[FM15] Hoist The Jolly Roger!!!

Hello guys.

Creating this thread means I'm going from long time lurker to first time poster here, so hopefully I can keep it going and regularly updated. I've posted in team threads before but never in the FMCU forum and I've never been one to mess around with screenies and such but I guess that's about to change. Anyway...

Inspired by some of the fantastic threads on here already, I've decided to have a crack at what will hopefully be my feature save from now until I get FM16 (if I get FM16).

I'm a Liverpool fan and much like the idea behind the fantastic Scandinavian Shankly thread by withnail316, I'm looking to take over a lower division club and turn them into a dominant force, both at home and abroad but just where and who that would be?

I did think about trying to emulate another great manager from the past by resurrecting Derby or Forest but the English leagues tend to bore me quickly. I thought too about returning Glasgow Rangers to their former glories but the league that has had the biggest pull for me over the past few years has been Germany.

Not an edition of FM goes by where I don't have an enjoyable Dortmund, Schalke or Bayern save and going back to maybe FM10 or FM11 I had a great Hoffenheim save when they came to prominence too. I actually remember Bayern going bankrupt in that one and snaffling Schweinstieger and a youngster called Kroos in that one.

So, looking over the lower German leagues, who would I take control of? RB Leipzig obviously have the attraction of a big backer and facilities, Dynamo Dresden too had some appeal but much like Dortmund was the 'hipster's' choice a few years back, another German team nowadays fits into the category...

FC St Pauli...

Hoist The Jolly Roger!!! (actually one of my favourite Adam and the Ants songs when I was a kid )

Game Details: FM15, latest patch, summer transfer window update by Pr0.

Leagues Loaded: Top Divisions of England, Scotland, Spain, Italy, France & Holland.

(Taken from Wiki)

Fußball-Club St. Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St. Pauli, is a German sports club based in the St. Pauli quarter of Hamburg and has a cross-town rivalry with Hamburger SV, the matches between the two are known as the Hamburger Stadtderby or simply Derby, and a rivalry with Hansa Rostock.

While the team has enjoyed only modest success on the field, the club is widely recognised for its distinctive culture and has a large popular following as one of the country's "Kult" clubs. FC St. Pauli supporters are highly identified with left-wing politics and have a long-standing friendship with the supporters of Celtic Football Club from Scotland.

It was in the mid-1980s that St. Pauli's transition from a traditional club into a "Kult" club began. The club was also able to turn the location of its ground in the dock area part of town, near Hamburg's famous Reeperbahn — centre of the city's night life and its red-light district — to its advantage. An alternative fan scene emerged, built around left-leaning politics, social activism and the event and party atmosphere of the club's matches. Supporters adopted the skull and crossbones as their own unofficial emblem. St. Pauli became the first team in Germany to officially ban right-wing nationalist activities and displays in its stadium in an era when fascist-inspired football hooliganism threatened the game across Europe. In 1981, the team was averaging crowds of only 1,600 spectators: by the late 1990s they were frequently selling out their entire 20,000-capacity ground, the Millerntor.

Since the turn of the century, the Buccaneers Of The League, have only graced Germany's top flight twice (2001-2002 & 2010-2011), being relegated in last place on both occasions.

Hopefully I can do a bit better...

The Millerntor holds 29,063 (11,792 seated)



Corporate Facilities: Adequate

Training Facilities: Average

Youth Facilities: Good

Junior Coaching: Adequate

Youth Rercuitment: Fairly Basic

Club Value: £19.75m (Loan Debt: £16.75m)

Media Prediction: 14th



2014-2015 Kits.

Captain: Soren Gonther

Vice Captain: Jan-Phillipp Kalla

Pre-Season:

As I started the save with a summer transfer update DB I turned off the starting budgets but I did allow myself the option of bringing in a loan or two to flesh out the squad. Not many decent players were interested in joining and the guys we did manage to bring in weren't showing up on my shortlist as interested in joining but I took a flyer on them anyway and managed to bring them in.

With Budemir out on loan we didn't really have much up front, so whilst he's very young, getting Bonazzoli in on a non fee/wage paying season long loan from Sampdoria (who have a bit of a reputation for sharing the same politics/views as us St Pauli) was a bit of a coup. So much so that I thought I'd try my luck with Juve for Romagna and whilst he'll essentially be cover for Sobiech and Gonther, i think that's another decent move for us.

Our 3rd and final loanee signing before the deadline was highly thought of Leverkusen youngster Benjamin Henrichs, who will provide cover for Rzatkowski and our midfield at large.

I managed to fit in a handful of extra friendlies to try and get the tactic fluid and confidence up. No great opposition but I thought the results against Forest and Cambuur were decent.

I was trying out a 4-2-3-1 wide formation and it seemed to be working well. I holiday friendly matches for the most part, until the tactic is fairly fluid and then I iron out any wrinkles. That said, I had struggled developing my own 4-2-3-1 tactic, so was using one I downloaded and it wasn't until a few games into the season that I decided it wasn't working how I wanted and I ended up reverting to my homemade, tried and tested, 4-1-2-2-1 tactic as seen on my manager page.

I'm not genius when it comes to tactics but this one has worked very well for me in FM15 and I think I'm going to stick with it for this season and possibly season 2, IF we get promoted. Then in season 3 I have a tactic in mind that I want to develop and the prize money (hopefully) from spending a season (at least) in the Bundesliga, should allow me to bring in the personnel to fit what I have in mind.

The only other news in preseason was a meeting with the board where they agreed to allow me to sign young players and develop young players ourselves and also an affiliate link with Schalke, to allow us to bring in players on loan to save on wages etc. If Schalke keep producing the likes of Draxler, Meyer and Avdijaj, then hopefully it'll be worthwhile.

Okay... Club details updated, quick squad breakdown done and preseason covered... Time for kickoff!

(Though it might be a little later when I'm able to get the first updates written up)

Best of luck in Hamburg, man. Will be following

I await this thread. St. Pauli was my first fm15 team. Rzatkowski and Budimir are really good, and Gonther is really solid. For me they were, anyway.

Welcome and good luck!

St. Pauli really is a "cult" club (and you gotta love those kits!). Those of you who are/speak German might know the song "10 kleine Nazischweine" by "cult" band Die Toten Hosen:

"Vier kleine Nazis waren beim Fussball gern dabei

St. Pauli spielten in der Stadt, da waren es nur noch drei..."

Best of luck in Hamburg, man. Will be following

Cheers mate. I'm obviously a bit further into the save than I've posted up so far but feeling good about it.

I await this thread. St. Pauli was my first fm15 team. Rzatkowski and Budimir are really good, and Gonther is really solid. For me they were, anyway.

Unfortunately Budemir is out on loan at Catania or Chievo or someplace in Italy on the transfer update I'm using, which is a shame as I was looking forward to working with him too. I didn't really fancy Verhoek or Picault but bringing in Bonazzoli will hopefully give us enough firepower for Bundesliga 2.

Welcome and good luck!

St. Pauli really is a "cult" club (and you gotta love those kits!). Those of you who are/speak German might know the song "10 kleine Nazischweine" by "cult" band Die Toten Hosen:

"Vier kleine Nazis waren beim Fussball gern dabei

St. Pauli spielten in der Stadt, da waren es nur noch drei..."

Thanks dllu!

Club details, squad stuff and preseason written up. Hopefully first league updates will be later this evening.

Phew!!! Good old Oke got back in. Will we get any cash?

And his last name means "divine", so someone must be holding their hand over you!

Edit: I just couldn't resist posting a picture of what Oke Göttlich actually looks like:

No kidding...

He seems like a decent dude.

I can't complain after the 3 year contract extension and the fact that in January he agreed to increase our Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment. But more of that in the next updates.

Everything is coming up Millhouse for you. KUTGW.

Everything is coming up Millhouse for you. KUTGW.

Haha. Seems like it. Thanks mate.

March:

Bochum 1 – 3 St Pauli

An important away win, having lost our last two and a welcome goal for Bonazzoli to make it 3-1 and seal the win. Alushi scored our equalizer after Bochum took an early lead and Rzatkowski put us ahead after the break before Bonazzoli ended his 10 hour goal drought.

Bochum promptly sacked their manager after the game. That's at 3 or 4 times now where we've sealed a manager's fate this season.

St Pauli 3 - 1 Kaiserslautern

Early goals from Rzatkowski and Sobiech had us cruising at half time but a short header back by Gonther allowed Kaiserslautern back into the game and all of a sudden we looked a little nervy again. We still had the better of the chances and Sobota slotted in a rebound on the hour mark to seal the win.

Bonazzoli didn't score but he laid on 2 of our goals and just as Maier was cementing his place in the centre of midfield with Rzatkowski, he picks up a thigh strain and will be missing for a few weeks.

Sandhausen 0 - 2 St Pauli

Comfortable win at next to bottom Sandhausen. We bossed the game but didn't make it safe until midway through the second half when Henrichs added to Rzatkowski's opener. With a 20pt lead after this game, we secured a playoff spot at the very least. Sobota has picked up another injury and will be missing for 3 weeks, so Thy gets another run in the team, just as he had started complaining, so that kinda works out.

If results go our way in the next game, I think we can be crowned as champions...

St Pauli 0 - 0 1860 Munchen

And of course, we drew 0-0... Anti climatic... But it meant that we have clinched promotion!!! In fairness we had to make a few changes due to injury and fatigue and we were unlucky, hitting the woodwork a couple of times but a draw was a fair result. A win in our next game and we can break out the pilsner for real!!!

Had hoped for a little more but I'm sure we can fiddle with the wages and hopefully after we secure the championship, the board will free up some of the prize money for us too. Still, I think we'll be relying on some loans again and free agents to bolster our squad for the top flight. I'm hoping I can prise Kempf away from Freiburg if the don't go back up and I'll be circling with the other vultures over the teams that get relegated from Bundesliga 1.

Awwwww....

April:

Braunschweig 2 – 4 St Pauli

CHAMPIONS!!! The title is wrapped up with 6 games still to play. Bonazzoli gave us the lead with a towering header but Vrancic equalized for the hosts. It looked like we'd be going in 1-1 at half time but Bonazzoli linked up with Buchtmann for the latter to give us the lead in first half stoppage time... Thy made it 3-1 to us on the hour but Braunschweig made us sweat a little when Hvilsom pulled one back to make it 3-2 to us with 19 minutes left but five minutes before time, Miyachi made it 4-2 to the Buccaneers and we secured the title!

St Pauli 3 – 1 Duisburg

A comfortable win with youngster Nico Empen opening his account for us with a brace. He came in for the jaded Bonazzoli. Rzatkowski kept up his recent good goalscoring form with his 4^th goal in 5 games. A late consolation strike by the visitors wasn't enough to save their coach as he was sacked after the game as the curse of the skull and crossbones continues.

St Pauli 1 – 1 Dusseldorf

We don't have a great deal in our second team but I did call up youngster Dennis Rosin for this one and I'll be trying to give the rotational guys some game time in the last 4 games after this one. Including keeper Himmelmann. Heerwagen started off for us in goal as Himmelmann was out for a couple of months at the start of the season and I saw no reason to change things as the are both rated the same by our staff. Heerwagen is older though and out of contract in the summer. Not sure I'll extend him though as keeper is one position I think we need to upgrade.

Furth 0 - 3 St Pauli

Comfortable win away to Furth, with Bonazzoli grapping a couple after Sobiech had opened the scoring. Himmelmann started in goal for us and a few other fringe players got game time. Ajer is now 17 but still ineligible, which sucks. I thought I'd be able to give him these few games at the end of the season but I guess he needed to be 17 on a certain day to be eligible because he is registered for the squad.

The Furth result broke the 2. Bundesliga points record and still 3 games to go!

May:

St Pauli 3 - 1 Heidenheim

We were very flat in the first half and went in 1-0 down. I had to earn my pay in this one with the hairdryer treatment at half time and then with passionately encouraging the boys once Miyachi had equalized. It then took just two minutes for reserve left back Buballa to put us 2-1 up and shortly afterwards, Bonazzoli made it 3-1. Alushi came off at half time and Miyachi was carried off near the end. Neither will feature again this season I think.

Karlseruhe 1 - 1 St Pauli

Leverkusen youngster Benjamin Henrichs opened the scoring for us with his 4^th goal of the season for us. He's appeared in 27 league games for us with 7 starts. Along with Bonazzoli and maybe even Romagna too, I may look to see if we can secure him on loan again next season. Maier and Buchtmann both had to go off inured and the fatigue began to show as we conceded a late equalizer with 11 minutes to go.

St Pauli 1 – 0 Bielefeld

A lacklustre season finale, as the players went through the motions against mid table Bielefeld. A fluke OG by the aptly named Florian Dick, from a whipped cross by Thy, gave us the win in stoppage time at the end of the game.

Here's the final 2. Bundesliga table & stats.

And a look at 1. Bundesliga.

HSV turned things around after sacking their manager and FC Bayern blew it, losing on the last day, when a win would have seen them finish 3rd. Our parent club Schalke finished runners up and only champions Dortmund won more than half their games. I hope the league is that open next year. I'm hoping RB Leipzig can get the better of Koln in the relegation playoff, so that we can try and unsettle Koln keeper Timo Horn. Something which we'll also be trying with Kempf from Freiburg once we're confirmed in the top flight.

2014/15 Season Review:

2. Bundesliga

Media Prediction: 14th of 18.

Finished: 1st Champions.

DFB Pokal

Board Expectation: 2nd Round.

Finished: 2nd Round.

Top Scorers

Federico Bonazzoli: 24

Ryo Miyachi: 8

Top Assists

Federico Bonazzoli: 12

Ryo Miyachi: 8

Fans Player Of The Year

Federico Bonazzoli

Positives:

Promoted as champions. Nothing much more to say than that. It was for more comfortable than I thought it would be but not complaining. The loan signings contributed hugely, especially Bonazzoli but Sobota (who was already here), Henrichs and Romagna all played their part. Of our own guys, Rzatkowski and Miyachi were our top performers, along with Sobiech, Gonther, Dudziak and Kalla in defence. Maier did well too when called upon and Alushi was steady. Our facilities are pretty poor but it was good that the board upped our Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment budgets.

Negatives:

No money for transfers and tight wage budget meant we had to rely on loan signings and probably will have to again next season. We're weak at keeper and up front and will probably have to strengthen at multiple positions to have a chance at survivial in the top position. The youth intake was poor but we have one nice prospect but apart from that, not too many negatives as we achieved our goal of promotion and did so in style.

Looking Forward:

Hoping we will get enough money to bring in a decent keeper, striker and maybe a centre back too. I also want to upgrade the youth facilities and maybe the training facilities too. I think we'll have to rely on loans again too this season but hopefully we can make a signing or too two. I'm secretly hoping we can finish mid table-ish but in all honesty, I'll be happy with 15th and survival.

2015/16 Pre-Season Part One:

In the News: Just catching up on the end of season stuff here. Dortmund did the double beating Leverkusen on pens in the DFB-Pokal final after a 1-1 draw. FC Bayern lost to Man City in the Champions League final, Liverpool beat Spurs in the Europa League final. Guardiola got the boot and was replaced by the guy that beat him in the UCL, Pellegrini. Pellegrini didn't waste any time splashing the cash, signing Meyer from Schalke for £13.5m. Speaking of Schalke, our link with them was terminated after our promotion. Another big money move was Draxler's £34m switch from Wolfsburg to Real Madrid.

Oh and I also got a few invitations to interview for vacant managerial positions:

Transfers News: I've been working feverishly to try and bring players in, both permanently and on loan. I decided against bringing Bonazzoli and Romagna back but did get Henrichs for another year. I also terminated the last year of Sobota's 2 year loan. I figure there must be better options out there for the right wing position. I tried hard to bring Kempf in from Freiburg but couldn't make it happen. And with all the promotion wage rises, it pretty much ate up all our transfer/wage kitty too and the board aren't for loosening the purse strings, even though the finances look in good shape.

They did agree to upgrade our youth facilities though:

Good decision to stick around in Germany. Hopefully once you show the board you can be a stable side in the new division, they'll provide some more money to spend.

Good decision to stick around in Germany. Hopefully once you show the board you can be a stable side in the new division, they'll provide some more money to spend.

Yep. No plans to go anywhere for a while yet.

2015/16 Pre-Season Part Two:

More Transfer News: Seeing as we had no room to manouvre in terms of actual signings I scoured the loan market and reserve teams of bigger clubs to try and bring some names in. We needed a keeper, a centre half, centre midfield, centre forward and help on the wings too. Here's how we did:

Haliliovic is certainly a big upgrade over Sobota who was our starting right winger last year and Wilson offers cover for him and Miyachi on the left. Romero is a huge coup for us, especially given how poor Himmelmann and Herwegan are at this level and Henrichs showed his potential for us last year, so hopefully he can make that next step into the Bundesliga this year. We have Budimir back this season and he'll start up front for us and we have the youngster Empen too but Iheanacho gives us some depth upfront and he scored 7 goals in 24 games last season for Man City in the EPL, so he has obvious quality too.

Going out the door was Verhoek and Ampen. Neither featured for us much last year and figured to feature even less for us this year. We also agreed a £6m deal to send Miyachi to Gladbach but he couldn't agree terms. He's obviously been good for us but I felt we could use the money to upgrade 2 or 3 positions but yeah, it didn't happen. I also tried hard to bring in a centre half. Lovren rejected us and we couldn't afford the monthly fee for his Liverpool teammate Toure, so we're left short at the back but Ajer can fill in there in emergencies, until we can (hopefully) bring in reinforcements in January.

We actually got around to playing some friendlies too:

And here's our coach's assessment of the squad with kickoff approaching:

Iheanacho & Sergio Romero great signings at this level! Looking forward to seeing how they do for you

Iheanacho & Sergio Romero great signings at this level! Looking forward to seeing how they do for you

Yeah, I think they, along with Halilovic, will be very important for us this year.

August:

SC Victoria 0 - 5 St Pauli

Mainly the squad men getting a run out in the Pokal against minnows SC Victoria. We wasted a hatful of chances but a late flurry, where we scored 3 goals in 5 minutes, gave the scoreline a more realistic feel. Loanee Halilovic gave us a 1-0 lead at the half with a worldie and a Nehrig penalty midway through the second period made it 2-0 before Liverpool youngster Wilson, Thy and Empen rattled in 3 late goals.

Ajer made his debut and seemed to fall over a lot. His strength (14) and balance (13) seem decent but maybe I'll work on his tackling (12)

Hoffenheim 3 - 3 St Pauli

Our first game back in the big time and we go up against Jurgen Klopp... Hoffenheim battered us in the first half but somehow we were only 1-0 down at the break. Ante Budimir equalized after great play by Halilovic and they combined again for Budimir to give us a shock lead. Hoffenheim drew level on 71 minutes and the game looked to be headed for a draw until Eduardo Vargas scored a beauty, in off the post from long range to break our hearts to give Hoffenheim a 3-2 lead 2 minutes into stoppage time. There was time for even more drama though as Rzatkowski equalised on 90+3 after a mistake in the home side's defence. Wow... From getting battered, to thinking we've nicked it, to settling for a draw, to having it heartbreakingly snatched away... Only to snatch it back again. Phew! I can almost imagine Klopp doing a Kevin Keegan slump in his dougout as Rzatkowski rattled that one in!

St Pauli 1 - 2 Dortmund

And our first home game is against the team that Klopp built and reigning champions and cup holders... Nice. Oh, and we lose on loan keeper Romero for 2 months a day before the game with a dislocated shoulder... We lose, 2-1. Tough loss in an even game. Gonther equalized an early Dortmund penalty but the champions carved us open on 38 minutes to score the winner and hand me our first home loss under my management. 16 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat after today.

Koln 4 - 2 St Pauli

Very disappointing result. Koln were no better than us really. Just they had a better keeper. Himmelmann should have done much better with 2, if not 3 of their goals. Romero can't come back quick enough for us. Rzatkowski gave us the early lead and Miyachi scored a late consolation.

St Pauli 0 - 3 Stuttgart

Stuttgart are 3^rd in the table but we need something from them here. And now we've lost our captain, Gonther for 4 weeks with a strained hammy in training. And we conceed after 41 seconds. Oh dear... And it was two nil after 10 mins. Himmelmann lets in another soft one to make it 3-0. We look bereft of confidence right now.

September:

FC Bayern 4 – 1 St Pauli

No keeper, one of our two centre halves and captain out, lost 3 on the bounce and now we're away to Bayern. Why not? May as well get them out of the way now as I doubt we'd beat them, even with a full team. Halilovic gave us hope to make it 2-1. Meyer scored his first goal for Bayern.

St Pauli 2 – 1 Mainz

Our first win bag in the top flight. Halilovic and Miyachi put us 2-0 up but Mainz pulled one back late to make it a nervy ending but we held on. Gonther was back for this one and was a rock at the back. Dropped Budimir for this one to give Iheanacho, on loan from Man City, a chance and he did will.

Gladbach 2 – 2 St Pauli

Disappointing to only draw after taking the lead in th 89^th minute but a little karma from the Hoffenheim game I guess as Gladbach equalized in the 90^th minute. Henrichs with both goals for us. He's going to be a beast. Hoping we might be able to somehow lure him away from Leverkusen permanently. Two games unbeaten, can we put a bit of a run together.

October:

St Pauli 2 - 2 Augsburg

Kristofer Ajer got us off to a flyer with his first goal for the club but Augsburg pegged us back immediately and then went ahead against the run of play. In fact we battered them, 26 shots with 15 on target, they had 5 with 3 on target and 2 went in. Thankfully Romero should be back in a week or so. Iheanacho got us the point we deserved (at least), with his first goal for us. That makes it 3 games unbeaten for us now and pulls us out of the relegation zone.

Dusseldorf 0 – 2 St Pauli

Big win for us away to bottom side Dusseldorf. Anything less than that here would have been a disaster. We were in control the entire game, Miyachi gave us the lead after beating 3 or 4 defenders and even when Gonther was sent off for a second bookable offence, we were still in control. Halilovic's penalty gave us a little breathing space and although he missed his second penalty of the game near the end, we held on for the win.

St Pauli 2 - 0 Schalke

We stood toe to toe with last season's runners-up and matched them all over the pitch and grabbed a great win. Barca youngster Halilovic is tearing it up for us and he bagged both goals for us here. He put his penalty miss at the end of the last game behind him to slot home from the spot on 14 minutes adding his second 14 minutes later. Hmmmm... Romero back for the last two games and we have two clean sheets... Go figure. Need to keep him fit.

Hannover 96 4 – 0 St Pauli

Our hosts had sacked their manager after their last league game and I was offered the chance to interview for the position a day or two before the match... I declined... We fielded a weakened team as the cup is a distraction this year and our glaring lack of depth was exposed for all to see. Hopefully Mr Gottlich will take notice. That said, we weren't as bad as the scoreline suggests. But we certainly weren't good either.

November:

HSV 4 - 4 St Pauli

The big one is finally here. Hopefully we can put our cup hangover behind us and keep our good recent form in the league going against our rivals from across town. This game was ridiculous! We found ourselves 2-0 down in no time at all but on the stroke of half time, an own goal gave us a glimmer of hope. Then another own goal, as Ajer's long range effort was deflected in got us back on level terms, early in the second half. Just after the hour mark Iheanacho put us 3-2 up but HSV hit back almost immediately via the penalty spot. Then Gonther got his marching orders (again) for a second yellow card and within minutes HSV has their second penalty to make it 4-3 to them with just 5 minutes to go. Harry Wilson scored a dramatic late equalizer for us 3 minutes later and there was even time for Ekdal to get sent off too for the hosts. 2 sendings off, 2 own goals, 2 penalties and 8 goals shared... Wow.

St Pauli 2 – 1 Bayer Leverkusen

Solid win for us. Haliliovic (again!) gave us the lead but we were pegged back within minutes. The game went back and forth but we always had the edge and the better chances and Iheanacho grabbed a deserved winner for us on 72 minutes. 3 goals and 5 assists in 9 games now for the youngster after replacing the ineffective Budimir up front. Budimir is trying to force a move away from the club. I doubt I'll stand in his way. Oh, and man of the match? Benjamin Henrichs, Leverkusen's 18yr old midfielder who's on loan with us.

Hannover 96 1 - 2 St Pauli

An important win in what was in truth a poor game as we gained a little revenge for our earlier cup humiliation against Hannover. Iheanacho put us 1-0 up after 3 minutes but we were immediately pegged back. That seems to have happened a few times this season. There was little in the way of quality, as both sides struggled to break eachother down but a moment of brilliance by Iheanacho, as he turned his man and unleashed an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area won us the game, to make it 8 matches unbeaten now since the Bayern defeat.

St Pauli 2 - 1 Werder Bremen

We had to hang on for the last 30 minutes with 10 men but were rarely stretched as we closed out another good win. Halilovic put us in front after 3 mins but Werder Bremen equalized just after half time. Kristofer Ajer put us 2-1 up, driving home from a corner on 55 minutes but just 5 minutes later, Gonther received a straight red for a nasty lunge and we had to hang on for the 3 points. Gonther has been sent off, missed 2 games, been sent off, missed 2 games, been sent off... Again...

Off The Field News... I went to the chairman to ask for some transfer funds with January ... No dice... He did however increase the wage budget a little, so I've managed to get us £1m in the transfer kitty and £25k left in the wage budget. Not amazing but we might be able to get a player in. Need a centre half badly.

Amazing - you just couldn't write a game like that against HSV!

Amazing - you just couldn't write a game like that against HSV!

Yeah, such a range of emotions in some of the games this year. I've wanted to smash my laptop and then kiss it a few times.

The Hoffenheim and HSV games were absolute classics. There's another one from last night that deserves a lengthy mention when I write it up too.

December:

Wolfsburg 1 - 2 St Pauli

By far our best result yet! Wolfsburg are a real power house and we beat them in their own back yard. We more than held our own and we did have a world class save by Romero near the end to secure all 3 points but goals by Iheanacho and Alushi (pen) twice gave us the lead and ultimately the win. Here's Wolfsburg's team sheet: Benaglio, Jung, Naldo, Dante, Gunter, Arnold, Gustavo, Dani Paerjo, Schurrle, Gabriel Barbosa, Mauro Icardi and subs Vierinha and Knoche.

St Pauli 3 - 1 Frankfurt

Comfortable win against Frankfurt, who's manager seems to like slagging me off in the press. We let our performance do the talking as goals from Iheanacho, Gonther(who actual managed a game between suspensions) and Halilovic (pen) made it 11 games without defeat in the league.

Hertha BSC 1 – 4 St Pauli

Halilovic grabbed a hat-trick and Henrichs the other goal as our loan stars did the business once more. I do fear for us if we can't keep these guys for another year or buy them or get some quality in during the summer.

I do need to remember to take a screenie of the league table at the end of each month but here we are at the end of December. As you can see from the graph, we really were struggling at one point and I'm certainly not counting my chickens yet. 7th place was good enough for European football last year, so hopefully we can be in the mix.

In Other News: Here's the list of teams that have requested to interview me for vacancies the past few weeks.... Newcastle, Southampton, Swansea, Torino (again), Frankfurt, Malaga and Koln.

January:





Transfer News: We finally got our man!!!





It took all of our resources to bring him in on a structured deal of £1.7m up front and £5.25m over 4 years plus 25% sell on fee, which I wan't thrilled about but I wanted to get the deal done and at the end of the day, I hope we can build around him, rather than sell him on.



I'm hoping he can be our 'Alan Hansen' moving forward as I'm looking to introduce a 4-4-1-1/4-5-1/4-4-2-0 Liverpool of the 70's & 80's type system next season. Other than the youngster Ajer, who was essentially signed on a free, Kempf is only my second permanent signing.

Some Fixtures:

St Pauli 1 – 1 Hoffenheim

A poor display again after the winter break. We didn't deserve to win but these are the sort of games we need to be winning if we want to battle for a european spot. Having said that, although Klopp has left to take the Leverkusen job, Hoffenheim are pushing hard for 4th spot, so maybe not a terrible result... Iheancho's fine stroke from 20yds was the highlight of the game. We also lose Henrichs for 3-4 months with a torn calf muscle. Huge blow as he's been great for us. With all our transfer kitty gone on Kempf, I may have to bring someone in on loan or jiggle our midfielders around a bit.

St Pauli 3 – 1 Koln

New signing Oliver Kempf scored his first goal for the club to put us ahead after Halilovic had equalized a 1^st minute opener by the visitors. Miyachi made it 3-1 at half time and we kept Koln at arm's length the rest of the way.

Stuttgart 1 – 2 St Pauli

Not really a smash and grab win as we had more shots and shots on target than our hosts and we lead 2-0 until Stuttgart got a consolation with the last kick of the game but it was a game that could have gone either way. Alushi and sub Maier with the goals for us as we churned out a good win away from home.

And the end of January league table:

February:

St Pauli 0 – 2 FC Bayern

Our 15 match unbeaten run comes to an end against the last team to inflict defeat on us. We were outclassed in all aspects of the game and Bayern won at a canter. No disgrace as Bayern are smashing the league this season but we weren't anywhere close in terms of quality.

Dortmund 4 – 1 St Pauli

And next up... BVB... Well, we won the 2nd half 1-0. That's the best thing I can say about this one. We were torn apart in the first half. Empen gave us the late consolation after Dortmund were 4-0 by the 41st minute. Sobiech had a mare for us. We need to recover quickly and injuries are mounting up. Our small squad will be tested between now and the end of the season.

Mainz 2 - 2 St Pauli

It was vital that we stopped the rot after two energy and confidence sapping losses to Dortmund and Bayern but we found ourselves 2-0 after only 6 minutes against Mainz. Barca wonderkid Alen Halilovic dragged us back into the game with 2 well taken goals before half time and we just about clung on in the second half for a valuable point and to show some character after the two heavy defeats and being in a hole early.

1. Bundesliga at the end of February:

March:

St Pauli 2 – 1 Gladbach

We made it hard for ourselves again going in 1-0 down at half time but the hairdryer treatment seemed to work as we turned it around in the second half with goals from Miyachi and Iheanacho. A vital win against the team directly below us in the quest for at least a top half finish as we promised the board in January and maybe even european football next season.

St Pauli 3 – 0 Dusseldorf

We smashed bottom side Dusseldorf and put a little daylight between ourselves in 6th on 45 points and Koln in 7th on 38 points. 39 points was enough to stay up last year so with this win I guess we cemented our place in the top flight for next year. Halilovic grabbed 2 more goals and Alushi scored a screamer.

Augsburg 1 - 1 St Pauli

We couldn't hang on to our slender lead in what was in truth a poor and very even game. Gonther managed to get himself sent off for the 4th time this season in added time at the end of the game as Rzatkowski's 3rd goal of the season ensured we had a share of the spoils.

Schalke 3 – 1 St Pauli

We'd have struggled against Schalke with a full team to pick from but with 3 of our 4 starting defenders suspended, it was a miracle we kept it as close as we did. Halilovic scored a consolation goal as we once again won a second half against a team that smashed us in the first 45 mins.

St Pauli 2 - 2 HSV

Disappointing draw in a game we bossed for 75 minutes. Somehow we managed to give away 2 goals in the last 4 minutes after a double from Halilovic had us cruising. Alushi is done for the season too most likely, with a sprained ankle.

League table at the end of March:



With 6 games to go we are tightening our hold on 6th place but we still have an outside shot at the Champions League spots too.

April/May:

Bayer Leverkusen 1 – 2 St Pauli

Another gritty, gutsy, come from behind win against a good team that is struggling and a great manager in Klopp. Our 2 loan stars, Halilovic and Iheancho got the goals that grabbed us the win.

St Pauli 1 – 1 Hannover 96

Disappointing to only get a draw at home against Hannover but they are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table. Halilovic gave us the lead before being forced off and Rztakowski had to be taken off too. Kempf got his marching orders for us with 20 minutes to go but we held on for the draw.

Werder Bremen 0 – 4 St Pauli

A good performance and result to match. Iheanacho had us cruising with 2 first half goals and late strikes by Rzatkowski and Nehrig sealed the win.

St Pauli 0 – 0 Wolfsburg

A disjointed performance as we had a few guys missing and Miyachi and Harry Wilson forced off through injury. Considering the abundance of quality in the opposing team, a 0-0 is still a good result, even if we did sneak a win against them away earlier in the season.

Frankfurt 3 – 0 St Pauli

Hugely disappointing defeat. Frankfurt are one of the teams down their fighting for the lives and they certainly put us to the sword in this one. We had pretty much a full strength team, so no excuses... They were good, we were poor. Any real shot we had at a Champions League shot is all but mathematically gone with that result but we should be a cert for the Europa League.

St Pauli 1 – 1 Hertha BSC

A win here and a Hoffenheim loss or draw would have given us Champions League football... But we'll be in the Europa next year., which is still way above our wildest expectations at the start of the season. Halilovic (who else?) gave us the lead but we couldnt see it out as Hetha equalized late on. They'll be in the relegation playoff.

1. Bundesliga final standings:

6th place and 3rd top scorers in the league. Halilovic with 22 goals from the right wing, though he did take our penalties too. Iheanacho with the 4th hoghest avg rating and despite his poor looking attributes, Miyachi is up there for assists again too.

Great season, well done man.

You certainly did better than I did with St Pauli. I got the same promotion in the first season, but then got absolutely cuffed week after week in the BL. After relegation, the board gave me 2 games before sacking me the next season.

Wonderful club though. I went over for a stag last year, and it was an absolutely wonderful experience to be in there for a game. A second-tier game, full house, wonderful atmosphere...not bad food either. I would fully recommend anyone go to the Millerntor if you get the opportunity.

You certainly did better than I did with St Pauli. I got the same promotion in the first season, but then got absolutely cuffed week after week in the BL. After relegation, the board gave me 2 games before sacking me the next season.

Wonderful club though. I went over for a stag last year, and it was an absolutely wonderful experience to be in there for a game. A second-tier game, full house, wonderful atmosphere...not bad food either. I would fully recommend anyone go to the Millerntor if you get the opportunity.

I'm actually looking into going to either a Dortmund or St Pauli game with some mates in the new year, so thanks for the input.

Great season, well done man.

Thanks mate. Surprised even ourselves I think. It was a grind at times though but excited about the new season.

I'm actually looking into going to either a Dortmund or St Pauli game with some mates in the new year, so thanks for the input.

Hamburg has the Rieperbahn...hands down the best weekend out I've had in the slightly seedy strip of Hamburg

2015/16 Season Review:

1. Bundesliga

Media Prediction: 16th of 18 (I think).

Finished: 6th, qualified for Europa League.

DFB Pokal

Board Expectation: 2nd Round.

Finished: 2nd Round.

Top Scorers

Alen Halilovic: 22

Kelechi Iheanacho: 12

Top Assists

Ryo Miyaichi: 9

Kelechi Iheanaco: 9

Fans Player Of The Year

Kelechi Iheanacho

Positives: 6th place and a spot in europe was beyond our wildest expectations this season, so there is a lot to look forward to next year. Especially with the budgets we have in place and an exciting announcement by the board. We can hopefully add to our 2 permanent signings thus far, Ajer and Kempf but we'll also have to rely on a handful of loanees too, given we now have european football to contend with. I'm also excited about our change in tactics for this upcoming season. My trusty 4-1-2-2-1 has got us promoted and kept us up and more but now I want to put my stamp on the club from bottom up, from staff additions to transfers to a change in philosophy on the field. I'm moving to a 4-4-1-1 formation with a (hopefully) pass and move philosophy based on Bob Paisley's Liverpool teams of the late 70's and early 80's.

Negatives: We'll again have to rely on loan players and it's highly unlikely that any of our current loanees will return, given that their clubs now all want £300k plus oer month in loan fees. That means I have to find 30+ goals from somewhere, around 20 assists and decent keeper. I have a nice budget and a little room to manouvre but it's still a lot to get done.

Looking forward: Perhaps I churned the season too fast at times and it almost became a grind, especially towards the end of the season but with the new tactic and being able to bring my own players in, I'm hoping I can lay the foundations this season for an assault on the top 4 in season 4.

Hamburg has the Rieperbahn...hands down the best weekend out I've had in the slightly seedy strip of Hamburg

Haha, yeah... The Rieperbahn has been factored into discussions.

2016/17 Pre-Season Part One: Boardroom News



Finances are looking healthy:



Exciting and sad news at the same time. I wish we could keep it as the Millerntor...

In other news: Here's a list of teams that requested permission to interview me for vacant positions so far this preseason... Everton, Marseille, Bursaspor, Deportivo, Arsenal, St. Etienne, Inter, Juventus, Dortmund and Tottenham... As well as being linked to the vacant Barcelona and Man Utd posts too. Madness...

Transfer/Team thoughts: With Hannover and Hertha both being relegated I'm looking closely at bringing in keeper Zieler and right back Sorg from them respectively. I'm also exploring the possibilty of raiding Freiburg again for versatile midfielder Mats Moller Daehli. I definitely need to bring a quality centre forward in and both Marital and Origi are available on loan, as is Swedish midfielder Erik Andersson, who Chelsea snapped up under noses last season. Former Partizan winger Zivkovic is also available on loan at Real Madrid and as we'll be playing a flat 4 across midfield, we do need some depth in those positions and we also need to find someone for the AMC (Dalglish) role in the team too. Not much in our budget out there, maybe Coric from Dinamo? We need another centre back too and we've had a bid for Fabien Schar accepted by Real Madrid. Only problem is that Spurs are in for him too. Lovren is an option as he's listed by Liverpool but his 6 composure worries me. Denayer from Man City is another option.

Looking to find new homes are Budimir, who to be fair, didn't have much of a chance but he wants away. Buchtmann, who just isn't good enough at this level and the same can be said for Buballa too.

Great work snatching 6th.

Great work snatching 6th.

Thanks mate.

We overachieved for sure. We should be better this year but I'd still be more than happy with 6th again.

Please tell me you fire up "Hells Bells" before every home match.

Please tell me you fire up "Hells Bells" before every home match.

Certainly do bud.

2016/17 Pre-Season Part Two: Transfers & Tactics

Here's a look at the business we managed to get done and the thinking behind it:

Getting Zieler was huge. We need a solid keeper at this level and at 27 he's only just entering his prime. Sorg is a steady, dependable Bundesliga full back and an upgrade over what we already have. Schar chose Spurs, which was disappointing as I think we still need to improve on Sobiech and Gonther alongside Kempf at the back. Denayer was brought in mainly for cover. Andersson adds a bit of everything alongside Ajer in central midfield and Zivkovic will hopefully fill in on the right for us as well as Halilovic did last year. Empen was pushing for a loan move, so Ducksch was brought in on deadline day as cover for Marital (Origi rejected us), who'll be leading the line for us and Mosquito is hopefully a player we can develop for the future, so we don't have to keep relying on loans. Serra is a decent looking youngster that our HoYD brought in and Coric was brought in to play in the hole/Daliglish role in our new formation, with Nathan added as his cover.

As mentioned, Empen went out on loan. Hopefully some game time will do him good. Buballa joined newly promoted RB Leipzig and Budimir Bundesliga 2 side Kaiserslautern. Buchtmann went to Wehen.

And here's a look at our tactics this year. Heavily influenced by the late 70's/early 80's Liverpool teams:

And TI's:



And it looked pretty decent in the friendlies, though I've been tweaking it here and there all season: