FM12 Big Euro Nation: Small Club to Big Club Challenge

[corinthiano]

DodgeeD - Congratulations on another league win, have to echoe others here and say you're youth products look amazing!
Swinburn - Impressive how quickly you have completed the challengue, well done!
vikeologist - Well done on another league title, it must be frustrasting when progress in Europe isn't really happening.
StellaF1 - Thank you for trashing Palmeiras
G-Wiz - Well done on winning the league, hope you manage to get promoted in the playoff, you lose too much money in this division so getting out of there as quickly as possible has to be the priority.

[vikeologist]

While I wait for the inevitable one bad result in Spring to send us out of the Champions League, I am trying to get every meaningful Scottish Premier League record (that we don't already have), and some of them are really tough. After 10 games we're on course for them all, apart from the 19 man of the Matches, which in a 38 game season is practically unbeatable.

Category    Record     We Need (Av per game)     We Have (Av per game)
Points      103        2.73                      2.8
Goals       132        3.5                       4.2
Goalscorer  35         0.95                      1

[rlipscombe]

Swinburn - congratulations on completing so quickly! great achievement in Spain. good luck with the Whitecaps
vikeologist - good luck smashing all of the records. fingers crossed you can make that breakthrough in europe soon too. SO hard for a scottish team. good luck.
DodgeeD - Congratulations for continuing your domestic dominance. hopefully you can crack europe soon. Echo all of the comments regarding your youth players. if only i could get decent players through.
G-Wiz - good luck for the play-offs. fingers crossed you make it as that play-off system is an arse to crack. here's hoping you make it.


As for me and Mannheim, i had a bit of time away but am back now and in February. hopefully i should be able to push on towards the end of the season this week. in a VERY tight battle at the top featuring about 8 teams.

[MattSpurs94]

Well, chaps, I am going to give this a go, and I WILL succeed. Everytime I've attempted a challenge, it has always ended in the first season. This time, I will make it to the top.

Introducing the manager of Infesta, of Portugal
More about me
The club
Club Info
Squad - Pretty dire, and I need staff. A lot of staff.

[rlipscombe]

welcome Mattspurs94 and good luck in Portugal. can be tough going but with perseverance the rewards are there. sure PRDH can back that up...

[MattSpurs94]

Thanks rlipscombe, However, after 5 games, this is the situation. It's gonna be a long season.....

EDIT: Well, I finally cracked, and downloaded a tactic. Lo and behold, results improve.

<--------- Rubbish Tactician

[corinthiano]

Good luck MattSpurs94, hope you manage to establish yourself in the division with the new tactic.

[rlipscombe]

that was a tough start... good to hear things are starting to pick up a bit. keep it up.

[iacovone]

Hi guys, quick update: we're exceeding expectations in our first year in Serie B. It won't end in promotion but importantly it definitely won't end in relegation.

It's the middle of March and I've just this second had the new youth intake. Consider me delighted by David Nicolini - my first genuine star youth prospect!

[MattSpurs94]

FC Infesta
2012/13

Second Division North - 7th
Taça de Portugal - 3rd Round

Squad

A season of two very different halves. First half was pretty dire, we started off badly, with a record of 1-0-4 in our first five games. The players were definitly better than this, I couldn't understand what was going wrong. So, I finally cracked and downloaded a tactic off the forums. The result? we went 13-7-5 for the rest of the season, dragged ourselves out of the relegation fight and settled comfortably midtable. The number of draws, and highscoring games, made me worry about our defence, so next season will need reinforcements.

The cup happened before the new tactic, so they can just be ignored, and we can move on

Transfers

The usual, lots in, lots out, all for free.

Key men

Lucas (23 goals, 10 assists, 33 appearances) - Played every game, started very slowly, but with the new tactic, started banging them in.
Rui Janota (19 goals, 11 assists, 30 appearances - A revelation alongside Lucas, they will both be needed next year as we aim to push up the table

Next Season?

Push up the table, aim for the title
Concede less!

| Season  | League                  | Position   | Achievements                 |
|=========|=========================|============|==============================|
| 2012/13 |  Second Division North  |    7th     |         Survived!            |

[corinthiano]

Solid first season there MattSpurs94, Rui Janota looks pretty decent for that level. How are your finances doing? I am bleeding money currently at Real, need to get out of the division as soon as possible!

[MattSpurs94]

FC Infesta
Preseason - 2013/14

Infesta 3 - 0 Pasteleira
Infesta 5 - 1 S. Roque Aveiro
Infesta 5 - 0 Torcatense
Infesta 5 - 0 Correlha
Infesta 3 - 1 Terras Bouro

Transfers

João Nunes - I was told our old goalkeeper was now past his peak, so I found this chap who I think will do very well this season
Flávio Paixão - I was tracking him for a lot of last season, and when he didn't renew his contract with his old club, I immediately snapped him up

Unfortunatley there were no good central defenders available.

Our finances have also reached £160k in the red, so hopefully a good cup run can bring in the money.

@corinthiano as you can see, our finances are poor, very poor :/

[rlipscombe]

iacovone - looks a good prospect... i'd kill for one but not getting anything. i have asked the board to improve the youth facilities but they refuse saying i should concentrate improving the senior team.... not helpful!!
mattspurs94 - good solid first season there following your upturn in fortunes. good luck next season.

[corinthiano]

iacovone, Nicolini looks like a good prospect, what are your youth facilities like?

[iacovone]

iacovone, Nicolini looks like a good prospect, what are your youth facilities like?

Adequate facilities, basic junior coaching and basic youth recruitment. I think I got quite lucky!

[corinthiano]

I agree with you! I have Good training facilities, average junior coaching and average youth recruitment, only downside is the minimal youth facilities, but I am not sure what the effect is exactly.

In my first year I had three players come up with potential to be excellent a division above us, so I reckon my facilities will help me out a lot in the beginnning.

[PRDH]

MattSpurs - I can indeed back rlips up! It's a tough nut to crack, but I imagine that will make it all the more satisfying when (if) I do.
iacovone - He's a cracking player! How have you managed that!? I've had 17 (I think) seasons at Lusitania Acores now and haven't had one player who's been even a vaguely competent footballer, and I have state of the art training facilities, excellent youth facilities, outstanding junior coaching and above average recruitment. Still absolutely nothing!

[MattSpurs94]

FC Infesta
2013/14

Second Division North - 3rd
Taça de Portugal - 3rd Round

Squad

A much better season sees us finish 3rd, but quite a few points off top. again, we started slowly, but managed to pick up, despite being extremely inconsistent. Again, defence was the problem. We were the second top scorers in the league, but we still conceded at stupid times which cost us points, especially from winning positions.

Knocked out of the cup again at the 3rd round, but to Liga Orangina side Rio Ave.

Transfers

Same as last season. All free transfers

Key men

Julio Coronel (1 goals, 10 assists, 16 appearances) - Came in January to improve a weak midfield for us. 10 assists gives me high hopes for next season.
Rui Janota (29 goals, 7 assists, 33 appearances - Once again the main man, falling just short of 30 goals this season.

Next Season?

Promotion has to be on the cards. We are so close, and we need to start bringing in money fast. We are £215k in the red, and the wage budget is gonna probably be slashed again.

Stop conceding so many, especially when we are leading

| Season  |         League          |  Position  |        Achievements          |
|=========|=========================|============|==============================|
| 2012/13 |  Second Division North  |    7th     |          Survived!           |
| 2013/14 |  Second Division North  |    3rd     |                              |

[iacovone]

MattSpurs - I can indeed back rlips up! It's a tough nut to crack, but I imagine that will make it all the more satisfying when (if) I do.
iacovone - He's a cracking player! How have you managed that!? I've had 17 (I think) seasons at Lusitania Acores now and haven't had one player who's been even a vaguely competent footballer, and I have state of the art training facilities, excellent youth facilities, outstanding junior coaching and above average recruitment. Still absolutely nothing!

Pure luck I guess PRDH! I'm delighted

[MattSpurs94]

FC Infesta
Preseason - 2014/15

Infesta 11 - 1 Mealhada
Infesta 6 - 1 Cana Senhorim
Infesta 7 - 0 Avintes
Infesta 6 - 0 Vale Acores
Infesta 7 - 1 LAAC
Infesta 6 - 1 Campia

Transfers

[iacovone]

End of Season Report - Novese - 2022/23 (Season 11) - Serie B

Serie B - 7th

So, finally we had made it to Serie B. The board asked me just to keep our heads above water and that was essential really. I could not handle another year back in Serie C1! So armed with a much bigger wage budget (£40k p/w), I bolstered the squad and snapped up a couple of loanees.

It was an inauspicious start. Despite a 4-0 win over Ascoli (who were later promoted), we lost five of our first eight games. Nonetheless, the squad gelled and we started grinding out wins in the long 42 game season.

By the mid-way point we'd won ten of the first 21 games, putting us comfortably clear of relegation bother. We then went on something of a promotion run, losing just three of the next 17 games!

The problem came as we faced off against 2nd placed Bari. Had we beaten them, we may have sneaked 2nd and automatic promotion. Sadly, we came massively unstuck and were dealt a bludgeoning 5-1 defeat! This snowballed into an awful run in which we picked up just a point from our last four games.

From what looked like possible promotion, ended in missing out on the playoffs by a point! It was frustrating to see us bottle it like that, but I couldn't ask for more from the players - a fine season.


Results 1 | Results 2

The Cups:

It is a bit more interesting for us now but we still struggled. After defeating Piacenza 1-0, we lost in extra time 5-2 to Vicenza in the 3rd qualifying round. Oh well.

Results


Key Men


Ricardo Tantardini (D/MC) - played his 11th season with us and unexpectedly pushed his way into the starting eleven more than ever. Won fans player of the year and earned a new contract by virtue of this.

Lorenzo Bianchi (DM/MC) - joined from Parma on loan for the second season in a row and was very steady in midfield. Hope to get him back again for next season.

Marcello Rosati (MC/AMLC/ST) - didn't have his finest season but deserves a mention as he'll be released. Nine years of good service, but the step up to Serie B was too much. Arrivederci!

Lucio Lorini (AM/ST) -signed on loan from Novara and played up top for most of the campaign. Bit of a talent, but probably won't see him here again.

Dennis Fischer (AMRL/ST) - there remains loads of interest in our young German striker. I'm still not convinced he's that amazing but he's got the pace to always cause a threat.


Squad Stats
Finances
Club Information


Objectives Complete?

• Avoid relegation

Success! And by some distance.

• Continue financial prudence

​Failed. Far from prudence but the board helped out when possible and a kit deal that increases income by £200k should help next season.

• Take advantage of new scouting areas

Success. Sort of. It's working anyway, our scouts are providing many more options and I'll be bringing a few obscurer nationalities to the club.


New Objectives:

• Top half finish
• Build a youthful future
• Get a cup run going

So a good debut in Serie B and progress is beginning to be made. I'd be surprised if we replicate our 7th placed finish but depending on the signings I make, it's definitely possible.

I was offered the Empoli job at the end of the season after they failed in the playoffs but obviously turned it down.

Joining us in Serie B this season are: Cagliari, Livorno and Varese (from Serie A) and Modena, Pro Vercelli, Virtus Lanziano and Catanzaro (from Serie C1). Bring it on!

Overall Best Eleven

[Aztekia]

The reason I haven't posted an update in a while is I haven't been able too... My laptop's had to go off for repair because it's dead. It's a new laptop and a very good one, there's just something wrong with it and I don't know what. So, I'm hoping it can be fixed with my save still on there but, it doesn't look hopeful... Which is annoying as I was enjoying this...

[MattSpurs94]

I give up.

How come everyone can do so well all the time, yet I can't ever get out of the bottom division?

[vikeologist]

I give up.

How come everyone can do so well all the time, yet I can't ever get out of the bottom division?

Well, what did you tell the board to expect? I'd suggest feigning an almost suicidal degree of pessimism for the initial board expectations, and then overdeliver.

As for how to do well in this game, i do ok with a 442 no frills formation. The key is to be consistent with your tactics and in the early stages get good scouts and only buy players with 5 star potential or 4 star current.

I've mentioned before that I like all my players to have very high determination. I love it when another team scores first against us. I just laugh and think, "You should not have done that. Now you've done gone and got them angry," and get ready to pay out a fortune in goal bonusses.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

MattSpurs - I would agree completely with Vikeologist, I always pick the bottom expectation I possibly can, keeps the pressure off and I try to stay well under wage budget as well. Then generally with those two in combination you are so far above expectations you are never likely to slip and lose your job. Slow and steady, takes me 3 to 4 seasons to get out of the bottom division, then 2-3 to get up the next one, and then 10 seasons to win a title in the top division. I know I am never as successful as others but if you are steady the board never even look at getting rid of you.

As for Parla, well our slow and steady with good players and slowly improving had dropped with a couple of bad losses this season against other top teams, so when Hercules (2nd) were coming to town and we had 7 players on international duty, and a few injured making my squad look like this, I thought we were in serious trouble, but our captain stepped up and Perego twice gave us the lead at 1:0 & 2:1 with an eventual 4:1 victory. Absolutely delighted with that result.

[MattSpurs94]

vikeologist, Lower Leagues Rule - Thats the problem. I did pick it, but being in 7th was clearly too horrific for them.

What I'll probably do now is spend some time developing a couple of tactics and maybe have a go later in the year.

[PRDH]

MattSpurs - I too am amazed by how successful people are, but sometimes it's just bad luck I think to get sacked like that. Though not raising expectations too much helps. I've won five (ish) titles in a row now and still don't tell the board I'll do it.

I've had a bit of a sabbatical from my game, but I'm feeling the temptation to fire the save up again. Hell, I'll do it.

[MattSpurs94]

Maybe one day I will be as successful as them

I am learning how to design tactics to match my team's strengths at the moment, so I may be back quicker than I thought

[PRDH]

Maybe one day I will be as successful as them

I am learning how to design tactics to match my team's strengths at the moment, so I may be back quicker than I thought

Good luck. I designed a tactic that suited how I played and that I liked back on FM09 with Domegliara for this challenge and have just stuck with it basically (especially when in the top division), only modifying slightly each time round.

[G-Wiz]

Ac. Viseu - 2013/2014 - End of Season Review

Manager Profile
Team Information
Transfers

Predicted Position: 6th
Actual Position: 1st
Average Attendance: 902
Season Ticket Holders: 292

So the aim for this season was to try and pick up where we left off, and continue the winning ways we had begun to get used to at the end of last season. The team certainly didnt disappoint, suffering our one and only league defeat on the 16th march 2014, 24 games into the league season! This form saw us finish on 77 points, 23 points clear of second placed Operario Acores. Therefore we cruised into the promotion playoff.

2 wins and 2 draws from our playoff matches saw us finish top of the group with 8 points, and as a result promoted to the Portuguese Second League!!

As for the Portuguese Cup, our journey in that competition was ended in the 3rd round by our parent club Lieira, of the Portuguese Premier League, where we suffered a 4-1 drubbing, but performed better than i could have hoped for.

A few of the more notable performers of the season were as follows:

GK

Igor Rocha - 18 clean sheets from 37 matches, good season for the keeper

DEF

Alisson - young fullback brought in for free in the summer, first team player, became one of the first names on the teamsheet

Rodolfo Simoes - used in rotation for LB position, average of 7.09, solid without doing a lot

Gleydson - formed solid CB partnership with Basto, average rating of 7.14 for the season

Hugo Basto - other CB, 7.12 for the season

Joao Cancelo - arrived in january transfer window, provided healthy competition for LB position

MID

Dionatan Teixeira - big DM had another decent season, sitting just in front of back 4 and mopping up whenever required

Mexilhao - another brought in halfway through the season, and fought Teixeira hard for DM position, potentially first choice going forward

Andre Gomes - one of my first choice CMs, 2 goals and 7 assists from there isnt bad, but its definitely an area we need to strengthen going forward

Joao Paulo - other CM, slightly more productive going forward but replaceable

ATT

Jean Silva - moved into front 3 for this season and very impressive, scoring 18 goals and laying on 6 goals, averaging 7.24 in the process

Bacari - big man was the star last year, but didnt get nearly as much action this season. did however pop up with 7 valuable goals when called upon, seems to be far better than his ratings indicate. on limited time though as we step up a division

Fusca - another great bit of business, spotted by a scout and quickly signed in the summer. a return of 19 goals and 11 assists makes him a favourite for Fans Player of The Year and possibly the first name on the teamsheet

Edson - 20 goals and 12 assists make him the star man of the season, brought in for a bit of valuable experience in an otherwise youthful squad, and didnt disappoint

Leonardo Mancuso - back up striker, 4 goals from his 7 apps isnt too bad, but edged out the team by the new signings

Top Scorer - Edson - 20 goals
Highest Average Rating - Edson - 7.38
Fans Player of The Year - Edson

Portuguese Second Division Top Scorer - Edson
Portuguese Second Division Young Player Of The Year - Fusca - Jean Silva - 3rd
Portuguese Second Division Manager of The Year - Garry Maltman
Portuguese Second Division Team of The Year - Edson & Fusca

Moving forward, the aim for next year will be to try and hang onto our status in the Second League. It'll be difficult, especially with us being part-time, and having a huge black hole in out finances (currently 212k in the red), although hopefully now we can start to fill the stadium more than ever before, roughly 13000 empty seats on average per match last season, so the potential is there to increase the clubs income dramatically if the fans start to come out and support the team now we're progressing. Squad wise, there are definitely a few areas needing strengthened, however it'll be interesting to see how some of the current crop cope with the demand of playing at a higher level. There may be a tough year ahead!!

Season          Division                                 Position       Achievements
2012/2013       Portuguese Second Division - Central      7th	        Safety          
2013/2014       Portuguese Second Division - Central      1st           Champions, Promoted Through Playoffs

[G-Wiz]

and after promotion, the club have now become professional...good times

[rlipscombe]

G-Wiz - congrats on promotion. that certainly was a season of domination... good luck next season. i think you will probably do quite well.

As for Mannheim, our season has come to an end. hopefully i can get the season review done and up this weekend.

[PRDH]

G-Wiz - Congratulations on a very good season. Edson a real star, hopefully he'll make the step up.
rlips - Looking forward to it!

Some of the magic seems to have gone missing from my squad at the moment. A really patchy start to the season, partly due to some injury problems, but basically we've not been playing well enough. Time to earn my keep!

[rlipscombe]

rlips - Looking forward to it!

best not disappoint then!

[Austinho]

Association Sportive de Cannes Football - June 2012

Manager Profile (Feeble attempt at French-ising my name...)
Club Information
Proof of Promotion
Squad

Unknown Frenchman Augustus Henry is the surprise choice for AS Cannes' open managerial role. With no experience, other than playing in a Sunday League in his hometown, all eyes will be on the relatively young manager.

AS Cannes, a team both Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira have played for, are a big team for a minnow in the managerial world. Following their promotion from CFA C, the media predict a healthy 5th place, and the board is expecting "nothing less than promotion". This will certainly be a challenge for football's newest arrival.

Note: I am not that quick at playing this game, so don't expect regular updates!

[StellaF1]

Vendee Lucon, Start of game 2 - 2023

After finishing the challenge with Seregno in Italy I have added the French league to the Italian Leagues in my game as well as retiring my manager from the game and have holidayed through a season.

So i will introduce Stuart Brawls (Profile, Information) as the new manager of Vendee Lucon (Overview) in their first ever season in the National division.

The clubs reputation in the National division is 20th and last though financially we are slightly better as we are 17th.

Hopefully what i have done above is ok and will keep you informed as to how i get on in France.

[sebs]

worst badge in history?

[Austinho]

Stella - Nice to see you're going with a French team like me. Good luck (I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to FM)

[rlipscombe]

Austinho - welcome and good luck with Cannes. you have a good club there to start with. looking forward to seeing your progress.
StellaF1 - sounds fine to me in doing that. good luck with them. looking forward to seeing you complete as quickly in France...

[G-Wiz]

Academico Viseu have just been drawn away to Benfica in the Taca de Portugal 5th round...while im not expecting anything but a drubbing, hopefully the gate receipts will provide a serious boost to our finances, which are currently over 200k in the red

[G-Wiz]

and i was right...we lost 5-1, but the 149k gate receipts will definitely help take some of the pressure off the financial side of things

[iacovone]

Second season in Serie B is going ok. At the halfway point we've played 20 and have a 10-1-9 record. That's good enough to position us in 9th, which is ideal given I promised the board top half this season. The January transfer window has just opened and our fax machine has been inundated by co-ownership deals! Dennis Fischer, Gustavo Mesquita, Matteo Pozzi, Zdravko Vidovic and Matias Coto have offers. I've accepted all of them as, in my experience, buying sides rarely purchase the second 50% of the player. Plus it offers a decent short-term financial boost.

Speaking of financial boosts, our summer signing Sidi Dianessy has been approached by Olympiakos for a stunning £2.5m! Needless to say, the chairman accepted this bid. To be honest, as big a blow as it will be to lose him, that money could go far given some of the players my scouts have found.

I'll keep you posted...

[rlipscombe]

SV Waldhof Mannheim – German Bundesliga – Season 2019/20

Season Review

League Finish: 3^rd Graph Club Overview Club Information



The League

After last season’s 3^rd place finish the pressure was on a little to try and match our achievements of last season. As the graph shows, we struggled early on before managing to settle down and sit in the hunt for European places. The title pack was very congested though and at Christmas there was about 8 teams in the pack with about 5 points seperating 1^st from 8^th. We had a wobble in January / February but managed to hit a great run of form that saw us in the hunt. With two games to go we were suddenly faced with the chance of claiming top spot if we could beat Leverkusen away, who were 2^nd. Unfortunatley we blew it, losing 3-0 to drop to 4^th with a game to go. We managed to beat Schalke 3-0 at home to pop up into 3^rd and claim the final Champion’s League spot to match our achievements of last season.


German Cup



Champions League

Champions League Best Placed Play-off

Mannheim 1 – 0 Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain 5 – 1 Mannheim

So our CL adventure was over before it began. A great first leg result saw us take a narrow lead to France, but we were never at the races in the second leg and went down to a heavy defeat.



Europa League

Following our Champions league defeat we dropped into the group stages of the Europa League. We were drawn against AZ Alkmaar, Saint-Etienne and Anzhi. I thought it might be a tough group but as the group table shows we won 3 and drew 3 to go through as group winners. I was delighted with the results, especially as our squad was compromised by the registration restrictions in place.

We then were drawn against Udinese in the 1^st knockout round:

Udinese 1 – 0 SVW Mannheim
SVW Mannheim 5 – 2 Udinese

A tough away defeat saw us need to win in the return leg. We were fantastic on the night and thrashed Udinese to make it through to the last 16 where we were drawn against Tottenham:

SVW Mannheim 3 – 1 Tottenham
Tottenham 3 – 4 SVW Mannheim

I couldn’t quite believe the two results we managed here. We took a lead to White Hart Lane and just went on the attack, ensuring our passage to the Quarter Finals where we were drawn against Marseille.

Marseille 1 – 1 SVW Mannheim
SVW Mannheim 2 – 1 Marseille

The quarters were a lot more tricky. Only a late equaliser in the home leg saw us go to France level. After falling behind to an early goal we had to dig deep and we managed to score twice, important goals that saw us through to the semi-finals of the Europa League!

Spartak Moscow 3 – 0 SVW Mannheim
SVW Mannheim 1 – 1 Spartak Moscow

And the dream ended. We were poor in Russia and couldn’t turn it around at home. Looking back I have a lot of pride at how well we did but I am extremely frustrated that we got so close to the final. Still it was a great adventure and we learnt a lot from the experiences.

The Players


Transfers

Squad 1 Squad 2

Goalkeepers


1. Hugo Anzarda - Hugo was brought in as a replacement for Colovic and is the Argentinian international keeper. Hugo did a solid job and had a good debut season. Plenty more to come from him.
13. Raymond Dekker - Raymond was back-up for the season and idid ok when called on. Slightly unhappy at being a back-up, his future depends on how happy he is at the club.


Full Backs

22. Andreas Schroder - Andreas had a solid season but found himself sidelined a bit by the emerging Escobar. I have great depth in the RB slot.
2. Victor Escobar - Victor settled more in his second season and found himself becoming our 1^st choice RB. Some fantastic performances followed he has laid down a marker for future seasons.
3. Rafael - Rafael started the season solidly and was pretty consistent. However the arrival of Rodriguez in January saw him lose his place in the team.
43. Cesar Rodriguez - Cesar joined in January for £7 million in January and had a solid if unspectacular start to his Mannheim career. I do expect however that he will kick on next season and justify the large fee I paid.


Centre Backs

5. Giovane - Giovane joined on loan for the season and had a good season for the club. I am deciding whether to offer him a deal this summer by actvating the £2.5 million fee agreed with Gremio.
6. Amadou Traore - The Malian defender joined in January as a replacement for Osmar. Still settling in, I expect more from him next season.
15. Vasilis Baxevanidis - Valisis had a solid season for the club and adds depth to our defensive options.
55. Alexandr Kuznetsov - Alexandr struggled a bit this season but still has the quality and will push hard for a starting spot again next season.
32. Nikolay Makovskiy - Nikolay was a back-up player again this season and continues to wait for an opportunity.
26. Hans-Werner Hermann - The young German joined to add some home grown talent to the club. Back-up player, he is a German U21 international.


Midfielders

4. Zafer Balikci - Zafer had another good season although it was blighted by quite a few injuries.
7. Nicolas Ruiz - Nicolas was in and out of the team this season but still got 10 assists. I am letting him go on a free this summer though due to wage demands that exceed his ability.
11. Eoin Doherty - Eoin had a serious injury at the beginning of the season and spent the rest of the season getting over it. Did ok though.
14. Migen Toma - Migen was consistent once more and did a good job for the club. A mainstay in the squad now.
20. Nestor Lopez - Nestor was Balikci’s understudy once more but disappointed a little. Wanting to leave for more football, he may get his wish.
23. Everton - Brazilian winger signed when we had no LM pre-season, he did ok. Likely to be sold this summer.
24. Craig Hopkins - Craig had a good season, featuring mainly on the right wing this season. Another good squad player.
30. Logan Humbert - Logan joined mid-season and is a hot prospect for the future. Got a couple of cameo appearances when injuries told, he is one for the future.
36. Franco Zuculini - Franco was on a season loan from Hoffenheim as back-up and did ok when called on. Won’t be back though.
47. Gomes - joined on loan for the season, he did ok on the left wing and scored a couple of goals. Unlikely to be signed permanently this summer though.
Jose Luis - joined mid-season like Humbert, he is another exciting prospect.



Strikers

9. Daniel Axelsson - Daniel was my big signing of the summer challenged with scoring goals for the club. 22 goals in the league and 34 for the season overall showed what a signing it was. Named as signing of the season in the Bundesliga.
10. Vladislav Scherbakov - Vladislav was put in the shade a little by Axelsson but had another good season. I have a good strikeforce now.
12. Armando Hidalgo - Armando was mainly a sub this season but is young and is still developing.
29. Edvin Topic - Edvin played a little more this season and scored a few goals. His future is in doubt though.
61. Helder - The Portugese youngster was initially unhappy at being a squad player but calmed down as the season progressed. I like him still and he could be a good player for us.


Finances

A good season financially, thanks to European competition and our league performances. We have never been better financially.

The Future

What for the coming season? Having made it back into 3^rd and the best placed play-off for the champions league, I am optimistic with a few signings we may make it through to the group stage. If we fail I will take another crack at the Europa League. Hopefully we can have another title push next season, and this is what I am aiming for.

Career History

Season      League        Pos.    German Cup  Europe     Achievements
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
2012/13   3rd Division    12th     N/A         N/A      
2013/14   3rd Division    2nd      N/A         N/A        Promotion
2014/15   2nd Division    3rd    1st Round     N/A        Lost in Play-offs
2015/16   2nd Division    3rd    3rd Round     N/A        Lost in Play-offs again
2016/17   2nd Division    2nd    3rd Round     N/A        Promotion
2017/18   Bundesliga      12th   3rd Round     N/A
2018/19   Bundesliga      3rd    2nd Round     N/A        Champions Leage Qualification!
2019/20   Bundesliga      3rd    1st Round   EUro Semi    Europa League Semi-finalists

[iacovone]

Oh man I wish I had a spare £2m! Just look at this guy! Only 16 years old too - Marius Blanchard

[iacovone]

That is an excellent season rlipscombe

Axelsson looks a great signing.

As for Europe - what a pity you couldn't get past Spartak Moscow - especially after beating arguably two (or three) better sides in previous rounds! Sounds like it was a nail-biting finish to the league campaign, very nice work sneaking back into 3rd - let's hope you progress through the CL qualifying rounds this year - not that the bank balance requires the added income!

Quick question - you have a section for the German Cup but nothing in it. Does that reflect the importance (or lack thereof) that you place on the competition?

[iacovone]

End of Season Report - Novese - 2023/24 (Season 12) - Serie B

Serie B - 9th

Building on last year's 7th place finish would always be difficult but I still expected a top half finish.

New arrivals meant six wins in nine games and a positive start. We had blips - of course, but by and large (aside from Varese) we held our own in the division.

January rocked us a little as Sidi Dianessy was sold over my head for £2.5m. Though, in truth, I'd have accepted that anyway. So we were a bit light at the back for the remainder of the season. Nonetheless we found our form in February and March to make headway in the division. The mother of all injury crises halted us unfortunately and we wound up finishing 9th, just shy of the playoffs again.

Looking at the overall picture of the league - this was the first Serie B season that had eight teams reach 70+ points. So we did well and in another campaign would have finished top three. In fact, our 65 points this season was a two point improvement on last year's effort.

Results 1 | Results 2

The Cups:

We dealt with Albinoleffe in the 2nd qualifying round but came unstuck at home to big spending Virtus Lanciano. This meant we missed out on a glamour tie with AC Milan in the next round - very annoying!


Key Men


Ricardo Tantardini (D/MC) - the longest serving man at the club took his appearances into the 400's for us this campaign. He is far from the most talented and barely played until the new year, but when he did he showed superb form and the leadership expected from the club captain.

Robert Stroh (D/WBL) - the German wing-back signed an extension at the end of a good campaign. He's a very talented defender and a good servant.

Christophe Carpentier (DC) - the French centre-back completed a good second season for us but is sadly heading back to his homeland after refusing to sign a new contract. Shame but worth paying tribute to a solid defender.

Mario Kung (MC) - the Swiss midfielder enjoyed a great season this year in the heart of the midfield and was an almost ever-present. Added goals to his usual creative nature.

Gustavo Mesquita (AML/ST) - Argentinian import played the majority of the year up front and barring a few injuries did well as our target man. He was signed for £2k and contributed a decent 10 goals. Hoping for more next year.

David Nicolini (AMC/ST) - our academy product featured plenty of times both off the bench and from the off. 28 games as a 16-year-old is possibly a bit intense but I feel he can handle it. 5 goals showed his promise too. Looking forward to seeing how his next few years transpire.


Squad Stats
Finances
Club Information


Objectives Complete?

• Top half finish

Success! Just about.

• Build a youthful future

Success. David Nicolini's emergence along with Vidovic and a host of new arrivals continues my mantra of building youthful squads

• Get a cup run going

Failed. Would have been great to beat Virtus Lanciano and set up a tie with Milan but wasn't to be.


New Objectives:

• Top half finish
• Get a cup run going
• Continue youth development

Another good campaign and one that gives hope for the coming season. I will still target a top half finish as we're not yet fully set up for a good run for promotion. Signing young promising prospects continues to be the best hope of reaching that stage.

Joining us in Serie B this season are: Udinese, Bari, Ascoli (from Serie A) and Venezia, Sassuolo, Ternana and Taranto (from Serie C1).

Seasonal Best Eleven
Overall Best Eleven

[rlipscombe]

That is an excellent season rlipscombe

Axelsson looks a great signing.

As for Europe - what a pity you couldn't get past Spartak Moscow - especially after beating arguably two (or three) better sides in previous rounds! Sounds like it was a nail-biting finish to the league campaign, very nice work sneaking back into 3rd - let's hope you progress through the CL qualifying rounds this year - not that the bank balance requires the added income!

Quick question - you have a section for the German Cup but nothing in it. Does that reflect the importance (or lack thereof) that you place on the competition?

it was REALLY frustrating the Moscow game... When i drew Marseille i knew i had Moscow or another 'easy' team in the semi and i kind of thought i could reach the final but we shot ourselves in the foot. REALLY ANNOYED! Axelsson is quality - already rejected an offer over £10 million from Aston Villa for him... As for the German Cup, i forgot what we did, although i am sure we crashed out in 1st round. going to update it later....

As for Novese, solid season there. seem settled as a Serie B club. shame you couldn't get milan...

[Lower Leagues Rule]

A couple of really solid seasons there Rlips & Iacovone, good to see the core members still here and working towards completions. I am still trucking along in Parla, halfway through the Liga Adelante season and just realised I hadn't updated since the end of the last season, but think I will just keep going this season and include a transfers update in the end of year one putting it altogether, having a fairly enjoyable season this year, though we did have to sell a few more players during the year, Ricardo (My star Left Back) had to leave as he wouldn't even discuss a contract so I put him on the block and got 1M + future profit clause so that could be well worth it. He has been replaced by Wagner who is not quite as good, but very solid. I also rejigged my right side as a new Russian defender and Spanish/Portuguese winger are now running that side, looking like a good team as I push towards promotion. Other than that all I am saying is I am in the title race this year.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist’s 2025/2026 End of Season Report

Season             League            Pos           Cups                      Europe     Award
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   EC 3Q      Manager of the Year
2016/17            Sc Div 1          1st           Challenge Cup Winners     EC 4Q      Manager of the Year
2017/18            Sc Prem           5th           LC Final                  qual       None
2018/19            Sc Prem           7th           LC Winners                EC R2      Manager of the Year 
2019/20            Sc Prem           1st           SC Winners, LC R/U        n/a        Manager of the Year
2020/21            Sc Prem           1st           SC & LC Winners           EC Winners Manager of the Year
2021/22            Sc Prem           1st           SC Winners                cc Q/F     Manager of the Year
2022/23            Sc Prem           1st           LC R/U                    CC R1      Manager of the Year 
2023/24            Sc Prem           1st           LC R/U, SC Winners        CC R1      Manager of the Year
2024/25            Sc Prem           1st           SC R/U                    CC Q/F     Manager of the Year
2025/26            Sc Prem           1st           SC, LC                    CC Q/F     None

League records

Category    Record     We Achieved
Points      103        103                      
Goals       132        148                       
Goalscorer  35         33

League

Squad

Transfers



We lost in the quarter finals of the Champions League to Barcelona, on away goals.

Domestically things went well. We won the league by 38 points. We smashed the season record for goals, equalled the points record, won both the cups. Despite all this, Celtic won the UEFA Cup, so their guy is the manager of the year. Our main goalscorer fell 2 short of his record. 33 goals seems quite good until you realise that he started every game but one, and we did score 148 as a team. Our legandary goalscorer Kristan Rowberry probably would have got the record fairly easily if I'd played him in the first half of the season, but he was coming back from a major injury and my coaches assure me he's now only the 6th best striker with 2 stars. I reinstated him after Christmas and he was as lethal as ever in the league, though maybe I will start our more skillful forwards in the Champions League.

Here's the Premier Division Team of the Season, which is entirely us. I've never had a team do that before. I loaned some players to 2 of our feeder clubs which made the crucial difference and resulted in promotion and safety, so now I have 3 Division 1 feeders.

One of our strikers, an Argentinian, is now a Scottish striker. He's had a major injury as well (a constant problem with our strikers) but he'll easily get into the Scottish side once he's recovered, if he accepts the call up. I have a couple of young Scottish midfielders in the squad, who would probably be word class if given more games, but the 2 starters are world class and seemingly indestructable.

Basically, constant and impressive success all round if you ignore the tiny matter of screwing the pooch in the Champions league, which unfortunately is the only thing that counts.

The key problem on the horizon is that our gaolkeeper only has year left on his contract, and he's not going to re-sign. We have some developing backups, but I'm hgoing to keep him for the last year and probably lose him on a free, rather than get money for him now. We don't need the money. We need him. Besides, we don't have anyone to buy, (there is nobody on my shortlist interested in any position). The team are still improving. We've lost one league match each of the last 2 seasons, so hopfully we can have an undefeated season. Given that we won 22 games in a row, a perfect league season is a real possibility.

[PRDH]

rlips - Could season there. PSG are a tough team to face in the qualifying round.
iacovone - He looks stunning. Have you tried everything, weird transfers clauses? Sometimes something can be done! And Nicolini looks like he should have a great future at the club.
vikeologist - Amazing dominance in Scotland, I just feel you need a slightly kind draw in the CL and you could be onto a completion.

[corinthiano]

iacovone: Nice couple of solid seasons in Serie B there, am also looking forward to seeing how Nicolini develops. When do you intend to geto out of Serie B?
G-Wiz: Well done on getting promoted to the Liga Orangina. Am very jealous of your tie with Benfica, crazy money for one game!
Austinha, StellaF1: Good luck with your new games
rlipscombe: Excellent season, despite the loss to Spartak Moscow. It looks incredibly tight at the top, surely the title is a real possibility this year. Also nice to see Axelsson turned out to be a great signing.
vikeologist: A tad unlucky with your CL campaign, the domestic domination is very impressive!!

As for me, I am finally back from my work trip and will look to finish my second season with Real tonight.

[iacovone]

iacovone - He looks stunning. Have you tried everything, weird transfers clauses? Sometimes something can be done! And Nicolini looks like he should have a great future at the club.

Yeah I did try a couple of things but his club were having none of it. He's no longer interested sadly. Maybe if/when I make it to Serie A.

iacovone: Nice couple of solid seasons in Serie B there, am also looking forward to seeing how Nicolini develops. When do you intend to geto out of Serie B?

Thanks. I reckon we could make the playoffs this year. I'm flying through the seasons and this is the best we've looked.

As for Nicolini, I'm very excited by him, he's scoring a few goals and coming on leaps and bounds according to my coaches. Hoping he continues in this vein. He's deemed a potential good Serie A striker

[rlipscombe]

rlips - Could season there. PSG are a tough team to face in the qualifying round.
.

Cheers. it was tough to be honest but it is going to be. not much better this time round - Atletico Madrid.

rlipscombe: Excellent season, despite the loss to Spartak Moscow. It looks incredibly tight at the top, surely the title is a real possibility this year. Also nice to see Axelsson turned out to be a great signing.

Cheers. it was really tight at the top. if we had beaten Leverkusen in the penultimate game we would have been champions... i am hopeful of a title push this summer. Axelsson was immense for me.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Parla with 13 games left

Well the season has been good, and the team is just rocking along. we have managed to be in the hunt all season, and given that B teams cannot be promoted the top 4 looks even better for us.

Liga Adelante

| Pos   | Inf   | Team           |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   |
 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Villarreal "B" |       | 29    | 18    | 6     | 5     | 45    | 23    | +22   | 60    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Hércules       |       | 29    | 18    | 4     | 7     | 60    | 34    | +26   | 58    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Parla          |       | 29    | 16    | 9     | 4     | 67    | 36    | +31   | 57    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Racing         |       | 29    | 15    | 4     | 10    | 52    | 40    | +12   | 49    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

So we are just 3pts off the title race and 8pts clear of fourth, a good run in to come as well. Was worried earlier in the season about how I would fit Arvanitis, Paulinho & Briand into the same squad with Petras & Yildrim in the midfield, well that hasn't been an issue yet as each has been injured for a period of time and I have only ever had 2 fit players for upfront. While that sucks it has kept all my players happy.

[corinthiano]

Real Sport Clube – 2013/14 Segunda Divisão - Zona Centro

Campeonato Nacional da Segunda Divisão - Zona Centro

Media Prediction: 14th
Board Expectation: Avoid Relegation
My Target: Promotion Challenge

League Table: 3rd ǁ Position Graph

We were moved into the Central Section and I can’t really complain too much about how the season went, Pombal and Operário Açores were just too good this season. If we can turn some draws into wins next season and the league is a bit more balanced we could make a more decent challenge. Pombal got promoted, so that is one of the stronger teams out of the way.

Taça de Portugal Millennium

First Round – Easy first game, with two free-kick goals by Gil!
Second Round – We were handed a tough draw and never looked like being able to beat Mafra.


The Royals

Transfers ǁ Squad 1 ǁ Squad 2

Managed to strengthen the squad a little bit, although it still is relatively thin. With some decent youngsters coming in I might be able to strengthen without spending. Loaned all players who I didn’t fit into the league squad registration and loaned them out to feeder club Cacém.

GK: Elói – The former Porto youngster stepped in for the ageing Mota. Not good enough though and a replacement has already been found for next season.
DR: Lucas Urban – Another excellent season from Urban.
DC: Felipe – Again another solid season from Felipe, who was also our third top scorer. There are a few clubs sniffing around, hopefully I can keep him.
DC: Eduardo Simões – The captain played well this season and I reckon he has another 1-2 in him.
DL: Fernando Dinis – I had several promising left-backs, but I felt that I still needed a better player in the position. Youth product Nuno Santos will probably take over next season.
DMC: Douglas – Kept his place and didn’t disappoint.
MC: Joedson – Another Brazilian brought in, was employed more offensively or defensively depending on the opposition.
MC: Bruno Baptista – Short term solution to strengthen a weak midfield. Did alright and might play a part as well next season.
AMC: Fernando – Even though he is getting on a bit, he was exactly the kind of player I needed this season. I hope he can keep up for next year.
ST: Gil – Signed on loan from Desportivo Brasil, I reckon he was our best player this season, even though he was not as prolific as I would have liked. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like I will be able to extend his loan.
ST: Nicolás Medina – The highly rated Chilean got himself in dangerous position on several occasions, but seemed to bottle it most of the time. Am looking for a more ruthless season from him next year.

Other News

We were selected as overachievers of the season!
Finances – We were taken over, but ther was no investment, just a massive loan taken out to get thus out of debt, which we are repaying at € 4.4k a month until 2039. The money won’t even get us through next season though, worrying times ahead. Our new sponsorship deal also isn’t helping in that respect.

This Season Targets

1. Try to at least compete for promotion Fail – Not even close to the top two teams.
2. Try to have a longer cup run Success – Well, Second Round is better than First Round, right?!
3. Lose less money Success – Although still leeking it and had to take a loan, financially we are in ruins.

Next Season Targets

1. Promotion Challenge
2. Third Round in the cup
3. Start playing more of our own youngsters

Our wage budget has decreased again, but I managed to clear some more deadwood, so will have to focus on the key areas that need strengthening. I think our youth players could play more of a role this year, let’s hope this actually happens,

Career Overview

Season       League                     Pos      Taça de Portugal      Europe      Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13      2. Divisão - Zona Sul      7th      First Round           N/A         None
2013/14      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   3rd      Second Round          N/A         None

[iacovone]

End of Season Report - Novese - 2024/25 (Season 13) - Serie B

Serie B - 6th

Following our impressive top half finishes in our first two years in Serie B, we had now established ourselves as a decent outfit at this level. The natural progression was to target the playoffs and with a few additions to the squad I felt we would make a mockery of the media's 18th placed prediction.

I was wrong. At least initially. In an awful start we won just two of our first nine games, including a 4-1 hiding at the hands of giants Udinese (more on them later).

Our slow start was eventually amended and we began posting a good set of results to move up the table. A couple of mini-blips prompted me to tactically investigate our problems. This led to a switch from the traditional 4-3-1-2 to a 4-1-2-3 which worked much better.

Our improved form meant we snuck into the playoffs but it came at a cost. Our right back Bernard Dupont and goalkeeper Federico Morabito were injured badly in the run-in and although Morabito soldiered on with a series of injections, by a cruel twist of fate he would miss our playoff matches. In our final league game too, Bulgarian center-back Daniel Topuzov was sent off and banned for all three potential playoff games!

Results 1 | Results 2
Progess

The Playoffs

We faced Udinese in the playoff semi-finals - a team we lost 4-1 to away in the league, and scraped a 1-1 draw with at home. So it would be an uphill task.

That task was made much harder as we succumbed to a 1-0 home loss in the first leg. Given their higher league position, we would have to win outright to qualify for the final.

Despite our best efforts, we lost 3-0 away as well to compound a disappointing end to a good season.

The Cups:

Again, rubbish. Couldn't beat Virtus Lanciano in the second qualifying round, meaning we crashed out in the same round we have done for the last three years.


Key Men


Ricardo Tantardini (D/MC) - this is now the end of an era. His contract is up at the end of the season but he announced his intention to retire a month before the close of the campaign. He's been a super servant to the club but I think realised he couldn't cut it anymore at this level. By PURE coincidence he wracked up a record with his final appearance for us in the loss to Udinese. What a man - he'll be remembered fondly. Tribute.

Daniel Topuzov (DC) - part of a growing eastern European contingent at the club. The young center-back broke into the first team and kept his place for the most part. He's got great potential.

Ivan Fernandez (DC) - like Topuzov, another summer signing. The Spaniard looked a little ropey to begin with but grew into the role and was a good influence on our late season improvement.

Bernard Dupont (D/WBR) - French full-back was another new signing in the summer and despite his age, played almost every game for us. Were it not for a bad injury that ended his season he'd have played the lot. A good debut campaign from a very promising player.

Stanislav Kamburov (DRC) - another of the eastern Europeans. I'd signed him for the future and given his age he was getting a lot of experience in our youth team. However the Dupont injury pushed him to the front of the queue and he did very well in his eight games for us.

Zdravko Vidovic (DM/MC) - really came into his own this season and nailed down the anchorman position. I have really high hopes for the Serb midfielder.

Matias Coto (M/AMC) - it wasn't his best season but his growth is fantastic. I expect it to continue although I'm not sure how big a future he'll have here with other midfielders vying for his position.

George Lupo (MC) - the Romanian playmaker had his first full season with us after joining us midway through last year and benefited greatly. His experience and talent is vital to our midfield.

David Nicolini (AM/ST) - the youngster had another season of development, making most of his appearances from the bench. I want him to start more games and he probably will next season. It's a second year of growth and the coaches seem impressed by him.

Dennis Fischer (AMRL/ST) - played fewer games than I wanted him to thanks to injuries and that stunted a promising season. His goals dried up when he played on the wing, as you'd expect. Still, he's a good player and is now the highest paid player in the squad. I did this as I think I can get decent cash for him in the future.

Carlo Ripa (AMRC/ST) - I saved the best til last. Our summer free transfer from Roma was brilliant. He was our top goalscorer and the creative hub from wide right. There's plenty of interest in him which I'll have to stave off as he'll be the key to making another push for promotion!


Squad Stats
Finances
Club Information
Transfers

Objectives Complete?

• Top half finish

Success! Snuck into the playoffs.

• Continue youth development

Success. Along with Nicolini we now have a core of eastern European and Danish youngsters pushing towards first team football.

• Get a cup run going

Failed. I give up on it, it's a pointless cup and one we don't do well in.


New Objectives:

• Make the playoffs
• Amend the dire finances
• Continue youth development

A great season that ended sadly. But it gives us great hope for the coming years that Serie A football may not be far off. The finances have taken a massive turn for the worst so I will probably have to part with some of our assets. The budget remains decent though so I should be ok to juggle our squad a bit.

Joining us in Serie B this season are: Brescia, Livorno, Siena (from Serie A) and Pro Vercelli, Viareggio, Crotone and Grosseto (from Serie C1).

Seasonal Best Eleven
Overall Best Eleven

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Another solid season the Iacovone, a very disappointing end though, I feel the pain with playoffs at one level below the top, my seasons in Liga Adelante are hurting. Though if I have done my maths right I have now guaranteed promotion to Liga BBVA even though the table seems to not be saying that, now all that is left is whether I can take the title or if I will be runner-up and promoted.

I see about half of your expenditure is on wages, which seems quite high. (Well I thought until i checked mine) - Last Season 3.2M wages, 5.8M expenditure (4.8M income + 1.2M transfers out to balance it), This Season 3.4M wages, 4.5M expenditure (4.6M income + 2M transfers to balance). So it turns out I would probably be going down as well if it wasn't for the sales of Ricardo, Herlein and others in the last two seasons. Maybe you need to pick a couple of young guys who you have, and sell some of the older ones who might get a buck or two. Hopefully once you gain promotion you won't have to worry about the finances so much.

As for the Cup run, I am experiencing that as well, never get further than our 3rd game in it and then it is all over.

[rlipscombe]

Unlucky iacovone... still it's still progress which is all important. was going to be a tough ask. Ripa looks a great player. good luck keeping him and for next season's push.

[PRDH]

Bad luck there iacovone. I'm expecting a promotion next season!

[iacovone]

Thanks guys. I didn't really expect promotion and once I drew Udinese without my first choice keeper, right-back and center-back I kind of expected to lose.

LLR - as for the finances, I need to make a big sale each year to keep the administrators from the door. We didn't sell anyone last season but this summer I've had one of my Danish defenders sold over my head for £1m. That and a couple of other co-ownerships mean we should be ok this year.

Congrats on your promotion though, that's awesome work given your position with 13 games to play

And Corinthiano good season there as well, hope you can find the bit extra to push for promotion next season

[iacovone]

Oh dear. An opening day last minute 1-0 loss to Ascoli was followed by a 3-0 home loss to Sassuolo and a 1-0 home loss to Udinese. Dreadful start to the new season.

Called a team meeting to raise morale. Back-fired. Ten players not happy with me. This is now a major crisis...

[PRDH]

This is now a major crisis...

I have faith you can turn it round!

In my news I've got a week coming up house-sitting in the middle of nowhere so hopefully will have plenty of time to push on again with Lusitania.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Des Tiny's
Agrupación Deportiva Parla

Liga Adelante
End of Season 2018/19
Winning the Title

The Season

In Brief
Predicted: 22nd
Actual: 1st (Graph)
Cup: 3rd Round vs Leganes 1:2
Manager: Des Tiny - History
Season Tickets: 2971 (^30 [Avg Att: 5191])
Finances: €5.25M (34th in ESP [^11])
Transfers: 2018/19 - 11 In (€120k) 18 Out (€1.9M) 6 Loaned (€39k)
Squad: First Squad, Under 19s

General News

Building the finances continuously now, being well under wage budget and getting more money from transfers than we are spending is really helping in this situation. Hopefully the board now decides to expand our stadium, or better would be to see them build us a new one because playing in the top division with only 6,000 seats in our stadium will be disastrous. I am only up as far as Icon, along side Ancos & Benitez, so a stadium could be named Camp Herlein, would be perfect by me. Going to keep trying to get money coming in, and looking at a team clean out at some point as really we don't need to 50 players we currently have and I also have a lot of reserve level players who either need to step up or leave so I can get in some players who are good enough to stay up.

The League

The biggest change from last year was that we started on fire, and we were in the promotion race from the start. We did have a slight drop in form which saw us drop to 6th, but once we went on a 17 game unbeaten streak, 1 loss and then stretching that to 19-9-2 over the last 30 games meant we worked our way back up into the title race and then into the lead, and ended up a comfortable 7pts clear of Hercules who will be joining us in the Liga BBVA. It was helped a lot by Villarreal B managing to lose 6 games in a row, and then us beating Hercules near the end of the season to catch up, at one point in the run in we were third by 6pts, but we turned it around, Getafe were promoted through the playoffs so we will have our local rival in the league as well.

Best Results: vs Tenerife 7:0, vs Hercules 4:1, at Alaves 4:0
Worst Results: at Getafe 0:5, vs Las Palmas 1:2, vs Guadalajara 0:2

The game against Hercules was even more amazing because of my team before the game, missing sooo many players.

My Players of the Season: Def - Phillip Thiel, Mid - Vangelis Arvanitis, Fwd - Erwan Briand

Season Review
Overachievers: Parla

Fixtures 1-21
Fixtures 22-42
Player Stats
Team Stats

Cup

In the second round we drew Alcoron and absolutely hammered them 6:2, this then set-up a meeting with Leganes, another team I thought I should be able to beat, but the boys never showed up and we went down 1:2. Another disappointing season in the cup.

Fixtures

The Players

Squad Stats

Key Stars
Lukasz Kaminski (POL) - Our Polish superstar, Kaminski has been epic in between the pipes, he played in all 44 games, and kept clean sheets in 19 of them, a little worried by the 43 goals in the other 25 games, but we will work at cutting that down as the keeper and defense get older.
Sergey Afanasjev (RUS) - He was signed in April last year, but wouldn't be joining us until december, from the first moment he was an amazing signing and great at right back as well.
Andre Perego (SUI) - The captain has led the side from the back and done some amazing things throughout the entire season, he will grow with the club and the other players into the BBVA, an awesome central defender being hunted by bigger clubs.
Phillipp Thiel (GER) - He led the backline for a while when Perego was out injured, but generally provided support to the captain and was very solid, needs to mature a bit as we did concede too many goals.
Ugur Dogan (TUR) - The utility player has played in four different slots through the season, he started as right back and then he played in centre defense, midfield and on the right wing too. Looks like some great cover.
Tobias Wagner (GER) - Somehow the German accrued 16 yellow cards in just the one season, he is good when he is on the pitch though so he will likely continue to start.
Ricardo Gomes (ESP) - He came in to replace Lopez on the right wing and was an amazing player, he was in control up and down the right flank, he got a little jaded near the end of the season, but it is to be expected.
Karol Petras (SVK) - He is the solid part of our midfield, his stats will never show anything spectacular, and I was worried that he wasn't doing much, but I watched a whole game with him highlighted and he is all over the park doing clean-up duties and helping the attack and defense.
Ercan Yildrim (TUR) - Another star in the midfield, Yildrim managed to do a lot of assisting on goals and managing to feeding it through to the forwards, solid average ratings, but not amazing.
Vangelis Arvantis (GER) - The young attacking midfielder was never supposed to be starting, but his skill this season has been immense, and he may have surpassed the replacement I have coming in July.
Mario Bumbera (SVK) - One of our Slovakian connection, Bumbera was epic on the left, he was almost dumped, but led us to a victory with a brace and took control of the side once more.
Erwan Briand (BEL) - Our leader upfront, he didn't come out as a star this season, though he did spend time out injured, and he then only had about half the season to get done and he really only managed 18 goals.
Paulinho (BRA) - Is the third player fighting for two attacking slots, but with injuries he managed to get a fair amount of game time this season and this saw him happy overall though he wants to move to a bigger club, I may let him go.

My Youth Prospects

Mihai Cogali (ROU) - The young Romanian is a new signing, but looks solid in the midfield and a great future star.
Roberto Delgado YP3 (ESP) - Our best youth prospect to date, he leaves at the end of the season as he can't get game time.
Rastislav Roznik (SVK) - Another young midfielder with some prospects, stuck behind some star youngsters though.
Ferhat Olzenir (TUR) - Young Left Back who will look to push Wagner around.
Juan Pablo YP7 (ESP) - Our new central defender, a homegrown youth prospect, will replace Delgado as someone we can put our faith in.

Other Players

Tayfun Sen (TUR) - The back-up left winger, but he has a few issues and is stuck behind Bumbera.


The History

The 100 Club

|-----------------------|--------|------|-------|-------|------|-----|-----|--------|
| The 100 Club          | Starts | Subs | Goals | Assts | Conc | Cln | MoM | Av Rat |
|-----------------------|--------|------|-------|-------|------|-----|-----|--------|
| Miguel Herlein*       |   175  |   3  |  139  |   46  |   -  |  -  |  36 |  7.56  |
| Taygun Kuru*          |   164  |   1  |   18  |   72  |   -  |  -  |   5 |  7.14  |
| Andre Gomes*          |   144  |  12  |   24  |   36  |   -  |  -  |   8 |  7.15  |
| Juan F. Aranda*       |   126  |  10  |    0  |   14  |   -  |  -  |   0 |  6.98  |
| Bruno Guillou*        |   132  |   0  |    2  |    8  |   -  |  -  |   0 |  7.02  |
| Kivanc Ozlu*          |   121  |   0  |   36  |    7  |   -  |  -  |  18 |  7.31  |
| Roberto Delgado (YP3) |    80  |  31  |    5  |   38  |   -  |  -  |   3 |  7.00  |
| Nuno Malheiro*        |    84  |  26  |    1  |   17  |   -  |  -  |   2 |  6.94  |
| Erwan Briand          |   106  |   2  |   71  |   21  |   -  |  -  |  12 |  7.40  |
| Miguel Lopez*         |    99  |   7  |   13  |   26  |   -  |  -  |   3 |  6.94  |
| Andre Perego          |    93  |  10  |   29  |    5  |   -  |  -  |  13 |  7.20  |
|-----------------------|--------|------|-------|-------|------|-----|-----|--------|

The Club Awards

|---------|----------|-------------------|---------|------------|
| Season  | Division |     Fans PotY     | Best XI | Overall XI |
|---------|----------|-------------------|---------|------------|
| 2012/13 |   2DB3   | Guillaume Dumast  | 2012/13 | 2012-2013  |
| 2013/14 |   2DB3   | Miguel Herlein    | 2013/14 | 2012-2014  |
| 2014/15 |   2DB3   | Miguel Herlein    | 2014/15 | 2012-2015  |
| 2015/16 |    LA    | Miguel Herlein    | 2015/16 | 2012-2016  |
| 2016/17 |    LA    | Miguel Herlein    | 2016/17 | 2012-2017  |
| 2017/18 |    LA    | Erwan Briand      | 2017/18 | 2012-2018  |
| 2018/19 |    LA    | Erwan Briand      | 2018/19 | 2012-2019  |
|---------|----------|-------------------|---------|------------|

Club History

|---------|----------|----------|------------------|--------|------------------|
| Season  | Division | Position |       Cups       | Europe |     Comments     |
|---------|----------|----------|------------------|--------|------------------|
| 2012/13 |   2DB3   |    6th   |        NA        |   NA   |       None       |
| 2013/14 |   2DB3   |    4th   |   SC 2nd Round   |   NA   | Lost in Playoffs |
| 2014/15 |   2DB3   |    2nd   |   SC 2nd Round   |   NA   |     Promoted     |
| 2015/16 |    LA    |   10th   |   SC 2nd Round   |   NA   |       None       |
| 2016/17 |    LA    |    7th   |   SC 4th Round   |   NA   |       None       |
| 2017/18 |    LA    |    3rd   |   SC 2nd Round   |   NA   | Lost in Playoffs |
| 2018/19 |    LA    |    1st   |   SC 3rd Round   |   NA   |    Champions     |
|---------|----------|----------|------------------|--------|------------------|

The Future

In Brief
Odds:
Predicted: 20th
My Aim: Avoid Relegation
Expectations: Avoid Relegation
Transfer Budget: €8.93M
Wage Budget: €82,178
Youth: Juan Pablo
Signings: Javier Arregi (AMC,Free), Metodi Stoynov (ST,Free)
Transfers Out: Roberto Delgado (MC,€100k)
Contract Expired: Angel (YP1a)
Wages at 01.07.19: €48,610

I have also just been hit by the "image" limit that has been introduced on imageshack, so moving to Photobucket, you have over 8000 images, you can only keep 500...oh hurray! - I will aim to move and update links on old updates if I can as well.

For the first time as well in my game we have seen someone not named Ronaldo or Messi winning the Player of the Year awards. Meet Fusca. Finances should be helped somewhat with the new kit sponsorship deal worth 170k instead of 10.7k, huge change of divisions there. Well I suppose one way to help new clubs to the division is to throw them some money, I have been given 20M in TV Rights for the season ahead. And can finally scout the whole world, no word about my stadium though.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Oh Iacovone, that's not good at all, probably your best hope from here is to go no pressure on your players as much as you can and hope they turn it around on the field as soon as they can. Looking forward to hearing about your recovery, hopefully the board's demands aren't too harsh this season.

[PRDH]

Cracking season LLR! Looking forward to La Liga?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Yeah looking forward to the challenge, have lots of money to spend, but not really sure what areas to strengthen as I have no idea where my players are at in comparison to the big teams. All I really want in season 1 is to avoid going back down.

[iacovone]

Form improved in the league but amazingly for the first time we've gone on a cup run. We're through the first three qualifying rounds, most recently beating Serie A's Torino 2-0 away. That means we get to head back to Turin to face the mighty Juventus! Very exciting

[rlipscombe]

great season LLR!! congrats on winning the title. looking forward to seeing you progress iin La Liga...
iacovone - good luck against Juventus. nothing like a big time cup tie when in 'lower' leagues...

[iacovone]

Sadly we received the expected hiding. 4-1 loss at Juve. At least we scored I suppose! It did mean we received a fantastic £500k for reaching the first round proper! I'll bear that in mind in the coming years

[iacovone]

600 games in management and I still haven't reached the top flight! This is the long slog and I'm loving it

[corinthiano]

LLR - Great season there, best of luck in Liga BBVA!

iacovone - Good season, Udinese were always going to prove too tough, hopefully you can get to the playoffs in a stronger position, or not have to go through them at all I have to say I usually do just like in your save, very slow progress until I reach the topflight, which also happens very rarely

[corinthiano]

It has not been slow progress this season though, in the first ten games we have a record of 9-1-0, scoring 31 goals and conceding just 6! We have opened up a 7 point gap at the top, let's hope we can keep up this form, or at least not suffer a bigger dip in form.

[iacovone]

It has not been slow progress this season though, in the first ten games we have a record of 9-1-0, scoring 31 goals and conceding just 6! We have opened up a 7 point gap at the top, let's hope we can keep up this form, or at least not suffer a bigger dip in form.

Awesome work! Keep it up and you'll be promoted in no time. With 5 games to go in the league for us, take a look at how tight it is!

Clicky

[Lower Leagues Rule]

600 games in management and I still haven't reached the top flight! This is the long slog and I'm loving it

Awesome work! Keep it up and you'll be promoted in no time. With 5 games to go in the league for us, take a look at how tight it is!

Clicky

Wow I didn't realise you were that far in, I have only just passed 300 games to make the top division. Good Luck on the run in, it is going to be very tight with 6 teams covered by 4pts, do you think you can make the top of the table?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Also just received the odds for the title...5000-1, somehow I think I need to do something amazing to stay up.

[corinthiano]

That is very tight iacovone, hope you can manage one last major push to claim automatic promotion!

[rlipscombe]

iacovone - that is tight. reminiscent of my league last season. hopefully you have more success than i had that time. 600 games in management? that's some achievement especially considering your career game last year...

[iacovone]

Brescia and Udinese were too strong in the end. Finished 4th. Playoffs here we come...

Fingers crossed!

[corinthiano]

That's a shame mate, best of luck in the playoffs. Who are you up against first?

[iacovone]

That's a shame mate, best of luck in the playoffs. Who are you up against first?

We got drawn against Verona in the semi-finals. I was pretty pleased with this as we have a decent record against them. Happier still that Udinese went up automatically!

[PRDH]

Good luck iacovone! I have faith in your young team.

[iacovone]

Novese Playoff Report - 2025/26

Seeing as I can't get the league table grab without giving anything away I thought I'd mix it up and give you the run down of this year's playoff performance:

Semi Final 1st Leg - Verona (a)

This was a pretty even first leg. We were unlucky to lose but looking back on the quickfire double they got just after half-time I was pretty pleased to eventually come away with just a one goal loss. Carlo Ripa was to thank for that.

Semi Final 2nd Leg - Verona (h)

The rules meant we just needed a one goal win to make the final (our higher league position meant we'd qualify). It was an incredible game. We absolutely hammered them for full on 90 minutes but just couldn't score. We had 3 clear cut chances but it really looked like we'd be back in Serie B next season. Then, in a moment of fantastic drama, the referee awarded us a 92nd minute penalty. Up stepped Carlo Ripa to send the keeper the wrong way and push us into the playoff final with the last kick of the game! Unbelievable scenes at the Pastorino Stadium!


Final 1st Leg - Livorno (h)

Livorno were one of last year's relegated Serie A sides and therefore came as favourites into the deciding fixtures. Carlo Ripa missed out due to suspension but we didn't need him in a comfortable win. The only worry was that it was just the one goal win. Harold Hofer's strike was worthy of a playoff win but despite hitting the woodwork three times we needed to do it again at their place four days later!

Final 2nd Leg - Livorno (a)

The early Karel Pacholik goal set us on our way and although they pulled one back, Mariano Mohamed and club captain Gustavo Mesquita sealed a fantastic end to a fairytale story! We're into the big time! Serie A here we come!!!

[iacovone]

End of Season Report - Novese - 2025/26 (Season 14) - Serie B

Serie B - 4th

What a season. It started awfully. As I built us up here, we lost our first three league games! My team meeting was a disaster but despite that we won the next three games.

There were blips along the way - just as we looked to be going on a great run we'd lose one - and usually at home, which was strange. Regardless we never lost 2 consecutive games in the league (aside from the opening three) and because of that kept pace with the top 6.

As January passed and I strengthened an injury riddled squad, we began to make progress and for a brief moment I thought we might go up automatically.

We didn't - a couple of draws and a loss in our last four games saw to that - but we made the playoffs. And if you read my previous post you'll know the outcome was promotion!

Results 1 | Results 2
Progess

The Playoffs

See previous post. Success!

The Cups:

Our first good year in the TIM Cup saw us make the first round proper. This led to a bit of prize money (£500k) and renewed reason to chase success in this tournament. We came unstuck in Turin - though not at Torino, who we beat 2-0. But at Juventus where we were dismantled 4-1. No shame in that though.


The Squad

Keepers:

Federico Morabito (GK) - The Argentine began the season injured so forced me to sign the man below him, but after a while reclaimed the number one shirt and had a good campaign.

Marios Oikonomidis (GK) - The Cypriot joined us right before the season kicked off and did well when asked. He wants first team football now though, so he may leave in the summer sadly. Looks a good prospect.

Defenders:

Bernard Dupont (D/WBR) - played a huge number of games for us in another fantastic season for the right back. He's co-owned by Pescara but seeing as they just got relegated from Serie A, I don't expect any trouble in keeping him.

Stanislav Kamburov (DRC) - If I do lose Dupont, Kamburov is maturing at just the right time. He's able back up as well as being a fantastic prospect.

Robert Stroh (D/WBL) - Another of the co-owned brigade but this time to mid-table Empoli. He's the vice captain of the club and usually a reliable performer but I have a feeling he may come up short in the top flight. Wouldn't be adverse to seeing him leave in the summer.

Zhivko Popchev (DL) - The Bulgarian left-back has been handy back-up for Stroh and although he could step in and do a job in his place, again, I'm not sure if he's Serie A quality.

Andrea Mazzina (SW/DLC) - was signed in January on account of Topuzov's long-term injury and did very well for us. Formed a good partnership with Fernandez but I'll be looking to improve on him.

Ivan Fernandez (DC) - almost ever-present, the Spaniard was superb for us. Weighed in with a very welcome 7 goals in his 50 appearances but was susceptible to the costly mistake. He made a squad high 3 errors that led directly to goals.

Matteo Pozzi (DLC) - the young prospect is a bit of a moaner. Wants a new contract, wants first team football, etc etc. Won't get them and is likely going to be flogged in the summer.

Daniel Topuzov (DC) - started the season very well but tore his calf in November and missed most of the rest of the season. He's attributes have suffered consequently but he's young enough to recover.


Midfielders:

Jimmy Nielsen (DC/DM/MC) - was able back up and occasionally slotted into midfield. A growing year for him as we assess if he can cut it at the top level.

Pedro Martins (DC/DM/MC) - signed on loan in January once Vidovic got injured and did well in the anchorman position until I changed tactics.

Zdravko Vidovic (DM/MC) - started brilliantly but broke his foot and missed a large portion of the season. When he returned, his defensive focus was less important to my more attacking theories so he found himself benched a lot.

Finn Skytte (M/AML) - still rated highly by potential by my coaches but I don't see it. Has barely improved since joining us and could only force his way into the team to make 11 appearances this season.

Mariano Mohamed (M/AML) - the Argentine left winger was great on occasion but couldn't get enough of a run of games going to be devastating. Still, he notched eight assists, which is fine by me.

Harald Hofer (MC) - the Bosnian was in his third full season for us and after initially thinking he wouldn't feature much, his determination and influence became key to the core strength of our midfield.

George Lupo (MC) - the Romanian playmaker didn't get a huge amount of assists but he keeps things ticking along nicely in the middle alongside Hofer.

Matias Coto (M/AMC) - couldn't fit him in as a MC but found his role behind one striker in my more advanced 4-2-3-1 later in the season. Became a bit of a revelation and I look forward to seeing if he can do it in the top flight. Time is on his side.

Giorgio Ferretti (M/AMC) - bit part player and the one big money (wages) signing I've made with Novese and regretted.


Forwards:

Gustavo Mesquita (AML/ST) - club captain had a mixed season. He's never going to be a big goalscorer and indeed, his ten this season, was highest haul. I'm undecided whether to keep him for next year.

Dennis Fischer (AMRL/ST) - same goes for Fischer. Every man and his dog have told me how great he is and he has been in patches for us but I need someone more dependably in the top flight. Think I may let his contract run down too.

Carlo Ripa (AMRC/ST) - the main man from last year picked up where he left off and had a stunning season from the right wing. 17 goals and 12 assists was worth it's weight in gold and although he left Roma to join us, he's helped drag us (and him) to Serie A. He picked up the fans player of the year.

Karel Pacholik (AMRL/ST) - THE revelation. I went with my instinct pre-season and forked out almost £300k for him but boy didit work out. He can play up front or from the left or right - he played wide left mainly - and he was similar to Ripa. Scored 17 goals to mark a wonderful debut season for us. At 19 and with determination 20 he could be something special.

David Nicolini (AMC/ST) - the Novese kid continues to come on leaps and bounds. He isn't quite the goalscorer I hoped for but he gets more shots off per 90 minutes than anyone else did this season, which is certainly promising. Exposure to Serie A should help him to grow even more!


Squad Stats
Finances
Club Information
Transfers

Objectives Complete?

• Make the playoffs

Success! Made the playoffs and by a stroke of luck won them!

• Continue youth development

Success. Nicolini, Dupont, Kamburov, Pacholik, Ripa, Coto, Vidovic are all young and great prospects.

• Amend the dire finances

Success. The sale of Denis Larsen, the three co-ownership deals, the cup-run and the promotion prize money see that we end the year with the finances looking as rosy as they ever have.


New Objectives:

• Avoid relegation
• Keep hold of the prized assets (the youngsters named above)
• Spend within our means

Wonderful season culminated in promotion! It's taken 14 seasons and over 600 games but I've finally taken Novese into the big time. The burning question - can we stay up!?

Joining us in Serie A this season are: Udinese and Brescia. Departing Serie A are: Pescara, Cagliari, Torino

Seasonal Best Eleven
Overall Best Eleven

[iacovone]

First summer signing...remember this guy?

\o/

High, high hopes for this kid!

[iacovone]

Some early observations:

• Agent fees are extortionate in the top flight!
• I got offered the Nigeria job
• I'm getting £3m+ co-ownership deals for Pacholik! I don't want to lose him though so turning them down at the minute

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Congrats Iacovone and welcome to the top, good luck with Survival.

As for what you have noticed, I saw that straight away as well, those agents get very demanding when you are in the top flight, but as I prefer to give the money to my players I adjust the agent fee to a loyalty bonus, so looks to come at 10k player 100k agent, well lets change that to 50k player 50k agent and they generally accept the switch so long as it only drops a little in total value, also means you can take away the wage rises too.

First international offer is always good, and those are some big offers, haven't really got anything amazing offered to my players yet, but I have sent Briand on loan for the season after receiving some offers (I have three new strikers who are likely to feature).

[iacovone]

Nice advice LLR - I've been fiddling the fees around quite a bit in negotiations. I probably wouldn't mind ten years down the line but at the moment every penny is precious!

Thought you'd like to know our odds are 5000-1 too

[corinthiano]

Congratulations on promotion iacovone

I really like the look of Coto and Pacholik and think they could be very important for you to guarantee survival in Serie A. Do you think it will be a struggle or do you feel confident about your chances? Looks like the Serie A might be very rewarding financially too, so surely if you survive the first year you will be able to strengthen quite a bit.

Oh yeah, and Blanchard looks class!

[iacovone]

Congratulations on promotion iacovone

I really like the look of Coto and Pacholik and think they could be very important for you to guarantee survival in Serie A. Do you think it will be a struggle or do you feel confident about your chances? Looks like the Serie A might be very rewarding financially too, so surely if you survive the first year you will be able to strengthen quite a bit.

Oh yeah, and Blanchard looks class!

Yes exactly. It's all about survival this year, no matter how we achieve it. The top 8 or so teams are seriously good teams but that's to be expected. Plan is to keep hold of the young gems and build a determined workmanlike team to compliment them

[sebs]

congrats iacovone - absolutely love the long haul of your success, the serie c years were not wasted in your development!!

[iacovone]

congrats iacovone - absolutely love the long haul of your success, the serie c years were not wasted in your development!!

Thanks sebs, glad you're enjoying the ride

[PRDH]

Congratulations iacovone! Blanchard looks like a cracker and Nicolini is developing nicely.

In my game Mendes has just reached 50 league goals, it's taken him 53 appearances. It's not a bad record!

[PRDH]

Champions League 1st Rd draw has been made. Been set the, not inconsiderable, challenge of Real Madrid.

[iacovone]

Champions League 1st Rd draw has been made. Been set the, not inconsiderable, challenge of Real Madrid.

Good luck - wouldn't fancy that much myself right now!

[PRDH]

Good luck - wouldn't fancy that much myself right now!

Thanks. I'll definitely need it. Especially as my starting right back (world class) has left and there just aren't any equivalent replacements out there.

[corinthiano]

Congratulations iacovone! Blanchard looks like a cracker and Nicolini is developing nicely.

In my game Mendes has just reached 50 league goals, it's taken him 53 appearances. It's not a bad record!

That is very impressive! Good luck against Real Madrid

[iacovone]

My word. I think we got promoted too early. There's such a gaping chasm between us and the top teams. Or in fact, us and half the league. 9 games in and we're 2-1-6 with 23 goals conceded. It's been tough. Some games you literally just have to write off. I'm tempted to rest my best players away to the big teams just to keep them fit for the games against teams in danger of going down. How sad is that?

[corinthiano]

Oh that is not a good start, hope you manage to tighten up at the back and grind some results out. I personally wouldn't play a weakened team against the top sides, every point you might be able to get is valuable, but I inderstand the temptation.

In my game I have sealed the title with four games to go, now I have to make sure we make it out of the promotion playoff.

[darren1983]

Having completed Dafuge's challenge (for the first time ever!!) I fancy a new challenge, I assume/hope its not to late to start this one?
Trying to choose between Italy and spain, will read through the thread first (am currently on a coach home from Scunthorpe so have plent of time, thank god for the iPhone!!) and will post my profile sometime tonight

[rlipscombe]

never too late to join darren1983! welcome and hope you enjoy reading the thread and that it gives you motivation.