FM12 Big Euro Nation: Small Club to Big Club Challenge

[el sid]

End of Season Update - 2013/2014 - TuS Koblenz

League:
Media Prediction - 17th
Actual Position - 1st - Graph


The season started on a disasterous note, as the chairman went over my head and sold Olivier Roussel to Leverkusen for just 1.7m. Since Roussel was one of the best players of last season, this meant someone else really had to step up. And step up 3 of them did. Patrice Millet, Denis Alibec and Antonio Cinquegrana contributed 56 goals and 46 assists between themselves, making them one of the best front 3's in the division. Hoffenheim were very strong in the start of the season, but suffered a minor blip in form when we overtook them and held on to the top position in the league, securing back to back promotions!


German Cup - knocked out in the second round


Transfers


Main Players:
Patrice Millet
Denis Alibec
Antonio Cinquegrana
Mads Laudrup
Niclas Heimann
Lubomir le Giang


Previous Season Aims:
Do not get relegated - Check
Do not sell Millet, Roussel, or Laudrup - Failed
Make an overall transfer profit - Check


Next Season Aims:
Do not get relegated
Do not sell Millet
4th round of the German Cup

  Season  |  Club        |   League                |  Position  |  Comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/2013 | TuS Koblenz  | German Third Division   |    1st     | Champions and Promoted!
2013/2014 | TuS Koblenz  | German Second Division  |    1st     | Champions and Promoted!

I've also arranged for these players to join the club next season!

Igor Nenadic
Simon Benson

[Amethyst21]

SV Wilhelmshaven Season Report 2016-2017

Our first season in the Bundesliga turned out to be a successful one as the youngsters that got us promoted from the 2.Bundesliga made the step up with ease. It took about 10 games for the team to settle into the season, but from there on we looked like we clearly belonged amongst the big boys. A 2-1 comeback victory in the final fixture against HSV secured 6th in the table and a favourable result in the German cup meant that not only did we survive our first season, we'd be competing in the Euro cup in the next! A great season overall that saw me named manager of the year for the 2nd year running.

League: Leverkusen absolutely ran away with the title, they were almost unbeatable. I was memorably able to get a result against Bayern but realistically the sides ahead of us are miles better than us. The other mid table teams around us were poor, but we rode our luck on more than one occassion. I don't think we can achieve as high as 6th next year because of that.
We spent, far, far less than the other teams in the Bundesliga


Cup: Beat Bundesliga side Mainz before crashing out to Schalke in the 3rd round.

Key Players
Goalkeeper:
Farkas - In the preseason our German keeper Sippel had his minimum release clause met so we needed to search for a replacemnent. Farkas came in and was really good, though he frustratingly spills the ball at the worst times. I'm working on his handling but it has not improved, though it is his only real weakness.

Defenders:
Andersen - Young Dane that competes for the left back spot with Musil and is also decent cover at left wing
Ediev - The Russian proved to be the best partner for Ivanildo this year. A spot that needs to be upgraded next year
Ivanildo - Our towering Brazilian/American was an absolute beast this year. He is awesome. Once he learns German, I'll probably make him captain.
Martinovic - Martinovic has been a fixture at right back since his arrival 3 years ago. Don't see that changing anytime soon.
Musil - Our Czech left back offers little going forward but is reliable in defence, will compete with Andersen for a starting spot.

Midfielders:
Falah - Was available on a free after his Djurgarden contract expired. Proved to be a great signing as it allowed me to move Vieira further forward.
Jurco - I feel like I was finally able to see the best of Jurco this year. Not an everyday player but a nice threat off the bench.
Tomasevic - Not a great season from the Croatian. Will get his chances next year to prove he can play at the level.
Vieira - Labelled the next Gilberto Silva I broke the wage budget to resign him, but he is absolute class. Equally able to play as a defensive midfielder or an attacking threat, he is our top player. Benfica and Porto have been sniffing around him, but his new contract should keep him happy in Germany.
Vila - Each season I think will be his last at Wilhelmshaven I get proven wrong. I'm going to bring someone in to compete with him, but if Vila keeps scoring, it will be hard to replace him
Worn - The signing of the season, Worn is everything you want from a winger, 5 MoM performances speak for themselves. The big clubs are sniffing around him, I'd love to keep him.

Forwards:
Englezou - A Cypriot that was purchased for 500k, he provided a good return of 8 goals. Good value for money and provides a pacy option up top
Zoidze - The big Georgian with the odd name was top goalscorer for the club with 9. He misses a boatload of chances it seems. Still has amazing talent for a 20 year old, and Man U were enquiring about him. I'd like more goals out of him to be perfectly honest.

The Homegrown talent: Wagner spent the season at FSV Frankfurt in the 2.Bundesliga. With us being in the Euro Cup next year, i'm going to keep him at Wilhelmshaven and have him play a bunch of European games in order to keep him progressing.
Facilities - The board is upgrading capacity on our stadium as well as improving the youth facilities. Slowly but surely our facilities are catching up to our progress as a club
Transfers - Didn't spend a ton, as you can see Sippel left near the start of the season which caused the panic buy of Farkas...turned out okay in the end.
Finances - The prize money from the Bundesliga is helpful. The club has 8 million pounds of debt but at this point it is merely a drop in the bucket.

Next season: Would settle for mid table as having overachieved plus being in Europe will test the squad depth and talent. There should be money to upgrade the squad, and improvements need to be made to the defence. In general, I'd like to keep most of the squad together as I feel that it could be the core of a team that could push for a champions league place

[Macshimmy]

Has anyone managed to get a parent club?

Have got Dundee United as my parent for Elgin, was delighted as they are vastly overated by FM for some reason, lots of great kids
I'm going to try to steal.

[danger_mouse]

^^^ I cant seem to get one either, ive tryed for two and a half season's now and still no luck, although they do agree to a parent club but they just cant find one.

[Britrock]

^^^ I cant seem to get one either, ive tryed for two and a half season's now and still no luck, although they do agree to a parent club but they just cant find one.

Yep, that's exactly the same message that I get. They must be really bad at selling the clubs potential, don't they know we'll be winning the European cup inside the next 10 years (hopefully...)?

[rlipscombe]

Thanks el sid and almondo... still can't quite believe we did it to be honest...
duccio - good luck with Venezia. i have a soft spot for them so make sure you make it a success!!
el sid - awesome stuff... flying through the leagues!! hattrick???
Amethyst21 - great first season there mate... good luck in Europe next season.

[danger_mouse]

Yep, that's exactly the same message that I get. They must be really bad at selling the clubs potential, don't they know we'll be winning the European cup inside the next 10 years (hopefully...)?

Haha, you would think they should know by now

[G-Wiz]

Dinamo Stavropol - 2013/2014 - End of Season Review

Manager Profile
Team Information

Predicted Position: 20th
Actual Position: 10th
Average Attendance: 3634
Season Ticket Holders: 1272

With no money to spend, this was yet another season of wheeling and dealing, which turned out ok, but resulted in me agreeing to sell one of my big strikers (Beglaryan) because the money on offer was just too good to turn down. As it stands, we are still about 300k in the red, hopefully some investment may come my way soon
A few of the more notable performers of the season were as follows:

GK

Vyacheslav Bazilevych - continues to improve, keeping more clean sheets and conceding less goals than the previous season

DEF

Constantin Miselaricu - big man brought in to compete with the ageing Magkeev, however due to the 3 foreigners rule found himself rotated a bit more than i wouldve liked

Vladimir Paskayants - another solid season for the big man, scored a few from corners

Marat Magkeev - another decent season, but is attracting some interest from elsewhere and may be moved on

Alexey Muldarov - due to the rapid decline in ability of my first choice RB Pankov, this man was brought in on a free

Alexey Syropyatov - first choice LB, another ageing player who will need to replaced before he declines too much

MID

Alexey Yedunov - other CM who is pretty hard to budge from first team

Amir Kashiev - one of the better performers in holding midfield role, highly rated by staff and other teams apparently

Alim Mikheev - 5 goals and 6 assists, decent return from one of the first names on the teamsheet

Eric Ndjock - another victim of the 3 foreigner rule, along with serious injury, featured a lot less than i wouldve liked, may be the next highly rated player to be sold to keep the club afloat

Andrey Pazin - brought in during the mid-season transfer window, and made an impact with a few goals, handy competition for my wingers

ATT

Yuriy Sarasek - fantastic season for the youngster, definitely player of the year in my eyes, scoring an impressive 18 goals from ST/LW positions, 3rd top scorer in the league. just hope i can hold onto him

Stanislav Boichuk - chipped in with 10 goals this season, surprising considering he couldnt finish his dinner half the time, but a regular squad member

Marek Kuzma - again switched between up front and the wing, solid but less of an impact than last season

Top Scorer - Yuriy Sarasek - 18 goals
Highest Average Rating - Andrey Pazin - 7.38
Fans Player of The Year - Yuriy Sarasek

So we made a significant improvement in the league, but not enough to press for a playoff place. I now fear that players are going to continue to come and go, and we'll struggle to find any consistency as we did at the start of the season. We really need to push on this season or i can really see myself failing this challenge.

On another note, while happy with our improved performance in the league, i am slightly concerned about the discipline the players are showing on the pitch. We finished the league season with 87 bookings and 6 red cards, the second worst record in the league! Not something ive ever had a problem with in previous games, but something i really need to try and combat before it costs us anymore points and games

Season          Division                    Position       Achievements
2012/2013       Russian First Division      15th	   Safety   
2013/2014	Russian First Division	    10th

[rlipscombe]

congrats on the improved performance G-Wiz. i feel your pain in wondering if you will make the grade but keep plugging away and you'll make it i'm sure.

[duccio]

Thanks rlipscombe, I'll do my best with Venezia. I will post something a bit more extensive about my exploits in Venice tomorrow (I hope), but here is my manager. I have already pretty much assembled my squad for the season, and my avg age is the lowest in the league and avg wage the highest (though wage expenditure probably isn't up there).

In FM Venezia have Italian chairman, but I read online that IRL they have been taken over by a businessman from Russia. He is supposedly going to invest hefty sums of money and build a new high tech stadium with capacity for 30000 spectators. I wonder if he will put his money where his mouth is.

[G-Wiz]

thanks rlipscombe...its gonna be a struggle to keep hold of some of my players, Sarasek for example is demanding a new contract and isnt budging on his demands, has a year left on his current deal, but i cant meet his demands for a new contract, and the board wont give me any kind of budget increase, so i fear this may be my last season with him leading the line...fingers crossed some finance comes my way sooner rather than later

[rlipscombe]

Thanks rlipscombe, I'll do my best with Venezia. I will post something a bit more extensive about my exploits in Venice tomorrow (I hope), but here is my manager. I have already pretty much assembled my squad for the season, and my avg age is the lowest in the league and avg wage the highest (though wage expenditure probably isn't up there).

In FM Venezia have Italian chairman, but I read online that IRL they have been taken over by a businessman from Russia. He is supposedly going to invest hefty sums of money and build a new high tech stadium with capacity for 30000 spectators. I wonder if he will put his money where his mouth is.

That would be interesting to see... i can remember watching Venezia in Serie A on TV in the 90's and that was why i took over them on previous games...

[Britrock]

That would be interesting to see... i can remember watching Venezia in Serie A on TV in the 90's and that was why i took over them on previous games...

I know they've gone bankrupt and started over again, but didn't they used to play in black and green stripes? I always used to think that was a cool kit.

[berty1978]

Aventure française de Berty Bassett
La Vitréenne FC - 2020/21 (French Ligue 1)

Results1
Results2
Results3

League - Graph

It was a very shaky start to our Ligue 1 campaign as we lost 3-0 at Lille, though we won 4-1 at home to LEMANS to kickstart our season. We were very inconsistant most of the season as our away record was better than home for much of the season. We spent a long time in the top 6 but our end of season form was poor and finished a disappointing 9th in the end.

Coupe de la Ligue - Semi-Finals

After struggling past Calais in the 3rd round on penalties we got a good 2-1 win against Toulouse. An away draw at Marseille and went 1-0 down and I thought we were out but we came back to win 2-1. Our lucky cup draws continued as we were away to Lyon in the Semis, not very lucky at all as they scored a controversial penalty in extra time to win 1-0.

French Cup - Semi-Finals

We had a relatively easy run to the semis apart from beating Lille 2-0 away from home in the Quarters. I felt the Semi was winnable against LEMANS, but it was one too many away ties (5 out of 5 were away) as we lost 1-0. LEMANS went on to win the cup and finish 5th in the league so it wasn't that bad.

Transfers - Picked up some bargains during the season, Fossati signed on a free and never really worked for us so sold him in January for £2.1m. Patrick David loks a snip at £1m and Silva got runner up in the Ligue 1 signing of the season. Roberto will be a star for years to come so another bargain at £2.1m. Christoph Hien was making trouble wanting to move to a bigger club so had to sell.


Squad -
Squad Depth -
Best XI - Best XI overall

The players

Keepers:

Lasse Fischer

Defenders:

Roberto
Soren Kjaersgaard
Pablo Herrera
Michael Nielsen
Marius Ion
Francis Aman

Midfielders:

Thomas Nielsen
Robert Barth
Pedro
Rafael
Narcisse Lepaye
Martin Schulz
Kouadio Kouadio

Strikers:

Jean-Jacques Angan
André Silva
Patrick David
Christoph Hien


Finances

In other news:
We were awarded the 'best team in the Ligue 1'. The board have also agreed to improve youth and training facilities again , at this rate we'll have top facilities soon enough.

 Season  |  League   | Position |    Cup     |Coupe de la Ligue| Achievements  |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2012/13 | National  |   10th   | 7th Round  |                 | Overachievers |
 2013/14 | National  |   6th    | 6th Round  |                 |               |
 2014/15 | National  |   6th    | 7th Round  |                 |               |
 2015/16 | National  |   3rd    | 8th Round  |                 | Promotion     |
 2016/17 | Ligue 2   |   14th   | 10th round |   1st round     | Survived      |
 2017/18 | Ligue 2   |   7th    | 11th round |   3rd round     | Overachievers |
 2018/19 | Ligue 2   |   9th    | 7th round  |   1st round     |               |
 2019/20 | Ligue 2   |   2nd    | 11th round |   3rd round     | Promotion     |
 2020/21 | Ligue 1   |   9th    | Semi-Final |   Semi-Final    |               |

[el sid]

great first season in ligue 1 berty

[Britrock]

Right, Italian experts, what the hell is the issue with the Coppa Italia? I wasn't entered in my first season, I was in it last year but I'm not in it this year? There are teams outside of serie c2 that are in it though? Que? Anyone care to explain the entry requirements to me because I have no idea...

[Almondo]

el sid- Congrats on the promotion and winning the league, especially when the media wrote you off.
Amethyst21 - Great first season in the Bundesliga, staying up in the first year in the top division is always tough but you did it easily and got European football to boot.
G-wiz - A good season of improvement. Sarasek looks to be a cracking player for you.
Berty - A great mid table finish for you there.

[G-Wiz]

so Sarasek is having a storming start to the season, scoring a total of 3 goals in the Russian Cup 5th and 6th round victories, and adding 8 goals!! in my first pre-season friendly...gonna be hard to keep hold of him me thinks

[G-Wiz]

great pre-season form continues with a 1-0 victory over Zenit! is this really the same team who struggled at times last season...amazed by the number of chances we created...maybe things are looking up

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Congrats on the promotion Rlipscombe, hopefully you can showcase your skills in the Bundesliga II and set the German league on notice.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Right, Italian experts, what the hell is the issue with the Coppa Italia? I wasn't entered in my first season, I was in it last year but I'm not in it this year? There are teams outside of serie c2 that are in it though? Que? Anyone care to explain the entry requirements to me because I have no idea...

I believe it is something to do with league finish in the Serie C2, but some teams from Serie D get in as well...I can't remember the exact rules.
Did you finish lower than last year?

[PRDH]

Lusitânia Açores 2018/19 Season Summary

Finances

Key figure - £2,325,821 | Summary

A good yeah for the team's coffers, Europe combined with player sales led to a decent profit and a healthy bank balance. Some of which will be going on an improvement to the club's youth facilities.

Transfers | 15 In (£230K), 12 Out (£2.7m)

My transfer fee paid out this season. It was a replacement for last season's star Davi. It wasn't altogether successful as he didn't manage to break into the first team. He's off again, no profit, no loss.

League

League | Graph

I wanted to make sure I got near last season's excellent performance. It started well, good results kept me in touch with Porto at the top. I realistically knew it wouldn't last and it didn't. I did however keep around the top and was always likely to get a European place again, vital if I was to continue the club's financial improvement and so improve the infrastructure that will be vital as I look to push on. In the end we finished 4th, one position down on last season (this marks the first time so far that I have not broken my highest league finish record), but still pretty good. A result to continue to build on.

I don't think I'm ready to push on for the title, or even Champion's League yet. I'm simply not consistent enough. In one-off games I can beat the big guys with wins over both Sporting and Porto this season, however, over the season they just have more strength.

Cup

Taca de Portugal | Final | A loss in the final to Porto.

League Cup | Semi-final | Another loss to Porto.

Europe | Group Stage

Reasonably pleased with my performance in Europe. I think myself unlucky to miss out on progressing from the group. We conceded some late goals and with only one point preventing us, I'd hope to at least equal this performance next time round.

Squad | Overview

Goalkeepers | Another season without much change here.

Cabecinha - Undisputed number 1 at the club, he's a decent player, not concerned with replacing him.

Mariyan Marinov - Reliable back up, I'm letting him leave to get some first-team football.

Defenders | Identified this section as the weakest last season and I went some way to improving it.

Felix Krause - Another good season for the young German. He's been here a remarkably long time considering his age. New competition is arriving next year - exciting!

Leandrinho - Another to have new competition next season. It'll be a close fought battle.

Polegar - Chairman stepped in here, and he's off at the end of the season. It's a pity, but I've been wondering whether I should replace him for a couple of seasons now.

Fabio Raimondi - He'll be disappointed about his lack of playing time, but he's young and he's got the talent to break through.

Alexey Semenov - Instantly instated as Krause's partner in the heart of defence. He performed well and has attracted interest from elsewhere. I'll fight for him. He's a talented guy.

Midfielders | A strong section of the team.

Eduard Borodin - Signed a new contract. Good for the team, he's had another excellent season in the heart of the midfield.

Jules Celerier - Back-up left winger at the start of the season. Nothing more. I'll be looking to move him on at the end of the season.

Dias - First choice left winger, been with us a while and he's not looking like getting replaced any time soon.

Dirk Hentschel - Stole Kozak's place. He's got an exciting future.

Haris Kozak - Has been a good player for us, but I'm afraid his time is up. Another I'll look to move on this summer.

Raphael Leclerc - Brought in from the legendary Clairefontaine academy, he's pushed Rodriguez hard.

Jorge Munoz - Exciting 17-year-old midfielder, I foresee an excellent future for this young Chilean attacking midfielder.

Jorge Rodriguez - The man I've had my eye on for so long finally joined. He didn't settle particularly well, but he has the talent to succeed and showed signs of improving towards the end of the season. He is still very young.

Thiago - Exciting back-up/competition/the future of the left wing.

Yuriy Voznyuk - Back up for Borodin. Performed adequately when called upon.

Forwards | I thought we might struggle this season after seeing Davi leave, we didn't.

Venizelos Chrysanthou - The man to replace Davi alongside Henrique. He lacks a bit of Davi's class but the Cypriot is young and is an excellent goal-scorer.

Henrique - Captain, talisman and star Henrique continues to play excellently.

Ivan Poljak - Back up striker, he looks better than he seems to be.

Aims For This Season

1/ - I think next season is going to be a struggle, not in terms of relegation but in terms of matching this season's results. I'd be happy with a position roughly similar, I'm thinking Europe again. Aiming somewhere between 3rd and 6th. - Yup. A slight drop, but decent performances and we coped without Davi.

Aims For Next Season

1/ Continue to challenge at the right end of the table. Looking at 3rd-6th again.
2/ Sustained good results against the 'big three'.
3/ I'd like to get my hands on a proper cup. It looks like I'll have to get past Porto in one of them (I've beaten them once) or hope for a lucky draw.

Story So Far...

Season		League			Position		Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13		Second Division - South	12th			Avoided Relegation (just)
2013/14		Second Division - South 1st			Promoted!
2014/15		Second League		14th			Avoided Relegation
2015/16		Second League		2nd			Promoted!
2016/17		Premier League		13th			Avoided Relegation
2017/18		Premier League		3rd			Qualified for Europa League
2018/19		Premier League		4th			Europa League again

Previous Updates

12/13
13/14
14/15
15/16
16/17
17/18

[Andy Sava]

Thanks vikeologist for the answer. Sadly i am hardly finding time to play FM this year due to work schedule

Congrats to all you guys for your great seasons

[Britrock]

I believe it is something to do with league finish in the Serie C2, but some teams from Serie D get in as well...I can't remember the exact rules.Did you finish lower than last year?

I finished 2nd in c2 and got in the next season, then I finished 11th in c1 and didn't get in. :s I could do with the prize money really, although it seems a bit weird that almost everyone enters the qualification rounds. It's one weird competition all round lol

[Andy Sava]

Managed to get my wages 10k over my budget, seems like this will be another bad season from a financial point of view for me

[rlipscombe]

Congrats on the promotion Rlipscombe, hopefully you can showcase your skills in the Bundesliga II and set the German league on notice.

cheers. not overly enjoying the season starting mid-july as still finalising plans. this season is all about survival both on the pitch and financially...

[Almondo]

Peña Sport FC season review 2018/19

League, Past Positions, Finances, transfers

League

After getting off to a bad start which was my own fault as I fell foul of the 3 non european rule which meant I had to choose not to register Eduardo leaving me without my top scorer from last season. however even without that we had a great season what with managing to beat Real Madrid 3-1 and getting 2 0-0 draws against Barcelona meaning we only conceeded two goals against the big 2 this season as Real beat us 1-0 in the return game. Players such as Francisco Manuel Cruz stepped up and put in some great performances throughout the season. However the push on came with the signing of Nicolas Lopez in January who was great for us before getting injured close to the end of the season. His goals helped us to our final position of


Finances

A decent year for our finances. The Loans for the new stadium and the repayments shouldn't eat into our profits too much.

Cup
bit of a change here, will just be showing the result after the 2nd leg with the scorers in both legs listed. (H)=home, (A)=away.

4th Round vs Deportivo La Coruna - 3-1 aggregate win Scorers: (H) Dumont, (A) Eduardo, Pérez Postigo
5th Round vs Villarreal - 2-1 aggregate win Scorers: (A) Cruz, Pérez Postigo
Quarter Final Vs Real Zaragoza - 2-2 on Aggregate, won on Penalties Scorers: (H) Own Goal, (A) Fusaro
Semi Final vs osasuna - 4-2 aggregate win Scorers: (H) Cruz, (A) Cruz, Dumont, Lopez
Final vs Athletico Madrid - 2-1 win Scorer: Cruz (2)

A great run here and to beat Athletico in the final is a great feeling especially with a former Athletico player in the squad as well.


A piece of good news from the new board is that the have decide to Build a new Stadium. This is going to be a 25,000 plus seater.


Squad


GK's

Legros - Another good year for the 'Keeper. I keep having to offer him a new contract to fend off interest from other clubs.

Albistegi - The backup keeper. Promoted from the under 19's squad as I didn't think about the position really, won't be backing up Legros next season.


Defenders

Nyanda - The right back had another good year. Could be great for years to come.

Fusaro - Was signed before Nenê was sold. He came straight into the side and was an automatic first choice alongside either Duque or Kverkvelia.

Duque - Played well whoever he was alongside in the centre of defence.

Drachmann - The left back played so well for us he even gained his first senior Denmark cap.

Bidari - Didn't play a lot of games and I doubt he'll be with us next season.

Kverkvelia - Was signed as a starter but unfortunately spent the first half of the season injured and as such didn't play as much as I wanted although this changed in the second half of the season.

Felipe - Played mainly as a sub although he did play most of January in the first team due to the ACN which took Nyanda out of the side.

Herrera - Can't push Drachmann out of the side and is going to be a back up for years to come.


Midfielders

Alvarez - Spent a couple of months on the shelf and took the final Foreigner spot off Eduardo, he proved he was worth it though with his performances dow the right.

Allen - Bossed the midfield and even though he is young will probably take the captaincy from Weuts next season.

Koke - Came in from Athletico and had a great partnership with Allen which was capped with the cup win over them in the final.

Roland - Keeps proving he is a good left winger with his performances down that side of the pitch.

Kortina - Only Played in eight games and I don't think he'll play in many more next season.

Etxebarria - Played well during the first half of the season especially with Diego Puente injured.

Diego Puente - Rarely played due to just not being able to push Etxebarria and Koke out of the line up. Was injured early in the season though.

Dumont - Spent a lot of time on th ebench but did play his share of games when Alvarez was injured.

Del Rio - Primarily a back up but proved he could be a starter if Roland wasn't in front of him when he played.


Strikers

Cruz - The young striker played fairly well although he blossomed more when López came in.

López - Came in during January after Valencia offered him to clubs. Has really solved my goal scoring problem by cracking them in. Has a fantastic return and has already paid off his transfer fee really.

Pérez Postigo - Played pretty well when he came on and was better than last year.

Weuts - Didn't really step up like I wanted and I really think he's playing at a level too high for him although it could be his age. Will most probably be a back up next season.

Season     |  Division           | League Position  |   Copa Del Rey  |       Europe       |    Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13    | 2nd Division B2     |      12th        |      N/A        |        N/A         |      Stayed up
2013/14    | 2nd Division B2     |      1st         |      N/A        |        N/A         |Champions and Promotion
2014/15    | Liga Adelante       |      12th        |     2nd RD      |        N/A         |      Stayed up
2015/16    | Liga Adelante       |      4th         |     4th RD      |        N/A         |      Playoffs
2016/17    | Liga Adelante       |      1st         |     5th RD      |        N/A         |Champions and Promotion
2017/18    |   Liga BBVA         |      11th        |  Quarter Final  |        N/A         |      Stayed up
2018/19    |   Liga BBVA         |      5th         |    Winners      |        N/A         |Cup winners and European qualification

The 100 Club

This section will be for those player who gain over 100 appearances and/or goals for the club while under my management. this is League and cup competitions.

Player             |   Apps   |     Goals     | Seasons between |     Note
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Javi Jimenez       |   101    |       3       |   2012-2015     |    Retired
Dolly Menga        |   135    |      60       |   2012-2016     |  sold by board
Igotz Garde        |   143    |      13       |  2012-Present   |    Retired
Kurt Weuts         |   250    |     102       |  2013-Present   |
Txitxo             |   108    |       2       |   2012-2016     |    Retired
Bidari             |   206    |      24       |  2013-Present   |
Yeray Soto         |   108    |       0       |   2012-2016     |    Retired
Juanma             |   165    |       7       |   2012-2018     | Retired now a scout
Carlos Garde       |   152    |      10       |   2012-2017     |Wouldn't sign new contract
Jorgito            |   119    |      12       |   2014-2017     |Wouldn't sign new contract
Felipe             |   170    |       1       |  2014-Present   |
Nacho Gómez        |   119    |      13       |   2013-2017     |Wouldn't sign new contract      
Alejo Diego Puente |   154    |      15       |  2013-Present   |
Nenê               |   137    |      17       |   2014-2018     |Sold to Zenit for £6.25 million
Carl Allen         |   171    |      27       |  2015-Present   |
Sten Drachmann     |   159    |       0       |  2015-Present   |
Óscar Kortina      |   115    |      12       |  2012-Present   | 
Jérémy Roland      |   155    |      13       |  2015-Present   |
Mathias Legros     |   131    |       0       |  2016-Present   | 
Jean-Jacques Dumont|   110    |      23       |  2016-Present   |

Previous Years

2012/13
2013/14
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18

[Amethyst21]

Great 2nd season in the top flight with a cup win to top it off!
Lopez looks like a real bargain, 17 goals in 19 appearances is impressive, I bet Valencia regrets selling him now!

[Almondo]

Cheers Amethyst. The season was a great one for me. Lopez is a great bargain really especially for less than a million. I hope they regret selling him.

[jimbowmanuk]

After some failed attepmts at Gundo's challenge I have decided to go for this one instead

Jim Bowman has taken over at newly promoted Arzanese in the Italian Serie C2/B, An unknown manager but with a decent looking squad not to mention having staff already in place, the media prediction of 17th(out of 21 teams) looks well within our means.

[Amethyst21]

SV Wilhelmshaven Season Report 2016-2017

This was the second season in the Bundesliga for the club. It was also the first for the club in Europe. It turned out to be quite the successful season for Wilhelmshaven!

League: A good solid season in the top flight. Competing in Europe meant that we had many uneven performances, after rotating the squad. Nonetheless we deserved this position fully. We may have been able to catch Leverkusen for 6th, but we were competing on to many fronts to make that a priority. Our second half of the season was far better than the first which has become a bit of a trend for the club, so its up to me to get the club off to a good start if we are to move up the table and challenge the top 3. However the top clubs are spending miles more than us

Cup: We crashed out pathetically to Dusseldorf in the second round. I played a decent squad and Dusseldorf absolutely played us off the park. Losing to a 3rd division club is not exactly what I had in mind.

Europe: This is where the club shone. Though it almost was not, as we lost the first game to Vaduz of all teams! We were able to overcome the mighty Lichtenstein club which started our remarkable run. In the group stage we got Malaga, Monaco and Benfica, and not only did we survive this group of death, we managed to win it! In the knockout phase we played some really big opponents including Bayern Munich, Tottenham and Malaga, yet we overcame them all (with a fair share of luck truth be told). In the final it would be a familiar opponent in Schalke. We played our tough defending, counter attacking style which produced a rather dull game that went to a penalty shootout. In the shootout, we held our nerve and converted all of our spot kicks while Schalke missed twice and thus we lifted the cup! A proud moment for Wilhelmshaven getting their first ever European trophy in their first season of competing in Europe. This also guaranteed us a spot in the Euro Cup next year, which is a mixed blessing as it brings the club prestige, but it also weakens us on the domestic front, but lets not complain about winning trophies!

Squad:
Keepers:
Farkas - 11 clean sheets in Europe speaks for itself. An absolutely brilliant shot stopper he has saved us on numerous occasions.
Lindstrom - The only reason Farkas doesn`t start every game. Asked for more first team playing time and I was loathe to lose such a prospect so he played in many league games, where he performed well.

Defenders:
Andersen - The dane produced a solid season, he's a more attacking option than his competition at left back, Musil.
Bell - I knew after last season that we'd have to improve at the back and Bell was key to our improvement. A bargain for 2.8 million.
Dembele - Came in on a free in January and played well. He's the 3rd choice in central defence, but that shows the growing depth of the squad.
Ediev - Has been a good servant for the club, but he's not good enough now, will be moved on
Ivanildo - The big Brazilian turned in another quality season. He has been called up by the US for the World Cup, which is a bit strange as he`s never played for an American team, was born in Brazil and doesn`t even speak english!
Martinovic - Another season of strength for Martinovic
Musil - First choice left back, doesn`t offer much going forward but is great in defence
Perrone - The Argentine is a nice prospect and played well in his first season

Midfielders:
Bogovic - A couple of injuries have derailed Bogovic but he's a nice squad player.
Falah - Possibly the star of the season, the Swedish international proved that any way you want to play him in midfield, he would excel. Key to the club.
Fofana - Occasionally genius, but more often the not just average it was a decent season for Fofana but I think there is more to come from him
Jansen - Though we probably didn`t need more midfielders, I couldn`t resist this Norwegian available on a free. Only 19 and looks a real nice prospect.
Jurco - Club Captain, though that seemed to bring his performances down, probably will be nothing more than a squad player though a decent one at that
Tomasevic - Solid season from the Croatian
Uzun - Look an actual German! Not a great season from him
Vieira - The player that was labelled the next Gilberto Silva turned out a lot like him. He is awesome.
Vila - An old fart in this young squad, he continues to perform. He`s cheap, and doesn`t mind coming off the bench so will be kept.
Wagner - The homegrown prospect, I keep loaning him to get him playing time but he`s not really developing. Sigh.
Worn - When he is on, he is unplayable, a great young left winger. 10 goals meant he was our second top scorer.

Forwards:
Englezou - The Cypriot is a nice player, but he's not exactly the poacher I envisioned when I bought him. Still pops up with key goals from time to time
Mendicino - I brought him in on loan in January just to have a player to take the pressure off my main strikers. He delivered 5 goals in 6 starts, so maybe a permanent move is on the cards
Rakels - Plays well in limited time, might be moved on in the summer
Zoidze - Top scorer but never prolific, I know he`s a good player but I don`t think he`ll ever be a 15-20 goal scorer

Facilities - Ever improving. Our stadium now fits 17k though it`s never been sold out.
Finances - Prize money is nice
Transfers

Next season - I think the biggest need for the club is a top striker so that`s what I will be searching for, otherwise I`m going to be trying to keep my talented youngsters for another run at the Euro Cup.

[rlipscombe]

welcome jimbowmanuk. good luck in Italy.
Amethyst21 - wow!! awesome stuff mate - to win in your debut european season is fantastic. good luck in the league push next season.
Almondo - well done on the cup win. good luck next season.

[G-Wiz]

some great progress being made in this challenge, well done Amethyst21 and Almondo...hopefully im not gonna be left too far behind, i think ive managed to bring in some players who really add to the quality of the squad, but also lost a few players in the process...new season is underway and looking a bit more promising (fingers crossed!!)

[rlipscombe]

sounds promising G-Wiz. fingers crossed for you. good luck.

[PRDH]

That's pretty impressive Andy Sava!

[berty1978]

Excellent progress Amethyst21, in Europe in quick time. Prize money does look very nice in Germany, might give there a go sometime.
Great second season in Liga BBVA Almondo.
Congrats on qualifying for Europe again PRDH.

[PRDH]

Welcome to the Portuguese Supertaca. I'm not sure why I'm in it, but I'm not going to complain. Unsurprisingly given their recent dominance of Portugal I'll be facing Porto. A team I, and everyone else in the country, have real trouble getting a result against.

Kick off

4 mins - New signing Alagic spurns the first chance of the game.
13 mins - Porto's first attempt, a snapshot from the edge of the area, is saved and Lusitania Acores counter, winning a corner. It comes to nothing.
25 mins - Porto take the lead.
41 mins - Porto double the lead. 0-2
45 mins - Porto get a third. 0-3

Half time

THREE DISALLOWED GOALS!! THREE!

Full time - 0-3. Porto win

[berty1978]

Unlucky PRDH, 3 disallowed goals is really a kick in the teeth.

[berty1978]

As usual I'm a season behind, but just finished another and have made the biggest progress yet in any single season. Will try and get the previous season up tomorrow morning.

[PRDH]

As usual I'm a season behind, but just finished another and have made the biggest progress yet in any single season. Will try and get the previous season up tomorrow morning.

Teasing us berty!

In my game, I've just come through my Europe qualifying games against Maribor (I got seeded this time round) and look forward to group games against Dnipro, Monaco and Villarreal. I'm guessing I'll lose to Villarreal, will have close games with Monaco and stand a decent chance of beating Dnipro. Prognosis for qualification? Touch and go!

[G-Wiz]

My main man, Yuriy Sarasek, has just made the announcement i was dreading. My top scorer last season with 18 goals, and with 10 in 11 games already this season, this guy is already among the clubs favoured personnel, and has the potential to be a club legend...i guess my only real hope of keeping hold of him is continuing my current form (sitting top, unbeaten in 12 league games) and maybe if i can keep myself in the promotion places i can tempt him with a new contract, he has rejected every contract offer ive made to date due to the budget restrictions im working under, only way thats going to change is with promotion...fingers crossed

[Ohanzee]

Man this thread is moving at the speed of light. (Sorry if I missed someone)

Amethyst21 - From relegation fighting in the 2nd division, to promotion, to a 6th place in the bundesliga, to a EURO cup win and 8th place. Brilliant stuff! Congrats!
ArranoBeltza - Congrats on two promotion in 3 seasons!
berty1978 - Congrats on promotion after several seasons in L2, well done! Can't wait to hear about your big progress from 9th in L1. Did you go all the way? That would be brilliant!
Charlesbeams - Congrats on 2nd place and getting back into Europe! And on the super cup!
brettney1980 - Two good seasons in Turkey. Good job on Europe through fair play. That'd never happen to me, hehe.
tommy1872 - Where do one begin? Congrats on getting into Europe. Gutted that your save was corrupted. Great job on ggetting back to back promotions with your new club!
TanO - Congrats on the promotion to the top division. Nice steady progress up there.
rlipscombe - Congrats on the promotion! That's a big jump from last season, well done!
vikeologist - Wow, two 2nd places and no promotion. But 2 times qualified to Europe through cups. There'll be books written about this some day!
neushoorn70 - Just 4 wins to little twice in a row. Hope you can push on and get that promotion next season!
Britrock - Congrats on promotion and good job avoiding relegation.
Andy Sava - Congrats on promotion!
LLR - Congrats on promotion! Glad the playoffs went better this time around.
iacovone - Unlucky in playoffs. Next season for sure.
G-Wiz - Steady progress in Russia. It seems to be one of the toughest divisions to start with in this challenge.
toonbalmy87 - Congrats on the promotion and a great first season in the bundesliga!
siLKEAPE - Congrats on the promotion and good luck in the Serie A!
StellaF1 - Congrats on the promotion and a great first season in the Serie A! Brilliant cup win as well!
danger_mouse - Very unlucky in playoffs there. Good luck next season!
Flashman - Good progress in Russia here as well. Sad to see another save game go corrupt. Hope you'll be back eventually!
Almondo - Two good seasons at the top in Spain. Congrats on the cup win and good luck in Europe!
5ergio - Congrats on the promotion!
duccio - Good luck in Venezia. I enjoyed my stay there last year. About their owners, I think the last "big" president, Zamparini left and purchased Palermo taking much of the squad with him in 2002. Much of his frustration was exactly that the council would not let him build a new stadium for Venezia. Hopefully this new owner will have better luck and bring Venezia back to it's former status in real life. And I'm confident you'll do just that in the game.
el sid - Congrats on the promotion!
PRDH - Good season, and good luck in Europe again.

Good luck to new players!!! - Macshimmy, TacticalGenius, Crispypaul, 18Rabbit, gers51, jimbowmanuk

About [*code] tags - It seems the forum no longer support the use of <tab> in these tags. I usually space out my table using tab in notpad and it works if you just post it like that. But if you then go back into your post to edit anything at all it gets screwed up cause the forum has changed your tabs to spaces, and you have to redo the whole table. Probably best to just use spaces instead of tabs to begin with now.

[PRDH]

Has anyone ever seen a player as good as this guy I've just spotted - Jose Felix Vallejo? Came through the Barcelona youth set up. He is the best I've ever seen.

[el sid]

WOW

[berty1978]

Aventure française de Berty Bassett
La Vitréenne FC - 2021/22 (French Ligue 1)

Results1
Results2
Results3

League -

Graph

We made a decent start to the season, obviously the 3-0 win at home to Lyon being the highlight. That proved a bit of a blessing in disguise as we were way too inconsistant to mount a challenge for the top 3, but was so disappointed in losing 4th position and a place in Europe in the last game as we lost narrowly at Lyon. The 5th placed team had no European entry this season due to the fact the two cups were not won by any of the top 4.

Coupe de la Ligue - 4th round

Poor showing in the League cup this season as we went out 1-0 at home to Bordeaux in the 4th round after beating Brest 3-0 in the 3rd.

French Cup - 10th round

Struggled past the 9th round 1-0 away at lower league side Pontivy, then was drawn away at Marseille in the 10th round and went out 2-0. Ligue 2 side Paris FC won the cup to qualify for Europe!!

Transfers


Squad -
Squad Depth -
Best XI -

Best XI overall

The players

Keepers:

Joe Dennis - Signed on a free from Spurs, did very well until Butland came in, think he needs first team football and has become unhappy.
Jack Butland - Strange one this, is in the England squad but was on a free after being released by Man Utd, and remained on a free until I signed him in January.

Defenders:

Roberto - Still only 19 and already a star, however he's now wanting to move to a bigger club, really hope he stays for the long run.
Soren Kjaersgaard - Now a Danish regular international, an excellent season.
Pablo Herrera - Was out for 9 months with a serious virus, unfortunately need a lot of training to get back to how he was before.
Michael Nielsen - Just played a bit part this season, still has potential to get better but only if he plays regularly.
Marius Ion - Had his chance in the first team due to Herrera's injury and did well.
Francis Aman - Looking a bit out of his depth now, will probably look to other options in right back in future.
Mattia Paesani - Another defender with great potential and played well when he came in.
Andreas Panagiotou - Another star of the future coming from unlikely source Omonia in Cyprus, could well become one of Cyprus best players ever, already has senior caps.

Midfielders:

Thomas Nielsen - Another solid season from Mr Dependable, most of his goals come from direct free kicks.
Robert Barth - Future German international in the making, was mainly a right midfielder but have retrained to play centrally.
Pedro - Still only 20 but has failed to live up to his previous potential, will still be a good backup.
Rafael - Club icon Rafael still has his injury problems but played most games this season, decent.
Narcisse Lepaye - Decent season but will probably be one of the first to leave if better players come in.
Martin Schulz - Plays as the DMC, had a good season.

Strikers:

Jean-Jacques Angan - Club icon after his antics in the lower divisions but I think Ligue 1 is a step too far unfortunately.
André Silva - Another good season from Silva, carried the attack when David was out injured.
Patrick David - The star of the team, unfortunately had injury problems hence he played fewer games than I would have liked. Due to him being Basque, Athletic Club came in from nowhere with a £13.5m bid but I negotiated it to over £20m due to me not needing the money.
Yuriy Lutsenko - Poor season, 1 goal in 17 games isn't good enough for this level.

Finances

In other news:
Our reserve team turned up in the CFA this season, after an awful start I thought to place some of my unused first teamers in there for decent match practice and things picked up, just avoiding relegation. French CFA-C table.

 Season  |  League   | Position |    Cup     |Coupe de la Ligue| Achievements  |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2012/13 | National  |   10th   | 7th Round  |                 | Overachievers |
 2013/14 | National  |   6th    | 6th Round  |                 |               |
 2014/15 | National  |   6th    | 7th Round  |                 |               |
 2015/16 | National  |   3rd    | 8th Round  |                 | Promotion     |
 2016/17 | Ligue 2   |   14th   | 10th round |   1st round     | Survived      |
 2017/18 | Ligue 2   |   7th    | 11th round |   3rd round     | Overachievers |
 2018/19 | Ligue 2   |   9th    | 7th round  |   1st round     |               |
 2019/20 | Ligue 2   |   2nd    | 11th round |   3rd round     | Promotion     |
 2020/21 | Ligue 1   |   9th    | Semi-Final |   Semi-Final    |               |
 2021/22 | Ligue 1   |   5th    | 10th round |   4th round     |               |

[5ergio]

Has anyone ever seen a player as good as this guy I've just spotted - Jose Felix Vallejo? Came through the Barcelona youth set up. He is the best I've ever seen.

What is this guy on? Clearly it is not only steroids!!

[Britrock]

Has anyone ever seen a player as good as this guy I've just spotted - Jose Felix Vallejo? Came through the Barcelona youth set up. He is the best I've ever seen.

Woah, there is literally nothing that guy can't do - creative as hell, he's even ok in the air and at tackling. Crazy.

[iacovone]

Hi guys, been away for a while and have missed about 3 pages! Loads to catch up on!

As for Novese - really quick update: Natale has agreed a new 3 year deal but with a min release clause of £450k. It's the only way I could get him to extend it beyond this season .

And my chairman is looking to leave...I'll keep you posted

[PRDH]

WOW

What is this guy on? Clearly it is not only steroids!!

Woah, there is literally nothing that guy can't do - creative as hell, he's even ok in the air and at tackling. Crazy.

I know! I wish I hadn't seen him. Knowing he's out there and, at only 24, has potentially another 10 years left in him and I'll never be able to sign him, and that'll he'll be there standing between me and completion is, frankly, a little depressing!

Berty - Good season there. I'm surprised Lutsenko didn't score more than that, he looks a quality player. Did he not get in the positions to score or just miss when he was there? I've also got a hugely talented Cypriot, they must be doing something right down there.
Iacovone Good news on the Natale contract, minimum release clause is a pain, but it's better than him leaving for free.

[berty1978]

Berty - Good season there. I'm surprised Lutsenko didn't score more than that, he looks a quality player. Did he not get in the positions to score or just miss when he was there? I've also got a hugely talented Cypriot, they must be doing something right down there.

I think Lutsenko had trouble settling in France to start with and being third choice striker can't do much good for his morale too. He missed quite a few CCCs and some matches was getting ratings of under 6. Your Cypriot striker looks good, won't try spelling his name without seeing it.

[rlipscombe]

berty1978 - good progress this season. unlucky with the no european spot. bit of a shame that. good luck making the top 4 next season.
iacovone - hello stranger good news on Natale, even if you have the min. release clause. aim for promotion and then offer him a new one if get opportunity to give bigger wages...

[iacovone]

berty1978 - good progress this season. unlucky with the no european spot. bit of a shame that. good luck making the top 4 next season.
iacovone - hello stranger good news on Natale, even if you have the min. release clause. aim for promotion and then offer him a new one if get opportunity to give bigger wages...

That's the plan! Need to really press on and get promotion this year

How are you getting on?

[berty1978]

I will do the next season update over the weekend, but I can't stop myself announcing I have just now got Arsenal, Bayern and PSV in my group. Nothing like a group of death to welcome me into the Champions League.

[rlipscombe]

That's the plan! Need to really press on and get promotion this year

How are you getting on?

not too bad... promotion last season to Bundesliga II despite being relegated to semi-pro due to poor finances... just into September of new season now - hopefully a season preview will be up tonight so feel free to check it out!!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Des Tiny's AD Parla

Pre-Season 2015/16
Liga Adelante
September 1st Update

The Transfers

In Brief
In: 5 Players (€4)
Out: 1 Player (€200k)
Loans: None
Wages Total: €15,210 (p/w)
Wage Budget: €19,825 (p/w)
Remaining Transfers: €3.08k

New Signings
First Team

Adrian Vidorreta (AMC) - He will generally play just behind a single striker if we go down that route when the strikers are injured.
Martin Lopez (DC) - A youngster who will provide cover after the sale of Dumast
Matias Lopez (MR/ST) - He will be the most likely number 1 target man feeding Herlein once the season gets underway.
Riccardo Martinelli (MRL/ST) - He is the back-up right now, will be looking to fight for a starting spot all season long.
Talha Kilavuz (DRC) - Another back-up for the centre pairing, he can also play at right back which is a position we are short at.

Youth

None

Transfers Out
First Team

Riccardo Vignali

The Friendlies

Results

Really just a series of warm-ups as I attempted to get the team ready for the new season. No-one even really posed a challenge, and starting with a 12-1 humping just delighted the fans. I also managed to cement that Lopez, Martinelli & Virrobeta are all viable options to provide the ball on to the number 1 striker.

Liga Adelante

23.08 vs Levante 0:3

A terrible start to the season saw us have Levante come visit and send us out with our tails between our legs, at this point I thought there was a large possibility that this was going to be a very long season.

30.08 at Racing 2:0
Martinelli (22,90)

Well that was a huge turnaround from the previous week, Racing had just been relegated alongside Levante, and I was expecting a result along the same lines. The boys though showed some real class as they pulled out a great victory. This is the strength I wanted to see during the season, and Martinelli was making a push for himself to line-up with Herlein when the captain returned.

The Team

So without Further ado, here is the team I expect to lead Parla in the Liga Adelante this season:
GK: Cappellari
DR: Aranda, DC: Marin & Ozlu, DL: Malheiro
DM: Guillou
MR: Ogan, MC: Gomes, ML: Kuru
ST: Herlein, Lopez

Three changes this season as we had to let go of Vignali, and Dumast wasn't keeping up as I signed new players. Also had the replacement for Grosjean coming through. Looks stronger than last season, but overall not sure whether they will be good enough to avoid replacement yet. As shown in the Parla Report, Ozlu is going to be key to our season and attempting to stay up. Losing Herlein before the season was always going to cause trouble though. Though almost immediately Aranda became our highest capped player of all time as he passed Pablo Ancos and he is only 27 so he could play for a few more seasons too.

We have 3240 tickets this season, and we will be spending most of this season in the Municipal El Soto which has 15000 seats so we could see some record crowds before heading home to our 4000 seater.

The increase in wage budget has been a slight help, and we look to be strong enough to survive in the division, will see going forwards whether I can actually start to attract some better players, we're also out of the red already.

[jimbowmanuk]

Total schoolboy error, just about to finish season when I noticed my team was in the C2/B from the 1st season, so am holidaying again to pick a new team to start the challenge over, will post shortly

[rlipscombe]

SV Waldhof Mannheim – German 2^nd Division – Season 2014/15

Season Preview

So after our unlikely promotion last season I had a mammoth job trying to build a squad capable of competing in this division. Once I had some of my key players tied into new contracts the wage budget was fully used which meant some wheeling and dealing. A number of players left and my offering a number of contracts at the same time I managed to bring in a few players to build the squad. We’re £7k p/w over the wage budget but I’m not concerned as money available in this league should help clear the debt.

So, here are the new signings…

Transfers

Full Backs

22. Andreas Schroder - Young Austrian RB with bags of potential. Despite his tender age, he will push for a starting spot this season.


Centre Backs

6. Osmar - Brazilian Under-20 defender who will help add quality to the centre of our defence.
44. Kostas Bantounas - Kostas is a Greek youth international who adds some physical strength to our defence.
49. Ricardo Tavares - Portugese youth international and another with fantastic potential. could be a key player for the club.


Midfielders

16. Ozgur Olgun - Ozgur joins our ever increasing band of Turks at the club. A good midfielder for this division and another with great potential.
17. Ronaldao - Ronaldao is on a season loan and adds strength in depth to the left wing.
43. Mert Acikgoz - Mert adds competition to the right wing and will push Verbist for the spot.
72. Jaud Nkusu Landu - Jaud joins after his release by Man United and has fantastic potential. could be a revelation for us this season.


The Upcoming Season

So we are ready for the new season. Time will tell how well we do – I’d have liked to have brought in a few more but wages wouldn’t allow me it. Missed out on some real quality too which is frustrating. Hopefully survival will help the finances and give me more money to play with.

[neushoorn70]

I just secured promotion with 2 games left, delighted we finally made it. Update will come tomorrow morning.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist’s 2016/2017 End of Season Report

Season             League            Pos           Cups                      Europe     Achievements
2012/13            Sc Div 3          1st           No comment                n/a        Manager of the Year
2013/14            Sc Div 2          1st           Challenge Cup Finalists   n/a        Manager of the Year
2014/15            Sc Div 1          3rd           CC Winners & SC Final     qual       None
2015/16            Sc Div 1          2nd           CC & SC Winners, LC R/U   UC 3Q      Manager of the Year
2016/17            Sc Div 1          1st           Challenge Cup Winners     UC 4Q      Manager of the Year

League

Squad

Transfers


Third time’s the charm, as we finally won Division 1. It wasn’t exactly a glorious season though. We conceded a lot of goals, and it took a last minute spurt to secure the title. We were 5 points clear with 2 games to go, but then lost the local derby against 2^nd place Falkirk in the penultimate fixture, which meant that it went to the final game of the season. However, we won that comfortably, and so we are Premier League.
Having won the Scottish Cup the season before, we were in Europe again. This time we entered in the 4^th qualifying round of the Euro Cup, where we faced Braga, who some of you may be more acquainted with than I. We lost our home tie 2-1, but won 2-1 away from home before losing in extra time. Who know when we’ll get back into Europe.

Anyway, now begins the long slog. In fact, I’m a bit worried about staying up unless we play a lot better next season. It was our first year as a professional club, which pushed our wage bill up considerably, and necessitated saying goodbye to some players who aren’t ‘worth it’.

We had quite a lot of money, but that’s all gone now with the cost of improved training facilities and the 3.4 million cost of making Ochilview Park all seater to meet the demands of the Premier Division. Why bother? It’s not our stadium! It’s Stenhousemuir’s. While they’re redoing Ochilview Park (which will still have a capacity of just 3,776) we’re going to be using Livingston’s Almondvale stadium which has a 10,000 capacity. Why can’t we just stay at Almondvale? (I know it’s absolutely nowhere near Falkirk, or even Stirlingshire, which is where we’re supposed to be from). I suppose we could have asked to share Falkirk's ground, but since we just edged them out for promotion, I suppose raw wounds, salt, rubbing.


Hopefully we’ll scoop up the discontented fans from Livingston, Stenhousemuir, and even a few from Stirling confused by our name, which we’ll then change to East Livhousekirkshire.
Anyway, to end on a positive, we won the Challenge Cup for the third time in a row. I don’t know why the other teams kept bothering to turn up. We’ll let somebody else have a chance now. We’ve bigger fish to batter now.

[vikeologist]

Congrats neushoorn70

Hope you get back to back promotions rlipscombe

Lower Leagues Rule - You're going to be in the same stadium position as me. "I'm not leaving. You can't make me!"
berty1978- tough luck missing out on Europe. No fair play lotto reprieve?

Amethyst21 - Way to go with the Euro Cup! Are you the first this year to get a European trophy?

I find it hard to keep track of everybody, or remembers everyone's name, but what's happening with team that keeps finishing second to Besiktas? Can't remember seeing your updates recently.

Almondo -hope your new stadium is on schedule.

PRDH - Hope you make the breakthrough and challenge for the very top this season.

Well any further back than that and you guys probably won't even remember the season I'm commenting on. Apologies if I've missed you out.

[Almondo]

Congrats on finally achieving that elusive promotion Vikeologist. I had the same thing as you and LLR when the board decided to put the seats in etc and we went to Osasuna's ground for half a season 2 years running.

[vikeologist]

Congrats on finally achieving that elusive promotion Vikeologist. I had the same thing as you and LLR when the board decided to put the seats in etc and we went to Osasuna's ground for half a season 2 years running.

But the annoying thing is that it's not our ground that's being improved. It's not even in Falkirk. It's Stenhousemuir's. In effect our rent has just gone up 230,000% for the year. Their fans all had seats already. I want my own stadium.

Anyway, never mind, at least we'll get plenty in on the gate for half a year.

[neushoorn70]

Another season in which I knew we could secure promotion, players are growing up now so I was confident.

League table
Position graph

We did it! We finally made it to the Bundesliga! The table is actually not a very good represantation of the entire season as I only had a good run at the very end, just when Aachen and Hannover were out of form, but who cares right?

DFB-Pokal - My back ups lost to Hansa Rostock in the first round.

Transfers - Not very interesting, just some young players to add some depth to the squad.

squad 1 | squad 2 - A good team with some great players.

Top players:

5: Koray Günter - Made some great progress this year and secured himself a spot in the first eleven for the first time.
4: Stefan Valenta - A young player who developed greatly, even got called up for world cup!
3: Johan Larsson - Not even a very good player, but played like one.
2: Teddy Caron - By far his best season yet, just hope I can hold on to him.
1: Jacob Gibbons - His first season in the eleven, and boy did he deliver! Already attracting some interest just hoping I can hold on.

Next season:
I'm confident we can stay in the Bundesliga if we can hold on to our best players, but we'll have to do that first.
Also want a bit of a cup run next as I've never reached beyond the 3rd round.

[rlipscombe]

vikeologist - congratulations on finally making the SPL. hopefully you can survive and kick on from here.
neushoorn70 - well done on making the Bundesliga. hopefully i won't be too far behind you...

[el sid]

We got a new Sponsorship deal in the game, so I spent almost all of today making new kits for my team Realism ftw \o/ (tbf its something I've wanted to do for a while)

What do you guys think?

[rlipscombe]

el sid - like them a lot... i'd love to make my own kits but don't have photoshop... (though this may change over xmas). i always like to have fantasy kits for my teams if i don't have the original. better than a blank kit.

[jimbowmanuk]

After not paying attention to my teams in the last attempt, and taking over a playable team from the start I am starting again but this time in Scotland( cause I know I cant make the same mistake with their being no relegation in Scotland)

After finishing bottom of the Scottish leagues, Elgin City sacked their manager and appointed an unknown in the form of Jim Bowman, hoping that this sunday league footballer can take a fairly ambitious Squad to new heights.

[berty1978]

Good luck with Elgin jimbowmanuk.
Well done on promotion neushoorn70, free Red Bulls all round, good luck in the Bundesliga.
Congrats on that elusive promotion vikeologist.
Good luck in your respective seasons rlipscombe and LLR.

As for me, apologize for this being ahead of schedule seeing as I haven't done last seasons review yet but... I could go through with a win or a draw if Arsenal get anything at Bayern!!

[PRDH]

Having one of those seasons. Nothing is going right. Huge numbers of injuries. Players not performing as well as I know they can. Fight to get into Europe again.

[Carl0s]

I've just started this with Clyde in Scotland. I'll post screenshots etc tomorrow

[Macshimmy]

Welcome to Scotland Carl0s and Jim, good luck in Elgin especially Jim,
I've taken them to the 3rd div title, but my laptop just bit the dust, so feel free to
pick up the baton. Craig Gunn was great for me, scored more than a goal a game.

[Macshimmy]

Well done getting to the Self Preservation League Vikeologist, good luck staying there!

[jimbowmanuk]

Welcome to Scotland Carl0s and Jim, good luck in Elgin especially Jim,
I've taken them to the 3rd div title, but my laptop just bit the dust, so feel free to
pick up the baton. Craig Gunn was great for me, scored more than a goal a game.

Cheers Macshimmy, I'm sitting 2nd by a point at the moment and I know what you mean about Gunn he scored 5 goals in 1 game for me and has scored in almost every other game

[brettney1980]

Been away for a week and i'm now at work solid for the next few days so will not be able to get much time in .. Good to see some good progress being made .. I'm slowly reading my way through updates i've missed.

[vikeologist]

Macshimmy, Carl0s and jimbowmanuk - good luck to the last two of you just starting and hope you get the laptop fixed and are able to continue your save, MacShimmy. Good to see some other people playing in Scotland. There was one guy who was also playing as East Stirlingshire, but he had to start as another team, and I haven't seen his messages recently. He was playing a lot faster than me, and I felt as though his messages were sort of foretelling my future, although things seem to have panned out quite differently for me in terms of ground development, professional status etc, even though it's the same club. I think the Premier League is going to be a long hard slog.

Incidentally, I wonder if Scotland does have relegation written into the game. IRL, if a team finishes bottom too many times they may have to re-apply for the league. In my game Clyde finished bottom twice in a row. I wonder what would have happened in they'd done the threepeat.

[berty1978]

Get in!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just hammered PSV 3-1 (their goal being a penalty in the 93rd minute) to qualify for the knockout stages in my first season in Europe. Now working on last seasons report.

Good luck with Clyde CarlOs.

[berty1978]

Aventure française de Berty Bassett
La Vitréenne FC - 2022/23 (French Ligue 1)

Results1
Results2
Results3

League - Graph
Reserves (CFA-C)

Where do I start, after 4 games we had only won 1 and there I was thinking I would be happy to scrape a Euro spot, little did I know then. Things got better as we went on a winning run but 2 poor away defeats in November stopped our progress a bit. Going into January we were in the top 3 but 8 points behind Lyon who seemed unstoppable. All I could do was keep winning and we did, we actually didn't lose a game in our last 22 matches, winning 16 of them. We went into the last two games 2 points behind Lyon, and home to Toulouse should have been a home banker but they had beaten us in the cup and they frustrated us again in a 0-0 draw as their keeper played a 9.2 game and we had a goal disallowed in the last few minutes. I was more gutted when I saw Lyon had lost at Marseille, our last match was at Monaco who would overtake us if they won. We held out for the 0-0 draw but Lyon failed to win their last match meaning if that goal against Toulouse had been allowed we would be celebrating the championship!!!!

Coupe de la Ligue - Quarter finals

Very disappointed to go out in the quarters away at Dijon on penalties, we had already beaten them 4-1 away in the league.

French Cup - 10th round

Again disappointed to go out at this stage against my now arch enemies Toulouse at home.

Transfers


Squad -
Best XI - Best XI overall

The players

Keepers:

Jack Butland - Now England's number one keeper with Joe Hart now 35, had a good season.

Defenders:

Roberto - Now happy at the club and had another good season, should be a Brazilian international.
Soren Kjaersgaard - Another excellent season from the Danish international.
Pablo Herrera - The come back kid, after 9 months out last season he came back this better than ever.
Marius Ion - More of a bit part player now but does well when needed.
Francis Aman - Still doing well when needed.
Andreas Panagiotou - Got our player of the season award despite only playing 26 games in all because of injury, not bad for a 19 year old.

Midfielders:

Thomas Nielsen - Now 7 seasons at the club, played in Ligue 2 and still a first team regular, excellent.
Robert Barth - Really broke through this season, magnificent season as the ball winning midfielder.
Pedro - Unfortunately one of those who has failed to live up to previous potential, good back up player though.
Rafael - Shows how far we have come as he only gets two and a half stars from the Ass. man, however still a first teamer and I have no reason to drop him.
Henning Grob - The German with the lovely surname came on a free at the start of the season and did ok, the board and fans were unhappy with the signing first.
Martin Schulz - The defensive midfielder had a good solid season.

Strikers:

Gerjan Joosten - I tried to sign Joosten when he was at Excelsior but opted for Vitesse, I signed him from Monaco in January when they offered him out for £4.4m. Made a great start but then got injured for a couple of months.
André Silva - Another good season from Silva, would like him to play a part in the team despite having a lot of strikers.
Patrick David - Scored 13 league goals but should have been a lot more, had a good season and still only 21, got his first full international cap.
Hans-Donald Bakayoko - Record signing from Vannes for £5m (my scout said I needed a £9.25m bid just as well I didn't listen). I'm expecting more from him in future.


Finances

In other news:
I won the manager of the season award.

 Season  |  League   | Position |    Cup     |Coupe de la Ligue| Achievements            |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2012/13 | National  |   10th   | 7th Round  |                 | Overachievers           |
 2013/14 | National  |   6th    | 6th Round  |                 |                         |
 2014/15 | National  |   6th    | 7th Round  |                 |                         |
 2015/16 | National  |   3rd    | 8th Round  |                 | Promotion               |
 2016/17 | Ligue 2   |   14th   | 10th round |   1st round     | Survived                |
 2017/18 | Ligue 2   |   7th    | 11th round |   3rd round     | Overachievers           |
 2018/19 | Ligue 2   |   9th    | 7th round  |   1st round     |                         |
 2019/20 | Ligue 2   |   2nd    | 11th round |   3rd round     | Promotion               |
 2020/21 | Ligue 1   |   9th    | Semi-Final |   Semi-Final    |                         |
 2021/22 | Ligue 1   |   5th    | 10th round |   4th round     |                         |
 2022-23 | Ligue 1   |   2nd    | 10th round |   Quarters      | Qualified for CL groups |

[berty1978]

Now up to date, sorry to disappoint people who thought I had won the league, so damn close. But like I said probably the biggest progress in a single season yet, and seemed to have missed the Euro cup qualification thing out, gutted.

[vikeologist]

Yes, Berty, when i read the opening paragraph I thought you were going to say you'd won the league. (Has anyone done that yet?). Still, fantastic season + well done.

In my season, after 8 games I'm in 10th place in the Scottish premier Division, just above Inverness Caledonian Thistle - and Rangers!

Yes, Rangers, who've shown no real sign of a slump in previous seasons, despite only missing out on the league to Celtic for the last couple, have only one win (and 5 points) from their first 8 games. No doubt the universe will be returned to its normal axis in their next game; at home to us; a relegation 6-pointer.

[berty1978]

Always funny to see those big teams struggle, not really happened in my game. Although IRL Monaco sit bottom of ligue 2 and in my game they are one of the big teams, scored an incredible 113 goals last season, mainly due to Lenny Nangis who started his career at Caen and has got an incredible scoring record including 80 in 83 international matches.

Profile - History

Interested to find out if he has that sort of career in anyone else's game.

[Almondo]

Drew Spurs in the first KO round of the Europa League. The only saving grace to the tie is that I finished top of the group and as such got the away leg first.

edit: Just saw this result. As I was going through to my next match.

[berty1978]

GL against Spurs Almondo, I got Man United in the CL first knockout stage, home first due to finishing second in the group.

Unbelievable, Man Utd all over us, went 3-0 up but I went all out attack expecting them to get more but we come back to win on away goals.
Actually Silva scored the winner at Vitre too, what a legend.

[el sid]

el sid - like them a lot... i'd love to make my own kits but don't have photoshop... (though this may change over xmas). i always like to have fantasy kits for my teams if i don't have the original. better than a blank kit.

Thanks Kits are surprisingly easy to do, could whip up a couple for you if you'd like.

[berty1978]

How can you explain a sudden loss of form, and I mean sudden. From being 6 points clear of Monaco we're now 7 points behind after no wins in the last 7, the strikers suddenly can't score for s**t. It really was our title for the taking but I'm left disappointed, again.

F**k me, Monaco just won 8-0, how can I compete with that.

I think I'm going to go and attempt another challenge, maybe Gundo's, I'm just bitter after losing the title like that, come back to this later though.

[DodgeeD]

Wow! I've missed a lot in the last week - had fun ctaching up on all the updates though.

Congratulations to all thoe who have won promotions and silverware so far. Good to a few of us getting into Europe as well, speaking of which....

[DodgeeD]

Keçiorengücü 2016/17 Season Review



Quick Overview
Premier Division: 6th
European Places Play-off: 3rd Round Winners
(qualified for next season’s Europa League)
Turkish Cup: 4th Round

Premier Division
Another step forward this season as we built on mid-table safety last time to be in the mix for a place in the end of season play-offs. Generally, our form was very good except for a couple of rough patches caused by the fixture list (early in the season and again after the winter break, we ended up playing Bursaspor, Trabzonspor, Beşiktaş and Fenerbahçe in consecutive matches). At one point, it even looked like we might be able to push for 4th place but that proved beypnd our reach. Nevertheless, I was very happy with our performances (despite the defence still being a bit leaky for my liking). Stand-out performances included a 2-2 draw away to Galatasaray, in which we were unlucky to conceded in the final minutes, a 4-1 win away at Trabzonspor, a much needed result coming in between those tough games, and a 6-0 thrashing of Gaziantespor.
Final Table

European Places Play-Off
6th was enough to get us into the play-offs. The system is quite complicated with the top 4 going into a ‘Championship Group’ to decide the league winners and 5th to 8th playing each other in two-legged knockout games. The winner of those play-offs then has one more game against the 4th-placed team from the Championship Group to determine who takes the final Europa League place. Still with me? I hope so…

Anyway, our first opponents were Bursaspor. The away leg brought up an unexpected victory as we came from behind to win 2-1. The home leg was a tense affair with Bursaspor taking the lead late on. As they pushed for the winner, we hit them on the break to level the game 1-1 and win the tie 3-2 on aggregate. Trabzonspor were up next. We played at home first this time and again it was tight with the score 1-1 going into the last ten minutes. However, we would prevail in front of our own fans scoring twice late on to win 3-1. Trabzon were deflated by the defeat and it showed in the second leg as we strolled to a 4-2 win to advance to the final game.

Our opponents there were Kayserispor, who had finished bottom of the Championship Group. This was a one-off match in front of our own fans so I was hoping for a good performance. That as what I got as we ran out 3-0 winners meaning there will be European football at Keçiören Aktepe next season!

Turkish Cup
Less said about this the better. We were drawn against Denizili Bld. Spor, bottom of the First Division and took it a bit too easy, losing 5-3 in a shocking performance menaing we have yet to make any kind of progress in this competition.

The Squad: Transfers
A bit of money was spent this season to bring in a couple of young Turkish defenders. Apart from that it was all business as usual – new players coming in on frees and surplus playing staff being transferred out or let go at the end of their contracts.
In January, there was one new addition in the shape of Jules Priso, who came in on a free and did well in his first few months at the club. The addition of a feeder club in the Second Division was also welcome as it allowed me to send several youngsters out on loan for the second part of the season.

The Squad: Key Players
Berkay Tokatli (DR) – I signed three new young right-backs last summer and I wasn’t sure which one would prove to be first choice. After a couple of months of rotation, it became clear that Berkay would be the one. He was very consistent and is now a regular feature in the Turkey U21 squad.
José Carlos Ada (DC) – A good solid season in which the Argentinian marshalled the defence and banged in a few goals at the other end as well.
Samet Kalaç (DC) – Made the step up from the Second Division with no problems at all. He could be a first team regular for many seasons to come.
Joe Marshall (AMR/C) – Another fantastic season from the American who was one of our main sources of goals. Easily my best signing so far! The only problem is he now has just one year left on his contract and is refusing to consider a new deal. That leaves me with a tough choice over the summer: sell now and lose my best player or keep him and risk losing for nothing next summer…
Berkin Arslan (AMRLC) – Berkin was back to his best this season after a patchy first year in the top flight. 17 assists meant he recaptured the form that made him so effective as we won promotion from the lower divisions. It’s great to still have a player who started this journey with us in the Second Division.
Nicky Woodford (ST) – I said pre-season that I hoped the former Man City player’s patchy form after joining last January was just a settling in period and he would score consistently this season. I love being right! 28 goals in the league set a new club record and was vital to our success.

The Squad: Ones to Watch
Hakan Konak had a good season switching between central midfield and the right wing and could be a replacement should Joe Marshall leave. Jens Meyer had a decent first season, ending the season with a good run of goal scoring form. Earlier in the season, Murat Tezcan was the in-form youngster with his 9 goals coming in the space of 6 games. Our own youth product Şahin Kaya also had a good debut season, turning in some commanding performances in the holding midfield role – a star for the future.

The Squad: Awards
Nicky Woodford was the league’s Top Goalscorer and was also named as the Supporters’ Player of the Year. He finished third in the Foreign Player of the Year standings with team mate Joe Marshall the winner. Both players made sure Keçiörengücü were represented in the Turkish Premier Division Team of the Year.

Marshall was further honoured as the Midfielder of the Year and young right back Berkay Tokatli was second in the Young Player of the Year poll.

I was named Manager of the Year, allowing me to complete the set of manager awards from all three levels of the Turkish league. As a team we were named as the league overachievers and we also topped the Turkish Premier Division Fair Play League.

The Season Ahead…
Our training and youth facilities are being improved again, with enough money in the bank to cover it and allow for a decent transfer budget again (3.5 million TL was the initial amount given). With more back-up players set to leave, I need to add some depth in central defence and potentially scout a replacement for Marshall in case I can’t persuade him to sign a new deal.

In terms of seasonal targets, I will be aiming for a top eight finish in the league once more and a decent cup run. As for the Europa League, we’ll just see what happens!

The Story So Far…

Season  | Division    | Position | Play-Offs | Turkish Cup | Europe | Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012-13 | 2nd (Grp B) | 5th      | QF        | 1st Round   | N/A    | N/A
2013-14 | 2nd (Grp B) | 1st      | N/A       | 3rd Round   | N/A    | Promoted!
2014-15 | First       | 1st      | N/A       | 3rd Round   | N/A    | Promoted!
2015-16 | Premier     | 10th     | N/A       | 4th Round   | N/A    | Stayed up
2016-17 | Premier     | 6th      | Won in R3 | 4th Round   | N/A    | Qualified for Europa League

[Almondo]

Good to see you've got European football next season DodgeeD, although that playoff rigmarole made my head hurt.

[vikeologist]

DodgeeD - Frankly, the fact that you seem to understand the European qualification system is going to put the eventual and lesser accomplishment of achieving the challenge in the shade.

[vikeologist]

How can you explain a sudden loss of form, and I mean sudden. From being 6 points clear of Monaco we're now 7 points behind after no wins in the last 7, the strikers suddenly can't score for s**t. It really was our title for the taking but I'm left disappointed, again.

F**k me, Monaco just won 8-0, how can I compete with that.

I think I'm going to go and attempt another challenge, maybe Gundo's, I'm just bitter after losing the title like that, come back to this later though.

I was tempted to resort to the lazy stereotype of saying that, since they're French, perhaps your team had gone on strike. We could apply it to all the other leagues. In Scotland the teams turned up to the match drunk. In Germany they were distracted while putting their towels on the team benches.

Anyway, you're so close. Don't give up on the challenge. Give them another season to redeem themselves.

[rlipscombe]

berty1978 - unlucky on missing out on the title but that was a great improvement. can't get over Monaco's goalscoring feats!! fact they didn't win the title means their boss should have been sacked!! the record of Nangis is incredible at international level..
el sid- thanks for the offer. if i need some new kits doing (which i may soon as i'm on my second season with them..) i'll be in touch!!
DodgeeD - well done on making the european competition. hopefully you'll establish yourself as a regular qualifier now.

[PRDH]

Stay with us berty1978! This blip will only make winning the title sweeter when it happens.

[DodgeeD]

Good to see you've got European football next season DodgeeD, although that playoff rigmarole made my head hurt.

Best solution - win every game!

DodgeeD - Frankly, the fact that you seem to understand the European qualification system is going to put the eventual and lesser accomplishment of achieving the challenge in the shade.

LOL. Good thing they have this complicated system though - we wouldn't have got into Europe without it!

DodgeeD - well done on making the european competition. hopefully you'll establish yourself as a regular qualifier now.

Cheers. Hopefully, we can start making an impact in Europe soon.

[el sid]

This game is a bit easy isn't it? First season in the Bundesliga and we've finished 4th and qualified for the Champions League

[DodgeeD]

Bad news - Made the tough call and arranged a transfer for Joe Marshall.... 6.5 million TL to Danish side OB.

Good news - the deal was arranged after the transfer window in Denmark had closed so he won't move until January 8th! Effectively, we get to transfer a player for a large fee when he has less than 6 months left on his contract.

[DodgeeD]

Nevermind - he just got injured. Torn calf muscle, out until December and his Keçiörengücü career is over.

[siLKEAPE]

Città di Pontedera

Season 2016/2017 -Serie A

With tiny budgets and a tiny stadium, but with an attacking formation and style of play, we started well in the league. And it continued.
We won against Fiorentina, Roma, Napoli and looked really solid. Even managed to be top of the table for a couple of games, but had no chance to follow the top teams when january arrived.
We did manage to turn things around and managed an amazing 4th place finish in the end. Right after beating roma 0-2 away in the league we lost at home to Serie C1 team Varese in the cup, but I think this only helped us maintain our league form. Overall an amazing season, coming 4th in our first ever Serie A season is huge!

Table - Graph - Club Information

Right after we had finished 4th, the board announced this - new 23k seater stadium named after Marcello Lippi!
Training facilities are also being upgraded. These are actually the first changes to the clubs facilities since I took over.

Players:

GK: Sergio - Developed nicely this season aswell, and finished with a overall rating above 7. Still only 20!

DR: Athoumani Marthadi - This young frenchman made the rightback-spot his own this season, hopefully he will continue to develop next season.
DC: Mattia Pagano - Played well, but my assistant is doubting he will improve much more. Will keep him around anyway.
DC: Jorge Soares - Been in the club since the Serie C2/A days, and is developing nicely.
DL: Lucien Tchany - Even though his defensive skills are not the greatest, he was solid this season. Pace has alot to say it seems.

DMC: Jacopo Fortunato - Our captain since Serie C/1 B, and is still going strong. Has accepted a new contract as with a "rotation" squad status.
DMC: Valentino Flavi - The "new De Rossi" developed nicely this season and attracted interest from Fiorentina and Inter. Thankfully he accepted a new contract.

AMR: Uche Opara - The most entertaining player I have ever had in FM. It is absolutely amazing to watch him tear the right flank apart in the match engine.
AMC: David Lopez Montana - The brains in my attack. Scored alot more than I expected him to do, very very nice season.
AML: Pedro Coutinho - Not as dangerous as Opara, but a good season nontheless.

ST: Alessandro Pieroni - The new "Christian Vieri" had an allright season. Scored some absolutely amazing goals and attracted interest from Inter and Juventus, but willing to remain at the club.

+

DC: Unai Sesma - Played both DC and DR and did well. Wish his jumping was higher, though.

DMC: Piotr Towarnicki - Didn't develop as much this season, but solid for a youngster anyway. Still has lots of potential.

MC: Koen Koster - Brought in this youngster in january for a ridicolously small fee. I am absolutely sure he will turn into a cracking player, even did well in Serie A at age 16.

ST: Emmanuele Ferrari - This talented italian didn't have the best of seasons, and it was fair that Pieroni got the most playing time. Might try a formation were both Ferrari and Pieroni can play together, but this depends on our summer signings.


Hopefully we will make it to the group stages of Champions League and get some money. The clubs facilities are indeed in a dire situation.
I don't expect us to challenge for a top 4 spot next season, as I think playing in Europe will make my tiny squad very tired. I will make a pre-season report with screenshots of all my players later this week. Didn't bother posting images of my anonymous squad players as alot of them will be offloaded this summer.

The challenge so far:

Season
League
Position
Achievements

2012/2013
Serie C2/A
6th
Lost in playoff-final

2013/2014
Serie C2/A
1st
Promotion

2014/2015
Serie C1/B
1st
Promotion

2015/2016
Serie B
2nd
Promotion

2016/2017
Serie A
4th
CL-qualification

[rlipscombe]

awesome silKEAPE. incredible finish - good luck for the CL qualifying...

[siLKEAPE]

awesome silKEAPE. incredible finish - good luck for the CL qualifying...

Thank you rlipscombe! The draw wasn't so nice though, up against Fenerbache!

[el sid]

Great season silKEAPE

[el sid]

Dont want to post 2 end of season reviews in 1 page This post to go to the next page