[Napoli Save] The save game that is saving my life. A wonder tactic that is beating depression

Hi everyone...

Firstly, my name is Tony, you guys can call me Sydney or Tony - I don't mind.

Ok what you are about to read (or not) is all true. This is not an FM story, this is just an introduction to what led me to play a game that is literally saving my life. I will tell you everything, but I urge you to NOT give me any pity comments. The truth of the matter is that we are all going to die, some earlier than others. My time on this planet might be a lot shorter than a lot of you, but it does not mean that I deserve any special treatment. I would rather celebrate life, than wallow in despair. So while what I am about to say might sound grim, just know I am doing well and I prefer to smile than cry.

So this career thread will show how a random tactic resulted in successful results, a tactic mod and then a wonderful and enjoyable save game. I am basically playing FM to distract myself from the horrors of real life. I am suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome, anxiety and depression because of the difficult 2 and a half years I have experienced. My doctors decided to pump me full of medications to combat the problem and told me to talk to supposed counselors, but they are too busy checking the clock, rather than actually listen to what I have to say. Nothing worked. Every day I was depressed and preferred to sleep 3 or 4 consecutive days and nights, rather than enjoying what time I had left.

One day I got fed up, I threw all the medications away and I stopped visiting the counselors. I decided to purchase Football Manager 2015 and started a save game with my beloved Napoli. I spent a few hours making a tactic, and building my team and game after game, win after win I noticed that I started to feel better and started to look forward to the next day. When I went to bed, I had something enjoyable to do the next day. When I woke up each morning, instead of crying and loathing my day ahead of me, I got dressed and got my kids ready for school, I smiled more than usual and when the kids were gone - I would load up this save game and let the depression and anxiety melt away. Yes I did ignore my wife while I played FM, with her giving me bad looks. Some_things_never_change. :o

Anyway let me give you some more background.

I enjoy walls of text, probably as much as I enjoy playing FM. The only thing that I enjoy more than walls of text and FM is probably my family and life itself. I also enjoy copious amount of food, but that's a totally different story. You know those tall skinny kids that play 20 hours of World of Warcraft everyday? Well imagine one of those kids, then totally think of the opposite - and you get me. A fat hairy dad, who plays video games to pass time. I also recently picked up the great habit of smoking. Partly because I am suffering from such bad anxiety I resorted to slowly polluting my body, partly because when I am writing and smoking, I feel highly sophisticated.

The first thing I want to say is that I am currently very ill. The kind of ill that no one want's to hear come from a doctors mouth. The C word, and no it's not the word that rhymes with an English League one club. The C word is Cancer and when you hear that word said, you can feel the blood drain out of your body. Your arms go gold, your legs begin to freeze and you feel a huge burning hole in your stomach, which tells you "you better sit down on the toilet because you might just defecate on the spot". After this sensation passed me, I just laughed and laughed, literally uncontrollably. Then I thought that everything would be okay - it can't be happening to me - I will be alright.

My doctors gave me 3 to 12 months to live, a kind of a broad and grim diagnosis.

At the time I was playing another video game, called Skyrim and I spent my days feeling really down, but I pushed through all the chemo and worked on my mods for that game. When I wasn't modding I was trying to get some life insurance and organising my will and how I would be buried. I was picking a cemetery, and started selling off a lot of my possessions to save up money to give to my wife when I was done. The modding community was fantastic and they helped me raise money so I could pay for a decent burial and not put the burden of the costs on my family, which included my wife and my parents. Some people on the modding community told me to get a 2nd opinion and some people gave me the name of doctors who could help me. So I rang those doctors and got my second opinion and a 3rd and each doctor gave me a different prognosis. All of them agreed I was dying and had cancer, but one doctor in particular told me that they were slow growing and that If I could go privately, they could operate right away and extend my life.

In the last 18 months I have had numerous operations that have saved my life from annoyingly slow growing cancers. If it wasn't for that modding community (Skyrim Nexus) I would have died. So instead of using that money to buy a burial plot, I used it to go to better doctors at a private clinic and out came all the cancers. The doctors then told me I had an 80% survival rate for the next 10 years! GREAT! :D

Well so I thought.

After all the operations, my body was healed (remission) but my mind was severely fractured. I had this huge sense of anxiety that was governing my life, a depression so deep that I spent days in bed crying and not wanting to do anything. As stated above, I am suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome, anxiety and depression because of all the operations, weeks in hospital away from my small children. I have 3 kids, a soon to be 16 year old man, a 7 year old little girl and a 3 year old junior. I missed them terribly whilst in hospital and I used to spend my days there crying and missing them.

Then my wife and my eldest son decided to buy me a tablet, and got me the FM "lite" version of the game to play while at hospital. I spent my days managing Accrington Stanley and while I enjoyed my days more, I began to crave the full version of FM2015 and I couldn't wait to get out of hospital and start a new save game. I still felt that deep depression and anxiety but when I was winning, I was feeling better.

So... (copy and paste time) When I got home, I decided to purchase Football Manager 2015 and started a save game with my beloved Napoli. I follow Napoli because my parents were born in Naples and I spent 3 years of my life living there. It is such a lovely place, with a huge volcano ready to kill millions - what a better way to live in peace and comfort.

I spent a few hours making a tactic, and building my team and game after game, win after win I noticed that I started to feel better and started to look forward to the next day. When I went to bed, I had something enjoyable to do and look forward to the next day. When I woke up each morning, instead of crying and loathing my day ahead of me, I got dressed and got my kids ready for school, I smiled more than usual and when the kids were gone - I would load up this save game and let the depression and anxiety melt away.

Now this brings us to now...the career update.

I won a lot of trophies with Napoli and decided to upload my tactic and share it on this forum.

The link to the tactic is here;

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/429880-Sydney666-s-Napoli-Wonder-Tactic-%284-2-3-1%29

This thread is important because while it was just my tactic thread, it ended up evolving into a save game story/update.

This thread will start in my 8th Season, and the year is 2021. Please skim through the 2 pages worth of updates on the link above so you can catch up to what I am up to.

I have had some great players throughout the years, from a 36 year old Cristiano Ronaldo to a 34 year old Lionel Messi. The two old guys played together for one season and I think they didn't like each other because I rarely played well with both of them on the field. Nonetheless I finished my 7th season undefeated and while I was happy about that, I decided that something radical had to be done this season.

You guys will be entering my 8th season and I have decided to sell most of my ageing players and rely on youth players I have either signed or they have come through my youth team. I also had nearly 200 million Euro in debt and I seriously needed to sell players on high wages to get out of trouble.

This is a massive rebuilding season, and I have changed from a team full of ageing stars to a club full of teenagers. I will post lots of updates, many a day and I also will post a bucket load of pictures.

If you like pictures and you love reading walls of text sprinkled with poor humour, then this career update is for you. I also am more than happy to add people to my STEAM chat if people want to talk about their saves, and/or hear live updates of my save.

Feel free to post your own results in here, I don't mind. I also love chatting throughout this thread, so feel free to comment - it is more than welcome.

More to come...

Club Details

Oh pictures, such lovely pictures!

Club: League Results and Trophies

More lovely pictures, means less walls of text!

Napoli: Best Eleven

2014/2015 Season

2015/2016 Season

2016/2017 Season

2017/2018 Season

2018/2019 Season

2019/2020 Season

2020/2021 Season

All Time Best Eleven

My Managerial Career

I also won the 2018 World Cup, and a Superclassico Brazil. I have also won the Nations League with England in 2021!

Okay so that brings us up to date!

At the end of the 2020/2021 season I had a really old squad. They were on huge wages and that combined with some poor and excessive spending due to binge drinking, I got Napoli into a financial crisis. So you may be wondering what the hell binge drinking is?

Binge drinking or heavy episodic drinking is a modern epithet for drinking alcoholic beverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time.

This has nothing to do with my depression, nor is it destructive behavior. It was a Friday night, I had just watched a string of Deadliest Catch, whilst smoking a barrage of cigarettes. My wife came home from shopping and she called out to me "Antonio, I got you a present....". So I got off the sofa and my wife presented me with numerous alcoholic beverages. I was having an enjoyable day, I had just won the League with Napoli and I thought drinking said alcohol, in the form of cold beer - I could make my night even better. So I had a few and my excitement got the better of me. You see I am a happy drunk, and a happy person will start making enjoyable purchases on the transfer market without thinking of the consequences.

So I loaded up my scouting page, and went on a rampage. 29 signings and 384 million Euro spent - all in the space of a couple of hours.

:o :o The result of my rampage can be seen below :o :o

For Christ sakes, I signed a 31 year old Balotelli! This isn't even the overpowered form of Balotelli that comes with the game. I have an Italian game editor update and Balotelli is below average and has "Work Rate" of 1. That said, when I sobered up, I decided to sell him off to FC Twenty for free.

I was almost brought to tears when I saw I traded Belotti and 80 million Euros to buy injury prone, fancy haired Stephan El Shaarawy. He had a good season, but I don't like the guy - maybe because in real life he has played for Napoli's bitter rivals Milan. So I shipped him off as well, sweeping up my mess. PSG came in with a 70 million Euro offer, and everyone is happy.

On the upside I did buy a 34 year old Lionel Messi for 30 million Euro - bargain right? His wages were higher than the transfer fee I paid. :o Messi went on to score 22 goals and had 27 assists during my undefeated season - so I can't totally call it a loss. I shipped him off though at the end of the season, with Chelsea coming in with a 20 million Euro bid. Phew! He is no longer my problem.

I have to admit, the drunk me did do some good things.

Digne, Wilco Hol, Fernandao, Saenz, Allione and Ludek Lukas are all fantastic footballers - with all but Digne labeled as "Wonderkids". These guys will feature in my first team with the up-coming season.

Anyway, my club had some serious financial issues. We were 140 million in debt and thus I created Project: Get Napoli out of debt

Due to the 140 million Euro Debt, it was time to sell some key players and fill up the coffers.

Players listed for sale (Purchase details and club career stats shown)

Serge Aurier (11 million / season wage) signed from Man City for 35 million Euros (24 games 0 goals, 3 Assists)

Divock Origi (13 million / season wage) signed from Barcelona for 6.5 million Euros (15 games 1 goal, 1 assist)

Donnarumma (2 million / season wage )signed from Atalanta for 4.5 million Euros (4 games 0 goals 0 assists)

Cristiano Ronaldo (30 million / season wage) signed from Real Madrid for 15 million Euros (134 games 99 goals, 50 assists)

El Shaarawy (13 million / season wage) signed from Stoke for 80 million Euros (33 games 12 goals, 8 assists)

James Wilson (2 million / season wage) signed from Arsenal for 6.25 million (4 games 0 goals 0 assists)

Lionel Messi (28 million / season wage) signed from Barcelona for 30 million Euros (45 games, 22 goals 27 assists)

Vincent Aboubaker (9 million / season wage) signed from Chelsea for 49 million Euros (99 games 40 goals 16 assists)

Liam Moore (2 million / season wage) signed from Man City for 4.9 million Euros (3 games 0 goals 0 assists)

Total "invested" during beer session : 231.15 million Euros.

Total Wage (funds donated) : 110 million Euros per season.

Results:

Cristiano Ronaldo to Chelsea for 9.75 million Euro

Serge Aurier to Chelsea for 54 million Euro

Lionel Messi to Chelsea for 20 million Euros

James Wilson to Everton for 9.75 Million Euros

Alessio Donnarumma to Sevilla for 15 million Euros

Vincent Aboubakar to PSG for 57 Million Euros

Stephan El Sharaawy to PSG for 70 million Euros

Liam Moore to Lazio for 5.25 Million Euros

Income : 240 million Euros.

:D :D WIN! :D :D

Napoli is now officially out of debt and we have around 100 million Euros in the bank. We are back in business and time to reinforce the squad with some young guns.

I still not have had luck selling Divock Origi. Every time he is just about to move (usually around 15 million Euros), he demands money to move. I am not ready to donate 6 million a season for the next 4 years to a player who is no longer part of my club.

This seasons transfer dealings

This season I have only spent a modest 55 million Euros on the transfer market. I have signed 3 wonderkids, and a 27 year old Paulo Dybala who will spearhead my forward line this season. On the right side pane, you can see all the major sales I mentioned above. I am now busy trying to offload numerous youngsters on loan with 250k a month loan fees. My youth players that go on loan usually give me about 50 to 60 million a season profits. Not bad for loan deals!

We are now up to date. Hopefully you guys will find my save interesting and enjoy the game as much as I have been. As stated FM has been my saviour, and has given me that much needed distraction from everyday life.

From now on I will occasionally post season updates, and on the odd occurrences throughout the season. I may do a burst of loads of posts and then might go quiet for a couple of days. I will try to keep this post going, depending of course if there is some interest. Even if I have a few followers from the SI community, then that will be a bonus for me.

If anyone want's to add me to STEAM to talk about the save, feel free to send me a PM. I won't however share my save game, because I want the game to be unique to me and it's like my "baby" and I am not comfortable sharing it. I am happy to show people anything in game, any player, any financial detail. If you want my tactic, then you can find it on the below link;

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/429880-Sydney666-s-Napoli-Wonder-Tactic-%284-2-3-1%29

If you want to know how a player is going in my save, or want an update on your favourite club, just ask!

Cheers,

Tony

I like the way you write.

I like the way you write.

Haha, I hope that's a good thing and not sarcasm. :o

Haha, I hope that's a good thing and not sarcasm. :o

just had a goz at this tonight tony and wanna say all the best mate I went through a sh***y couple of months in 2013 losing my father and other stuff and it knocked me sideways. but pretty much same fm was my saving grace gonna follow this thread closely mate and wish you all the best.wish I had the skins badges and backgrounds etc that you have installed and maybe then I could leave fm12 behind and start on fm 15 !!!

just had a goz at this tonight tony and wanna say all the best mate I went through a sh***y couple of months in 2013 losing my father and other stuff and it knocked me sideways. but pretty much same fm was my saving grace gonna follow this thread closely mate and wish you all the best.wish I had the skins badges and backgrounds etc that you have installed and maybe then I could leave fm12 behind and start on fm 15 !!!

oh and try and stop the ciggies pal not bloody good for ya.

So I sit here, eating slices of fried devon with freshly baked bread. Everyone knows a healthy meal is important as is having a good squad, so I have been spending my time building my team for the future, while eating said devon sandwiches.

My main thought has been to offload as many youngsters on loan as possible and for decent fees. So far 20 youngsters have gone out on loan, for a profit of about 40 million Euros over the next 12 months. I still have 12 more youngsters that need to find a home for the season and I have been struggling to offload some of the players from the last two seasons youth intake. The reason being is that while they are promising players, and not great by any means, their stats are still not developed and thus no one is interested - even listing them for free.

I have decided to loan list one of my most promising youngsters, Lino La Bianca. Newcastle were quick to put in a 250k - 100% wages offer and it looks like Lino will be playing in the Premier League next season. Lino is a fine player and usually plays when either Hamsik or Insigne are injured or tired. He was an early bloomer and it looks as though at 18 years of age he has reached his potential. I am really attached to this player, as he came out of my youth team and even scored on his debut. He has always been a solid performer. Over the last 3 years he has played 50 games and scored 12 goals. He has a great long shot on him, and has scored some screamers from range. He also has a crazy 8 player preferred moves, mainly because of all the tutoring I have given him.

I am sort of sad to see him go, even if it's on loan but I have some new players in his position and they are a lot better than he is. One of those players is Raffaello Ajazzone. The 19 year old wonderkid has already played for the Italian national team and I believe he is going to be the heir to Marek Hamsik. I signed him from Cesena for 5 million Euros, after my scouts basically "gizzed their pants" over his world class potential. He has developed into a fantastic player after spending time on loan for the last 3 seasons. He is one of the rare players whom I have purchased that has played for the Italian national team before even getting a single game for me.

I made my final signing, grabbing 26 year old Czeck Republic striker Jan Duda for 22 million Euro from Sunderland. I found this guy after he scored a double against me while I was managing England and playing his national side. He is lightning fast, and enjoys breaking the offside trap and eventually rounding the keeper, to cooly slot away his chances. He has been purchased because of his versatility, which makes him a useful substitute. He can play striker and on both wings as a secondary position.

Lastly, I am struggling to offload Divock Origi. He has rejected to join 7 (yes seven!) clubs, because he is demanding money to move and I am not agreeing to it. He has asked anywhere from 5 million to 9 million for the next 4 seasons and that is damn absurd. Now Ajax has come with a 15 million Euro offer and I think I might just give in and give him his stupid wages. Origi is like that fart you regret doing, especially after you forgot that you had diarrhea. Then you feel stranded because you aren't home, but at a girlfriends house and you are struggling to dispose of your underpants and it's content, whilst trying to keep your pants clean. Well he's not that bad, but he sure was a crap signing - pun absolutely intended.

Anyway, my apologies for getting side tracked. I will post a few pics of the players I mentioned in this post.

One last note. Whilst I was looking at my youth players and taking screen grabs for your enjoyment, I started to feel frustrated at the annoying and inconsistent attributes that so many youth players get. There are some players that have amazing stats, but then lack a key attribute required for their position. They eventually become "World Class" players but any manager with a brain will realise that they might not be able to fulfill positions such as a play-maker despite playing in that position. They are usually not able to tackle, have great decisions, team work, passing and flair - yet they have something like 5 for their vision. It makes me want to face-palm every time. I have lost count at the number of youth players I have discarded because of this. Thankfully Ajazzone has all the right attributes, although I do wish he had better finishing.

Update : I just realised I did give Ajazzone some game time a few seasons back. My bad!

oh and try and stop the ciggies pal not bloody good for ya.

Yes I know, but it's better than being doped up on Valium all day like my doctors had it and drooling on my pillow 20 hours a day - better of two evils I guess.

Thanks for your comments and my condolences for the loss of your father. I am lucky, I still have both my parents and I am thankful for that.

Finally Elvis has left the building...

I am pretty happy because I only paid 6.5 million for him, from Barcelona, only 6 months ago.

A tidy profit...

Great read mate! Glad to hear FM is helping you through some rough times - it has done the same for me in the past .

Keep up the good work with Napoli

Enough about the frivolities of life and FM.....

I have to know what on Earth "fried devon" is and where I can get some.

So I sit here, eating slices of fried devon with freshly baked bread.

I'm refusing to google just yet as I'm sure that the truth will only disappoint.

Fried devon might be something like deep fried brie. A fried cornish cheese perhaps? Or maybe even some sort of bacon. That would be cool too. Or maybe cornish cheeses wrapped in bacon.

ps. Keep up the drunk management.

some poor and excessive spending due to binge drinking

Ah, the Souness method

Like Jimbo, I am very interested to know what Fried Devon is.

I loved that big spending spree

Thanks for the comments.

Devon is similar to eating the contents of a sausage. The contents are wrapped in plastic packaging and you can just open up the package and slice it up and eat it cold in a sandwich or you can fry it until crispy then put it in between bread with some cheese.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devon_(sausage)

It is disgustingly tasty.

With regards to the drunk posting, that I am sure won't happen again. I am not a fan of over drinking and probably not the best idea when I am on these meds - and probably why I got drunk so quickly off beer. I mean seriously NO ONE gets drunk off beer...well only people who are "story alcoholics", but no one enjoys reading cliche stories about "alcoholic managers" now do they? :D

I might get back to some more posts regarding my save game later on, but I haven't played for a few days as I haven't been feeling so well.

Well preseason is over and it is time for the Super Cup Finals.

Below are the results of my 6 preseason matches, and the next two games coming up.

Preseason went well, with 6 wins out of 6 - but results do not mean much to me, as I am only looking to make everyone fit and watch for key performances from individuals. Now even though none of my new signings really shone in any of the games, I guess none of them played poorly either. Usually every season, a new signing will catch my eye and I end up finding a gem of a performer who eventually will find a spot in the squad. The worrying sign for me is just that I didn't see that special spark that I have seen in past seasons. It made me feel as though I made a bad decision in letting players like Messi and Ronaldo go and bringing in the best of my loaned out wonderkids. I guess transition phases are never easy, but I think it was the best time to get rid of a lot of mid 30 players.

The Standout Player

The only real standout was Agustine Allione, who scored 5 goals in 6 of the friendly matches. I have been pleasantly surprised by this signing that I made in the January window last season. The winger scored 8 goals in 20 matches last year and I honestly did not expect him to turn into a World Class player. When I scouted him, they had advised me he would be a leading player for Serie A clubs and his attributes were good, but nothing out of the ordinary and his mental stats were on the lesser end of the spectrum. One thing I did know was that he was one of the best players for Boca Juniors in the Argentine League. I honestly believe he could be an inspired signing, especially for the bargain price of 8.75 million Euros, especially if he continues in the same manner as he ended off last season.

One that "didn't make the cut"

One new signing that did not make the cut was Wilco Hol. Scouts say he is a World Class player, but I found that he lacked in the Technical department and I decided to loan him out for another season. He will play his trade in the English Premier League again, this time for Everton. Please give me your opinions on this player - I just can't decide what to do with Wilco Hol. Should I sell him? Or do you guys think that he might develop enough technically to play for my club next season?

He cost me 11 million Euros from PSV and has made some good improvements. He actually "exploded" onto the scene late last season with a string of good performances and key goals for Cardiff in the Premier League. I think I could easily ship him off for 30 or so million Euros, but then he could turn out to a key player and I might get 70+ million for him! I guess I am not very loyal and quite greedy! :o

The next update, will be the Super Cup Final results...wish me luck!

A new signing to replace Wilco Hol...

I did a search for transfer listed wingers with the attributes required to fit my tactic and style of play. I also checked for someone who would fit into the squads mentality. Rarely do I find someone that looks good, but when I do I usually strike out pretty lucky. In the past 8 seasons or so I have signed a number of players for well below their market value and cashed in on them a couple of seasons later. I guess you could count it on one hand the number of players I cashed in on from checking the transfer list, but the millions in profit would probably need a calculator.

The fans seem happy, and I hope Lazaro will fit in well and be a happy squad player...

Another Cup Victory and being on top of the World...

Valencia was brushed aside by my side and once again Allione scored an important goal. This guy just knows how to find the back of the net, and has been a great impact player.

After the match concluded, I was sent this news item - much to my surprise. It is not something I was keeping tabs on, but when the news article popped up, it just reminded me what a great job I, the players, coaches and of course my scouts have done over the years. Most of my signings have been from scout recommendations, which has been fantastic. Not to mention the many home grown players that have performed far better than expected.

I know it is rather odd to start a career story, especially after 8 years of my career has already gone by - but I just felt was fun to share my path. It all started from me sharing my tactic.

I will just post the links as a reminder of where it all started;

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=479704821

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/429880-Sydney666-s-Napoli-Wonder-Tactic-%284-2-3-1%29

The 2021/2022 Season Squad...

I will post a little info about each player in the next post...

The Squad - In depth details

Goal Keepers

Sam Johnstone - The English keeper has 7 caps for his country. Signed for 550k from Man City, he has been a solid backup keeper. He usually starts in all the Cup matches, while Sepe is the League keeper and/or big match keeper. he played 20 matches last season and conceded only 14 goals.

Luigi Sepe - The Napoli born keeper has been a revelation since recalled from loan from Empoli during season 1. He has played 214 League matches and has only conceded 94 goals. He has 44 caps for Italy.

Defenders

Michele Battipaglia - Michele is probably one of the Worlds best central defenders. A youth player signed from Torino on season 1 by my Director of Football, Riccardo Bigon - in all honesty was without my consent, but probably the best signing the club has ever done. The 23 year old has 52 caps for his country, scoring 4 goals. Michele is very dangerous around the enemy box as he has a good long range shot, and is potent with his head. He has scored 22 goals in 106 matches, quite good for a defender.

Alessandro Sacco - Another product of the Napoli youth team. The 21 year old has 14 caps and 1 goal for Italy. He made his debut for Napoli as a 16 year old and has slowly muscled his way into the first team. He is primary a left or right back, but is also adept at centre back. He is a little slow off the mark, which is what holds him back from being a regular first team player, but that is expected since he is 6'3''. His short term goals are to be a first team regular, but in all fairness he is the first player I look to when a first eleven defender is out injured or suspended.

Jason Seguin - The 19 year old French defender was signed from Staide Reims for 6.25 million Euros four seasons ago as a 15 year old. He can play anywhere across the back line, but it better adept to right back. He has 1 cap for his country and this is his first season in the first team. He has spent the last few years on loan across Europe. A lot is expected from Jason, but he is still young and will be the go to player when I need to rotate my full backs.

Marquinhos - Not much needs to be said for this player. A World Cup winner with Brazil in 2018, of which I was the manager. He was so good, I decided to splash the cash (70 million Euros from PSG) and bring him to my squad. He and Battipaglia form a formidable centre back line, which is why Napoli concede very little goals.

Kalidou Koulibaly - The 30 year old monstrous centreback has 43 caps for France and has scored 2 goals. I nearly sold Kalidou during season one, because his marking was 10, positioning was 9 and concentration was 10. Those stats usually mean that the defender will be error prone, but it has been the exact opposite. When I need to toughen up my backline, I remove Marquinhos and I insert Kalidou and I can outmuscle any potent strike force with brute force. He has 143 league games for Napoli and has scored 16 goals.

Ludek Lukas - The 26 year old relatively unknown Czech Repuplic defender was signed from Viktoria Pilzen for 7 mill Euros. Has 7 caps for his country. He was signed after Alessio Romagnoli decided to move to Man City. He has had big shoes to fill, but when called up he has peformed well.

Mario Gaspar - The 30 year old Spanish superstar was signed as a relatively unknown right back, as cover for Cristian Maggio. We paid 7.5 million Euros to grab him from Villareal and what a bargain it ended up to be! As Maggio aged, Gaspar slowly made his way to the starting eleven and once Maggio retired, he has been the starting right back ever since. He is now celebrating his 8th season with Napoli and hopefully we can get another few seasons out of him before he too joins the ranks of retired stars. On a side note, he only got his first cap for Spain last season, as a 29 year old. It is sad that it took so long for the Spanish manager to see his quality, but luckily we have him on our side and of all the cups I have won, Gaspar has usually been the starting right back on that victorious match. He has 144 League matches for Napoli and has scored 4 goals.

Lucas Digne - The 28 year old lightning fast left back, with a great cross and a good throw. Has 31 caps for his country and 35 League matches for Napoli. He is a solid left back and when I need speed he will play, but if I need brute force and good heading I will go to Sacco. It all depends on who I am playing really.

Midfielders and Strikers

Raffaele Ajazzone - Signed from Cesena for 5 million Euros back in 2017, found by my scouts and touted a future World class deep lying playmaker. The 20 year old had a fantastic season out on loan at Premier League side Southampton and due to his breakthrough season he now gets his chance as a backup to club legend Marek Hamsik. He has 3 caps for Italy and has scored 1 goal.

Yuri Kibirov - Russias best player, the versatile midfielder can either play as a ball winning midfielder or as a deep lying midfielder. He has 19 caps and 6 goals for his country. He has also scored 6 goals for Napoli in the two seasons he has been at the club. He was signed for a whopping 39 million Euros from Spartak Moscow, quite a big fee for a 19 year old.

Marek Hamsik - 441 matches and 114 goals for Napoli. 110 caps 19 goals for his Country, Slovakia. Club Legend Marek Hamsik is still going strong at the ripe old age of 34. He has lost quite a lot of his physical skills, but still has fantastic technical and mental attributes. He still is the starting DLP for the club and still has 2 years left on his contract. I think that within 2 seasons, Ajazzone will more than likely take his spot. I just hope Marek continues to play on, even as a substitute once his attributes decline due to age.

Paul Pogba - Nothing has to be said for this guy. A legendary midfielder. Can play any position in the midfield and thus he is rotated along different positions, depending on the opposition. Napoli's record signing for 140 million Euros from Juventus. He was signed after he became disgruntled at Juventus underachieving. :D

Manolo Gabbiadini - Manolo can play anywhere in the front third, from winger, to striker to trequartista. He usually plays right wing, and has been a strong and consistent performer. 133 league games for Napoli scoring 58 goals. He also has 67 caps for Italy scoring 34 goals.

Augustin Allione - A bargain signing for 8.75 million euros from Boca Juniors. His main role is winger, but he can play centre mid and all the front forward positions. He has had a knack for scoring, quite frequently from the bench. 21 games and 9 goals for Napoli and the 26 year old has only 1 cap for Argentina, but if he performs like this he will more than likely get more caps.

Valentino Lazaro - He has an Italian name, he looks african but he is from Austria. Signed from Arsenal, for 7 million Euro and looks like he will be a bargain buy. He can play centre mid and all other front third positions. The 25 year old has 41 caps for Austria and has scored 9 goals.

Mattia Tanaglia - The 18 year old is another product of my youth team. He is a very promising player but has only played 3 times for Napoli, scoring 1 goal. Has spent most of his career on loan to many clubs across Europe. He can play centre mid and all front third positions but he will more than likely be loaned out again or play a bit part role this season on the fringes of the first team.

Fernandao - The 19 year old striker reminds me of the Brazilian Ronaldo. He is quick and has great dribbling skills and knows how to find the back of the net. The only issue is that I am not sure what his best position is. I think he will eventually play as a winger or striker, but there is a lot of competition for his position.

Genny Tuttino - Another Napoli youth product. Has spent his entire career on loan and this is his first season in the first team and it's about time. He has 7 caps for Italy and has scored 2 goals but is yet to play a league match for us. I feel he will be a good substitute/impact player but one can never know - he could surprise me and end up a starter on the left wing.

Jan Duda - The 25 year old Czech Rep. striker has 6 caps for his country and has scored 3 goals. As the Manager for England, I was playing against Czech Republic, and twice my defence was punctured by Jan Duda. He made such an impression on me that I decided to grab him for my club side. It took 22 million Euros to prize him away from Sunderland.

Alexandre Lacazette - A 20 million Euro bargain signing from Lyon, the 30 year old winger/striker has been my most consistent scorer, especially in cup competitions. He has 192 matches for Napoli and has scored 94 goals. Not bad for a right winger. He has 50 caps and 23 goals for France.

Lorenzo Insigne - The 30 year old Naples born Trequartista has lightning speed and fantastic dribbling. He sadly lacks finishing skills, which sees him miss a lot of key chances, but none-the-less he is a fantastic player for my club and the first on the team sheet against tough opposition. He has 283 League matches for Napoli and has scored 104 goals. He will more than likely take over Hamsik as the clubs all time scorer, but it all depends who can age the best.

Paulo Dybala - The 27 year old Argentine has had a career full of promise, but everywhere he has gone he has faltered. He had 3 great years at Roma however, scoring 20 goals a season in Serie A, but then after moving on has found it hard to settle. If I can nurture him back to his best, he can be a lethal striker. I think the 23 million Euros spent to buy him from Chelsea is a slight risk, but I have this feeling he will be a success.

Carlos Saenz - The 22 year old Colombian Star, has 16 caps for his country and has 12 goals. I have dubbed him "Mr Offside", as he is constantly offside. He incredibly had 4 goals disallowed in one match and he still managed to grab a hattrick. He scored 18 goals in 36 appearances for Napoli last season in all competitions, not a bad return for a substitute striker. Fans also love the guy, but I find him frustrating to manage and have on many occasions thought to sell him on, purely because I find it frustrating seeing goals disallowed.

And that is my squad of players and a quick summation of their skills. Only 7 players have remained from the first season of which I won the Serie A. This season has seen the most changes of any season and thus I am worried that they might not be as successful this year around.

I will update this list when new players are signed.

Woo Hoo! Another cup....yes I am excited...well sort of...

Well the boys were fortunate to win 5-4 on penalties against a tough Inter side, but we should have really won it during the 90 minutes. Carlos Saenz once again showed how hot and cold he can be, and tonight he was ice cold. I don't mean that he was ice cold in front of goal, I am more inclined to say his form is cold and way to erratic for my liking. As usual he was offside a lot which was frustrating.

This is the squad I selected for the cup final. I did rotate heavily and made about 7 changes. I left out Pogba and Hamsik, and tried to see how some of my new youngsters would react during a cup final.

Now as I stated, "I am excited, well sort of".

I am not feeling that excitement I used to when I used to win cups. I don't know if it's because I am winning so much that it has become mundane, or if I need a new challenge. I think it is the latter - what do you guys suggest?

I am thinking of moving on at the end of the season, or I might see out my contract which runs out in 2 seasons time. Every time I think of leaving, I wonder what will happen to my ship without me as the captain. Will it sink or swim? Well ships can't swim, and I know if my players are swimming then they are jumping ship ! :D

That sense of attachment to what I have created, that fantastic dynasty which will most likely never happen in real life - allowing me to live glories only possible in this gaming universe. Napoli is the club of my heart and I would feel bad if I were to leave and suddenly the new manager would begin to dismantle players left right and centre.

*scratches head*

A small media update...

It looks as though the media has caught up to the fact that my Napoli squad is probably the weakest it has been since the first season. I have a number of untried and untested players, even though when they were out on loan to top divisions (with full detail enabled), they did well.

I feel my defence is great, and has good depth. The midfield is also top notch, with good cover. My AMC and AMR are also top notch with great cover, but my striker position and AML position are all up for grabs. I am thinking of bringing in Lukaku, and I know him well from my time managing Belgium. I know he can do well with my tactic, but it seems he is not interested in joining, seeing as he is doing well for Atletico Madrid. I may still try to grab him, and see what he thinks once I get into talks with him, and bypass his agent if I can.

Haha, I hope that's a good thing and not sarcasm. :o

Of course I'm serious. Why would you think otherwise?

I didn't realize Allione was a real player. I had him for years on my FM13 Ipswich side (though have just sold him) and I guess he's just about old enough.

Of course I'm serious. Why would you think otherwise?

So I want to thank you, and I hope you didn't take my reply the wrong way. I am just a peculiar person. :D

I didn't realize Allione was a real player. I had him for years on my FM13 Ipswich side (though have just sold him) and I guess he's just about old enough.

I don't know how long I will be managing him for however, as I think I will be leaving Napoli for a new adventure at the end of the season. I am just worried I won't do well and will lose interest in such an important save game. I guess "save game" has a different meaning for me now, seeing how it has been helping my depression.

I do have some bad news though. I spent the last 2 days and nights in bed, and not because I was ill, but because I was depressed, getting panic attacks and just doubting myself and cursing myself for just being born. I know it is just in my head and that I can get better and beat this depression and by no means is this a plea for help or that I am suicidal, because I am not suicidal. I just feel desperate at times and feel as though I have no escape from the negativity that has enveloped my brain.

I can do it!

seeing this isn't a "story" with any particular writing style, I was a little surprise.

That's what I like. It sounds very natural and, as such, it doesn't seem very long even if it's actually a wall of text.

That's what I like. It sounds very natural and, as such, it doesn't seem very long even if it's actually a wall of text.

Hopefully I can have more game updates within the next couple of days. I am busy at the moment writing up a report for someone.

Hi again guys!

Well I have been given my Champions League Group today;

Everton, Celtic and Besitkas I very do-able group! I think I should do well here and I might play more of my youngsters during the home legs of these ties.

Serie A is also about to start!!!

I have a game in a few minutes against Milan away. What a way to start Serie A, with a massive derby game. I hope my youngsters are up to the task. During my time as manager I have never lost the first game of the season, in fact I have always won. I hope that continues.

Oh on a side note

This will be my last season with Napoli and I will move on to a new adventure at the end of the season. If I by any chance will not win Serie A, I might stay to continue rebuilding - but if I win again even with my youngsters then I will definitely go on a high.

:D WISH ME LUCK! :D

Well what a game it was! A 2-0 win against our fierce rivals AC Milan at the San Siro...

Milan hardly got the ball passed half way, and it could have easily been 5-0 if only we had taken our clear cut chances.

Fernandao is proving to be a fantastic striker with 3 goals in the first 2 Serie A matches. It was an incredible goal where the Brazilian teenager took the ball with his back to goal - with an army of red and black players surrounding him. He turned and gave himself a few yards of space, and blasting the ball home with his left foot.

Genny Tutino, a Napoli youth product who now has 7 caps and 2 goals for Italy grabbed his first goal for the club on his debut. The 24 year old Napoli born winger had spent his whole career on loan to various clubs across Europe, including Southampton, Stoke, Wolfsburg and more recently in the Bundesliga for Frankfurt where he finally found his scoring ways, netting 16 goals and grabbing an impressive 6 assists as well.

His goal was well taken as he nut-megged his man, came one on one with the keeper and took his time to calmly slot the ball to the keepers left side once he had forced the man between the stick to commit himself, which looked like what was a well executed dummy.

The great 2-0 win against rivals AC Milan

Last minute trades!!!

So at the last minute I have decided to make some strategic transfer dealings...mainly for profit, but more inclined to develop my yougsters, while keeping my squad happy - which is key to winning trophies. I decided to bring in older players whom I have managed before and I know do not complain about being backup players. They are also backup players with high natural fitness and still have retained their pace - which is important. The other reason, as stated was to keep my squad morale SUPERB as often as possible - as I was getting a lot of complaints from my youngsters who demanded to play more, without demonstrating that they could actually step up.

I basically took in one year contracts for a number of older players but whom are still wonderful footballers. They are on similar wages to the wonderkids I have just loaned out for 2-3 million euro a season loans, with 100% of their wages paid by the club taking them on loan! BARGAIN!. I scoured the transfer market for these older players who were all around the 300 to 800k fee. I then also signed one younger and talented footballer - Italian International Cristante - who was unhappy at his club. I basically paid 4 million Euros for an international player who only a couple of seasons earlier commanded 25+ million Euro transfer fee.

While my youth player Ajazzone is loaned out getting first team football and I am getting paid for it, that money will pay for the players I just signed. Instead of using the wonderkids on the bench being disgruntled at waiting for Hamsik to retire (which won't be happening for at least a couple of seasons - touch wood), I will use these former ex disgruntled players and increase their value an sell them for massive profits later on and THEN bring my wonderkid back from loan once I have sold Cristante again!

I hope that makes sense and that I am not just going mad!

Players Signed :

34 year old German Sami Khedira as a backup midfielder, to replace my younger DM whom I loaned out. The loan fees have not only paid for Khedira, but will also cover for all the wages as well. Out went Ludek Lucas who plays the same position as Khedira, except centre back, but I already had too many CB's and on top of that Darmian who I signed can play there in case of an emergency...win!

32 year old Willian from Chelsea. He has 20 workrate, 18 natural fitness and still has 15 pace. I also managed him when I was the head coach of Brazil and won the FIFA World Cup. He accepted a backup role and decent wages.

31 year old Matteo Darmian on loan from Man City for 250k with an option to buy for 2.3 million Euro. I only pay 10% of his wages, which is about 1.2 million Euros. I feel it is a bargain because for one, I had him at my club for 4 years and he was a brilliant substitute who always played well. I sold him to Man City for 28.5 million, and getting back for 10% of that price is just something I could not pass by. So I loaned out my 19 year old Wonderkid defender Seguin for 3 million Euro + 100% of his wages, which was about 3.5 million Euros - and again he basically paid for this deal. Sounds like a smart deal to me!

As stated I also signed Bryan Cristante for 4.4 million Euros, also from Man City. He hasn't had a cap for Italy yet, but has been in the squad numerous times. He is a fantastic footballer than commanded a 25+ million Euro deal only two seasons ago. He is only 25 years old and if he gets a good season on his belt he can easily be sold in 12 to 18 months for 25+ million Euros again. So I loaned out my young superstar Italian International Ajazzone for 2.9 million Euro, which nearly paid for Cristante's fee.

Players Loaned out as part of these signings :

Now to balance the books, I didn't sell anyone - I actually loaned out numerous players on the last day of the summer dealings.

Ludek Lucas - my CB went to Cardif for a 2.8 million Euro fee + 100% wages.

Jason Seguin - my versitile full back went to Monaco for 3 million + 100% wages.

Raffaelo Ajazzone - my wonderkid DLP - the heir to Hamsik went to Southamption for 2.9 million Euros.

At the end of the season the old guys contract will run out, and I will get back my youngsters after having made a profit of about 8.5 million Euros. Then I will hopefully sell Cristante for a 20 million profit. The wages involved really cancel themselves out.

Lastly the famous oldies should not only bring some much needed experience to the backup squad, but are great tutors to my under 18's (usually about 6-7 16 year olds I still have and cannot loan out). Their "fame" has already excited the fans, and shirt sales will surely boost.

Do I sound crazy for doing this - or does it make complete sense? Surely I am not the only person who scours the Transfer Listed Players, in search of bagains!

Thanks for reading!!

P.S. I couldn't sleep last night because of bone, nerve and random muscular shoulder pain! So if I am rambling and not making sense, tough it out like I have been! Ha Ha! :D

Always nice to see someone hammer Milan!

As a Dane, I am surprised see Erik Sviatchenko playing for them, though. Just out of curiosity, could you post a screenshot of him? He's a decent player in the Danish Superliga, but I don't see him evolving into a Serie A player IRL...

Sure, here is his pic.

I have a lot of database changes, when I downloaded some MEGA mod from sortitoutsi.

Maybe he is the same in the default game, I don't know.

He looks like a decent player, but Milan aren't the club they used to be. They would be lucky to get to Europa League spots, if that.

Always nice to see someone hammer Milan!

As a Dane, I am surprised see Erik Sviatchenko playing for them, though. Just out of curiosity, could you post a screenshot of him? He's a decent player in the Danish Superliga, but I don't see him evolving into a Serie A player IRL...

I managed Denmark in a previous save and Sviatchenko was always in the mix when I picked the squads. It helped that in that save he got a move to Celtic and got plenty of games/was consistent for them.

Ha, it's odd that even in my save he moved to Celtic. They aren't a parent club to any Danish clubs are they?

I managed Denmark in a previous save and Sviatchenko was always in the mix when I picked the squads.

Me too!

Ha, it's odd that even in my save he moved to Celtic. They aren't a parent club to any Danish clubs are they?

Not that I know of.

Thanks for the SS. He's no Emil Debski (for those of you old enough to remember CM 01/02 ), but his potential does seem a bit overrated in the game...

Ha, it's odd that even in my save he moved to Celtic. They aren't a parent club to any Danish clubs are they?

Don't think so.

Looking at my current save he moved to Southampton which is around the level I would expect him to be, he isn't playing as often but has 11 caps at 28yo.

Well that picture above is weird. It used to be a picture of that Danish player, but now it's a screen shot of someone's pc and guess what, ITS NOT MY PC!!!

I guess they got the names messed up.

So I will go up and try to fix it!

Update : FIX the Erik Sviatchenko picture!

England play well and smash 11 goals in two matches - Antonio Colella happy with team progression

So it was time for my England team to play World Cup Qualifiers.

My group seems fairly easy. Greece, Belarus, Faroe Islands and Wales. However I am only 2nd at the moment, and Greece has won every game and pulled 6 points ahead.

Unfortunately my first match which was a few months back ended 2-1 for Greece at home (Wembley). It was my only second loss with England, and at the time I was still trying to figure out my best team and was using a lot of aging players - which was not a good idea. Surprisingly I was winning that match and somehow managed to lose with two late goals, with the winner coming in the 92nd minute. The only reason I lost was that I had a couple of injuries and a send off, and I had already made 3 changes when the injuries occurred and thus I was playing with 8 men in the last 15 minuties, so the loss was really unlucky.

However we have just bounced back with two wins!

5-0 Home Victory vs Belarus

6-0 Away Victory vs Faroe Islands

League Ladder

If it was not for the unlucky loss against Greece, England would have been first - but such is the unpredictable World of Football and FM15 in general.

Player Statistics

As you can see that Harry Kane has 6 goals, all from the bench. England's best player has been the evergreen 32 year old Daniel Sturridge. Pim Van Eck is the top scorer in the Euro sections, a fantastic dutch winger who plays for Arsenal. I wanted to buy him for my side when he was a teenager, but then I decided against it after two different scouts told me he was inconsistent and did not enjoy big matches.

Derby Time!

My next match with Napoli is against the much improved provincial side Juve Stabia. Juve Stabia come from the city Castellammare di Stabia, which is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Naples, of the Campania region, southern Italy. It is situated on the Bay of Naples about 30 kilometres southeast of Naples, on the route to Sorrento.

So as you can see that the two cities are quite close, and thus it will be a heated affair. In recent years the derby has picked up some significance, especially now that both sides are in Serie A. In the past, Juve Stabia have been anywhere from the Italian 3rd Tier to Serie B, bouncing about and thus the derby was rare. It should be a great game, which usually promises a lot of goals!

Past Meetings

Would you believe that Napoli have won every single match over recent years and incredibly in 14 matches, which has resulted in a 100% record for Napoli, an amazing 72 goals have been scored, with Juve Stabia only grabbing a measly 4 of those. The only saving grace is that most of the matches are friendlies, due to the fact that Juve Stabia is a sister club of its bigger Neapolitan club. Nevertheless, Juve Stabia should be in for a very difficult match.

A last minute signing, to cover the Centre Defender role

Well I have made a last minute signing of Vlad Chiriches, because I really wanted a 5th Centre Defender to cover for any unforeseen injuries. Usually I would use an Under 20 defender as an emergency backup, but I just don't have any this year, especially since I loaned them all out.

Chiriches cost me only 240k as he wanted more first team football. I also decided to grab him over others because Napoli actually signed him in real life and in a couple of friendlies he played quite well. He has agreed to a backup role and hopefully he won't complain - he will be lucky to get 5 to 10 games this season. Sadly he won't be able to play Champions League football as I just couldn't find space for him and also keep up with Uefa rules.

Healthy Bank Balance and Projection - 2021

Well after some great sales and some very prudent spending, the club has a whopping 110 million Euro in the bank. Latest projections show the club to be 320 million in the black by 2023. Napoli may need to pay a percentage of this income to the tax man, and to share holders as the club is meant to be run as a non profit organisation. Over the last 8 years, most profits have been re-invested into creating a solid playing squad and the Napoli board have upgraded all facilities to their maximum levels. The only item left on the table is the creation of a new stadium, however the Napoli Chairman Aurelio Delaurentiis believes there is no need to invest money into a new playing ground, especially when the current one is so historic and synonymous with Diego Armando Maradona. "One cannot just knock down a theatre where Shakespeare has performed a play such as Hamlet" stated the Napoli Chairman after being questioned by RAI Sports.

Fans however are adament that the current ground does need restructuring to modernize most facilities.

Masterful Napoli humiliate Juve Stabia in the Derby of Naples

It was complete domination from start to finish as Napoli finished 4-0 winners against mid-table side Juve Stabia in the "Derby of Naplies". The match could have easily finished 10-0 but Carlos Saenz missed a load of easy chances and was eventually subbed off.

Carlos Saenz who scored 18 goals last season, has yet to find the back of the net and it makes one wonder why he is such a fan favorite. Some suggest he won't be at Naples for long, especially when new recruit, 19 year old Brazilian Fernandao is much more involved with link-up play with his trickery, good team work and a powerful and direct running style.

Fernandao had two assists today, as he sacrificed himself for the team and to great effect. He was used as a left wing rather than his usual striker position, also showing he has versatility to go with his skills. The striker is also adept at playing centre midfield which makes him a valuable asset to the club. It is no wonder Tottenham tried to buy the player outright after a successful loan spell at White Heart Lane, in the English Premier League last season where he scored 12 goals in all competitions.

Marek Hamsik also had a fine game controlling the midfield and getting a brace. The 34 year old midfielder now has 116 goals in Serie A and still looks as though he can continue at the top level for years to come.

Match Details

Fernandao - Napoli's Golden Boy

Unexpected result shows that the new look Napoli mean business...!

I rested numerous first team players for the away trip to Everton today for the first round Champions League tie. Debuts were given to Bryan Cristante, Willian and Sami Khedira, while Darmian also made his return in Napoli colours as he made his return to the club after leaving for Man City after having spent four years at Naples.

It was a completely unexpected and devastating result, especially for Everton fans, seeing their club whom were made favorites for the match, dismantled by a fiercely determined Napoli team more than willing to prove that they are not a weakened side, despite losing many of their star names over the summer.

Dybala scored a double, and other goals were scored by Allione, Lazaro, Lacazette and new Napoli fan favorite Fernandao.

Everton 0 - 6 Napoli

Match Stats

Man of the Match

Allione was the man of the match. Once only a promise signed from much lesser Argentine League for a bargain price, Allione has now cemented himself as a fine player and one of the Worlds best impact players. He has an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. I initially signed him with the hope that he would do well enough to be sold for a profit, but now I feel he has become an invaluable asset to my club. Hands off people!

On a side note, are people still interested in my save? I would greatly appreciate comments from any readers just to let me know that they are enjoying the game as much as I do - but if not - then I will stop posting and there will be no hard feelings as I will more than likely keep on playing anyway. I do enjoy posting updates, even for myself as it is quite fun regardless if anyone reads. The only downside is that it can be tiring taking screen shots and writing up interesting things to say. It is also time consuming and I know I could probably play a lot more games in the free time I have. Ha Ha.

Cheers,

Tony