FM2009 - The Official Pisa Calcio Thread - Not just a leaning tower

Information

Pisa Calcio is an Italian football club, based in Pisa, Tuscany. The club was founded in 1909 as Pisa Sporting Club and refounded in 1994 as A.C. Pisa (and registered to the Eccellenza, that is the sixth football division in Italy), after the cancellation of the old one because of economical troubles. It assumed the current denomination in 1995. The team's colors are blue and black.

Pisa has won two Mitropa Cups, in 1985 and 1988.

Pisa will play the 2008-09 season in the Serie B, after having lost to U.S. Lecce in a two-legged promotion playoff final to Serie A. The club marked its last Serie A appearance in 1991.

Nicknames - Nerazzurri (Black-Blues), Torri (Towers)

Fierce Rivals - Fiorentina, Livorno, Spezia, Lucchese

Other Rivals - Siena, Lazio, Massese, Verona, Atalanta, Cesena, Pistoiese, Ascoli

Estimated Value - 4.8m

Media Prediction - 8th

History

After promotion to Serie B in 1965, Pisa took three years to reach Serie A for the first time. Despite a brave effort, Pisa were relegated on the final day of the 1968-69 season.

Spending much of the 1970s in Serie C, Pisa returned to Serie B in 1979 (by which time the club had come under the presidency of the much-loved Romeo Anconetani) and were promoted to Serie A in 1982, embarking on a period of six out of nine seasons in Serie A. With Danish international Klaus Berggreen among their stars, Pisa managed a credible 11th place in the 1982-83 Serie A with 27 points and 27 goals scored and conceded in 30 games. The following season brought relegation (during which they recorded just 3 wins and 16 draws) with 10,000 fans travelling to Milan for the fateful penultimate game.

Promotion followed in 1985, and the team seemed capable of staying up until losing their last three games. The cycle was repeated in 1987, only for a side containing players like Dunga and Paul Elliott to stay up. The last promotion to Serie A was achieved in 1990, and with the talents of players like Maurizio Neri, Michele Padovano and Lamberto Piovanelli up front and Diego Simeone and Aldo Dolcetti in midfield, the side started well and was briefly atop the standings, only to suffer another relegation.

Relegation brought considerable financial strains to the club, and by 1994 they had lost a relegation play-off and were condemned to Serie C1. Bankruptcy saw Pisa reformed in the lower leagues, only to return to Serie C2 in 1996 and C1 in 1999. Pisa have since worked towards attaining Serie B status, which was achieved in 2007. Their crowds have been among the better in Italy's lower divisions owing to the dedication of their fans.

In 2005-06, the team, initially thought to be a protagonist for the promotion, were in continuous struggles, and avoided relegation after playoffs in two dramatic regional derbies against Massese. The 2006-07 season, with new boss Piero Braglia, brought Pisa back to fight for a promotion spot: the nerazzurri ended the regular season in third place, and eventually won the promotion playoffs by defeating Venezia in the semi-finals and Monza in the finals.

For the 2007-08 Serie B campaign, the first in 13 years, Giampiero Ventura was named to replace Braglia at the helm of the nerazzurri. Despite initial predictions of a mid-low table place, Pisa's impressive performances brought the team to fight for a direct promotion spot, also thanks to a forward line composed by Alessio Cerci, José Ignacio Castillo and Vitali Kutuzov which proved to be among the finest in the league.

Finance Information

Finance Status - Okay

Balance - 1.71m

Transfer Budget - 272k (For top half finish)

Wage Budget - 42,855k per week (For top half finish)

Current Wage - 42,455k

Stadium Information

They play their home matches at Arena Garibaldi - Stadio Romeo Anconetani, named after Romeo Anconetani, the chairman who brought and led the club in Serie A during the 1980s and the 1990s.

Notable Former Players

Mario Been, Klaus Berggreen, Dunga, Jose Antonio Chamot, Paul Elliott, Wim Kieft, Henrik Larsen, Giovanni Moscardini, Roberto Muzzi, Michele Padovano, Lamberto Piovanelli, Francis Severeyns, Gianluca Signorini, Diego Simeone, Marco Tardelli, Christian Vieri.

Current Squad

Goalkeapers

Enrico Alfonso (On loan from Inter)

Davide Morello

Defenders

Matteo Piccinni (On loan from Udinese)

Leonardo Bonucci (On loan from Inter)

Alessandro Ferri

Tervor Trevisan

Alessandro Birindelli

Luciano Zavagno

Midfielders

Edoardo Braiati

Ivan Radovanovic (On loan from Atalanta)

Silvano Raggio Garibaldi (On loan from Genoa)

Gael Genevier

Edgar Alvarez (On loan from Roma)

Emanuele D'Anna (On loan from Chievo)

Thomas Job

Daniele Degano

Forwards

Mirko Antenucci

Daniele Buzzegoli

Giuseppe Greco (On loan from Genoa)

Joelson (On loan from Reggina)

Mirko Gasparetto (On loan from Chievo)

Best Starting 11 (IMO)

Final Thoughts

I am about to start my 1st Italian game of FM09 having had fun on 08 with team like Napoli, Palermo, Frosinone and Cisco Roma. I have desided this time to manage a team i have not before on any other version of FM - Pisa. Looking at the 1st team squad it has alot of loan players as most lower league italian clubs have now days so i feel there will take a bit of time to get the team playing well together.

I have set my aim at a top half finish for the 1st season in the hope that i can improve the squad and push for promotion next year. I hope i can 1st season but we shall see.

I hope the opening post will get a few other involved in managing Pisa. If you already have on FM2009 then post your information here.

If you are starting a game as Pisa.....Good luck. I will keep this as up to date as i can with how im getting on.

Pisa

Could you also post the best starting eleven and also more about the finances? Would be helpfull for others!

Lots of loan players though.

A little bit more finance information added, best starting 11 to follow once i have taken a look at the squad.

Right so i have added the best starting 11 from my review of the squad before ive played a game. To me it looks like the best player is Genevier the Centre midfielder. Im going to take a look at the players avalible to bring in as im sure i can release some of the loan players already here and replace them with more quality.

Anyone else going to join me...this looks like a good team to manage to me

Pre-Season Update

Well i've had a very good pre-season. I set out at the start of the game to try and sign a good young prospect who i can watch rise up the ranks and i managed it. I signed Franco Zucullini from Racing Club, i am sure he will be a star for me and if i cannot hold onto him will make the club a bit of money.

Here are the full details of my transfers:

IN

Franco Zucullini - Racing Club - 400k

Alberto Fontana - Palermo - Free

Out

Edoardo Braiati - Parma - 200k

I had a good run of pre-season games and played well, players seamed to play together very well from the start. My only loss an expected one to Juventus.

Pre-Season Games

Boavista (H) 3-1 (Job, Degano, Joelson)

Volendam (H) 1-0 (Degano)

Juventus (H) 0-5

Malaga (H) 2-2 (Degano, Greco)

Linares (H) 2-0 (Greco 2)

Italian Cup

Well it didnt take long to get my 1st unexpected result of the season! Drawn in the 2nd Qual round at home to Cavese i was able to pick up a 1-0 win thanks to an 88th min goal from Gasparetto who came on as a sub. I controled the game but for so long was unable to find the goal, thankfully that did come 2 mins from time. In the 3rd round draw i was given a tie away to one of my rivals, Serie A side Lazio!

The press didnt give me any chance in the game and to be fair i didnt give myself alot of chance of coming out of the game with a win but i managed it! I won 2-1 after extra time with goals from Greco in the 49th min and an extra time goal from Joelson. After taking the lead Lazio were reduced to 10 men when Kolarov was sent off after 66mins. Going into the last 10 mins i thought i had done enough to secure a brilliant victory but a 87th min goal from Del Nero sent the game into extra time.

It wasnt long before we were both 10 players a side, this time it was not for a red card but due to one of my players having to go off injured and having already used my 3 subs had nobody to bring on. At that point i was sure Lazio would take the game but a goal from Joelson sent me through...a brilliant start to the season.

Im looking forward to the start of the season now.

Interesting stuff, Pisa really is a beautiful place. In fact, I'll be very torn between Pisa and Florence when I eventually move out there. Might have to join you once I've played out my Fluminense game.

I can recomend this game to all. Hard league to get out of but very rewarding. Im only a few months into my 1st season at the moment but i am really enjoying the challenge. Pisa have a good squad of players. If your looking for a challenge at a team with very little money then Pisa all the way.

Who is on Pisa's favourite personel list? Is Cisse Severyns on it?

Pisa's favoured personnel list is: Cristian Puggioni, Vitaliy Kutuzov, Gianluca Petrachi, Piero Braglia, Alessio Cerci and Ivo Iaconi.

No Cisse Severyns.

Winter Break Update

So i have reached the winter break in my 1st season as Pisa manager and it has been a very mixed half of the season. Some brilliant results and some very disapointing results. I was able to qualify for the 1st round of the Italian cup this time at the expense of Serie A side Torino. I was able to beat them 2-1 away from home which was another excellent result and just what i needed after loosing my 1st Serie B game 2-0 away to Grosseto.

I was able to then go on a run after the Torino result and managed to win the next 4 league games. By the end of October i had only lost 2 games and i was top of the league at this point. Then in the same week i lost Giuseppe Greco and Daniele Degano to injury, Greco with a hip injury and still has another month or so to go before he is back and Degano to a thigh strain which kept him out for a month. These injury's meant we have strggled to get on a good winning run and the team now sit 10th in the league. 17 points away from 1st place Rimini.

With Degano back i look better upfront but i have not been able to find another player in the squad to play along side him while Greco is on the sidelines. I think if i can bring in a few quality players i can push for a play-off spot but i dont think anything more than that will happen this season.

League Table @ Winter Break

I will be looking hard in the winter break for players to bring in to help the 2nd half of this season but also for players to bring in for next year.

End of Season One

We the 1st season did not go as planned. As i said in the winter break i struggled to get into the play-offs and ended up finishing in 10th place in the league. I had a good run of games just after the winter break but once injury's set in again i struggled to put any run together.

I had way to may loan players at the start of the game and i was unable to change this in the 1st season but it is something i will be looking to change in Season Two. I have 8 1st team players now that i have ended the season and sent the loan players back and i have a list of players ready to come in to improve the squad.

Zucullini was named player of the year and was the only player with an average above 7.00 for the season. I have a lot of Italian team interested in him as well as the big clubs in Argentina but i am confident i can keep him and he has just signed a contract extention. Another plus point is that is was able to make around 4million through the season and that was without the sale of any players so my budget for next season is going to be a very good one.

I am looking forward to season 2 and im sure i will be closer to the top 6 places this time around.

Final league table - Season One

Season Two - Serie B (Still)

So a my new look Pisa squad is ready for season two in Serie B. One of the main reasons i feel last season didnt go so well was due to the amount of loan players so i spent some time not only to bring in new players but to make sure that they were better than what i had on loan last season.

I wanted to build my team around Zucullini and Genevier in centre midfield as i feel they are more than good enough to play for a top team in this division, and in Zucullini i have a player who could play in a top half team in Serie A.

Transfers In

Matteo Gianello - GK -Free

Godwin Antwi - DC - Free

Daniele Magliocchetti - DLC - Free

Matej Krajcik - D/WB/AMR - Free

Vasco Regini - D/WBL - 300k

Luca Franchini - DLC - Free

Stefano Guberti - MRL - Free

Moustapha Salifou - MC - Free

Mark Viduka - ST - Free

Giuseppe Sculli - AMRL/ST - Free

Filippo Inzaghi - ST - Free

Massimo Bonanni - AML - Loan

Ikechukwu Kalu - FC - Loan

Andrea Russotto - AMRC - 1.6m

Gabriel Torje - AMR - 2m

Crisci Stefano - ST - Loan

Transfers Out

Emanuele Musca - Free

Giuseppe Casisa - Free

Alberto Fontana - Free

Daniele Buzzegoli - Free

Luciano Zavagno - Free

I am looking forward to seeing how Filippo Inzaghi does in Serie B, im my opinion he should be more than good enough to be one of the top scorers in the league this season. I also think Mark Viduka should still be good enough to cause problems in this league.

My Midfield and Defence have been improved alot in the summer. Regini, Franchini and Magliocchetti should be able to come into my defence and make it alot stronger than it was last year. In Midfiled i feel i have loads of cover Torje has been signed for 2m to challenge for a starting position along side Job, Russotto and Guberti and this makes my wing positions very strong.

Im looking forward to this season a finally feel that i have a squad to cope with a full season. I am now getting Co-ownership offers totaling around 7.5million for Zucullni who only cost me 400k but he is very happy to stay at the moment and know i will get more the longer i keep him so im hoping he can be the backbone of my promotion to Serie A.