FM12 Big Euro Nation: Small Club to Big Club Challenge

[PRDH]

Lusitânia Açores - Season Summary - 2034/35

Finances

Key figure - £38,099,128 | Summary

My prudence that is defining my spell in the Azores showed again this year and is the reason for my ever improving financial position. Unfortunately, I stress again, it's not a sign of increasing financial clout, but instead me being restrained. I'm also starting to worry I'm becoming a bit Wenger-ish. Sticking to my principles of not over-paying to the detriment of my chances of completing.

As a comparison with Porto, my main rival over the past decade, I spend £21m a year on wages, they spend £39m (Sporting spend £14m and Benfica, £11.5m). Net transfer spend tells a similar story. This season I made a profit of £17m from transfers, last year that profit was £23m, the year before that it was £6m (I won't keep going further back, but basically I've only made a net loss once, in 2024/35, and it was £6m) overall I've made a net transfer profit of £169m from my transfer dealings. Conversely, this season Porto made a net loss of £23m, the season before it was £20m.

Basically they are spending a huge amount more than me, and I wonder whether I've started to look at that more than improving my squad. What do you guys think? Should I loosen the purse strings or am I right to be managing the budgets properly?

Club News

1/ Training facilities improved again.
2/ We're very close to overhauling France and taking 6th place in the coefficients. We wouldn't get an extra place, but 3rd would go in at a later stage. We're still a long way behind 3rd and another CL space.

Transfers | 7 in (£1.1m) and 34 out (£18.75m) plus 14 loans

As I discussed above I've once again let prudence dictate my transfer dealings to some extent. This season saw a couple of established players leave. I let Partida leave in the summer and Svoboda went in January. In addition to these I released a lot of youth players who hadn't made it and sold a couple who hadn't progressed as much as I'd expected.

The mostly went to the feeder clubs. Those who went to Fatima helped the side get promoted to the top flight, meaning the partnership will end next season while Penafiel survived and Oriental narrowly missed out on promotion back to the Second League.

League | Predicted - 2nd

Table | Graph

Looked like being a close run thing this year as I had a slightly iffy start and Porto shot out of the blocks at lightning pace. They won all of their first 11 games (until I beat them!). However my form strengthened and the rest had slightly dodgy ends. In particular Porto were disappointing in the league falling away and finishing 4th meaning they miss out on the Champions League next season. It'll be interesting to see how they cope without the money from that. Good news for Benfica though as they took second (the first time Porto hadn't for more than a decade) to take a group spot.

Anyway, I'm waffling, basically I won it again, taking it to 14 titles in total and 13 consecutively.

Cups


Supertaça | Beaten Finalists

Lost to Sporting

Taça de Portugal | 4th Rd

The kids went out to Beira Mar

League Cup | Group Stage

Kids showed flashes of talent but not enough.

Europe

Group Stage | Table

A strong performance in a relatively straightforward group (the only competition came from Man City who I finished above in the end) left me hopeful for more progress this year.

First Knockout Round | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg

Our draw for the 1st Rd could definitely have been worse, but could also have been easier, any Spanish side in the CL are strong. Fortunately we brought our game with us. A 2-2 draw in Spain set us up well and we finished the job back on the island with style as we scored three unanswered goals.

Quarter Final | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg

So, onwards it was into the quarters. Bayern is never going to be an easy game but I was relieved to avoid the Spanish giant. We played well in Munich without getting a goal but a 1-0 defeat was no disaster. Bringing them back to Angra I was moderately confident. Two down at half time that confidence seemed misguided but a second half rally left us with a chance. In the end it was too little too late and we exited the cup on away goals.

Porto went on to lose to nine-man Sevilla on penalties in the final.

Squad | Overview

In a bid to save on space/typing I'm instilling a new regime. Bold still means first choice, italics mean exciting youngster and an * means the player came through the youth set up.

'Keepers

Pablo García - 4(1) apps, 6 conc, 3 cln - Decent back up, I fear that's all he'll ever be though. As with all my number two keepers I will look to keep him for a few seasons then let him go off and make a proper career for himself.

*Nelson Martins* - 4 apps, 3 conc, 2 cln - A hereto unheralded product of the youth academy, he was promoted to third choice keeper this year and performed reasonably when called upon. I don't think he'll ever be first choice, but he is useful (and cheap) back up.

*Ricardo Dias* - 38 apps, 24 conc, 20 cln - After ending last season as first choice he began this one in the same position. He performed well enough to allow me to let the long-serving Svoboda leave. He has established himself as a very good 'keeper for club and country and has absurd league record in his 50 games so far as he has managed to keep 32 clean sheets.

Defenders

Pitoco - 40(1) apps, 6 asts, 3 MoMs - Solid as ever. I thought he might have to worry about Pesic but, though he made some appearances, t remained abundantly clear who the first choice was.

Silvio Nicastro - 30 apps, 2 asts - The full-back slots are pretty difficult to make a mark on in my team, Silvio is another player whose name just goes on the team sheet without even thinking. He is remarkably young for one who has played so many games and can only continue to improve. He's a real force on the left of defence.

Juan Ignacio Cortez - 3(6) apps, 1 MoM - The man I was slightly conflicted about last time I updated you continues to puzzle me slightly. He's improving nicely, has learned to play centre half (at the same time forgetting how to play at right back) and is being tutored my the big man himself - Descazals. I see him as being more effective in the middle than the flanks so we'll see what happens next season.

Sébastien Gautier - 35 apps, 1 gl, 3 asts, - A true club legend but he wasn't quite up to his own high standards this season. He was still excellent, but I'm hoping this isn't the beginning of the end of his peak. He's also started to make noises about leaving. If they escalate I may look to cash in while I can.

Hrvoje Bule - 1 app - He hasn't progressed nearly as well as I hoped and I think he might be moved on in the summer.

*Rui Lopes* - 7(13) apps - Continues in his position as a useful back up to the first choice defenders. I think that's probably his role in the squad, but he fulfils it well and is also still developing well.

*João Paulo* - 7(4) apps - Has started to shows signs of developing into a good player. He'll be looking to get more game time next season.

Christian Costin - 1 app - This young defender was picked up cheaply at the beginning of the season and I think he's got some good skills for his age. Next season should see him as a consistent part of the cup squads.

Meraneh Descazals - 38 apps, 7 gls, 1 ast, 3 MoMs - The club's elder statesman and captain continues to excel. The signs of age are beginning to show and he's not the force he once was but he's still a vital part of the team and a fantastic player. It might be time to look for someone to take over the reins though, in case his physical stats collapse during the next season. Might require some serious expenditure soon.

Stipe Pesic - 6 apps - Not as great an impact as I expected for the Croatian right back this year. I still think he'll play a big part of the club's future, he just needs that breakthrough season. Unfortunately for him Pitoco is a very solid player to try to displace.

Steve Hoggan - 4 apps - Tried to get rid of him last summer but there was not interest, I will look to move him on again, otherwise he will have to run down his contract.

Christian Minniti - 12 apps, 1 ast - Got some game time during Nicastro's injury breaks but didn't show enough to make me think about him replacing him permanently.

Midfielders

*Miguel Teixeira* - 4(25) apps, 2 asts - He continues to grow into his role and with Scaricamazza turning 30 last season he might find his responsibilities increasing over the coming months. He has never disappointed. A very handy product of the youth team.

Daniel Mordenti - 3 apps - Another young Argentine to arrive with potential and a small price tag. Picked up for a mere £500, I think he has the potential to be a very handy part of my midfield, and even if he doesn't he'll definitely make a tidy profit

Roberto Scaricamazza - 38 apps, 4 gls, 2 asts, 1 MoM - The midfield schemer had another decent season. He costs a lot though and he's starting to age and I'm afraid might find his time at the club coming to and end. I'm considering listening to offers for him over the off season.

Hacene Bentalaa - 34 apps, 7 gls, 13 asts, 3 MoMs - A fantastic first season in Portugal for the Algerian winger. He arrived as I looked to solve the right wing problem and certainly seemed to fit the bill. He scored and provided plenty of goals and generally looked a home in the league. At £875K he was a definite bargain.

Stefan Fink - 35 apps, 7 gls, 14 asts, 4 MoMs - Another great season for the Slovenian. He has become part of the furniture at the club and it's amazing to think I worried he might not be good enough for the first team. A cracking player.

Antonin Zak - 6(2) apps, 2 asts - He's not turned into quite the player I thought he would, he's very useful as a squad player, but he's not showed many signs of developing into more than that. Furthermore his path to the first team is now blocked by another exciting youngster.

Bernardo Hoyos - 2 apps, 1 gl - He'll have to be disappointed with how little he played this year, but he was kept out because of the form of those ahead of him. Hopefully he'll pick himself up because he may be needed next season.

*Paulo Jorge Vieira* - 40 apps, 6 gls, 17 asts, 4 MoMs - Partida's departure meant he became undisputed first choice in midfield this season and the extra pressure suited him. He rose to the challenge and delivered his best season yet. Big, big future for him.

*Jorge Mendes* - 4 apps, 2 asts - Still waiting to graduate from the cup squad and he may never manage that. He is never going to be of the quality to challenge for a starting berth in a Champions' League chasing side. But he does add depth to the side and has time to sand a few of the rough edges off his game.

*Álvaro Pinto* - 10(12) apps, 2 gls, 2 asts, 1 MoM - A useful squad player. He managed to turn some games around when he came off the bench and is, pleasingly, still developing.

*Sérgio Rodrigues* - 2(9) apps, 1 ast - Another of our youth products with bags of potential. Unfortunately he found his path blocked by injuries this season. I hope it's not going to be part of his whole career, but at the moment he appears to be somewhat injury prone. If he can get past that and improve his physical/mental stats he can become another first team player.

Lasse Tuominen - 5(1), 1 gl, 1 ast - The man I expect to leap ahead of Zak in the pecking order behind Fink next season. He has improved his physical stats a lot this year (they're still not quite there) and has bags of technical skill. I'm very excited about this young Finn's potential.

Forwards

Alan Neira - 29(2) apps, 12 gls, 8 asts, 2 MoMs - The club legend had a few injury problems this season and that, combined with a slight drop in form, saw him play less than he has in previous years. He is facing some competition for his place from some younger upstarts. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts.

Mihajlo Djokovic - 7(4) apps, 7 gls, 3 asts, 3 MoMs - The main guy pressuring Neira. He had a mini-breakthough this year starting games when Neira was out and scoring goals and looking generally impressive. Will look to give him more game time next year and see what the giant Serb can achieve.

Edemilson Mendès - 14(8) apps, 13 gls, 3 asts, 5 MoMs - Although he still played less frequently than in his prime he did show some of his old form when called upon. He is probably not going to get past Cardoso into the first team very often any more but we all know what he can achieve and that is very useful to have in reserve.

*Pedro Cardoso* - 35(1) apps, 29 gls, 8 asts, 6 MoMs - Legend. Not sure more needs to be said, but I'll try to find something. He's brilliant, he's always been technically superb, but he has added real pace to his arsenal and will only get better with experience. I intend to keep him as long as possible.

*Abakar Tigabe* - 6(15) apps, 7 gls, 3 asts, 1 MoM - Another of our youngsters who is in the process of turning into a squad player. He had an excellent learning experience with Neira and showed signs of being close to a breakthrough. We'll see what next season brings.

Aims For This Season Were...

1/ Strive for improvement in the Champions' League. - No real tangible breakthrough, but we competed well against some big teams. I found it encouraging.
2/ Further the cause of the Azorean players in my squad. - Yup, this is a given now really. This season was a blank in terms of youth products, but I don't really think I can complain about that after the superb players I've got from my academy.

Aims For Next Season Are...

1/ Champions' league progress.
2/ Try to build for a future without Descazals.

Story So Far... | Previous updates have been incorporated into the table now.

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
2030/31		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2031/32		Premier League		1st			CL Quarters
2032/33		Premier League		1st			CL Quarters and domestic quadruple
2033/24		Premier League		1st 			CL 1st Knockout Round
2034/35		Premier League		1st			CL Quarters

[corinthiano]

Another solid season there, shame about Europe again. As for your spending I think you might have taken it a bit too far. Why dont you set yourself a minimum bank balance to have and only start saving when it reaches that? That way you can worry a little less about spending and have a safety net when the cash dries up a bit.

I still dont have any money and keep losing loads, but I have to do that to be competitive at the moment, I wish I had your luxury problem

[aldojags]

PRDH I am obviously happy for you that your ripping your challenge up, but I am so jealous of your youngsters. That keeper is absurd for 19, and Cardoso, well what can you say.

Yeh get spending some money, I am a lot like you when playing FM, I always try and make money on transfers, very seldom will spend more than say £6mill on a player, try and pick them up early and cheap just like Wenger, but if your stalling a touch in Europe, use the cash. But looking at your team, I'm struggling to see who needs replaced!

Edited to add Descazals still looks like he's got maybe 2 seasons, maybe only as an anchor man when the pace goes? Do you play a dm?

[PRDH]

corinthiano - Yeah, that might be a decent compromise. Having said that, I've sold Scaricamazza already this summer and Arsenal have just bid £30m for Gautier. A sum I couldn't resist. So he'll be off too if he accepts their contract.
aldojags - Cheers. The youngsters are what are keeping me going through the frustrating lack of European progress at the moment. I don't tend to play a DM, except when I'm closing a game out. I agree, I think he's got a couple of years, depending on how his pace holds. Some money needs spending now if Gautier goes.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

The Biggest Big Euro Threads

Just thought as we headed to 3000 posts I should point out the size of our previous threads.

FM09 - 6070 Posts
FM10 - 4487 Posts
FM12 - 2905 Posts
FM11 - 2484 Posts
FM08 - 1069 Posts

On 08/04 FM11 had 1662 Posts, so we are almost double that. In FM09's thread there were 2958 posts at this point in time, so we have actually seemingly gone back to the Heyday of our thread unlike the others around.

I am loving the challenge this year, its the first time I have stuck with one club this long and not played with others, and the whole thread is flying as well. Awesome to see, and some great seasons going on as well.

[iseemonsters1]

PRDH - you're making a lot of money from transfers every season - without that income, how would the club's finances be? Would you more or less break even without that income from player sales? If so, maybe a good compromise would be to run a kind of sell-to-buy operation - allow yourself to spend the money that you make from selling players on bringing new players in. That way, you're not compromising the club's overall financial health, but you've got a bit of money to play with and maybe take a few risks with, knowing it won't jeopardize the club's long term health.

[aldojags]

It's an excellent challenge I'm just annoyed I never found it sooner! I'll still not be finished this and you guys will all be on to FM13! Although I don't tend to buy FM until patch is out to fix any bugs etc.

But it's been a good few weeks since I joined forum I look forward to signing on every day to read how the guys are gettin on long may it continue!

[iseemonsters1]

End of Season Report - Citta di Brindisi - 2015/16 (Season 4)

Competitions

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Girone B - 1st

In the end, it was a thoroughly deserved championship and a thrilling promotion to Serie B. A look at the positions graph shows that it probably would have been an injustice if anyone else had taken the title, as we spent every single week of the season in the top four, and well over half the season in 1st place. In the end, we captured the championship with a 3-1 victory at home to Pescara in front of our biggest ever crowd, and it must have been a great moment for fans and players alike - and we even managed to avoid our customary last day drama (if only by one game).

The position graph does hide what a close promotion battle it was, as we were never more than six points clear, and most of the time much closer than that. In fact, with four games to go it was actually a three-way tie on points at the top of the table between ourselves, Grosseto, and Sorrento. But, in contrast to last season, we closed out strong, getting ten points from our last four games to eventually win the league with a four point cushion.

The squad is still "minimalist" to say the least, so worn out by the charge to promotion, we didn't put too much effort into the Supercoppa di Lega Prima Divisione and lost both home and away legs against Varese. That's definitely not a big deal though when we take into account the fact we'll be playing Serie B football next season.


Coppa Italia di Lega Pro - 2nd Round (def. by Ancona)

As usual, not a high priority, especially with the squad as threadbare as it was. We won a tight game against Serie C2 side Gavorrano in the 1st Round before going down 1-0 to Serie C1 Ancona in the 2nd Round.


TIM Cup - 3rd Qualifying Round (def. by Sassuolo)

We went one further than last season this time around, before being defeated by the same opponents, Sassuolo, in the 3rd Qualifying Round. Before that we had a dramatic if disappointingly close 4-3 victory over Serie D side Sacilese, before an impressive 3-1 win against Serie B side Livorno.


Squad and Transfers

Club Overview | First Team Squad | Transfers

It was a much more even split between players out and players in this season, as we'd gotten most of the major cuts to the squad out of the way the season before. Still, a few established first team players were let go - the five players released had a combined 400 Brindisi appearances between them, and all of them were players I'd signed during my first two seasons at the club - so it was a hard decision to let them go. But we were able to bring in players of equal quality at lower wages, and I think the league table speaks for itself when it comes to deciding whether the gamble paid off. Just to show how deeply we had to cut the squad to even come close to making the finances work, here's the Salary per Annum table for Serie C1.

Mattia Damiani (AM LC) - 36 (1) apps (22 gls) - 7.47 average rating: Without question, the hero of the season, and the player without whom the promotion push would have been nothing but a pipe dream. The Brindisi youth product really came into his own this season, with a spectacular 22 goals from his AM C position, overshadowing his former mentor, club captain Mirko Guadalupi. He was joint top scorer in the division, as well as being top of the charts for average rating and Man of the Match awards. This kid is still only 19 and I have a lot of faith he can keep performing at the next level.

Michele Stambazzi (D RC) - 36 (3) apps (0 gls) - 7.03 average rating: I almost let him go during the January transfer window - not through choice, but through financial prudence - but in the end negotiations broke down with Perugia and he stayed at the club. If he'd have gone, it would have been a big loss for the club, as Stambazzi has been ever present in the team except when he was injured ever since I first took over four years ago. I'm glad that he'll be taking the step up to the next level with us.

Luca Calzolaio (D RC) - 36 (4) apps (6 gls) - 7.01 average rating: Another player who's been with me from the very beginning and has been a key player in the center of our defence, Luca also managed to grab himself six goals this season, which made him our joint third highest scorer.


Objectives and History

Last Season's Objectives

• Another mid-table finish - Success: We did a little better than that. As I said, achieving this aim (or better) would depend on how well I would do replacing some of those key players who left to keep the wage bill down. As it turned out, the players who came in were at least the equals of those that left, and we were able to turn the promise of last season into the reality of this season.
• Try to bring the wage bill down more - Success: The board actually cut the wage bill again this season, and I managed to meet it by letting the aforementioned established players leave. We had by far the lowest wage bill in the division, and managed to go through this season at a loss of only £200k. At this point, I feel like I've done all I can on the financial front - it's up to the board to increase revenue streams from here on out. Hopefully, promotion to Serie B will help make that a reality.
• Defeat Barletta - Success: We only managed a 1-1 draw with them at home, but when we traveled to their place we toughed out a 1-0 win to leave this rivalry - for now - on a high.

Next Season's Objectives

• Survive - Of course, this is really priority one, two, and three. It's not going to be easy - the core of this team is still really the core of the team that got us promoted from Serie C2, and while many of them have grown as footballers, I'm not sure if they've grown enough. I also sense that the step up from C1 to B is much bigger than it is from C2 to C1. But if we can pull it off, surely it will do wonders for our financial situation and help to put us on an even keel going forward.
• Strengthen the squad - I'm not sure yet what our budget will look like next season, but I have to imagine that TV revenues and gate receipts will be higher in the second tier, so I'm hoping that for the first time in three years we'll have some wiggle room in the budget for me to bring in enough players to have more than a single choice at each position. That first XI has performed admirably, but with a 42 game league season, we'll need to at least be able to rest players sometimes.
• Hold on to Mattia Damiani - He's proven himself at only 19 to be far and away our best players. I wouldn't begrudge him moving on to bigger and better things, but I'd love for this Brindisi native to be able to stay with the club and continue to grow with us.

Seasonal Best XI | Overall Best XI

Season     Division        Pos    Domestic Cup                                   European Competitions         Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13    Serie C2/B      6th    Lega Pro - Group Stage                         N/A                           Lost in Playoffs
2013/14    Serie C2/B      2nd    Lega Pro - 2nd Round                           N/A                           Promoted
2014/15    Serie C1/B      7th    TIM Cup - 2nd Qual. Rnd, Lega Pro - 2nd Rnd    N/A                           N/A
2015/16    Serie C1/B      1st    TIM Cup - 3rd Qual. Rnd, Lega Pro - 2nd Rnd    N/A                           Promoted

[aldojags]

iseemonsters well done mate, 2 promotions in 4 seasons, excellent work there. Glad you beat Barletta, thats just icing on the cake!

Yeh hopefully the board actually reward you this time and increase your budget to let you survive. Your wee left winger looks a good prospect, but I hope he stays and gets regular football, he's still got to improve on some aspects of his game, no use in him wanting to sit on the bench somewhere else. It's great that he came through your system so much more satisfying when you produce a good youngster.

Who's come down from Serie A?

[corinthiano]

Great season iseemonsters, hope the board proivde you with some budget next season. I know what you feel like with the wage budget, had the same issues at Real and basically always went over it by a couple of k, kinda forcing the board to raise it for the following season.

[PRDH]

iseemonsters - Great season, and on a real shoestring budget too. Very impressive, congratulations. Really hope the board reward you with a little more cash.

With no player sales at all I tend to run at an operating loss of about £10m, so I still need to sell players occasionally to make the finances work, and I definitely couldn't go up to the full wage budget the board allow me - I'm working at £300k/week less than that. God knows what would happen if I actually used all of the room available.

LLR - Yeah. It's interesting to see how much this thread has bounced back. Last time out, despite playing and completing the challenge in Spain, I fell out of the habit of posting. Something that's not happened this year, despite how much slower my progress has been. This thread always seems to have more posts per person than others, it's what makes it, if I'm honest. Knowing people actually read each other's posts is such a nice feeling.

aldojags - I don't think you have to worry about that. I'll still be here winning in Portugal and getting knocked out in the CL Quarter finals until hell freezes over!

[Romanista1994]

With no player sales at all I tend to run at an operating loss of about £10m, so I still need to sell players occasionally to make the finances work, and I definitely couldn't go up to the full wage budget the board allow me - I'm working at £300k/week less than that. God knows what would happen if I actually used all of the room available.

Perhaps you could look at making "investment" signings, looking through the list of young players whose contracts are expiring and sign the most promising to send them on loan (this works best with good feeder clubs) and sell them on the next year. This way you would be able to make money while building up your squad at the same time. It might be worth experimenting with one season to see if you can send the players on loan and of course sell them. It worked for me in a Roma save, where I made £50M a season from investment sales alone.


To the whole thread, congrats to those who have completed and good luck to those that are still working towards that CL win!

[Romanista1994]

I'm coming back for a new try with Barakaldo! They are currently second in the Tercera and could well get promoted, making them ineligible for next year's challenge. Since I have unfinished business with them in this challenge I've decided to start another save with them.

I would be loading the players of Basque nationality though, because it'll be Basque only again. Iirc Dexter_Morgan was allowed to have that, but is it still alright with people?

[PRDH]

Romanista - Yeah, in my Romorantin save a few years back I did exactly that. I've found it much harder to do it this time round though. Other teams just don't seem interested in buying my players.

I've got no problem with you loading Basque players, any small increase in available players will be countered by the restrictions. Good luck!

[Romanista1994]

Romanista - Yeah, in my Romorantin save a few years back I did exactly that. I've found it much harder to do it this time round though. Other teams just don't seem interested in buying my players.

I've got no problem with you loading Basque players, any small increase in available players will be countered by the restrictions. Good luck!

I found English players especially hard to sell, clubs wouldn't even show a hint of interest for a player who got into double figures for goals in the Serie A and was offered out for £5M.

Holidaying now.

[PRDH]

I found English players especially hard to sell, clubs wouldn't even show a hint of interest for a player who got into double figures for goals in the Serie A and was offered out for £5M.

Holidaying now.

Yeah, I never seem to really buy English players when I'm based abroad anyway. Every other nationality tends to find their way to by squad at some point, but not English players. I tend to find them expensive though.

[corinthiano]

I have found selling players harder in this FM as well, usually I would be able to sell fringe players or youngsters that didnt make it off quite easily, now I just sell them for nothing or let their contracts expire.

[PRDH]

I have found selling players harder in this FM as well, usually I would be able to sell fringe players or youngsters that didnt make it off quite easily, now I just sell them for nothing or let their contracts expire.

I think I remember reading that they made it more difficult to sell players to reflect the changing financial climate or something. Certainly I used to sign players on a free offer them out for double their value the following January and be inundated with offers. Now I have a player who has been a part of my team for a while but has been replaced by a new arrival and I'm lucky if I can get half their value.

[Romanista1994]

10th July 2012, Estadio Lasesarre, Barakaldo - A young Italo-Dutch manager with sunday league playing experience is hired by newly-promoted Barakaldo C.F to try and keep them away from relegation in the Segunda B3.

Club History

Founded in 1917, Barakaldo has won the Segunda B three times in 1980, 1998 and 2002. Barakaldo has rivalries with Bilbao Ath., Gernika and Lemona. The club is fully professional and plays its matches at Nuevo Estadio Lasesarre which can hold up to 8000 spectators, with 6000 of those being seated.

Facilities and Information

Media Prediction: 11th
Value: £1.1M
Finances: £108.650
Wage Budget: £28.471k (£18.433k in use)
Transfer Budget: £10.86k

Corporate Facilities: Fairly Basic
Training Facilities: Adequate
Youth Facilities: Adequate
Junior Coaching: Adequate
Youth Recruitment: Average

Initial Squad Situation

There's a few high earners who aren't Basque so I'll be looking at clearing them out while replacing them with Basque players. More on the squad when I've finished preseason.

Youth

Quick striker Asier Iribarren is the brightest prospect and he will be around the first team at 16.

[corinthiano]

Best of luck with Barakaldo, this is something I always wanted to do too so will be following closely

[Romanista1994]

Best of luck with Barakaldo, this is something I always wanted to do too so will be following closely

Thanks, the few times that I've tried this the main problem has been keeping the finances in check. A July with four away friendlies against big clubs will bring in some money, but I'll have to get promoted in the next few seasons so that I can start building up the club's facilities.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

PRDH - I also think you need to go for a middle ground, use profits to buy players if possible, even if you just go for 2 players a season. Look at whoever you think is your weakest player (Even if they are good enough for Liga Sagres), and replace them with the best possible player you can find.

iseemonsters - Congrats on another promotion, and good luck in Serie B, I think your team looks strong enough to stay up.

Romanista - Good Luck with Barakaldo, and I have no problem with the Basque players, it well and truly is outweighed by the epicness of the challenge ahead of you.

As for Parla, well we are in the promotion spots, but not going quite as well as I expected, some of the players are a bit inconsistent. I have been amazed by the way Bumbera & Krasic have stepped up into the Wingers roles this year, in particular Krasic who played 29 games for 1 goal and 4 assists in the BBVA last season, but so far this year has 14 games, 11 goals & 11 assists.

at Mallorca
We just pulled off a stunning away win, one thing I notice is that we are down on the possession, but I had a look back through the game and before the pair of injuries we were running at 60% possession, but when Bumbera went down with a broken leg we only had ten men on the park, but we were up 5 nil and the final victory was excellent. I now have to hope that Tayfun Sen can step up as I believe Bumbera is now gone for the season with this injury.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well Following that game is the Youth International window...Here is my normal match squad at this point of the season: Squad

As you can see I have 8 Players (6 starters) on international Duty, two starters injured, and after using my youth players I still only have 17 players fit and able to play this game and no cancellation...its a bit crazy really.

Edit: Well I needn't have worried, my replacements stepped up, in particular Lee Wilcox playing in the unfamiliar Attacking Midfield position managed to put in 5 assists, Montiquin added another hattrick, and Krasic scored 2 more goals in a huge 6-1 victory. And following a slip by Gimnastic & Elche this also gives us the league lead after 13 games, having scored 44 goals.

[Romanista1994]

A 6-1 win without eight of your starters is quite awesome, LLR. Squad depth ftw!

[corinthiano]

Wow, really does show amazing squad depth LLR, if I had the same issue I am pretty sure I would get trounced!

[aldojags]

Season Review - 2014/15 (3rd Season)

French National

Predicted 10th | Finished 1st | Table | Graph | Results 1 | Results 2

Well I managed to fulfil my pre-season target of promotion, didn't quite expect to romp it like I did, but I won't complain! But I thought if for once I wasn't constantly bombarded with injuries to key players like my first 2 seasons, I could get promoted.

Started poorly, losing at home to Amiens 3-1, but it could have 5 or 6, I was really poor, and I was thinking "here we go again", expecting another season of infuriating inconsistency. But that was 1 of only 6 defeats in the league this season, and I really deserved the title, playing attacking 433 in every game home or away regardless of opposition, my pacey strikers terrorised most defences, my midfield creative and comfortable in possession, and my defence and keeper forming a good understanding although if I was being super picky I would have maybe liked a few extra clean sheets (had 11 from 38 games), but we can't have everything!

Really struggled with formations in my previous 2 seasons, but I looked at my personnel end of last season, and just thought "what is my main strength". Definitely is pace in attack, so I just decided to play 3 up front and see how I went, and the system by and large worked a treat. The opposition rarely got their full backs past the half way line due to the threat of my 3 front men on the break, and it really allowed my midfield not to get swamped or outnumbered. Whether or not 433 will be too gung ho for Ligue 2, I do not know, possibly, but I think I'll stick to my principles and play the football that got us there in the first place.

Absolutely delighted to have won league so convincingly, particularly as this is the first ever piece of silverware in Viry-Chatillon's history, and to get it in their 50th anniversary year (founded 1965) is pretty special, hopefully I can add more trophies to the cabinet some day soon!

Was a real team effort, a lot of good performances, no absolute stand out - which is shown by the fact I only have one player (on the bench) in the team of the season, which is unusual given that I took the league by some distance. But it's not about individual honours (although I did win manager of the year!).

French Cup - 8th round
Fixtures
Board wanted 9th round, but for 3rd year in a row, non league opposition knocked me out! Can't complain as it wasn't anywhere near a priority though, but with the state of my finances I could really have done with getting far and drawing a big gun. Never mind...

Players

Only going to feature players that played more than a handful of games, or just players that I want to give an honourable mention to.

GK

Quentin Beunardeau (33 apps, 35 conc, 10 clean sheets, AR 6.85 )was the subject of a £450k bid from Havre in the summer. I negotiated that I wanted a percentage of next sale, and they pulled out. At the time I was disappointed as I was going to use that cash to get some outfield players, but I'm glad he stayed, solid as a rock, 10 clean sheets in 33 league games isn't too bad. Comes for a lot of crosses too. I've been vulnerable for a couple of seasons from crosses and corners etc, but he's came out and collected a few and it takes pressure right off defence. Still young and will be a cracking keeper when he hits his peak.

Abdel Adjahouinou (5 apps, 4 conc, 1 clean sheet, AR 6.88) - came in end of season when Beunardeau got injured. Good solid back up, think he's got a good future. Also was called up to Cameroon senior side, although wasn't capped.

Defenders

Thorgan Lienard (28 apps, 2 goals, 2 assists, 2 MOTM AR 7.11)- Exciting talent, made his first team breakthrough last season, and played a major part this season. Really hope I can hold onto this guy for a long time, he's excellent for 18 year old centre back, but I fear the bigger clubs may fancy taking him from me. But this guy definitely will play at highest level I'm sure of it.

Mikal Gamondes (28 apps, 2 assists, AR 6.94) - Mr Dependable at the back. Solid defensively, could ideally offer more assists as we've no wingers so depend more on full backs for wide deliviries, but his ave rating his good enough for me.

Matteo Bianchetti (37 apps, 4 goals, 2 assists, 3 MOTM, AR 7.17)- continued his excellent form from last season into this season. 1st name on my team sheet. A threat from set plays, and solid defensively. If I'm to stay up next year, this guy has to have another great year. Can he make the step up?

Ameth Biaye (34 apps, 2 assist, 1 MOTM, AR 7.06) - good season from the left back, still don't know whether to offer him a new deal. Has anyone experience of Ligue 2, do you think this guy would cut it? Maybe as cheap back up. It's just disheartening to think of dismantling my title winning team. But I may need to cut him loose, he'll be facing wingers who were in Ligue 1 last year, they could rip him to shreds I fear. Any opinions?

William Magnani (12 apps, 1 assist, AR 6.87) - average full back who is equally comfortable either side of the back. I like that he is two footed also. Did well he got his chance, whether he'll cut it in Ligue 2 I'm not sure.

Christophe Lowinsky (10 apps, AR 6.64) - solid player, but the form of 18 year old Lienard meant this guy just couldn't get back in the team. Good back up though.

Midfield

Christian Kouakou (17(14) apps, 3 goals, 5 assists, AR 6.66) - feel sorry for this guy, he's my record signing (£45,000), looks a handy player, but I can't fit him in my system. I tried starting him on the left of my front 3, but he didn't quite cut it. Brought him off the bench a lot when I was winning, and I'd change to a 4-1-4-1 to see the game out, he'd sit on left of my midfield. Maybe away from home next season I'll start games 4141, he'll feature more regularly.

Ibrahima Seck (16(12) apps, 1 assist, AR 6.86) - limited midfielder, but I play a deep lying play maker in my midfield, and he is reliable back up to Videgla, keeps it simple and helps me keep possession. From his stats I thought he'd make a good makeshift centre back, but his positional training is taking ages to come into effect.

Dominique Abiola (28 apps, 2 goals, 12 assists, 1 MOTM, AR 7.16)-played him in my advanced playmaker role in midfield, and he was excellent. Never wasted possession, and fed some many chances to the front 3. Class act.

Dominique Abiodoun (28 apps, 7 goals, 9 assists, 2 MOTM, AR 7)-another favourite of mine, technically excellent, but hopefully if with promotion we go full time, he needs to buff up on his physical stats to really compete next season. Important part of my midfield none the less.

Claude Roland Videgla (26 apps, 2 goals, 2 assists, AR 6.95) - first choice for the deep lying playmaker role, with defend duty. His job is to protect back 4, win the ball, and give it to Abidioun or Abioula, and he does it well. Togo full internationalist, and infuriatingly misses games quite often as the African nation play a stupid amount of fixtures. I have so many Cameroonian/Moroccan/Algerian/Ivorian youngsters, and they are away on international duty every month, it's madness.

Strikers

Assomption Kessou (18 apps, 4 goals, 6 assists, 2 MOTM AR 7.18)- this guy didn't start season in my plans at all, but when the Kouakou up front experiment failed, I brought this guy into play on the left of my front 3, and cutting in on his right foot he proved a good player for me for rest of season.

Mondor Kessou (26(5) apps, 14 goals, 2 assists, 4 MOTM, AR 7.14) was a summer signing, brought in for his pace and finishing, thinking he'd be a good addition in my front 3. Was outstanding 1st half of season. Got most of his goals then. Slightly went off the boil, but still a hugely important part of our season.

Gianmarco Zigoni (17 apps, 5 goals, AR 6.96) - Big physical striker who made most of his appearances from the bench late on when I was running on empty, he's so strong and would hold it up played as a target man with support duty. I also trained him to shoot with power, and the last 2 games of the season, he scored 4 absolute screamers each from about 25 yards. Technically isn't the best, but it's his physical attributes he's in the squad for more than anything.

Dramane Koffi (29 (6) apps, 13 goals, 8 assists, 3 MOTM, AR 7.18) - another solid season for Koffi, trying to bring his finishing up, he gets in so many good positions but doesn't convert enough of his chances.

Abdou Dieye (12 (14) apps, 9 goals, 1 assist, 1 MOTM, AR 6.78) - didn't hit the heights of last season, but still contributed, but found himself relegated to bench for most of the season. Became the clubs record goal scorer of all time, although it didn't take much to do it in 3 seasons with the amazing tally of 36!

Club News

Transfers


Mondor Kessou was only real success out of players I brought in. most of them either couldn't get a game, or are youngsters. Got a lot of players out of contract, think I'll release the lot, need to build a new squad for Ligue 2.

Finances

I'm in a load of debt now, due to my board having to build 4,725 extra seats (taking my capacity to 10,225) in order to comply with league rules, but this has cost me more than £5m, so god knows how much cash I'll have to spend to try and keep me up. Couldn't they have got a loan instead of putting me £5m in the red?

I'm not sure if the board will even make us go full-time now we are so in debt. We lost money all season, and for the 2nd time in my 3 year tenure, the board had to inject £425k to help with running costs. We've got 112 season ticket holders, and an average home gate of 649, we just don't get enough income to support my £12k a week wage bill. But the board have just secure a new shirt sponsor for the next 3 seasons, worth £375k a season, which is a massive increase on what it was before, so hopefully attendances will pick up, and I can begin repaying that debt. I just worry with finances as dodgy, that the board may intervene on any bids of my star players as we need the money. I'm going to slap ridiculous asking prices on them all to scare off any potential buyers, because I've definitely got a few players bigger clubs will be looking at. If I've any chance of staying up, I must hold onto the spine of my team.

Whilst my stadium is being worked on, to comply with league rules I'll be playing at the Stade Dominique-Duvauchelle, home to US Creteil-Lusitanos, it's only 20km from my own stadium, so hopefully the fans travel in good numbers. Viry-Chatillon is 13 miles from Paris city centre, so I hope we build up a fanbase, but with PSG in the neighbourhood, we may struggle to drum up any interest.

My contract is up in 1 year, I went to the board and asked them to increase it, to send a message to the players that I'm commited, but they refused, which given I've just won them a league, is slightly worrying!

So the first step to the big time is made, but I really think it'll be a huge struggle for me to stay up when I look at the resources some of these clubs have in Ligue 2. If I keep my starting 11 fit, and add quality to my back up players as we're a bit thin outside of roughly 16 players, then I may sneak it and stay up, but a good start will be vital. Think I'll get my groundsman to narrow the pitch right up, and just got 433 at home, try and outscore teams. Need a good recruitment drive in the summer, but yet to see what finances I'll have to work with next season given my huge debt.

Next Season

Survive at all costs!

Season     Division        Pos    Domestic Cup                European Competitions         Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13     National       4th    French Cup 8th round        N/A                    Survived Relegation
2013/14     National       8th    French Cup 7th round        N/A                              N/A
2014/15     National       1st    French Cup 8th round        N/A                          Champions

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Congrats on the promotion Aldojag, hopefully you can survive and also do enough to get that new contract. I really like the look of Gamondes, he's a pretty solid looking right back for your level, hope he makes the step up.

Corinthiano & Romanista - Thanks for that guys, I was absolutely delighted myself. Found it a bit unbelievable, but really it came down to Wilcox, Krasic & Montiquin being unstoppable upfront while Re & Ruiz made sure that even when the youngsters made a mistake that someone was covering at the back. Very happy with that, and also the fact that I am no longer worried about using my youth players if I need someone to step into the side. Montiquin has finally cracked it, first 5 games he got no goals and just 1 assist, in the last 4 games he has 8 goals, a Brace, nothing and then two hattricks in a row.

[aldojags]

Thanks LLR. Yeh I hope I get a new deal, would be a total sickener to win the league then get fired a year later.

[efrumttr]

Congrats on the promotion aldojags! I wish I wasn't absolutely buried up to my neck in homework so that I could get my first season finished.

[Romanista1994]

Great season aldojags, absolutely stormed that league! If you manage to keep most of that team together and strengthen a bit with cheap signings I think you'll survive easily. Shame that your board wrecked the club's finances though, especially as your control on wages appears to be excellent.

[PRDH]

Aldojags - Congratulations. Great league win. Stormed it. I wouldn't worry too much about the contract. For them not to renew it would be ridiculous. Good luck in Ligue 2!

[Romanista1994]

Barakaldo 2012 Preseason Report

Club Situation

Media Prediction: 11th
Captain: Borja Basagoiti
Vice Captain: Raul Iturralde
Season Ticket Holders: 3000
Finances: £339k
Transfer Budget: £12.86k
Wage Budget: £28,611 (£12,962 in use, of which £6,225 goes to players who are not needed)

Transfers

I got in 18(!) players on loan from the big Basque clubs, though about half of those were sent back immediately as they weren't good enough. Some freebies also joined (Granada and Sarasola are not visible on the screenshot). This left the squad looking like this.

Key Players

Jon Ander Serantes - A lifelong Barakaldo fan and youth graduate who has come back on loan from Athletic Bilbao.

Unai Albizua - Our best rightback, but inconsistent according to the coaches.

Raul Iturralde - A real destroyer in midfield whose physical presence will be crucial in breaking up opposition attacks.

Alvaro Pena - Another loanee from Athletic. Hopefully he'll be a creative spark on the right.

Mikel Orbegozo - The man tasked with getting us goals.

First Choice Lineup

GK Jon Ander Serantes
DR Unai Albizua
DC Borja Basagoiti
DC Julen Etxabeguren
DL Igor Arnaez
MC Fran Moreno
MC Raul Iturralde
RW Alvaro Pena
LW Iosu Ozcoidi
ST Mikel Orbegozo
ST David Asensio

Aims For the Season

-A midtable finish

-Avoid going too far in the red

-Develop youngster Asier Iribarren, who has the potential to be a good Liga Adelante player.

[rlipscombe]

PRDH - unlucky again in Europe - becoming a bit of a recurring theme now eh? i would definately look to spend the money but only on the right player. it is tough working our where to spend though in your squad.
LLR - great stats - great to see this thread booming again. credit to all tohse plaiyng and contributing to this thread - keep it up.
iseemonsters - well done on the promotion. good luck in Serie B. from memory it is a big jump into Serie B so good luck with it.
Romanista - good luck with Barakaldo - a challenge i have always been tempted to do. good luck - i will watch your progress closely.
aldojags - well done on winning promotion! about time! good luck next season.

As for me i have been away for a few days but am back. finished the season before i went away so will get working on a review in the coming days.

[PRDH]

PRDH - unlucky again in Europe - becoming a bit of a recurring theme now eh? i would definately look to spend the money but only on the right player. it is tough working our where to spend though in your squad.

Tell me about it! I keep thinking it might be my year, and I keep falling out in exactly the same way. Yeah, I don't really see any obvious weaknesses in my squad at the moment which makes going out and finding the best in a weak position a tough project. I suppose Descazals will probably need replacing soon, but other than that I am, in theory at least, quite happy with my squad.

In surprising news Álvaro Pinto has made his debut for Portugal. I didn't expect him to get international recognition. Thought he'd just be a squad player with me!

[Romanista1994]

Barakaldo Mini Mid Season Report

After 19 matches we are well into the right end of the table. A bright start meant we quickly entered the playoff spots, but our form has tailed off recently and we currently find ourselves in 6th, 6 points from fourth. In December I signed a flamboyant playmaker in Francisco Javier Cachorro with his early performances being promising, but at 34 he won't have much time left at a top level. Leftback Alberto Morgado has also joined on loan from Real Sociedad and he should slot right in.

There is good reason to assume that I'm screwed for next season as we are now in debt and haemorrhaging money and to add to that pretty much our whole team will be leaving at the end of the season. If I manage to get a few key players like Cachorro and Iturralde (who has been a revelation at centreback) to sign our prospects will look much brighter, but for now all of my attempts to get them (and Asier Iribarren) so sign on have been unsuccessful. Hopefully we'll get some good youngsters in the youth intake as I could find myself short on players.

Edit: Some bad news, followed by some good news: Alvaro Pena has a torn calf muscle and is out for 4/5 months after being one of the better performers in the first half of the season, but I've managed to get Serantes to sign on a £400p/w contract in July, so at least we'll have a keeper until 2018.

[rlipscombe]

Romanista1994 - solid start to the season there - keeping that up would be a good result. the money issue is commonplace thoughout this thread so don't worry too much. good luck signing some of the players up for next season.

[Romanista1994]

Romanista1994 - solid start to the season there - keeping that up would be a good result. the money issue is commonplace thoughout this thread so don't worry too much. good luck signing some of the players up for next season.

Yeah, that's true. I'll have to keep in mind that no matter how well I run the club's finances at this level, there'll always be big monthly losses. The mini contract crisis is over now btw, Iribarren has signed a long term deal, while Cachorro and Iturralde have signed one year extensions with little or no wage increases.

[aldojags]

Pre-Season Report 2015/16

Fixtures
Played really well in pre-season, beat some good teams, created plenty chances. As you can see, I've already played 2 fixtures, hammered Troyes away 3-0 in League Cup, completely outplayed them it was excellent.

Then I went to newly relegated and favourites for promotions Nantes and beat them 1-0. That was a hard fought win, but still delighted to beat one of the bigger teams away from home in my first league game.

Transfers

Board only increased my wage budget to £19,000 per week, so after offerring full-time contracts to my own players, there wasn't a lot of money left to get new ones in, but pleased with guys I've got so far, still working on a few loan deals, but nobody decent is up for coming to me.

Valentin Eysseric is a midfielder I've got from Monaco on loan, looks like he'll do the biz for me as my advanced play maker, where I've got real competition between some good players now.

Sophiane Boussebaine was brought in as I felt my left back from last season, Ameth Biaye, wasn't up to it, so I released him, and brought this guy in, think he'll do well for me. Don't see many wingers beating him for pace.

Rick Ten Voorde looks a decent striker, see how he gets on, like midfield, I've got a good few players from last year who are doing fine, so he'll need to wait to get his chance at present.

Jerry Affo is just a young full back, hopefully give him a taste of first team action at some point, he'll be steady back up to Mikal Gamondes.

Alexander Ndoumbou was brought in to add quality to the midfield, got him on a bosman from Marseille, like the look of him, was impressive in pre-season.

Aleksandar Pesic has just been brought in on trial and offered a contract, thats why he's not on my transfers page, but I think he'll sign on. 6ft 3inches, think he'll get me some goals.

Over the course of the year I'll get around £4m in tv revenue, so hopefully the majority of my debt from increasing stadium capacity will be wiped out by end of season.

Season Objectives

Stay up. I've won my first league game away to Nantes, but I'm under no illusions, it's going to be hard to stay up, but I think I've got the players to do it.

[nastymiller]

Sancaktepe Belediye Spor

Personal Page (Manager)

Overview Screen (Club)

Profile (Manager)

Information (Club)

[nastymiller]

Squad (Club)


Looking at the club and squad, this is going to be one hell of a challenge to even get out of the lower division.

Using update 12.2 with just the large database, nothing more.

Enjoying reading everyone's updates - just hope I can add to the fun.

[PRDH]

Well, qualifying from my CL group was made harder than necessary there! Went into the final game knowing I just had to draw with Shakhtar to qualify. Things didn't start well. THe previous game was a cup match and so the squad was full of youngsters. I thought I made all the switches but as I continued I noticed I'd named third-choice 'keeper Nelson Martins in goal. I wonder how often that happens in real life.

Already on the edge of my seat I started the game hoping he'd not cause too many problems, he wasn't my worry for long though. In the third minute Pedro Cardoso lunged wildly at a defender and found himself heading for a very early bath.

Things then went from bad to worse. In the 13th minute they scored. 1-0 down, 10 men, inexperienced goalkeeper. I was waving goodbye to the Champions League. Fortunately things then started to change. Bentalaa scored from the spot just 3 minutes later to get us back in the game and then in the 25th minute an own goal put us ahead.

A late Shakhtar goal ensured I didn't unclench until the final whistle, but we are safely through. Hopefully that's not our luck used up for the season! I'll need it to avoid Barcelona in the next round!

Edit - Also, excitingly, my feeder team that got promoted to the Premier League is still my feeder team. I wondering whether I can support two Premier League teams from one base. Send my youngsters over there, try to get a second team into the CL! Just to annoy Porto really!

[aldojags]

that's unusual that your still allowed to have them as your feeder team despite being in the same league. Will be excellent for the progression of your youngsters.

Well done on the Shaktar game. I hate when you accidentally start a game with incorrect team. My occasional mistake is forgetting to check condition, starting a match with some player on like 83% fitness. hate that!

edited to ask did you fine Cardoso or do you let him away with murder because he's your star man?

[Romanista1994]

Barakaldo End of Season Report 2012/13

Brief Roundup

Media Prediction: 11th
Actual Position: 5th
Topscorer: Mikel Orbegozo (13)
Most Assists: Iosu Ozcoidi (11)
Best Rating: Raul Iturralde (7.16)
Club Value: £1.1M
Finances: £293,214
Wage Budget: £28,583 (£12,790 in use)
Transfer Budget: £12.86k


Transfers - £17k profit



Segunda B3


Table|Graph

Our bright start showed that we could easily have gotten into the playoffs, but inconsistent form later in the season saw us finish in fifth place.



Copa del Rey


N/A



Squad

Goalkeepers


Jon Ander Serantes - The homegrown keeper kept us in a lot of matches with his consistently solid performances. He was a major factor in our low tally of conceded goals.


Defenders


Unai Albizua - Found himself out of the team early on after a bad start. Injuries and squad rotation helped him get back in and he did well for the most part.

Joseba Zaldua - Took Albizua's place at rightback and did well but often needed a rest.

Joseba Arino - Was a backup.

Alberto Morgado - Was loaned in January and shone at leftback.

Igor Arnaez - Had a good season, which could have been even better if it hadn't been for a two month injury.

Borja Basagoiti - Got very little game time as his attributes were declining rapidly.

Julen Etxabeguren - Was a good partner for Iturralde. His injuries coincided with our worst form of the season in February and March.

Raul Iturralde - Starred in the centre of defence, where he is only rated as being competent.


Midfielders


Eneko - Had a solid season even though he wasn't always first choice.

Granada - Did decently, scoring a few screamers from long range.

Jon Ander Garrido - Isn't good enough to warrant a starting spot, but did well enough as a backup player.

Andoni Idarramendi - Wasn't a suitable replacement for Pena during his injury because of his confidence issues.

Iosu Ozcoidi - Our most productive player, having had a hand in sixteen of our goals.

Fran Moreno - Became unhappy because he wanted to play, but wasn't going to get any game time following his bad performances early on.

Gorka Erana - Didn't have the best of seasons and found himself replaced in AMC when Cachorro became eligible to play.

Imanol Mentxaka - He couldn't displace Ozcoidi in AML and wasn't suited for playing on the other side.

Alvaro Pena - Was missed during his four month injury. He made a return in the last match of the season as we beat At. Baleares 4-0.

Francisco Javier Cachorro - Did well as a playmaker in a 4-2-3-1, less so in the 4-4-2/4-2-4 used at the end of the season.


Forwards


David Asensio - Struggled as a lone forward and was inconsistent when partnering Orbegozo or Iribarren.

Asier Iribarren - Was injured for three months, stunting his development. He got a run in the side near the end alongside Obegozo scoring 4 goals and creating another 3.

Mikel Orbegozo - Went missing for large parts of the season and did badly when placed upfront by himself. When he developed a powerful shot his performances and goalscoring improved.


Youth Intake


Very bad, with only two players being signed. They will probably never make the team.


Aims for This Season

-A midtable finish Success. The whole season was spent in the top half.
-Avoid going too far into the red Success. Will require more friendlies against big clubs in June though.
-Develop Asier Iribarren Success. Sort of. He didn't develop much due to injuries but learning from Asensio improved his personality, which will be vital for his future development.

[rlipscombe]

romanista1994 - good first season there. pleased to see that you have tied some of your stars down too. good luck next season
nastymiller - welcome to the challenge and good luck in Turkey.
PRDH - that is strange havong a feeder team in same league. get your kids over there - be great for developing them.

[PRDH]

aldojags - Yeah. It was one hell of a relief! Cardoso got away with a warning, but in all honesty I don't often fine any players.
rlips/aldojags - Yeah, I've never seen it before. I just assumed it would be cancelled over the summer, but no, still there. Got a plenty of my non-homegrown youngsters over there at the moment. It's made me redouble my efforts to get Penafiel (my other Second League feeder team) promoted too. I'd like to have three teams in the top flight!

Not entrusting them with my proper youngsters yet as they've not got great facilities.

Edit - Blimey! Edemilson Mendès' contract runs out at the end of the season. I've just started to look into extending it, he's not first choice but is a quality player still, and he wants £70k/week. That would make him comfortably the highest paid player at the club. I'm not willing to pay him that much. It looks like he's off on a free at the end of the season. The fans won't be happy!

[18Rabbit]

Salerno Calcio
Italian Serie C2/A
Salernitana Soccer 1919, Salerno, Campania, Italy

Midnight of December 31st, 2012, Salerno, Italy
Well, how anyone gets anything done in Italy is beyond me. I've been here months and I still don't have internet hooked up at my tiny apartment. I was hoping that it would be done by Christmas but so much for that idea. Additionally I have given up looking for any more staff for the club.

You'd think that these unemployed jerks would jump at the chance to work for a club like Salerno, and, make no mistake that they apply in droves when I post a job opening in the paper but something changes when they come in for the interview and meet me. Maybe it's because I'm a woman, maybe it's because I don't speak very good Italian and they don't speak English or maybe it's because for some reason the board thinks it's hilarious to watch me only be able to offer 375 Euro/wk for a coaches salary.

Fortunately, my guess is because I wore a low cut blouse the day he came in to be interviewed, I was able to hire a pretty spectacular assistant, Roberto Bandirali. He's great and knows the ins and outs of the leagues and he's been around for ages. When I ask him why we could only hire one other coach, Daniele Villa, he just shrugs and smiles shyly. We also picked up a "physio" (I'm not sure he's even licensed and, frankly, I don't care) and a couple of additional scouts. As for filling the other coaching positions, I've given up even trying. Maybe next season.

As for the team and the league, we are doing OK mostly. We're still thin on talent but have a pretty respectable starting 11. It's mid season and we're one point off of 1st in Serie C2/A. We were knocked out of the Serie C cup by Aprilla in a penalty shootout (our penalty kicks are pretty abysmal). I trimmed some deadwood at the start of the season but several of our worst players seemed to understand that no one else would want them either and refused to leave an easy check so they're rotting in the reserves. Our main challenge has been keeping everyone match fit and not playing exhausted. Some of our starting 11 are almost as old as I am but they still have some fire too them. The only real weakness we have is that we have almost no good backups for our defensive positions so our more defensive minded midfielders have been getting action on the back line when someone gets hurt or worn out. That hasn't seem to hurt us too much yet, but it's something I want to improve.

I think so far the biggest perk of coaching Salerno has been that I found a nice locally produced Merlot that is the exact shade of our uniforms so that no one notices when I spill it on myself in a drunken stupor.

Previous updates: June 28th, 2012

[Romanista1994]

Great update 18Rabbit. The low cut blouse could be a useful asset for negotiations with the players that can help you secure promotion. Good luck for the rest of the season.

[aldojags]

aldojags - Yeah. It was one hell of a relief! Cardoso got away with a warning, but in all honesty I don't often fine any players.
rlips/aldojags - Yeah, I've never seen it before. I just assumed it would be cancelled over the summer, but no, still there. Got a plenty of my non-homegrown youngsters over there at the moment. It's made me redouble my efforts to get Penafiel (my other Second League feeder team) promoted too. I'd like to have three teams in the top flight!

Not entrusting them with my proper youngsters yet as they've not got great facilities.

Edit - Blimey! Edemilson Mendès' contract runs out at the end of the season. I've just started to look into extending it, he's not first choice but is a quality player still, and he wants £70k/week. That would make him comfortably the highest paid player at the club. I'm not willing to pay him that much. It looks like he's off on a free at the end of the season. The fans won't be happy!

Yeh I think your making the right choice, that's too much for a bit part player. He is quality, but that's too much money for backup.

I always fine my violent conducts 2 weeks. I'd fine them a month if I could.

[PRDH]

Yeh I think your making the right choice, that's too much for a bit part player. He is quality, but that's too much money for backup.

I always fine my violent conducts 2 weeks. I'd fine them a month if I could.

I tend to work on the principle of 1st red - warning, 2nd - 1 week fine, 3rd - 2 weeks fine.

Yeah, it's a pity to say goodbye to Mendès, he's been a huge part of the club and he's had a phenomenal career with us, but Cardoso is the main man now.

Edit - A 2-2 draw with Man Utd sees me need to go and get a win at Old Trafford to get through to the quarters. I'm not going to lie, I'm not confident.

[PRDH]

Wonder goal alert!

[Romanista1994]

Wonder goal alert!

That is one great goal. Such a run followed by a neat little lob is something only very few players are able to do.

[PRDH]

That is one great goal. Such a run followed by a neat little lob is something only very few players are able to do.

Something of the Messi about it!?

In other new, just had the new intake of youth players, and once again, there's no one worth mentioning.

[Romanista1994]

Something of the Messi about it!?

In other new, just had the new intake of youth players, and once again, there's no one worth mentioning.

That is indeed who I was thinking of.

Shame about the intake, hopefully mine will bring something of note as I just managed to get the board to agree to an increase in Junior Coaching, which brings that up to average and at the same level as our recruitment. This will definitely wreck our finances but should be worth it in the long term.

[Romanista1994]

Barakaldo 2013 Preseason Report

Club Situation

Media Prediction: 12th
Captain: Inaki Astiz
Vice Captain: Raul Iturralde
Season Ticket Holders: 3371
Finances: £58k
Transfer Budget: £0
Wage Budget: £15,432 (£13,672 in use)

We have been moved to the Segunda B2, which is where most of the Basque clubs play.

Transfers

The board decided to reduce the wage budget to around £13k so I was forced to try to build a squad on a shoestring budget. As a result the squad depth is really bad and we lack a top class striker.


Key Players

Jon Ander Serantes - The main man between the sticks again.

Inaki Astiz - Got him in before the budget was cut. He is the star of our backline and we'll have to get promoted quickly to have a chance of keeping him.

Cristian Alberdi - With Iturralde moving to the back a new destroyer was needed and Alberdi should be the right man for the job.

Francisco Javier Cachorro - Our creative spark in midfield, who is unfortunately not going to last for too long anymore.

Iosu Ozcoidi - Last year's most productive player is back.

First Choice Lineup

GK Jon Ander Serantes
DR Imanol Plaza
DC Inaki Astiz
DC Raul Iturralde
DL Jon Manuel
MC Francisco Javier Cachorro
MC Cristian Alberdi
RW Daniel Suarez
LW Iosu Ozcoidi
ST Ibon Arrieta
ST Marco Sangalli

Aims For the Season

Challenge for the playoffs

Develop the young prospects

[rlipscombe]

18Rabbit - nice update there. i do like the 'story' style of updates. good luck for the rest of the season.
PRDH - cracking goal! Messi-esque for sure. would love a few goals like that at Mannheim...
Romanista1994 - good luck for the new season.

[aldojags]

PRDH what do you do with your youngsters? Do you send them on loan right away ? I usually try and train them up until they are too old for under 18's, then send them out if I can't get them a regular game with me.

[PRDH]

PRDH what do you do with your youngsters? Do you send them on loan right away ? I usually try and train them up until they are too old for under 18's, then send them out if I can't get them a regular game with me.

I do similar.

I split them into groups. Those I buy in who are ready for the first team, those I buy in who aren't, those through the youth set up I think will make it (2.5 stars up) and those I don't.


The best of the homegrown youngsters go straight into the first team squad, this means they can be added to my proper, full time training schedules immediately, rather than spending their time on the less intense youth set ups. They are set to be available for the reserves and I play entirely young teams in the cup now plus they get games from the bench. These best of the homegrown tend not to go out on loan, I like them to develop with me so I have more control over their exposure. I also look to get senior players (not that I have many) to tutor them if it's a good fit.

The players less likely to develop, stay in the youth squad on my yth training schedules until they move up. I don't tend to recruit anyone with less than one star potential. Once they graduate to the reserves on age I have another look and those I think have a chance of being useful back ups or squad players I start to think about sending out on loan to an appropriate team, those who I don't stay and make up the numbers in the reserves until they want to move elsewhere, often at around 22 when I let them go and make their own career.

For those youngsters I poach from elsewhere it really depends. Those I'm pretty convinced will be good enough for the first team get treated the same way as the best homegrown players, while those who are more of a punt go to the reserve squad initially and then out on loan. I do this because they tend to arrive on full-time pro deals so it's not as important to have them in the first team squad for the training benefits. This isn't a surefire sign they don't have a part to play, just that they need slightly different learning materials. Mike Okoro is a prime example of this, he joined as an 18-year-old, and went out on loan almost immediately. After three seasons away he was brought back and had a pretty productive first team career.

Those players coming from Africa, South America etc where they don't arrive until 18 often go out on loan in their second season once I've had a chance to get them on the right track.

I don't know whether it's the best way, but it doesn't seem to be doing my lot any harm, and the success at all levels of the club is phenomenal. The first team have won 13 consecutive leagues, the reserves have won 11 out of the past 13 and the youth team 15 consecutive titles in their division.

Hope that rambling summary is in some way helpful!

[aldojags]

It is indeed! Was just wondering what other people do. I'm quite similar in that anything 1.5 stars and above I recruit, quite often a 1.5 star actually turns out an able and cheap squad player. But it's tough deciding to let them out for first team football but poor facilities, or keep them, give them 4-4.5 star training, but limited game time.

romanista i was just looking through your post sorry i missed it first time round.The thing you said about developing a poweful shot, one of my forwards has got it, and I find it useful to have him lurk outside box at corners he's got a few goals that way too, just a wee tip incase you haven't tried it.

[Romanista1994]

It is indeed! Was just wondering what other people do. I'm quite similar in that anything 1.5 stars and above I recruit, quite often a 1.5 star actually turns out an able and cheap squad player. But it's tough deciding to let them out for first team football but poor facilities, or keep them, give them 4-4.5 star training, but limited game time.

romanista i was just looking through your post sorry i missed it first time round.The thing you said about developing a poweful shot, one of my forwards has got it, and I find it useful to have him lurk outside box at corners he's got a few goals that way too, just a wee tip incase you haven't tried it.

The way I usually train my players to shoot is based on this excellent thread. I haven't tried that setup at corners though, I'll have to give it a go when I find another striker with such a powerful shot.

In terms of loans the player has to play and play well. He will benefit far more from thirty appearances at a lower level with worse facilities, but with a rating above seven than from playing ten matches in the league just below with an average rating of 6.3. Playing time is by far the most important factor together with personality, the level he plays at however has to be testing, but not too far above the player's ability because in both cases the player won't improve or will learn very little.

[PRDH]

Lusitânia Açores - Season Summary - 2035/36

Finances

Key figure - £43,698,051 | Summary

I did listen to you all I promise, and I think I've got too drawn into a puritanical desire to at least break even. I'm not going to abandon it completely. I'm still going to stick to a lowish wage budget and listen to big offers for older players, but I think I'm going to start looking at *gasp* buying players if I think they're needed.

And of course, if I buy players who help me breakthrough in Europe than my finances will benefit from greater prize money anyway. It'll be interesting to see whether I stick to it!

Club News

1/ Training facilities to be upgraded over the summer.
2/ Didn't quite overhaul France, but by the end of next season, unless the Portuguese clubs all fare woefully in Europe, we will.

Transfers | 11 in + 1 loan (£6.25m) and 13 out (£34m) + 17 loans

Well, as mentioned above, I'm still going to listen to big offers for ageing players and, at 30, Sebastien Gautier counts as one of those, £30m was therefore impossible to reject and we set about replacing him, you'll find out with whom later. Other than that the exits were a combination of the usual back ups and youth players who didn't make it.

Those coming in were were planned for a while, except for Gautier's replacement and will, I think mostly, add to the squad.

League | Predicted - 2nd

Table | Graph

Pretty comfortable this year. We started in the right vein by putting four past Porto in the first game of the season. We continued in the same frame of mind putting in some imperious performances with Cardoso in particular going through periods of absolutely brutal form. We didn't manage an unbeaten season as we finally succumbed to a league defeat away at Benfica six games from home.

Slightly disappointed to see Porto get back in the Champions League, but I suppose if the big three can rotate the places among them they'll all get stronger and, as long as I stay stronger than them, that'll help the country in Europe.

In Feeder club news, I just about kept Fatima in the league, it'll be interesting to see how long they remain my feeder and if I can make them stronger for next season.

Cups

Supertaça | Winners

A good solid win over Benfica saw us lift the trophy.

Taça de Portugal | 6th Rd

The kids had a stronger season in the cups this year and we made it through a few rounds before falling to Academica.

League Cup | Semi final

The kids fell out at the penultimate stage to Benfica. They came in full strength, not surprising result.

Europe

Group Stage | Table

Pretty solid performance in the group stage, we didn't make much of a mark on Bayern, but we made it through the group without too much worry, despite a slightly edgy final day.

First Knockout Rd | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg

A brute of a draw saw us face Man Utd in the first round of the knockout section. We didn't embarrass ourselves and got a 2-2 draw in Angra. Off we went to Manchester needing a win or a goalfest draw and we couldn't quite manage it. We took the lead, but let it slip and fell out at this hurdle. A pity, but we'll try again next year.

Frustratingly this was the second year in a row that a Portuguese team got to the final and again it wasn't me. This time Benfica got there before losing 1-0 to Barcelona. Surely my time will come soon, right? Please tell me I'm right!

Squad | Overview

It felt like this season marked something of a changing of the guard with younger players making the step up and a few of our faithful servants seeing reduced playing time and potentially the end of their careers approaching.

Same tagging process as last year - bold - 1st choice, italics - exciting prospect, * from my youth set up.

'Keepers

*Nelson Martins* - 7 apps, 12 conc, 1 cln - Decent back up and part of the cup squad, it's probably all he will achieve here, but as long as he's happy, I'm happy for him to carry out that role.

*Ricardo Dias* - 40 apps, 31 conc, 17 cln - A cracking young keeper and could be our number one for years to come. Conceded a few more goals this year, but I think that might be down to the defence, an area which might see some investment over the summer.

Defenders | Slightly bloated area of the squad this season. It's the area of the team I least happy with and could actually require some investment.

Pitoco - 36 apps, 1 gl, 7 asts, 2 MoMs - Solid, dependable, reliable - all words that could be used to describe the right back. Whether he changes a game is another matter and whether that's necessary from the position is yet another.

Silvio Nicastro - 41 apps, 1 ast - Pretty good season for the Italian without having much direct impact on the opponents' goal. He's one who is part of the future planning.

Juan Ignacio Cortez - 0(15) apps, 1 ast - Solidly sitting on the bench as an able deputy across the back. I was perhaps hoping for more than that from him, but he's still only young and will perhaps have a part to play as I rebuild the defence for next season.

*Rui Lopes* - 13(9) apps - His role continues to grow and he was part of a slightly unstable central defensive partnership. Is he good enough to be first choice? I'm not sure, he'll have to perform better next season, I'm slightly concerned about his physical attributes.

Abdulrahman Mesbeh Mahmoud - 27 apps, 1 gl, 1 ast - Bought as Gautier's replacement. He appears to have the attributes, and hopefully once he adapts to his surroundings he will improve, he is still young.

Raúl Etxebarria - 4(1) apps - A player I brought in on loan this season with the aim of seeing if he could be a long-term successor for an ageing Descazals. He didn't really get a chance to show his skills, but I think there's something there, depending on how much Athletic want for him, I might bring him in.

*João Paulo* - [i]13(12) apps, 2 gls, 1 ast, 2 MoMs[i] - Something of a breakthrough season for the young defender. He spent some time under the wing of Descazals and came on leaps and bounds. Towards the end of the season he emerged as a genuine challenger for a first team place. Excellent news. He has also received a call-up to the Portugal squad.

Christian Costin - 4(1) apps - Not much chance to impress this season. Maybe next year.

Meraneh Descazals - 33(1) apps, 2 gls, 1 MoM - I think this might season might be his last as automatic first choice. He's still a quality player, but he just seemed a little less reliable this season than he has been in the past.

Stipe Pesic - 8 apps - Unfortunate. Just as he was starting to find his feet in the first team he broke his leg. Will hopefully come back stronger next season.

Christian Minniti - 6 apps, 1 ast - Not doing well at dislodging Nicastro. He's a decent back up though.

Giannakis Louka - 3(1) apps, 1 gl, 1 ast - Brought in at the beginning of the season with an obvious flaw for a defender - he couldn't tackle - after an intensive training schedule in that discipline he's beginning to look ready for the first team.

Midfielders

*Miguel Teixeira* - 12(15) apps, 1 gl, 1 ast - Excellent back up in central midfield. Doesn't often let the team down. He's received a surprise Portugal call up.

Daniel Mordenti - 5(1) apps, 1 ast - Developing nicely, especially for a fee of £500. Has a fight to get to the first team. Might end up at Fatima next season to get some proper game time.

Betu Tshimpi - 27(1) apps, 2 gls, 3 asts, 1 MoM - I'd had my eye on this lad for a while, in fact I almost splashed £5m on him when he was 17. Imagine my surprise when a news item popped up that PSG had let him leave on a free. He replaced Scaricamazza in the midfield and was, if anything, an improvement. Very happy with him.

Hacene Bentalaa - 32(1) apps, 10 gls, 14 asts, 5 MoMs - Great season for the Algerian winger. He's rapidly turning into one of the stars of the team, not bad for an outlay of less than £1m. He's also attracting admiring glances from abroad. They won't get him if I've got any say in the matter!

Stefan Fink - 28 apps, 8 gls, 10 asts, 2 MoMs - He had some injury troubles again this year, and though that didn't bother the team much, it should worry Fink as a potential replacement has emerged from the pack.

Antonin Zak - 1(4) apps - This will be his last season for the winger. He's not progressed as I wished and his contract is up. He's been decent back up when required, but no more than that.

Bernardo Hoyos - 6(2) apps, 1 gl, 3 asts - Not a huge number of chances, but did a job when required.

*Paulo Jorge Vieira* - 31 apps, 9 gls, 15 asts, 2 MoMs - He didn't miss Scaricamazza as he set about creating a great relationship with Tshimpu in the centre of the park. Bags of assists, a nice number of goals, what more can you want from the lad.

*Jorge Mendes* - 6(2) apps, 4 asts - Another who has probably peaked, not sure where to go with him from now. Maybe a loan spell as a final chance to kick on.

*Álvaro Pinto* - 5(16) apps, 3 asts - Continues in his role as a useful squad player. He does impress on the pitch and got a Portugal cap this year. Another youth team player is after his place though.

*Sérgio Rodrigues* - 14(10) apps, 3 gls, 4 asts, 2 MoMs - The man hot on the tail of Pinto, and probably all set to overtake him next season. He's progressing well, making his weaknesses less obvious. I have a feeling he's a future first teamer.

Lasse Tuominen - 15(7) apps, 5 gls, 8 asts, 3 MoMs - The man to profit from Fink's injuries. He came into the team and did very well. He was dangerous on the ball and chipped in with assists and goals, including the wonder goal up above. Definitely one to watch next time out.

Forwards

Alan Neira - 13(2) apps, 7 gls, 4 asts, 1 MoM - One of the established players to see his place in the side stolen this year. He still played well when called upon, it was the form of the youngsters rather than any fault of his own that saw him sidelined. Could be the beginning of the end.

Mihajlo Djokovic - 35(1) apps, 21 gls, 16 asts, 5 MoMs - The man to steal Neira's place. He ended last season well and when he came into the squad this time round he excelled again. he scored bags of goals, laid on another load and generally linked up well with the rest of the team. Neira will have to go some to get his place back.

Edemilson Mendès - 10(7) apps, 7 gls, 3 asts - He's been falling from favour ever since Cardoso's emergence and he was never going to be happy with that. He's taken it remarkably well so far, probably because of his high wages, but with the end of his contract approaching and him wanting a big pay rise to stay I decided it was time to let him go. It's definitely with regret, he's a cracking player and his goalscoring record of 150 goals in 204 league games has been a huge part of our success. Hopefully he finds somewhere where he can continue that form.

*Pedro Cardoso* - 25 apps, 27 gls, 5 asts, 7 MoMs - Another great season for the young man. It was, unfortunately cut short by injury meaning he only played just over half of the league games this season, but still managed to score 25 goals, including a run of 4 games just before his injuries happened when he scored an incredible 11 goals. It bodes well for him next year providing he recovers from the injury.

*Abakar Tigabe* - [i]11(15) apps, 14 gls, 3 asts, 2 MoMs[i] - Another of the young lads to have a bit of a breakthrough. He's been around the squad for a few years now, but with Mendès off, I decided to blood him more than normal during Cardoso's injury and he played well. Got goals, linked with the rest of the team. He's not going to be first choice yet, but he's adequate back up.

Aims For This Season Were...

1/ Champions' league progress. - No
2/ Try to build for a future without Descazals. - No, well, I'm not convinced, but maybe

Aims For Next Season Are...

1/ Thin out some of the excess players.
2/ Sort out central defence, either decide on a stable pair from what's already at the club, or invest in some new players.
3/ Champions League progress - please!

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
2030/31		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round
2031/32		Premier League		1st			CL Quarters
2032/33		Premier League		1st			CL Quarters and domestic quadruple
2033/34		Premier League		1st 			CL 1st Knockout Round
3034/35		Premier League		1st			CL Quarters
2035/36		Premier League		1st			CL 1st Knockout Round

[PRDH]

Portugal continue to be comically poor in international tournaments. Hosting Euro '36, Ricardo Fernandes (the same man who led the club to three defeats in their World Cup '34 group against USA, Peru and Serbia) again blundered through the group losing the opening game 4-3 to Ireland, the second 2-1 to Italy before drawing 1-1 with Sweden in the final game to again finish bottom of the group. Currently 34th in the rankings, and surely to fall even further, can Fernandes keep his job again?

Edit - Well, this is a frustrating summer. After deciding to hold elections I am currently unable to sign players due to the take-over transfer embargo. This, coupled with the selling of Nicastro from under me, means my plans to rebuild my defence are on hold until the board sort themselves out.

[aldojags]

PRDH has descazals retired from international football? I would have thought a player of that quality would have way more caps for a rubbish nation like Djibouti (sp?) than 55? Mahmoud looks an absolute beast. You really don't have the luck with the Champions league do you?

[Romanista1994]

Unlucky in the CL again PRDH. Joao Paulo looks like the ideal replacement for Descazals tbh, your youth are just incredible. Perhaps a challenge after completion could be building a full team of Azorean youngsters and challenge for the Champions League with them.

[PRDH]

aldojags - Yeah, Descazals lack of international football baffled me. He didn't get his first call up until he was 21 and he retired six years ago as a 30-year-old. I'm not complaining, it's probably what's kept him going for so long domestically. Mahmoud is massive, I was slightly disappointed with him if I'm honest, he was especially found out in the Champions League when he only averaged a 6.6 rating. He's definitely not automatic first choice next season. Surely my CL luck will have to change soon. I hope
Romanista - Cheers. Yeah, I like João Paulo a lot, he came on leaps and bounds last season and I'm considering throwing him in at the deep end next season. Definitely tempted to attempt an all youth squad when (if) I complete.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

PRDH - I love the youngsters from Azores through-out your team, it gives me some hope with my players. Hard Luck on the Champions League, not sure what you need to do to make that next step.

[PRDH]

Lusitânia Açores - Pre-season update

Breaking from habit and writing a quick pre-season update because, possible against my better judgement, I've gone TRANSFER CRAZY (well, sort of).

I've cut lose, smashed open the piggy bank and gone on a spree. I'm genuinely excited and intrigued about the upcoming season. Some big, established names have gone and we've got some widespread changes.

The summer started with elections, not great timing as it meant I had to wait until the middle of July to start making offers for players. This was made tougher because of the fact the players were still leaving. Left back Silvio Nicastro's minimum fee release clause was met by Real Madrid and he leaves for £26m leaving a hole in the squad there. Later in the window he was joined on the plane back to mainland Europe by Alan Neira, who went to Juventus, and Pitoco, who has gone to Benfica. This, coupled with the departure of Mendes at the end of his contract, meant the end of some successful and long careers at the club.

The replacements started rolling in though. First, and this wasn't a pricey one, Enol arrived on loan for the season from Villarreal. He is an exciting looking young striker who can play in the role vacated by Neira. If he impresses I will obviously be looking to get him at the club long-term. Next came a replacement for Pitoco, Cláudio a Brazilian defender who, I think, has phenomenal potential. On the same day came another South American fullback, this time a Peruvian left back, Juan Carranza arrives to hopefully replace Nicastro. He needs to work on his pace, but once that's done I think he can find a place on the left flank.

The South American flavour continued with our next signing. Jonathan Bazán, a player I've had my eye on for a while. I'm expecting him to be part of my first choice central defensive pair with, perhaps, local lad João Paulo.

The final two signings were back to my more normal style as a couple of youngsters arrived, first was Greek striker Iakovos Papadopoulos a 16-year-old with outrageous technical skills for his age. He's not ready for the first team quite yet, but he's not far off. Finally came Luis Ventura. He's another Peruvian left-sided player, a winger this time. He signed a pre-contract when he was 15 and now he's turned 18 he has joined us. He's raw but already has international experience and if he can gain a bit of pace can be an excellent addition to the squad.

The result of all this transfer manoeuvring is that it is likely that my back line will be unrecognisable from last season out. Hopefully it will click and drive me on in the Champions' League.

[rlipscombe]

PRDH - another great season dented only by the CL situation... SURELY soon? i agree that the youth players through your squad are envious. i found your piece on youth development interesting as well. hopefully the takeover will go through soon and you can get the time to develop the squad further.

[PRDH]

LLR/rlips - Cheers! I really don't know what I have to do to progress in Europe. It can't all be bad luck however much I want to think it is. The team looks good enough to me, but I might be blind to it's obvious flaws.

[Romanista1994]

PRDH - Some really nice players you've brought in. The only one I don't really rate is Carranza, what do your scouts/coaches say about him?

[aldojags]

Season Review - 2015/16 (4th Season)

Ligue 2

Predicted - 20th

Table | Graph | Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2

Excellent first season up considering I was favourite to finish bottom, still had half a part time squad, and by far and away lowest wage bill and average attendance in the league. This coupled with playing at another stadium until March (my own was getting redeveloped to meet league rules), so all these things make my season an unexpected success. I actually think had I a couple of extra players, I may have went up, but my wage bill was too restricted, and I was in a lot of debt due to stadium redevelopment so they wouldn't increase it all season.

I put the league table combined home and away so you could see my phenomenal away record, unreal for a promoted team, totally felt better playing away from home, sort of caught teams out I think who were expecting maybe an easier game.

French Cup - 7th round

Beat at home to Stade de Reims who were pretty much the toughest team I could have drawn at that stage, bad luck and a bad perfomance.

Coupe de la Ligue - 2nd round

My 2nd string lost out to Vannes away, who got promotion from my league so no disgrace there.


Club Info

Transfers


Facilities


Got youth recruitment increased to Fairly basic! I know, mind blowing advance eh!?

Finances- managed to get ride of most of the debt due to the tv revenue. The club have increased my wage budget from 23k per week to 30k per week, and given me 825k to spend on players. I've got rid of the transfer money and put wage budget up to 45k per week, hopefully get good enough bosmans in to put in another top half season, maybe challenge for promotion who knows. Really struggling on where to spend the cash, got good players in most positions, just need that extra touch of quality. Need someone who'll get the 15-20 goals, but they will obviously cost a few quid.

Players

GK

Quentin Beunardeau continues to improve - no doubt turning full time helped this. Big clubs continue to sniff around but no offers since Harve a year ago, only speculation.

Abdel Adjahouinou was again involved in Cameroon senior squad without getting a cap. Is wanting regular football, I don't want to lose him, so may rotate my 2 keepers next season, would hate to lose this guy.

Defence

Aboubacar Diallo was brought in for my youth team a year or 2 ago. Has developed quickly into a top defender with international experience, so I gave him a run toward end of season. Along with Lienard, could form my defence for years to come, exceptional talents.

Thorgan Lienard continues to develop strongly. Is it just me or does he have a bright future?

Matteo Bianchetti - solid season again, my best player in my career so far, but the emergence of Lienard and Diallo may see him feature less next season.

Jerry Affo done well for his first season at right back. Will try and get someone in to compete with him this coming season as I've no quality back up.

Sophiane Boussebaine was brought in pre-season, as I'd been ruthless and let go my left back from title winning season. Had a good first season. Brought in a croatian left back just recently to give him solid competition as he was only decent left back I had all season.

Frans Van der Zwan was brought in mid season on loan to give us extra bodies in defence as I had lots of injuries. Done well, looks to have a bright future.


Christophe Lowinsky didn't get a lot of gametime due to my many talented centre backs. But he came complaining he wanted a game, I gave him a game and he was excellent. Really given me something to think about for next season.

Mid

Christian Kouakou still has to give me a bit more. Ok in patches but not consistent enough.

Alexander NDoumbou was brought in from Marseille on a free, and done ok. Quite versatile too, can play either wing or in the middle, and didn't let me down.

Jurgen Surdal Nilsen was a bit of a disapointment given his stats, will give him another chance next season though, he has the stats just needs to give me more consistency.

Valentin Eysseric was a midfielder I got on loan from Monaco. Didn't really live up to his stats, thought he'd be a stand out for me. He's out of contract shortly, think of signing him, will depend on who else is available and how much he wants.

Dominique Abiodoun wasn't automatic choice this season, but still solid enough when called upon.

Claude Roland Videgla had decent season just playing defensive playmaker, keeping it simple.
Dom Abiola was my player of the season, he's got the makings of a top player. Vital I hold onto him.

Forwards

Dramane Koffi had a good season, so quick and gets in great positions, but doesn't get enough goals, but still got high hopes for him. He's making noises about wanting to go to bigger club but I convinced him to stay for now.


Aleksander Pesic I thought would be my main man, but spent all season moaning about being homesick and didn't really fulfil his promise, will try and offload in the summer.

Gianmarco Zigoni done ok when called upon - played as a target man. Don't think he'll feature much next season if I can get the strikers I'm after.


Rick Ten Voorde - deal is up in summer, he wants too much to stay on for a bit part player who coudln't hold down first team place all season. I like the look of him and would like to keep him, but I'm going to be ruthless and play hardball, if I lose him so be it there'll be plenty of players come pre-season looking for a club.

Mondor Kessou - did ok but I'll be looking for more next season. Coaches all still fancy him as having 4.5 star potential so I'll persist for another season.


Objectives - survive. Easily achieved, came close-ish to promotion, but just fell short by a few points. But an excellent first season, plenty of positives.

Season     Division        Pos    Domestic Cup                European Competitions         Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13     National       4th    French Cup 8th round        N/A                    Survived Relegation
2013/14     National       8th    French Cup 7th round        N/A                              N/A
2014/15     National       1st    French Cup 8th round        N/A                          Champions
2015/16     Ligue 2         6th   FC 7th Round. LC 2nd round   N/A                         Survived

[Romanista1994]

aldojags - Excellent first season in Ligue 2, definitely something that can be built on with you getting rid of pretty much all the debt and still having a lot of young players who will improve. Promotion could well be on the cards next season.

[aldojags]

thanks Romanista, was an odd one to be disappointed at finishing 6th. I really thought I'd struggle. But in the end my home form killed me. My away form was unbelievable, but home form was poor by comparison. But I was playing at someone elses stadium all year so technically every game was an away game!

[iacovone]

Phew just about caught up on the thread! Been away for a week so haven't played much. We are into the 1st knockout round of the CL - paired with Liverpool...

PRDH - a message of support, you will get there! Amazed at how tough the breaks have been for you in Europe. Still, this season has a good feel to it.

To the new joiners, good luck. Everyone else, well played

[PRDH]

Romanista - They think he's a two star player at the moment, with the potential to become a four star player. I honestly don't think he's going to become world class, but I needed a body after Nicastro went.
aldojags - That's a cracking first season in Ligue 2 - congratulations! Do you think you can get promotion next season?
iacovone - Cheers! I'm determined. Got six months or so until FM13 comes out I suppose! I might win the 2057 Champions League. Pedro Cardoso and Paulo Jorge Vieira cheering on from sidelines after retirement!

[iacovone]

Consider me very proud. Novese's first ever Balon d'Or winner and World Player of the Year: Peter van Roosmalen

[aldojags]

PRDH I think I could, but I don't want to jinx it! The teams coming down are obviously strong, but if I can improve my home form and maintain away form ( a big if I know) then I could definitely challenge. I need a good start, I don't know about you but I've never been like Man United in FM, coming strong end of season. I need to lead from the front and I can usually hang in the pack, but when I'm chasing a leader I often struggle under the pressure!

edited to congratulate iacovone on the Balon D'Or! Schultz never won it? How is that guy you spent 30 million on doing?

Do you guys give individual team talks to subs? What about the defence midfield strikers? Or do you just do one big team talk?

[PRDH]

aldojags - I think my continued choking in Europe says something about my teams' (this one in particular) attitude to pressure! I tend to have a lull mid-season n the league of anything. I tend to give one big team talk at all times, occasionally saying something to individual players if they've not liked what I've said overall.
iacovone - I'll probably be corrected here, but I think that might be the first in the entire thread. Even if it's not, congratulations, he's a quality player!

In other news, it's very early in the season but I just had a quick check of the coefficients, as it stands Portugal would go third next season, ahead of France and Italy and that would mean an additional CL spot! That could be massive!

[aldojags]

PRDH I've meant to ask why the focus on the co-efficients? have you always been interested? I don't tend to look at it, mainly because I don't understand it! But if you win the league surely it doesn't matter to you?

I suppose the higher rep your league, the easier to attract players is that the reason your interested?

[PRDH]

PRDH I've meant to ask why the focus on the co-efficients? have you always been interested? I don't tend to look at it, mainly because I don't understand it! But if you win the league surely it doesn't matter to you?

I suppose the higher rep your league, the easier to attract players is that the reason your interested?

I don't really know. It's just nice seeing the league get bigger, it seems to increase the amount of TV money you get from the Champions League too. I think basically though it's something to obsess about because I'm not making any real progress towards completion and haven't for the past 12 seasons or something!

[aldojags]

hahaha don't stress yourself about completion your game is incredible you've got a fantastic team and ridiculous amount of silverware, it will happen!

What was your attendance roughly when you started challenge, and what is it now? just out of interest? I think away fans out number my home fans like 3 to 1 every game! I have 300 season tickets, and each crowd is 2500 or somethin, I must be outnumbered.

[PRDH]

aldojags - I hope so! Hang on, I'll just have a look back at attendance records. Right. Average attendance in my first season was 427 and this season so far is 43,954 - you could say the club has grown a bit since I took over!

Youth player update - Rodrigues and Teixeira and just received their first Portugal caps. I must say, the Portugal manager is awful, but he does like capping my youngsters!

[aldojags]

how many of the portugese squad play for you?

[Romanista1994]

Consider me very proud. Novese's first ever Balon d'Or winner and World Player of the Year: Peter van Roosmalen

Dutch player winning it.

[PRDH]

how many of the portugese squad play for you?

Five currently, but I have eight players who have come through my youth ranks and made some appearances for the national team.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Des Tiny's AD Parla

Mid-Season 2020/21
Liga Adelante
February 1st Update

LIGA Adelante

Well my aim after a relegation is always to bounce straight back and this season was no different, my team may have been disappointing in the Liga BBVA, but I knew we could kick it at this level. We made a couple of changes in the offseason, replacing our keeper, our striker, as well as our right back and a whole bunch of cover players were brought in as well. Those three changes made the core of our team very strong and even though we lost the first game of the season to Gimnastic, we have only lost two further games since then to lead the league by 9pts. With three players already having scored 10 goals, Montiquin (15), Krasic (16) & Ruiz (13), Arregi has 9, and only having allowed 21 goals in the season we look very solid.

My Stars of the Half: Def: Norberto Ruiz (DC), Mid: Ales Mitrovic (MC), Fwd: Radisa Krasic (AMR)

Good Results: vs Cartegena 5:1, at Aletico "B" 1:6
Bad Results: vs Gimnastic 1:2, at Hercules 1:3

The Table

| Pos   | Inf   | Team         |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Parla        |       | 22    | 16    | 3     | 3     | 69    | 19    | +50   | 51    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Cartagena    |       | 22    | 13    | 3     | 6     | 49    | 32    | +17   | 42    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Gimnàstic    |       | 22    | 12    | 5     | 5     | 34    | 22    | +12   | 41    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Racing       |       | 22    | 11    | 5     | 6     | 32    | 20    | +12   | 38    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Guadalajara  |       | 22    | 10    | 7     | 5     | 38    | 27    | +11   | 37    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | Mallorca     |       | 22    | 11    | 4     | 7     | 42    | 31    | +11   | 37    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th   |       | Atlético"B"  |       | 22    | 11    | 4     | 7     | 33    | 37    | -4    | 37    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th   |       | Elche        |       | 22    | 11    | 3     | 8     | 31    | 24    | +7    | 36    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Spanish Cup

Well we were entered into the cup in the second round and pummeled Xerez 5:0, but in the third round a much tougher match saw us go down 2:1 to Mallorca, I just am not sure that my team is very good in a knockout format as we did go on to beat them 7:0 in the league.

Fixtures

The Transfers
Since September 1st

In Brief
In: 3 Players (€3M)
Out: 1 Players (€375k)
Loans: 1 Player (€325k)
Wages Total: €79,808 (p/w)
Wage Budget: €108,276 (p/w)
Remaining Transfers: €933k

New Signings
First Team

|---------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|| Player              | Position | Price | Comments                                        |
|---------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|
| Jens Pedersen       |    DR    | Free  | More cover at the back, future star.            |
| Almedin Kapetanovic |    ST    | Free  | A young striker for the future.                 |
| Mauricio Ferrari    |   AMR    |  €3M  | Foreign, Krasic replacement, from July.         |
|---------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|

Ferrari is already pissed at me, he wants first team football and I can't give it to him as I already have two foreigners in my squad in Re & Montiquin.

Future Transfers

|--------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|| Player             | Position | Price | Comments                                        |
|--------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|
| Besik Gabelia      |    AMR   | €140k | Young cover for Right midfield.                 |
| Aaron Garner       |    DRC   |  Free | The right back from Liverpool could star.       |
| Thabang Radebe     |  AMR/ST  |  €60k | Another young striker, is he good enough?       |
| Vyacheslav Yershov |    AMR   |  €2M  | Future Superstar, lots of right wings.          |
|--------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|

Transfers Out
First Team

|---------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|| Player              | Position | Price | Comments                                        |
|---------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|
| Claudui Balaci      |    DC    | €375k | One DC too many.                                |
|---------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|

Players out on Loan

|----------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|| Player               | Position | Price | Comments                                        |
|----------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|
| Willian              |    DC    | €325k | Cortiba may buy him at end of the season.       |
|----------------------|----------|-------|-------------------------------------------------|

Other News

Well of course our league position and the way I have been leading the team has led to a lot of teams deciding they want me to manage their team, from the BBVA: Almeria & from Liga Adelante: Hercules & Levante. The board have also advised that youth facilities will be upgraded, but the work is going to take an entire season and be finished in Nov next year. Then in November we lost Bumbera to a broken leg, the expected recovery time of 5-6 months meant he was most likely going to miss the entire season, I had to hope that Tayfun Sen would step up.

The other dilemma I am coming to terms with now is a large number of possibilities upfront in both the AMR position and as a striker, Attacking Midfield is quite strong as well.
ST: Montiquin, Wilcox, Kapetanovic, Radebe
AMR: Krasic, Ferrari, Gabelia, Yershov
AMC: Arregi, Jones, Wilcox
Its the sort of dilemma that is good for the side, so will deal with it when it comes in July for now I am delighted to be winning the league and will continue to push the team to victory.

[PRDH]

Looks like you're well on your way back to the promised land there LLR - good job.

The first hurdle of the European season has been cleared. I've qualified from my group, in 1st place too. So that'll mean I avoid some of the trickier teams and get a nice easy team from second then. Erm, no. This season Bayern, Inter, Barcelona, Real Madrid and AC Milan have contrived to not win their groups. Bloody typical. Fingers crossed for Celtic!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Thanks PRDH, good to see you have made the knock-out stage again, a bit harsh that some of the best teams are in the draw against you though. hopefully you pull Celtic. Or turn over a big team early and make the road a bit easier from there.

[aldojags]

Well done LLR so far so good.

PRDH that is rough!

I just knocked RC Lens out League Cup, first time I've ever played a Ligue 1 side competitively, played them off the park, superb! Currently top of league after 5 games...long way to go.

[Romanista1994]

Fantastic first half of the season LLR and nice going in beating Lens and great start in the league aldojags. Keep it up both of you!

[Romanista1994]

Barakaldo End of Season Report 2013/14

Brief Roundup

Media Prediction: 12th
Actual Position: 2nd
Topscorer: Marco Sangalli (16)
Most Assists: Daniel Suarez (17)
Best Rating: Marco Sangalli (7.26)
Club Value: £1.2M
Finances: £401,142 - Only this high because the board injected £450k this month.
Wage Budget: £15,768 (£13,237 in use)
Transfer Budget: £0


Transfers

Gorka joined when the registration window opened again in December.


Segunda B3

Table|Graph


We blew the 10 point lead we held at the halfway stage to finish second behind Bilbao Athletic. The season was plagued by injuries with 6/7 players being simultaneously injured for large parts and key players as well as their backups succumbing to injury. Even though we comfortably qualified for the playoffs the season was a bit disappointing.


Playoffs

Fixtures


We were drawn against At. Baleares. For the first match I was serving a touchline ban and the scoreline accurately reflects the ability of my assistant. In the second match we managed to recover from being 2-0 down, but it was far too late to reverse the score from the first leg.


Copa del Rey

Run


A win in extra time against Cacereno, before being trounced away at Badalona.



Squad


Goalkeepers


Jon Ander Serantes - Played in all of our matches and conceded a lot more than last season.


Defenders


Imanol Plaza - Initially signed to be the first choice rightback he was relegated to being a backup after Zaldua was loaned in.

Joseba Zaldua - Came back on loan and had another excellent season.

Inigo Sarasola - Backup leftback who spent most of the season moaning for a lack of games.

Jon Manuel - Did well most of the time but had some very costly lapses in concentration.

Gorka Martinez - Not really good enough to play for a team chasing promotion, but he had to when injuries struck.

Inaki Astiz - Got into double figures for goals from the back, however his form tailed off when he lost Iturralde as a CB partner.

Mikel Santamaria - Backup centreback, below average season.

Raul Iturralde - Did great when partnering Astiz until Daniel Suarez broke his foot and he spent four months on the sideline.


Midfielders


Eneko - Suffered from multiple injuries which hampered what could have been an excellent season.

Javier Eraso - Injured as often as Eneko and at similar times which left our midfield exposed in some games.

Gorka Larranaga - Youth product who came in the intake before I joined and was forced into the first team due to injuries before he tore his calf muscle.

Cristian - Did great on the left when Ozcoidi and Gerika both suffered torn calf muscles. Tore his hamstring after which he wasn't the same player again.

Iosu Ozcoidi - Out for five months and then again for three months, his attributes have dropped a long way and it's not certain whether he'll get back to last season's high standards ever again.

Gorka - We were in dire need for a left winger and Gorka was signed. Did decently, but never starred.

Daniel Suarez - Spent his time creating goals and injuring teammates. If his leg breaking record could be channeled against the opposition he would be much more useful.

Francisco Javier Cachorro - Was old and not really good enough anymore, especially as part of a midfield two.

Edu Santamaria - Showed glimpses of talent, but never consistently enough to stake a claim for a regular place on the teamsheet.


Forwards


Mikel Muniozguren - Was very good, though he must be chasing some kind of record for most games without scoring as the press commented on it after every match he played in since December. Injured four times during the season.

Asier Iribarren - Got into double figures for goals which was very pleasing from a youth player. Could have been much better if I hadn't made a horrible mistake in his individual training schedule.

Iosu Saiz - The surpise package of the season. He played lots of games due to injuries (I think I may be repeating myself here) and actually did really well despite his attributes not looking like much at the start of the season.

Ibon Arrieta - Spent the first half of the season on the bench moaning before had to step up when the players ahead of him were injured.

Marco Sangalli - I had sent him back to Real Sociedad last season without playing him much. This year he became topscorer despite playing only two thirds of the season before he tore his calf muscle.


Youth Intake


An excellent intake with three players (Manu, Usandizaga, Soria) having the potential to be good Liga Adelante players and six in total being signed from the youth candidates squad.


Aims for This Season

Challenge for the playoffs - Success. We were top for a good part of the season and ended the season well into the playoff zone.
Develop the young prospects - Success. Iribarren continued to come along nicely and Larranaga and Saiz also made great strides after playing for the first team.

[aldojags]

Romanista - thats a sore one to take after leading for so long. But good experience for next season? I think Manu could well be a decent keeper in a few years? What did you do for your touch line ban! I've never been banned I don't comment on refs, but I never knew you could get banned! So what happens, you can watch the game but not change a thing? Do you get to pick the team?

[iacovone]

PRDH I think I could, but I don't want to jinx it! The teams coming down are obviously strong, but if I can improve my home form and maintain away form ( a big if I know) then I could definitely challenge. I need a good start, I don't know about you but I've never been like Man United in FM, coming strong end of season. I need to lead from the front and I can usually hang in the pack, but when I'm chasing a leader I often struggle under the pressure!

edited to congratulate iacovone on the Balon D'Or! Schultz never won it? How is that guy you spent 30 million on doing?

Do you guys give individual team talks to subs? What about the defence midfield strikers? Or do you just do one big team talk?

Yeah Bardeles has settled well. He's scoring goals but I rotate him, Pasquali and Steve. Plus Dobrovolny the youngster still gets involved.

As for my seasons, we always start slow before chugging along and motoring to a big end of the season. It's ideal really. This year in particular we've struggled for a month or two as I've looked to change my formation. We're back on track now though and with 3 months of the season left I fully expect us to take the league title again.

[Romanista1994]

Romanista - thats a sore one to take after leading for so long. But good experience for next season? I think Manu could well be a decent keeper in a few years? What did you do for your touch line ban! I've never been banned I don't comment on refs, but I never knew you could get banned! So what happens, you can watch the game but not change a thing? Do you get to pick the team?

I criticised refereeing decisions twice as I do press conferences instead of leaving my terrible assistant to meet the journalists. The first time the FA were silent, meaning I was right to be angry. They still banned me after the second time though, which meant I couldn't make any changes ingame and could only click play.

I hope Manu can forge himself a decent career at the club, I might have to start looking for a better tutor for him as Serantes only raised his Determination to 8 which is still quite low.

[aldojags]

Yeah I've found leaving my assistant to do it is unwise, some of the stuff he comes away with is absolute nonsense it embarrasses me. Says we'll win the league whenever he's asked, which while I appreciate his optimism, I'm always more likely to play it down, don't want to pressure the players. He promises players that aren't getting a game will get a chance etc. I actually missed a trick in the summer, his deal was up I could've got rid, but he's got decent motivation/mental attributes, good tactical knowledge too, so I gave him another chance. If I ever reach the promised land of Ligue 1 he will be off, he's not got the class for the big leagues!

[rlipscombe]

PRDH - Some cracking signings there. Claudio does look like a beast of a defender in the making, as does Bazan. The young Greek striker has bags of potential and Ventura looks like a highly promising creative midfielder. As you say hopefully the defence clicks and you can improve on your great success.
Aldojags - great first season in Ligue 2 there. Got to be delighted with that considering your restricted finances. Good luck for next season. In terms of team talks I tend to do one big one with a little bit of individual if players aren’t performing to give them a confidence boost. I don’t tend to do anything with subs.
Iacovone - congrats on the world player of the year! And good to see you back…
LLR - good to see you dominating Liga Adelante mate – fully expected. Good luck getting through the rest of the season and making promotion back to La Liga
Romanista1994 - seriously unlucky mate – must be gutted to have let that lead slip. Hopefully though your team can learn from it next season and make the promotion this time.

As for Mannheim, I will try and get the season review done this weekend. I am currently ploughing through the pre-season and it has been fairly eventful for the club.

[Romanista1994]

rlipscombe - Hopefully last season is just a one off and we get promoted this year as we'll need a lot of money to improve the club's facilities and start producing top Basque players ourselves. I think the team I've set about building this year has the ability (it definitely has the longterm potential) to win us promotion and keep us afloat if we do go up. I've been moved back to the Segunda B3 though, so I don't really know where I stand in terms of squad ability anymore after spending last season in the B2.

[aldojags]

I hate this game!!

Struggling to stay in promotion race, when 5 of my 1st team squad, 4 of which are guarenteed starters, including striker I signed in the summer who's been in sensational form, have all went to African Nations. My back up striker is also away on Central American nations cup duty with Costa Rica. Ok, so use the transfer window to get a few bodies in for the month to replace them. But oh no, my board decide this month of January the ideal month to sell the club, thus placing a transfer embargo over me!!!! aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Wait until my season review until I show my Senegalese striker his form has been the stuff of dreams. Too bad he's away for next month. just had game abandoned for snow, hopefully most my games are abandoned so he doesn't miss too much!

[PRDH]

aldojags - You have my sympathy! So frustrating when aspects of the game seem to conspire against you. I'm being to feel that way with my game and the CL draw.
Romanista - Heartbreaking to let that lead slip. Hopefully the players will come back next season one year older and wiser and get you promoted.

[Romanista1994]

aldojags - Hope you manage to secure promotion despite the month without your key players. Any hints towards what kind of takeover you might get?
PRDH - Don't despair, I think the CL trophy will definitely be on a plane to the Azores very soon.

[PRDH]

I hope you're right Romanista, in fact we'll see what I can do right now. The lads are boarding their flight to Milan. AC await.

A couple of injuries and a suspension have weakened the side, but it's not too bad and I can put out an almost full strength side. The major absentees will be Bentalaa, Bazán and Vieira. Hopefully we can get a positive result and a goal or two to take back to Angra.

Kick off

4 mins - We have a corner, but it's cleared and comes to nought.
8 mins - Milan get a shot on goal but Dias turns it round the post. The corner goes out for a throw in.
15 mins - Pinto breaks up the right, crosses it to Cardoso who takes a touch and guides it past the keeper, however it comes back off the post and he can't reach the rebound.
30 mins - A corner is only half cleared and Milan attack again. A ball is knocked through and they score. That had an air of off-side about it to me. Yup, I think a mistake was made there. 1-0
33 mins - Milan go close again.
45 + 2 mins - Hoyos creates space on the edge of the area, fires it in low, but it's knocked behind for a corner. Final chance of the half for the Azorean team. But it all comes to nothing and the ref brings the first half to a close.

Half time - Milan have probably had the best of the game but Cardoso really should had scored early on, and the goal looked dodgy to me.

49 mins - Milan come out and have the first attack of the second half, looks like the rocket I fired a the squad may not have worked. The shot is saved by Dias though. He throws it out to Claudio at right back who plays it up to Pinto. He breaks up the right, gets to the byline and swings a cross into the six yard box. Hoyos arrives late and bundles it into the net and that's an away goal. 1-1
52 mins - Some lovely play inside our box from Milan ends as a powerful shot hits the post and goes wide with Dias nowhere. We survive.
55 mins - Hoyos, who's impressing in Milan, has a telling influence at the other end as he clears a header from a Milan corner off the line.
66 mins - Another Milan corner is claimed by Dias. Tricky spell this, Milan have far more of the play.
69 mins - Carranza is caught out slightly at left back as his man gets in behind him, but the shot is beaten away by Dias and the defender recovers to put the ball out for a corner. The corner is cleared.
75 mins - Milan blast the ball over when they really should have tested the keeper. Milan really exerting pressure here. Some changes need to be made.
82 mins - Again Milan make good progress up their right. Dias comes to the rescue though and Mahmoud hacks the ball clear.
84 mins - The pressure eventually told. Dias could only parry a shot back into the middle of the goal and the rebound is tucked away. 2-1
90 + 3 mins - Peep. Peep. Peeeep.

Full time - Milan had most of the play and on balance deserved their win, we got our away goal though and stand a good chance when bring them back to the island. Especially with some players due to return.