laBOMBA's World Class Journey

[laBOMBA]

Hi all, I'm laBOMBA and I am a regular visitor and since last year also a contributor to the LLM-forums. I think LLM is the best way to play FM, and pretty much play every FM game in that manner. I'm running a thread over there "Trout fishing in Norway", but I wanted to expand a bit more about that savegame and go in a bit more detail so I am posting updates with pictures and videos about my progress as a manager who tries to work himself up the ladder to become a "world class manager". I find it a bit more fun if there is a bit more feedback from the community about your team/game/tactics/... something I find is lacking in the LLM-forums due to the "no naming" and "no tactics" discussion policy they have over there. So after seeing Moonshine's threads, I decided to do the same and I will be running 2 threads as well, one in here with loads of pics, and one in the LLM forum stripped down to the requirements of that forum.


I am not using real names, gave myself Sunday League experience, started unemployed and have loaded the following leagues: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, Finland, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Wales.

I love adding graphics to my games so don't be surprised to see different looking regens, logos, kits, etc...


I'm already in my 6th season so I will briefly describe them first, before going into more detail about the current season.

EDIT:
Since I achieved World Class Reputation fairly quick (season 2023-2024), I decided to set a few new goals before I reach retirement age: (based on titles I have never conquered in an LLM-way in any FM version)

• Win the Seria A in Italy
• Win the Liga BBVA in Spain
• Win the World Cup
• Win the Champions League. I have won the Champions League before (FM11), but I'll put this on my list for this save as well
• Be a one club manager and bring a lower club to the top of the country. I'll do that with a new manager once I reached retirement age and hopefully achieved all of the above.

[laBOMBA]

Career:

Season	Club	League	Result	Comments
2011	Valdres FK	Norwegian 2nd Division Group 2	6th
2012	Valdres FK	Norwegian 2nd Division Group 2	2nd
2013	Valdres FK	Norwegian 2nd Division Group 2	1st	Promoted
2014	Valdres FK	Norwegian 1st Division	8th
2014-2015	KAS Eupen	Belgian 2nd Division	11th
2015-2016	KAS Eupen	Belgian 2nd Division	2nd	Lost in playoffs
2016-2017	KAS Eupen	Belgian 2nd Division	4th
2017-2018	KAS Eupen	Belgian 2nd Division	2nd	Lost in playoffs, Resigned
2018-2019	Coventry City FC	English npower League 1	3rd	Lost in playoffs
2019-2020	Coventry City FC	English npower League 1	3rd	Promoted via playoffs, Contract offer from Club Brugge
2020-2021	Club Brugge KV	Belgian Pro League	1st	Winners!
		European Champions League - Group Stage	3rd
		Europa Cup	QF	Lost to Wolfsburg
2021-2022	Club Brugge KV	Belgian Pro League	1st	Winners
		European Champions League - Group Stage	3rd
		Europa Cup	2nd Knock Round	Lost to Leverkusen
2022-2023	Club Brugge KV	Belgian Pro League	1st	Winners!
		Belgian Cup	1st	Winners
		European Champions League	QF	Lost to Real Madrid

Awards:

Season	Club	Award	Result
2015-2016	KAS Eupen	Belgian 2nd League Manager of the year	3rd
2018-2019	Coventry City FC	English npower League 1 Manager of the month April	1st
2019-2020	Coventry City FC	English npower League 1 Manager of the month November	1st
2019-2020	Coventry City FC	English npower League 1 Manager of the Year	3rd
2020-2021	Club Brugge KV	Belgian Manager of the Year	3rd
2021-2022	Club Brugge KV	Belgian Manager of the Year	3rd

[laBOMBA]

The first club that responded to my resumes is a Norwegian Club from the 2nd Division: Valdres FK.
After a quick look at the job offer (AU$ 1300/week) I decided to join them.


Valdres FK is based in Fagernes in the Valdres district in Norway. Fagernes only has about 1800 inhabitants and is known for its tourism, cross-country and excellent trout fishing.
(*NOTE: I didn't save at the end of 2011 so I only have a few screenshots of what I could find in the history)

2011 Early-Season update
Valdres FK - Norwegian 2nd Division Group 2
Facilities - Transfers

The team seemed ok and should be able to remain in the 2nd division. They were ranked 9th (out of 12) when I took over the managament of the club. They have a few good players, but also a bit of deadwood that I'll try to get rid off during the first 2 seasons. I signed 3 players recommended to me by our crappy scout (who then got the boot and was replaced by 2 better scouts). Tactical training was upped (training formation 4-3-1-2) and I got a negative response from the board regarding trial players. We have nobody in our u19 team and I would like to be focused on youth with this club so maybe we'll get some good ones in at the end of the season.


Media Prediction: 4th

Board: Respectable league position

2011 End of Season update
Valdres FK - Norwegian 2nd Division Group 2
League Standings - Match Results

With the new tactic, we at least won more games than we lost and we climbed up the ladder. Not by a lot, but enough to finish on a respectable 6th spot and to get a new 1y contract with the club.

Highlight of the season was getting a new 1year contract, and that says a lot about the football we produced.


Results:
League: 6th
Cup: 3rd round loss to Start
MVP: Erik Sandberg
Top Goalscorer: Frederik Andersen: 13 goals, 24 games
Best youth Prospect: -

Best 11:

GK - Halvor Gilje
DL - Borut Causevic
DC - Erik Sandberg
DC - Geir Hamsun
DR - Jesus Gonzalez
MC - Sven Erik Solsvik
MC - Eirik Sæther
MC - Hans Martin Iversen
AMC - David Owino
ST - Adem Grinna Normann
ST - Fredrik Andersen

[laBOMBA]

2012 Pre-Season update

Valdres FK - Norwegian 2nd Division Group 2
Manager - Club - Facilities - First Team - Transfers

The board gave me a slight wage budget increase so I was able to sign a few new players. Most players were on a 2 year contract when I joined the club so nobody left the club this season. Abdul Hussein, 25yo strong Pakistani striker joined the ranks, as well as Mathias Økland, a 21yo Norwegian defender.
Media: 6th
Board: respectable league position

2012 End of Season update
Valdres FK - Norwegian 2nd Division Group 2
League Standings - Progress - Match Results - First Team

We started off pretty bad as 3 key players got injured during pre-season and could only play their first game after a quarter of the season had past. We started to play well when they returned and were 4th by mid-season. Hussein wasn’t as good as I expected, but luckily his younger apprentice (Adem Grinna Normann) played better and became first choice. There was one team in the league (Bærum) that played better than everyone else and had a big lead in the league. We started to play really good and they slacked off a bit towards the end but with 5 games to go we were still separated by 12 points. I declared Bærum the winner of the league during a press conference and they won it a few games later. We ended up 2nd, 6pts behind them, and 2 pts in front of Valerenga 2. The board was happy and offered me a new and shiny 1year contract

Results:

League: 2nd
Cup: 3rd round loss to Løv-Ham
MVP: Frederik Andersen
Top Goalscorer: Frederik Andersen as well with 18 goals out of 28 games

Best 11:
Formation
GK - Halvor Gilje
DL – Borut Causevic
DC – Erik Sandberg
DC – Mathias Økland
DR – Jesús González
MC – Jørn Langerud
MC – Eirik Sæther
MC – Hans Martin Iversen
AMC – David Owino
ST – Frederik Andersen
ST – Adem Grinna Normann

[laBOMBA]

2013 Pre-Season update
Valdres FK - Norwegian 2nd Division Group 2
Manager – Club – Facilities – First Team – Transfers

The only positive thing about the board is that they offer me a slightly bigger wage budget to play with every year. Everything else I requested was always prompted with a “no”. I desperatly want to extend our scouting range as we don’t get any talented youths scouted that are willing to play for cheap. Africa is full of those but my board keeps refusing to send scouts there.

I also let a few players go against their will as I don’t want them to sit on the bench for a 3rd season in a row. I’d rather free up some wage budget for new players. I brought in a fat Serbian goalie who wasn’t having fun at a lower Finnish Club, and also signed 2 young Norwegian defenders and a Midfielder.

Media: 5th
Board: Top half

2013 End of Season update
Valdres FK - Norwegian 2nd Division Group 2
League Standings – Progress – Match Results – First Team

The serbian goalie turned out to be all class as he saved heaps of shots. My 3 strikers were on a rotational system and they all scored their share of goals, so defence and attack were sorted. What we didn’t have in the squad is depth so we struggled at the start of the season with all the Cup games and league games. But once we got kicked out of the cup in the 4th round vs Stabæk, my squad got fit and started winning games quite easily. Mid-way the season we climbed to first spot and we stayed there for the rest of the season. I was going to walk if we didn’t get a promotion as the board keeps refusing to extend the scouting range. I might do that next season if they still refuse.

Results:
League: Winners!
Cup: Out in 4th Round vs Stabæk
MVP: Mathias Økland
Top Goalscorer: 26yo Abdul Hussein

Best 11:
Formation

GK – Nikola Nikolic
DL – Borut Causevic
DC – Mathias Økland
DC – Kristian Tømmerdal
DR – Jesus Gonzalez
DMC – Stian Johansen
MC – Einar
MC – Hans Martin Iversen
MC – David Owino
ST – Abdul Hussein
ST – Fredrik Andersen

[laBOMBA]

2014 Pre-Season update
Valdres FK - Norwegian 1st Division
Manager – Club – Facilities – Transfers

With a new kit sponsorship and 7 players in (and out) we are hoping for a battle against relegation this season. Most notable signings were a 19yo Sudanese playmaker/long range shooter, a 29yo Argentinian winger/striker, a young Danish AMC, a young talented Norwegian DC and a few Norwegian Midfielders and Defenders to give our squad more depth.

Expectations:

Media: 14th
Board: avoid relegation

Cup: 3rd round

2014 End of Season update
Valdres FK - Norwegian 1st Division
League Standings – Progress – Match Results

We started off great and barely lost. We were constantly in the top 5 in the first half of the season. However, we lost some momentum in the second half of the season and drew heaps of games, making us drop to an 8th place and later ending on that very same spot.

We had a few issues that stopped us from performing better in the league. Firstly there was Abdul Hussein who only played a handfull of games because he suffered from long term injuries and secondly our attacking force missed composure in front of goals.

Highlight of the season:
The board decided to place undersoil heating and expanding the stadium from 600 to 1750 capacity. The stadium was ready 10 games into the season.

I wasn’t very happy at Valdres because of the board restricting my scouting range but the board did 1 thing correctly to secure a healthy financial future: expanding the stadium. Crowds flocked to see us play and even with the expanded stadium, we pretty much sold out every home game giving us a good income and a profit every month. I was thinking I should stay and see how I go, but when they offered me a new contract for a lower wage I was furious and wanted to leave the club. A few days after I rejected the contract offer, a Belgian 2nd div club offered me a contract for 30% more the wage I have at Valdres. Goodbye Norway, and hello Belgium! I will be managing KAS Eupen for the next 1.5 season.

Results:
League: 8th
Cup: 4th round loss vs Stabæk (again)
MVP: Mathias Økland, he just wins everything in the air.
Top Goalscorer: David Owino
Best Youth Prospect: Magne Flatner

Best 11:
Formation

GK – Nikola Nikolic
DL – Borut Causevic
DC – Mathias Økland
DC – Hans Petter Evjen
DR - Morten Skårland
MC – Stian Johansen
MC – Majdi Bulabek
MC – Stian Skrettingland
AMC – Henrik Jasar
ST – Adem Grinna Normann
ST – David Owino

Best Goals: Majdi Bulabek

[laBOMBA]

Attachment 0

2014-15 Mid-Season update
KAS Eupen - Belgian 2nd Division
Club - Facilities - Transfers

Eupen is in financial trouble because it has way too much players. We have 6 goalkeepers in the first squad! My first task is to reduce the wage bill by selling/releasing players. It made me an unpopular manager, but it was needed for financial survival. So 5 players left during the winter break and I signed 1 talented young German winger, Heiko Werner. More people will have to leave at the end of the season when their contracts run out.


Expectations:
Media: 5th
Board: respectable league position
Cup: 6th round

2014-2015 End of Season update
KAS Eupen - Belgian 2nd Division

League Standings - Match Results

The season with Eupen felt like wearing a cheap suit. It doesn’t really feel right, doesn’t fit and no matter what you do with it, it makes you feel uncomfortable. I took over the squad when they were in relegation zone (16th out of 18) and managed to scrape a few wins, but it wasn’t easy. I was playing a 4-6-0 formation as we had lots of AMC who could score, but no real strong striker. Players were unhappy and started moaning nearing the end of the season, nobody extended their contract and the supporters were hard to please, even though the squad managed to play attractive football. So my mission is to stay clear of relegation and rebuild the squad for next season with the few players that stayed. We caused some upsets, but also some unexplainable losses during the season. We won the last few games and rised to an 11th spot in the league, which I am actually quite happy with. The board was as well as they offered me a new contract for 2 years with a 20% pay increase.


Highlight of the season:
The first goal of Heiko Werner: dribbling his way to the other flank to then be face to face with the goalie and sliding the ball just past his reach.


Results:
League: 11th
Cup: 6th round loss to KV Mechelen
MVP: Marc Alabi, a 32yo German winger
Top Goalscorer: he is also topscorer with only 7 goals out of 27 games.
I let him go at the end of the season as he was causing trouble and unbalancing the harmony of the squad.

Best 11:

GK – Frederic Rousseau
DL – Theo Marchand
DC – Jozef Chevalier
DC – Niels Hilligsman
DR – Maxim Willems
DMC – Oscar Dumont
DMC – Jan Arnould
AML – Marc Alabi
AMC – Gerd Pierre
AMC – Xarophino
AMR – Heiko Werner

Best Goals: Xaropinho, Heiko Werner, Jan Arnould

[laBOMBA]

2015-16 Pre-Season update
KAS Eupen - Belgian 2nd Division

Transfers

No less than 18 players left the team so I got some wage budget to play with now. 13 players came in with the most promising to be Mats Burhenne from FCV Dender, Greame Elliott from Germany/USA, Nassim Bastian from Mons, Loic M'Goua Mebale from Gabon and I also put the Finnish Jyrki Kainu on a good wage. I just had to sign him since I see a great playmaker in him.


Expectations:
Media: 11th
Board: top half
Cup: 6th round

2015-2016 End of Season update
KAS Eupen - Belgian 2nd Division

League Standings - Match Results

We started off firing with convincing wins, draws and hardly any losses, even against former Pro League teams. With these results in the first period, we were ranked 2nd after first period winners Wetteren. We continued more or less at the same pace and moved up to first place midway the season, 3 points ahead of Lierse and Visé. With winning an important 0-1 game over Lierse we increased the gap to 5 pts and the fans are silently dreaming of winning the league. Lierse started to win everything soon after while we struggled and drew a few games. With 4 games to go, Lierse and us had the same amount of points, but they had a better goal difference. We drew and won twice while Lierse won, lost and drew once putting us 3 points clear with 1 game to go. We play Visé and only need 1 point. We lose 1-0 while Lierse wins 0-2 in Oostende. Great… playoffs for me…


In the playoffs we meet FC Brussels (D2), Wetteren (D2) and Lommel United (D1). We play well and end up equal with Lommel with one game to go. We have a better goal difference so we just need a win, and preferably with lots of goals. We draw Wetteren 0-0 while they win in Brussels 1-2. Missed promotion again! Close, but no cigar…. twice!


Nothing major happened in the cup. Lost to Genk 0-4.
Highlight of the season:
Making the tactic 4-6-0 that I never tried before work for the team.


Results:
League: 2nd
Cup: 6th round loss at home vs. Genk
MVP: Nassim Bastian who came over from Mons at the start of the season
Top Goalscorer: he is also the top goalscorer


Best 11:
GK - Felix Rousseau
DL – Mats Burhenne
DC – Jozef Chevalier
DC – Niels Hilligsman
DR – Maxim Willems
DMC – Oscar Dumont
DMC - Loic N'Goua Mebale
AML - Yohan Lacroix
AMC – Nassim Bastian
AMC – Xarophino
AMR – Heiko Werner

Best Goals: Oscar Dumont, Nassim Bastian, Greame Elliott

[noikeee]

I'm going to follow this just because of your utterly ridiculous username. I like the rubbish clubs too, never managed in Norway or Belgium before, sounds interesting. Will give it a more thorough read later, just skimmed past it now.

4-6-0 is an awesome tactic in theory, I like it.

[laBOMBA]

4-6-0 is an awesome tactic in theory, I like it.

I agree, but unfortunately not good enough to win everything in Division 2 in Belgium.

[laBOMBA]

2016-17 Pre-Season update
KAS Eupen - Belgian 2nd Division

Manager - Club - Facilities - Transfers

I must have not paid much attention since I forgot to extend Burhenne’s contract, and I somehow agreed on loaning Greame Elliott to div 1 club Roeselare. My wing back now plays for Mons. Nevertheless, I got another German winger/striker in (Jürgen Röser), together with Mauro Fioretti, Gian and 2 youngsters for the u19 team. I also got a Latvian winger/striker (Bespalovs) on loan from Club Brugge.

Expectations:

Media: 3th
Board: challenge for title
Cup: 6th round

2016-2017 End of Season update
KAS Eupen - Belgian 2nd Division

League Standings - Progress - Match Results - First Team

High expectations this season, and I feel we should be challenging for the title again. We should’ve, but Mons, STVV and Vise did the same thing and were head and shoulders above the rest. Aside from their great performance, we also lost or drew a few games we should have won. We were always around 7th spot in the first half of the season, and performed better in the second half to finish 10 points behind the top 3, with Mons winning the league. We didn’t even get a playoff place since other teams performed better during the 3 periods. Mons, Tournai and Westerlo (D1) battled it out for the second promotion spot. I really would have thought the same tactic from last season would’ve worked as well. I guess I was wrong.


Highlight of the season:
Scoring a first free kick goal!

Results:

League: 4th
Cup: 6th round loss vs. Lommel after penalties
MVP: same as last year: Nassim Bastian
Top Goalscorer: Heiko Werner

Best 11:

GK - Felix Rousseau
DL – Mats Burhenne
DC – Jozef Chevalier
DC – Niels Hilligsman
DR – Younes Sakim
DMC – Oscar Dumont
DMC - Loic N'Goua Mebale
AML - Eduards Bespalovs
AMC – Nassim Bastian
AMC – Xarophino
AMR – Heiko Werner

Best Goals: Eduards Bespalovs

[laBOMBA]

2017-18 Pre-Season update
KAS Eupen - Belgian 2nd Division


Manager – Club – First Team – Transfers

The board reduced my wage budget to $23000 in an effort to bring our account back in black. We were spending about $5000 over so I had to take some measurements. I released all my youth players except for a lucky few and offered my best player Nassim Bastian to several clubs. Bristol City snapped him up for $800k. Jürgen Röser was also loaned out to Roeselare, with an option to buy for $450k. I was still $1000 over, but I could live with that. I also got 3 players on loan for free from Club Brugge as we are their satellite club. The players are Thiebaut Desmedt, Özcan Öksüz and George Cristide.
The board offered me a new contract for another 2 seasons for $500/week less. No way, as I don't want to earn less, and I want to wait until the end of the season to see how we performed.

2017-2018 End of Season update
KAS Eupen – Belgian 2nd Division

League Standings – Progress – Playoffs - Match Results

I thought this season was going to be a transition season, since we got rid of our best player, but it turned out to be quite successful. We had everything against us though:

• I forgot to extend the physio's contract and only realised this midseason when I was wondering why we had so many long term injuries. After I hired a new one, it didn't really improve much as we still had to deal with injuries. I promoted 3 youth players to get a squad together. At least they were happy as they got some play time

• I offered the squad low league and cup bonuses since I wanted to help the club financially. Having never done this before, I didn't realise my players mood would be very low all season. I had to call several team meetings and threaten to sell players to get their performance up. They were only happy when they beat a team with 5-0.

Despite all that, we played well and were ranked 2nd behind STVV at the January break. We stayed top 3 all season and managed to secure a playoff spot by finishing 2nd in the league behind STVV. The playoffs was between us, Roeselare (D1), Antwerp (D2) and Visé (D2).
Playoff Results:

• Antwerp - Eupen 1-0
• Eupen - Visé 0-0
• Eupen - Roeselare 1-1
• Eupen - Antwerp 1-1
• Visé - Eupen 1-1
• Roeselare - Eupen 2-1

What was mindblowing is that we reached the semi final in the cup. We beat KV Kortrijk at their own turf with 1-3 in the sixth round, Charleroi at home 1-0 in the seventh round and were drawn versus our linked club: Club Brugge for the quarter final. We surprisingly won at home 2-1, and had little chances in Bruges. But we kept our nets clean and got one counter where Kainu managed to break away and score! 0-1, and Bruges couldn't score so we went through to the semis where our current season nemesis awaits: STVV. We lost 3-0 away and only won 1-0 at home. They played Anderlecht in the final which STVV lost.


Results:
League: 2nd
Cup: Lost in semi final to STVV
MVP: Heiko Werner
Top Goalscorer: Heiko Werner

Best 11:

Formation
I switched between 4-6-0 and 4-4-2 diamond all season since I always had midfielders or attackers injured. I found that I had the best reulsts playing 4-4-2 diamond.

GK - Gian
DL - Thiebaut Desmedt
DC - Jozef Chevalier
DC - Mauro Fioretti
DR - Özcan Öksüz
DMC - Loic N'Goua Mebale
ML - Yohan Lacroix
MR - Greame Elliott
AMC - Jyrki Kainu
ST - George Christide
ST - Heiko Werner


Best Goals: Jean-Marc Grange, Jyrki Kainu

[laBOMBA]

After having failed to secure promotion, the board giving me a contract for less pay and getting a reduced wage bill again, I decided to resign as I don't see a possibility to get promoted anytime soon. I went on holiday and dropped a resume here and there. I mostly got laughed at, but in November I received a positive response from Coventry.


I happily accepted and off to England I went.

2018-19 Mid-Season update
Coventry FC - English npower League 1


Manager – Club – Club2 - First Team – Transfers - Facilities

The club got relegated to league 1 last season and was in 8th spot when I took over. The board expected to try for promotion so I needed to lift the game and make them rise up the ladder. Being a Belgian manager myself, and having an all Belgian board (taken over last season) makes me feel at home at this club. The squad and finances both look good, and the quality of the players allowed me to play my favourite tactic. I got a few important wins when I just joined so were 6th at mid season, and the morale is going upwards.

2018-2019 End of Season update
Coventry FC – English npower League 1

League Standings – Progress – Match Results 1 – Match Results 2

We played ok, but didn't have the winning streak I was hoping for. Nevertheless, we kept climbing up the ladder because the teams around us lost games as well. We had the chance to finish 2nd and avoid playoffs, by getting 1pt more than Swindon in the final 2 games of the season. We win our game while
Swindon draws which made us jump over them to 2nd place. We just needed to win against Burton at home. After 2 goals disallowed and a penalty not given, score was 0-0 after 90 minutes. Unfortunately we dropped to 3rd place again and into playoffs since Swindon won their last game and we were 1 point behind them again. Paul McCarthy lead Derby County to the league victory.


We play Luton in the Semi Final of the playoff. They were quite good, but we kept a 0-0 up intil the 80th minute when they scored once, and a second time a few minutes later. When we then played them at home, we got ahead 1-0 and got a goal against in the 65th minute which pretty much killed our prospect of promotion. We went all out to attack but could only score once more. Luton then lost vs. Sunderland in the final.
I seem to struggle with playoffs and missing promotion at the last game.


Results:
League: 3rd
FA Cup: 2nd round loss to Kidderminster
Carling Cup: First round loss to Cambridge United
Johnstone Paint Trophy: Semi Final loss to Bristol Rovers
MVP: Joey Barnes
Top Goalscorer: James Wilson

Best 11:

Formation
I could play my favourite 4-3-1-2 formation with Coventry as they had the players to do it.

GK - Alexander Lundmark
DL - Jon Gray
DC - Nigel Young
DC - David Thomas
DR - Charley Hodgson
MC - Sam Lepage
MC - Maxim Chevalier
MC - Jon May
AMC - Joey Barnes
ST - Wesley de Wit
ST - James Wilson

Best Goals: Kikunda (player on loan), Wesley de Wit, Luke Buckley

[SRL88]

Good luck with Coventry mate .

Hopefully you will gain promotion next season.

[laBOMBA]

Cheers, I hope I do. Got a few young signing that hopefully can perform at the top of league 1.

[laBOMBA]

2019-20 Pre-Season update
Coventry FC - English npower League 1

Here is an overview of the players coming in this season:

Danny Ferry - on loan from Wolves, to give a bit more depth to the defence

Stuart Upcott - I'm hoping this guy can score heaps of headers, he is huge! With his height and jumping skills he should win lots of battles in the air. Just need to work on his strength a bit more.

Rhys Williamson - fast midfielder, can also kick a corner or free kick

Stephen Monk - fast striker, but needs to work on his composure

Greg Hopkins - pretty eccentric goalie, but very talented. I'm going to give him lots of game time.

Precious Morris - just in case I need a sweeper

Kyle Dodds - a guy for the future, and potentially on the left wing when I play 4-6-0.

Cyrus Creswell - a guy for the future, but I'll give him a few games this season

Gareth Forsyth - another Scottish lad. Will bring some finishing up front, and might pair up well with Upcott and/or Wilson with his teamwork.

Gary Francis - strong defender. Hopefully wins a lot of balls

Ollie Lay - very fast and determined player. Has a lot to learn though.

Bill Whitehead - not a great player, but good enough to be my first choice wing back.

The board is expecting promotion this season and I hope to score more from corners and free-kicks this season with Stuart Upcott up front to head them in. This is what stopped us from winning the league I believe. I also strengthened the defence as we had so many late goals against. So now I got a bit of depth to substitute when they get tired at the back.


Media prediction: 3rd
Board: win promotion, reach 3rd round of FA Cup, reach 2nd round of League Cup and they don't care about the Johnstone's Paint Trophy

Pre-season games were ok, but we did a lot of tactical training. I decided to train 4-3-1-2, 4-3-3 and 4-6-0.

[noikeee]

Okay, gave this something more resembling a proper read now. Seems like you're suffering from the same curse I had in the early days of my FM11 career, loads of playoff defeats! I know that's very frustrating. I think you're jumping ship too early from club to club, the norwegians had potential (altho I understand being given a lower wage would look like an insult for the work you had done there!) and the belgians while frustrating, promotion would've seemed all the much sweeter when you finally clinched it.

On the other hand, I did the very same thing in my career (jumping early) then regretted most moves because I couldn't find better jobs. Whereas you actually seem to be climbing slowly in the career, Coventry is clearly a bigger club. Hopefully you break the playoffs curse or gain automatic promotion this season.

[laBOMBA]

Thanks for your input. I like to play the game as realistic as possible. When I get an offer from Eupen for more money, most managers would accept. And with Eupen, I needed to get promotion in the 2nd season as I was spending lots of money and we needed to go to the pro league to get more money and keep the club going. By not getting promotion, we had to make cutbacks twice, and since I want to move up I didn't want to stay with Eupen and rebuild the squad to try again in a few seasons. I was hoping another decent club would hire me, and it happened.

[Deisler26]

Good luck with Coventry!

[laBOMBA]

Good luck with Coventry!

Cheers mate!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Bombing at Coventry.

[SRL88]

Hopefully you wont have to worry about the play-offs this season. Good luck .

[laBOMBA]

2019-20 Mid-Season update
Coventry FC - English npower League 1

I ended up not playing 4-6-0 at all, and decided to train a similar tactic. I just moved a central attacking midfielder forward as a lone striker up front.


It took a bit of shuffling around to find the right tactic and the best spots to play my players. Upcott, as predicted, performed well and scored quite a bit of goals at the start. Funnily enough, his very first goal for Coventry wasn't a header, but this beauty! We mostly played a 4-3-3 formation, but found we weren't in control of the game and had narrow victories instead of convincing wins. With the narrow wins, a few losses and lots of draws, we dropped to 11th and the board started questioning my leadership.





So I decided to move Upcott to an AMC role and he did ok there as well. Since we play a narrow formation with no wingers, it was kinda pointless to have a tall Target Man since there were hardly any crosses. He still scores on free kicks and corners though. This plan worked a lot better. Our passing improved, we had more possession and we won games by more then 1 goal difference. We moved up the ladder and reached a 4th spot halfway the season. My players, the board and me were glad to see were on schedule to get promoted. Luckily we turned things around as a few players had a chat with me about the club underperforming. I all told them we'll be up there by the end of the season so I'll be in the sh!ts if we don't get promoted.

Other nice goals in the first half of the season: James Wilson, Dimitris Karabelas, Luke Buckley

[SRL88]

Sat in a nice position at the half-way stage. Every chance of promotion.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Bombing even more now.

[noikeee]

Nice mid-season turnaround, surely it's partly to do with those tactical tweaks but I have some doubts on your plan for Upcott, if he's your major future star then it's worth considering switching the team overall plan to suit him, he's mildly creative but basically you're throwing away his whole key ability which is in the air.

[laBOMBA]

You're probably right noikeee. I don't have any decent wingers though. I did a bid on a good winger during the January transfer window but he decided to go to Swansea.
My plan is actually to play a narrow formation at home 4-3-1-2 and start Upcott on the bench. Mainly because I have a narrow pitch and I like the strikers to dive into the space onto through balls. If that fails then I switch to a formation with wingers and put Upcott on the field to head them in. This tactic I would likely use in away games as well, but I need to get the right players for this to work still, so its a work in progress. Once Upcott has improved a bit, I might use this tactic as my starting tactic.
For now, I like Upcott to hang around on the field since he is a great header and very dangerous at freekicks and corners.

[laBOMBA]

2019-20 End of Season update
Coventry FC - English npower League 1

League Standings - Progress - Player Stats

I was lucky to sign 1 player during the January transfer window: Chris Vendeville


January wasn't a very good month, we had three 0-1 losses vs teams that we should have won against. I called a team meeting but nobody really improved after that. We dropped to 7th at the end of January, just outside of playoff zone.


Something had to be done to turn the team around. So I had a look at my players again and saw that Jon May might be better in a DMC position than in a MC position where I have played him at this season. So I tweaked my tactics again and moved the AMC to a DMC position. I also made sure I had the fastest poacher playing up front and my midfield had good passing skills. I also moved Upcott in the Target Man position next to the poacher (Luke Buckley) and the two found each other very well. This worked really well and we started winning again, with huge differences: 5-0 vs Walsall, 3-1 vs Hereford and Burton, 5-1 vs Rotherham. We stayed up there and with 3 games to go, 5 clubs are still in the race for promotion behind winner Swansea. Only a few points separates the positions 2-5. Our next game is vs Bristol Rovers which we skilfully managed to lose with 2-0. We then win 3-2 at home vs Luton with Upcott receiving a red card and a 1 match ban. By then it was too late as Sheffield Wednesday had won all of their games and was out of reach for the 2nd spot. The last game against winners Swansea didn't matter. We finished 3rd and qualified for play-offs again... hope I can break the play-off curse.
We were losing a lot of money as well so a win in the play-offs would be great for our finances. It's a bit odd though as I stayed under my allowed budget ($132,664 used out of $138,127 available) and got rid of a few high paid players last season.


I have also been linked to jobs in the Belgian Pro League: STVV and KV Mechelen have shown an interest, but I declared I wasn't very interested.


Our first play-off game is against Stockport: We lose 2-1 in Stockport, and with a scoreline of 1-1 at home, my midfielder gets red carded in the 67th min for a 2 footed challenge. Scary as we continue with 10 and still need to score at least 1 goal. Luckily Upcott scores the 2nd goal in the 83rd minute after a nice cross from Buckley. Extra Time! Nothing happened in the first extra time, but in the 2nd extra time, Upcott heads in a corner and a freekick and we win with 4-1! That was a very close game.
In the final, we meet Walsall who we have pushed aside before with 5-0. The game at Wembley was another highscoring game, with Coventry as winners: 5-1! This time Luke Buckley was in form with a clean hattrick. We are promoted to the Champioship and I have broken my play-off curse.


I was voted 3rd best manager of the year of the npower league 1


A few good youth prospects came through our ranks. The Assman highlighted Garry Proudlock as being the best one. Another guy who is not that good, but I'll keep him because of his name: King Arthur


Results:
League: 3rd, promotion through playoff
FA Cup: 2nd round loss to Tamworth (L2)
League Cup: lost in 2nd round vs West Ham (PRM)
Johnstone Paint Trophy: lost in semi final to Barnet (L2)
MVP: Luke Buckley
Top goalscorer: Stuart Upcott


Best 11:
Formation

GK - Greg Hopkins

DL - Jon Gray

DC - Chris Venderville

DC - Gary Francis

DR - Adam James

DMC - Jon May

MC - Sam Lepage

MC - Dimitris Karabelas

MC - Joey Barnes

ST - Luke Buckley

ST - Stuart Upcott


This goal from James Wilson was also voted "best goal of the season".

[Nobby_McDonald]

Nice work winning promotion.

[deltablue]

Good turnaround.

[laBOMBA]

Cheers guys.

[noikeee]

Excellent work on still just about making it to gain promotion there. I quite liked that goal from Wilson, superb run.

[SRL88]

Great work on promotion mate .

[Moonshine]

Wahey that I'm an inspiration \o/. I guess that makes Nobby an inspiration of the inspiration? . And KUTGW!

[Nobby_McDonald]

I inspire many people.

[laBOMBA]

When my head cleared from the hangover of the promotion victory, I checked my inbox and saw following message:



Club Brugge wants me?Steam told me it was a childhood dream come true, and with Club Brugge as my favourite club I could not refuse. The money is a lot more too and the club plays in the championship league next season. I just had to accept. The previous manager won the double and retired on a high so I got big shoes to fill.


Euro 2020 Results

2020-2021 Pre-Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League


Manager - Club - Facilities - First Team

Most notable players: Daniel Graciani, Bife, Iván Varela, Ewerton

Lots of South American flair in the team. I'm low on Home Grown players and I need at least 6 in every Belgian League game. So I made it my mission to focus on Belgian youth and bring in very young foreign talent to train for 3 years and become home grown.

New signings:

Josh Dunleavy - Welsh striker/winger that I had my eye on while at Coventry. Great finishing skills and a good prospect for the future

Mathieu Cadoret - a guy for the future, but he'll make a few appearances this season as he'll be a great playmaker one day

Zarko Jakovljevic - right back on load from FC Bayern. Could use someone good on that spot.

Alain Christian Nzoghe - fast winger/poacher. Can play opposite of Dunleavy on the wings

Expectations:
Media: 2nd
Board: challenge for title, reach playoffs of the Champions Cup, reach the Final of the Belgian Cup.

[noikeee]

Bloody hell, that's another very big career jump. Some class players there too. I think you have a very good chance of making the Champions League groups stage, and maybe even steal some points from the top sides there.

[laBOMBA]

Bloody hell, that's another very big career jump. Some class players there too. I think you have a very good chance of making the Champions League groups stage, and maybe even steal some points from the top sides there.

It sure is. I remember with my LLM FM11 save I only started with Bath City in the BSS in 2020. In this savegame I'm already at Club Brugge in 2020.

[Deisler26]

Congrats!!! Hopefully CLub Brugge will fire you into the big time.

[laBOMBA]

2020-2021 Mid-Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

Standings (January) - Progress

I tried a few formations but was most happy with a 4-2-3-1. Graciani as a lone striker and 3 attacking midfielders behind him: Nzoghe on the right flank and Dunleavy on the left flank, both as inside forwards. The AMC changes according to whoever is available and not injured. The AMC should be the playmaker but I don't have a really good one so a few people rotate on that spot. I am looking around for a great AMC playmaker but so far couldn't find anything that I like and is within my budget.


The league is going great. Convincing wins, and we're battling it out with Genk for the title at the moment. Genk is having a great season as well and it took a while for them to start losing points. Halfway the season we are 1st, and just took over Genks spot. We had a bit of a dip in November and lost a few games, only 1 league game luckily, but we lost our seventh round Cup game vs KV Mechelen. We managed to keep our act together and kept performing in December to claim the first spot at the January break. Mind you, we haven't played Genk yet as our game got reshuffled due to a cup game clash.


Graciani is doing really well and scoring a lot. I had to get rid of Ivan Varela unfortunately. He asked me multiple times for a move to a bigger club. So I sold him to Velez for $7m. Ewerton is now complaining about the same thing...


The champions league was very interesting: first of all, we immediatly qualified for the group stage, which is great, but we get a tough group with Barcelona, Juventus and Zenit. My goal is to finish 3rd and qualify for the Europa Cup. We start really well with a home win 3-2 vs Zenit, and a lucky 1-0 loss in Barcelona. We could have scored in Barcelona but my strikers missed composure. Luckily my defence was focused. We play well in Juventus: 1-1 and then lose to them at home 1-3. This is when our bad form started. The crucial game in Zenit needed to be drawn to stay ahead of them, but we lose 3-0. All goals in the first 15 minutes. We were just hopeless that game... Both Zenit and us are on 4 points before the last game so we need to get points at home vs Barcelona and Zenit needs to lose against Juventus. Zenit did lose with 2-1, and we did something magical: We beat Barcelona 2-1! Very interesting game as we get a goal behind in the 67th minute. We then score 1-1 in the 71st and scored another one in the 83rd minute with a close range header by Dunleavy. Mind you, Dunleavy was attacked by the media because of underperforming and not scoring. He shut them up with that goal didn't he? If we wouldn't have the Barca goal against we actually would have jumped over them and qualified for the next round. Oh well, maybe next season, Europa Cup is good too. We draw (what I think is) a relatively easy opponent in the Europa Cup: SK Rapid Wien.


A few players came in, mainly young kids for the youth squad since I am focusing heavily on youth. The board also approved a youth facilities upgrade...yay!


The new kids on the block are:

Jorn van Thiel - young dutch striker. Dreams of being a good poacher one day
Michel Oparaugo - Great attributes! Just a bit low on physique, but I'm hoping to work on that
Denis Rocher - Could be a great anchor man.


Then I also got 2 loans in for the rest of the season:
Joaquim Pereira - Goalie from our sattelite club Benfica
Marko Drndar - Great player for my squad, will fit in nicely where Ivan Varela left off.

[deltablue]

Excellent opportunity.

[SRL88]

Nice move to Belgium. Purefun will have a boner!!!

Going well so far .

[laBOMBA]

2020-2021 End of Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

League Standings - Champions Group - Progress - Matches 1 - Matches 2

Our lead was increased even more when we beat Genk. We were now 10 points clear of the number 2. We got a bit sloppy in February but had enough lead to be in first spot before the champions group stage.

We start the group stage with 3 points ahead of the nr2 Genk. We don't have that great spirit that allowed us to easily win games anymore, and now we have to fight for every point. It didn't help that Graciano was injured for the rest of the season. We managed to scrape a few victories which kept us in the lead and with 2 games to go, we suddenly had 1 great game: a 4-1 win vs Genk, which increased my chances of winning the league by heaps, as long a Anderlecht didn't get points. Anderlecht lost that weekend 2-1 vs Standard. We were crowned Pro League winners with 1 game to go.

Our first game in the Europa cup was not too bad. A 1-0 loss in Vienna is ok. Especially when we beat them 6-0 at home. Betis is next: not very convincing, 0-0 away, 1-0 at home. We go through to the quarter finals where Wolfsburg was too strong for us: 3-0 away and 0-0 at home. Pretty happy of getting to that stage though.

I got 3rd place in manager of the year, which I am not happy about to be honest. I should be at least second! Graciani is top scorer of the league with 30 goals.

Results:
League: 1st
Cup: lost to KV Mechelen in 7th round (board was not happy with that)
Champions League: 3rd in group stage
Europa League: Lost to Wolfsburg in Quarter Finals
MVP: Daniel Graciani
Top goalscorer: Daniel Graciani
Best youth Prospect: Stan Mortier

Best 11:
Formation 4-2-3-1 has proved to be our best line-up

GK - Abdurahim Brack - the shortest goalie I've ever played in my first team.

DL - Ewerton

DC - Bife

DC - Teun van der Plas

DR - Håkon Hagen

DMC - Ammar Bourenane

DMC - Marko Drndar

AML - Josh Dunleavy

AMC - Xaxá

AMR - Alain Christian Nzoghe

ST - Daniel Graciani

[withnail316]

Great work there, that's a cracking move.

Best of luck in Belgium.

[deltablue]

Great league progress, awful league logo.

[laBOMBA]

Great work there, that's a cracking move.

Best of luck in Belgium.

Cheers mate.

Great league progress, awful league logo.

I should actually update my logos. I once downloaded heaps of logos with FM09 and have copied them over to the future FM versions.

[laBOMBA]

2021-2022 Pre-Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

The board made a few great decisions regarding our facilities:

We got some extra cash as well with the chairman injecting $20m and 2 new sponsorship deals for a little bit more money...not much though.


During Pre-Season, I've predominatly signed young players for the future, but since the board gave me a good transfer budget ($31m) and associated wage budget ($550K/week), I was able to go shopping and get some great players in.

The new players to be seen in the new Club Brugge outfits are:

Michael Wisniewski - will be a good fast winger one day

Erwin Brown - Not sure where I should play him. At the moment he would be taking over Nzoghe's spot in the future on the right wing as an inside forward, but I could also let him evolve to a winger.

Bram Rutten - Snatched him away from our rivals Genk. I needed good home grown players and he is one. I'll play him in a DMC role as he has got good passing, teamwork and tackling. Will make his first cap soon I believe.

Christos Lebrun - Had my eye on him last season as well but couldn't afford him. Another great home grown player who'll play in a similar role than Rutten.

Ahmed Yildirim - this goalie came cheap and is a fair bit better than Brack. He'll be my first choice this season

William Aubert - Same story as Lebrun, wanted him last year but couldn't afford him. Not a playmaker, but he's my spare winger on the right, or maybe play as a target man.

Jean-François Cerullei - left winger for the future, I've loaned him out to our sattelite club Dinamo Tbilisi this season

Ignacio Durán - without a doubt my best buy. He was expensive but he is worth it. I'm counting on him to form the backbone of the defence and be involved in every part of the game.

Luc Lambert - I also found this guy for free. He was released by Olympique Lyon where he has played all of his life. Unortunately he doesn't have home grown status so I'm not sure if he'll play a lot, but I got him in case Yildirim gets injured, and also to teach the younger goalies in the squad


Media Prediction: 2nd

Board Expectations:

• Win the Pro League
• Reach te Belgian Cup final
• Qualify for Group stage of the Champions League.
• Don't care about the Super Cup.

[B.W.G]

Excellent career so far,congrats on the title win with Brugge.Keep up the good work

Congrats on the new stadium as well,Durán looks like he will be a class signing for you.

[laBOMBA]

Excellent career so far,congrats on the title win with Brugge.Keep up the good work

Congrats on the new stadium as well,Durán looks like he will be a class signing for you.

Cheers, it keeps getting better... more big changes to follow in next update.

[cpfc543]

Fantastic career so far. Hopefully you can progress further in Europe this season. Keep up the good work

[laBOMBA]

2021-2022 Mid-Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League
Standings (January) - Champions League

The first few games were great, but then Graciani picks up a 4 month injury which means he misses the whole Group Stage for the Championship League. That sucks as he bangs the goals in like no one else. Our form dropped slightly because of this while Genk is having another great start to the season so we are destined to follow in their slip stream for now. At the mid season break, we sneaked up to 2 points from Genk, after we convincingly won from them at home with 4-1.

Like last season, we get into the group stage of the championship league straight away. We play in group D together with Palermo, Arsenal and Shaktar. Clearly, we are destined for 4th spot again. I actually thought Palermo wasn't that strong, but their history shows otherwise: they won the seria A 5 times in the last 6 years. Also, with Graciani injured, I'm missing a strong player up front, so this campaign is going to be interesting. First game in Donetsk was not too bad. Even though the score says 1-1, the shots on target are more like 16-3. So we got lucky, but then again we have a strong defense with Duran at the back. Palermo was a lot more efficient up front when they paid us a visit: 2-6! We then traveled to Emirates stadium and played really well. We were up 0-1 for most of the game. Arsenal then scored 2 goals in the last 20 mins and we lost 2-1. Similar story when they came to Brugge, but this time we only conceded one so we ended in a 1-1 draw. The important game at home vs Shaktar should decide who finishes 3rd, but we also manage to draw this one 1-1. Not bad considering I was missing Yildirim and Nzoghe due to international call ups, I had a few injuries and the capped players were tired from their international games earlier in the week. Wisniewski played his very first professional game in this match. For our last game, we have to travel to Palermo while Shaktar welcomes Arsenal. At this stage Shaktar and us are eliminated, but we're still fighting for a 3rd spot. We're both on 3 points and the same goal difference so we're in 3rd spot by scoring more goals than they have. Let's hope they lose to Arsenal and we either get a point, or lose with little difference. Shaktar lost with a massive 1-4 score and we, believe it or not, win in Palermo with 0-1! Seems like we have 1 shock result every season during the group stage.

We qualify for the Europa League where we draw Dinamo in the 2nd round.

I got a few other job offers, but I rejected all of them:




During the qualification for the World Cup, Belgium came 2nd in the group stage and had to play a qualifier against Romania which we lost on away goals. The coach got the boot and I thought: "I'll give that role a crack" and submitted my resume. To my big surprise, the association was interested and they offered me the job! I wasn't going to take on a national role until later in my career, but I couldn't say no to my home country, so I took it! My first game will be a friendly vs N.Ireland in march.

We are also planning another youth facilities upgrade. A second one since I took over the club!

We received a transfer offer for my best player, Ignacio Duran, which we couldn't refused because of his release clause. Napoli offered $12.25M, which is more than double that we bought him for. We probably couldn't keep him at Brugge anyway so I'm happy we got a lot of money from him.

New signings:
Matteo Nizzetto - I was really surprised he agreed to move to Brugge seing he has a good future at his club Udinese as well. He might get more playing chances with me though.

Martín Pozzi - Looks like a great player with a bright future

And a loan from Bayern:
Ali Sefa - Might help us forget the loss of Duran

[deltablue]

Well done getting the national job.

[laBOMBA]

Well done getting the national job.

Cheers. I'll promise not to call up too much Club Brugge players.

[laBOMBA]

2021-2022 End of Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

League Standing - Championship Group - Progress - Matches 1 - Matches 2

We got close to Genk throughout the 2nd half of the season but missed composure to finish the job and jump over them in the league. We didn't lose, but we drew a few games while Genk kept winning. They are having an amazing season and finished the League in first spot with 23 wins, 5 draws and only 2 losses. We ended up 5 points behind in 2nd spot.

Our youth development has been very successful this season with both the U21's and the U19's blitzing the leagues. Even the U21 league stats and the U19 league stats are all with players from Club Brugge. It won't take long before these players break through into the Senior Squad. Our youth academy also produced Milan Lievens, one of our most exciting prospects.

The championship group has the following teams (in order of standings in the League): Genk, Club Brugge, Anderlecht, Standard, STVV and Lierse. We draw our first 2 away games vs Anderlecht and Genk, and then go on a 3-game winning streak (Lierse, STVV, and Standard). We then lose a game vs Lierse, and win a thrilling game at home 2-1 vs. Anderlecht. This puts us into first place with 5 points ahead of the nr 2 Anderlecht. Genk has completely collapsed and only got 3 points out of 7 games. We play them next and their bad form continues which helps us get a 5-1 victory. We only need 2 points out of the next 2 games. We draw 0-0 in Sint Truiden, but it was enough as Anderlecht failed to get points. We retain the Pro League title!

The Europa League went ok. Dinamo Zagreb was no match for us as we beat them twice: 2-3 in Zagreb and 4-0 at home. Bayer 04 Leverkusen is next. They have 2 really good teenage strikers so it will be up to our defence to mark them tightly. We play at home first and get totally blown away by their pace of their attack. Our defenders couldn't keep up and we lost 2-4. I had to put everything on attack in Leverkusen and changed my tactics around. It worked as we had most possession, and best chances, but we weren't very efficient with our chances. We win 1-2, but it wasn't enough to qualify for the Quarter Finals.

After the season, I got an offer to manage Ajax. I had to think long and hard about this one but I decided to stick with Brugge. Even though Ajax is better, rich and have great facilities, the fact that Brugge is developing a great youth system, and the fact that it is my favourite club made my decision easier.

Results:
Pro League: Winners!
Cup: Lost to KV Mechelen in 7th round (again)
European Champions League, Group Stage: 3rd
Europa League: 2nd round loss to Leverkusen
MVP & Top Scorer: Alain Christian Nzoghe

Best 11:
Best Formation: 4-2-3-1 Deep
GK - Ahmed Yildirim
DL - Ewerton
DC - Ali Sefa / Ignacio Duran
DC - Teun Van der Plas
DR - Håkon Hagen
DMC - Bram Rutten
DMC - Christos Lebrun
AML - Josh Dunleavy
AMC - Michel Aparaugo
AMR - Alain Christian Nzoghe
ST - Daniel Graciani

Best Goals this season: Josh Dunleavy, Xaxá, Alain Christian Nzoghe, Matteo Nizetto (first goal for the club), Graciani

Season 2021-2022
National Service: Belgium

Not much happened this season with the national team as we failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, which the previous manager got the boot for. We just played a few friendlies, mainly for me to be able to see what type of players we have, and what tactic to apply. We played a friendly vs. N.Ireland which we won 3-1. Then we also helped our neighbours Holland prepare for the World Cup by giving them a game. We played ok, but are no match for them. We still "only" lost with 2-1.

World Cup Results.

[laBOMBA]

2022-2023 Pre-Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

Tunisia offered me the role to manage their side, but I rejected. Why would a Belgian, in charge of Belgium, leave his country to manage a (in my humble opinion) lesser good country?

I've been looking around to buy a few good players: The attack is sorted with Graciani, Nzoghe and Dunleavy, midfield with Pozzi, Nizetto, Rutten and Lebrun, but after Duran left the club and Ewerton still wants to leave, I need some backup in defence.

The board gave me more money again: $48.8M for transfers and a wage budget of $620K. With the new players coming in, there is $26.1M transfer budget left, and I am spending $375K on wages. I reckon we're a money making machine! And with the new stadium being finished at the end of this season, we'll skyrocket on a European scale... I hope...

The transfer money has been spent on following players:

Jacaré - probably my best buy. I bought him to play on Hagen's spot since he is on the way down, but he could also play in Ewerton's spot. I spent a lot of money on him, but he really fits my tactic as a right back since I require them to move up and get some crosses in. With his pace and his crossing, he'll be a major threat to any defence.

Rodolfo De Felippe - another great buy. Fast defender that can participate in the midfield if required. He'll also be a great near post attacker on corners.

Olaf Hille - I can't believe I got this guy for free. Schalke didn't think he was good enough, but I reckon he can manage really well in my division. Just give him a few seasons.

Adem Saglem - Also got this Turkish/German for free from Stuttgart. He might be good, but he's got a long way to go. A bit of a gamble, but hey, he didn't cost me anything.

Diego Teagno - I got great expectations from him. He is a very similar player to Pozzi, but maybe more of a striker than Pozzi. I managed to steal him away from Varese before the major Italian clubs got an interest in him.

Hervé Navarro - Not that his name sounds Belgian, but he sure is. Future Pro League leading goalie according to my scout. I hope he's right. He came for free from Mons.

Tsutomu Kawai - The only player with good potential my scout could find in Asia. Interesting to see this guy is already a member of the national side, but has a thing or 2 to learn before he can be starting eleven in Brugge. Hagen is helping him out and teaching him everything he knows.

Media Prediction: 1st

Board Expectations:

• win Pro League
• reach finals of Belgian Cup
• qualify for European Champions League Group Stage. Odd, as we've been qualified for that one 2 years in a row without having to play a single qualification game.
• couldn't care less about the Super Cup (but we won it anyway by whopping AA Gent's @ss 5-0)

[HotChocolate]

Nice bit of club hopping but you seem to have found your feet at Club Brugge.

[laBOMBA]

2022-2023 Mid-Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League
League Standings (January) - Champions League Standings

We have a great start to the season and claim first spot straight away. Graciani is doing his usual great performance for the first few games, and then getting injured for a few months. Yep, he's missing most of the Groups stage of the Champions League again. The pro league feels like a walk in the park. We beat a team with 5 goals difference here and there, and win against direct contenders for the title. We did have a freak loss/draw as well, but usually quite random or when my players were tired from the Cup and Championship League games. At mid-season, we were comfortably first.

In the Champions League, our coefficients have gone up so we're now in the bowl amongst the other 3rd seeds. We still draw a tough group with At.Madrid, Juventus and Fenerbace. At least with Fenerbace in our group we have a good chance to end 3rd in the group. Our first game against At.Madrid at home was really frustrating... seriously, 5 clear cut chances for us, and only 1 goal... 2 clear cut chances for Madrid yet they get to score 4 goals... We played well even though the scoreboard showed 1-4 after the game.
In Fenerbace, we play well again but soon faced a 2-0 score. Yelling at the squad during half time helped as we came back to 2-2. They scored another and with less than 1 min to go, we managed to slide the ball past the goalie again. Happy with the 3-3 as a loss would not be good at all.
For our next game, we played the perfect game and beat Juventus at home 5-2. Everything just went right. The tactic worked beautiful and the players performed great with 18yo Pozzi claiming the main role. Really surprised by the result, but also ecstatic.
We were kind of confident of playing a good game in Juventus as well, but that wasn't the case. A shamefull 4-1 loss with hardly any chances for us. We also lose in Madrid 2-1 but that was expected. We are faced with a situation now, that if we win our last game at home vs. Fenerbace and At.Madrid wins in Juventus, we would qualify for the knockout phase! We demolish Fenerbace 5-0, and the other game turns out to be a thriller with At.Madrid pulling of the win with 2-3. Phew , we qualify for the next stage.

That next stage is going to be insteresting as we play Napoli.


I signed 3 new players in January:

Miroslaw Vlaovic - signed him for free! Looks like I found my top noch goalie.
Lothar Maurer - good defender to head incoming crosses away. Should claim Van Der Plas' spot in defence.
Yoann Guilou - french defender for the future

Best Goals: Martìn Pozzi

[laBOMBA]

2022-2023 End of Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

League Standings - Progress - Championship Group - Match Results 1 - Match Results 2

Both Fiorentina and Everton asked me to manage them, but I declined. I want to keep going with Brugge as I feel I am on my way to make them into a club that can maybe win a major European title one day.

I can be fairly short with the rest of the season: we didn't lose a single game, won the league and qualified for the Championship Group. In the Championship Group, we have to play Genk, Beerschot AC, Anderlecht, AA Gent and Standard. None of these teams could stop us from claiming our 4th title in a row and we easily won the Championship Group as well. 4th title for Brugge in a row, 3 of them with me as manager.

The Cup was a lot better as well: we reach the final (as the board requested) and win an easy 2-0 vs. Lierse. We win the double!

The Champions League was very good as well. In the 1st Knockout Round, we win a convincing 4-0 at home vs. Napoli. I was kinda expecting them to change their tactic since ours was working really well against theirs, but in their home game, they still played the same way. We had most possession again and drew 2-2. It turned out to be a fairly easy knockout game. The quarter Final will be totally different as we play a very strong Real Madrid. We lose in Madrid with 2-0 and could not compete at home either. We were 1-1 for a while, but they scored another 2 bringing the final score to 1-3. Nothing to worry about as they quite strong with this player in their ranks: Jaime Aizpurua. Actually quite happy with the results.

What frustrates me this season, and the previous seasons as well, is that the Belgian press doesn't have any recognition for my achievments. You would think that winning the double and getting as far as the Quarter Final in the Champions League would make me manager of the year? I didn't even get a nomination! Really pissed off about that!

Results:
Pro League: Winners!
Belgian Cup: Winners!
Champions League: Quarter Final loss to Real Madrid
MVP: Alain Christian Nzoghe
Top Goalscorer: Daniel Graciani, he was injured a lot but when he played, he scored a lot: 30 goals out of 33 games
Best Youth Prospect: Vic Vandendriessche

Formation: 4-2-3-1

GK - Miroslav Vloavic

DL - Ewerton

DC - Teun van der Plas

DC - Rodolfo De Felippe

DR - Jacaré

DMC - Bram Rutten

DMC - Christos Lebrun

AML - Josh Dunleavy

AMC - Martín Pozzi

AMR - Alain Christian Nzoghe

ST - Daniel Graciani

[deltablue]

Commanding title.

[Moonshine]

Why do your regens have shirts?

[laBOMBA]

Why do your regens have shirts?

I like to add a few graphics here and there.

[laBOMBA]

2023-2024 Pre-Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

We got our new shiny 40802 seater stadium and I feel we're ready to make our mark in Europe.

New Players for this season are:

Juan Manuel Vivaldo - had my eye on him for a while, did a $13M bid and was able to offer him a contract. It's a great buy as he would be one of my best players

Hans-Georg Franz - I got him for free. My scout thinks he could be good in the future... We'll wait and see about that.

Anthony Peeters -Offered him a contract and he accepted to come over from Mons and play in our u19 squad.

Floriano -I got high hopes from him. Very mobile player and squeezes himself through the tiniest gap. I already bought him when he was 16, but he could only come over to Belgium when he turned 18.

Germán Ruiz - he would play on the opposite flank than Floriano in the future. He'll play a few games this season as well.

Mikel Velay - young Spanish DMC for the future.


Media Prediction: 1st
Board expectations:

• Win Pro League
• Reach Group Stage Champions League
• Reach Finals Belgian Cup

I also noticed that my reputation has gone up to "World Class"! It basically makes me the best manager around and that was where my challenge would take me. I guess I have to think of a new set of goals now...

After a little bit of thinking, I realised this is a good opportunity to get a few achievements that I haven't done yet in the LLM way throughout the different FM versions. Things to achieve:

• Win the Seria A in Italy
• Win the Liga BBVA in Spain
• Win the World Cup
• Win the Champions League. I have won the Champions League before (FM11), but I'll put this on my list for this save as well
• Be a one club manager and bring a lower club to the top of the country. I'll do that with a new manager once I reached retirement age and hopefully achieved all of the above.

[deltablue]

Proper big-club stadium capacity now.

[laBOMBA]

Proper big-club stadium capacity now.

Yeah, but it's already too small. We're getting sellouts every home game again. Sounds like we'll have to do an upgrade fairly soon.

[SRL88]

Great work getting a new stadium. Sounds like you need an ungrade already ha.

[laBOMBA]

If only I could pursuade the board that this would be a good thing. They should realise that we're consistently in the group stage in the Champions League, and even qualify for the knockout rounds so there is big money up for grabs during those games. Even the Pro League games get sold out or thereabouts. An extra 10000 seats would be nice.

[laBOMBA]

2023-2024 Mid-Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League
League Standings (January) - Champions League

As expected, the season starts very well for us. We didn't lose a single game halfway the season and were comfortably first. Our rival for the past 3 seasons Genk had a terrible start. Standard stepped up to claim second spot in the ladder 15pts behind us!


With a good sized squad, I could finally rest my best players the game before a champions league game. With a fully rested squad, I should do well. We meet Arsenal, Palermo and the Danish AGF in our group. The fully rested squad really helped as we only consolidated 2 goals, and won every single game:
Club Brugge - AGF 3-0
Palermo - Club Brugge 1-2
Arsenal - Club Brugge 0-2
Club Brugge - Arsenal 1-0
AGF - Club Brugge 1-6
Club Brugge - Palermo 2-0

We were group winner by the 5th game and qualified for the first knockout stage where we will meet Man Utd. If we can beat them, we'll have to be considered as outsiders for the Champions League crown.

With a "world class" reputation, suddenly everyone knows you. I noticed that it becomes relatively easy to offer contracts to young promising players. Suddenly they are honoured to work with me while last season they believed their future was at their club of origin. More updates about these signings when they arrive in Brugge at the end of the season.

One new signing during january:
Michael Severs - American AML/ST that is borderline first team. If he improves a bit, he ll be a great player.

[Golden1807]

Is winning the Champions League with Brugge the aim now? that would be quite an achievement

[laBOMBA]

Is winning the Champions League with Brugge the aim now? that would be quite an achievement

I want to stay at Club Brugge for at least 5 seasons. This is my fourth season with the club so if I win the Champions League this season, or the next, that would be awesome. I keep getting better and better players though and I feel the club can compete with the biggest clubs in Europe which would mean I'd like to stay a bit longer at Brugge as we could have a crack at the CL-title. If it doesn't happen, then I'll likely continue my journey at either a Spanish or Italian giant. I've been offered a contract for a lot of money at AC Milan and Tottenham, but refused so far.

[SRL88]

You have done a great job in Belgium. You deserve a chance on the bigger stage.

[laBOMBA]

You have done a great job in Belgium. You deserve a chance on the bigger stage.

Soon I'll accept one of these offers from bigger clubs. I just want to take my favourite club as far as I can.

[laBOMBA]

2023-2024 End of Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League
League Standings - Champions Group - Matches 1 - Matches 2

As predicted, we easily win the Pro League and qualify for the Champion Group together with Standard, Lierse, Genk, Beerschot AC and Charleroi. Anderlecht had a terrible season and finished 7th. My former club KAS Eupen finally got promoted last season and played their very first season at the highest level. Their season was terrible as they could not win a single game, and only got 4 points and 10 goals throughout the season.

Thanks to our great efforts during the season, we start the Champions Group with a 12 point lead over the nr.2 Standard. We only draw once, against Standard, and win all our other games quite easily. It's been a crazy season with only 4 draws and 0, indeed z-e-r-o losses. Quite amazed we did that. Just check these stats and you'll start realising how much difference there is between us and the rest of the Pro League.

We didn't win the Belgian Cup as we lost to Standard in the semi final. 2-0 in Standard and 1-1 at home.

The Champions League was quite exciting for us. We first play at Old Trafford and lose 1-0 with a goal that should have been disallowed due to the player clearly being offside. What was the ref thinking? At home we play quite well and get a an even amount of chances. Vivaldo, who barely scores anything, scored in the first half 1-0. We keep our level high and create a chance here and there. Until in the 83rd minute, Floriano runs along the left wing on a counter attack while Nzoghe has followed on the opposite side of the pitch. Floriano sees it, crosses, and Nzoghe has to tap the ball in an empty goal as the goalie was out of position. 2-0! We keep defending well and keep the 2-0 on the scoreboard. I couldn't believe it!
The QF draws us against Ajax, and if we go through, we would play the winner of Sevilla-Barcelona in the SF.
The first leg vs. Ajax was ok. We win 3-2, but had to fight back from 0-2. What really annoyed me is that we got 2 red cards as well. De Felippo tackled their striker going to goal which is an immediate red. Fair enough that he did that as we were 3-2 up and 2 minutes to play. But then my captain Nzoghe complained with the ref and received a 2nd yellow so he had to hit the showers as well! Completely unnecessary! I fined him 2 weeks wages after that and he thought it was unfair. In Amsterdam we concede a goal straight away. The score stayed like this up till the 84th minute when I decide to go in attacking mode. Ajax gets a counter and easily makes it 2-0. I should have gone for a bit more experience in my line-up as both my teenagers (Floriano & Ruiz) got a CCC and missed composure to finish it. I should have played Dunleavy and Oparaugo instead. Thats it for us in Europe this season... Bummer, I would have hoped for more.

Later, Schalke wins the final with a 2-1 win over Barcelona. Barcelona's best player received a red card in the 4th minute.

Even though I kept requesting for an expansion during the stadium and never got it, the board decided to do it anyway, and with an extra 16000 seats as well. Sweet!

Oh yeah, I still didn't win manager of the year in Belgium. This time I came 2nd behind the Standard manager.

Results:
Pro League: Winner!
Belgian Cup: lost to Standard in semi final
Champions League: QF loss to Ajax.
MVP: young kid Floriano who is labelled as a wonderkid
Top Goalscorer: Who else but Graciani?
Alain Christian Nzoghe wins the Pro League Golden Boot as well.

Best Formation:
4-2-3-1

Best 11:

GK - Miroslav Vlaovic

DL - Juan Manuel Vivaldo

DC - Rodolfo De Felippe

DC - Lothar Maurer

DR - Jacaré

DMC - Christos Lebrun

DMC - Bram Rutten

AML - Floriano

AMC - Martín Pozzi

AMR - Alain Christian Nzoghe

ST - Daniel Graciani

Best Goals: Martín Pozzi, Diego Teagno

Season 2023-2024
Belgium

The qualification rounds for the European Championships for Belgium were relatively easy. Liechtenstein and Cyprus were easy wins, Slovakia and Greece a bit harder. We do end up 2nd behind Greece and qualify for the European Championships in Spain.


European Championships:

Our group consists of Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria. Not too bad as I consider Russia to be less strong than countries like Spain, Italy, Germany,....
We had a mixed preparation to the Championships with a 3-1 loss to Germany, 3-1 win to Wales and a 3-1 loss to Croatia.

Our first game vs. Russia was great! Even though we conceided 2 early goals, we managed to claw 2 back, and even score a third with 5 mins to go! Needless to say Russia put everything on attack and they managed to squeeze one in in extra time, 3-3. Not a bad result. Ukraine was way too strong for us in the next game: 1-0. Surprisingly as they had a gazillion shots at goal, and we only had 2 off target all game! The must win game vs Bulgaria should bring us either 2nd or 3rd in our group and qualify for the 2nd round. We played well all game and knocked them back 4-1. Ukraine is first, Russia 2nd and we qualify as best placed third.

We meet hosts Spain in the 2nd round. It was one of those games where you stare at the screen, jaw drops, take glasses off, bang head against table, put glassed back on, check the screen again, take glasses off, bang head some more... just look at these stats. We play really well, had the best chances and still lost with a massive 1-6. We did not deserve this.

Two days later I handed in my resignation. Not only because of the result, but also because I'll never win a World Cup with Belgium. I'll try applying for jobs with better nations. I applied for Italy and Germany, but both of them laughed at my application. Funnily enough, England and Russia offered me the job. I took England's job offer as they have more skilled players to possibly do really well in the next World Cup.

European Championship Results:

2nd Round:
Belgium - Spain 1-6
Norway - Denmark 0-3
Portugal - Ireland 1-0
Italy - Holland 3-1 et
Turkey - France 0-1
Ukraine - Greece 2-1
Sweden - Germany 1-3
Russia - England 1-0

QF:
Denmark - Spain 1-1 (Spain on penalties)
Portugal - Italy 2-1
Russia - Germany 1-2
Ukraine - France 1-3

SF:
France - Portugal 1 -1 (France on penalties)
Germany - Spain 3-4 et

Final:
Spain - France 2-5

[laBOMBA]

2024-2025 Pre-Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League

My contract with Brugge runs out at the end of this season. I get paid $14000/week and when Brugge offered me a contract for $13750 until 2028, I got really annoyed. 4 consecutive Pro League titles, 1 Cup win, and I brought the club to 21st spot in the UEFA rankings and they offer me a lower wage? That felt like a kick in the guts. I reckon this will be my last season with Brugge. Man City offered me a contract the week before for $41000/week which I rejected. If a big Italian or Spanish club offers me a contract at the end of this season, I'll likely accept.

We had to say goodbye to 2 of my key players since foreign clubs offered their release clause:
Juan Manuel Vivaldo - Palermo paid us $11.75M for his services
Jacaré - went to Fiorentina for 15.25M

We also said goodbye to Xaxá and Michel Oparaugo as I found they were sitting on the bench too much and they could be of good use in another club. They went to Feyenoord and Catania.

As said before, my World Class reputation made sure that young good players accept my contract offers. New signings this season:

Rodrigo - got him for free from PSG. I believe he can fill in for Graciani when he is tired or unavailable to play. Might get him to tutor Rodrigo.

Christian Fedeli - coming over from Lazio for $3.6M, this talented fast player can bolster into a quality player for Brugge soon

Pierpaolo Campana - coming over from Parma for free. A good poacher, or could also play in Pozzi's spot right behind the lone striker.

Miguel González - He was most expensive buy: $5M from Universidad Católica. I needed a quality defender, he'll be really good in midfield too.

Sébastien Eboule Bille -free from Bastia, this French wing back will have to fill in for the gap my 2 wing backs left when they got poached

Daniel Raponi - fast young winger. Looks good for the future

Media Prediction: 1st
Board Expectations:
Pro League: 1st
Belgian Cup: Win the Cup
Champions League: reach the playoff, which we have done without playing a single game in the past 4 seasons. Stupid board...

[laBOMBA]

2024-2025 Mid-Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League
League Standings (January) - Champions League

I tried to steer away from my usual 4-2-3-1 approach as I got a new load of Italian Attacking midfielders/Strikers in, and they are all eager to play and ready to take up a spot in the starting 11. In my usual line-up they have to battle it out with Graciani and that is pretty hard for those kids as Graciani is head and shoulders above the rest. With 4-3-3, I can at least swap them around and play whoever performs best. Also, Teagno just had his first cap for Italy in the past European Championships so I'm afraid I might lose him if I don't play him regulary.

With the 4-3-3 formation, our no-loss run from last season was abruptly finished by a 1st round loss to STVV 2-1. It was a bit surprusing, but then again, they had a really good run the first quarter of the season. It was a one off loss as we kept beating the opposition quite easily with the 4-3-3 formation. Including a massive 9-0 over last seasons title contenders Standard.

We were placed first at mid season, and had a lead of 7pts over Anderlecht. The STVV 1st round game has been the only loss so far, and the new 4-3-3 tactic works like a treat.

You would think that being 2nd seed for the Champions League would draw easier opponents in your group. We were bottom in the 2nd seeds list, and we drew all the highest ranked teams in seed groups 1, 3 and 4, respectively Real Madrid, Olympic Marseille and Dinamo Zagreb. It's going to be tough.

It was tougher than last season, but overall we did ok. Real was too strong and OM was about our level. We got lucky OM dropped points to Dinamo so we could go through as 2nd placed.
We meet Sevilla in the first Knockout round. They have been consistently finishing in the top3 in Spain over the past 5 seasons.

Results:
Club Brugge - OM 1-1
Real Madrid - Club Brugge 3-2
Club Brugge - Dinamo 3-0
Dinamo - Club Brugge 1-3
OM - Club Brugge 1-1
Club Brugge - Real Madrid 1-2

Even though my scouts worked hard, and I have a bit of cash to spend, I didn't buy any players during the January transfer window. I could use another defender, but at the moment we're doing well with what we got.

[deltablue]

Well done squeaking through from that group.

[laBOMBA]

Well done squeaking through from that group.

It was a great season in Europe, check out following update.

[laBOMBA]

2024-2025 End of Season update
Club Brugge KV – Belgian Pro League
Pro League Standings - Progress - Champions Group - Matches 1 - Matches 2

As predicted, we won the pro league after the champions stage quite easily. Only 1 loss against Genk, to bring our total losses to 2. We won the league with 5 games to go. It gave our key players a rest so they can focus on the cup and the champions league.

If there is one thing we do really well, it would be our efficiency. This showed in the home game for the Champions League vs. Sevilla. We only have a handfull of chances, while they have a lot more possession and shots at goal, and we still win with 2-0. The away game was great as well as we won it with 1-3. We then have to play ManU in the quarter and either Real or Bayern in the semi final if we get through.

We kicked ManU out last season, and we've done the same this season. A great 4-1 victory at home, and the away game quickly became obsolete when Nzoghe scored the a goal early in the game. We ended up winning 2-3.

Real Madrid is next. De Filippo marks their star striker very well and he couldn't do anything major all game. Real scored only once by Ewerton missing his tackle and the other striker has a clear run at goal and scores the only goal of the game.1-0 in Madrid is not a bad result. At home, we conceide a goal in the 4th minute. We now have to score 3 times to go through. At half time, we managed to score and were 1-1. We keep most possession and have a chance on target here and there. With 20 mins to go, Graciani scores the 2-1 and we are starting to believe in an upset by knocking Real out of the Champions League and going through to the final. We had a few chances still, but nothing hit the nets and the final score was 2-1. Gutted.... so close, but just out of reach. Real later wins the final 2-1 over Napoli who are having a ripper of a season in both Champions League and Seria A. Funnily enough, Sevilla wins the Spanish League. How come we can beat the league winner easily, but not the 2nd placed team?

We qualify for the cup final quite easily as well. We meet Lokeren and win 2-0. Another Cup for our trophy cabinet.

I decided I have done my best with Brugge and didn't extend my contract. They had a major increase in facilities during my reign, and their future at the top in Europe is secured. Club Brugge is now 16th on the UEFA Coefficient list, the richest club in Belgium and 26th richest in Europe.

Free as a bird, I am open to listen to any decent contract offers from other clubs while I focus on bringing England to the world cup next season. At Madrid offered me a contract but I rejected as I still had to play the Belgian Cup final.

What consistently annoyes me every season in the Pro League, and again this season, is that I don't seem to be able to win manager of the year. This season I wasn't even shortlisted even though we won the league, the cup and reached the semi final of the Champions League. Even Lothar Maurer has the best average rating of the league, but when the best performing player award is handed over, he ends up third! It feels like the Belgians don't appreciate the efforts of Club Brugge.

Results:
Pro League: winner
Belgian Cup: winner
Champions League: semi final loss to Real Madrid
MVP: Lothar Maurer
Top goalscorer: Daniel Graciani
The awards my players got this season:
Alain Christian Nzoghe got the golden boot, but wasn't even nominated for the Ebony Boot (best african player)
Miroslav Vlaovic is best goalkeeper of the Pro League and the Champions League. He is in the best 11 of the Champions League together with 8 Real Madrid players.
Christos Lebrun got most assists in the Pro League, which is odd as he usually starts on the bench.

Best formation: 4-3-3

Best 11:
GK - Miroslav Vlaovic

DL - Ewerton

DC - Rodolfo De Felippe

DC - Lothar Maurer

DR - Sébastien Eboule Bille

MC - Miguel Gonzalez

MC - Martín Pozzi

MC - Floriano

ST - Daniel Graciani

ST - Diego Teagno

ST - Alain Christian Nzoghe

Best Goals: Daniel Graciani, Germán Ruiz

[laBOMBA]

2024-2025 update
England

2024 Matches - 2025 Matches

The English team looks good enough to challenge for a World Cup title, however it will be hard against the 2 South American nations Brazil and especially Argentina. Spain is a contender as well, and you can never look besides Germany or France. Nation Standings

The qualification for the World Cup should be easy with the following nations in our Group: Ukraine, Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Andorra. The first game in Ukraine was my first one for England and we started off with a narrow 1-2 win. We then win 4-0 against Andorra and have a suprising loss to Slovenia. N.Ireland and Scotland are won fairly easy with both games 4-0.
The next round of matches turned out to be very succesful with no real dangers as we beat Ukraine and we take a good lead over Slovenia by beating them away with 4-0 as well. Seems like our magic scorline.

We only needed one win in the next 2 games: in Northern Ireland, and at home vs. Scotland.
We absolutely hammered Northern Ireland with an amazing 2-8 victory, and qualified for the World Cup. The last game at home vs. Scotland had no importance for either country, but we won it with 5-0 anyway.

I have a bit of mixed feelings for the draw for the World Cup. We play against Belgium, Cameroon and Iran. Cameroon is 7th in the rankings and will be very though. Iran should be ok, but I'm also worried about Belgium. They easily won their qualification in a group with Russia and only lost 1 game. Belgium also recruited Graciani as he has been handed a Belgian passport since he lived in Belgium for the past 5 years. He has 6 caps and 5 goals at the moment.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Good work Bomba.

[laBOMBA]

Good work Bomba.

Cheers mate

[laBOMBA]

Attachment 0

No good jobs came up until early December. Tycoon run Burnley sacked their manager, but I didn't want to apply for it as I wanted to manage in either Spain or Italy. Luckily, the Lazio manager got the job and I got his at Lazio. A 3 year contract for $21.5k/week.

2025-2026 Mid-Season update
SS Lazio – Italian Seria A

Lazio has won a few titles before, but not a great deal. It also never won a European title. The facilities are ok, although it could use a few youth upgrades. I hope to build a new stadium one day as they pay a bit of rent each year.
Lazio was 6th in the seria A when I took over. Not a bad spot as the media prediction is 10th.

Key players:
Rubén Santacreu - great playmaker. Even though he is 32, he easily the best player of the squad. Curious to see how long he can keep playing at this level.
Mauro Ibáñez - good winger, should provide a lot of assists
Guychel Lando Fusu - good wing back. Getting a bit older but should be of good use for a few more seasons

I had to deal with a few injuries to key players. It was also a bit awkward to find a good tactic with the current squad which made us lose the first 3 games. We sneaked in 1 win before the January break and found out that the good old 4-4-2 is actually the best tactic. We recuperated a few injured players over the break, and I also brought in a few staff members and 2 new players. Both strikers as I felt the current attack force was not good enough for the top of Seria A.

New players:
Fabrizio Rossi - he moved from juve to chelsea a few seasons ago but was mostly benched there. It was time for him to return to Italy.
Constant Diaby - was voted 2nd best young player at the last Africa Cup. He was playing for Zamalek and was very eager to progress his career in Italy.
With these new players and an injury free squad, we should do alright. Even though the board expects a respectable league position, I hope we reach European qualification by finishing in the top 7.

[laBOMBA]

2025-2026 End of Season update
SS Lazio – Italian Seria A
League Standings - Progress - Matches 1 - Matches 2

Rossi and Diaby turned out to be good buys as they both performed well. This showed in our team scoring a lot more goals in the 2nd half of the season than in the first half. We climbed up the ladder and were in a great 3rd spot with one game to go. The top 2 (Juve and Palermo) were too strong for the competition, and they had a big gap with us and Napoli. We were battling for 3rd spot with Napoli and AC Milan. Our last game was against league winners Juve. We lost and both AC and Napoli passed us in the ranking. We just missed to qualify for the champions league because of that, but we got into the Europa Cup. That sucks as we were placed 3rd for quite a while.
Results:
Seria A: 5th
Italian cup: previous manager lost to AC Milan in 4th qualifying round
MVP & Top goalscorer: Constant Diaby

Best formation: 4-4-2
GK - Dennis Schaap
DL - Guychel Lando Fusu
DC - Costel Cojoc
DC - Matías De Los Santos
DR - Islam Khalifa
ML - George
MC - Rubén Santacreu
MC - Brinco
MR - Mauro Ibáñez
ST - Constant Diaby
ST - Fabrizio Rossi

Best goals: Santacreu

[SRL88]

Nice move to Lazio .

[laBOMBA]

2026 World Cup
England

We played 2 preparation games in which I try 2 different tactics. A 4-1-3-2 without wingers against Saudi Arabia which we win with a less than convincing 1-0. And we play Israel with the formation I played at Brugge: 4-2-3-1 with 2 attacking wingers/inside forwards. It works well as we won 4-0. So I'm considering playing this tactic, and the one I did the qualification games with: 4-4-2, with the wingers moved up into an attacking role.
The World Cup Squad

This 4-4-2 attacking tactic worked very well against Iran as we beat them with a huge 1-7 score in our first World Cup game. Hattrick from Tottenham player Grant Rimmer.

Our second game against Belgium was good as well. We apply the same tactic as the previous game, but with less success. We do win the game, but it took, blood sweat and tears. Our defender got red carded while we were 2-0 ahead deep in the 2nd half. The final score stayed at 2-0 for England. My home nation wasn't very happy with me.

Both Cameroon and England were already qualified at this stage since we both won our first 2 games. I played the Brugge tactic against Cameroon with a few new faces but it turned out not to be such a good tactic for England. A bore 0-0 draw.

The 2nd round against Italy was going to be a lot tougher. Back to the 4-4-2 attacking and we actually have the upperhand at the start of the game. We score the first 2 goals, but Italy gets one back before half-time. Still in attacking mood, we get a counter and score the 3-1 with 20 minutes to go. I changed the tactic to a heavily populated defence but it fails initially as Italy gets another one in. They tried for a third one, but it failed so we ended up winning the game with 3-2!

Quarter final is against Egypt. I actually consider Egypt to be an outsider for the Word Cup Title. They have players in the best clubs in Europe. Just look at the quality of their squad: Ibrahim Fathy, Haytham Zahran, Yassin Samir, Yehia Hassan, Mohamed Shokry, Islam Khalifa, Ahmed Fahmy,... and look at which teams they play

They have beaten Spain in their group round and kicked Croatia out of the World Cup. It showed they were strong as it was very hard to create a few chances while they seemed to find the gaps in our defence quite easily. In one of our rare attacks, Rimmer goes down in the box, we get a penalty, but Dawson missed it. A following attack sees Turner getting the ball on the left wing, dribble past his defender and shooting it straight into the top near corner. The goalie got a hand to it but t was a great kick. Undeserved, but we lead 1-0. Egypt keeps pushing and get a goal in with 5 mins to go. Extra time didn't impress anyone so we went to penalties. Egypt misses the first two, we miss the 3rd and 4th penalty (Dawson again!). Then Egypt misses their last penalty so it's up to Nightingale to score the winner... and he does! We go through even though it should have been Egypt. Result

We meet Holland in the Semi Final. Again, they dominate in the first half but we manage to score the first goal, an own-goal by the dutch defender who didn't see the cross and it bounced off his back into the goal. Lucky! Holland comes back before half time with a great goal 1-1. The 2nd half was terrible. My defender, who played his first world cup game due to injuries and suspensions of my other defenders gets a straight red early in the 2nd half. With Holland being this overwhelming and us being a man down I assumed it was a lost cause. That wasn't the case as we managed to score! Actually, the same dutch defender scored another own goal trying to clear the ball while no English player was close! What are the chances? Holland didn't score again so we go through to the final! Undeserved again... We also have a terrible discipline as a few players are suspended and we also have a few injuries. I should have brought more defenders in the squad. Result (I don't think Robin Kamphuis will sleep well that night), Match Stats

The final is against host nation Mexico. This game was more to our standad as we mostly dominated throughout the whole game. They get a few chances, but we got a few better ones and actualy scored with a nice goal from Heston. Later, Dawson fired in a free-kick and we were leading with 2-0. Mexico couldn't come back and England wins the 2026 World Cup! Result, Highlights including 2 splendid goals!
A bit of mixed feelings with the title as I didn't feel we were the strongest team, but I guess that's football... we just got lucky.
World Cup Results - Player Stats

Englands winning World Cup squad:
GK - Richard Harris

DL - Jason Firth

DC - Dan Baker

DC - Jermaine Lange

DR - Kevin Kane

MC - Simon Dawson

MC - Lenell Nelson

AML - Craig Cooper

AMR - Stuart Heston

ST - Ben Turner

ST - Grant Rimmer

To my surprise, Ben Turner was voted best player of the World Cup. A bit odd as I wasn't going to include him in the squad at first but due to Nightingale being suspended for the first game Turner played a few games and actually performed better.
Since we organise the 2028 European Championships, we don't need to play any qualification games. We only play friendlies for the next 2 seasons and we kicked off with a great 1-2 win in Brazil. At first I thought the World Title was a bit of luck, and we weren't the strongest squad, but after a good win in Brazil I feel we are one of the best teams around. Highlights including a wonderful goal from Rimmer.

[SRL88]

Excellent tournament .

[laBOMBA]

2026-2027 Season update
SS Lazio – Italian Seria A

I got a few youth players in my Lazio squad as I couldn't afford any better players with my limited transfer budget of $15M. It was still ok to get a few players in, including 2 youth prospects from Club Brugge who I know will do well as they were being followed by ManU and other major European clubs. The season started quite badly. Losses to Atalanta and Siena made me worry about my future at the club and the board feels I should perform better. I didn't feel comfortable at Lazio and felt it would take a lot of effort to bring this team to glory in the Seria A. Besides this feeling, I also prefer the satisfaction of building a team from zero, to an international stronghold. So I decided to quit my post at Lazio, but remain in international management as I developed a taste for winning international titles.


With winning the World Cup, my reputation went up to World Class again and lots of clubs were interested in signing me, but since I was on holiday most of the time, I missed a few opportunities with big clubs. In a way, that turned out to be a good thing as in June, when I returned from holiday to play a game with England, the Italian manager Ugo Di Iorio decided to retire and leave a vacant post at Barcelona. Not long after, Barcelona offered me the job and I did not have to think about this offer as I accepted without even looking at the squad, club finances etc... Ugo has been the manager since 2014 (that's 13 years!) and last won the League, but also the Champions League. Same story as with Brugge, I have big shoes to fill.

I'll try Barcelona for a season (even though I signed for 5 seasons) and see if I want to continue managing one of the most successful clubs in the world. I really want to get back to managing a small team though.

[laBOMBA]

2027-2028 Season update
Barcelona FC – Spanish Liga BBVA

Media Prediction: 1st
Board Expectations:
Win the BBVA
Final of Champions League
Final of Spanish Cup

The squad is ageing with most good players between 29 and 33yo. They are still awesome players, but not for much longer.
As you expect from a team full of champions, the performances were great. Although we drew here and there, Real didn't lose points at all. They had a great season and won more games than we did so they became the winners of the league. We ended 2nd.

The champions league was ok. The group stage was easy with Dortmund, Fiorentina and M. Haifa. We only lose 1 game against Fiorentina while the rest is easily won. Next we beat Chelsea in the knockout round, push Man City aside easily in the Qtr Final and reach the semis where we lose against Atletico Madrid. Damn Madrid teams...

We did better to win the Spanish cup over the club that knocked us out of the Champions League, Atletico Madrid.

MVP: Carlos
Top Goalscorer: Carlos

GK - Miroslav Vlaovic
DL - Gastón Cerutti
DC - Vincent Oueslati
DC - José
DR - Carlos Ochoa
MC - Juan Romano
MC - Luciano Jara
AMC - José Antonio
AMC - Alexandr Zaitsev
AMC - Pierpaolo Campana
ST - Carlos

I actually had more fun with England and preparing for the European Championship. So I decided to quit my job at Barcelona. They're a team full of champions, but they're not my champions. I didn't put the team together. So I'm going to resign and focus on England, the European Championship and qualification for the world cup.

European Championship:
We started off great in our group against Poland, Holland and Wales.
England - Poland 3-0
England - Holland 1-1
England Wales 6-0, lots of goals from our grey haired striker Dan Nightingale.

We then meet France in the 2nd round. Very close game but overall lucky to have scored one more than France. It could have gone either way: 2-1 win.

Romania was a little bit easier in the Qtr Final and we win with a convincing 2-0

We get Spain in the SF, and they are a very strong squad. It turns out to be very difficult and we failed to win the game. Spain goes through with a 3-1 victory. Spain eventually wins the European Championship.

Past Eur.Champ winners
Past World Cup winners

Maybe we can retain the world cup title in 2 seasons.

[laBOMBA]

2028-2029 Season update
England

The nations we have to play to qualify for Italy 2050 are Poland, Czech Republic, Bosnia & Herzegovina and FYR Macedonia.
These are the results up to end of season 2028-2029:

England - Macedonia 4-0
Czech Republic - England 1-3
England - Poland 2-0
Bosnia & Herzegovina - England 0-1
Macedonia - England 0-1


We also play the confederations cup and play Argentina, France and New Zealand in the group stage. Easy 5-0 against NZ, a great 0-1 victory over Argentina and France is also pushed aside with 2-0. We meet Spain in the semi final and completely dominate, but no goals... even in extra time no one scores. The dreadful penalties will decide. These were our penalties: post, goal, post, post, post! Did they make the goals smaller? Spain also missed 2, but got 2 in at least. Stupid! We beat Italy for 3rd spot and Argentina wins the final over Spain. We did great and beat some big teams so I'm confident for a good result in next years world cup.