The return of Ivan Matteoni (San Marino Double Challenge)

[Muggert]

Intro:

After completing dafuge's challenge I needed a new challenge. So i thought a great new challenge would be the San Marino Double Challenge.

I will start as former San Marino international player Ivan Matteoni. I will take control of the club team San Marino in the italian serie C2, and apply for the National team as soon as the opportunity arises.

Setup:

Italy - Serie C2
Large Database
All players with nationality Sanmarinese

Aim:

Take San Marino to the top of italian football, and through the club team produce enough good players to qualify San Marino to a major international tournament. That's my aim. I'll probably fail, but at least I've tried then :-)

Process:

I will play as much as time permits and will produce yearly summaries.

[Muggert]

Reserved...

[Muggert]

Reserved..

[Dave.]

I'm currently playing this exact game myself. It's fun, you'll love it! Good luck

[Romanista1994]

Good luck, I'll be following your progress.

[cswalk08]

Good Luck! I'm excited to see how this one turns out.

[Muggert]

The return of Ivan Matteoni



Club - San Marino - 2011/2012 - Serie C2/A

Squad - Table - Transfers - Finances

Final position: 4th (Promoted through playoffs)


Serie C cup: 3rd round exit (3rd in the group)

Best result: 6-0 home win against Montichiari
Worst result: 0-1 loss away to Sambonifacese (Serie C cup)
Top goalscorer: Gianluca Lapadula, 17 (16 in Serie C2/A)
Most assists: Marco Bonura, 20 (17 in Serie C2/A)
Highest Average rating: Gianluca Lapadula, 7.26 (7.26 in Serie C2/A)

2011-12 Season Review:

After an abysmal start to the season, in which I could not find a tactic that worked. After trying 3 or 4 I finally found a tactic that consistently got us wins. We however choked in the last 2 rounds sending us into playoffs instead of directly up. A draw with Poggibonsi, in which I went through due to a higher seed(I didn't even know that would happen) and then a 3-2 aggregate win against Treviso and we were up. Generally the players I have signed so far have been much older than the ones I usually sign. But... They got the job done!

Player of the season:

Marco Bonura - M RL / AM RLC - Supplied chance-creating passes a plenty.

Other Key Players

David D'Antoni - DM / M C - Dictated the tempo from deep.

Johny López - D C - Secure at the back. A beast in the air at set pieces.

Gianluca Lapadula - AM RC - Had a great season. Sad that he's only on loan.

2012-13 Season Preview:

We're a newly promoted team so we will be looking to battle relegation. We've already signed 3 players for the new season. These three will be the ones that can move the team out of the relegation battle. Let's see how it goes.

Nation - San Marino - 2011/2012 - Serie C2/A

Squad - Fixtures 2011 - Fixtures 2012 - Table

National team comments:

I'm yet to be appointed manager of the Sanmarinese national team. However I will apply at the earliest opportunity. It's not like they're performing well. Untill I'm appointed i will not go into details about the national team.

[Muggert]

The return of Ivan Matteoni



Club - San Marino - 2012/2013 - Serie C1/B

Squad - Table - Transfers - Transfers 2 - Finances

Final position: 1st

Italian cup: 1st Qual. Rnd exit, 1-0 away to Cittadella
Serie C cup: Winners! 4-1 on aggregate against Aprilia
Serie C super cup: final loss to Cittadella, 2-1 on aggregate

Best result: 10-0 home win against Piacenza
Worst result: 1-2 loss home to Grossetto (Serie C cup)
Top goalscorer: Antonio Piergüidi, 25 (22 in Serie C1/B)
Most assists: Frédéric Mendy, 25 (20 in Serie C1/B)
Highest Average rating: Antonio Piergüidi, 7.37 (7.46 in Serie C1/B)

2012-13 Season Review:

So.. The Finances are in shambles. We went bankrupt midway through the season, but the players kept performing in both the league and the serie C cup. We won both and are heading for hopefully better price and TV money in Serie B. The first two seasons have gone better than expected. Let's see how serie B pans out. Cittadella could become a rival if they continue knocking us out of cups ;-)

Player of the season:

Frédéric Mendy - M / AM L - Made a superb 25 assists, and his goals were nearly all Gamechangers.

Other Key Players

Johny López - D C - Kept things stable defensively with consistent good performances.

Laurent Merlin - AM / ST C - Played magicly (I had to use that one) :-)

Antonio Piergüidi - ST - 35 goals. A perfect match for the style we play.

2013-14 Season Preview:

I have already signed 4 players that i hope will be able to secure the team in the Serie B along with the current squad. The goal for the next season is to try and get on a good financial footing again. But not at all costs. If I see the right player I'll sign him. Promotion is the best way to avoid financial trouble ;-)

Nation - San Marino - 2012/2013 - WC2014 Qual

Squad - Fixtures 2012 - Fixtures 2013 - Table

National team comments:

I'm yet to be appointed manager of the Sanmarinese national team. However I will apply at the earliest opportunity. It's not like they're performing well. Untill I'm appointed i will not go into details about the national team. They're still to steal a point from someone. Loosing every game since the start of my career.

[TheGreatTraveler]

Doing well so far

[Romanista1994]

Well done on making the Serie C look easy. Serie B will be testing, but with the players at your disposal I think you'll survive comfortably.

Any good Sammarinese youngsters coming through for you?

[cerud]

San Marino looks to be the club of choice for many Congrats on promotion.

[deltablue]

Excellent so far.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Good start Muggert.

[SRL88]

Brilliant start.

[Deisler26]

Nice work! Well done!

[Muggert]

Well done on making the Serie C look easy. Serie B will be testing, but with the players at your disposal I think you'll survive comfortably.

Any good Sammarinese youngsters coming through for you?

Well so far we have found the serie B life difficult.. We're currently in a relegation spot after 11 games.

I have a young DMC called Vincenzo Martini... 20 years... looks promising :-)

He was actually in the game to start with.. Signed him from Folgore...

But besides him... Not really :-(

[deltablue]

Still plenty of time to climb out.

[SoloTitano]

Good luck from SM

[Muggert]

The return of Ivan Matteoni



Club - San Marino - 2013/2014 - Serie B

Squad - Table - Transfers - Finances

Final position: 17th

Italian cup: 3rd Qual. Rnd exit, 3-1 away to Atalanta

Best result: 3-1 home win against Pescara
Worst result: 1-4 loss away to Reggina
Top goalscorer: Joachim Mununga, 17 (17 in Serie B)
Most assists: David Ferreiro, 19 (19 in Serie B)
Highest Average rating: Joachim Mununga, 7.42 (7.43 in Serie B)

2012-13 Season Review:

So.. The Finances are still in shambles... Our loan have been paid out, however we're nearing a million pounds in debt. An awful start to the season placed us below the relegation line. The tactics did not work at all. A new aggresive tactic was employed and we battled our way to midtable. A late-season slump saw us drop to 17th. But relegation was never really an issue.

Player of the season:

Joachim Mununga - AM R / ST - 17 goals in 24 appearances. Key goals in important games.

Other Key Players

Bjarne Nagel - WB L / DM / M L - Bought in midseason, showed his talent well in some games. Stability wanted.

Melvin Platje - M / AM C - A great player, who will improve as the teammates gets better.

David Ferreiro - M R / AM RL - Assist-king. Now we need someone on the other flank

2013-14 Season Preview:

Our team needs strengthening to move up the table. We need some new backs, and a new left winger. A sale of D C Fornasier to free up some money could be a possibility, however he has rejected the two offers so far. What we need is some stability and some young talented footballers. Someone who if they perform well can inject some money through sales.

Nation - San Marino - 2013/2014 - WC2014 Qual

Squad - Fixtures 2013 - Fixtures 2014 - Table

National team comments:

I'm yet to be appointed manager of the Sanmarinese national team. However I will apply at the earliest opportunity. It's not like they're performing well. Untill I'm appointed i will not go into details about the national team. They're still to steal a point from someone. Loosing every game since the start of my career.

They've got a great possibility for a draw against Faroe Islands and Singapore in the next two games.

[Muggert]

Good luck from SM

Thanks! I hope I bring glory to you and of course to Ivan Matteoni ;-)

[Muggert]

The return of Ivan Matteoni



Club - San Marino - 2014/2015 - Serie B

Squad - Table - Transfers - Finances

Final position: 1st

Italian cup: 3rd Qual. Rnd exit, 0-1 away to Siena

Best result: 5-1 home win against Taranto
Worst result: 0-3 loss home to Modena
Top goalscorer: Ettore Mendicino, 20 (18 in Serie B)
Most assists: Rumen Trifonov, 15 (15 in Serie B)
Highest Average rating: Ettore Mendicino, 7.37 (7.35 in Serie B)

2014-15 Season Review:

The fix for financial trouble? Promotion! ... After a dissapointing season last year, we started of strong this season. Last year we introduced a new offensive playing style that costed due to not having the right players. After the addition of bulgarian LW Trifonov and CF Mendicino we started producing. Scoring 18 goals more than the second most scoring team is impressive.

Player of the season:

Ettore Mendicino - AM L / ST - Played great this season. Will be under pressure as the competition will increase next season.

Other Key Players

Rumen Trifonov - D / WB / M / AM L - Played as both a wing-back and a winger. Provided a ton of assists

Nico Pulzetti - M RC - Played a good season. Dictated the tempo in our games.

Joachim Mununga - M / AM R / ST - Had a good season. Providing goals and assists. Not willing to renew his contract.

2015-16 Season Preview:

It's time for the challenge to really begin. We're gonna use a bunch of the TV revenue to improve our facilities in order to produce our own players. With 4 players already signed for the new season, we're on our way to a competetive squad to avoid relegation. The team is gonna be young, and talented. Our goal will be to avoid relegation and sign cheap talented youngsters.


Nation - San Marino - 2014/2015 - Euro 2016 Qual

Squad - Fixtures 2014 - Fixtures 2015 - Table

National team comments:

I'm yet to be appointed manager of the Sanmarinese national team. However I will apply at the earliest opportunity. It's not like they're performing well. Untill I'm appointed i will not go into details about the national team.

Another season has gone by, and the national team did not score a single goal or get a draw

As I'm about to improve the facilities at club level, we will hopefully soon see an improvement.

[DodgeeD]

I tried this challenge a few FMs ago. Got as far as Serie B but then stalled for s few seasons there until the next FM came along.

Good to see you are up to Serie A already - hope you can stay there

[Muggert]

I tried this challenge a few FMs ago. Got as far as Serie B but then stalled for s few seasons there until the next FM came along.

Good to see you are up to Serie A already - hope you can stay there

Thanks.. i signed a coupleof talented youngsters from Barcelona... A wing-back and a striker.. They will help a lot...

We might go down... But we will go down with honour as we will continue to play attacking football. I believe we're good enough to pull it off :-)

[DazRTaylor]

Congratulations on reaching Serie A.

[deltablue]

Well done on finishing top and going up.

[MeLikeFM]

Used to love this challenge a few years ago but I thought it had died off a bit - Good luck in Serie A

[cerud]

Nice job on reaching Serie A!

[JackJCFC]

Congrats on the promotion

[Nobby_McDonald]

San Marino in Serie A eh. Well done.

[Muggert]

Thanks for the replies... Will look forward to continueing when i get home from work tonight.... I Think I might have to make a new tactic to survive... Playing all-out attack against Juventus, Inter and Milan just doesn't sound like a good idea yet... Not with the players available to me :-)

[Muggert]

So I made a new tactic to get the most out of my new spanish wing-back... And to repay the faith he's been injured for a couple of months.

Besides that everything is going smoothly.. After an abysmal start to the season our team has been playing above expectations in 14th place after 16 games. We've gotten some good results including a draw against Inter and a win against Juventus.

I've sold co-ownership to two of the newly signed players for an amount of 7,5 million pounds. So we have some money to spread around to secure another season in the Serie A.

Of course to the the injection of cash the Junior Coaching and Youth recruitment network has been highened. As well as the youth and training facilitiesare planned to be expanded in the summer.

All in all it's well here in San Marino :-)

[Muggert]

Woohoo!

San Marino got their first point as a nation.

They got a draw against... Greece! 2-2 at home in a friendly

Man of the match with two goals Nicola Giorgini

I guess it was a tactics mismatch as San Marino was highly overpowered in individual quality and yet still had far more chances in the game.

[cswalk08]

Well done San Marino!

[Nobby_McDonald]

You don't get points in friendlies.

[Muggert]

You don't get points in friendlies.

No **** sherlock ;-)

First draw then :-)

[Muggert]

I've placed 9th with four games to go.

Lying in 10th place are... AC Milan!

However former goalkeeper Christian Abbiati and his consortium just over control of the club.

[Muggert]

The return of Ivan Matteoni



Club - San Marino - 2015/2016 - Serie A

Squad - Table - Transfers - Finances

Final position: 6th

Italian cup: 1st Rnd exit, 3-4 loss away to Juventus AET

Best result: 3-1 home & away win against Roma
Worst result: 1-4 loss away to Bari
Top goalscorer: Jean-Marie Dongou, 29 (26 in Serie A)
Most assists: Dragan Balen, 10 (10 in Serie A)
Highest Average rating: Jean-Marie Dongou, 7.64 (7.60 in Serie A)

2015-16 Season Review:

So.. After an inconsistent start we switched to a tactic that fitted the new players the most, and they responded with aan impressive 6th place and an entrance to the Euro league. The best results include wins against Roma and Juventus. Four wins in a row to finish the season secured us the 6th place, ahead of teams like Milan and Juventus. We invested in our facilities which will be upgraded this summer. We are also constructing a new stadium with 21K seats ready for the 2017/18 season.

Player of the season:

Jean-Marie Dongou - ST - A great signing. Unforturnately also a great signing for Sevilla. Wouldn't renegotiate.

Other Key Players

Manuel Jesús - DM / D / M C - A great signing that hopefully will develop into a world class player.

Nico Pulzetti - M RC - Another solid season from the vet.

Dragan Balen - AM L / ST - Didn't play as much as I would have liked. But performed when healthy.

2015-16 Season Preview:

I have already secured a handful of promising youngsters ready to play a part of the team when the match programme will be tough. Also I want the team to sell our biggest stars, to earn money to expand our facilities. We will be happy with a midtable finish next season, as we focus on earning money.

Nation - San Marino - 2016/2017 - Euro 2016 Qual

Squad - Fixtures 2015 - Fixtures 2016 - Table

National team comments:

I'm yet to be appointed manager of the Sanmarinese national team. However I will apply at the earliest opportunity. It's not like they're performing well. Untill I'm appointed i will not go into details about the national team.

San Marino got a well-deserved draw against Greece as mentioned earlier. Still no points in the qualification groups though.

[deltablue]

Fantastic season.

[SRL88]

Excellent season.

[Muggert]

This summers signings include:

15-year-old Croatian central defender Andrej Parlov

Safe to say I have high hopes for his future.. At this moment he is 2½ / 5 in current and future according to my assistant.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Cracking job with 6th.