FM12 Big Euro Nation: Small Club to Big Club Challenge

[aldojags]

Their potential is always the same, it gets a rating up to 200 and stays at that for a player's career (I heard that some injuries can lower it though). The star rating is just how good your coaches/scouts think the player could become in the future, it's not necessarily accurate. Coaches with a better 'Rating Player Potential' attribute will obviously be more better at this, but even they can be way off.

ah ok i get it. ah well, I thought the star ratings were how good they were going to turn out didnt know it was just an opinion, oops!

do you think its better to have a youngster in first team squad so he gets first team coaching schedules, but no youth matches. or keep him in u19 team so its regular games but inferior coaching

[Romanista1994]

ah ok i get it. ah well, I thought the star ratings were how good they were going to turn out didnt know it was just an opinion, oops!

do you think its better to have a youngster in first team squad so he gets first team coaching schedules, but no youth matches. or keep him in u19 team so its regular games but inferior coaching

Is it possible to make him available for youth matches while keeping him in the first team? That would be the best thing, otherwise I'd go for keeping him in the youth team with inferior schedules, the game time and match fitness will do him far more good.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Europa League 4th Qualifying Round

Well the first leg is August 18th at Parla Stadium against Olympiakos, they are slight favourites according to the odds. The game took a quick turn to our advantage as a penalty was awarded in the 2nd minute and Montiquin slotted it home according to the commentators and media it was questionable whether it should've been a penalty when Linhart was pulled down in the box. In the 27th minute Legendre fired a shot towards the net, a slight deflection saw it awarded as an own goal, but a 2-0 lead on the board. Just six minutes later Legendre managed to feed a ball through to Montiquin and he slotted it home for a 3-0 lead and a great start, an injury to Moravec had me worried as our left back cover is a bit young after the sale of Wagner in the summer. Not long after the goal we saw the opposition keeper fire it up to their striker who lobs our keeper to score 3:1, gutted to concede an away goal, but ahead 3:1 at halftime is satisfactory. The second half had a little less action, and the game was definitely over when Montiquin jumped onto a perfect cross from Garner and slotted home his third for a beautiful hattrick 4:1, well now that the lead is three goals I am not so worried about the away goal. The game finishes at 4:1, Man of the Match Montiquin has delighted fans once again, the right choice to start the season.

Looking forward to the away leg in a weeks time, not so sure about the League opener in 2 days time...

[aldojags]

Great result LLR, how you planning to play the away leg?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Thanks aldojags, I am undecided right now, but thinking I might go out with my normal slightly attacking formation, and see if I can steal an early goal, and see how it goes...

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well I went out and got my goal so I couldn't lose on away goals, then went defensive (Counter), from there it was a matter of a few goals on the counter attack, and we ended up running away with a 4-2 victory in the end to win 8-3 on Aggregate and head into the group stage where we were seeded 3rd, and drew Rangers, PSV & Trnava. Not really sure what to think here, but it could've been a lot worse. No German, Italian or English teams in our group. I would like to finish top two, but really not being embarrassed would be good enough for me.

[corinthiano]

Think you should be fine LLR, certainly a kind draw, I remember beating teams of Rangers and PSV standard's quite easily with Real and your squad looks a lot better than mine. Best of luck

[aldojags]

Yeah that draw is not too bad at all there. Be amazed if after beating Olympiakos so easily you struggle in that group.

[aldojags]

15 games gone, and we're unbelievably top of the league by 3 points, been in sensational form, won 12, drew 1, lost 2. But I still cannot get a home crowd above 3,500! Driving me insane, losing money every month with my wage bill being what it is now. Got to hope the board will bale me out when I go into debt. I'm well within budget, my wages roughly amount to 1m a month, which is covered by 1.1m tv revenue, but still losing around £600,000 a month. Going to truly struggle to complete this challenge if crowds don't pick up. 3rd straight season in top division, been top half finishes since I came up, why doesn't anyone want to see my team! There are over 50 teams in France with more season tickets holders than me!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

That is an amazing run aldojags, really not sure about your crowds, it could be to do with your reputation. It has been toned down in FM12, originally it was toned down too much and it was really hard to get it up, but now it is a bit easier, but it still is a slower increase than it used to be.

As for me now I am about to select my team for the group stage and realised that the 0-21 bug still exists, meaning a lot of my players aren't actually homegrown. Working on it though, and I think teams will be scared to step into Parla Stadium after we met Real Madrid and trounced them 4:0 was a huge result for us in only our second league game of the season, it also saw the 1000th Parla goal under my control when Legendre slotted a Linhart cross home.

[aldojags]

whats the 0-21 bug LLR? Great result vs Madrid, do you think you've got the squad to cope with Europa league and challenge for Champions League spot in league?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

whats the 0-21 bug LLR? Great result vs Madrid, do you think you've got the squad to cope with Europa league and challenge for Champions League spot in league?

I am not sure about the Europa league (I did lose 1-0 to Rangers at Ibrox, freak goal), but I think I can compete for top 4 this season in the league so Champions league should be on the cards.

As for the bug, it seems that anyone who gets the 0-21 Homegrown status doesn't count as homegrown for the club, now I am not sure on the difference between that and 15-21, but I have a fairly large contingent of 0-21s not counting, so 6 spaces in my Europa league squad...

[rlipscombe]

decent group there LLR - you should be able to make it outof there easily.

[Romanista1994]

Well done LLR, and great start aldojags!

[aldojags]

Thanks Romanista, season's been a total dream so far. In mid January, 5 points clear at top. Beat all the big 3 (Lyon, twice, Marseille, and PSG.)

In 2nd is another surpise package, Stade Rennais, who have just sold their best player to PSG, so they may fall away. I honestly don't think I'll keep this up for another 18 games, but if I can finish in top 3 I'll make Champions League. I'm just about to go in to debt, so that money may be my saviour!

If I can keep everyone fit, I don't see why I couldnt win it, I'm playing so well, everyone is playing well, and most of my 1st choice 11 have average ratings over 7 which is pretty decent.

I'm almost afraid/nervous to play it incase I blow it, any of you get that before you won first title? I'm just resigned to not winning it and aiming for 3rd spot. Anything on top of that is a bonus. Just literally taking it one game at a time, break it down into winning every game, and see where I end up. Nervous wreck though!

[18Rabbit]

Salerno Update, November 14th, 2015

That's right haters! You can all suck it!



We're having a good season so far. We're +1 up on the top of the league and are unstoppable at the moment. Those kids growing up have started developing into great players.

[aldojags]

Well done rabbit I love messages like that, some good ones in this game.

Just sold a player to Nice who said he wanted to reside in Nice, made me laugh! What's wrong with Paris?

[efrumttr]

So FM is telling me that it can't load my save...anyone else have/had this problem and know anything I could do to fix it? I have a backup save but it would take me all the way back to preseason.

[18Rabbit]

Salerno Update, December 15th, 2015


OMG... really?
You're going to turn down 120k because "It's too far"??

...



So I guess keeping us tied for second in the league and I can still go take a flying leap when I try and make us some extra money. MAYBE IF WE TOOK MORE FRIENDLIES LIKE THIS WE COULD AFFORD TO TRAVEL AND/OR NOT SUCK.

[PRDH]

aldojags - Great run. The Champions League could well solve so many of your problems, give your reputation a boost, increase crowds and of course the cash rolling in is nice too!
LLR - If you can hammer Real like that, the group shouldn't be too much of a problem if you can maintain form/fitness.
rabbit - So frustrating when the board are self-defeating like that.

[18Rabbit]

rabbit - So frustrating when the board are self-defeating like that.

It's a whole 500 miles away! Oh no!

You can go 500 miles in Texas and STILL BE IN TEXAS! :sigh:

[Lower Leagues Rule]

LLR - If you can hammer Real like that, the group shouldn't be too much of a problem if you can maintain form/fitness.

I know I have no worries at home, we are top class at Parla Stadium, this season I am hoping to show other clubs the business at their place as well, a slightly more defensive tactic with a very fast counter attack. I already have two players jaded and wanting a rest, and in October international window, going to rest them for the first game back, then we have a run of 8 matches over 23 days, so I am hoping the boys can stick it together. Will most likely be putting the reserves out in the Spanish Cup, but I would like to at least get past Sevilla.

[aldojags]

Well I'm in the process of self-destructing just like I thought I would! PSG have clawed back, and are 3 points in front with 11 games to go. If I can finish 2nd, I get into Group Stages, avoiding qualifiers. I'm 9 points in front of Rennes, so cautiously optimistic I can make it into groups. So frustrating, I'm beating all the top teams, beat PSG at home, and both Lyon and OM home and away so far, but I've just lost to CS Sedan Ardennes at home, infuriating!

[rlipscombe]

18Rabbit - i have never seen something like that... crazy. great stuff in the league though.
aldojags - sounds like it's going great mate - hopefully you can keep it up but CL qualification would be a great result. fingers crossed for you.

[PRDH]

I've followed iacovone's example in fleeing to the career forum while I take a break from Lusitania Acores, if you're interested you can see it here, I've gone Scandinavian.

[Romanista1994]

Barakaldo 2016 Preseason Report

Club Situation

Media Prediction: 19th
Captain: Inaki Astiz
Vice Captain: Jon Gaztanaga
Season Ticket Holders: 6254
Finances: £1.717M
Transfer Budget: £760k
Wage Budget: £47,203 (£32,316 in use)


Transfers

The only money spent went on Gorka Larrea from relegated Numancia. A few backup spots were filled with free transfers and some youngster joined to fill in for the players that went to Amurrio on loan. Our squad now contains very few wingers because they don't fit into the tactic that worked last year.


Key Players


Jonas Ramalho - Still has the potential to get better and has been attracting a few bids. It'll take a lot of money for me to consider selling him though.

Inaki Astiz - The captain remains a steady presence in our backline and will hopefully lead from the back.

Jon Gaztanaga - Vice captain and one of the few players to have a solid season throughout last year.

Javi Ros - Was key in turning our fortunes around as he became topscorer from midfield. Should do very well with a full preseason at his back.

Gorka Larrea - The new signing won't be an automatic first choice at first, but his attributes and personality suggest that he could have a big role to play in our season.


First Choice Lineup

GK Jon Ander Serantes
DR Jonas Ramalho
DC Inaki Astiz
DC Jon Gaztanaga
DL Iker Ruiz
DM Jon Erice
MC Javi Ros
MC Joseba Beitia
AM Miguel Angel Etxaburu
ST Iosu Saiz
ST Asier Iribarren


Aims For the Season

Survive again



We won the first game of the season again with Etxaburu bagging a brace, but I won't stick my neck out to make predictions considering how the first part of last season went after an initial couple of wins.

[aldojags]

Think you'll be fine 2nd time round Romanista. I've not signed any wingers for about 6 seasons, never really had one that worked! Always played either 433 or 421212 so don't use them at all.

[Romanista1994]

Think you'll be fine 2nd time round Romanista. I've not signed any wingers for about 6 seasons, never really had one that worked! Always played either 433 or 421212 so don't use them at all.

I hope so. Wingers did work quite well at Segunda B level and I was a bit saddened when Gorka, Ozcoidi and Suarez left, but in the Liga Adelante they struggled due to the small pitch size and the majority of opposition tactics leaving space leaving space in the middle meant that a switch to narrowness was needed.

[aldojags]

Well PSG have won the league...but with 1 game to go, I'm at home to Bordeux, and 2 points clear of Marseille. I've already qualified for Champions League, as Lyon are too far back now, but need to finish 2nd to get straight into group stages and avoid a difficult play off. Been an inconsistent 2nd half to season, hence me giving up 1st place that I had for so long. But I've rallied, and won last 2 games, most notably away to PSG who've already won the league. Had to beat them or Marseille would've taken 2nd place, but I came back and won 2-1. That's the annoying thing this season, I've done the double on all the "big 3" (Marseille PSG & Lyon). Beat them all home and away, but lose stupid games at home, kind of worried about Bordeux for that reason! Wish me luck...

[Romanista1994]

Good luck aldojags! Hope you have a Wigantastic end to the season.

[aldojags]

Well suprise suprise, I blew it. Dream start, winning 1-0 after a goal in 43 seconds.

Then put in an abysmal performance and lost 2-1, Marseille finishing 2nd, us in 3rd. Still an incredible achievement, but thats 4 lower half teams beat us at home in 2nd half of the season. That's cost us the league, let alone 2nd place. Really need the luck of the draw if we're to hit Group Stages now, really REALLY frustrated!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

That's no good aldojags, hopefully you can qualify through, which stage do you start from?

We have made it through the group stage with a game to spare, following the 0-1 result at Ibrox we went 5-2 vs Trnava, 4-0 & 2-0 vs PSG, and finished with a 5-2 over Rangers. The game against Rangers saw us down 2-1 with 10 mins left, and then we went all attack and scored 3 more before it was finished with an own goal. The huge number of games has hurt our fitness and league form as we have dropped to 4th in the league now, but with the loss in the cup and a bit of a break over christmas I hope to push back up.

[rlipscombe]

unlucky aldojags. frustrating... still a great achievement over the season... the qualification stages of the CL need not be hard... i have good experience of it.

[Romanista1994]

Unlucky aldojags, I know how it feels when you blow a lead held at the halfway stage. It still is good progress from last season though.

Also with this post the Big Euro Nations thread equals the dafuge challenge thread! Any takers for the post surpassing it?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Also with this post the Big Euro Nations thread equals the dafuge challenge thread! Any takers for the post surpassing it?

And we are now the biggest Small Club to Big Club Challenge in 2012...

I have to say I always hate when my second half is not as good as my first half, I am hoping to improve a bit, I have 4 jaded players right now in my first XI making it a bit tough. I will also shortly upload the best own goal I have ever seen, luckily scored by Getafe (My only Rival).

[aldojags]

Season Review 2019/20 (8th Season)


Ligue 1

Predicted - 8th

Finished - 3rd Table Graph Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2

On the surface of it, a fantastic improvement on last season's 6th, and in only my 3rd season in the league, to qualify for Champions League is a fantastic achievement. But, like many other seasons I've had with Viry-Chatillon, I'm left with a sour taste in the mouth as to what might have been. Was top of the league for quite a large part of season as graph will show you, only to collapse a bit inexplicably in 2nd half of season, and ended up giving away automatic qualification into Champions League Group Stages, now need to qualify. Did the double over my 3 main rivals, PSG Lyon + OM. So to lose out to 2 of them was really disappointing. But overall, delighted, and looking forward to European football for first time in our history.

Goalscorers let me down this season, none of my strikers were consistent enough, if we'd had a 20 goal man, we'd could have won league, but they all were too ordinary.

French Cup

11th Round - fixtures

Made the final 2 seasons back, was hoping to go far again this season but wasn't to be.

Coupe de la Ligue

3rd round - fixtures

Fell at first hurdle, rubbish.

Squad

GK

Quentin Beunardeau - decent season, bringing in a new keeper in the summer, who I think will take over my number 1 spot. He's played over 225 league games for us though, been a good servant, but to move to next level, I need a better keeper.

Defence

Juan - solid season again from the Italian. Impressive goal return too, always a threat at set pieces.

Thorgan Lienard - reliable back up for Juan and Chalobah, he's going to be wanting regular games soon though I'm guessing, don't want to lose him, so may rotate with fixture congestion to keep him sweet.

Omar - brought in on loan as first choice right back, did well, but will be giving O'Neil the jersey next season, hopefully see him develop into top full back.

Nathaniel Chalobah - solid season, called up to Euro's with England despite never being capped, quite bizarre! That's him been here 2 seasons, and he's yet to miss a league game, impressive record. I expect that will change next season, will need to rotate if I make group stages.

Jimmy Donaldson - was kind of my project this season, came up through my youth ranks with between 2.5-4 star potential depending on what coach you ask. Wanted to see if the odd sub appearance could bring up his stats as he looked very poor for someone with such high potential. Played his part, started a few games, still don't see what all the fuss is about, but I'll persist with him this year. He's tall, 2 footed, and can play anywhere across the back, so I'll give him as much game time as I can.

Dalibor Ladic - first choice left back, decent season again, got some competition coming in in the form of Cedric Hue from Nantes, so he'll need to keep up standards to stay first choice.

Andrew O'Neill - young Canadian international, looks to have a bright future. Got plenty of games this season, and didn't let me down, also pretty handy at left back.

Midfield

Lewis More - didn't start as many games as I thought he would this year, but he's still quality. Plus he's Scottish!

Ali Jelassi - got this "wonderkid" from Rennes on a free, he done well, hoping for a big future from this kid.

Daniel Sedlacek - didn't feature much due to excellent form of Tatlot. But looks to have all the attributes of a top player.

Darko Borozan - wanting away as he's not getting started all that often, but he's still young so I don't want to lose him, he looks excellent. So will try and start him more next season. Again, could benefit from rotation next year with our hopeful European adventure.

Dominique Abidoun - came in to his own this season, got a good few long range goals too, really impressed with him this year.

Dominique Abiola - been with us a long time, didn't feature too much this season, I like him and he's listed as a club icon, but if an offer came in, I'd consider it.

Morgan Schneiderlin - back up midfielder, will be released in summer.

Oneill Tatlot - undoubted player of the season for me, can't believe I got him for free. Was outstanding, dribbled past people like they weren't there. Got his first 2 caps for France, and called up to Euro's. Put £100m asking price on him as I think he'll be attracting some attention in the summer, and I don't want to lose him, he's a star.

Raul Gil - brought in from Barcelona, still young, hoping he'll be better next season. Developing into good player.

Forwards

Stanislav Kostov - bit part player who didn't do much to impress, I'm struggling to find his best position. May try and offload if anyone is interested.

Mohamed Diagne - inconsistent season, like all my strikers. Still a threat and important player for me.

Samuel Preston - injury prone 1st half of season, scored goals when he was fit though. Has dropped from 4 star player to 2.5, mainly due to injuries I'm guessing. But I'm hoping he'll be important player for us next season.

Rui Silva - backup striker, good stats, but doesn't do anything to make he think he should be a starter.

Lubos Matta - big summer signing at £6m, started well, but like all my forwards, was way too inconsistent. But for a young player in his first season in a new country, did ok. Think he'll do better next year.

Club Info

Got 3 players going to Euro's.

Facilities - getting youth facilities done again, although with me losing money every month, I can see the board pulling the plug.

Transfers- Lubos Matta was my 1 big expenditure. Brought in roughly the same in people leaving the squad.

Finances - lost a ton of cash this season, and I'm currently only out of debt due to the £8m prize money I won for coming 3rd, but by time season comes round that will be gone. Still got low turnover in Ligue 1 terms, and I've got the lowest attendance in the league, still got a low wage bill in terms of rest of league. I'm 49th for season tickets in the whole of France, there's teams 3 leagues lower who've got more season ticket holders than me!

Youth Intake

Got a 2 star centre back (Maxine Reset), and a 2 star centre mid - Richard Oueifio. Rubbish!



Other competitions

Ligue 1 - PSG

French Cup - St Ettiene

Coupe de la Ligue - CS Sedan Ardennes

Champions League - Valencia

Europa League - HSV.

Euro 2020 - Belgium (Now reigning World & European Champions!)

Season Objectives

Top 5 finish - success. Excellent achievement in breaking the big 3's grip on the Champions League spots. Still, with a better home record, I could have won it. I really wonder when the top 3 will all be so poor in the same season again to give me chance to be champions, could be a while.

Win a domestic cup - failure. Didn't come close in either competition.

Next Season

Top 5 finish - I really think I'll struggle to compete both in Europe and in the league, so won't be pressured into saying I'll hit 3rd again. Top 5 would do me, until I strengthen the squad.

Qualify for Group Stages of Champ League - In in 3rd qualifying phase, will probably be lower seed too, so really going to need a bit of luck to hit the group stages. SO gutted to have missed out on 2nd place, what could have been!


New recruits

Got these players coming in in the summer to hopefully help us onto another succesful season.

Erdogan Ipek - had him on loan a while ago from FC Twente. Didn't do much for me back then, but he's matured into a good striker, got a good few goals for Twente this season, hoping he'll do same for me next season.

Jimmy Lynch - goalkeeper from Hearts. Looks to have it all for a good career, think he may replace long serving Beaunardeu as number 1.

Tony Champion - striker from Man United. Great stats, but so did Samuel Preston and he hasn't been much of a success.

Karl Thorpe - great looking centre back from Man United also. Will give real competition to Juan and Chalobah - my squad is taking on a real British feel!

Cedric Hue - left back from Nantes, to give more competition to Ladic.

Past Seasons
Season     Division        Pos    French Cup      League Cup         Europe        Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13     National      4th      8th round        N/A                            Survived Relegation
2013/14     National      8th      7th round        N/A                            N/A
2014/15     National      1st      8th round        N/A                            Champions
2015/16     Ligue 2       6th      7th round        2nd round                      Consolidated
2016/17     Ligue 2       2nd      11th round       4th round                      Promotion
2017/18     Ligue 1       10th     Runners Up       4th round                      Survived
2018/19     Ligue 1       6th      11th Round       2nd round                      Consolidated    
2019/20     Ligue 1       3rd      11th Round       3rd Round                      Qualified for Champ League

[aldojags]

I think we're going to struggle to keep up with dafuge with PRDH and iacovone away to pastures new. Just out of interest, how come for example the Belgian and Dutch leagues weren't included in this challenge? Is there another that covers those 2?

[Romanista1994]

I think we're going to struggle to keep up with dafuge with PRDH and iacovone away to pastures new. Just out of interest, how come for example the Belgian and Dutch leagues weren't included in this challenge? Is there another that covers those 2?

That'll be Gundo's European Small Club to Big Club Challenge.


You have some really good players there, Tatlot and Matta in particular look world class. You might need to improve the youth recruitment and junior coaching to regularly get able youngsters for this level. It's also very strange that your attendances are lagging so far behind, I mean I'm getting far more than you with a smaller stadium in the second tier of Spain. I hope you can continue improving the club even without making much money from gate receipts, though it looks like you might have to sell to buy stars, which is a shame.

[aldojags]

The crowds is driving me nuts romanista. 3rd straight season in top flight, been top half all top 3, and still getting crowds of a 3rd-4th tier club, can't understand it. Not even got 1000 season ticket holders!

Yeah Tatlot is world class, the gossip column feature has that Real Madrid are preparing a £53m bid for him, doubt they'd offer that much, but I know there'll be bids this summer. I don't want to have to sell, I'm trying to build something. Hopefully I can make Group stages an the cash will plug the gaps.

Matta looks world class but until he starts performing I've got to say I would probably sell him if the right offer came in. He needs to step up this year.

But I'm going to struggle to compete consistently with the big 3. Just had a look, PSG spent £75m this season, Lyon £60m, and Marseille £42m. I spent £6m!

Bosmans can only get you so far, and I haven't as of yet been able to put the loan system to any real use, so completing the challenge will be tough! The crowds need to pick up though!

Edited to add, although I obviously would've turned it down, Lyon sacked their manager, and I didn't even get a mention as a possible replacement. I'm the reason the guy got fired, I'm annoyed no-one in the challenge has offerred me a job besides Nigeria! And I've done well with my team, surprised.

[PRDH]

Great season aldojags. Pity you couldn't cling on to one of the top two spots, but getting into the Champions' League is never to be sniffed at, even if you've got to go through a qualifying round or two. Especially as you seem to have the bigger, in theory tougher, teams in your pocket.

[corinthiano]

Looks like my save is gone

Computer is dead and doesnt look like I can recover anything off it. Extremely gutted as I was on the verge of CL qualification...am probably getting a new laptop next week, probably wont have the heart to give Portugal another go, but definately want to try another country, maybe even in Gundo's challenge.

[18Rabbit]

Salerno Calcio
Italian Serie B
Salernitana Soccer 1919, Salerno, Campania, Italy

End of 2015/2015 Season Report, Salerno, Italy, June 13rd, 2016
Well, well, well, lookie there...



We damn near won it too. We had the most goals scored this season and the fewest against but (+47 GD) in the end, we just had too many draws. We wound up in second place by one point. But, I guess the important thing is that we got promoted! The boys did really well this season and I can't really complain. Two of our players were named in the team of the year, Francesco Cosenza and Sasa Zivec and Zivec was actually named as the 2015/2016 Serie B player of the year. Not bad for someone I picked up as a free transfer.

Competitions: Italian Cup
We beat expectations again this season and made it to the first round of the Italian Cup where we lost 1-0 away to Torino. Which I guess isn't too bad since Torino wound up 4th in Serie A. We were only expected to get to the third qualifying round so that's not too bad.

Yearly Transfers
Here are the transfers we made this year: Transfers
I bought the co-ownership for Oliver Markoutz back from Cesena for 1k. Pretty good for a guy who ended up being our season high goal scorer.

Davide Lorenzoni was a backup keeper I brought in on a free and he got frustrated about not playing very much so I sold him off to Bari mid-season for 18k. Then I took Raffaele Di Gennaro on a loan from Ascoli. I always seem to have trouble rotating keepers, oh well. I think the best purchase I made this year was a fellow named Milan Strugar from Yverdon in Switzerland.

2015/2016 End of Year League Table:

Promoted Serie C1/A: Piacenza (C), Novara(P)
Relegated Serie C1/A: Casale, Alto Adige, Alessandria
Promoted Serie C1/B: Croton (C), Livorno (P)
Relegated Serie C1/B: Aprilia, Latina, Trapani
Promoted Serie B: Pescara (C), Salerno (P), Genoa (PL)
Relegated Serie B: Cittadella (lost to Siena in the play outs), Taranto, Treviso, Cremonese
Relegated Serie A: Lecce, Parma, Benevento
Serie A: ECC Qualified: Inter, Sampdoria, Palermo EC Qualified: Torino, A.C Milan, Juventus, Udinese

Here's my current squad: SQUAD

Here's my Profile and my Personal info. I'm still not a fan of the press but I don't mind talking to my players.

And here's the Salerno information. Our reputation again has gone up and we're now 26th financially in Italy at a value of 6.25M. We finished 2nd over a media predicted 17th. We made 3.8M on gate reciepts and spent 3.2M on salaries. Overall our balance is the highest it's ever been at 3.2M, thanks largely to a 2.5M prize for coming in second in Serie B.

Youth Uptake
Another year of "Meh". We had a smattering of "possibly average" youths come in this season, but no one spectacular.

Plans for next year
For 2016/2017 our mantra will be "HOLD ON TIGHT". We are going to get our teeth kicked in, no bones about it. Hopefully we can build our rep and our bank account and pick up one or two Serie A level players and hang in their to avoid relegation. Our defensive line was amazing back in Serie C1/B but it's the same players and now they're... ok... mostly. So I'll be looking to strengthen our back line. Our midfield is pretty solid now so I don't expect to do much with them and our strikers... are pretty decent. Our "best" striker, Yann Marguet, I can't figure out how to make him score more. He looks good on paper but just never seems to impress like he should. I may try and co-own Stephan El Shaarawy from A.C. Milan, they're still sticking him in the reserves (even though he kind of looks like a douche).

Previous updates:
June 28th, 2012
December 31st, 2012
June 18th, 2013
June 30th, 2014
June 23rd, 2015

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Congrats on the promotion 18Rabbit, now hopefully you can hold onto the top division, as for Yann, it could be because he is more of a target man, and great at providing goals to the others, has he had many assists? When you watch games does he seem to be involved a lot, but just not in place for the goals? I think you really need to work on the defense, I would look to sign a couple of good centre backs just to start building a backline.

As for Parla we have drawn Trabzonspor in the first knockout round, that is an excellent draw and I think one we can win as well, if we make it through it will be against Fiorentina or Stuttgart. I also had a second look at the own goal scored by Getafe against us, and it was scored by none other than Norberto Ruiz, former Parla star. I think it was deliberate...


And then in the next game I think their keeper ran the wrong way...

[18Rabbit]

Congrats on the promotion 18Rabbit, now hopefully you can hold onto the top division, as for Yann, it could be because he is more of a target man, and great at providing goals to the others, has he had many assists? When you watch games does he seem to be involved a lot, but just not in place for the goals? I think you really need to work on the defense, I would look to sign a couple of good centre backs just to start building a backline.

He has good passing skills but only made 5 assists last season. He gets involved a lot but just never finishes off the way I think he should. Here's who I've brought in so far.

1. Goran Cerar (D/WB R) - FREE (6k/wk) - Looks amazing and now the highest potential in the squad.
2. Zoran Kovacevic (ST AM(C)) - 300K (2k/wk) - My only purchase so far. His Goal/Game record was pretty great in Switzerland and he was dirt cheap.
3. Marc Jurgens (M/AM (LC)) - FREE (2k/wk) - Mainly as a backup winger but also my 5th highest potential.
4. Vincent Chauvet (DC) - FREE (2.8k/wk) - A new DC who is slightly better than what I have already but great potential.
5. Rodrigo Battaglia (DM, M (C)) - FREE (8k/wk) - Pricey salary but he looks to be a solid midfielder.
6. Cheikh Faye (GK) - FREE (1k/wk) - Our brand new shiny backup keeper. Potential is close to superstar keeper Pirgov but inexperienced enough to know that he is the backup keeper.

I've found a few players that looked AMAZING but either I couldn't afford their transfer fee OR I couldn't afford their salary, even though I technically have the cash for it. It's going to be a long season.

That second goal was.. wow. What's the keepers eccentricity? Maybe he thought the cross was going all the way over? I don't know.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

The keepers eccentricity is only 11, so not crazy, no idea what he was thinking, but pretty funny and must've led to his 2.4 rating for the match.

[aldojags]

They goals were tremendous, gave my girlfriend a fright when I burst out laughing at them!

Well done 18rabbit, your signings look solid, the young right back looks a star in the making. I think you'll be fine with those signings, can't see you going down mate.

Sorry about your save corinthiano it's a shame if we lose you from the thread. We're losing too many people these days!

edit to add 2.4 rating? That is classic, I've never seen a rating that low!

[Romanista1994]

corinthiano - That's a terrible way for your save to end. Good luck wherever you decide to go.
18Rabbit - Well done. Tough season ahead, but I can see you surviving.
LLR - Both of those are awesome.

[corinthiano]

Cheers aldojags and Romanista, I was really tempted to go to a smaller nation but I have to say that the spirit in this thread and people's feed back is what motivated me. Couldnt help myself and went and bought the new laptop this morning , am setting everything up, think I am going to take the challenge of taking a team from East Germany to the top. Not RB Leipzig, probably Magdeburg or Halle if I can get them to come up.

[PRDH]

corinthiano - That's a horrible way for it to end. Good to see you're back again though.
rabbit - Great job on promotion, next stop - the world! (Or at least survival)
LLR - Those goals are spectacular.

I'm off out of the country for a couple of weeks now, with, I'm suspecting, very limited access to the internet, so good luck all. I look to returning to pages of updates to catch up on.

I'm expecting some more completions when I return - I'm especially looking at you LLR and aldojags.

[aldojags]

I'm away to tenerife tomorrow PRDH so don't hold your breath! Be away for a week so that will handicap me! but thanks for your confidence! Where you off to?

[18Rabbit]

The keepers eccentricity is only 11, so not crazy, no idea what he was thinking, but pretty funny and must've led to his 2.4 rating for the match.

On further review it looks like he was yelling at the line judge about something. Maybe he thought the initial pass to the winger was offside. 2.4 is pretty awesomely bad.

[PRDH]

aldojags - Cuba!

[aldojags]

Superb, have a good one!

[aldojags]

Belgium have just won Euro 2020 in my game, to make them both World and European champs...what the hell is that about!? Weirder still, they are only 17th in FIFA rankings.

Edit to add, got Galatasaray in Champ League qualifier, first leg away from home, that's not much of an advantage given how poor I was at home towards end of season! Just had a look at their squad, they're a good side, we'll need to do really well to beat them I fear. I was unseeded for the draw, so all the teams I was going to get were solid.

[rlipscombe]

Corinthiano - unlucky with the save mate… hopefully see you back here soon especially if it’s Germany… you’re a valued member of the thread for me.
18Rabbit - congrats on promotion to Serie A… you’re flying through the leagues!! Good luck next season..
LLR - those goals are brilliant… think the OG edges it for me…

[aldojags]

First leg away to Galatasaray. Not a bad result! Barring a total disaster I should be into next round, where again I'll be unseeded, and potentially get Spanish/Italian/English giant...I am screwed! But I'll give it a go, you never know, and the Europa would be a good consolation prize, but we've started well I'm sure you'll agree

I'm buzzing after that result, haven't won anything major yet, but I'm sure you will all agree there's something satisfying about leading your minnow into Europe for the first time! Too tired to play 2nd leg, so heading to bed with a smile on my face.

[PRDH]

Great result aldojags!

[aldojags]

thanks PRDH. Stayed up to conclude the tie, played a completely different 11 at home and won 1-0. Got Benfica in the play off, can't see it happening in those 2 games. Got away leg first again so thats a slight advantage, but they've got a hugely expensive squad, not doing me any good worrying about it but I keep thinking about throwing away 2nd place last season, I wouldn't need to have worried about any of this stuff. Anyways, we'll do our best. But now I am heading to bed!

[rlipscombe]

aldojags - well done getting through that.. reckon you have a chance against Benfica - good luck.

[rlipscombe]

Waldhof Mannheim – German Bundesliga – Season 2022/23

Season Review

League Finish: 3^rd Graph Club Overview Club Information

The League

A solw start to the season once more hampered our title aspirations and my decision to revamp the squad looked to have backfired. However, once the squad gelled we found our rhythm and went on a great run, climbing the table to the top 6 and then eventually to make it back to 3^rd in the table to win us Champions league qualification through the best placed playoff. I am delighted with how the season went and I am pleased that my gamble on a squad revamp paid dividends.




German Cup

A breakthrough season in the German cup, where we marched serenely through the early rounds to make the final and win the cup for the first time in the clubs history. I have to say I am delighted to have won the cup which represents my first trophy as manager of Mannheim. It’s possible that we achieved this due to a lack of european football but a favourable draw also helped us a little as the major German teams fell by the wayside early on.


The Players


Let’s take a look at the guys who helped us back up to 3^rd in the league and won the club their first German cup in the clubs long history.

Transfers

Squad 1 Squad 2

Goalkeepers


1. David Carroll - the clubs new keeper took a little time to settle in to the team but after a couple of months he found his feet and performed really well in goal, helping to make the departure of Anzarda a good decision. He earned his first full England cap at the end of the season too.
30. Kostadin Dimitrov - Young Bulgarian keeper with bags of potential, he performed the role of understudy to Carroll. Got a few games and did well, he will have to bide his time for now.


Full Backs

22. Andreas Schroder - back down the pecking order behind Escobar, Andreas did well when called upon. Still a good player for the club.
2. Victor Escobar - Victor bounced back from last seasons demotion and did well in defence.
3. Rafael - Rafael was in and out of the team but did ok when called on. His future may well be as a CB for the club.
20. Jonathan Lago - Argentine LB did well in his first season and settled in well eventually after a shaky start. Good player.


Centre Backs

6. Everton - Everton joined from Rostov and after taking time to settle he became a rock in our defence.
15. Vasilis Baxevanidis - Valisis had a decent season considering he was in and out of the team. Part of our mean defence.
55. Alexandr Kuznetsov - Alexandr was another in and out of the team but also did well when called upon.
35. Aidar Solosin - Aidar was given a regular starting spot and did well in becoming part of the meanest defence in the league in partnership with Everton.
25. Ahmed Adam - Our Qatari defender was a squad player but did ok when called on. A potential star of the future.

Midfielders

4. Zafer Balikci - Zafer started to drift out of the team and became a squad player. His future is starting to look a little bleak at the club and he may leave this summer.
7. Christoph Jung - Unhappy about lack of football and with the arrival of Clovis, Jung spent the season at Leverkusen where he barely featured…
8. Roland de Jong - Roland kicked on even more this season and became a mainstay of the team in the centre of the park. Earnt his first cap for Holland too.
11. Pirulito - On of the more expensive recruits, Pirulito had a good season. Got a good partnership going with Clovis on the flanks.
12. Andrey Ivanov - A young Russian with plenty of potential, he got some run outs this season. Making noises about wanting to leave though due to a lack of starting appearances, I may need to try and calm him this summer.
14. Migen Toma - in his 8^th season at the club, Migen recorded 12 assists and continued to excel and be a leader of the team. Regular German international too, I have a soft spot for Migen.
18. Simon Vennemann - 21 year-old German joined on a free from St. Pauli and did ok when he played. Simon is a potential future replacement for Toma.
21. Marko Jakovic - Marko had some early season performances but with the introduction of Pirulito he spent a lot of time on the bench. Provides good competition on the flanks.
23. Carl Cook - Like Jakovic, Cook found his place taken by a Brazilian winger and he had to make do with substitute appearances. I may look to move Carl on this summer in part to his high wages which don’t reflect his importance to the first XI.
24. Mario Teunis - Mario got more of the game time he wanted this season and did pretty well. Still developing though, he is yet to reach his peak.
26. Clovis - the Brazilian winger took a little time to settle like his other new team mates but did well in the second half of the season. Developing nicely as a Mannheim player.
27. Luca Oliveti - Luca made only a single appearance this season and will be moved on this summer.


Strikers

9. Daniel Axelsson - Daniel had another season where he was in and out of the team and his status within the club is starting to wane. As a result his long term future is in doubt.
10. Theo de Graaff - Theo got quite a few appearances in the first part of the season before a serious injury forced him to miss a lot of the second half. Still young mind, he could have a big future.
17. Ciaran Bradley - in his TENTH season at the club and as our most successful youth product, Ciaran scored FIVE goals in three appearances around Christmas when injuries hit hard up front. Will be leaving the club this summer as he is no longer happy at being a squad player.
19. Ricardo Freitas - big season from Ricardo and 25 goals in 31 appearances says it all. Powerful striker who has added goals to his repertoire.
66. Godfrey Mofokeng - Godfrey disappointed me a little this season and only 5 goals was a poor return for a striker. Needs to up his game next season.
77. Helder - Made a few appearances this season and did ok. A squad player though.


Finances

A small profit was made this season despite our lack of European football. Hopefully the CL participation will swell the coffers again next season, provided we qualify of course.

The Future

After a good season, I am optimistic once more that we may be able to push for the title again. With some tinkering this summer we may be able to make that push.

[corinthiano]

Great season rlipscombe! Brilliant to see you back in Europe, especially in the CL, hope you can make it through the qualification stages. Am very impressed by Ricardo Freitas, absolutely deadly! Its also very nice to see that you have a German player in Migen Toma who is such a key player in your team, it is something I never had at Real. Unfortunately I wont be joining you in Germany, I started a save with Magdeburg, but I was a massive 15 points from safety with 10 games to go, so decided to call it quits. My tactics just didnt seem to work in Germany.

I have started a game in Turkey though with Hacettepe and it looks promising, it was quite difficult choosing anew league and team as I am quite picky with who I play with, but if I get into the save I should be posting an updtae over the weekend.

[aldojags]

Well done rlipscombe you've got some quality players there all around early-mid 20's so next few years you'll only improve. I have sympathy with you for your problems with Ivanov, I have the same trouble at the minute with Darko Borozan, wanting away for first team football at 19, frustrating as he's not quite ready for the first team but got huge potential. Accepted a £4.4m bid from a Portugese team, but he knocked them back, so maybe there's a chance he'll stay.

Good luck to you with the Champions League, I'm currently halfway through play off with Benfica to qualify for group stages. They beat me 2-0 over there. Got them up next at home, biggest game of my career!

[rlipscombe]

cheers corinthiano and aldojags. am quite happy with the squad i have now. with a few additions we should be able to challenge for the title soon....

[ghostwriter]

Lyon Duchère Association Sportive – Championnat National – 2013-2014

After another Summer of too many people arriving, albeit more people did leave, we started the season off in style, a 1^st away win in our 1^st game and we then followed that by 3 more wins as we found ourselves top. Obviously that did not last long as we promptly lost the next game, drew at home to the worst side in the division before losing another game. The slump was brought to an end by an astonishing 5-1 win in Strasbourg. One win later and we then proceeded to 1 point from 7 games as we freefell towards lower mid-table. Then out of nowhere we won another game 5-1!

And after that our form was all over the place, a couple of defeats and I had a mild worry about relegation, 3 straight wins later and suddenly I realised that we were only 5 points off the promotion places, 4 winless games later and the relegation worries returned. We never got that close to being dragged into a relegation fight but I was pretty happy when we started winning all our home games, especially considering we were losing all the away ones. So we finished we 4 straight home wins and no away wins in 6. This all resulted in us finishing in an identical 10^th place as last season, which apart from the 1^st few weeks of the season was around where we spent the majority of our time.

4 more points, over 50% more goals scored, a few more conceded (albeit only in our last few games, at one moment we had the best defensive record in the division) is a mild improvement, I suppose, but after that start I expected a bit more.

The French Cup was nearly identical to last season, 4 easy draws before we lost to a CFA2 club in the 9^th round. That is 9 Cup matches where we have yet to face a team even in the same division as us. It helps progress but does not exactly bring the money in.

Final Squad
Finances – looking very dodgy all of a sudden, over £600k in debt, a 237 average attendance does not help, nor does me again going over the (probably too high) wage budget
Transfers 1 2 – hmm, too many again, at least they are of a better standard than what I have, although apart from some youngsters a couple of the older ones did not even get a game, success stories are Marques, Juan, Kuoadio, Rigione and Mendy

The better ones:

Best GK – Benoît Aureille – pretty similar to last season but probably a few more great saves, has played every game I have managed, that will probably continue into the new season as my scouts have not really found anyone better plus I am not desperately looking for anyone as he is perfectly solid enough for this division
Best Defenders – Formose Mendy + Mourad Benhamida – same as last season, our best DC and the guy on the most wages, the former got off to a great start and at one moment was our joint top-scorer but he faded a bit towards the end of the season and I am not certain he will be 1st choice next year but he was the best this year, as for Benhamida it is exactly the same as last year insomuch as he played great, I could not afford to renew his contract and then managed to do so after this screenshot, he is on more wages than I would like but if he continues to play well then I can accept that
Best Winger – Yoann Tribeau – definitely much better than last season, more goals and an assist level more becoming of a winger, I have a great looking Algerian waiting in the wings so not sure if he will be 1st choice next year but his versality is also very useful, he filled in on the left a couple of times last year
Best Midfielder – Rafik Bouderbal– a stunning start to the season with nearly an assist a game for the 1st couple of months, slowed down a bit after that and then got injured but overall a great season and a vital part of the team, albeit he never seems very happy with anything in general but as long as he plays well...
Best Strikers – Frédérique Marques + Moussa Kouadio– the reasons we scored more goals, marques was consistantly good and got an impressive number of assists as well for a poacher, Kouadio came from an amateur contract in Africa and after spending a couple of months in the U19s I decided that going to 2 up front was better so he got some games, was great to begin with although our slump affected him a bit, has the potential to be very good, the Cameroonian that I signed in the Winter is supposedly better than both so I doubt they will both appear in this section next year

Notes:

• Just the one postponed match because of a waterlogged pitch this season
• In one game, we had a goal disallowed for diving(!?)
• We don’t like draws, that is now only 12 in the 76 league matches I have played
• All (4) of the backroom staff left last Summer but my search for replacements was easier than expected as 2 of my players who retired last year became great coaches so one is now my assistant and the other is a coach

This Season’s Aims
Thin out the squad and cut down the wage bill – MORE NO THAN YES – I think the squad is actually now bigger and the wage bill is only a little lower
Score a few more goals – YES – 18 goals and scoring 5 in 2 games = success
Avoid a relegation battle – MORE YES THAN NO – never got into one but there were several weeks where I was looking nervously over my shoulder

Next Season’s Aims
Thin out the squad and cut down the wage bill – let’s have another go at this, shall we!
Better away form - 5-4-10 is not great especially after winning the 1^st 2
Finish higher than 10^th – time for a bit of progress

12/13 – National – 10^th
13/14 – National – 10^th

Team I Would Like To Play Every Week – Beauvais (13^th) (A2-1, H1-0 – the only team we did the double over)
Team I Would Not Like To Play Every Week – Istres (9^th) (H2-3, H1-2) + Rouen (1^st) (H0-1, A1-2)

Best 11 - the formation we start the season in but not really the one we used most of the time
Overall Best 11

[aldojags]

Ghostwriter you've had similar first 2 years to me, lots of transfers in/out, in debt, low crowds etc. But you'll get the squad sorted this season hopefully and hit some consistency. The striker from the Ivory Coast you got looks to have decent potential. I basically climbed out the National buying players this way. Ivory Coast and Cameroon were hotbeds of great, cheap young players, some of whom are still with me 7/8 seasons later and blossomed into talented Ligue 1 players.


Beat Benfica 2-1 at home but it wasn't enough to reverse the 2-0 I sufferred at their place, so out 3-2 on aggregate, frustrated to have missed out on the finances Champions League brings, but it wasn't to be.

Got drawn in Europa League with Dynamo Kiev, Dinamo Moscow, and RB Salzburg. Hoping I can make it out of that group, although I'm not sure how much attention I'll pay to Europa in order to focus on league, board want top 5, if I take my eye off the ball in the league I could fall short and get sacked, that would be a touch frustrating!

How did the rest of you deal with Europa? It's not part of the challenge so in a sense I should ignore it, but I also want to see how far I can go in a European competition, try and improve reputation etc, so it's catch-22

[Manku]

I just found out about this challenge, and while I had a similar challenge of my own, it is always cool to be able to share our stories. Therefore I started to take a break from taking Boavista back to glory, and take on this challenge. I'll play in Portugal, because it's the league I know best.

Ramon Ramirez's
Real Sport Club aka Real Massama

July 19th 2012


Begginings


Predicted: 12th
Expectations: Avoid Relegation
My Aims: Avoid Relegation
Transfer Budget: €0
Wage Budget: €12.537 p/m
Current Wages: €4.345 p/m

I chose this club because of its colours, and also because it used to be one of the feeder clubs for the main Lisbon teams, and players like Nani and Nuno Gomes played there when they were youngsters.

Club Overview
Manager Profile
Initial Roster

I only have 2 youth coaches on my staff, which means that I'll have to go and look for the rest of it. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a couple good scouts, who will find me some strong, fast, yet very untalented players.

[corinthiano]

ghostwriter - that is a lot of transfer movement! Decent and steady season though, hopefully you will be able to make progress next season with a better, more gelled squad.

Manku - best of luck with Real, I had an awesome save with them, getting to 2nd place in the league and two Europa League Quarter Finals, until my laptop died recently and I lost the save. The facilities they have are great, so I reckon you will be able to utilize a lot of your own youth products at the start, even if just for back-up or rotation.

[rlipscombe]

manku - good luck and welcome to the challenge. new players are always welcome!
aldojags - with regards to Europa, i tried to win it. seems daft not to. only one not fussed about is national cup though i did win it last season... european success important to me.

[Romanista1994]

aldojags - Good luck in progressing in the Europa League. You could rest a couple of players for those matches while keeping the spine of the team intact.
rlipscombe - Well done on getting back into the CL. Hope you manage to go far in it.
ghostwriter - Showed that last season's performance wasn't a fluke. Promotion next year?
Manku - If corinthiano's save is anything to go by your club has the potential to go very far. Welcome to the forums as well.

[corinthiano]

Has anyone ever played in a clay pitch before? It was a weird experience, felt like beach soccer or really amateur football haha.

[Romanista1994]

Has anyone ever played in a clay pitch before? It was a weird experience, felt like beach soccer or really amateur football haha.

Never on FM, that must have felt different to say the least.

[corinthiano]

Yeah I thought there was something up with the graphichs, but then I went on the teams facilities screen and it does actually say Clay in pitch type...so weird, the only opne in the league as well...not like it is something common for the country from that.

[Manku]

So we can only sign players we can scout? Because I'm trying to steal these 2 Peruan guys who are at the end of contract, and I'm afraid I won't be able to trial them beforehand.

[corinthiano]

Yes, you need to be able to get a scout report or trial them, unless they are offered by an agent (not sure about that last bit).

[rlipscombe]

never seen a clay pitch before... strange. and as for signing players, you have to either be able to scout them or if not sign them on trial before signing. this is to try and keep the way that players are found realistic....

[cameronross]

Hi guys I am a long time player of the game, and first time poster. And I come across this a few days ago and thought I would have a go at this challenge. I just want to make sure i am doing it right

I selected French League, skipped through a season and chose Union Sportive Raonniase in the French National League who were newly promoted. After two seasons I have gotten them promoted to the Ligue 2.

Is the aim to get them to be Champions League winners to complete this challenge? I read the first page, but there is 30 something pages and I couldnt be bothered reading them all.

[Manku]

Recap
My first season at Real Sport Club was a good one. We met our goals – not being relegated – and we did it comfortably, ending up in 6th place overall.
We started out slow, mainly due to the new style of play and the number of new players I brought in during the off season. After the players got to know the system, and each other, we started putting together very good performances. The only regret I have is dropping so many points against the bottom 4 teams. Against the teams that got relegated, we only managed to win 3 out of 8 games, tying the other 5 matches. Those were 10 easy points we lost.



2013-14
This upcoming season, I hope to be able to challenge the title. I know it will be hard, but I'm sure I have the talent to place better than last season. I'm brigging in some new talent, who will help us push to the next level.

[rlipscombe]

cameronross - the aim of the challenge is to win the champions league and the top domestic title in your country. welcome to the challenge.

[rlipscombe]

SV Waldhof Mannheim – German Bundesliga – Season 2023/24

Season Preview

After making it back to the top 3 again my main aims for the summer were to tinker with the squad and try and add some quality youth to the team. The chairman wasn’t very forthcoming with the cash again so more wheeler dealing was required.

So without further ado here are the new signings.

Transfers


Goalkeepers

13. Marin Milicic - Young Croatian goalkeeper signed with the future in mind. He has bags of potential.

Full Backs

Jean Akdemir - young Swiss LB with a good future ahead of him. One for the future.

Midfielders

17. Andres Diaz - Argentinian RM signed to push Clovis for a starting berth. Plenty of ability.
28. Constant Delcroix - young French LM with massive potential. Constant will challenge for a starting spot this season despite his age.
Mikica Djokovic - Younf Montenegrin RM with a big future. Another youngster who will push for a starting spot.
Jose Lemaitre - Young Belgian attacking midfielder. One for the future.


Strikers

7. Timothy Veldman - Dutch striker signed on a free transfer. A squad player, he will push Freitas for the target man role.
Niklas Pedersen - young Danish striker who has potential to be a decent player.


The Upcoming Season

As you can see the signings are mainly geared towards the future. I am happy with the squad I have overall and I think we can have a good season. A title challenge and progression from the CL group stages and I will be happy. Also got the pleasure of playing Dortmund in the German Super Cup.

[aldojags]

rlipscombe some class acquisitions there, you had a squad filled with good 20-25 year old players before you signed all those players, so it's only looking better now. Your squad could be scarily good in 5 years time if they all mature according to plan.

Diaz in particular looks quality, just need to get him on some quickness training and he'll be pretty much the complete player.

[corinthiano]

rlipscombe - some very decent signings, mainly the wide midfielders. Diaz just needs to improve his physical stats a bit whilst Delcroix looks like he will turn into a cracking player. I also like Veldman, exactly the kind of player I like to play as a supporting target man.

As for me, I have finished my first season in Turkey and have really enjoyed it, so I will post an introduction and first update tomorrow morning!

[cameronross]

thanks mate, do you want to know of my progress somehow?

[corinthiano]

cameronross - it would be great to hear about your progress. We usually post seasonal updates showing league table, key players and any other things we deem relevant. I would suggest you read a few pages of the thread and look at some season reports for inspiration

[Romanista1994]

cameronross - Welcome to the challenge.
rlipscombe - Some great signings, Diaz's technical attributes are just marvelous.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Des Tiny's
Agrupación Deportiva Parla

Liga BBVA
End of Season 2022/23
Too Many Battlegrounds

The Season

In Brief
Predicted: 15th
Actual: 11th (Graph)
Cup: 4th Round vs Sevilla - Leg 1 - Leg 2
Europe: 2nd Knockout vs Stuttgart
Manager: DesTiny - History
Season Tickets: 12,803 (^1057 [Avg Att: 15670])
Finances: €49.5M (8th in ESP [^8] 72nd in World [NE])
Euro Coefficients: 63rd [^161]
Transfers: 2022/23 - 15 In (€10.5M) 18 Out (€16.5M) 2 Loaned (€0)
Squad: First Squad, Under 19s, Others

General News

Financially we made a huge profit this season, we also managed to expand our youth network, our youth coaching and increase our Training Facilities and Youth Facilities (Both being upgraded again for completion in October). An attempt to expand our stadium was let down by poor attendance in the Europa League (Avg:9088) compared to the Liga BBVA (Avg:17844), but hopefully we can build on a good solid season rebuilding here and use it to boost the finances even more, bring in some young future stars, and possibly replace some weak points in the side. We moved up to 20th in Reputation in Spain, while financially we made it into 8th and also well into the top 100 in the world as we moved into 72nd spot. Another profit in transfers is helpful, though I will probably spend the remaining 7M before the season changeover in an attempt to bring in some young prospects.

Teams wanting to Des Tiny to Manage them: Villareal, Sevilla, USA, Deportivo, At.Madrid, Espanyol, R.Sociedad, Gimnastic, Cartagena, Valencia, & Almeria.

My Aims for 2022/23

1) Qualify for Europe - Failed 11th in League
2) Get through Europa Group Stage - Achieved 2nd Knockout Round
3) Concede Less Goals (<63) - Failed 68 conceded

La Liga BBVA
Champions: Barcelona

Another season started with a loss in the first game, this time we lost to Espanyol 4-3, not the worst loss, but it had me worried as we faced several top teams at the start. We managed 6 straight wins over R.Madrid (H), At.Madrid (A), Athletic (H), R.Sociedad (A), Sevilla (H) & Betis (A) before losing to Villareal 6-1 (A). That run left us in the top 3 after a great start and we were delighted with the start. We did win our next 3 league games, but then the season fell apart as we lost 4 straight, then Win, Draw, Win followed by 12 games without a win, at this point we looked clear with 37pts, no-one had been relegated that high before, though we were in serious trouble and this season Cartegena went down with 39pts. I needed some serious help, and it came as we managed to turn it around going 4-2-1 before losing to Barcelona on the final day to finish 11th. I was disappointed given how high flying we had been earlier in the season, but really in the end happy to get out of a terrible slump that was killing the team.

Best Results: at Leganes 6:1, vs R.Madrid 4:0, at At.Madrid 3:0
Worst Results: at Villareal 1:6, vs At.Madrid 3:5, at Getafe 0:5
Season Review
Young PotY: Ondrej Linhart 1st, Christophe Legendre 2nd.
Golden Boot: Jesus Montiquin 3rd (22)
Most Assists: Ondrej Linhart 1st (22)
Player of the Year: Ondrej Linhart 2nd
Team of Season: DC - David Sedlacek, Subs - Ondrej Linhart
Worst Signing: Stephane Ireke 2nd (4.5M)

Fixtures 1-19
Fixtures 20-38
Player Stats
Team Stats

Spanish Cup
Champions: Barcelona

Well we disappointingly lost the two-legged 4th round to Sevilla, hopefully next season we can get a better draw and have a shot at going a bit further. This is getting silly.

Fixtures

Europa League
Champions: Inter

Well my aim all along had been to make it past the group stage and into the knock-out phase, well that was achieved and a little bit more.

Qualifying: vs Olympiakos - (H) 4:1 & (A) 4:2 => 8:3
Group Stage: vs Rangers, PSV & Trnava => Table: 1st
1st Knockout: vs Trabzonspor - (A) 5:1 & (H) 1:1 => 6:2
2nd Knockout: vs Stuttgart - (H) 2:3 & (A) 2:1 => 4:4a

I blitzed past Olympiakos with some great goalscoring, and then did some amazing things in the group stage managing to top the group with the only loss coming at Ibrox in the opening game. We scored 22 goals and only conceded 6, I was very happy to draw Trabzonspor in the 1st round as this was a team I was sure I could get past and going to Turkey for the first round proved that as we blew them out 5:1, coming back home I played a lot more conservatively and it showed as we actually allowed them to gain a draw, but it put us into the next round. Drawing Stuttgart I was mildly happy as there were much worse draws out there, and only a late goal at Parla Stadium saw them win the first leg, and we managed to win at their ground, but disappointingly this saw us go down on away goals, allowing that late one at Parla Stadium was the difference. Stuttgart ended up as losing finalists as they were beaten by Inter in the final.

Fixtures
Player Stats
Team Stats

Map of European Travels



The Youth

Well my youth side were targeted for their competitions this season, I made some signings, and also made sure I had more players in that squad because I was hoping they could become the future of my club. Still looking for that star Parla Youth Prospect, we have several who are expected to be 2-3 stars, but that will never make my starting line-up. The group we had down there though did brilliantly as they came second in the league by only 3pts to Real Madrid and lost in the Semi Finals of the Cup to Barcelona. I was delighted with the efforts.

Players of the Season: Def - Soren Ostergaard (DR), Mid - Matthias Wagner (DM), Fwd - Amirudin Delalic (ST)
League Table
Cup
Under 19s Stats

The Players

Squad Stats

Key Stars
Bold: Starter, Italic: Youngster

Goalies
GK: Perninha (BRA) - A solid season at the back, there were a lot of freak goals letting him down, I'm hoping that a good off season will see him improve markedly and able to stop some goals from the top boys in the new season.
GK: Musa Karabas (TUR) - He didn't play this season, but he has the potential to shoot into the starters job, will be given a chance in some of the games next season.

Defenders
DR: Aaron Garner (ENG) - A huge season from the Englishman at the back, he helped down the sideline and was always there feeding the ball forward to Linhart who would then get the ball across into the box. I think Garner is going to be a major player in our squad going forward.
DC: David Sedlacek (CZE) - The best defender in our team, not only is he amazing at the back, but he also gets up for corners and free kicks and scores goals. He was a complete superstar this season and will look to improve on it forwards into the new season.
DC: Liam Parry (WAL) - The Welsh star has been very good in his efforts this season, there were times when the fans were yelling for me to drop him, but I kept him in the squad and he did a very good job for us. He also played a part in the Welsh side that won the Four Associations Trophy this season.
DL: Zednek Moravec (CZE) - The young left back played in 43 games this season for the club and started to show his skill near the end of the season, he will be hoping to step up a little more as he tries to stay ahead of Johannsen in the pecking order and become the clear leader at left back.
DR: Soren Ostergaard (DEN) - An excellent season in the youth side has seen him come into contention, and if he can grow towards his potential then he is likely to be the starter in short order.
DC: Juan Carlos Sanchez (MEX) - I am not sure how long he will be willing to stay as a back-up, but right now he is brilliant cover for Parry and Sedlacek as they both need breaks every now and then. Sanchez comes in and does a very solid job for the side at the back.
DC: Paul Wills (USA) - He came in January as further cover for the back, as a foreigner he may struggle to make it into the side, but will see if he can challenge the top guys come August.
DL: Jonas Johannsen (DEN) - The young starlet will be looking to expand his play time in the new season and also get up his average rating because he didn't do as well as I believe he can.

Midfielders
MC: Bife (BRA) - The young Brazilian was a little bit less consistent this season, but he is still the best centre midfielder in my squad, 6 goals and 5 assists a bit of a let down, but he will bounce back.
MC: Ercan Yildirim (TUR) - Our Captain was not quite there again this season, but no one came forward to challenge him for the role, so I have made some tactical adjustments, and its possible that this will correct the issues, hoping he can do more in the new season.
AMR: Ondrej Linhart (CZE) - He won the Young Player of the Year, and was runner-up in the Overall PotY as well, an epic season for the young Czech, he is supposed to be the next Rosicky and he is showing some serious skill. The youngster managed to score 12 goals and grab an incredible 30 assists (A New Record) through the season to definitely lead the players this year.
AMC: Christophe Legendre (FRA) - A huge season from the new signing, he leaped in feet first and started the season well and he continued right throughout as he scored 8 goals and assisted on another 17.
AML: Rudy Rousseau (FRA) - The replacement for Bumbera did alright, but nothing special though he definitely scored my goal of the year in a loss, but a good one. If he continues to improve he will be a shoo-in for the starting spot.
MC: Stephane Ireke (CMR) - He was looking to step up and replace Yildirim in the more defensive role, but he just couldn't cement his place. Ireke will be hoping that he can seize his chance during the preseason and get into that starting line-up.
MC: Darren Thidiela (RSA) - He really did nothing to help himself, 1 goal in 10(12) appearances which is a bit poor, look to see if he goes on the market.
MC: Matthias Wagner (GER) - A excellent season in the youth side has seen him leap into contention for a top team spot in the new season, especially as no one has managed really assert themselves in the more defensive centre mid position and he seems perfectly suited to it.
AMR: Besik Gabelia (GEO) - A solid season as a back-up, the Georgian managed to play behind Linhart perfectly, when he stepped in he did his job and was always a good choice.
AMC: Pal Antal (SRB) - Is really nothing but a solid back-up, he should be slightly better than Legendre, but he never seems to perform when he gets a chance.
AML: John Kieffer (BEL) - He is a very good back-up and manages to do well when our seniors need a rest, one for the future.

Strikers
ST: Jesus Montiquin (ARG) - 50 games for my star striker this season saw him score 37 goals, he managed to be top goalscorer in the Europa League as well as in the top 3 in the Liga BBVA, he has done a brilliant job and will continue to play upfront into the new season.
ST: Thabang Radebe (RSA) - With Montiquin performing how he is Radebe has yet to be given a chance in the starting line-up and he is really pushing for it now, he is even transfer listed as he wants to leave that much, he will be hoping to get a chance upfront or be somewhere else at the end of the preseason.
ST: Jose Freitas (POR) - The second best striker in our youth squad still managed 20 goals through the season, he will be looking to fight Delalic for the reserve spot throughout the off season.
ST: Amirudin Delalic (SUI) - The youngster had an incredible season for the Under 19s this year and could look at an expanded role in the senior side if there is a sale as expected given both top strikers want to be playing first team football.

The History

The 100 Club

Player                   Nation  Pos  Caps    Goals Assists Conc Clean MoM Yellow Red Av Rat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ercan Yildrim              TUR   MC   185 (9)   12    24      0     0   6    23    1   6.97
Herlein, Miguel*           POR   ST   175 (4)  139    46      0     0  36    19    1   7.56
Taygun Kuru*               TUR   MLC  164 (1)   18    72      0     0   5    24    0   7.14
Gomes, Andre*              POR   MC   144(12)   24    36      0     0   8    32    1   7.15
Sedlacek, David            CZE   DC   145 (0)   37     5      0     0  13    12    0   7.33
Bumbera, Mario*            SVK   ML   127(18)   28    60      0     0   9    28    1   7.14
Aranda, Juan Francisco*    ESP   DR   126(10)    0    14      0     0   0    45    2   6.98
Guillou, Bruno*            FRA   DM   132 (0)    2     8      0     0   0    22    1   7.02
Kivanc Ozlu*               TUR   DC   121 (0)   36     7      0     0  18    23    1   7.31
Montiquin, Jesus           ARG   ST   116 (2)   83    29      0     0  14    22    2   7.34
Moravec, Zdenek            CZE   DL   111 (5)    0     9      0     0   2    43    3   6.97
Wagner, Tobias*            GER   DL    87(27)    5     7      0     0   5    28    2   7.09
Tayfun Sen*                TUR   ML    78(34)   23    32      0     0   2    10    0   7.12
Delgado, Roberto (YP3)*    ESP   MLC   80(31)    5    38      0     0   3    18    2   7.00
Malheiro, Nuno*            POR   DL    84(26)    1    17      0     0   2    16    0   6.94
Perego, Andre*             SUI   DC    99(10)   30     5      0     0  13    15    2   7.16
Briand, Erwan*             BEL   ST   106 (2)   71    21      0     0  12    13    0   7.40
Lopez, Miguel*             ARG   MR    99 (7)   13    26      0     0   3    15    1   6.94
Kaminski, Lukasz*          POL   GK   102 (0)    0     0    166    31   0     1    0   6.78
Bife                       BRA   MC    91(10)   13    14      0     0   3     9    0   7.06

The Club Awards

|---------|----------|-------------------|---------|------------|
| Season  | Division |     Fans PotY     | Best XI | Overall XI |
|---------|----------|-------------------|---------|------------|
| 2012/13 |   2DB3   | Guillaume Dumast  | 2012/13 | 2012-2013  |
| 2013/14 |   2DB3   | Miguel Herlein    | 2013/14 | 2012-2014  |
| 2014/15 |   2DB3   | Miguel Herlein    | 2014/15 | 2012-2015  |
| 2015/16 |    LA    | Miguel Herlein    | 2015/16 | 2012-2016  |
| 2016/17 |    LA    | Miguel Herlein    | 2016/17 | 2012-2017  |
| 2017/18 |    LA    | Erwan Briand      | 2017/18 | 2012-2018  |
| 2018/19 |    LA    | Erwan Briand      | 2018/19 | 2012-2019  |
| 2019/20 |   BBVA   | Norberto Ruiz     | 2019/20 | 2012-2020  |
| 2020/21 |    LA    | Norberto Ruiz     | 2020/21 | 2012-2021  |
| 2021/22 |   BBVA   | David Sedlacek    | 2021/22 | 2012-2022  |
| 2022/23 |   BBVA   | David Sedlacek    | 2022/23 | 2012-2023  |
|---------|----------|-------------------|---------|------------|

Club History

|---------|----------|----------|------------------|--------------|--------------------|
| Season  | Division | Position |       Cups       |    Europe    |      Comments      |
|---------|----------|----------|------------------|--------------|--------------------|
| 2012/13 |   2DB3   |    6th   |        NA        |      NA      |        None        |
| 2013/14 |   2DB3   |    4th   |   SC 2nd Round   |      NA      |  Lost in Playoffs  |
| 2014/15 |   2DB3   |    2nd   |   SC 2nd Round   |      NA      |      Promoted      |
| 2015/16 |    LA    |   10th   |   SC 2nd Round   |      NA      |        None        |
| 2016/17 |    LA    |    7th   |   SC 4th Round   |      NA      |        None        |
| 2017/18 |    LA    |    3rd   |   SC 2nd Round   |      NA      |  Lost in Playoffs  |
| 2018/19 |    LA    |    1st   |   SC 3rd Round   |      NA      |     Champions      |
| 2019/20 |   BBVA   |   19th   |   SC 4th Round   |      NA      |     Relegated      |
| 2020/21 |    LA    |    1st   |   SC 3rd Round   |      NA      |     Champions      |
| 2021/22 |   BBVA   |    5th   |   SC 4th Round   |      NA      | Qual Europa League |
| 2022/23 |   BBVA   |   11th   |   SC 4th Round   | 2nd KO Round |        None        |
|---------|----------|----------|------------------|--------------|--------------------|

Parla vs Madrid



The Future

In Brief
Predicted: 15th
My League Aim: Europe Qualification
Expectations: Avoid Relegation
Transfer Budget: €14.05M
Wage Budget: €275k
Wages at 01.07.2: €238,142

Future Signings: Domingos (MC,Sao Paulo,€1M), Mikhail Lapin (ST,Spartak Moscow,€3M), Mehmet Hasan Comaktekin (DR,Besiktas,€1.7M), Jacques Nangis (ML,Monaco,€1.9M), Dario Zaragoza (GK,KV Mechelen,Free)

So I have spent €7.6M for players already, some won't be joining for 6 or 12 months, but all of them are possibles to fill slight holes in my squad, once I sign them I should be 3 deep in all positions with players good enough for this division, and have a good size U19s side as well. Next target for me is to find some more Under 17s who can possibly jump straight in and help out as well. Radebe also left for €8M as the chairman accepted a deal, am quite happy with the amount we received as we have adequate replacements and he wanted to leave, even better is that it is a non-Spanish club so I shouldn't have to face him.

Teams Relegated: Cartagena, Las Palmas, Leganes
Teams Promoted: Osasuna, Malaga, Celta

My Aims for 2023/24

1) Get back to Europe
2) Concede Less Goals (<68)
3) Get past Cup 4th Round

Well I was actually incorrect previously, the first season of Parla was 1973/74, that means that I am now coming into the 50th season of the club, so fingers crossed I can do something to help celebrate the club's anniversary. As for myself, I only have one season left on my contract right now and it is unlikely to be lengthened after that last season so I need a good showing in this season to guarantee my future, my 500th game in charge is also coming in this season. The club also offered me a new contract extending out to 2026 which will make a huge difference as I don't need to worry about that situation anymore.

Wow, that update really got out of hand, if you have read this far thanks for sticking through.

[corinthiano]

A bit of a mixed season there LLR, whilst the league performance was a bit disappointing it is great to see you on sound financial footing and with big improvents in infrastrucutre, sure bodes well for the future. Your youngsters also look pretty good, especially Ostergaard, so I think te future is bright for Parla.

Liam Parry is a physical beast btw, I imagine him to be unbeatable in the air! Also, cracking season by Montequin, deadly up front! Best of luck getting Parla back to Europe next season

[corinthiano]

Hacettepe Spor Kulübü 2012-13 Spor Toto 2. Lig

Introduction

Hacettepe are a club from Ankara, Turkey’s capital, which surprisingly never had a club winning the national league title. They were founded as Sanayi Barbarosspor in 1949 and changed its name to Asaşspor in 1998. Until 2003 it never had any success of note until it was purchased by Gençlerbirliği, the biggest Ankara club, to become its feeder team in 2003, changing its name to Gençlerbirliği Oftaş. This saw them rise rapidly through the league until reaching the top division in 2007, where the Turkish Federation allowed it to compete alongside the parent club, albeit with a name change to Hacettepe SK. They only lasted a single season in the top flight and their fall was as spectacular as their rise, falling down to the fourth tier in 2011. They play at Cebeci Inönü, which has a capacity of 17.500.

Manager Profile
Club Overview
Club Facilities

Spor Toto 2. Lig Group B

Media Prediction: 16th
Board Expectation: Avoid Relegation
My Target: Avoid Relegation

League Table: 2nd ǁ Position Graph

After an inconsistent start we were by far the best team in the league for the middle part of the campaign, scoring for fun and going unbeaten for 13 games. We were even challenging for top spot but a bad end to the campaign so us guaranteeing a playoff spot only in the last game to by beating Ünyespor away. Our loss of form did not make me confident for the payoffs though.

Third Place Playoffs

The teams place 2nd to 5th in Groups A and B are drawn randomly against each other playing Quarters, Semis and the Final always in a single match at a neutral venue. If the game is drawn after 90 minutes extra time and penalties decide the winner.

Quarter Final – A dreadful game saw us scrape through on penalties.
Semi Final – Another dreadful game with an own goal each side saw the game go to penalties again, but this time we lost out.

Ziraat Türkiye Kupası

Fixtures

We comfortably beat Adiyamanspor in the first round, but weren’t good enough to compete with 2nd tier side Adanaspor in the second round, losing narrowly 1-0.

Hacettepe

Transfers ǁ Squad - Defence ǁ Squad - Attack

I fully took advantage of our parent club and loaned in plenty of their youngsters, although mostly were back-up players. You are not allowed to have any foreign players in the 2. Lig, quite a big change from the multinationalism I had at Real. I feel that we had a very good squad but there is a lot of deadwood, something I will be addressing next season.

First XI

GK: Ozan Öztürk – OK keeper, nothing spectacular but decent. Has retired and I already have a replacement coming in.
DR: Mahmut Acar – My first signing, was very decent and one of the best players.
DC: Fatih Karaca – Great defender, was solid at the back and contributed with a few goals too.
DC: Emre Karaman – Made a good partnership with Fatih.
DL: Can Ulun – Equally excellent to Mahmut Acar, Can was dominant down the left.
DMC: Ali Yilmaz – The one position I really struggled to find a decent player, Ali was the best I could find. Have to say he surprised me positively, but I am letting him go nonetheless as I found a younger replacement.
MC: Caner Yilmaz – Great young midfielder already at the club when I joined.
MC: Taner Taktak – Another great midfielder already at Hacettepe upon my arrival. Has attracted interest from higher division clubs, hopefully I can keep hold of him.
AMC: Mesut Dogan – Played great part of his career in Germany and his impact upon his return home was excellent, providing 18 assists.
ST: Mehmet Sirali – The experienced striker blew hot and cold this season, but I guess that overall he had a year.
ST: Onur Garip – Another great player already at the club, considered a Legend amongst the fans and you can see why. He was great up front for us and his injury midway through the season was one of the biggest factors for our drop in form. Tied him up to a new deal at the end of the season.

Others

Sedat Dag – We were so well off at MC that this guy had to make most of his appearances from the bench.
Eyüp Özçelik – by far the best player in my first youth intake, he has 5 star potential and might even make a few appearances in the first team next season.

Other News

Finances – Not a great year financially means our wage budget was cut from 10k to 9k, guess I am doomed to always have bad finances

The only other thing of note was Hacettepe being elected biggest overachiever of the season.

Next Season Targets

1. Challenge for top spot and automatic promotion.
2. Get further in the cup.
3. Get rid of some deadwood.

We clearly have a strong squad for this division and I was busy during midseason securing better players, so I think we could challenge for the title. The playoffs are a bit hectic with not a lot of time between games so it is safer to avoid them for promotion, although they have to be our minimal goal if all else fails.

Career Overview

Season       League          Pos        Türkiye Kupası        Europe           Other Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13      2. Lig          2nd        Second Round          N/A              Lost in Playoff Semi-Finals

[aldojags]

Mixed season there LLR, the goals conceded really sabotaged you, do you play quite an open formation?

I agree with corinthiano about the young full back, he looks to have good potential and at only 17 if you manage him right you could have a solid player there. I like the thing you did with the map, how did you do that, I may do something similar for my upcoming review, only halfway through the season at present but be a nice touch given it's my first season in Europe. Montiquin's record is ridiculous, are bigger clubs sniffing about? I'm interested to see how many teams are approaching you, I've yet to recieve and offer from any other club side in France, and given that I've done not too bad, dislodged Lyon from top 3, I'm suprised/disappointed no-one has considered me. Obviously I wouldn't take it as I'm doing the challenge, but still would be a good ego boost! Only had Nigeria and Ireland approach me! But no clubs.

corinthiano Ocelik looks like he'll become a good CB at a much higher level. needs to beef up physically but that will come with age, but the raw attributes are all there, be interested to see if u get him some games this season see how he progresses, but he looks quality.

[Romanista1994]

LLR - This season's league performance is probably where you'd have expected to have been at this stage, I'm sure you'll be able to improve on it next year.
corinthiano - Hacettepe looks like a great little club. I'm sure you'll be promoted next season.

[rlipscombe]

Aldojags - thanks mate. I am really happy with the squad that I am developing. Really making a conscious effort to increase the quality of my 17-20 year olds. More talent joining next season too.
Corinthiano - thanks for your comments. I am excited by Delcroix in particular. As for your Turkish game, a great first season there. Got some promising players there. Good luck next season.
LLR - unlucky mate, tough season there. I can understand how it went for you – was squad size an issue with European competition? I had that problem with Mannheim. Montiquin is a beast of a striker for his age – can only improve further. Good luck next season.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Thanks All, I think squad depth played an issue, too many players getting jaded with all the football, at one point it was two games a week for about 2 months straight, pretty much straight after the group stage was when I fell apart in the league. Looking forward to the new season, Montiquin upfront plus the youngsters I have through the team could make a huge difference. I have signed a slight improvement at keeper and I am looking forward to seeing what difference that makes as well. Next I need to try and find a Deep Lying Playmaker who can play that spot to a top level as I am not sure that my current selections: Yildirim, Ireke, Wagner etc can do that job well enough.
Romanista - I actually agree with you, this is probably a more reasonable position for my club, though the start of this season also showed what we could do.
Aldojags - Surprisingly there is not a single club interested in Montiquin, according to my Assistant he is not even the best player at his position in my team, but if he keeps performing like this then I am set upfront for a while. As for the offers I get, it could be that they look at me as having sustained success over a longer period, you have climbed quite fast? My Manager now has Continental Reputation so that probably plays a part as well. As for the map, I have just used google maps for that one, if you go into "My Places" you can create a map and then add placemarks wherever you like, the next skill is finding some of the smaller stadiums, if it doesn't come up using the name from FM, then use google to search the club and generally you will find the Stadium on wiki, and it will either have a slightly different name or will have longitude and latitude listed.
Rlipscombe - Nice to see someone else building a stable of 17-20 year olds, I assume you are doing similar to myself and getting them in so that you can build a homegrown base and also have a bunch of youngsters who could push into the starting line-up sooner rather than later? I have to agree with aldojags that Diaz looks really good.
Corinthiano - Parry is a bit of a physical beast, he is generally on the far post at corners, while Sedlacek who seems more consistent plays the near post. On defence though I have seen them working brilliantly, we do not concede many goals from corners with those two at the back. As for Ostergaard, I agree he is clearly the future, I am hoping he will push Garner in the new season and maybe get an appearance or two, though my favourite youngster right now is Frietas, considering he is only 15. A good solid season in Turkey, am glad you are enjoying it, I really like Garip, and I can see why he is a legend, good luck pushing for the title in the new season.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well this Preseason is going to be a matter of decisions, one of my foreigners is going to have to leave the club:
Juan Carlos Sanchez (DC)
Phil Wills (DC)
Besik Gabelia (AMR)
I do have ample replacements for whichever one leaves, but I can't really decide who goes and who stays, Sanchez is only 4 months from becoming Spanish, but is wanted by R.Sociedad at his release fee of 2.4M (I am not sure I want to sign him to a new contract as it doubles his wage), Phil Wills seems to be the lesser centre back, but has slightly higher potential, and Besik Gabelia is wanted by Barca & R.Madrid, so don't really want to let him go either, all three are back-ups at their positions and could be replaced by Esad Cekic (DC) or Yershov (MR), thoughts?

[aldojags]

Looking at those players it'd need to be Wills I'd let go LLR

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Looking at those players it'd need to be Wills I'd let go LLR

Thanks Aldojags​, I think deep down I know that, but I am giving him a chance in the preseason to outshine Sanchez, see what he can do.

[corinthiano]

Have to agree with aldojags there, I would let Wills go too.

[corinthiano]

Hacettepe Spor Kulübü 2013-14 Spor Toto 2. Lig

Spor Toto 2. Lig Group B

Media Prediction: 9th
Board Expectation: Mid-Table
My Target: Promotion

League Table: 3rd ǁ Position Graph

It was a pretty dire season compared to the last one and the only reason we were in the playoff places all season was because the league was so tight and none of the teams really shone. Several of times we had the chance to take top spot but we were extremely inconsistent, losing easy games at home. In the end, playoffs was what we had to contend with.

Third Place Playoffs

Quarter Final – We were completely outclassed by eventual playoff winners Kirklarelispor, postponing the promotion dream for at least another season.

Ziraat Türkiye Kupası

Fixtures

We were quite unlucky with the draw and never really stood a chance against 1. Lig side Altay.

Hacettepe

Transfers ǁ Squad - Defence ǁ Squad - Attack

Again lots of loans from Genclerbirligi to beef up our squad, with a lot of youngsters returning for a second season. I signed a new GK, two centre-backs and a DM for our first team, but left the front line intact. Didn’t manage to clear the deadwood, quite difficult actually selling players.

First XI

GK: Ceyhun Demircan – He is highly regarded by my staff and although he made a couple of silly mistakes in the season he did OK.
DR: Mahmut Acar – Suffered a major knee injury which kept him out for 7 months. Not the same when he came back.
DC: Emin Ergün – Good new addition, was happy with his performances.
DC: Onur Çakir – Also did well.
DL: Can Ulun – Has dropped off a bit in comparison with left season, might still be useful next season but that is probably as far as it goes.
DMC: Onur Acar – Another new signing which did OK.
MC: Emrah Bayram – Probably the best midfielder in the team, Emrah had some good games.
MC: Taner Taktak – Played a bit as AMC whenever Mesut was tired or unavailable, had an OK season.
AMC: Mesut Dogan – Fans Player of the Year, although he was not as good as last season, just like our whole attack.
ST: Mehmet Sirali – Mehmet started the season well, but towards the end he just disappeared.
ST: Onur Garip – Biggest let down of the season, Onur just didn’t seem like the player he was last year. Unlike Mehmet he has age on his side though so he wouldn’t be the one to be replaced if I feel like we need to freshen up the attack.

Others

Selçuk Bulut – Loanee who came in for Mahmut Acar when he was injured, thought he deserved a mention.

Other News

Finances – Even worst year financially and we are already listed as Insecure.

On a more positive note, our U18s absolutely dominated their league, bringing home a win.

This Season Targets

1. Challenge for top spot and automatic promotion. Kinda, we challenged, but it was awful
2. Get further in the cup. Fail, unlucky draw
3. Get rid of some deadwood. Fail, hardly sold anyone, but a few contracts are expiring at the end of the season.

Next Season Targets

1. Promotion, I don’t care how anymore, obviously through a league win would be better.
2. Be more consistent and lose less easy points

It was quite a disappointing season considering the squad we have. I still believe we have one of the strongest teams in the division and promotion is a bit of a must.

Career Overview

Season       League          Pos        Türkiye Kupası        Europe           Other Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13      2. Lig          2nd        Second Round          N/A              Lost in Playoff Semi-Finals
2013/14      2. Lig          3rd        First Round           N/A              Lost in Playoff Quarter-Finals

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Des Tiny's AD Parla

Pre-Season 2023/24
Liga BBVA
September 1st Update

The Transfers

In Brief
In: 4 Players (€1.9M)
Out: 8 Players (€160k)
Loans: 2 Players (€11.1M)
Wages Total: €223,811 (p/w)
Wage Budget: €302,997 (p/w)
Remaining Transfers: €14.92M

New Signings
First Team

Jacques Nangis (€1.9M,Monaco) - He came in as further cover on the left wing and then ended up injured meaning he will spend time out of the side anyway.
Dario Zaragoza (Free,KV Mechelen) - My New Keeper, hopefully he can make some sort of difference at the back.
Esad Cekic (Free) - I needed some cover with Wills leaving, so in came Cekic.

Youth

Ramzan Voronov (Free) - I needed an U19 goalkeeper so signed this one as the best I could find on a free.

Major Sales
Thabang Radebe ==> Anderlecht €7.75M
Darren Thidiela ==> Sporting €2.4M
Perninha ==> Real Oviedo €700k

The Friendlies

I started with a 0-0 draw against At.Madrid, Then we won 5 straight games against easier competition scoring 14 goals to 1 throughout, also made some decisions on my starting line-up and it seems to be similar to last year.

Liga BBVA

26.08 vs Celta - 1:0
Parry (53)
For the first time in 5 seasons we actually won our opening league game, it was a good performance and if it wasn't for some poor finishing and a good keeper we probably would've won by a few more goals.

The Team

So without Further ado, here is the team I expect to lead Parla in the Liga BBVA this season:
GK: Zaragoza
DR: Garner, DC: Parry & Sedlacek, DL: Moravec
MC: Ireke & Bife
AMR: Linhart, AMC: Legendre, AML: Rousseau
ST: Montiquin

Only Zaragoza is a real change into the new season, I am going for a bit of stability this season and hoping to chase a Europa League spot.

The season tickets have jumped up to 13,025 for the new season, a pretty good effort. Hoping it leads to a better average attendance this season and a further stadium expansion.

[rlipscombe]

LLR - with regards to my youngsters i am trying to improve the 'homegrown' talent at the club for the european squads as well as giving me potential sources of income should they not reach the level required and are sold. with our financial situation and tight chairman we will always ultimately be a selling club so signing talent cheap now will pay off in the long term...

[aldojags]

unlucky corinthiano, hopefully you'll do it this time round, frustrating when you give away points at home, that was main reason I didn't win league last season, nothing makes me want to smash in my laptop more than losing at home to a much lesser team, who scored with their only attempt on goal!

LLR sad to see you lose Radebe but with Montiquin in that form a player as solid as Radebe doesn't want to sit on bench all season I suppose. Had a look at your new keeper, I've never touched a keeper with eccentricity higher than 10 - I just don't trust them! Anyone ever had issues with keepers with high eccentricity? Or is a good keeper with high eccentricity still a good keeper? For me, keeping is about doing the basics right, and being as unspectacular as you can. My favourite keepers over the years, Schmeichel, Seaman, Friedel etc, all do the basics right. I just couldn't bring myself to say I thought Barthez was a good keeper, yet he won World Cup & Euros.

But I've always avoided them, don't want them trying to beat a man when they can just launch it up the field!

Edited to add just had a look back at PRDH's keeper Dias, he had eccentricity of 13, I'd probably have made an exception for him!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Aldojags - I never really look at eccentricity myself, unless it is 18-20, then it might temper my expectations, but at 14 I am not too worried, and they generally seem to make just as many good plays as normal keepers, sometimes they might just do something unexpected, though that can be unexpectedly good, like a kick that bounces the opposition keeper, or a spectacular save that a normal good keeper wouldn't make. I generally look at my other attributes and decide from there. Radebe was a bit of a loss, but he wasn't happy and I thought I got a good price for him, Montiquin is on some cracking form and I couldn't bench him. I also have a couple of able back-ups in Freitas, Erden & Delalic sitting in the team already, from the preseason it appears that Delalic will get the first shot and after that we'll see.

Rlipscombe - How quickly I have forgotten my poor roots (Fafe/Evora), of course needing to sell players to make a profit. Spain seems to make a large difference there, also I have the advantage of my team building a new stadium quickly and a huge possible support base being just outside of Madrid as well. If my players don't make the grade they will go, but in general I am looking to build a homegrown group for Europe. I now have 3 trained at club in my starting XI (Bife, Sedlacek & Moravec) + Yildirim on my bench. So at least there is a start now. Still looking for some youngsters to bring in to add to my depth though, max age for me is about 17, as I want them to be able to play for the U19s for at least 1 season.