[FM11]Slavojkia must be a hell of a place!

[Niebiescy]

Yes, DAC would be the only place to leave - but then everyone will get fired from there who doesn't speak Hungarian

I only had test runs in Hungary when I was researching data - being a Hungarian I know too well the scene. But when the scene changes and most of the current players "run out", I'm willing to give it a go.

But I'd never manage Ferencváros

Could be a funny game re-establishing the Austria Hungarian Empire in Slovakia through DAC Better not tell my Slovan supporting friends about that evil idea I just had though. Don't think we'd be mates any more

You support Ujpest or someone similar? Guy I used to work with in Prague was from Dunajska Streda and supported DAC as well as Ujpest. Still remember that brutal game a few years back where all the hardcore Hungarian nationalists went to their game with Slovan and were basically crippled by the brutal Slovak police. Was a bloodbath. Awful to see for any fan.

Tbh losing your best defender is bad but it could be good in the long running. Sell on players for such large amounts is the only way to grow such a small club. Sign talented youngsters on frees, play them for a year or two and then sell them on to a big club at a big profit. Just make sure you re-invest the funds well if your board actually give you any! (Mine never seem to cos the clubs I always manage seem to be broke).

[emgergo]

Could be a funny game re-establishing the Austria Hungarian Empire in Slovakia through DAC Better not tell my Slovan supporting friends about that evil idea I just had though. Don't think we'd be mates any more

You support Ujpest or someone similar? Guy I used to work with in Prague was from Dunajska Streda and supported DAC as well as Ujpest. Still remember that brutal game a few years back where all the hardcore Hungarian nationalists went to their game with Slovan and were basically crippled by the brutal Slovak police. Was a bloodbath. Awful to see for any fan.

Tbh losing your best defender is bad but it could be good in the long running. Sell on players for such large amounts is the only way to grow such a small club. Sign talented youngsters on frees, play them for a year or two and then sell them on to a big club at a big profit. Just make sure you re-invest the funds well if your board actually give you any! (Mine never seem to cos the clubs I always manage seem to be broke).

No, I'm supporting a tiny team from Budapest (BVSC, they are the traditional team of Zugló, the district I live in) and like Vác and MTK as well. I simply don't really like any of the big teams of Budapest

That DAC-Slovan was awful, I had the not-so-pleasant task of writing about it (I'm an online sports editor and I was on duty when it happened). Slovan-Ferencváros in 1992 was even more awful.

I'm pissed off partly because I like Majoros, whom I've been developing since the age of 18, and more importantly, because the board does not transfer any of these funds into things which would be of a long-time help (facilities, or most importantly, turning the team pro). They can take my young foreigners, they were brought in to make money on them, but don't touch the local talent!

[Niebiescy]

It's amazing that you can still be semi pro when you are now established in the top tier. That must be some sort of bug with the game surely?

[emgergo]

Or just a very unambitious board.

Zilina (H) 0-2: In front of a packed house (record money made from tickets \o/) we did well to kill their game for one half. They showed they had more quality in the second.

Slovan Bratislava (A) 2-5: Despite the scoreline we've played very well, but the defenders were all over the place. We took the lead with a goal by Masa and equalised after 2-1 courtesy of Maycon. We conceded the third in the 86th minute and fell apart in added time, conceding two more.

Mihalovce (H) 6-0: It was high time for our usual Mihalovce-bashing. Actually, they are vastly overachieving this season, so the complete rout surprised me. We started rolling after a deflected Maycon shot, Balaban furthered the lead, Guba scored twice before Simo and Mrevlje finished them off. What a comeback after back-to-back losses!

Banska Bytrita (A) 1-1: A hard-fought and creditable draw, Milicevic scoring our goal.

Kosice (H) 2-2: Absolutely annoying draw: we've been in front twice (an own goal was followed up by a Bagayoko goal), had 23 shots, missed 6 out of 8 clear cut chances while they scored on both of theirs. A great game, anyway - 35 shots altogether!

Rimavska Sobota (H) 2-1: More nail-biting stuff. We took the lead when Simo pushed the ball in from a yard out but they equalised in added time of the first half. They went on to play better in the second (two goal-line clearings and a post struck), but we pushed for the win late and got it when a Pavlik cross found Balaban who poked it home from close range.

Dunajska Streda (A) 1-1: We actually deserved to lose this one but Guba came to the rescue and found a wayward ball in the penalty area chaos to shoot it home.

Nitra (A) 3-1: Nitra were table-leaders at that point but we pulled out a brilliant performance and completely stunned them! Maycon got us front with a header, they equalised early in the second half with a wickedly struck effort. That gave them momentum but we survived and Guba scored with a delightful chip after a corner, Balaban added the third after a counter which was worked to an open goal.

Trnava (H) 0-1: GRRRRRR. We had all the shots, more possession yet we lost with an unlucky goal scored after a free-kick.

CUP. Slovan Bratislaava B (H) 4-1: Even our second string side was too much for them, which is a good sign. Horvat, Bagayoko, Pavlik and Kana got on the scoresheet.

Senica (A) 0-0: Senica are dead last and the game was dead boring - none of the teams even remotely looked like scoring.

Quite surprisingly with a 4-3-3 record (which is decent) we are only 8th, but the teams are very close.

[deltablue]

I've found the league to be a pretty close one as well so not surprised.

[emgergo]

Senec (H) 4-1: That was better after that dull 0-0. Masa, Kitas, Pavlik and Horvat on the scoresheet, so not the usual names - all in all a good win.

Slovan Bratislava (H) 1-2: Conceding in the first minute put us on the back foot and after 0-2 we rallied too late and only got a consolation goal from Masa.

Mihalovce (A) 1-3: Kitas equalised their first goal in the 66th minute but unfortunately he found his own net as we slipped up in the last eight minutes, conceding two in the process.

Banska Bystrica (H) 2-0: The slump stopped with this good win, a very confident performance as well: Bagayoko and Milicevic put us in the driving seat.

CUP Ruzina (A) 3-1: No contest, an own goal and a brace by Horvat put us three up, they got one back late.

Nitra (H) 1-2: Nitra is the surprise team of the season, they were topping the table at that point - and won embarrassingly easily at Slavoj. We were never really into the game, Balaban scored a penalty to get us closer - but we never threatened to equalise.

Zilina (A) 0-1: Heavy snow covered the pitch rendering the game a hoofing-up fest - they scored from a counter and won deservedly. The positive thing was that we were able to shut them down for much of the game.

Kosice (A) 1-1: We had some tough fixtures, this being one of them - Kosice were second at that point. They went one up but I changed to an attacking formation and we played a great second half, Maycon (who scored after 10+ hrs) got us a deserved equaliser.

Rim. Sobota (A) 2-1: Finally an easier opponent. We took the lead when Simo rifled in a free-kick in the 5th minute and sat back comfortably, waiting for the counter. Maybe too comfortably as they scored an equaliser late, but there was time for Masa to score the winner in the 94th minute. I partly blame myself for the game turning out to be a thriller: more positive football would probably have earned us an easier win.

Dunajska Streda (H) 2-0: We threw the kitchen sink at them but were only able to score from dead ball situations: Guba headed in after a corner and Bakari converted a penalty. I don't remember the opposition turning up for this one.

Trnava (A) 3-1: Trnava lost key players and were in a middle of a slump, but I certainly did not expect an easy win of all things! Maycon hit once, Guba scored a brace and we were running away with the points. BTW Guba finally found a use of his 2.00m/100kgs body frame: 5 of his 8 goals were headers and so far he hasn't been excelling in that.

CUP Dolna Zdana (H) 2-1: Blood, sweat and tears against a third tier side. They made us struggle with an early goal after a corner and we survived a scare when Masa cleared off the line after another. I gave some verbal ass-kicking in the dressing room and we turned it around: Simo found Bagayoko's head after a corner and Masa's head after a free kick to send us into the quarterfinals.

What's next...

The league is interesting, there is a huge split after the 8th. We're in safety, and within reach of my goal of a bettered position and points total (we need 15 pts to break 46 points which is our current best). Nitra and Zilina will battle it out for the title, but I don't really fancy Nitra's chances - you have to catch Zilina while they're occupied with European competitions, or their superior squad size and quality shows.




The cup is the real deal: we're in the quarterfinal, we're playing home vs. Ruzomberok, who are leading the I. Liga (second tier). What's even more encouraging, Slovan are the only big team left in the draw: the other first tier teams are Mihalovce and Rimavska Sobota who are possibly weaker than us, and there are three (!) third tier teams. This is a major chance for us.

[Niebiescy]

Would be great to see you take a village team that's not even professional into Europe. Cups in these Eastern European leagues seem to be the only way to really expand your club quickly because there are no domestic revenue sources and the only other option is selling players. If you can draw a massive team in the qualifying rounds than you should make some big money, although I guess your stadium size will limit that somewhat.

[emgergo]

Trebisov is a town Not very fancy of that, though...Actually we get good TV money and the first five get prize money as well, so we're running in modest profit each month. But a cup win and a subsequent European adventure should persuade the board to turn the team pro. Of course all my players and staff are pro now, but while the club status is semi-pro, I can't attract better players.

[emgergo]

Spring starts with the cup quarterfinals, where we easily dispatched Ruzomberok. To make it sweeter, their manager hates my guts and was mouthing to the press before the match, just to eat it up afterwards



While the shock of the cup happened in Bratislava, where Petrzalka fortunately get us rid of the last good team left in the tournament. A note: we played a friendly a week before this with Petrzalka and it finished 0-0, despite us outshooting them 24:1. Looks like they copied it!



We can try again as we drew Petrzalka away in the semis. We have a lot of luck with the draws this season: if we make it to the final, we only meet Corgon Liga opposition there! (so far it was a second tier team, two third tier teams and a non-league one).

God wills the cup win. I feel it \o/



BTW we have to be rather careful with Petrzalka: they made it to the final last year despite being in the third tier!

[deltablue]

Nice slip up at Michalovce Maybe a regional derby on the cards for the cup final.

[emgergo]

Mihalovce

Look at the map. It's surely an enemy territory

[emgergo]

Zilina (H) 0-2: This time we tried bravely against Zilina, but the daring tactics resulted in the same result as the conservative one... a 0-2 loss. It certainly looked better, but their keeper played a blinder.

Slovan (A) 3-4: They scored four goals between the 10th and the 37th minute, which was definitely something I wanted to avoid before the crucial cup semifinal. But instead of a whitewash Bagayoko's goal before half-time was a start of a comeback: after the break Masa and Kitas scored and in the 56th minute it was only 4-3 to Slovan! They looked shell-shocked (much as we were after conceding four), we had the push and the chances, just couldn't find the equaliser.

CUP Petrzalka (A) 3-0. We scored twice from our first three shots and just as they picked themselves up, we were awarded a penalty. The keeper saved Balaban's spot-kick but was unable to save the follow-up - we decided the match in the first 45 minutes and cruised into a final, where we'll face Michalovce, who beat Rimavska Sobota on penalties after a goalless draw.



Senec (A) 2-1: Morale was on a high and we recorded a good away win, Masa and Maycon getting on the scoresheet in the process.

Michalovce (H) 1-0: Some psychological edge for the cup final. We had to work hard for this, but their offside trap failed five minutes from time and Zsolt Horvat punished it.

Banska Bystrica (A) 2-1: We were nowhere to be found for the first 30 minutes, but somehow we took the lead via Masa, who was excellent. They equalised and pushed for a second, but after the break we took control and Horvat headed in a corner four minutes from time. The guy leaves his goals late Horvat is only playing because Bagayoko and Guba are injured, so him and Maycon are the only healthy strikers. He definitely pushes for a starting spot now. The bad news is that Patrick Simo, my best DC is out 4-5 months with a torn calf muscle.

[deltablue]

Should be a good final.

[cerud]

This Slavic league looks like a tough one...same as in deltablue's career.

[emgergo]

Kosice (H) 5-3: That was some match (and some defending, on the questionable side...)! Masa got us one up before Kosice equalised. After the half-time hell broke loose as we scored 3 in 22 minutes (Milicevic, Chuchman and Maycon got on the scoresheet) but they pulled it back to 4-3 for the 89th minute. Zsolt Horvat scored his usual late goal in the 94th to secure the win.

Nitra (A) 1-4: Nitra were in the thick of the title race and we seemingly went there with raised hands and no attempt to resist. We were 3-0 down in 35 minutes, Maycon scored our consolation goal.

Rimavska Sobota (H) 1-0: Masa scored the only goal from an individual flash of brilliance, apart from this the match qualified as awful for the fans. It was a fan day, too.

Trnava (H) 2-0: With the cup final looming, I rested some players, so I delighted when we simply thrashed them. Mrevlje and Maycon found the back of the net.

...cup final... (later)

Senica (A) 3-0: We had four shots on target, scored from three, so it gave us a nice and easy win. Masa, Guba and Horvat were on the scoresheet. Horvat has scored five goals in the league, from which a 83rd minute one was the earliest!

Dun. Streda (A) 3-1: We came as 5th in the last round, but the 3rd and 4th teams (Slovan and Kosice) played each other. All of us plus Banska Bystrita had a chance to finish anywhere from 3rd to 6th. Slovan beat Kosice to secure the third, this meant we'll be 4th if we draw or win. We did the latter, turning the match around with goals from Maycon (2) and Bagayoko. This gave us the club's best ever finish and 59 points - 13 more than each of our top tier seasons.

[emgergo]

Cup Final Michalovce (N)

Neither team has won any major trophy, so it was a huge occasion for each club - and it showed in the game! We were instantly on the back foot, praying well, as their star striker, Jendrisek missed two easy chances in the first five minutes. He scored on the third, flicking the ball past Gazsi.

This left us reeling and we were all over the place for 20 minutes, looking nervous as hell. Zdenek Masa pulled us out of the **** as he scored a screamer, and the equaliser helped us to find the rhythm. We outplayed them in the second half of the first 45 minutes and Maycon capitalised on two mistakes to score our second - half-time was 2-1.

Things got even better as Milicevic's sudden distant shot found the way into the net on 46 minutes, helped by some questionable goalkeeping. We looked like cruising for some minutes just to concede from a cross-header combination. We nearly went two up again as Bartos hit the post, but they equalised in the 77th minute when Chuchman missed a clearance and their striker was sniping behind him. Seemingly on a high, Michalovce poured forward, but Masa ran down the right wing during a counter attack, crossed for Maycon, who headed past the keeper - 4-3 and we held onto it this time, recording Slavoj Trebisov's biggest success ever! That made me favoured personnel, too

[deltablue]

Congratulations on a first trophy.

[emgergo]

SQUAD BREAKDOWN

Name	Nat	Position	Apps	Gls	Ast	Av Rat	Comments
Ferenc Gazsi	HUN	GK	19	0	1	6.83	Still very solid when called upon. Some Hungarian teams wanted him (MTK, REAC) but he's the perfect rotation goalie for us, he's going nowhere
Matej Urban	SVK	GK	20	0	0	6.70	For the first time in three years he lived up to his promise and improves well
Richard Bartos	SVK	D (R)	15	0	1	6.93	Missed all the autumn with a broken ankle, did his usual reliable play afterwards
Marek Babic	SVK	D (RL)	7 (3)	0	1	6.94	Nice for a backup
Pavol Urban	SVK	D (RL)	33 (1)	0	3	6.97	A good performance, but his attacking contribution is next to none – I'm thinking about signing an attacking full-back to give competition
Bohumil Ilko	SVK	D (R)	23 (2)	0	2	6.88	Very pleasant surprise, as soon as he got accustomed to the league it didn't show he came from two tiers below
Emil Kotora	SVK	D (LC)	0 (2)	0	0	6.75	His loan to Vranov kickstarted his improvement. He'll never be more than 3rd-4th chance DC, but I'm holding onto him for another season and we'll see
Igor Chuchman	UKR	D (C)	15 (2)	1	1	6.79	His contract is expiring and – as we have enough centre-backs – he'll be allowed out on a Bosman
Jozef Lukac	SVK	D (C)	11 (5)	0	0	6.87	His contract was also expiring, but I gave him another. I chose him over Chuchman because he's younger and local
Peter Kitas	SVK	D (C), DM, M (C)	29 (3)	3	0	6.89	The captain had a horrid time at the cup final but otherwise was solid as ever and offered some attacking outlet too
Patrick Simo	CMR	D (C), ST	20 (1)	3	4	7.04	He missed the last third of the season, but he can be a league-dominating DC. He's great from free-kicks, provides assists, quick and passes well – and he's only 20!
Vyacheslav Sharpar	UKR	DM, M (C)	17 (3)	0	3	6.77	His time in action suffered a bit as we were usually playing with two DM in the tougher away games only. He's a „grey” player – nothing fancy but gets his job (mopping up) done
Dario Smitran	SVN	DM, M (C)	2 (5)	0	0	6.65	Leaves on a free at the end of season
Patrik Kana	CZE	DM, M (C)	6 (6)	1	1	6.95	The Czech talent started brightly then had a broken ankle and fractured ribs, so he lost a lot of playing time. He's very dynamic and can be a starter soon
Kevin Bakari	CIV	DM, M (C)	28 (3)	1	9	7.10	Amazing season, the most amazing thing being that he has not sat out the half of it injured... And when he's not injured, he's excellent.
Vasily Yesaulenko	MDA	DM, M (C)	7 (8)	0	1	6.82	He's a natural in DM and MC and he has played well in his limited action time, but never stood out. But he's very young as well
Peter Babic	SVK	M (LC)	1 (2)	1	0	6.90	Out on a free
Jozef Pavlik	SVK	M (LC), AM (L)	8 (10)	1	2	6.76	He's still not improving very much, but he'll be a useful backup
Ziga Mrevlje	SVN	M/AM (RC)	7 (10)	2	3	6.98	I thought about letting him leave on a Bosman, but he played a blinder in the second half of the season, earning himself a contract extension
Zdenek Masa	CZE	M/AM (RC)	34	12	10	7.20	Masa is just awesome. He's very quick, very dynamic, very dangerous from long and short range – all in all he's a top attacking midfielder of the league. To make it better, he's only 20 and plays natural in MC, AM R and AMC. Five clubs are scouting him but none of them are a much better alternative. In 2-3 years he'll probably leave for greener pastures – he's too good. But Trebisov is his favoured club, so maybe he stays
Ivan Vasilj	CRO	M/AM (L)	1 (1)	0	1	6.50	Out on a free
Alexandru Balaban	ROU	M/AM (C)	29 (4)	7	7	7.07	Another nice season, but in order to raise more cash I'm willing to sell him for 750K+. Romanian clubs are monitoring his progress
Dejan Milicevic	SRB	M/AM (C)	16 (9)	5	6	6.85	He's on par with Balaban, so if the former leaves, he'll become a starter. A little bit inconsistent, but he's a very good midfielder
David Böhm	CZE	M/AM (C), ST	1 (7)	0	0	6.68	Progressing slowly, might be out on loan
Maycon	BRA	AM (L), ST	33 (4)	14	10	7.23	His best season so far, goals and assists aplenty, he's been particularly impressive in the spring
Vladimir Guba	SVK	AM (C), ST	20 (5)	11	4	7.21	Breakout season, no awful games (which riddled his two earlier top tier seasons), improved presence and found the net regularly. He was out of action for the first half of the spring
Nambala Bagayoko	MLI	ST	15 (8)	6	3	6.94	Guba and Maycon are my favoured striker pair but he can come in and do the job well. Horvat is good as well, so for a good offer I might sell him
Zsolt Horvat	SVK	ST	9 (9)	8	3	7.19	A very pleasant surprise, his scoring ratio is great and leaves the goals late. I hope he'll stick with us for a long time.

[emgergo]

Club status news: we're still semi pro, but with European stage coming up and getting a nice bag of cash (cup win + finishing 4th) we should turn pro. The chairman is willing to listen to offers.

[emgergo]

And finally...



We turn pro! \o/ We are also in the process of a possible board takeover.

Wouldn't it be ironic if the new board just fired me?

[emgergo]

New signings (plus Lukac, who's the only player getting the ass. man excited from the past 3 years of newgens):

[emgergo]

[emgergo]

SEASON 2017-18

Board expectations: top half
Mine: not worse than 5th, preferrably an Euro Cup place

Europa Leaue, qualifying round 3:

We got drawn together with AEL Larnaca of Cyprus, who marginally looked like a better side.

AEL (A) 0-1: For the first half we shut them down and they had a man sent off in the 52nd minute. I was overly cautious and didn't switch to a tactic which would've enabled us to take control, we got punished by a screamer by their Georgian star forward. We had a late surge but only struck the bar. All in all they deservedly won 1-0.

AEL (H) 3-2: We made sure there won't be a fixture pile-up when we conceded two in 22 minutes and were all over the place. A triple substitution helped things after the break, Peter Chewe scored a debut goal, Maycon equalised in the 82nd minute and Zdenek Masa scored a screamer for the win in the 92nd but it was too little, too late, we went out on away goals. We messed it up with the away tie.

[emgergo]

Both goalkeepers got injured at the same training session. An Achilles injury to Gazsi (3-4 months), a muscle injury to Urban (2 weeks). 3 games coming up in the next two weeks and I have a reserve keeper who can't even catch flu, let alone shots.

[emgergo]

AUTUMN SEASON

Michalovce (H) 0-0: We made it sure that the reserve goalkeeper won't be called into action: we didn't let a single shot on target for Michalovce. Slight problem is that we were no better in attacking... After the game I loaned Zilina's fourth choice keeper anyway.

Senica (A) 3-1: The loanee did well, while on the other end Guba, Balaban and Pavlik scored in a convincing win.

Slovan Bratislava (H) 0-1: We didn't do too well this time and they were more clinical in front of goal.

Nitra (A) 0-5: OK, that was rubbish beyond description. Next.

Super Cup Zilina (N) 0-1: That was another poor showing, we only conceded from a corner, but it could have been more. Three away games were coming up, so things did not look too rosy.

Banska Bystrica (A) 2-1: Masa - who looked like someone not giving a damn so far - finally turned up for a match, he scored in the last minute and earlier provided an assist for Maycon.

Kosice (A) 4-2: Milicevic and Masa struck in the first five minutes, Maycon was sent off in the tenth to concede a pretty eventful start to the match. They pushed forward and scored twice, but both times we struck back instantly (Guba and an own goal). Nice win.

Trnava (A) 0-1: Three away games in one week is certainly tiring and we looked toothless all game, even when we were a man up for an hour.

Senec (H) 4-1: The first home game in exactly one month! Inspired by the homecoming we set the open questions in 47 minutes, Guba, Bagayoko, Balaban and an own goal got on the scoresheet. Guba took over from Alusik as the club's best ever scorer.

Dunajska Streda (H) 0-2: I still don't understand this game: lifeless, soulless, gutless performance, which was rewarded with a deserved loss.

Ruzomberok (A) 0-1: This wasn't any better. We conceded early and failed to capitalise on a long man advantage (55 mins) yet again.

Michalovce (A) 0-2: Hopeless performance again. The team was looking dreadful, not even an idea how to score or fight. The alarming thing was that we slipped to 8th and the rest was close to us!

I arranged a friendly with non-leaguers Lokomotiva Kosice to raise spirits. We duly lost that one 0-1 at home as well.

Slovan Bratislava (A) 3-0 Let's just say I wasn't exactly betting on our success... Masa, however fed Bagayoko for a tap-in and an early lead and Bagayoko went on a rampage, scoring two more till half time. The rest was just sitting back and looking a shell-shocked Slovan trying to find a way through. There was none.

Senica (H) 2-0: A one-off surprise is one thing, but we needed another win to stabilise our position. We did that with a more careful than usual performance, Balaban and Frydrych scoring.

Nitra (H) 1-1: That was a good performance, but we draw a winnable match. Masa's header deflected into the net from a defender early on, but we couldn't hold onto the lead. A point is good against Nitra, though, who are recently as rich as Zilina and going for the title.

Cup Lucenec (H) 3-1 aet: Our title defending challenge got off to a shaky start - we outplayed Lucenec (who are amongst the better teams of the third tier) but they forced it into overtime. Then Milicevic and Horvat added to Guba's goal.

Kosice (H) 1-0: Patrick Simo headed home a corner, giving us a hard-fought win.

Zilina (A) 1-0: Ferenc Gazsi was back from a 4-month injury layoff and did great in goal, as we grabbed a surprise win thanks to a goal from Guba. We were equals in play to Zilina, which was even better than the win!

Senec (A) 2-1: Masa and Simo gave us a two-goal lead in 35 minutes, then we fought them off.

Banska Bystrita (H) 3-1: Not the usual suspects on the scoresheet, Horvat, Bartos and Chewe found the net. We squeezed out the win in the last 13 minutes.

Cup Zvolen (A) 3-0: On a roll now. An own goal plus a goal apiece from Milicevic and Horvat sent us through to the last sixteen.

Trnava (H) 1-2: Our long unbeaten streak came to an end: we were having golden slumbers in the first 15 minutes, while they got two up. Bakari rifled in a free-kick after the break but we pushed in vain for an equaliser.

Dunajska Streda (A) 2-1: Back to winning ways with a Milicevic and a Bagayoko goal. The end was edgy as they poured forward but the post save us twice.

Zilina (H) 1-0: We were on the back foot for most of the game, but had major luck (Zilina struck the post three times and had a shot cleared from the line) and Masa finished off one of our rare attacking moves.

Cup Trnava (A) 2-1: Given our weak record against Trnava this was not supposed to be a walk in the park. They took the lead in the first half with an outrageously huge shot, but Masa sent the game into overtime. Bagayoko fired home the second in the 106th minute, and we were into the quarterfinals!

[emgergo]

Autumn table:



Cup (again full of lower league teams):



I'd be disappointed if we didn't qualify for Europe. We should held onto the fourth spot and Slovan and Zilina (who are in front of us) are also in the cup. So a cup final could also mean Europe, but I'd prefer if we won it.

On the board front... I don't know what will come out of this.

[deltablue]

Looking good to retain the cup.

[emgergo]

Looking even better now.

Cup QF Podbrezova (A) 2-0: Bartos and Masa put them two behind in 21 minutes, the rest was just holding onto the lead. We're not only into the semis, but got paired with Humenne, a third-tier team. On the other half of the draw Slovan and Zilina go head to head... I hope for a Zilina win there and a double, so even a lost final would mean continental qualification.

Some amazing progress: the board gave in and will relay the pitch, which is in terrible condition for years now.

On the flip side of things: just days after the local transfer window shut, the chairman accepted Lilleström's 1.5M bid for Masa. I'd rather have him go in the summer...

[emgergo]

Of course Masa signed instantly to Lilleström, leaving me with shortened attacking options. Oh, well.

Ruzomberok (H) 3-2: For most of the match we were cruising, taking a 3-0 lead with goals from Bagayoko, Guba and Pavlik. Then we slept a little and they pulled two back to make the ending a bit nervous.

Michalovce (H) 1-0: If anything, both teams deserved a point deduction for this atrocious "football". The only shot on target was a header by Lukac at the death of the first half, luckily for us it went in.

Senica (A) 2-1: Guba and Maycon quickly put us into commanding position, but we forgot to turn up for the second half, and we can be considered lucky to get away with a win.

Cup SF Humenne (A) 1-0: Humenne fought valiantly in the cup semi-final and shut our attacking play down, but never threatened our goal. Balaban scored the only goal in the first half with a sneaky shot from outside the penalty area, setting up a final with league leaders Zilina.

Slovan Bratislava (H) 2-0: By the time they realised what was going on, Bartos scored after a corner (third goal from the right-back) and Guba had a sensational chip from 20 yards out. They tried to get going but it didn't happen, we held onto the lead, and to make matters worse for Slovan, they even missed a penalty, smashing it against the post. We're on a 9-match (6 league, 3 cup) winning streak, which put us second in the league, four points behind Zilina. A league title is probably far away as Zilina is simply better, but we're looking increasingly good for a podium finish.

[emgergo]

Or have I just jinxed myself?

Nitra (A) 2-2: We went two up with goals from Pavlik and Bagayoko in the first half against a rival aiming for the podium, but they got back and fully dominated the second half, scoring from two corners.

Zilina (H) 0-1: There goes the unbeaten streak. Zilina managed to lay off Guba and Bagayoko within 25 minutes, rendering them unavailable for 2 months... We had a weakened attack and even though Milicevic had a major chance to give us the lead, he missed and they rolled over in the second half.

Kosice (A) 4-3: We were two down early on, but astonishingly turned it around till half time. Maycon offered his second to make it 4-2 after a brilliant buildup, they got one back late but couldn't equalise.

Senec (H) 1-1: The bottom dwellers took the lead and we had a hard time breaking up their defense - having only two fit strikers definitely does not help... At the end Pavlik scored a screamer from way out to give us a draw.

Banska Bystrica (A) 0-3: A no contest, we never threatened. Oh and we lost some more players to injuries.

Dunajska Streda (H) 1-1: Same as the Senec match. They took the lead, we pushed in vain until Balaban scored an equaliser but we couldn't get a second.

The cup final is coming up and I have my first-choice striker duo, both playmakers, my starting left-back and my starting box-to-box midfielder out. Doom is upon us.

[emgergo]

Cup final Zilina (N) 0-4: Not our finest day is an understatement. We were ravaged by injuries, conceded from Zilina's first corner after 2 minutes and were not in contention. Fans were devastated. Given the injury list I was pretty sure this match was going to be a lost cause, but I was not happy to lose out 0-4...

Ruzomberok (A) 0-2: We were toothless yet again, they scored lucky and we were unable to get back into the match. That makes it a month without a win and we can officially wawe good-bye to the podium.

Trnava (A) 0-0: Despite still having nine injured players (including all my playmakers and all but one of my strikers) we dominated the match but couldn't finish off the chances, elongating our winless run to six matches, but finishing a clear fourth on the table, which will mean European football again \o/

I can't complain how the season was going as we consolidated ourselves as a top of the table team, getting yet again into the cup final (but now losing it) and retaining our 4th spot with 2 points less. A marginally weaker season than the last one, but I'm pretty sure that if the chairman doesn't sell Masa over my head after our transfer window was shut and the amazing injury list late spring, we could have reached the podium.

[Niebiescy]

Congrats on establishing your team as one of the "big four"

[emgergo]

Name	Nat	Position	Apps	Gls	Ast	Av Rat
Ferenc Gazsi	HUN	GK	10	0	0	6.72	Spent the autumn injured, was OK when called upon
Matej Urban	SVK	GK	28	0	0	6.69	He clearly became first-choice goalie, but he still needs to up his game.
Andrej Filo	SVK	GK	1	0	0	6.70	Just the backup of the backup, will leave on a free
Richard Bartos	SVK	D (R)	29	3	1	6.98	Another good season, his average dropped in the last games, but he's solid as a rock
Marek Babic	SVK	D (RL)	1 (1)	0	0	6.90	He's not a top tier player and will walk out on a Bosman
Pavol Urban	SVK	D (RL)	19 (5)	0	0	6.82	He has to fight for his starting spot at DL and so far Koleno is winning
Bohumil Ilko	SVK	D (R)	13 (3)	0	3	6.95	Improving nicely, if Bartos gets snatched, he will be a starting right-back for a long time
Rastislav Koleno	SVK	D (L)	22 (3)	0	3	7.04	A very good buy, consistent and good football over the season, he's more dangerous than Urban as well
Michal Frydrych	CZE	D (C)	33 (2)	2	0	6.90	Very, very solid defensive work. Not on the level of Majoros, but still good
Jozef Lukac	SVK	D (C)	8	1	0	6.69	Too error-prone and will be leaving in order to free up space for youngsters
Igor Kovac	SVK	D (C)	0 (2)	0	0	6.60	With the leaving of Lukac he'll get playing time next year
Jiri Sedlak	CZE	D (C)	-	-	-	-	The same for him, he's been very good in the U19 league
Peter Kitas	SVK	D (C), DM, M (C)	17 (7)	0	0	6.81	The captain's playing time is on the decline, but he's still useful and I hope he'll be joining the backroom staff
Patrick Simo	CMR	D (C), ST	28 (1)	2	1	6.81	He had a strong average season – the average suffers because I was forced to play him as a striker and he was useless at that
Vyacheslav Sharpar	UKR	DM, M (C)	19 (4)	0	1	6.80	I'll be surprised if he ever does anything fancy. But he's mopping up well
Patrik Kana	CZE	DM, M (C)	4 (7)	0	2	6.83	He had a few good games as a backup, so he earned a contract extension. But he needs to improve
Kevin Bakari	CIV	DM, M (C)	34	1	15	7.11	Apart from Masa, who departed during the winter (4 goals-7 assists for him) he was the player of the season. Bucketload of assists, great passing game. I hope he stays for one more season at least
Peter Chewe	ZAM	DM, M (C)	15 (8)	2	2	6.85	He was OK but nothing special and will continue in Spain as Eibar gets him on a Bosman
Vasily Yesaulenko	MDA	DM, M (C)	11 (6)	0	0	6.75	The guy has loads of potential but is not really living up to it – he's transferred to Banska Bystrica at the end of the season
Jozef Pavlik	SVK	M (LC), AM (L)	9 (12)	4	1	6.79	A pleasant surprise, he finally improved and scored important goals
Ziga Mrevlje	SVN	M/AM (RC)	7 (9)	0	0	6.51	A contract extension was maybe too early as he did not show even a glimpse of talent during the season...
Alexandru Balaban	ROU	M/AM (C)	28 (6)	6	7	6.92	Played fine, though his good performances are somewhat put down by games where he doesn't do anything at all
Dejan Milicevic	SRB	M/AM (C)	20 (10)	3	2	6.83	He should provide more goals and assists, on the level of Balaban. Otherwise I'm satisfied
Maycon	BRA	AM (L), ST	26 (5)	5	3	6.80	He's on the decline a bit, so he needs to do something special to be a starter again
Vladimir Guba	SVK	AM (C), ST	24 (8)	8	3	6.98	A good season cut short by an injury – but he's big, mean and finally scoring!
Nambala Bagayoko	MLI	ST	20 (8)	8	4	6.96	Took over from Maycon as a starting striker – despite two injuries. He has the ability to be a league-dominating striker
Zsolt Horvat	SVK	ST	10 (12)	3	0	6.69	Not even near last season's performance, he was clearly a disappointment. I don't remember when he actually scored last time!
Marian Lukac	SVK	ST	0 (5)	0	0	6.40	He's only played because all the other strikers were out – he's 18 and not ready yet.

[emgergo]

SEASON 2017-18

Transfers: nothing really stands out. Yesaulenko left but the incoming players are all quite good - Vyacheslav Churko (an Ukrainian MC) is an instant starter and Slovenian Nace Kozmac is an experienced AMC/ST with a good reputation.



We didn't have much time for pre-season as we got called into action as early as mid July in the Europa League. Not for long: Georgian team Olimpi Rustavi first shocked us at home (1-3) then went on to win the away leg as well (0-1) sending out early. Kind of underwhelming.

First half of the autumn:



We kicked off the domestic season with an encouraging loss to Trnava - we actually controlled the game but they scored the only goal from a corner. A hard-fought win against Senica gave the team confidence and we rolled on with fine results: the highlights were turning around a game in the second half to beat Slovan 2-1 and an unlikely victory at Zilina. Just as we got going we lost first Guba then Bagayoko (starting strikers) for the rest of the autumn in the span of one week.

That, however, wasn't a setback: up stepped Zsolt Horvat who was promising in his first season, utterly sh*te in his second. This autumn he was on fire: 11 goals in 15 matches in the league - we didn't have a scorer higher than that since 2013-14! We set the club record for unbeaten matches with 15 - the run was stopped by Slovan, who destroyed us within 10 minutes. In the following 80 we played them off the park but no points are given for playing better...



We hit first spot for the 7th and 8th round and took the lead again for rounds 14-16 and from round 19 onwards. We dumped Zilina from the Cup (though they were playing with a B side due to their European competition involvement) and beat them again in the league, completing a hat-trick of wins over the best Slovakian team. In the last autumn round we only drew to Michalovce, so they caught up with us on points but we're heading first for the winter break. Our cup run was stopped by Banska Bystrica - the team looked like it could not care less and came up with the worst performance of the season, which rightly got us relegated.

Anyway, we're sitting pretty (and top!) in the league and there is no cup run to make fixture pile-ups. I'm not sure whether we can seriously compete with Zilina - their European run was a heavy toll on the squad yet they are equal on points and have a much better squad. But just in case they f*** up, we'll be thereabout

[emgergo]

TABLE:



The surprise of the autumn (after Horvat) was Maycon, who at the age of 32 seemed revitalised and started scoring and providing assists again. Kosmac is a disappointment, although he gave us 6 points against Zilina.

The bad news is that Bakari's off to Monterrey for 1.5M But I felt that coming anyway. 124 league matches, 7 goals and 46 assists for the club's midfield dynamo - he set a new record for assists.

His successor is another African, coming from Russia:



Here's Bakari for a comparison:

[emgergo]

I managed to do a bit of a transfer blunder: sold my first-choice goalie to Slavia Praha as I did not check that their offer was "immediate" not "end of season".

[Niebiescy]

Fantastic to see you top at that stage of the year. Hope you can finish it off. Looks like a very close race. Would be great to see such a small club in the Champions League. With a favorable draw in the Champions route it isn't impossible to make the group stages, which would allow you to upgrade everything possible and put your club on the same level as the Slovak elite.

[emgergo]

I kind of feel like this is THE chance (there are 11 games left, which is not many and the fixtures are spaced out which helps us a bit), so I went on a shopping spree, using the funds from the Bakari sale. This is the first time I've really splashed the cash. Akouassaga cost 300K.

Marcos Aranda comes from Argentinean side Newell's Old Boys. He's young and a natural in MC, ML, AMC, AML and ST. A must buy.



The Bosnian goalkeeper Denis Mirvic comes in to replace the accidentally-sold Urban. 66 K is not that much for him. Probably Gazsi steps up again as a starter (the Hungarian was rotated heavily in the last 3 seasons with Urban in goal).

[emgergo]

To my surprise the fans were not happy with the signing of Aranda, but his first match tamed them: the Argentinean scored and dished out two assists as we steamrollered Banska Bystrica into the grass in the first spring match - it was an away tie, too. We followed it up with a good draw at Trnava (0-0 and we controlled the match), a very easy 3-0 over Senica at home (who are rather hopeless), before firing two home against Slovan. Meanwhile Zilina dropped points against Ruzomberok (a home 0-1) and Moldava (2-2).

Unfortunately our slender advantage did not hold long as Zilina beat Kosice away while we slipped up at a must-win match against Moldava. They scored from the first chance of the match, followed it up with a second which should have never stood. Simo pulled one back, Horvat hit the post but it was 1-2 at HT. We conceded right from the kick-off but Horvat scored a minute later to give us hope. We went forward without any punch (Guba, Aranda and my midfield runners all had a bad day at office) and stayed 2-3 down for the first home defeat of the season. I'm gutted that we're losing points in matches we should really in (Michalovce twice, Moldava, Dun. Streda - 9 points wasted here). I could live with being unable to score against Trnava or run into a defeat at Slovan, but these ones hurt.

On a more positive note: a points equal with Zilina is good for us given that we surely have the best head-to-head record (1-0, 1-0, ?-?). The flipside: their fixtures seems easier (4H 3A, for us 3H 4A and away matches at Nitra, Zilina and Ruzomberok).

[SRL88]

Very tight at the top.

[deltablue]

Go on, take Zilina down!

[emgergo]

You mess with Zilina, they come back and will mess with you!

The plan (keeping up with Zilina until the head-to-head match to hold our fate in our hands) worked but we went in the title challengers' tie with two points down, having drawn at Nitra (actually, that was a good result against the third challenger) and Ruzomberok (we had total dominance but were frustratingly unable to put our chances away). We had a good first 20 minutes against Zilina (Bagayoko and Horvat even had opportunities to score) then it fell apart: we conceded a goal midway through the first half and what really hurt us was conceding the second at the death of the half. We looked bereft of confidence afterwards as we conceded twice more from dead ball situations.

All in all, Zilina thrashed us (and they beat Nitra and Slovan too when it counted, so hats off to them).

The rest was more or less dead rubber as we secured the second spot two rounds from the championship, achieving the club's best ever league finish and a points total record.

What was lacking for the title? First, you cannot win a title if only one of the strikers manages to score in the spring - apart from six Horvat goals we did not recieved any input of the other forwards. Bakari was sorely missed, he could really pull the strings on midfield and none of the incoming players had the same ability to attack and defend. And well, Zilina was finally rested in the spring - looks like if you don't build a 6+ points lead in the autumn, they will catch you as they have more quality than any other team. Nitra did the same as us (leading until the winter break and then Zilina swept away the resistance) a season (or two?) before.

The next season is the last in my contract and probably the last at Trebisov too - I think I'll only stay if we win the league and get into the CL.






Transfers and plans: Maycon is about to leave on a Bosman (he's past it and I need his foreigner spot - clubs are only allowed 5 non-EU players in the match day squad and the only real reinforcements available to me are usually non-EU) as well as Sharpar (another non-EU slot). There are pre-arranged deals for an Argentinean right back (who can pretty much play anything on the right side and centre) and Ruzomberok's Brazilian left back, so Bartos (DR) and Urban (DRL) will be put on the market. Tatran Presov's goal machine comes in too, as well as a very young African forward, who will be loaned.

[deltablue]

You mess with Zilina, they come back and will mess with you!

Don't I know it.

[emgergo]

Being a sports editor kinda sucks before big tournaments, especially when you're responsible for a load of things in connection with the European Championships, so not much time for FM. Running through briefly:

SLAVOJ TREBISOV 2019/20 SEASON

We were tipped 4th and aimed for the podium. We kicked off the season early with some Europa League qualifiers: we got through Polish team Jagiellonia (2-2 home, 1-0 away) before going out to Portuguese Braga (1-3, 1-4, no chance at all). The autumn was great: we were performing well and - as usual - Zilina fell behind as they competed on three fronts with a bucketload of games. We could have gone to a winter break with 2 points advantage if not for a draw with Slovan - this meant we were top but only on goal difference.



Being top on goal difference = failure as Zilina (as usual) came back strong in the spring, leaving their European duties behind. We had a club record 18 game unbeaten streak but drew far too many as they pulled out of sight and virtually secured the title with a 1-1 against us with four rounds to go. Worse was coming as we were beaten by Trnava (there goes the streak), who pushed us down to 3rd. We were left with fighting for the podium with Nitra and could keep the third spot, reaping the bronze medal.



The cup was the season's highlight. We've beaten Banska Bystrica B, Podbrezova (aet), Poprad (on penalties), Lipany and Trnava to reach the final against Zilina. By that time I knew I'll be off from Slavoj Stadium at the end of the season, so the final was very important for me. Balaban scored a screamer after 26 seconds (!) to put us in the lead and Zsolt Horvat - who had an excellent season, becoming top goalscorer in the league - added the second in the 83rd minute, giving us our second cup win and Trebisov's second trophy altogether. Nice way to bow out!

My contract was running out and I couldn't see a way forward - Zilina is far too strong for everyone, including Trnava, who themselves had money to burn. Maybe by half-bankrupting the club I could've assembled a squad to put them down, but I didn't feel that sensible. After ten seasons, 370 matches (record: 195-78-97), two cup wins and taking Trebisov from the third tier to title challengers in the league I stepped down. The only regret is missing out on the title.

[emgergo]

I rejected approaches mid-season by Sparta Praha and Jablonec. After I became a free agent I rejected some more offers: Maccabi Netanya, Pirin Blagoevgrad, Nitra and Legia Warszawa - the latter was very tempting, but Slavia Praha came-a-knocking. They are now sort of a fallen giant, having just been relegated to the second tier and having been unable to step on the podium since 2010. I was handed a two-year contract, of course the first objective is getting back into the Czech top tier.

[deltablue]

At least you left with the cup, Slavia should be good.

[emgergo]

At least I can say I've moved to Eden

[Nathan Pike]

Great job at Trebisov and good luck re-establishing Slavia Prague as Czech giants.

I've just moved to Hungary with Szolnoki in my save.