
Mario Ortiz         DM/MC      2013-2021               169       5    6.83
Celso               DM/MC      2025-2030               169       9    6.95
Nicola Ravaglia     GK         2018-2025               164       0    6.90
Enzo Scorza         ST         2012-2018               159      82    7.24
Nicolas             D/DM/MC    2015-2022               159       5    6.85
Julian Juarez       AML        2029-Present            153      23    7.10
Antonio Gola        DM/MC      2028-Present            149       7    7.05
Rocco Signore       D/WBR      2022-Present            146       0    7.05
Rosario Licata      D/WB/ML    2011-2016               146       3    6.92
Francesc Alcalde    AMLC/ST    2014-2020               145      45    6.98
Igor Mikhailov      AMRC       2029-Present            142      23    7.13
Luca Tedeschi       DC         2012-2018               139       8    7.09
Mogi                DRC        2017-2022               134       0    6.76
Jose Maria          DL         2028-Present            128       1    7.20
Diego Farias        AMRLC      2015-2019               126      19    6.90
Gonzalo Valdez      ST         2022-2026               126      34    6.87
Davide Testa        AM/ST      2011-2015               121      40    7.04
Yohann Sallaberry   AMLC       2021-2028               117      10    7.01
Bartul Misic        DM/MC      2030-Present            116       8    7.16
Nauzet M. Gonzalez  DC         2029-Present            110      18    7.18
Ruben               AML        2015-2019               103       7    6.86
Fausto Rossi        AML        2016-2021               102      18    6.97

Next Season:
Well how do you follow that? I'd settle for retaining the Serie A title and adding at least one of the important cups. I don't think we've got it in us to go unbeaten yet, but with the potential of this team it could well happen in the next three or four years as the likes of Vega, Marquinhos Parana, Marco Antonio, Walter Gonzalez and Nauzet Martinez Gonzalez mature.

The big question for the summer is whether to offer Rocco Signore, Jon Pagola and Filippo Vitone new contracts. I'm leaning towards yes on Vitone, but the other two I'll have to think about. Pagola showed he's still useful with his four outings this season producing two goals, whilst Signore had an average of 7.30 from his four. However, they did just make four each. Tough one.

Forza Messina!

**crouchaldinho** · 02-04-2011 12:07

What a season!

What was the key difference between this season and the last one SnakeXe?

**crouchaldinho** · 02-04-2011 12:09

Winning the European Cup on home soil must have been pretty sweet.

**sam owen-jones** · 02-04-2011 12:50

Ive lurked here for quite a while but ive decided I should tell you what a fantastic read this is. Keep it up.

**MattSpurs94** · 02-04-2011 12:53

So that's Aguero and Petrillo gone now.....

Only Arguelles left of that magical strike trio

**hrbfcrule** · 02-04-2011 13:05

A fantastic season there even if you did rely on the luck of penalties for most of your trophies

**SnakeXe** · 02-04-2011 13:31

Originally Posted by Nobby_McDonald

I was being sarcastic towards Matt.

Suuuuuuure.

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

What a season!

What was the key difference between this season and the last one SnakeXe?

Not much to be perfectly honest! Marquinhos Parana's emergence this season is tempered by Arguelles having a shoddy season by his standards, Vega was slightly less effective but Mikhailov picked up the slack, the squad is probably largely the same quality.

The two we didn't pick up last season were the European Super Cup and Serie A. In the Super Cup we played Rangers instead of Liverpool, so that was far easier, whilst in the league we got around the same points total whilst Inter and Juve regressed. The stars just aligned I guess!

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

Winning the European Cup on home soil must have been pretty sweet.

Well, I'd hesitate to call the dirty San Siro cabbage patch home, but still

Originally Posted by MattSpurs94

So that's Aguero and Petrillo gone now.....

Only Arguelles left of that magical strike trio

And even he's not got long left I don't think... end of an era. Mind you, the three I've got lined up to replace them ain't bad!

Originally Posted by hrbfcrule

A fantastic season there even if you did rely on the luck of penalties for most of your trophies

When you win three finals in one season on penalties it's not luck, it's mental fortitude, experience and technique.

Actually I'm only half-joking to be honest, we've got a fantastic record in shootouts over the last 2 and a bit seasons, so it can't be luck that we keep winning them.

Originally Posted by sam owen-jones

Ive lurked here for quite a while but ive decided I should tell you what a fantastic read this is. Keep it up.

Glad you've enjoyed it!

**brFM2011** · 02-04-2011 16:15

winning for fun lol

**Blue_magic** · 02-04-2011 19:55

Congratulations on the domination

**AK22** · 03-04-2011 11:56

Cracking season, good to see a team with plenty of bottle when it comes to penalties. Well done!

**SnakeXe** · 03-04-2011 15:07

Thanks guys

Quick question for those of you who have long-term saves on 11.3 - are you also having issues with home-grown classifications? My players (such as Juarez) who have achieved home-grown status since I patched up don't appear to count as such in the squad selection screen for the Champions League. This is really starting to irritate as I've had to leave players like Loureiro, Javier, Pagola and Arguelles out of my latest squad in order to have a balanced squad that the selector will accept. Eventually I'm going to have to start buying under-21 players every season to make up the shortfall!

**SnakeXe** · 03-04-2011 16:14

The Squad: 2033

Goalkeepers
Daniel Martin - GK - Argentina - Should be right in his prime now. Him winning us two trophies by saving every penalty he faced in the shootouts last season suggests he is.
Juan Carlos - GK - Spain - Got well into double figures for appearances last year, long may that continue.

Defenders
Jose Alberto Loureiro - DR - Italy - Still very good, but no longer the rampaging force of nature that he was and Aramaio is.
Rocco Signore - D/WBR - Italy - His home-grown status earned him another contract given the bug I'm experiencing.
Javier Aramaio - DR - Spain - First choice ahead of Loureiro, but is almost getting on himself now.
Jose - D/WB/M/AML - Spain - Probably have to move him on soon if Quinonez is to progress properly.
Jose Maria - DL - Spain - Excellent player.
Carlos Quinonez - DL - Spain - Had some fairly ridiculous offers for him over the summer from Standard Liege, rising up to about £12m. Was tempted to sell, but Jose isn't long for top-class football so I'd rather hang on to him.
Rene Kooiman - DC - Holland - No longer the undisputed first choice he once was, but a key squad member nonetheless.
Philipp Egger - DC - Austria - His athleticism is always handy.
Da Silva - DC - Brazil - Does well whenever required.
Nauzet Martinez Gonzalez - DC - Spain - First choice now.

Midfielders
Filippo Vitone - AMRC - Italy - Still an important component of the squad.
Javier - AMR - Spain - His energy is always useful in the latter stages of the season.
Jon Pagola - AMLC - Spain - Decided he deserved another contract. Only useful as a substitute these days, but his cameos can be match-winning.
Walter Gonzalez - AMLC - Argentina - He, Vega and Mikhailov directly contributed over 60 goals last season.
Julian Juarez - AML - Spain - Good backup for Gonzalez. Could have been so much more.
Antonio Gola - DM/MC - Italy - Just about eased Arnautovic out as first choice alongside Misic now.
Bartul Misic - DM/MC - Croatia - Fan's player of the year last year, and one of the first names on the team-sheet.
Nenad Arnautovic - DM/MC - Serbia - His driving runs from midfield are less frequent as he gets older, but still highly effective when used sparingly.
Agustin Lertxundi - DM/MC - Spain - I often forget how good he is. Probably should give him more time in the bigger matches this season.
Fernando - DM/MC - Spain - Has made his debut, but a disappointing loan spell at Fenerbahce concerns.
Jose Luis Vega - M/AMC - Spain - Slightly below par last season by his standards, but still our key man.
Igor Mikhailov - M/AMRC - Russia - Finally announced himself as a right-sided player last season with 20 assists.
Gustavo Sanchez - M/AMC - Argentina - £26.5m was the highest bid for the Argentine this summer. He's good, but that good? I'd still rather keep him though.

Forwards
Joaquin Arguelles - AMC/ST - Spain - Very nearly sold him in the summer, but he's such a legend I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Marco Antonio - AMC/ST - Brazil - Finally usurped Arguelles as top dog towards the end of last season, cracking player.
Marquinhos Parana - ST - Brazil - Terrific debut season last year, his technique and strength make him a great player to bring on if the opposition are defending deep.
Enrique Lala - ST - France - Scored goals for fun at Nice on loan in the second half of last season, with a 1 in 2 record. Needs games, hopefully we'll be playing well enough that I can offer him them here, if not then he may end up on loan again in January.

Leavers
Ricardo Rocha - GK - Portugal - As Juan Carlos and Daniel Martin are pretty immovable in front of him, I decided to sell him on to Benfica for a nice profit plus a slice of his next fee.

Overall
The squad is still excellent quality, as the youngsters step up impressively to replace the elder statesmen. I probably need to bring in another young centreback in the next season or two since Da Silva, Egger and Kooiman are the wrong side of 30. Hopefully Fernando can step up in defensive midfield as well, as Arnautovic's career winds down.

Forza Messina!

**Blue_magic** · 03-04-2011 16:40

That is a very nice squad you have there! pity about your ageing stars but they still seem good enough to get starts and perform well.

**Nobby_McDonald** · 03-04-2011 23:29

**** me, what a season.

**SnakeXe** · 04-04-2011 10:12

Originally Posted by Blue_magic

That is a very nice squad you have there! pity about your ageing stars but they still seem good enough to get starts and perform well.

Yeah, this is one thing SI have got spot on this year IMO. If managed correctly they're still very capable and useful parts of the squad

Originally Posted by Nobby_McDonald

**** me, what a season.

That's about how I put it to the girlfriend. She said:

Originally Posted by SnakeXe's Missus

That's nice dear.

**MattSpurs94** · 04-04-2011 16:06

Only 4 Italians?

**SnakeXe** · 04-04-2011 17:11

5 now, as Da Silva is a naturalised Italian international. But still a bit pathetic. I seem to get all my prospects from Spain and South America! My academy is getting better every season, although my best prospects each season are still rated just 1.5 stars at the moment.

I think the lack of a reserve league in Italy makes it more difficult to develop youngsters for all teams, might have to investigate the co-ownership lark a little more, as I think a club would probably invest more into progressing a young talent if they own half of him. Making sure I have a nice low buy-back clause, of course

**Nobby_McDonald** · 05-04-2011 00:14

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

That's about how I put it to the girlfriend. She said:

If you had said here's some flowers instead of what a season, you might have had a better response!

**crouchaldinho** · 05-04-2011 10:49

Nobby, you should start a new thread: 'Love Tips for FM Addicts'.

**SnakeXe** · 05-04-2011 12:48

Ahh she's happy, I just sit on the sofa with her whilst she watches Snog, Marry, Avoid and stuff like that

**Flamers** · 05-04-2011 16:26

When she asks a question are you sure to go "mhum"? If not you're not paying attention, they don't like that :P

**Nobby_McDonald** · 07-04-2011 01:00

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

Nobby, you should start a new thread: 'Love Tips for FM Addicts'.

I'm hardly the expert.

**crouchaldinho** · 07-04-2011 21:41

How long have we had new smilies?

Much better than the old ones.

Bit random that I've picked your thread to announce this in SnakeXe but I've only just noticed!

**crouchaldinho** · 07-04-2011 21:41

This one does look like the green person is having a poo though ---->

**Blue_magic** · 07-04-2011 22:16

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

How long have we had new smilies?

Much better than the old ones.

Bit random that I've picked your thread to announce this in SnakeXe but I've only just noticed!

Great announcement crouch

<---------- Don't ask me why I used that one

**SnakeXe** · 08-04-2011 12:12

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

This one does look like the green person is having a poo though ---->

That's certainly my face as I'm laying bricks

**SnakeXe** · 10-04-2011 11:06

Just to let you all know not to expect an update until after 19th April - my dissertation deadline

Although I'll probably slack off and play a bit of FM anyway

**Flamers** · 10-04-2011 15:27

RL comes first

**crouchaldinho** · 10-04-2011 20:35

Good luck SnakeXe!

**Nobby_McDonald** · 10-04-2011 23:11

Real life does suck arse sometimes.

**crouchaldinho** · 11-04-2011 16:33

Amen Nobby. Amen.

Does anything suck arse as much as cups though?

On my Saints save, I believe that the Champions League sucks major arse!

**Nobby_McDonald** · 11-04-2011 23:34

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

Does anything suck arse as much as cups though?

Yes. Kubi.

**RavingLibDem** · 17-04-2011 12:56

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

Just to let you all know not to expect an update until after 19th April - my dissertation deadline

Although I'll probably slack off and play a bit of FM anyway

I know the feeling dude, finished my dissertation two weeks ago, I reccomend getting very drunk afterwards :-D

**SnakeXe** · 17-04-2011 13:25

Originally Posted by RavingLibDem

I know the feeling dude, finished my dissertation two weeks ago, I reccomend getting very drunk afterwards :-D

2 days left - I am somewhat bricking it! Pounded out 3000 words yesterday though, so at least I'm being productive

**RavingLibDem** · 18-04-2011 10:42

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

2 days left - I am somewhat bricking it! Pounded out 3000 words yesterday though, so at least I'm being productive

I wrote my 11,000 words, including some research done on the fly, in 3 days :-) So don't worry, you can do it!

**SnakeXe** · 18-04-2011 11:39

Finished and handed in this morning - one day early

**Nobby_McDonald** · 19-04-2011 00:50

I had to do my dissertation 12 years ago. In my first draft I wrote around 20,000 words. I had to cut it in half!

**RavingLibDem** · 19-04-2011 04:11

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

Finished and handed in this morning - one day early

Congrats! Now go get drunk :-)

**SnakeXe** · 19-04-2011 09:57

Originally Posted by Nobby_McDonald

I had to do my dissertation 12 years ago. In my first draft I wrote around 20,000 words. I had to cut it in half!

Mine was 21,000 including appendices, 14,812 without. I basically got under the word limit by shifting one entire section (2,500 words) of my research that wasn't 100% relevant to my conclusions into the appendix.

Originally Posted by RavingLibDem

Congrats! Now go get drunk :-)

Tonight I shall be royally ploughed

**crouchaldinho** · 19-04-2011 11:49

Congrats SnakeXe. Let's have more Messina adventures please!

**bennceltic** · 19-04-2011 15:12

Great read and adventure with Messina. Fantastic career thats had it all, keep it up

**SnakeXe** · 20-04-2011 22:58

Season 23: Winter Break Update

Palermo in the Supercoppa were the first order of business, and two goals from Julian Juarez were enough for a 2-1 win to retain the trophy. Besiktas contested the European Super Cup, but couldn't get near us as we won 3-0, a brace from Antonio and an Arguelles penalty taking care of business.

The league campaign started fantastically with a 5-0 destruction of Udinese dispelling any fears of a repeat of our goal-shy efforts of the last two years. Pescara nicked a draw off us before Napoli inflicted our first defeat, but that was to be one of just two before the end of the year (the other against Juve). Since two successive 0-0s against Andria and Catania accounted for our only other dropped points you could say it's been a decent start! We're sat nicely in 2nd place, 1 point behind Palermo but with 2 games in hand.

A really tricky Champions League group this year - Spurs and Atletico Madrid were both solid sides, with FC Basel the mandatory walking 3-points. A sneaky 2-0 win over Atletico in Spain was a great start, but was followed by a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Spurs. We got back into the swing of things with a 5-0 and 3-1 double-header win over Basel. Atletico visited San Filippo next, and were absolutely spanked back to Madrid with their tails between their legs - 7-1! Spurs could still win the group if they beat us at White Hart Lane, so we sent a strong side. Despite going 2-0 down to a header from a corner and a mishit cross, we stormed back to take it 3-2, creating 8 CCCs along the way! Real Madrid are up next, a tricky draw.

And so to the World Club Championship! In the semi-final this year we met Sydney FC, who put up a surprisingly good fight against our backups, but eventually went down 2-0 to goals from Lertxundi and Lala. Internacional should have been a sterner test in the final. They weren't. 4 goals from Marquinhos Parana were added to by Gonzalez and Mikhailov, plus an own goal, for a massive 7-0 thumping!

The Good

Igor Mikhailov has been fantastic
All the strikers are scoring quite well
We're very well positioned in the league

The Bad

Arnautovic seems to be a little too far over the hill now
Javier and Vitone's poor form means we're over reliant on Mikhailov
The successive 0-0s against Andria and Catania were poor

Results 1 - Results 2 - League Table - Squad

**SnakeXe** · 21-04-2011 09:29

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

Congrats SnakeXe. Let's have more Messina adventures please!

As you asked nicely!

Originally Posted by bennceltic

Great read and adventure with Messina. Fantastic career thats had it all, keep it up

Thanks, glad you're enjoying it

**SnakeXe** · 27-04-2011 23:11

Just finished the season, will post the update tomorrow, off for my beauty sleep now (not that I need it

).

**Flamers** · 28-04-2011 09:41

Oh the excitement! :P

**SnakeXe** · 28-04-2011 10:45

SnakeXe's Messina - Season 23 - 2033/34

Story of the Season:
Serie A - 1st, Champions
A great first half of the season saw just two defeats - narrow 1-0s away to Napoli and Juventus, so we were feeling confident coming into 2034.

We opened the year with a battling 1-1 draw away to fierce rivals Palermo - a result that would later become important! Another 1-1 away to Udinese followed, before we registered our first league win of the year with a 5-1 home destruction of Grosseto. Good form continued until a disappointing 1-0 loss at home to Gubbio, a game where many of our second-choice players completely fluffed their lines.

A great 2-1 win over AC Milan was then sandwiched with bum gravy by a terrible 2-2 draw away at Andria Bat. Although a mid-table side this season, we really should beat clubs of their stature. Winning ways returned briefly, before another shocking result, a 2-1 home loss to Reggina - a side who only escaped relegation by 5 points. A massive 1-0 win over Juve was cancelled out by an unfathomable 2-1 loss to as-good-as-relegated Bologna.

This left us a point behind Palermo with 3 to play. We face Lazio (h), Inter (a), and finally Palermo (h) themselves. With our fellow Sicilians in good form, we probably needed to win all three to take the title.

An excellent performance against Lazio deserved more than the 1-0 win we claimed via a Marco Antonio special, but the points were all that mattered. Inter were, I felt, the biggest test of the three. And so they proved, hammering our goal for 90 mins. We had chances of our own, but in the end a 0-0 draw was probably a good result for us given how the game went.

As Palermo won both their games as well, the two dropped points, leaving us 3 behind, actually didn't make much difference to what we needed to do. Thanks to our 1-1 draw against Palermo earlier in the season, any win would give us the title, anything else would not be good enough - just as it would have been had we beaten Inter.

I sent out the strongest team I could amongst the tatters of our horrendous travails with injury. The normal back 5 was almost all there - Aramaio was injured so Rocco Signore joined the usual Martin - Kooiman - Martinez Gonzalez - Jose Maria wall of strength.

In defensive midfield I had no option but to play a half-fit Lertxundi alongside the inexperienced Fernando - every other player who could play there was injured.

Our regular wingers, Mikhailovic and Gonzalez, were thankfully available, but with neither Sanchez nor Vega available Marco Antonio dropped into the playmaker role, leaving Marquinhos Parana up front.

The game started at a canter, the teams trading long shots and tough tackles. In the 19th minute we got a corner. Marco Antonio whipped it in right-footed. Martinez Gonzalez rose in the 6-yard box to crash a header past the keeper and open the scoring!

All going to plan so far - and that continued as Rene Kooiman nodded in from a set piece to score the 2000th goal of my reign! The perfect player to get it in the perfect match as far as I'm concerned!

Just after half-time we were in dreamland as the youngster Fernando rifled in a 30-yard drive - just his second goal for the club - to put things surely beyond Palermo!

They did well to stem the tide of our attacks, and even created a few chances of their own, but they came to naught. Approaching the full-time whistle Marquinhos Parana turned their centre-back on the edge of the box and finished smartly to give us an unbelievable 4-0 win and the Serie A title!!

Coppa Italia - Lost in Quarter Final (v Palermo)
Having exorcised our demons in this competition with two successive triumphs, I was confident we could add a third. Our backups struggled past lowly Andria in the 1st Round, eventually claiming a 1-0 win in injury time. Palermo were up next in the Quarter Final, and after a hard-fought 2-2 draw in normal time, extra time finished goalless - another penalty shootout.

I was feeling quite confident until Marco Antonio skied our first penalty. Palermo netted their first three, whilst Misic and Sanchez made no mistake for us. Vitone then hit the post, leaving Thiago the chance to win it. Martin pulled off a fantastic save to keep us in it, but Juarez still needed to net his to put the pressure back on Palermo. He didn't.

Supercoppa - Winners
An easier-than-expected 2-1 win over Palermo.

European Super Cup - Winners
Much easier than last year - a 3-0 win over Besiktas where we didn't even break sweat.

Champions League - Lost in Semi Final (v Valencia)
When I left you last time we'd just qualified as group winners for a knockout round tie against Real Madrid. The first leg in the Bernebeu went pretty much to plan, as we nicked a 1-1 draw. The return match was a fiesty affair, with chances at either end and not a few tasty challenges. Luckily for us, our finishing was better, as we scored 4 to their 2.

Not content with one Spanish giant, we drew Barcelona in the Quarter Final. Anticipating a very tricky tie, I set up quite defensively in the home leg, with the emphasis on not conceding an away goal. Fortunately, we managed it. Mikhailov also helped out by grabbing a goal up their end, ably assisted by their centre-half Margheri, who netted an own goal near the final whistle to put us in a great position going to the Nou Camp.

We weren't taking anything for granted though - Barca at home are always formidable. Almost always, anyway.

Vega got himself sent off with a stupid, reckless lunge in the 4th minute. Oh dear.

I don't quite know what happened next, but all I do know is that it ended 5-0. To us. Unbelievable.

Yet another Spanish team waited for us in the Semi Final - this time Valencia. Again we had the home leg first, and I set up in similar fashion to against the Catalans, but this time it did not go to plan. Antonio Gola gave away a stupid penalty just before half time, which Valencia netted, leaving us with an uphill struggle. Marco Antonio eventually got one back in the 71st minute, but we couldn't get another, leaving us needing to score (probably twice) in the Nuevo Mestalla.

Things got off to a very bad start, as Aramaio repeated Gola's trick in giving away a penalty. This time, though, Juan Carlos saved it! Perhaps that was a good omen? Well, it wasn't.

We played really quite terribly, and Valencia opened the scoring after half time from a set piece. I changed as much as I could with the limited personnel at my disposal, but it wasn't enough, as they scored again with 10 minutes to go. Game over. Marco Antonio's goal in the first minute of injury time didn't even give us a chance, as the final whistle was blown seconds after kickoff. Champions League title number 5 would have to wait another year.

Club World Championship - Winners
Two games, 9 goals, 1 easy trophy.

Results 1 - Results 2 - Results 3 - Results 4 - Squad

Transfers - £3.9m Loss
Just a couple of prospects in, Raul at centre-half and Ryzhov in attacking midfield. Ricardo Rocha, third choice keeper, the only significant out at £3m plus clauses.

5 Most Important Players:
5. Jose Luis Vega - AMC - Cracked the 20-assists barrier for the fourth time in five seasons - his broken collarbone was probably the major factor in us failing to win the Champions League, and coming so close to surrendering the Serie A title.
4. Marco Antonio - AMC/ST - After last season's free-for-all scoring frenzy amongst our strikers, the young Brazil international has established himself as top dog. Performing like this makes it easier to reject bids like this.
3. Walter Gonzalez - AMLC - Fabulous player, contributing goals and assists consistently.
2. Igor Mikhailov - AMRC - His finishing is still suspect, he still picks up niggles far too often... but at some point you just have to admire a player when he's on song. And when he is, he's unplayable.
1. Nauzet Martinez Gonzalez - DC - Consistently excellent in the centre of defence, for a defender to have the highest average rating in such an attack-minded team is phenomenal. Contributed 10 of the 27 goals scored by our defenders this season.

History:

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Achievements                   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12   Serie C2/C              2nd       Serie C Cup Runners Up, Playoff Finalists
2012/13   Serie C2/C              1st       Serie C2/C Champions, Promoted
2013/14   Serie C1/B              5th       Playoff Semi-Finalists
2014/15   Serie C1/B              2nd       Playoff Winners, Promoted
2015/15   Serie B                 12th      
2016/17   Serie B                 2nd       Promoted
2017/18   Serie A                 20th      Relegated
2018/19   Serie B                 2nd       Promoted
2019/20   Serie A                 7th       Qualified for Europa League
2020/21   Serie A                 6th       Qualified for Europa League
2021/22   Serie A                 9th
2022/23   Serie A                 5th       Qualified for Europa League
2023/24   Serie A                 3rd       Qualified for Champions League, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2024/25   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2025/26   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League
2026/27   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League
2027/28   Serie A                 3rd       Qualified for Champions League
2028/29   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2029/30   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Champions League Winners
2030/31   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Champions League Winners, CWC Winners
2031/32   Serie A                 3rd       Champions League Winners, Coppa Italia Winners, CWC Winners
2032/33   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Champions League  Winners, Coppa Italia Winners, CWC Winners
2033/34   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, CWC Winners

Messina 100 Club:
A list of those Messina players who make 100 or more appearances for the club under my management.

Code:

Name                Pos        Era                    Apps   Goals     AvR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rene Kooiman        DC         2019-Present            609      79    7.17
Filippo Vitone      AMRC       2018-Present            545     119    7.11
Jose A. Loureiro    DR         2020-Present            443       3    7.20
Jon Pagola          AMLC       2019-Present            417      78    7.20
Walter Aguero       AM/ST      2021-2032               414     146    7.06
Victor Amoruso      MC         2018-2029               380      33    6.98
Mauro Quiroga       DM/MC      2019-2031               372      17    6.96
Abel Petrillo       AML/ST     2016-2031               366     153    7.13
Daniel Martin       GK         2027-Present            329       0    7.00
Joaquin Arguelles   AM/ST      2025-Present            277     166    7.28
Nenad Arnautovic    DM/MC      2025-Present            276      28    7.00
Stefano Tulino      D/DM/MRC   2019-2030               274      17    7.12
Jose                D/WB/M/AML 2026-Present            259       4    7.07
Walter Gonzalez     AMLC       2026-Present            254      44    7.13
Philipp Egger       DC         2023-Present            245      36    7.20
Jose Luis Vega      AMC        2028-Present            237      24    7.24
Javier              AMR        2025-Present            227      29    7.00
Mauro Vigorito      GK         2011-2023               217       0    6.82
Da Silva            DC         2027-Present            208      18    7.12
Juan Jose Godoy     GK         2023-2027               207       0    6.96
Patxi Rodriguez     DM/MC      2017-2026               203      14    6.87
Antonio Gola        DM/MC      2028-Present            190       9    7.08
Nenad Lukic         MLC        2021-2026               188      23    6.98
Julian Juarez       AML        2029-Present            187      28    7.11
Mauricio Martin     D/DM/MC    2020-2027               187       9    6.96
Igor Mikhailov      AMRC       2029-Present            183      41    7.19
Nicolas Amodio      DM/MC      2012-2018               183      12    6.93
Remi Thouvenin      DL         2021-2026               181       0    7.06
Antonio Marino      DLC        2013-2021               180       5    6.88
Sergio Real         ST         2024-2030               174      31    6.87
Adem Ljajic         AMRLC      2019-2027               170      26    6.91
Jose Maria          DL         2028-Present            170       1    7.22
Mario Ortiz         DM/MC      2013-2021               169       5    6.83
Celso               DM/MC      2025-2030               169       9    6.95
Nicola Ravaglia     GK         2018-2025               164       0    6.90
Enzo Scorza         ST         2012-2018               159      82    7.24
Nicolas             D/DM/MC    2015-2022               159       5    6.85
Rocco Signore       D/WBR      2022-Present            151       0    7.06
Rosario Licata      D/WB/ML    2011-2016               146       3    6.92
Bartul Misic        DM/MC      2030-Present            145      11    7.18
Francesc Alcalde    AMLC/ST    2014-2020               145      45    6.98
Nauzet M. Gonzalez  DC         2029-Present            144      28    7.24
Luca Tedeschi       DC         2012-2018               139       8    7.09
Marco Antonio       AMC/ST     2030-Present            135      45    7.06
Mogi                DRC        2017-2022               134       0    6.76
Diego Farias        AMRLC      2015-2019               126      19    6.90
Gonzalo Valdez      ST         2022-2026               126      34    6.87
Davide Testa        AM/ST      2011-2015               121      40    7.04
Yohann Sallaberry   AMLC       2021-2028               117      10    7.01
Ruben               AML        2015-2019               103       7    6.86
Javier Aramaio      DR         2031-Present            103       1    7.26
Fausto Rossi        AML        2016-2021               102      18    6.97

Next Season:
Last season I said I wanted Serie A and at least one important cup - 1 out of 2 isn't bad, but I'd definitely like to regain either the Coppa Italia or Champions League this season. I do think the squad needs some improvement now - although I couldn't seriously have planned for 5 of my first 6 choice central midfielders being injured at once, there are serious gaps in the squad. A new right winger needs finding, and I could do with another quick striker - Marquinhos Parana is many things, but quick he is not.

Forza Messina!

**AK22** · 28-04-2011 11:51

Unlucky with the injuries this season, but still did well to win the league.

How are you finding the quality of the regens coming through? Is it more difficult to track down and buy decent players? Are the stats all in the right place or are you having to do a lot of retraining?

**SnakeXe** · 28-04-2011 14:23

Cheers

The quality and stat-spread of newgens is definitely the best it's been on any FM since the switch from regens. I've done some retraining (notably Mikhailov), but it's realistic stuff. In Mikhailov's case he was wasted in my playmaker role because his major strengths were athleticism and dribbling - much more suited to a wide role in my system.

Finding players to buy isn't really that tricky, my scouts chuck up a couple that interest me every so often, and if they're the right price (both in terms of transfer fee and wages), age and ability then I sign them up. I don't tend to go for established players since they want huge wages - which I've been very careful to avoid. My highest earner is still only on £45,000pw, and I've managed to stick to that without losing one player specifically because of it.

**AK22** · 28-04-2011 17:02

That's good to know, especially as you're so far into the save now

I remember in previous years you be cursed with strikers who couldn't finish and centre back who couldn't jump etc when you got 20+ years into the game.

**SnakeXe** · 28-04-2011 19:31

Yeah definitely - on FM10 around 25 seasons in my centrebacks would regularly get 20+ goals per season simply because they were members of the select group that could jump - and hence completely cleaned up on set pieces!

**SnakeXe** · 28-04-2011 19:53

Good news everyone!!

New stadium

52,095 capacity

Named after me

**MattSpurs94** · 28-04-2011 19:53

Originally Posted by MattSpurs94

Serpente Park does have a nice ring to it.....

Just as I predicted

Congratz

**SnakeXe** · 28-04-2011 19:58

Cheers

They did lie about the £207m loan though, only took £86m, the rest came out of our very healthy bank balance - still got £50m left!

**crouchaldinho** · 28-04-2011 19:58

Awesome news SnakeXe. Delighted for you!

**SnakeXe** · 28-04-2011 22:55

Cheers crouchy

can't wait to move in!

**Nobby_McDonald** · 29-04-2011 00:22

Nice one Snake.

**SnakeXe** · 29-04-2011 11:23

The Squad: 2034

Goalkeepers
Daniel Martin - GK - Argentina - Reasonable season last time. Could have done better probably. Still a great keeper.
Juan Carlos - GK - Spain - Great backup, couldn't ask for anything more.

Defenders
Jose Alberto Loureiro - DR - Italy - Really lost something last season, this contract is almost certainly his last. Still gets a game for Italy, shockingly enough.
Rocco Signore - D/WBR - Italy - In his 12th year at the club now, part of the furniture.
Javier Aramaio - DR - Spain - Excellent attacking fullback. Hopefully he'll keep going at this level a good 3 or 4 years now.
Jose - D/WB/M/AML - Spain - His contract is up at the end of the season. He's on a lot of money considering his stature in the squad. Here's your chance, Quinonez.
Jose Maria - DL - Spain - Really kicked on as an attacking fullback now.
Carlos Quinonez - DL - Spain - Time to start blooding this youngster who has been filed under "promising" for about 3 years now.
Rene Kooiman - DC - Holland - His stats may be declining, but the level of performance is still good.
Philipp Egger - DC - Austria - Had a great season last time, but surely coming to the end of his career now.
Da Silva - DC - Italy - Always relatively solid, he's a bit enigmatic - I'm never sure how good he really is.
Nauzet Martinez Gonzalez - DC - Spain - Fantastic player, our key man at the back.
Raul - DC - Spain - Signed in January, spent the second half of last season on loan, looks like first-team material.

Midfielders
Filippo Vitone - AMRC - Italy - Rewarded with a new contract after starting last season well, his form nosedived. Hopefully it was a consequence of my backups playing rubbish frequently, rather than a cause.
Walter Gonzalez - AMLC - Argentina - Another brilliant season last time around from Gonzalez, hope he keeps it up.
Julian Juarez - AML - Spain - Excellent backup.
Carlos Roldan - AMLC - Argentina - I'm converting him to a right sided winger, so will provide cover right across the attacking midfield.
Antonio Gola - DM/MC - Italy - Dependable player.
Bartul Misic - DM/MC - Croatia - We really missed him when he picked up a severe injury last season, hopefully he'll come back at the same level.
Nenad Arnautovic - DM/MC - Serbia - Disappointed me last season. His career with us may be coming to a close.
Agustin Lertxundi - DM/MC - Spain - A very capable third choice behind Gola and Misic.
Fernando - DM/MC - Spain - Did far better than expected when he got a run of games due to severe injury problems. I've included him over Arnautovic in the Champions League squad, let's hope he repays the faith.
Jose Luis Vega - M/AMC - Spain - The one player I really couldn't bear to part with.
Igor Mikhailov - M/AMRC - Russia - Has been in sensational form for a couple of seasons now - but I still feel like there's more to come.
Gustavo Sanchez - M/AMC - Argentina - Excellent backup for our key player.
Oleg Ryzhov - M/AMC - Russia - Talented young playmaker brought in in January.

Forwards
Joaquin Arguelles - AMC/ST - Spain - Didn't play much last season, he's finished as a lone striker in my system unfortunately. Might have a future as playmaker, we'll see.
Marco Antonio - AMC/ST - Brazil - I've been fighting off £50m bids for him this summer - we don't need the money even with the new stadium build, but we sure do need him!
Marquinhos Parana - ST - Brazil - Was expecting slightly more from him last year, but never mind, he's got time on his side.
Enrique Lala - ST - France - Couldn't give him enough games really, but he did well occasionally - even if 4 of his 6 goals came against Champions League group whipping boys FC Basel.

Leavers
Javier - AMR - Spain - Wasn't particularly planning on selling him, but a £6m offer from Napoli was too good to turn down for a very average player.
Jon Pagola - AMLC - Spain - The great old former captain finally retired. A true Messina legend.

Overall
We all know that our first-team is as good as it's ever been, but the backups needed to be better than last season in order to give them enough rest to perform as they can in the latter stages of the Champions League. Hopefully Raul and Carlos Roldan will add some much needed quality to our second-string, and improvement from the likes of Lala, Ryzhov and Fernando should further boost their capabilities.

Looking to the next season or two, the defensive midfield looks to be the area we'll struggle in. Arnautovic is pretty much finished, Lertxundi and Gola will start to decline in the next season or two, so we'll just be left with Misic and Fernando. Definitely an area to make signings in where possible.

Forza Messina!

**SnakeXe** · 01-05-2011 14:54

Season 24: Winter Break Update

The season kicked off with the Supercoppa as usual, this year's opponents were Grosseto. We absolutely dominated them, but couldn't seem to shake them off, and they twice equalised to take the game to penalties. Unfortunately we continue to have appeared to use up all our luck in shootouts in the clean-sweep season, losing 5-4, Mikhailov the culprit.

Still, we put that behind us nice and quickly with a 7-2 thumping of Udinese in the first match of the league season, Marco Antonio starting as he meant to go on - 15 goals in 14 starts by the winter break. We continued to win the first 4 league games, before a brace of 0-0s against midtable teams took the shine off.

Three more wins followed to put us back on track, before our unbeaten run came to an end with a really disappointing 1-0 home loss to Inter. Like the Supercoppa, we really bossed the game but couldn't finish. This was followed by an inexplicable 3-1 loss away to Pescara. We were 1-0 up and cruising before keeper Juan Carlos decided to throw in two and let a third past him in the space of 10 minutes. We came back at them, but couldn't get the ball in the net - a familiar tale.

A run of 5 wins exorcised those demons, before we closed out the year with a slightly poor 1-1 draw away at Roma, to leave us 2 points behind leaders Inter.

In the Champions League, we got a reasonable group, with Atletico Madrid, Monaco, and our feeder club Young Boys. We started badly, with a really weird match against Atletico at home that ended 3-3. We got back on track with a narrow win over Young Boys away, before winning both in the double header against Monaco. A 0-0 against Atletico in Madrid left us needing just a point from Young Boys at home to go through - a point we duly got, somehow managing again to pluck a draw from the clutches of defeat, which was in turn snatched from the jaws of victory. Weird.

Really tough draw next, last year's runners up Lyon. We always seem to get a tricky one at this stage - might have to have a word with UEFA

The Good

Marco Antonio's form has been outstanding
Raul has come in and done well
We're doing well to hang on to an Inter side in great form

The Bad

The defence has been very poor - Kooiman and Egger seem to suddenly be finished
Mikhailov and Gonzalez have been relatively disappointing
Arsenal-like profligacy in front of goal on occasions

Results 1 - Results 2 - League Table - Squad 1 - Squad 2

**Raware** · 01-05-2011 15:40

Looking tight at the top Snake. Tough Champions League draw too.

**SnakeXe** · 01-05-2011 15:53

Yeah could be a tricky year for us. Haven't failed to pick up a trophy for 6 years now - could that sequence end? Hope not!

**SnakeXe** · 02-05-2011 23:00

SnakeXe's Messina - Season 24 - 2034/35

Story of the Season:
Serie A - 1st, Champions
We entered 2035 in second place, hanging onto a rampant Inter's coattails. We started as we meant to continue, with a stunning 5-1 demolition of Grosseto, who had earlier deprived us of this year's Supercoppa. 6 more wins followed, as the goals flowed, before a 2-2 home draw to Napoli ended the streak.

That clearly affected us, as debutant Jesus Jimenez let the pressure get to him in the next game, getting sent off in the process of giving a penalty away to gift the game to Gubbio. We came back swinging, though, smashing Fiorentina 7-0 with 7 different goalscorers!

Another 5 wins followed, before Jesus Jimenez repeated his trick of getting sent off - but not before Jose Maria had done it himself, leaving 9 men to cling on to Bartul Misic's opener against Reggina. We very nearly did it, but eventually succumbed to a belter from 30 yards to leave with a 1-1 draw. We won the next two, though leaving us needing just one win from the last 3 games to take the title.

That win came in the very next game against Grosseto, goals either side of half time securing a third successive Serie A crown!

Coppa Italia - Lost in Quarter Final (v Grosseto)
A Joaquin Arguelles hattrick saw us through the first round against Sassuolo 5-0, but Grosseto continued their good form over us in knockout competition with a penalty shootout success after a 1-1 draw.

Supercoppa - Runners Up (v Grosseto)
Lost on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

Champions League - Lost in First Knockout Round (v Lyon)
After qualifying in rather lackluster fashion from a relatively easy group, we hoped to kick into gear against last year's runners up, Lyon. The away leg was first, and we really struggled. Lyon were strong in the tackle, quick to close down, and incisive in the passing - everything but the finishing, fortunately, as we managed to hang on to only lose 1-0.

I hoped we'd put in a better showing at home, and we did, being the better team. However, Lyon brought their shooting boots this time, scoring both their chances to take an unassailable 2-0 lead, despite a consolation from Da Silva.

Results 1 - Results 2 - Results 3 - Squad 1 - Squad 2

Transfers - £25.1m Loss
Only Javier left, for a £6m fee. On the ins came Carlos Roldan, a tricky winger/attacking midfielder, Jesus Jimenez, a young right back, and for a record £20m fee, Mohammed Benali, a 17-year old defensive midfielder with leading star potential.

5 Most Important Players:
5. Igor Mikhailov - AMRC - Not his best season for us, but he was the best of the rest of our attacking midfielders, who all did quite well.
4. Jose Luis Vega - AMC - Just one short of his bench-mark of 20 assists, but still a great season.
3. Javier Aramaio - DR - The pick of a defence that performed excellently in the second half of the season - pre-Christmas wobbliness notwithstanding.
2. Bartul Misic - DM/MC - Came back flying from a serious injury last season and really gave our midfield the drive and bite it lacked.
1. Marco Antonio - AMC/ST - 27 goals in the league was the best in a long time for a player at our club, but worryingly he got none in 6 games in Europe - maybe explaining why we went out so early.

History:

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Achievements                   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12   Serie C2/C              2nd       Serie C Cup Runners Up, Playoff Finalists
2012/13   Serie C2/C              1st       Serie C2/C Champions, Promoted
2013/14   Serie C1/B              5th       Playoff Semi-Finalists
2014/15   Serie C1/B              2nd       Playoff Winners, Promoted
2015/15   Serie B                 12th      
2016/17   Serie B                 2nd       Promoted
2017/18   Serie A                 20th      Relegated
2018/19   Serie B                 2nd       Promoted
2019/20   Serie A                 7th       Qualified for Europa League
2020/21   Serie A                 6th       Qualified for Europa League
2021/22   Serie A                 9th
2022/23   Serie A                 5th       Qualified for Europa League
2023/24   Serie A                 3rd       Qualified for Champions League, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2024/25   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2025/26   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League
2026/27   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League
2027/28   Serie A                 3rd       Qualified for Champions League
2028/29   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2029/30   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Champions League Winners
2030/31   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Champions League Winners, CWC Winners
2031/32   Serie A                 3rd       Champions League Winners, Coppa Italia Winners, CWC Winners
2032/33   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, Champions League  Winners, Coppa Italia Winners, CWC Winners
2033/34   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions, CWC Winners
2034/35   Serie A                 1st       Serie A Champions

Messina 100 Club:
A list of those Messina players who make 100 or more appearances for the club under my management.

Code:

Name                Pos        Era                    Apps   Goals     AvR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rene Kooiman        DC         2019-Present            618      80    7.17
Filippo Vitone      AMRC       2018-Present            561     123    7.11
Jose A. Loureiro    DR         2020-Present            448       3    7.20
Jon Pagola          AMLC       2019-2034               417      78    7.20
Walter Aguero       AM/ST      2021-2032               414     146    7.06
Victor Amoruso      MC         2018-2029               380      33    6.98
Mauro Quiroga       DM/MC      2019-2031               372      17    6.96
Daniel Martin       GK         2027-Present            370       0    7.00
Abel Petrillo       AML/ST     2016-2031               366     153    7.13
Joaquin Arguelles   AM/ST      2025-Present            289     176    7.28
Walter Gonzalez     AMLC       2026-Present            287      52    7.15
Nenad Arnautovic    DM/MC      2025-Present            279      28    7.00
Stefano Tulino      D/DM/MRC   2019-2030               274      17    7.12
Jose Luis Vega      AMC        2028-Present            269      28    7.25
Jose                D/WB/M/AML 2026-Present            267       6    7.07
Philipp Egger       DC         2023-Present            251      38    7.20
Da Silva            DC         2027-Present            232      24    7.14
Javier              AMR        2025-2034               227      29    7.00
Antonio Gola        DM/MC      2028-Present            225       9    7.09
Mauro Vigorito      GK         2011-2023               217       0    6.82
Igor Mikhailov      AMRC       2029-Present            214      49    7.20
Julian Juarez       AML        2029-Present            210      29    7.11
Juan Jose Godoy     GK         2023-2027               207       0    6.96
Patxi Rodriguez     DM/MC      2017-2026               203      14    6.87
Jose Maria          DL         2028-Present            202       1    7.24
Nenad Lukic         MLC        2021-2026               188      23    6.98
Mauricio Martin     D/DM/MC    2020-2027               187       9    6.96
Nicolas Amodio      DM/MC      2012-2018               183      12    6.93
Remi Thouvenin      DL         2021-2026               181       0    7.06
Nauzet M. Gonzalez  DC         2029-Present            180      35    7.24
Antonio Marino      DLC        2013-2021               180       5    6.88
Bartul Misic        DM/MC      2030-Present            178      18    7.20
Sergio Real         ST         2024-2030               174      31    6.87
Marco Antonio       AMC/ST     2030-Present            170      73    7.16
Adem Ljajic         AMRLC      2019-2027               170      26    6.91
Mario Ortiz         DM/MC      2013-2021               169       5    6.83
Celso               DM/MC      2025-2030               169       9    6.95
Nicola Ravaglia     GK         2018-2025               164       0    6.90
Enzo Scorza         ST         2012-2018               159      82    7.24
Nicolas             D/DM/MC    2015-2022               159       5    6.85
Rocco Signore       D/WBR      2022-Present            154       0    7.06
Rosario Licata      D/WB/ML    2011-2016               146       3    6.92
Francesc Alcalde    AMLC/ST    2014-2020               145      45    6.98
Gustavo Sanchez     AMC        2031-Present            142      14    6.97
Javier Aramaio      DR         2031-Present            140       1    7.28
Luca Tedeschi       DC         2012-2018               139       8    7.09
Mogi                DRC        2017-2022               134       0    6.76
Diego Farias        AMRLC      2015-2019               126      19    6.90
Gonzalo Valdez      ST         2022-2026               126      34    6.87
Davide Testa        AM/ST      2011-2015               121      40    7.04
Agustin Lertxundi   DM/MC      2031-Present            119       2    7.05
Yohann Sallaberry   AMLC       2021-2028               117      10    7.01
Ruben               AML        2015-2019               103       7    6.86
Fausto Rossi        AML        2016-2021               102      18    6.97

Next Season:
After two seasons without a proper cup in the cabinet, that definitely needs fixing next season. Other than that, the young players I've been bringing in over the last few seasons could do with some more game time - in particular Quinonez, Benali and Ryzhov look like they're close to first-team level. Quite a few first-team stalwarts of the past decade or so are leaving - Jose, Arnautovic, Kooiman, Egger and Signore are all out of contract - so they'll certainly need to step up.

Forza Messina!

**Flamers** · 02-05-2011 23:03

Well done on the league

**danger_mouse** · 02-05-2011 23:30

I didnt realise you were doing a career update thread aswell..nice to see your still having success with Messina after your Big Euro challenge, ive just started a Journeyman save but im missing Mantova to much so may make a thread soon

**Nobby_McDonald** · 03-05-2011 00:53

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

After two seasons without a proper cup in the cabinet, that definitely needs fixing next season.

You've won the Scudetto for the past three seasons so how do you work that one out?

**Lenzar** · 03-05-2011 08:25

I suppose you could argue that Serie A is a league, not a cup :P

**SnakeXe** · 03-05-2011 09:52

Originally Posted by Nobby_McDonald

You've won the Scudetto for the past three seasons so how do you work that one out?

Originally Posted by Lenzar

I suppose you could argue that Serie A is a league, not a cup :P

That was indeed my logic - cup in the sense of a knockout competition, rather than the physical trophy.

Originally Posted by danger_mouse

I didnt realise you were doing a career update thread aswell..nice to see your still having success with Messina after your Big Euro challenge, ive just started a Journeyman save but im missing Mantova to much so may make a thread soon

Yeah I got about 5 seasons into a journeyman save and really wasn't enjoying it, so came back - best decision I ever made (FM-wise anyway). Drop a link in here if you decide to start a thread

Originally Posted by Flamers

Well done on the league

Cheers mate!

**crouchaldinho** · 03-05-2011 11:52

Great season for Marco Antonio. Need to get him firing in Europe!

Still enjoying reading about this save. Keep it up SnakeXe!

**danger_mouse** · 03-05-2011 15:45

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

Yeah I got about 5 seasons into a journeyman save and really wasn't enjoying it, so came back - best decision I ever made (FM-wise anyway). Drop a link in here if you decide to start a thread

Well im going to continue my save from the Big Euro challenge which i have completed now so when i finally get round to making a thread i think i may just drop a link

cheers mate.

**SnakeXe** · 03-05-2011 17:39

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

Great season for Marco Antonio. Need to get him firing in Europe!

Still enjoying reading about this save. Keep it up SnakeXe!

Yeah I don't really get it - he did well in Europe last season, maybe the opposition just set up differently against us this season.

I really want to make this save more interesting by going with the academy development angle, but it's taking a ridiculous amount of time to get my facilities up to top quality. Surely in the case where a club has a lot of money it should be possible to just blow a load of money on getting the best available facilities - it doesn't make sense to build them up incrementally as FM forces you to.

Originally Posted by danger_mouse

Well im going to continue my save from the Big Euro challenge which i have completed now so when i finally get round to making a thread i think i may just drop a link

cheers mate.

Awesome, look forward to it

**crouchaldinho** · 03-05-2011 17:54

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

Yeah I don't really get it - he did well in Europe last season, maybe the opposition just set up differently against us this season.

Nothing to do with your playing system, I take it?

I really want to make this save more interesting by going with the academy development angle, but it's taking a ridiculous amount of time to get my facilities up to top quality. Surely in the case where a club has a lot of money it should be possible to just blow a load of money on getting the best available facilities - it doesn't make sense to build them up incrementally as FM forces you to.

Yeah, I know how you feel. It's quite frustrating waiting until the end of each season for yet another upgrade. It takes so long to get the facilities up to scratch even if the money is there.

**SnakeXe** · 03-05-2011 18:05

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

Nothing to do with your playing system, I take it?

Wouldn't have thought so - I played exactly the same way in Europe this season as last, and the same as I play against the big teams in the league. Mind you, he only got 3 in the 6 matches against the other Champions League qualifiers this season - but then he did score a few against Juve and Palermo, who I'd class as bigger teams than Grosseto and AC Milan at the moment, despite their poor season this time round.

Yeah, I know how you feel. It's quite frustrating waiting until the end of each season for yet another upgrade. It takes so long to get the facilities up to scratch even if the money is there.

Hopefully they'll get there soon, it's not quite got to the point where I'm just mashing "Continue" with no thought between each game but it's not far off. I also feel a bit guilty about the Italian national side being quite terrible - probably as a consequence of the dominant side for the last 7 years barely having any Italian players, let alone developing any from the academy!

**Lenzar** · 03-05-2011 18:32

Why has the academy intake been so poor? Have the facilities not been improved?

**SnakeXe** · 03-05-2011 19:20

I've improved them as often as possible (i.e. once per season) for the last few years. Have only ever had one player through who was better than 1.5 star potential. The current status is "Good Youth Facilities + Youth Academy" and "Established Youth Recruitment". Not quite up to scratch for a leading European club yet, but finally Serie A standard at least.

**crouchaldinho** · 03-05-2011 19:22

Yeah, you've got to boost that up quite a bit more over the coming seasons. Shame you can only do it once a season though.

On another subject, is this your best ever FM save, would you say SnakeXe?

**Flamers** · 03-05-2011 19:29

It's stange how it is much slower to upgrade facilities in developed countries, in Iceland I have had "Excellent" for serveral seasons now, still only "Above Average recruitment though...

**SnakeXe** · 03-05-2011 19:52

Best ever save? Well it's definitely in the top two, the other being my Merthyr save on FM10. I'm not sure I could really pick between them, they've both been great fun!

**SnakeXe** · 03-05-2011 22:54

The Squad: 2035

Goalkeepers
Daniel Martin - GK - Argentina - Slightly poor form last year, hopefully it was just a blip rather than a slump. He did look back to his best in the last 10 games or so, so let's hope that continues.
Juan Carlos - GK - Spain - Continues to play second fiddle with aplomb.
Ricardo Rocha - GK - Portugal - If you were thinking "that guy sounds familiar" then you'd be right - I've resigned the young Portuguese keeper, who was available for nothing after his contract expired. Still looks a good prospect, needs games though probably.

Defenders
Jose Alberto Loureiro - DR - Italy - Almost certainly his farewell season now.
Jesus Jimenez - D/WBR - Spain - Signed in January for a bargain £3.6m, he's a little card happy (2 reds in 4 appearances last season), but looks promising. Thanks to Aramaio's unexpected departure, he's also first choice.
Jose Maria - DL - Spain - Fabulous player.
Carlos Quinonez - DL - Spain - Did very, very well in his first season of first team football with us. Looking forward to seeing him develop.
Da Silva - DC - Italy - Came to the fore last season as Kooiman and Egger's age caught up with them. Is now an important experienced head in a suddenly young-looking defence.
Nauzet Martinez Gonzalez - DC - Spain - Number one centreback for the last 3 seasons now.
Raul - DC - Spain - Did pretty well in his debut season for us last year, hope he kicks on from that.
Daniel Wansi - DLC - France - £7.5m signing from Bordeaux, already looks like he could do a job having only turned 17 this month. A future Messina stalwart.
Gregoire Gauthier - DC - France - One more for now, £13.5m bringing him over from Deportivo. Could prove a bargain.

Midfielders
Walter Gonzalez - AMLC - Argentina - Seems to be getting itchy feet, but I keep successfully talking him out of a move.
Julian Juarez - AML - Spain - Ousted Gonzalez from the team briefly early last season but lost his spot with a bad injury.
Carlos Roldan - AMRLC - Argentina - Some genuinely outstanding performances in the back end of last season once he was comfortable at right wing really encourage me. In one game I remember in particular, he tore the left-back to shreds in the 2nd minute, causing him to hit back with a red-card worthy challenge. Then, in minute 5 he lashed in a 30 yard freekick, and finally added a smart far-post tap-in for his brace later in the half. Could be a serious player for us.
Antonio Gola - DM/MC - Italy - Solid defensive midfielder.
Bartul Misic - DM/MC - Croatia - One of the players of last season, glad he came back from his injury well.
Agustin Lertxundi - DM/MC - Spain - Probably just about ahead of Gola as Misic's partner for the moment.
Fernando - DM/MC - Spain - Off on loan this season as he'd be fifth choice.
Mohammed Benali - DM/MC - Spain - £20m for a 17-year old is a hell of a fee, but then Benali could be a hell of a player. Suffered with injuries in the back end of last season only making 6 appearances for us, but those 6 appearances were very encouraging. Could play a big part very soon, with Lertxundi and Gola both approaching their career's end.
Jose Luis Vega - M/AMC - Spain - One of my favourite ever FM players. Unfortunately seems to be a target for opposition rough-housing, as this latest injury shows.
Igor Mikhailov - M/AMRC - Russia - Was reasonably good last year, but hopefully he'll be back up to his level of the season or two before that.
Gustavo Sanchez - M/AMC - Argentina - Didn't have the best season last year, but then I was going with 2 strikers on occasion so he got fewer chances.
Oleg Ryzhov - M/AMC - Russia - Spent the second half of last season on loan and scored twice in the five appearances he made for FC Groningen. Should make a few more for us this season, I think.

Forwards
Joaquin Arguelles - AMC/ST - Spain - Hit back at suggestions he was finished by hitting double figures last season - keep it up, lad.
Marco Antonio - AMC/ST - Brazil - Really exploded into form last season - needs to do the business in Europe again if he's to be regarded as a really great player though.
Marquinhos Parana - ST - Brazil - Didn't get many opportunities last season but I'm hoping to use 2 strikers a bit more this season, so he should get a few goals this time.
Enrique Lala - ST - France - Still isn't quite good enough to play as a lone striker in my system, so have sent him on loan again, this time to Marseille, hopefully to bring him up to scratch. I have a feeling it may be a question of him or Marquinhos Parana in the end, though.
Vitor Goncalves - ST - Portugal - An absolute steal at £4.5m, the proper pacey backup to Marco Antonio we've needed since Arguelles' explosiveness waned.

Leavers
Rocco Signore - D/WBR - Italy - Jimenez's arrival finally sees him leave after 12 seasons.
Javier Aramaio - DR - Spain - On transfer deadline day a £28.5m bid came in from Man Utd, triggered his release fee, and he was gone. Gutted. Good fee for a 31 year old but it leaves us desperately short.
Jose - D/WB/M/AML - Spain - Just a year short of the decade with us, a great servant nonetheless. However, he had to go if Quinonez was to avoid stagnation.
Rene Kooiman - DC - Holland - Really sad to see him go - and if I'm honest I thought he'd retire when his contract with us expired. Has somewhat ironically joined PSV despite being an Ajax academy graduate. Will keep an eye out to see if he becomes a coach - he's definitely welcome back.
Philipp Egger - DC - Austria - A slightly undignified end to a great player's career, as he was really poor last season. Magnificent player for us over the years, though.
Filippo Vitone - AMRC - Italy - Really contributed in his cameos last season, which is why it was a shock when he announced his retirement, despite having a year left on his contract. I've signed him on as a coach though, naturally.
Nenad Arnautovic - DM/MC - Serbia - Despite his stats holding up quite well, his level of performance really dipped over the last couple of seasons. Sad to see him go, but not too sad. He's joined St Gallen in Switzerland.

Overall
Well it's really strange to be starting a season without Vitone and Kooiman to be honest. Two of my favourite ever FM players, Messina stalwarts for over 15 years, veterans of 1000 appearances between them. The squad looks in very good shape despite this, with Roldan and Gauthier looking like top-quality replacements for the pair.

Despite Aramaio's surprising/disappointing departure, the squad is very strong this season. It should be possible to really compete on all fronts this season, which hasn't happened in the last two.

Forza Messina!

**Flamers** · 03-05-2011 23:07

Good luck! At least that £28.5m should buy you a good player!

**SnakeXe** · 04-05-2011 08:46

I don't really need the money though, that's the thing. We're starting with a kid and a pensioner at right back. As I complained when we sold Andy Carroll with 2 hours of the transfer window left, you can't stick a sack of money up front, and you sure as hell can't stick it at fullback.

**Flamers** · 04-05-2011 09:11

Put enough money in goal and it would cover it? The best system? :P

**Romanista1994** · 04-05-2011 09:57

Good league campaign and you've brought in some stunning players this year who could make the difference in the CL.

Roma finishing 17th, however is

.

**SnakeXe** · 04-05-2011 10:48

Originally Posted by Flamers

Put enough money in goal and it would cover it? The best system? :P

Well I'm sure if that was possible Man City would have done it already

Originally Posted by Romanista1994

Good league campaign and you've brought in some stunning players this year who could make the difference in the CL.

Roma finishing 17th, however is

.

I really don't know what's happened to them. They had an absolutely brilliant right-winger come through the academy who they sold off for £35m or so, so hopefully they'll use that money to rebuild the squad a bit. Their manager insists on playing 4-2-4 though, which is okay if you have excellent players, but if not you're asking for trouble.

**crouchaldinho** · 04-05-2011 13:33

So, switching to two strikers this season then SnakeXe, or am I misreading your summary above?

**Romanista1994** · 04-05-2011 15:57

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

Well I'm sure if that was possible Man City would have done it already

I really don't know what's happened to them. They had an absolutely brilliant right-winger come through the academy who they sold off for £35m or so, so hopefully they'll use that money to rebuild the squad a bit. Their manager insists on playing 4-2-4 though, which is okay if you have excellent players, but if not you're asking for trouble.

Should have bought the guy, could have been a new Vitone.

I do love playing against teams which use the 4-2-4, the scorelines generally tend to be amusing.

**SnakeXe** · 04-05-2011 18:23

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

So, switching to two strikers this season then SnakeXe, or am I misreading your summary above?

Looking at switching to two strikers for games against lower to mid table sides that play four at the back (three at the back means a lone striker is usually best of course). I did it in a few games last season, and it seemed effective, and with Vitor Goncalves I have a nice pairing of him and Marquinhos Parana to give Marco Antonio a rest.

Originally Posted by Romanista1994

Should have bought the guy, could have been a new Vitone.

I do love playing against teams which use the 4-2-4, the scorelines generally tend to be amusing.

I agreed a fee with Roma last summer, but he wanted stupid wages which I wasn't prepared to give. He then joined CSKA Moscow in January for the wages I was offering in the summer. Bizarre!

**SnakeXe** · 05-05-2011 22:38

Look what came in the post today:

**crouchaldinho** · 05-05-2011 23:03

Quality!

How much did that set you back?

Where did you buy it etc.?

Care to help me find a Hellas Verona one!

**Flamers** · 05-05-2011 23:04

I have one word: ebay

**crouchaldinho** · 05-05-2011 23:21

Maybe a pair of these for Mrs Crouchaldinho:

**Nobby_McDonald** · 06-05-2011 00:12

I noticed you don't have a photo of those pants on a real woman.

**Flamers** · 06-05-2011 00:13

Oh he has those, they are just kept secret :P

**SnakeXe** · 06-05-2011 09:41

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

Quality!

How much did that set you back?

Where did you buy it etc.?

Care to help me find a Hellas Verona one!

It was this one off ebay - the 08/09 third kit, but the only one I could find! As you can see, a bargain at £10.99 plus P&P

Couldn't find any Hellas shirts with a quick ebay/Google search... looks like you'll be buying those pants, eh?

I did find this, though, which I thought was quite cool!

**crouchaldinho** · 06-05-2011 13:29

Originally Posted by Nobby_McDonald

I noticed you don't have a photo of those pants on a real woman.

Originally Posted by Flamers

Oh he has those, they are just kept secret :P

Precisely.

**crouchaldinho** · 06-05-2011 13:32

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

It was this one off ebay - the 08/09 third kit, but the only one I could find! As you can see, a bargain at £10.99 plus P&P

Nice one! Every Hellas shirt I find costs £50+ without even adding on the postage. I can't bring myself to spend that much on a shirt!

Couldn't find any Hellas shirts with a quick ebay/Google search... looks like you'll be buying those pants, eh?

Yeah!

I couldn't find any on Ebay. It's been like that for a while.

It's a shame because the new tops are awesome looking as well:

Anyway, I bet you'll be wearing the special Messina shirt whilst managing them now on FM11?

**Flamers** · 06-05-2011 13:44

At least you can find information about your clubs...

**SnakeXe** · 06-05-2011 17:34

Originally Posted by crouchaldinho

It's a shame because the new tops are awesome looking as well:

[Shirts pic]

They're gorgeous! I love shirts with no sponsor, they look so much better

Anyway, I bet you'll be wearing the special Messina shirt whilst managing them now on FM11?

Might have to save it for the big games, or it'll get a bit smelly

Chin up, Flamers, least you can go bowling at your club!

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