FM12 Big Euro Nation: Small Club to Big Club Challenge

[corinthiano]

Promotion secured

Will post an update later tonight.

[corinthiano]

Real Sport Clube – 2014/15 Segunda Divisão - Zona Centro

Campeonato Nacional da Segunda Divisão - Zona Centro

Media Prediction: 5th
Board Expectation: Top-Half Finish
My Target: Promotion Challenge

League Table: 1st ǁ Position Graph

I haven’t dominated a league to such an extent in a long time, we started with an impressive 5-0 win away to Tondela and never left 1st spot from them on. A 3-0 win against Eléctrico in the 26th matchday sealed the title in advance. We broke the points record in the league by 6 points and were 4 goals short o breaking the goals record. I believe our dominance came in part due to a tactical tweak in which I set my full-backs to wing-back role, which gave us so many more options when attacking. I usually have pretty good “underdog” tactics but always struggled to dominate matches I was favourite for. I think I might have solved my problems for FM12 in that respect. Anyhow, off to the promotion playoff we went.

Promotion Playoff League Table

The playoff started very well with a 2-0 away win to Louletano, who had already lost to Penafiel and already left us in a privileged position. We then got trounced by Penafiel 4-1 at home, but luckily Penafiel did the double over Louletano, meaning we only needed a draw at home to Louletano to secure promotion. And that’s exactly what happened. Even though Louletano scared us with a goal in the 72nd minute, we pulled straight back and earned our promotion clinching point. The season then ended nicely when Gilson Salazar scored a beautiful chip to finish our comeback away to Penafiel, beating them 2-1.

Taça de Portugal Millennium

First Round – Another easy first game, Dani secured the tie with a hat-trick.
Second Round – We got a kind draw against non-league side Sacavenense and trounced them 5-1
Third Round – This was to be our first match against Liga Zon Sagres opposition and we made the Real fans proud. We held on until extra time, but Nacional proved too strong in the end and scored twice to secure the tie 3-1.

The Royals

Transfers ǁ Squad 1 ǁ Squad 2

A lot of movement out and the transfers in were all massive improvements on the players already at the club. I was delighted to be able to get Gil back on loan at the club again. He has left the club again but with his contract expiring in 6 months time I am hoping to be able to sign him permanently.

GK: Federico Cristóforo – I initially brought in the Brazilian Assis for the position, but when my scout recommended Federico on a free in January I could not resist making a move.
DR: Lucas Urban – Performed well again, although he got injured quite frequently this season.
DC: Felipe – As steady as ever, will have no problems in making the step up to Liga Orangina.
DC: Eduardo – Was surprised to find the former São Paulo player available on a free. He has formed a formidable partnership with Felipe, the main reason we only conceded 16 league goals this season. It was a bit of a hassle to convince him to renew his contract but I was glad when he finally committed to a new deal.
DL: André Dias – I actually started the season with the Real youth product Nuno Santos, but André Dias was a lot better and had to be signed up.
DMC: Douglas – Steady again, but might have to find someone better for the Liga Orangina.
MC: Joedson – Good season by Joedson again
MC: Rubén Pizurno – Saw the Paraguyan available at the start of the season and did not hesitate to sign him, was another impressively constant performer.
AMC: José Coelho – Signing of the season, was extremely efficient as our playmaker, providing 18 assists throughout the season. He was named in the team of the year.
ST: Gil – Gil was great again, we missed him a lot during the end of the season as he was out injured for two months. Without him our 3 to 4 nil wins were turning into tight 1-0 or 2-1 wins.
ST: Nicolás Medina – He delivered exactly what I was looking for this year, a 19 goal return in 35 appearances helped the team a lot.

Other News

Finances – I love our new board. They keep pumping cash into the club, which guaranteed that we never went into the red this season, hopefully we can stop relying on ther help, the wage budget was only raised to € 3.9k p/w so expense will not go up by that much.

Awards wise it was a good season too, I won manager of the season and the in the season overview we had José Coelho topping the assists list and being chosen as the signing of the season, as well as Gil having the highest average rating of the season. I was also named as favoured personel at the club 

This Season Targets

1. Promotion Challenge Succes – Dominant during the season and the promotion playoff was also quite easy.
2. Third Round in the cup Success – And we performed well against Liga Son Zagres opposition.
3. Start playing more of our own youngsters Fail – Nuno Santos only lasted half a season and none of the other youngsters were able to make the step up. The chances will probably be even more limited now we have gone up.

Next Season Targets

1. Survive relegation.
2. Rely less on board cash injections

Next season is all about survival, if we can lose less money it’s a bonus, but I don’t really care as long as we don’t go down.

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
2014/15      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   1st      Third Round           N/A         Promotion

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Des Tiny's AD Parla

Youth Player Project
July 2019 Update

I made the decision to cut the number of players I was updating, so here is my reduced list, Juan Carlos, Roberto Delgado, and the new boy are the major ones I will follow. The rest will just get a new screenshot as we follow them, if they retire I will try to give a full stats update at that point.

Player 2: Juan Carlos (MRC/AMC/ST)
PPM: None
Foot: Right
Born: Parla
Nationality: Spanish
March 2014, July 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Senior
|  Year |  Club       | Games  | Goals | Assists | MoM | Rating |
|-------|-------------|--------|-------|---------|-----|--------|
| 13/14 | AD.Parla    |  0 (1) |   0   |    0    |  0  |  6.00  |
| 14/15 | AD.Parla    | 11(16) |   6   |    4    |  1  |  7.04  |
| 15/16 | AD.Parla    |  0 (2) |   0   |    1    |  0  |  6.90  |
| 15/16 | Alcobendas* |  8 (0) |   2   |    1    |  0  |  6.75  |
| 16/17 | Alcobendas* | 20 (0) |   8   |    2    |  2  |  7.03  |
| 17/18 | Castellon*  |  1(24) |   1   |    1    |  0  |  6.54  |
| 18/19 | Jerez       | 37 (0) |   7   |    5    |  1  |  6.85  |
|-------|-------------|--------|-------|---------|-----|--------|
| Total | Senior      | 77(42) |  24   |   14    |  4  |  6.86  |
|_______|_____________|________|_______|_________|_____|________|

He spent 17/18 on loan at Castellon and seemed to be very average, so he got sold, I received an amazing 12k for him as he went to Jerez in the 2nd Division B, and he actually did a reasonable job for them in the midfield, and it will be interesting to follow in 2019/20 as he is joined by Roberto Delgado. (Shelekhov, one of our left wings is also on loan duty with them)

Player 3: Roberto Delgado (DM/MLC)
PPM: Hits Free-kick with Power
Foot: Left
Born: Parla
Nationality: Spanish
March 2015, July 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Senior
|  Year |  Squad      | Games  | Goals | Assists | MoM | Rating |
|-------|-------------|--------|-------|---------|-----|--------|
| 14/15 | AD.Parla    |  3 (1) |   0   |    0    |  0  |  6.80  |
| 15/16 | AD.Parla    |  3(23) |   0   |    2    |  0  |  6.77  |
| 16/17 | AD.Parla    | 38 (0) |   3   |   23    |  1  |  7.28  || 17/18 | AD.Parla    | 32 (0) |   1   |    8    |  1  |  6.82  |
| 18/19 | AD.Parla    |  4 (7) |   1   |    5    |  1  |  7.22  |
|-------|-------------|--------|-------|---------|-----|--------|
| Total | Senior      | 80(31) |   5   |   38    |  3  |  6.99  |
|_______|_____________|________|_______|_________|_____|________|

Well he started as much as he could in 2017/18, but in the following year he lost his role to Petras and looking into the Liga BBVA season I made the decision early that he was not quite good enough, so I took the 100k and sent him off to Jerez. I will continue to follow him as one of the better players we have produced, though I have cut those numbers.
Player 7: Juan Pablo (DC)
PPM: None
Foot: Left
Born: Parla
Nationality: Spanish
March 2019, July 2019

Senior
|  Year |  Club       | Games  | Goals | Assists | MoM | Rating |
|-------|-------------|--------|-------|---------|-----|--------|
| 18/19 | AD.Parla    |  0 (0) |   0   |    0    |  0  |  0.00  |
|-------|-------------|--------|-------|---------|-----|--------|
| Total | Senior      |  0 (0) |   0   |    0    |  0  |  0.00  |
|_______|_____________|________|_______|_________|_____|________|

The new guy in our Youth ranks, he has the potential to be as good as Andre Perego according to my coaching team, but he is a long way off that right now and will need to show his skill as much as he can.

The Rest

Ivan Vilches (1)
Angel (1a)
Ivan (3a)
Roberto Valverde (4)
Ruben Siguenza (5)
Jose Manuel Pastor (6)

Jaume (2a) - Retired

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Congrats on Promotion Corinthiano, good luck in the new season, and hopefully you can find some better youth prospects who might be able to make it into your starting squad.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

First league game of the season 1:5 loss to At. Madrid, I hope that is just showing their class, not our lack of it.

[iacovone]

First league game of the season 1:5 loss to At. Madrid, I hope that is just showing their class, not our lack of it.

Sounds similar to the Novese baptism to Serie A football!

corinthiano well done on promotion . Finances are in good shape too so you should have a nice base to build for the new year

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Sounds similar to the Novese baptism to Serie A football!

Seems that way, going to have to struggle all year and improve my players where I can. First points come at home to Espanyol as we manage to fight hard for a 0-0 draw in the 4th game of the season.

[CelticDaft98]

Sorry im a real noob at posting up and everything so can someone please tell me how long to holiday for in the first scottish season

[Lower Leagues Rule]

When I did it I went to June 1st, but I you can take over as soon as the last game of the season finishes, so once the game is loaded just find the date of the last league game and holiday til the day after that.

We also just had our first 2 goal game, as we went down 5-2 against Barcelona at Camp Nou, pretty tough when their front line is Bale, Messi & Fusca (Last years World Player of the Year)...

[CelticDaft98]

Thanks alot

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well we have the first good thing to come out of this season, the board have agreed to build Parla Stadium (Crap name), but the 20,926 seater stadium will have undersoil heating and will cost €29.5M, covered by a €28M loan and 10 year Stadium Sponsorship worth €1M a season. It won't be completed til July 2021, but hopefully by the time we get there we will be more settled in the top division.

[vikeologist]

Sorry im a real noob at posting up and everything so can someone please tell me how long to holiday for in the first scottish season

One other thing. Make sure that you have some rolling saves in case Queens Park finish bottom. There's a possibility that they will never be anything other than an amateur side, which would probably make the challenge impossible. Somebody warned me before I started, and they may have saved me many seasons of frustration, although it would certainly earn you much kudos should you have any success with them.

[CelticDaft98]

This is my first time doing anything like this but here goes



CLYDE

2011/2012 10th in Scottish 3rd Divison (36 Points)

June 1st

Clyde Hire Murphy As Manager

The Clyde board have announced the appointment of Gavin Murphy as the club's new manager.

Murphy is said to be relishing the opportunity to develop his football management skills at Broadwood Stadium and the Bully Wee supporters are sure to be hoping he can make a difference to their team.

Wage Budget: £2,500 per week
Transfer Budget: £0


(Wish me good luck

[CelticDaft98]

Thanks Vikeologist but thats ok Clyde finished bottoms so now im just hoping for the bes

[corinthiano]

Seems that way, going to have to struggle all year and improve my players where I can. First points come at home to Espanyol as we manage to fight hard for a 0-0 draw in the 4th game of the season.

We are all on the same boat! Only have one point in 4 matches as well. Our wage budget is ridiculous for a Liga Orangina side, took it all up just giving our key players pro contracts. Had to sign some very average youngsters just to make up the squad. Have arranged for three very good Brazilians to come in in January (including Gil), which will smash our budget, seeing as we already ar 800 euros p/w over it.

[PRDH]

We are all on the same boat! Only have one point in 4 matches as well. Our wage budget is ridiculous for a Liga Orangina side, took it all up just giving our key players pro contracts. Had to sign some very average youngsters just to make up the squad. Have arranged for three very good Brazilians to come in in January (including Gil), which will smash our budget, seeing as we already ar 800 euros p/w over it.

I did exactly the same thing when I went up the first time. Money is really tough in Portugal I'm still having to be very careful despite six consecutive titles.

[CelticDaft98]

i couldnt post at all last night

[corinthiano]

Tell me about it, I have no clue how I'll get out of it at the moment, we are losing 90k a month, makes survival all the more important. If we go down I think we'll go into financial meltdown.

Can't get players on loan in as well which is quite annoying, I think my rep is still too low and the players just don't want to come.

[PRDH]

My boys have made the journey to Madrid for the first leg of out Champions' league 1st Rd tie. Not entirely optimistic, especially given my entire first choice midfield quartet are out injured.

Kick off

10 mins - Real Madrid score after Svoboda can only parry the first strike. 1-0
20 mins - Penalty to Real. Scored. 2-0

Second half

81 mins - Real Madrid get a third and in all honesty that's probably the tie over. 3-0
83 mins - And that's a fourth. A pretty poor performance, but my lack of experience in midfield has really shown. We've not been able to control the ball at all and the Spanish side have taken full advantage.

Full time - A thumping. No other way to describe it. We were outplayed today and it's back to concentrating on the league.

[corinthiano]

Shame about the thumping, it must be tough when the gap domestically is so big in your favour but continentally the other way round. Hope you fare better in Europe next season.

[PRDH]

Cheers. In fairness domestically it's been much closer this season too. Porto and Sporting spent big over the summer and still have a much greater income due to ticket sales. I've got a bit of a battle on to retain the league.

[corinthiano]

True, it must be tough to compete financially with the big three, had any other team before from you managed to break their dominance?

[PRDH]

[edit] - Hmm, not sure what happened here!

[PRDH]

Since 2011 the winners of the league were:

2011 - Porto
2012 - Sporting
2013 - Porto
2014 - Porto
2015 - Porto
2016 - Porto
2017 - Porto
2018 - Porto
2019 - Porto
2020 - Benfica
2021 - Lusitania Acores
2022 - Porto
2023 - Lusitania Acores
2024 - Lusitania Acores
2025 - Lusitania Acores
2026 - Lusitania Acores
2027 - Lusitania Acores
2028 - Lusitania Acores

Also, the overall record of non-big 3 teams winning it is pretty bleak - Boavista in 2001 and Belenenses in 1946!

[rlipscombe]

CelticDaft - welcome to the challenge and good luck with Clyde
corinthiano - congrats on the title - sounds like going to be a tough season though
LLR - congrats on the new ground. tough start against At. Madrid though
PRDH - tough that against Real. still a bit of a gulf to close i guess. good luck doing that.

As for me, the season preview will hopefully be up later. Did we make the Champion's League group stage??????

[corinthiano]

In my game Benfica have done better, winning three leagues, whilst Porto only won one. I always found the dominance of the big three quite amazing, to think that in almost 80 years ony a couple of clubs have been able to break their spell, it really is quite something.

[PRDH]

rlips - Yeah. I still have to play out of my skin against clubs like those to get a result. Not helped by the fact that my right back left in January and I've had to replace him with a sub-standard loan player.
corinthiano - Porto's domination in my game has meant that they had a ridiculous financial advantage over the rest of us. Champions League every year while the other two battled over the second spot.

[corinthiano]

rlipscombe - thanks, it has been tough so far, but at the halfway stage we have managed to hover just above the relegation places. With my three brazilians (one GK, one DR and Gil) arriving in January I feel more confident about staying up. I am 3k over a wage budget of 4k now though, needless to say the board is pretty annoyed with me

I look forward to hearing whether you made it into the CL group stages.

[rlipscombe]

SV Waldhof Mannheim – German Bundesliga – Season 2020/21

Season Preview

After our near miss in the title race last season and eventual finish in 3^rd once more, my aim this summer was to try and tighten at the back and add a bit more quality to our midfield areas. On top of this, there was also the matter of the Champions League qualifier again which stood in my way from reaching the group stage for the first time. In order to do this a few new additions joined Die Buben.

Without further ado here are the new signings.

Transfers


Centre Backs

5. Marcello Moschini - Young Italian CB signed on a free transfer from AC Milan. Marcello has fantastic potential – one to watch out for along with…
35. Aidar Solosin - Young Russian signed for a bargain £6k from Spartak Moscow, Aidar is a future star for me and he will threaten for a starting spot over the course of the season.

Midfielders

28. Omer Ahmetovic - Young Australian attacking midfielder who I deided to take a bit of a gamble on. Like some of his technical stats, time will tell if I can develop him into a good player.
27. Luca Oliveti - Luca is a 4.5* potential LM signed on a free transfer from Grasshoppers. He will push hard over the season for a LM spot.
21. Toby Hiner - LM signed on a season loan from Manchester United. Will push Doherty and Oliveti for a starting berth and had the shirt in the early fixtures.
7. Christoph Jung - Christophe joins from Schalke to add competition to the RM spot. Helps he is German too.
16. Carl Cook - Lighteningly quick RM signed on loan from Manchester City. An England U21 regular, he is a quality player in the making.
75. Takeharu Fukuda - Fukuda was a late signing to add some strength to our central midfield. Has some good stats and I hope he can make an impact as the season goes on.


Strikers

19. Ricardo Freitas - the big money signing of the summer, Ricardo is someone I have had my eye on for 18 months. Dominant in the air and a prolific score with Guimaraes in Portugal, I have high hopes for him.


The Upcoming Season

I am pretty happy overall with the squad I have. We have 3 good strikers with some young strikers snapping at their hells, we have quality out wide and the stars have stayed. Fingers crossed we can mount a title challenge once more!

Europe



Champions League Best-Placed playoff

Mannheim 3 – 0 Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid 2 – 0 Mannheim

We did it! We qualify for the CL griup stages for the first time. Daniel ‘the axeman’ Axelsson’s second half hat trick in the first leg the key to qualification. It was ‘squeaky bum’ time in the second leg as Madrid peppered our goal with shots (27-9) but we held in there to my delight.

As a result, we were drawn in Group B along with Manchester United, Olympique Lyonnais and Galatasaray. A very tough group to be honest – my target will be to at least make 3^rd place. If we can nick a couple of home wins we might do it.

[corinthiano]

rlipscombe - Ricardo Freitas looks like yet another awesome striker signing But I generally liked your signings, lots of youngsters with bags of potential.

And congrats on reaching the CL group stage! It does look like a tough group but I reckon 3rd place is definate possibility!

As for Real, we managed to string a 5 game winning run and have moved 9 points clear of the relegation zone with 6 games to go. Don't want to jump the gun, but it looks like we could be guaranteed Liga Orangina football next season.

[darren1983]

Right after catching up on this thread over the last day or so (and a 11 hour day at work ) I was struggling to pick between Italy and Spain, went with Italy in the end and on first reload up popped Messina! So looks like its time to get Messi(na)

Personal Page
Club Overview
Profile
Information

Squad

[corinthiano]

Good luck with Messina

[CelticDaft98]

Unlucky start for me with clyde out of the League cup 1st round and the challenge cup 2nd round

[darren1983]

Cheers mate - had a little look through the squad and looks like I've got a couple of decent prospects, looking for a nice mid table spot this season

[iacovone]

End of Season Report - Novese - 2026/27 (Season 15) - Serie A

Serie A - 16th

It was a real baptism of fire for my Novese boys. As you can see below, we did not enjoy the early stages of our debut Serie A campaign! It turned out that we had a group of particularly tough fixtures and once they were out of the way we found our feet.

There's a distinct top six in the league and that was evidenced by the final league table. I think we got two points over the whole season in those 12 games. Oh well - it will take plenty of time to bridge that gap.

For now though, the crucial games came between the other 13 sides and ourselves. We had rocky moments but rotating formations and being bold at home meant we picked up valuable points at crucial times.

This meant my target of hitting > 35 points was met in time for the curtain call on the season. I'm pretty pleased with how we adjusted to the division in the end. Our squad is nowhere near large enough or indeed good enough (particularly at the back) but up front we look like we have players good enough to do damage in the league.

I'd also like to draw your attention to Claudio Ferraro, the league's best player. Napoli may not have won the league but with this guy they will tear teams to shreds!

Results 1 | Results 2
Progess


The Cups:

This wasn't much of a concern this year and we bowed out to Bologna in the fourth qualifying round after beating Taranto 3-0 in our first game of this year's tournament.


The Squad

Federico Morabito (GK) - May have had to pick the ball out of the net more than he'd like but his 11 clean sheets show his ability. Also found an ability to save penalties! Saved three this season.

Bernard Dupont (D/WBR) - The French right-back continues his development, keeping Kamburov out of the first team. Remains to be seen if he can hold his place for next campaign.

Claudio Zito (DRC) - Argentine stopper was signed in the summer and began well. Found the net a few times and added some much needed experience to the team.

Lucas (MC) - Brazilian midfielder is now the best player at the club. He got injured for two months at the end of the season and you could see we missed his all round ability.

Anton Boev (M/AMC) - Bulgarian summer signing slotted into midfield well and kept Coto out of the side. His attacking instincts and passing ability offer good threat either in a 4-4-2 or behind the striker.

Karel Pacholik (AMRL/ST) - The Czech attacker sometimes saw his chances limited but was good when used, chipping in with a few goals. Wanted by plenty of clubs.

Claudio Ripa (AMRC/ST) - Took to Serie A well and our only player to hit ten goals or more. He also picked up fans player of the year again.

Marius Blanchard (ST) - Young French prodigy did pretty well in his debut season bagging seven goals. He's improving loads.

Pereira (ST) - Brazilian striker was signed in January to give us extra firepower. He didn't score many, only one in fact, but he's a creative striker, as shown by his seven assists. Looks like he could strike up a good partnership with a finisher like Blanchard.


Squad Stats
Finances
Club Information
Transfers

With the boost of a cool £3m for our finishing position I asked the board to improve the training facilities. They agreed. At a cost of £1.8m!

Objectives Complete?

• Avoid relegation

Success! A 16th placed finish was very commendable.

• Keep hold of the prized assets

Success. They all stayed but I've learn a lot this season. I'm not sure Kamburov, Coto or Ripa are cut out for my ambitions. The others are for now.

• Spend within our means

Success. I stuck to the budget strictly even in the face of mounting problems.


New Objectives:

• Avoid relegation
• Hit the 45 point mark or more
• Continue to develop the ground/training facilities

This was a productive season. Initially I thought we'd struggle to stay up but we showed our grit over time to survive quite clearly. Next year in Serie A gives us an opportunity to continue our growth. I don't think we can make massive moves in the market, so it will continue to be slow and steady progress towards the top half. Slow and steady wins the race chaps (eventually!).

Joining us in Serie A this season are: Torino, Empoli and Pescara. Departing Serie A are: Nocerina, Udinese and Vareses.

Seasonal Best Eleven
Overall Best Eleven

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Good Work on survival Iacovone, and hopefully you can push onwards now.

An excellent start there Rlipscombe, hopefully you can make an impact in the group stage.

As for us well 9 games in 0-3-6 (Ouch) - This could be a long season, though the 6 losses have been 5 of the top 10 + Bilbao. The 3 draws against 12th/14th/15th so far. I haven't played 16th - 19th (4 teams yet) so hopefully attacking those teams will help.

Edit: Also Corinthiano, was that a typo in your wage budget? 4k? If not I feel rich with a wage budget of €82k

[PRDH]

iacovone - Excellent season. Survival is always the aim in the first season.
rlips - I really like the look of your signings. Some great potential there.

[corinthiano]

Solid season there iacovone, good to see you kept your distance to the bottom teams. I have to say I don't envy you for facing Ferraro twice a season, he looks like a beast!

And LLR, yes it is only 4k, our salary per annum was 40% of the next lowest team, whilst the highest team had 8 times our salary spend. After securing survival the board have increased it to 7.75k, but I am already spending 7.5k of it...

[iacovone]

I must also tell you that I managed to get Savona as my feeder club

For anyone that has followed my past efforts with this challenge, they'll know I completed the challenge (for the only time) with Savona.

[iacovone]

Pre-Season Transfer Review - Novese - 2027/28 - Serie A

Daouda Solo (DR) - signed on a free to replace Bernard Dupont who saw his remaining 50% bought out by Juventus. Looks to be just as good as Dupont (although maybe not as rounded).

Saul Garcia (D/DM/MC) - Spaniard signed on a free transfer. At 18 years old he looks like he has enough potential to be a good Serie A player. I'm not yet sure whether I'm going to have him as a DM or CB. Leaning towards the former as his jumping is only '8'.

Harold Cardenas (M/AMRC) - the 26-year-old Colombian was signed from Cypriot side Anorthosi Famagusta for £1.6m - a considerable fee for Novese. He will offer plenty in attack and fill a void at RM. Shame he got injured for 3 months in pre-season

Dario Nieva (DC) - centre-back was a position I was happy to spend big on. About 70% of our budget was spent on Nieva but I think it'll prove to be well spent. He's the aggressive stopper I wanted in our back four but at £3m wasn't cheap!

Tete (M/AML) - I realised after I spent my money that I hadn't signed an able LM. So Tete was brought in on loan from Roma for the season. Should do a good job out there when used.


Transfer Summary

You can see on the outgoings we made £1.9m through co-ownerships. Oikonormidis, Mohammed and Dupont all left permanently, while Topuzov has seen 50% of his contract bought by Parma. For as long as we're a small club this seems the best way to generate short-term cash.

[PRDH]

iacovone - Nice to see Savona. You'll have to see how high you can get them through your youth/back up players!

Back with me, I've finished another season. Hope to have the update done tonight, or possibly tomorrow.

[CelticDaft98]

January 1st - Half Season Report

Doing well so far 4 points clear of second place montrose and Still in the scottish cup

Despite these positives We haven't been playing well we have been scraping out wins but despite this we are still undefeated sadly however ive had
some poor draws with teams i should have beat

Got a few good players on loan and free transfers and O'Leary has been playing amazingly

The board has raised my budgets due to my good performance

Budgets

Transfer budget: 24.55k

Wage budget: 4.6k p/w

So good overall but still some creases to iron out

[rlipscombe]

rlipscombe - Ricardo Freitas looks like yet another awesome striker signing But I generally liked your signings, lots of youngsters with bags of potential.

And congrats on reaching the CL group stage! It does look like a tough group but I reckon 3rd place is definate possibility!

As for Real, we managed to string a 5 game winning run and have moved 9 points clear of the relegation zone with 6 games to go. Don't want to jump the gun, but it looks like we could be guaranteed Liga Orangina football next season.

Cheers. i was pretty happy with my signings. hopefully Freitas can become a club legend. As for the champions league group, as a tease we have played 2, won 2... 4 points clear of Man United in 2nd...

LLR & PRDH - cheers guys. hopefully some of the kids can be the cornerstone of our future.

iacovone - congrats on survival - all that matters really first season. great to see you linked with Savona again too. Nostalgia!!

celticdaft - looks like it's all going well so far. good luck in the second part of the season.

[corinthiano]

iacovone - Good signings, I would also tend to play Saul Garcia as a DM if I was you.

CelticDaft98 - Great start there mate, hope you can keep it up and clinch promotion.

rlipscombe - sounds like a good start at the CL, surely a place in the last 16 is on the cards now?

My update to follow shortly!

[corinthiano]

Real Sport Clube – 2015/16 Liga Orangina

Liga Orangina

Media Prediction: 15th
Board Expectation: Avoid Relegation
My Target: Avoid Relegation

League Table: 10th ǁ Position Graph

I didn’t start the league feeling very comfortable. We had maintained our first eleven, but I had to get in a bunch of new back up players who were not as good as the guys who I had released. We did start pretty badly and it took us 5 games to find our first win. We were however pretty inconsistent in the first half of the season and were never too far of the relegation places. In January however my Brazilian trio came in and we put in an impressive 5 game winning streak in.Even after our run ended we put in pretty decent performances and even managed to get into the top half for a few rounds before it all caught up with us. I was very happy with a 10th place position though.

Taça de Portugal Millennium

Second Round – We dominated the game but disappointingly could not finish Pombal off. We paid the price on penalties.

Bwin Cup

First Phase – Group C – Never thought I would have a chance, was just happy we didn’t lose all games.

The Royals

Transfers ǁ Squad 1 ǁ Squad 2

I released a load of players thinking I would be able to bring in much more quality players as a professional club. I was very wrong though as giving my first eleven pro deals already took up my meager € 4k p/w wage budget. I was left with signing up a load of average youngsters as my board only let me offer € 100 p/w to any new signings. Before the restrictions I managed to secure the Brazilian trio, which was crucial to our season.

GK: Buick – The first of the Brazilian trio, was brilliant in goal, keeping 9 clean sheets in 16 matches.
DR: Antônio – The second of the Brazilian trio, helped steady the defence, be it as DR or as DC when Eduardo was injured.
DC: Felipe – Felipe was ever present and he has already passed the 100 games mark for the club.
DC: Eduardo – Another good season by Eduardo and he is still improving.
DL: André Dias – Also had another good season, I am very happy with my deence overall, definately the strongest area of the team.
DMC: Douglas – Douglas is still performing well as DM, if I had money I would maybe start looking to replace him, but he will do for now.
MC: Joedson – Not as strong this season, I am between replacing him and José Coelho in the first team. I probably only have wage budget for one replacement.
MC: Rubén Pizurno – Kept up his good performances.
AMC: José Coelho – Just don’t think he has cut it at this level, nowhere near as influential as the previous season.
ST: Gil – I just love this guy, not a massive goalscorer but always a nuisance to other defences.
ST: Nicolás Medina – Not as prolific as last season, but his goals always came at crucial times.

Other News

Finances – Awful, board still pumping money into the club and we are still running at a big loss on a monthly basis. Was pretty surprised and happy about the € 250k prize money for the league though.

The facilities were downgraded, not happy about that…

This Season Targets

1. Survive Relegation Success – Seemed like it wasn’t going to be possible at first but we made it look easy in the end.
2. Rely less on board cash injections Big Fail – Went over the budget by quite a way and even though the board kept pumping money into the club we finished the year on a loss

Next Season Targets

1. Keep away from a relegation fight
2. Have a half decent run in one of the cups
3. Stay within my wage budget

The board has increased the wage budget quite a bit this season to € 7.75k p/w, but I am just about under it, so won’t be able to make extravagant signings. I will look to offload a few players and maybe get a new AMC in. Considering this and the fact that the promoted sides Varzim and Farense are very strong I am going to settle for survival again.

Career Overview

Season       League                     Pos      Taça de Portugal     Bwin Cup        Europe      Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13      2. Divisão - Zona Sul      7th      First Round          N/A             N/A         None
2013/14      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   3rd      Second Round         N/A             N/A         None
2014/15      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   1st      Third Round          N/A             N/A         Promotion
2015/16      Liga Orangina              10th     Second Round         First Phase     N/A         None

[PRDH]

Lusitânia Açores - Season Summary - 2028/29

Finances

Key figure - £16,331,161 | Summary

Club News

1/ Collins' departure broke the record for highest value sale.
2/ Stadium expansion completed taking capacity up to 29,932.
3/ Board have agreed to improve youth facilities and to expand the stadium again.

Transfers | 5 in (£1.4m) and 26 out (£27m)

A tricky year of transfers. I spent a lot of time in the summer fighting off bids for Collins only for him to leave towards the end of January when someone matched his release clause. I then had loads of cash to spend but no one I felt happy with replacing him long term. I therefore got a couple of loanees in and for the rest of the season didn't own a right back - not ideal. It means I'll have some hunting to do over this summer.

Other than that there were a lot of former youth players who I'd never got round to releasing who got uppity this season and were therefore shown the door and I sent a few players out to Fatima and Oriental (my feeder team) in the league below helping them to 3rd and 12th respectively.

League | Predicted - 2nd (Honestly, when will the media think I can win it!)

Table | Graph

Trickiest season domestically for a long time. The top teams all have spent money over the last couple of years and therefore closed the gap on me. Injuries to Mendès and Neira at the start of the season didn't help and we made a fairly ropey start. We clawed our way back into it and when we beat all the top teams in the second round of matches we rose to the top again. We played last in the rounds from then in and that is why it looks like we were second until the final game. We actually hit the top with 5 games to go I think and held on from there.

Hoping to reassert my dominance next season with some shrewd investment over the off season. I'm tempted to move on some of the established players. Fontaine is a great player but didn't reach the heights of previous seasons. If there are big offers I'd be tempted to cash in and start rebuilding again.

Cups

Supertaça | Winners

A solid win in the season opener against Rio Ave. Nothing much to say. It was fairly routine.

Taça de Portugal | Semi final

Our youth/back up players got us to the semi final where they lost out to Benfica. These cups basically mean nothing to me. I'm only really interested in the league and Europe.

League Cup | Semi final

The kids fell at the semi final in Portugal's second cup too.

Europe

Group Stage | Table

Thought I'd managed to draw a pretty tough group as I faced off against Juventus, Valencia and RB Salzburg but we negotiated it fairly comfortably only losing one game - against Valencia.

1st Knockout Round

First Leg | Second Leg

A nightmare draw saw us come up against eventual champions Real Madrid. They emphasised the gulf in class that still exists between me and the top teams in Europe with a 4-0 victory in the first leg. We were better when we brought them back to our place but still never looked like getting back in the tie as we snatched a 2-2 thanks to two own goals.

We'll just have to have another go next season!

Squad | Overview

'Keepers

Ales Svoboda - 43 apps, 41 conc, 19 cln - Kept his place as first choice keeper this season. Not quite as imperious as he had been before, but he's still young and I fully expect it to just be a slight hiccup.

Miltos Diallas - 5 apps, 1 conc, 4 cln - Too good for a number 2 really and he knows it. He started to complain and I decided to let him go. He's off to Malaga in the summer.

Defenders

Stijn Hermans - 16(2) apps, 1 gl - Continues to ably deputise for the first choice pairing.

Pavlos Nalbantis - 4(4) apps - Another who is really rather too good for his position and is another who is leaving us at the end of the season. He heads to Denmark.

Sébastien Gautier - 45(1) apps, 1 gl, 1 ast, 2 MoMs - Another good season for the French defensive juggernaut. His touch in front of goal deserted him this season. Something to work on before the new season.

Meraneh Descazals - 33 apps, 8 gls, 5 MoMs - He's 28. It looks like he's here for the duration of his career and I'm very happy about that.

Ange Diaby - 6(5) apps - He's served us well but he's off at the end of the season too. He's staying in Portugal.

Christian Osses - 44(2) apps, 3 gls, 6 asts, 1 MoM - This man is the record appearance maker for the club. He takes some displacing this lad.

There were also a couple of on loan right backs here who played the second half of the season but I didn't get round to taking screenshots before they left. Needless to say they won't be coming back. They were average, but no more.

Midfielders

Germán Muñoz Urrea - 1 app - He's been living on borrowed time for a while now and I've finally secured him a move. He heads to Benfica. Am I worried about him strengthening a rival? No.

Christian Madsen - 25 apps, 2 gls, 3 asts, 1 MoM - Rotated with Tornado through he season. Gets the bolding on account of his one extra appearance this season.

Tornado - 24(2) apps, 2 gls, 6 asts, 1 MoM - It won't be long until he replaces Madsen as first choice in this position. He's a cracking young midfielder.

Vadym Gai - 34(1) apps, 6 gls, 16 asts, 4 MoMs - Another solid season for the Ukrainian. I wonder whether this is a position we could look to strengthen.

Emin Dalkali - 14(16) apps, 8 gls, 4 asts, 3 MoMs - Gai's understudy again. Gained more playing time this season and he continued to improve and impress.

Joffrey Fontaine - 31(1) apps, 7 gls, 14 asts, 3 MoMs - Seemed somewhat complacent this season. Not at his best, but then neither were the rest of the team at times

Stefan Fink - 14(15) apps, 4 gls, 3 asts - Another of the youngsters to be progressing well.

Andreas Jensen - 33(2) apps, 7 gls, 10 asts, 3 MoMs - Again, like Fontaine, he wasn't quite at the races this year when we needed him.

Holger Lemke - 1(2) apps, 2 gls, 1 MoM - Youngster is progressing nicely.

Héctor Partida - 14(19) apps, 1 gl, 3 asts, 1 MoM - Without wishing to be repetitive he's a young player who is developing nicely.

Forwards

Allan Tranberg - 13(6) apps, 5 gls, 3 asts - Played a large part in our disappointing start to the season as he deputised for the injured first choice pair.

Alan Neira - 39(1) apps, 15 gls, 14 asts, 4 MoMs - Didn't score as often as he could but his partnership with Mendès is encouraging.

Micha Peek - 1(10) apps, 1 gl, 2 asts - Beginning to phase Peek into the first team. I'm quite excited about his potential. He was lethal in the reserves.

Sidnei Mamede - 13(7) apps, 11 gls, 7 asts, 5 MoMs - Tranberg's partner as the season began. Scored goals but the team was poor.

Miguel Angel Klein - 1(1) apps Struggling to make an impact here. Might be time to look at moving him on.

Edemilson Mendès - 35(1) apps, 22 gls, 9 asts, 3 MoMs - Not as lethal as in previous seasons but still finished as top scorer. Hopefully with a good pre-season he can get back to his best. Has still scored 62 goals in 71 league games for the club. A great record.

Aims For This Season Were...

1/ Retain league. - Yes
2/ Semi-final of the Champions' League again. - Not even close

Aims For Next Season Are...

1/ Retain league
2/ Improve European form - at least Quarter final.

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
2019/20		Premier League		5th			Europa League again
2020/21		Premier League		1st			Champions!
2021/22		Premier League		2nd			CL Qualification again
2022/23		Premier League		1st			Champions!
2023/24		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2024/25		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2025/26		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2026/27		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2027/28		Premier League		1st			CL Semi Final
2028/29		Premier League		1st			Cl 1st Knockout Round

Previous Updates

12/13
13/14
14/15
15/16
16/17
17/18
18/19
19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27
27/28

[PRDH]

rlips - Awesome start to the Champions' League Group. Got to be looking at qualification after that.
corinthiano - Great first season in that league. Certainly could be looking at a push for promotion next year.

[rlipscombe]

as for our 3rd group game... Manchester United at home. the result??? 1-0 home win!!

[G-Wiz]

Ac. Viseu - 2014/2015 - End of Season Review

Manager Profile
Team Information
Transfers

Predicted Position: 15th
Actual Position: 7th
Average Attendance: 2583
Season Ticket Holders: 630

With promotion came the club changing from Semi-Professional to Professional. As a result i was able to bulk up the number of staff, and in turn develop the players more than ever before. Full time training made a huge difference to the players, with attributes improving almost across the board.

Our league performance was not matched by that in the League Cup, where we crashed out in the first stage, losing 2 of our 3 matches. We did however perform better in the Taca de Portugal, beating a few minnows on our way to the 5th round. Here we were drawn against the mighty Benfica, and despite receiving a 5-1 hammering, the gate receipts we gained from the match were a massive boost to our poor-looking finances.


GK

Igor Rocha - difficult season, conceded a shedload of goals, still finished the season with 8 clean sheets but may need to be replaced if i can find better within my budget

DEF

Alisson - one of the stars of the season, consistently impressive and laid on a tremendous 16 assists, the most in the league, and all from RB. attracting interest

Gleydson - not used as much due to the arrival of a few new CBs, may be phased out next season

Joao Cancelo - LB was fairly solid before injury ended his season

Fernando Lopez - brought in to strengthen CB position, ended up first choice alongside Tavares. However, the defense was a big let down this season, and so the position is still up for grabs

Ricardo Tavares - another brought in to fight for CB place, yet to prove his worth

MID

Dionatan Teixeira - big man was a big player for us this season, contributing a huge 10 goals from DM, all coming from corners. a great weapon to have at set pieces

Mexilhao - another improving player, 4 goals, 4 assists, averaging 7.01

Andre Gomes - fairly unspectacular in CM, another area that needs someone more influential

ATT

Jean Silva - part of a very impressive front 3. 17 goals and 12 assists showed he was more than capable of making the step up a division

Fusca - a star again this season, i really believe he and Silva can continue to improve and potentially be around for a while. 16 goals and 15 assists from the right side of my front 3 was a fantastic return

Edson - playing as the main striker, finished top scorer with 18 goals. the main man in terms of experience in an otherwise very young team. hope i can get a few more seasons out of him as he will be hard to replace

Alipio - the one man currently in the squad who may fill in for Edson, scored a few goals in his limited appearances. his arrival essentially signalled the end of the road for cult hero Bacari, who will see out the remainder of his contract and leave the club as one of our Favoured Personnel

Top Scorer - Edson - 18 goals
Highest Average Rating - Fusca - 7.24
Fans Player of The Year - Fusca

Portuguese Second League Top Scorer - Edson - 2nd, Fusca - 3rd
Portuguese Second League Most Assists - Alisson
Portuguese Second League Young Player Of The Year - Jean Silva - 3rd
Portuguese Second League Manager of The Year - Garry Maltman - 3rd
Portuguese Second League Team of The Year - Alisson, Fusca
Portuguese Most Improved Team of The Year - Ac. Viseu

So my main aim moving forward has to firstly be to try and strengthen the GK/DEF positions, as the number of goals we conceded was a concern all season, and had a huge effect on our performance in the league. Too many silly goals conceded, which could ultimately have been prevented and meant less dropped points/improved league position. If we can continue to score as frequently as this season, but concede a few less, i am confident we will continue to progress at the same rate we have been up til now

Season          Division                                 Position       Achievements
2012/2013       Portuguese Second Division - Central      7th	        Safety          
2013/2014       Portuguese Second Division - Central      1st           Champions, Promoted Through Playoffs
2014/2015       Portuguese Second League                  7th		Safety

[corinthiano]

PRDH - Glad you managed to retain the league, have to say your squad looks awesome, it's quite a thing that there is still such a gap to the bigger clubs.

rlipscombe - Surely aiming for first place now?!

Just managed to sign this guy, needless to say I am very excited, think he could make a massive difference!

EDIT: Great season there G-Wiz, your strikeforce looks pretty decent, you reckon you could challenge for promotion next season?

[rlipscombe]

corinthiano - i guess i have to really! 5 points clear of 2nd with 3 games to go. we rode our luck a lot in the match but a tactical masterstroke by myself switching from 442 to 4132 with 3 CM's nullified their threat and Scherbakov scored the decisive goal. over the moon.

liking the look of Momotenko as well. could be a star for you.

G-Wiz - solid season there. as corinthiano says you have a decent strikeforce there. good luck next season.

[iacovone]

rlips - wonderful form in Europe! Keep it up!

corinthiano - good first season in the top flight, we seem to be moving at a similar pace . I like the look of the Ukrainian kid too, could work wonders from the left.

[corinthiano]

I wish I was in the first division, only in the second tier for now. Hopefully we can get there in a couple of seasons, but knowing me it could take more time...

I am actually thinking of playing Momotenko as MC or AMC, I just can't bring myself to play with wide midfielders in FM. He lacks the creativity to be a playmaker, but he is so much better than all my other midfileders that I might just play him there for now.

[CelticDaft98]

Clyde End Of Season Report

Overview

An amazing start to the challenge I got promotion by a quite comfortable 13 point lead

also got a few prospects in the team that could develop quite well

the one bad point is my finances (Mostly because of my board buying our stadium) and have I been left with no transfer money next season

Squad

My best striker left during the winter due to his loan expiring and him failing his medical but i got a few that looked good but both of them had goal droughts of over 11 hours was gutted


Fixtures

As seen im my half season report i was undefeated at new year ended up with 3 losses on my record at the end of the season which was way above my expectations that i set my self of getting into the playoffs



Third Division Table

I won the division with 4 games to go and i was about 13 or 14 clear had a couple of injuries in the next couple of games but it was the end of the season so it didn't matter



Transfers

[iacovone]

corinthiano - oops! Could have sworn you were top flight

In my news, I just got offered the AC Milan job

They've suffered a major fall from grace and are 10th in Serie A. They could only offer me £350k as a transfer budget! Bad times for the Rossoneri

[rlipscombe]

celticdaft - congrats on the title. bit tough on the transfer front but experience of scotland tells me that you don't need money for signings just yet as their should be enough out there on frees. i don't think there is much in quality between the two leagues either. good luck
iacovone - must be a fall from grace if you are their best option!! sounds like they are struggling though.

[Dexter_Morgan]

After my Barakaldo save went due to the hard drive failure I have left this section for a bit but have decided to come back. I nearly started Barakaldo again but I felt that getting as far as I did as quickly as I did with only Basque players again would have been too much to ask for the moment, so I have gone with Messina in Italy. Before I get on to what has happened so far i'll do the usual screenies.

Me

Overview

Club info

I have actually completed the first season and am in the second (though I will talk about that once it is over and done with)

Transfers in

Antei

Avramov

Bernardo

Ferreira

Kikarin

Otto

Pecha

Sclopis

Silva

Sovis

Ins and outs

Season review

Table

Serie C cup knocked out 1st round

Top scorer and player of the season



I had actually only planned to sign the original 4 at the start of the season due to funds being tight but a bad start to the season meant I had to try and add a bit more quality to ensure survival at least. The autumn spree improved us immensely as we went on a 23 match unbeaten run to find ourselves 13 points ahead of the 3rd place club at the time. As it happens that cushion was badly needed as we played 6 of the top 8 in the last 7 games and dropped a fair amount of points in that time (though I partly blame the fact we had another few players were settling in and an injury to Capellino amongst others)

Money is poor, losing around £50k per month and the chairman left with the new board not adding any funds so we will be struggling for a while unless I sell at some point.

Just read the last few pages on here and too many people to mention but it seems like a lot of people are doing very well

[Dexter_Morgan]

Messina 2013/14 End of Season report

Transfers

Top scorer/player of the season

Table

Serie C cup

Serie C Super cup

Coppa Italia

I'm delighted with the way the season has gone. I lost my scout at the end of last season and couldn't afford to replace him until January which meant I had to make do with the squad that finished last season, so for us to storm the league up until the winter break was not only a shock but an amazing push by us. We had the total opposite of last season with that start a poor middle section and a strong finish but we manged to get ourselves in a good position again and eventually take the title. Otto was superb after a slow start to his career at the club which included me having to send him home for a month in pre season but that turned out a wise move as he was something else when he came back. Silva in midfield pulled the strings and most teams couldn't cope with them.

We are still in a bit of debt but getting Roma away in the Coppa Italia was a life saver, in fact we were unlucky to lose and I believe we could have won if we wasn't down to 9 men but we weren't expected to win so I am pleased with the effort.

The Serie C cup was a nightmare, I had been playing a reserve side most of the way through in the hope we'd get knocked out but typically we ended up with a semi decent run in it.

I'm on a big scouting mission now trying to look at players newly released from clubs, big changes are needed if we are to stay in Serie B. A few of my better players are wanted so if it means a better balanced squad then I am prepared to sell for a decent price.

[iacovone]

Back to back promotions Dexter?​ I hate you

[iacovone]

End of Season Report - Novese - 2027/28 (Season 16) - Serie A

Serie A - 12th

A much-improved season! We've taken to the challenges of Serie A and suitably claimed a nice 12th place finish. There were no enormous hammerings like last season and we actually conceded a very respectable 42 goals (the eighth best in the league).

This meant we had the basis of a team capable of winning against the big sides. Our win at the San Siro over Milan was an early season highlight but the best accomplishment was doing the double over Napoli (they of Claudio Ferraro fame).

There were, of course, some disappointments but we secured survival for the second season running - our aim from the off. With the more rigid defence I can now look to be more attacking in our set-up as clearly scoring just 32 goals isn't going to win anyone anything!

Results 1 | Results 2
Progess


The Cup:

A disappointing 1-0 home loss to Parma put paid to any cup chances this season.


The Squad

Doauda Solo (DR) - signed as Bernard Dupont's replacement and he's had a fantastic debut season. Just look at the average rating! Superb. I expect a lot of interest in him this summer but I just attached him to a new contract, so we should be fine. Won fans player of the year

Daro Nieva (DC) - the new club captain was imperious at the back. I just need to find an equally good partner to really shore up our back-line. I like him though, plenty of potential to be a club legend.

Carlo Ripa (AMRC/ST) - bagged his traditional double figures for us and mostly played from the right. He's a tricky customer and somehow always finds chances. Thank god otherwise we'd have been relegation fodder!

Karel Pacholik (AMRL/ST) - struggled with injuries a bit but by and large had a good year for us. I'll be looking for him to step up next season.

Tete (M/AMLC) - Brazilian signed on loan from Roma began very encouragingly but petered out as the season dragged on. Will return to Roma and is unlikely to return.

Marius Blanchard and Pereira (ST's) - 3 goals in 60 appearances between them. I really hope it's my tactics rather than them. On paper they should do damage. In reality they were utter utter tripe. Need a drastic improvement in them before I lose faith. The major disappointment of the season.


Squad Stats
Finances
Club Information
Transfers

I managed to convince the board to work on the youth facilities (£350k being spent) and improve the junior coaching budget. All in the name of developing some Novese talent - it's all run dry since David Nicolini came through - and sadly he's just slightly below this level.

Objectives Complete?

• Avoid relegation

Success! An improvement to 12th place is fantastic in my book.

• Hit the 45 point mark or more

Success. 49 points.

• Continue to develop the ground/training facilities

Success. After the training ground improvements, we have youth facility improvements and junior coaching budget increases coming.


New Objectives:

• Break into the top ten
• Hit the 50 point mark or more
• Score goals. 45 or more in the league

The steady progress at Novese continues. There is a pretty obvious top 10 and bottom 10 in Serie A at the moment. My next target will be to break into that top half. It will be tough and I'll need to be shrewd in the transfer market but if our strikers find their form again we should be capable of doing it.

Joining us in Serie A this season are: Udinese, Cagliari and Salerno. Departing Serie A are: Bologna, Torino and Empoli.

Seasonal Best Eleven
Overall Best Eleven

[PRDH]

Nice season there iacovone! Can't think why your strikers aren't scoring more goals. They look like they should get games in the league. Are they missing lots of chances or not getting them?

[AliG]

RasenBallsport Leipzig

This is the start of my first ever attempt at this challenge. After playing FM12 casually for a few months, I have decided to dip my foot into a challenge like this. In previous years I have always attempted dafuge's challenge and felt like a change this year. So after waiting 30 minutes for the year to holiday, I was pleased to see Redbull's foray into German football appear in 3. Fussball-Liga.

The club was founded in May 2009 after Redbull bought out the playing licence of fifth division side SSV Markranstädt. It is the aim of Redbull to appear in the Bundesliga inside 10 years. The aims of the corporation fully coincide with the aims of the new manager. They will play their homes games in the newly renamed Redbull Arena with a lofty capacity of 44,345. The club has average training facilities, average youth facilities, adequate junior coaching and above average junior recruitment. With some decent facilities in place and a good level of financial backing, I thin kthis could be an enjoyable journey.

With a lack of history at the club and no Leipzig based football club having won the top football league in Germany since 1913, I intend to restore some pride to eastern Germany.

Media Prediction: 7th
Expectations: Respectable league position
Transfer budget: £475k
Wage budget: £140k per week

Manager Home
Manager Info
Manager Profile
Club Profile
Club Info
Squad 1 - Squad 2

[rlipscombe]

welcome AliG and good luck with RB Leipzig. good to have another german player.
iacovone - good improvement mate. seems like you are settled in the league now. good luck next season with the push for the top 10.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

I just noticed, my new English Striker is labelled "The Next Bobby Zamora"

[rlipscombe]

I just noticed, my new English Striker is labelled "The Next Bobby Zamora"

travels around a bit for big money, yet flatters to deceive??? i wouldn't expect loads of goals then...

[Taunton]

Really like the intro-post to this challenge. Always nice to read about the past years challenges, the people that have accomplished it, and with which team. I can understand why this challenge has been so popular.

Is there a reason that Turkey haven't been cracked yet? Is it a difficult country to manage in?

I am doing Gundos challenge myself for now, but will read through and follow this thread closely. KUTGW!

[AliG]

Thanks rlipscombe. Looking forward to the challenge.

So far I'm a month in and my team was awful through preseason. Following an opening 3-0 loss, I have now won 3 in a row keeping clean sheets in all. Time will tell how long this lasts though. I see the challenge was completed last year with RB Leipzig though so it is definitely doable!

[rlipscombe]

Thanks rlipscombe. Looking forward to the challenge.

So far I'm a month in and my team was awful through preseason. Following an opening 3-0 loss, I have now won 3 in a row keeping clean sheets in all. Time will tell how long this lasts though. I see the challenge was completed last year with RB Leipzig though so it is definitely doable!

it is definately doable. RB Leipzig have best budget in that level which should help early doors. you have some good players too which should see you ok for a bit. sounds like you have found some form - good luck

[G-Wiz]

EDIT: Great season there G-Wiz, your strikeforce looks pretty decent, you reckon you could challenge for promotion next season?

yeah i think considering how well we performed last season with only a few additions to the squad, if we can strengthen a few positions a bit more then you never know...for a proper promotion push we really need a new GK, a stronger CB, and a creative midfielder. We conceded far too many goals last season, otherwise im convinced we couldve been right up there.

having said that, my boards lack of ambition is really starting to get frustrating. once again i have no transfer budget, and my wage budget has only increased slightly, to £10,500 a week, so i will probably need to move players out before i can bring anyone in

[Dexter_Morgan]

Messina 2014-15 Review

Ins and outs

Raul

Signed as a squad player though my scouted rated him, wasn't really that prolific over the season but was steady enough.

Barmos

Absolutely superb at left back all season, was a contender for my player of the year at one point.

Barth (1)

Took a lot of haggling with his agent to get him on board at the start of the season but I was determined to get him no matter what it cost and he was superb all year and kept everything ticking over. This is him at the end of the season, his importance was shown in the games he missed more than any other player and that's why I made him my player of the year.

Palinek

Came in January to boost numbers and did well, I think there's a lot more to come from him.

Brunet

Another top signing in the winter, I had 2 £6M co-ownership offers in the summer but he wouldn't join either Bologna or Lecce, I could have done with the money but in a way I am glad he rejected them.

Kovacs

He was more a back up player but has done well when called upon, I accepted a £1.4M co-ownership at the end of the season for him so there must be something there, unfortunately I needed the money for other signings and he was the most disposable (though he stays with us for the time being)

Top scorer

Goes to that man Otto again, he took to Serie B like a duck to water and was the divisions top scorer.

Season Overview

Table

Coppa Italia

I am still in a bit of shock by it all myself, but we had a flying start and as I usually find if you get a good start the confidence is high and results keep coming. We let more goals in than I would have liked but I can't be too harsh as I would have been happy finishing just above the relegation zone at the start of the season. It wasn't always pretty, 14 goals came from indirect free kicks, another 8 from direct ones and 9 goals from corners (never had that many set piece goals in a season before) but in this division results are everything and i'll take another year of it in Serie A and then start to work on playing the pretty stuff.

We had the 3rd highest attendance in the division and made a small profit each month but the gate receipts from the cup games and the £400k+ from reaching the 1st round were invaluable to us.

I'm about to play my first Serie A game against Padova, followed by Lecce so we do have a good chance to get some early points on the board. I've managed to get far better staff in now as well plus quite a few players and more targeted so i'll probably do a half season review this time to save an a very long end of season post.

[vikeologist]

I approach every match with complacent disinterest apart from Champions League Knock Out matches before which I have stomach churning terror of impending disaster; especially second legs. It's not uncommon for me to play through the game for a few hours until I get to one of those matches and stop playing, thinking I can't handle this at the moment. Sometimes when we go out I stare at my screen in disbelief.

So a hatrick in the first 8 minutes certainly helps calm the nerves. Safouan Yilmaz, I'm developing a bit of a man crush on you.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Ercan Yildrim scores the Liga BBVA Goal of the Week in a 3:1 victory over Villareal.


Finally looking like a team, though tomorrow is the end of the first half of the season and we face Real Madrid.

[PRDH]

I have a player from my youth set up who is dubbed 'the new Raul Meireles'. I don't see it myself. He's a decent player, but I'd say he's more of a winger.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Messina 2015/16 Half season report

Obviously I have had to be very busy in the transfer market as we probably went up a season sooner than I would have liked. Most players in are on frees but I did manage my first 2 cash signings who look very promising.

Ins and outs

Domej

Olsen

Polenta

Preub

Vidal

Willian

Prince

Dragomir

Maiga

Half way table

I am delighted with the start we have made, we have only really been hammered twice and have Milan and Napoli as major scalps. My transfer dealings were mainly young players as you can see because my thinking was build a team now even if it meant going down this season i'd have a good base for any relegation and future promotion but it has so happened that they have excelled and even if the 2nd half of the season doesn't go as well as the 1st we should be safe as the bottom 3 are really poor.

I was offered the Parma job which I obviously turned down but it was good to get my 1st offer from another club, especially one as big as that.

The signing of Prince was a big one for us, I had tried to get him in October and would have come then if the board would have gave me the extra £2k a week I needed but the board finally upped the budget in Jan and we snapped him.

I had been playing 4-4-2 all season but Prince's signing means I am going for this formation so we can control the midfield better against bigger clubs. Otto isn't as prolific this season but he has still chipped in with 8 goals, i'm not sure he is actually good enough for this level but I can't bear to get rid of him after all he has done in the past 2 seasons (how sad am I loving a player like that? )

I don't think i've enjoyed a save on FM like this since my Santa Cruz save on 09, the game is running quick and I just keep on wanting to move on to the next match as soon as I can which is why i've flown through it so far. I thought days like this were behind me but my faith in FM has been restored with this save so far

[iacovone]

I have a player from my youth set up who is dubbed 'the new Raul Meireles'. I don't see it myself. He's a decent player, but I'd say he's more of a winger.

Screenshot?

[PRDH]

Screenshot?

Since you asked. Here is Álvaro Pinto dubbed the new Raul Meireles and compared to Andreas Jensen within my squad - I honestly don't see the similarity with either, I don't see him being involved in the middle of the park for quite some time, if ever. He looks to me to be a decent right winger in the making though. Will look to give him some game time in the second half of the season/the cups.

While I'm at it - here's Rui Lopes who came through in the same batch of youngsters as Pinto and who also appears to have the makings of a decent centre-half. No comparisons have been made but he is part of the Portugal U-21s side. He really needs to improve the physical side of the game, but hopefully that'll come with time.

[PRDH]

You know that dominant, free-scoring team I had a couple of seasons ago? If anyone finds it lying around could they please send it to me. My team this season (in the league) look as though they've never played together before. Baffling considering how long some of them have been with the club.

Do you think it's worth shipping out some of the players who've been around for a long time? Try to freshen things up or is that a waste of time?

[rlipscombe]

sounds like it might be time to freshen it up a little bit....

[PRDH]

January has rolled up and I've broken my record transfer fee bringing in some midfield quality. Hopefully he'll make a difference. Otherwise it might be time to say goodbye to some established names in the summer.

[corinthiano]

CelticDaft98 - Great first season there, best of luck in the Second Division.
iacovone - Good season despite the lack of goals, which I have also found very strange, hope you can sort that out and push for a top-half finish next season.
Dexter_Morgan - What an amazing rise to the top! Looks like you should stay up quite easily this season.
AliG - Best of luck with RB Leipzig, had a go with them last year, only got to 2. Bundesliga but I remember never having to worry about finances. Quite a different scenario with my Real team now...
G-Wiz - I know what you mean about board ambition, in my second season at Liga Orangina I only have a wage budget of € 7.75k p/w. I keep finding awesome players, but that would take up 15-20% of my budget, so frustrating!
vikeologist - That is an awesome result, could this be the year?
PRDH - I'd say freshening the squd up sounds good as well. I am not the loyal kind, if I see someone I think is better than what I currently have I don't think twice about signing him, given I actually have the finances for it...

As for Real, we have started steadily in the league, I think it will be a year of consolidation.

[PRDH]

Right. It's time for my annual defeat in the Champions League 1st Round Knockout. This year it's AC Milan who get the honour of ruining my season. I'll be welcoming them to Angra do Heroísmo for the first leg.

Kick off - Going into the game with a couple of long term injuries makes life harder

7 mins - Jensen gives the ball to Mamede who surges up the middle before releasing Neira on the edge of the box. He beats his man and slots it under the Milan GK. 1-0
26 mins - Milan have their first serious chance as they find some space. Fortunately they contrived to put it a long, long way over the bar.
39 mins - Fontaine runs up the left touchline. Gets to the byline. Whips a low ball in across the box where Neira is arriving. He throws himself at the ball, gets a touch and diverts it into the net. 2-0

Half time - A decent performance in the first half here has definitely given me something to play with.

50 mins - Descazals puts the ball into his own net to hand Milan an away goal and a way back into this match. 2-1
57 mins - After the ball is swung in from the right Fontaine gets a shot in on goal. It beats the keeper but comes back off the upright. It falls to Fontaine again but he's muscled off the ball. Hang on. The ref has given a penalty. Jensen steps up...and SCORES! Not a subtle one as he blasts it up the middle, but that doesn't matter and the two goal advantage is restored. 3-1
61 mins - Oof! A shot from outside the area slams inches past the post.
64 mins - That's a vicious challenge from Meriano, the Milan centre back, and he's hurt Mamede. Looks like he'll have to go off. He'll be joined by the Milan player who, justly, has been shown a red card.
70 mins - Neira is played through one-on-one with the keeper. Chance for his hat-trick. He's blown it. Shanks the ball well wide.
72 mins - Some lovely interplay leads to Peek, Mamede's replacement, firing a low shot on goal. It's a great save though.
76 mins - Getting a lot of joy down the right now. Another chance comes and goes as the shot is fired into the side netting.
85 mins - Another ball in from the right finds Fontaine at the back post and he calmly slots the ball home. No! Ruled out. Offside. Ooh, I'm not convinced that was the right decision.
90+2 mins - Corner. Final chance of the game. Nope. Headed over. Peep, peep, peeeeeep. Game over.

Full-time - 3-1 - A really good performance from the team has given me something to take to Milan and defend (maybe more).

[corinthiano]

Great result!! Definately gives you a good advantage for the return leg at the San Siro.

[PRDH]

Right. The boys have made the journey to Milan. Unfortunately no left backs have. Injuries have struck down my left-sided full backs. We'll try our best and we've got a two goal advantage heading into this game.

Kick off

6 mins - Milan with the first chance of the game. Cross comes in from the left. Striker with space. Svoboda pulls off a cracking save.
28 mins - Milan corner. They win the header. Cleared off the line. Not far though. Milan put the loose ball into the net 1-0 (2-3).

Half time - It's been all Milan in the opening half. Still ahead on aggregate but we need to improve in the second half.

70 mins - Dreary second half so far. I've made the slightly risky move of switching to a back three and wing backs to try and get a foot hold back in the game.
75 mins - Fontaine swings a corner in from the right. Hermans rises the highest, but his header comes back off the bar. So unlucky.
76 mins - Swift counter attack catches the defence all at see and my right back trips the Milan player on the edge of the box. From the ensuing free kick Descazals clears the ball off the line. Tense stuff here at the San Siro.
85 mins - Descazals wins a header but it's heading towards his own goal. Svoboda smothers it. Lucky escape...
90+2 mins - Milan getting desperate now as they start shooting on sight from all over the field. This time a shot from 40+ yards flies high and wide. Just 60 seconds to hold on...
90+3 mins - Svoboda launches the ball forward. Partida is fouled. They take the time over the kick. Send Fontaine into the corner. And there it is. The final whistle and we're through...

Full time - The goal in the first half made things more stressful than I'd have liked. We nearly went behind on away goals a couple of times but have come away with the result we needed and are into the Quarters...

[corinthiano]

Congratulations

Who are you up against in the Quarters?

[rlipscombe]

well done PRDH!! good luck in the quarters, whoever you draw.

[PRDH]

Thanks guys. You'll be the first to know when the draw is made.

But, in the mean time, can I introduce you to the latest product of my youth set up, a local lad who has grown up on Terceira (the Azorean island which Angra do Heroísmo is on). I have high hopes for him. There are a couple of obvious deficiencies but hopefully those can be improved. Anyway, without any further ado - meet Pedro Cardoso.

How far do you guys think he can go?

[corinthiano]

Pedro Cardoso looks very, very good! Technically and mentally he is already great, if you can get his physical stats up he will become a beast!

[corinthiano]

Oh dear,we don't look like the same side that played so well last season and early this season. With ten games to go we are in 15th place, one point off safety. We dn't even remember what winning feels like properly. Going to have to produce something special to stay up...

[PRDH]

Good luck corinthiano.

Yeah, if I can get him up to a reasonable level of speed (I'm already working on it) then I think he could do very well.

The draw has been made and in the quarter finals I will play - Lyon.

[PRDH]

Getting a bit of a thumping at the hands of Porto right now. It will, in all likelihood, signal the end of my title challenge this season. I suppose my run of league wins had to come to an end at some point. Concentration will switch to keeping in the Champions League places/my Champions League campaign.

Edit - I think this signals a time to have a rethink squad-wise. I've had largely the same team for a while. I might look to move on some of the bigger earners. Build again. It's not as if this current team has been consistently getting me where I want it to be in terms of Europe. I suppose it could be risky. But this performance against Porto is showing that I've let other teams in Portugal catch me up. And that needs to be rectified.

[rlipscombe]

PRDH - Cardoso looks like he'll be a star! with a bit of pace he'll be a world beater! good luck against Lyon too.
corinthiano - sounds tough. good luck in the run in.

[corinthiano]

It has certainly been an odd season, just went on a 4 match winning run, which included wins over run away promotion contenders Penafiel and Estoril. This leaves me 5 points off the relegation places with 5 games to go, a couple of wins can guarantee me Liga Orangina football next season.

EDIT: Make it five in a row. 4 games to go, 7 points off the relegation zone. I feel pretty safe.

[corinthiano]

Real Sport Clube – 2016/17 Liga Orangina

Liga Orangina

Media Prediction: 15th
Board Expectation: Avoid Relegation
My Target: Stay Clear of Relegation

League Table: 10th ǁ Position Graph

If you look at the final league table you would assume this was a boring season in which we just consolidated in the league. However when you look at the positions graph you get a feeling of how much of a roller coaster ride it was. We started the season OK, performing like a mid-table team. However once we got knocked out of both cup competitions it seemed as if the team lost all confidence and we went on a 9 match winless run which put us bottom of the table with 10 games to go. We then miraculously went 7-3-0 in those last 10 games, beating a couple of promotion contenders on the way. In the end I am happy we survived, even if it was a bit more tense and emotional than I wanted it to be.

Taça de Portugal Millennium

Second Round – A tricky tie against Vizela, were we went behind and only equalized with 10 minutes to go before winning it on penalties.
Third Round – Another tricky tie, this one won through a Gil strike towards the end of the game.
Fourth Round – An absolute trashing against Belenenses, knew it would be difficult to go through, but I was not happy to go out like that.

Bwin Cup

First Phase – Group B – A very tight group, thought we were lucky to get out of it.
Second Phase – First Leg – Very proud the team managed to hold off a strong Vitória Guimarães, even if it was a bad result for the second leg.
Second Phase – Second Leg – Just couldn’t hold them off at their place.

The Royals

Transfers ǁ Squad 1 ǁ Squad 2

It was a year of less movement as I did not have a lot of wage budget to play with. The main focus was bringing in an AMC and I was happy with the signing of Momotenko. The only position where I felt we were short was up front, as Medina was past it and all my back-ups not ready to step in on a permanent basis.

GK: Buick – Had a decent season and is attracting attention from top-flight clubs.
DR: Antônio – Covered as DC when Felipe was injured.
DC: Felipe – Got injured quite a bit this season, but played well when fit.
DC: Eduardo – Another good season, is our penalty taker as well now.
DL: André Dias – Good season, keeping my back-line meant were pretty solid at the back even during our bad run of form.
DMC: Douglas – Douglas was ok, but I already signed his replacement on a Bosman, so he will be mainly back-up next season.
MC: Valeriy Nesterovskyi – Initially brought him in only as back-up, but he was better than Joedson. Did OK, but I am not entirely satisfied, so might replace him.
MC: Rubén Pizurno – Another good season by Rubén.
AMC: Illya Momotenko – My key signing. With him we were awesome. Problem was he was injured for a good part of the season and we missed him badly. Hopefully he can stay fit next season.
ST: Gil – Not as effective as in previous seasons, but I am going to blame Medina for that
ST: Nicolás Medina – He is past it, not good enough. Already signed a replacement, but might bring another striker in just for further back-up.

Other News

Finances – Amazingly we managed to turn in a profit this season, due to the constant cash injections by the board and the € 250k league prize money.

This Season Targets

1. Keep away from a relegation fight Fail – I thought we were doomed at a point, in the end we were safe but I ideally I don’t want it to be this tight again.
2. Have a half decent run in one of the cups Success – I think I did pretty well in both cups, it was only a bit disappointing to lose so heavily to Belenenses.
3. Stay within my wage budget Fail – We were only € 1k over this time, just couldn’t resist bolstering the squad.

Next Season Targets

1. Mid-table safety
2. Be more consistent

Another wage budget increase, now we have € 10.5k p/w, am thinking of either signing another striker or MC for the first team. We really need to settle in this division now, so I want a boring mid-table finish.

Career Overview

Season       League                     Pos      Taça de Portugal     Bwin Cup        Europe      Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13      2. Divisão - Zona Sul      7th      First Round          N/A             N/A         None
2013/14      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   3rd      Second Round         N/A             N/A         None
2014/15      2. Divisão - Zona Centro   1st      Third Round          N/A             N/A         Promotion
2015/16      Liga Orangina              10th     Second Round         First Phase     N/A         None
2016/17      Liga Orangina              10th     Fourth Round         Second Phase    N/A         None

[PRDH]

Nice season of consolidation there corinthiano especially after your mid-season troubles.

In other news - STOP THE PRESSES - Porto have lost their final game of the season, it was two days before mine and means I have a chance at the title again. This would be staggeringly undeserved if I manage it. They have been by far the best team in the league this year. You'll have to wait until this evening to find out though - ooh, I'm such a tease!

[iacovone]

We still can't score and we now can't win. This is going to be a tougher season than the last for Novese

Haven't won in 6 and haven't scored in 4. My change in formation really isn't working, but I want to make it work . It's a W-M style tactic. Difficult to implement but we dominate games without scoring, it's very frustrating.

Plus, the chairman wants to leave and due to his budgetary mis-management we're drifting toward financial ruin! Not good.

[iacovone]

Yes. It worked. The reverse forum curse . We've SCORED \o/

[Dexter_Morgan]

Messina 2015-16 Review.

Table

Fixtures

Fixtures 2

Player of the season

The impact Prince has had already has been outstanding so to win this in half a season shows how important he has been to the club.

Other notable players are Preub who I had to move out wide when I changed to 4-3-3/4-5-1 so his goal tally didn't end up that great but i'm still pleased with how he has come along and Olsen who couldn't even get in the team until an injury to Raul and at one point was on his way out, but I gave him the run in the team and he repaid me with a decent goal tally and he has quite clearly been getting better as the season wore on.

I have become a legend at the club already as well, i've never managed it as quickly as that even at teams where I was winning titles and European cups, in some cases i've done that in small clubs and never got past being an icon.

I've got the board to do the first upgrades on facilities, i've done 2 youth coaching improvements already and i'm hoping i'll get the option to improve the recruitment range this season. The board expect a mid table finish already which puts me under a bit of pressure but with the signings i've made for this year (i'll link in my half way report as i've already started) it looks like we can at least do that again. One position I am struggling for is a goalkeeper, Sclopis is decent enough but I think not having decent coaches for 3 seasons means he'll never become good enough for top level and Willian is too eccentric for my liking, he was a panic signing as I had no back up at all.


corinthiano - well done with your season, hopefully you can push on a bit more next year. Nesterovskyi looks like a good player try and keep hold of him.

iacovone - sorry that it isn't going that well mate, I have a W-M tactic that I have used for other clubs and it is hard to get going and I have never been able to get a solid defence with it though I do score lots with it no matter how good the players back there are, in fact i'll be looking to use it once i'm established as top flight club and see if I can sort that part about it out. I'm not really sure how things stand on here with tactics but if nobody else has a problem I can do a screenshot of mine to give you a few ideas?

[corinthiano]

iacovone - clever o you to use the forum curse in reverse, have to try that out if things get tough at Real

Dexter_Morgan - Solid season there with Messina, Prince is one hell of a coup! Do you think you can push for European qualification this season? I have kept on Nesterovskyi as well, he will start the season in the first team.

PRDH - Winning a title undeservedly just tastes better, hope you can do it!

[Dexter_Morgan]

I think Europe might be too soon, I have really good scouts though now i'm in Serie A so I trust that the majority of the first team will be good enough to achieve it soon, i'm just a bit concerned that the squad is thin especially at left back and midfield. We have had a good start though and Inter, AC and Juve aren't in the best of shapes going by the games i've had against them, Napoli and Sampdoria seem to be the biggest clubs now.

Prince was a brilliant coup. To get him for £15k a week as well was brilliant. I missed out on Sergio Canales for free in the summer, I've never had him on any FM and he would have fitted right in

[PRDH]

Lusitânia Açores - Season Summary - 2029/30

Finances

Key figure - £14,214,773 | Summary

A couple of expensive transfers this year saw the finances take a bit of a hit but the Champions League money ensured that we stayed solvent.

Club News

1/ Youth facilities upgraded - they are now State of the Art.
2/ Stadium expansion completed - capacity is now a healthy 39,682
3/ Another expansion was commissioned by the board (without my request) at the end of the season which is set to add another 5,182 seats to the ground.

Transfers | 12 in (£24.5m) and 22 out (£18.75m)

A couple of big transfers with Pitoco and Scaricamazza broke the transfer record twice in one season. The majority of the money is leaking out of the accounts over the next four years though which is why the finances survived as they did.

In terms of exits the established players to go were Gai and Madsen who left in January along with other assorted flotsam and jetsam that had gathered around the fringes of the squad.

More exits are planned over the off season as I look to move on some of the high earners who have never quite pushed me over the line.

League | Predicted - 2nd

Table | Graph

This was the scrappiest of my league wins (I know, not the hardest life). After a 4-0 loss to Porto left me a way behind them and sitting in 3rd I really thought my grasp on the league had gone. Benfica were also ahead of me and I was facing having to get into Europe through the qualifying rounds. However, Porto wobbled and fell at the last. They lost to Benfica and Tourizense (who won to leap out of the relegation places) while Benfica slipped up and drew to 5th place Beira Mar leaving me playing last needing to beat Leixoes to win the league. The boys stepped up to the plate and got the 0-1 victory that saw us claim an 8th (yes, Eighth) successive league title.

I'm still not convinced by my team, and there are going to be some big changes over the summer...

Cups

Supertaça | Winners

A very exciting game to open the season. We opened up a 0-2 lead in the first half before Porto dragged us back. We went ahead again, they equalised but a couple of late goals secured the cup.

Taça de Portugal | 6th Rd

We dropped out of the cup against Sporting. I sort of wish I could opt out of these cups now, they just feel like they get in the way.

League Cup | Group

Another cup I really don't care about anymore. Next season I'm going to play the youth team in this and the reserves in the Taça de Portugal.

Europe

Group Stage | Table

A potentially tricky group was negotiated without too much trouble. A couple of defeats to Barcelona were not unexpected but victories over the rest saw us through.

1st Knockout Rd | First Leg | Second leg

A tricky tie against AC Milan was our reward for getting through the group stages. I wasn't optimistic but a great performance in the first leg (3-1) put us in a strong position and we closed it out with only a moderately stressful performance (0-1) in Milan.

Quarter Final | First Leg | Second Leg

Lyon were our next challenge. We jetted off to France for the first leg and left with a 1-1 draw and an all important away goal. We brought them back to the Azores and a freak goal in the 88th minute put us through to the semis.

Semi Final | First Leg | Second Leg

Another French teams were next in our sights, PSG this time. They came to Angra and got a 4-2 win leaving us needing a miracle in Paris. It didn't come as we lost 4-3. A decent performance away from home but we were let down by our home performance. Our second semi-final exit now. Time to rebuild and come back stronger next season.

Squad | Overview

'Keepers | No change here, Svoboda was our number one and everyone else fought over the scraps in cup competitions.

Ales Svoboda - 45 apps, 40 conc, 23 cln - A slightly disappointing season, but I'm keeping faith for now. Still our number 1 and I'm planning for him to be the same next season.

Boquita - 5 apps, 5 conc, 3 cln - A decent number 2 who could push on further if he gets the chance.

Defenders | This is one area where I'm not going to make too many changes, defence has not, as a rule been my problem.

Pitoco - 47 apps, 1 gl, 2 asts, 2 MoMs - Brought in at the start of the season and was undisputed first choice. He's a very solid player in his position.

Stijn Hermans - 4(6) apps - Time is up for the Belgian. He's not progressed as I'd wished and is off when the transfer window opens.

Sébastien Gautier - 49 apps, 4 gls, 1 MoM - Another strong season for the defender. One I'd like to keep, but we'll see if silly money comes in.

Giannis Sentementes - 2(1) apps - All about the potential with this young Greek defender. If he spends a couple of seasons learning the ropes behind Gautier and Descazals then I think he can move into the first team and do well.

Rui Lopes - 0(1) app - Local lad who made his debut this season. He's got very good technical stats for his position. Needs to work on the physical side of his game to really break into the set up.

Meraneh Descazals - 46 apps, 8 gls, 2 asts, 7 MoMs - Legend, nothing more to say. Scored the goal that won us the league this season and his partnership with Gautier is very strong.

Jaimy van Putten - 7(5) apps, 1 ast - Decent back up but nothing more. He had a run of games when Osses was injured without impressing.

Mauro - 4(6) apps, 1 ast - Another young guy in the defence. Needs to work on the defensive side of his game because going forward he's already excellent.

Christian Osses - 41 apps, 5 asts - Fewer games than normal this season as the result of a couple of injuries. Still first choice but I need to organise some serious competition to push him on again.

Midfielders | An area that could see some major surgery over the summer.

Tornado - 13 apps, 2 asts - Struggled for game time as I blooded my new record signing. He has a future for me at this stage, but we'll see how he progresses.

Roberto Scaricamazza - 26 apps, 1 gl, 3 asts - The new record signing arrived to add a touch of class to the midfield. He generally did, though I'll be looking for further improvements next season.

Mario Skeffington - 6(3) apps - Young Aussie who will rotate between the middle of the pitch and the wide areas. He's reasonable if nothing special at the moment but he does show some nice touches occasionally.

Emin Dalkali - 31(6) apps, 12 gls, 9 asts, 3 MoMs - Really stepped up to the plate this season after Gai's exit. He has possession of the right wing berth for the new season.

Joffrey Fontaine - [37 apps, 4 gls, 22 asts, 1 MoM[/i] - Another good season for the left winger, but he is one of the established players I might look to move on over the summer. He wastes opportunities with slightly wayward shooting and is on very high wages.

Stefan Fink - 13(11) apps, 2 gls, 4 asts - The man I'm looking at to replace Fontaine. He's showed enough to make me think that with regular game time he can do a good job for me.

Andreas Jensen - 38 apps, 8 gls, 17 asts, 2 MoMs - Another of the regulars who is off. The decision has been made. He's a good player and he's wracked up a huge number of assists, but most of them are from corners and I don't think he has enough influence in open play.

Holger Lemke - 3(5) apps - Will get more responsibility next season with Jensen's departure and it will be time for him to show what he can do.

Héctor Partida - 10(18) apps, 1 gl, 3 asts - Continuing my trend of promoting from within he will get his chance at the starting role next season. Hopefully he will produce some good form.

Álvaro Pinto - 5(7) apps, 1 ast - Another of the local lads who has made his debut this season. I think he has the potential to at least turn into a good squad player.

Forwards | The forward line were fairly unlucky with injuries this season, as soon as one of them built up a head of steam they seemed to get a semi-serious injury.

Labros Pavlou - 1(1) apps, 3 gls, 2 MoMs - Stunning form when he played, but I'm afraid he's not quite good enough to get regular game time and is around as a last resort.

Allan Tranberg - 6(7) apps, 9 gls, 1 ast - Another to play well when called upon but he's not developed as I hoped and is probably only ever going to be a squad player here.

Alan Neira - 41(1) apps, 18 gls, 15 asts, 5 MoMs - Not as prolific as he has been but still played well and was the least injury prone of the front line.

Micha Peek - 15(9) apps, 10 gls, 6 asts, 3 MoMs - Something of a breakthrough season for the young Dutchman. He's been around the squad for a while now and he took his chances well. His ability with both feet is very useful.

Sidnei Mamede - 16(6) apps, 15 gls, 7 asts, 5 MoMs - Another to struggle with injuries. He had runs of great form but they were almost always ended by a niggling injury.

Miguel Angel Klein - [i]0(2) apps, 1 gl[i] - Decent back up and seems happy to play that role. It's one he may have to accept for some time.

Edemilson Mendès - 22(2) apps, 16 gls, 2 asts, 5 MoMs - A return to goalscoring form for the prolific striker but again disrupted by injuries as he recovered just in time for the title celebrations. His record stands at 71 goals in 83 league appearances and if he can keep fit then I think he could spearhead us to glory.

Pedro Cardoso - Another local boy who emerged this year and the best of the lot. He hasn't made his debut yet, but will certainly get some game time next season once he can be registered. I have high hopes for this guy.

Aims For This Season Were...

1/ Retain league - Yes, but only just
2/ Improve European form - at least Quarter final. Yes, exceeded them by getting into the semis

Aims For Next Season Are...

1/ Get back to my dominant league form.
2/ With a nice draw I'd like to get to the CL final.
3/ Blood my youngsters in the cup and ends of league games.

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
2019/20		Premier League		5th			Europa League again
2020/21		Premier League		1st			Champions!
2021/22		Premier League		2nd			CL Qualification again
2022/23		Premier League		1st			Champions!
2023/24		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2024/25		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2025/26		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2026/27		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2027/28		Premier League		1st			CL Semi Final
2028/29		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2029/30		Premier League		1st			CL Semi Final

Previous Updates

12/13
13/14
14/15
15/16
16/17
17/18
18/19
19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23
23/24
24/25
25/26
26/27
27/28
28/29