FM2009: Official Empoli FC Thread: Pride Of Serie B!

Empoli FC was formed in 1920 in a Tuscany town of only 45,000 inhabitants, but didn't play their first game until 1921. Empoli's history was relatively obscure before the 1980s when they attained Serie B status. In 1986, they managed the remarkable feat for a small-town club of promotion to Serie A. Playing their first few home games in Florence, they managed to avoid relegation with only 23 points and 13 goals scored in 30 games. Empoli would receive a 5-point penalty the following season and would be relegated despite an improved showing. They then exploded from obscurity in the mid-90's, winning the Serie C1 Cup and gaining successive promotions from Serie C1 to Serie A. They have yo-yo'd recently between Serie's A & B. Promoted in 2002 and 2005. Empoli were relegated to Serie B last season despite having qualified for Europe in the previous two seasons. Their first European adventure actually never materialised due to the club's failure to apply for a UEFA licence in order to play.

Notable Ex-players: Gianluca Berti (GK), Massimo Maccarone (ST), Antonio Di Natale (AML/ST)

Status: Professional

Reputation: National

Formed: 1920

Chairman: Will listen to offers

Manager: Silvio Baldini

Fierce Rivals: Pistolese

Affiliates: Juventus (Parent), Massese, Cuoiocappiano, Prato, Tivoli (Feeder)

Media Prediction: 1st

Squad Personality: Professional

Club Captain: Ighli Vannucchi

Vice Captain: Antonio Busce

Transfer Budget 809k/980k

Playing Staff

GK Davide Bassi (23)

GK Renato Dossena (21)

DRC Felice Piccolo (24) co-owned by Juventus

DRC Lino Mazorati (21) *star player

SW/DC Jorge Vargas (33)

DRLC Andrea Cupi (32)

DC Adam Kokoszka (21)

D/WBL Gianluigi Blanco (19) on loan from Sampdoria

D/WBL Rocco Sabato (26)

D/WBL Vittorio Tosto (34)

D/WB/AMR Antonio Busce (32)

DMC Francesco Marianini (29)

MC Davide Moro (26) *star player

AMR Francesco Lodi (24)

AMRC Ighli Vannucchi (30) *star player

AML/ST Pietro Arcidiacono (20)

AM/FC Christian Pasquato (19) on loan from Juventus

FC Francesco Flachi (30) banned until 28.1.2009 (Global ban)

ST Luca Saudati (30)

ST Nicola Pozzi (22)

ST Luca Hemmy (20)

Best Starting XI

4-4-2 (with original players)

GK: Bassi

DR: Busce

DL: Sabato

DC: Vargas

DC: Mazorati

MR: Lodi

ML: Tosto

MC: Moro

MC: Vannucchi

ST: Saudati

ST: Pozzi

Hi all. This is my first (proper) post on FM09 and I hope you'll all join me in playing as the best team in Italy (IMO ) and my beloved Empoli FC

Empoli have quite a struggle to make promotion in Serie B to be honest. The three players I have indicated above are the three you need to build your team around or sell in order to rebuild. There is no starting or cover on the left wing and this needs to be addressed soonest, along with cover at goalkeeper and some taller centre-backs.

You aren't given much in the way of funds, so prudent accquisitions are vital. Daniel Parejo from Real Madrid is a good midfield loanee as cover for Vannucchi. Also getting in Nainggolan from Piacenza and Zuculini from Racing Club (Argentina) would be excellent starts as both are available pretty cheap. Also Stefano Fiore on a free as a temporary cover for the left wong spot

So hopefully you'll take up the reins and take this side onto glory! They deserve it! And if you do, my eternal thanks are yours!

Nice OP mate.

Some more background information and whats the best starting eleven!

Also which players do you recommend buying? Or loaning?

Nice OP mate.

Some more background information and whats the best starting eleven!

Also which players do you recommend buying? Or loaning?

Changed! Thanks for the comments! Much appreciated!

No problem, have fun with your team.

I'm not managing as Empoli but I am in Serie B. I am in my 2nd season as manager of Pisa. 1st season I only managed to finish mid table but I am now in the Play-off final against guess who....Empoli! I have the advantage of the higher ranking after finishing one place infront of Empoli.

I will be playing the final tonight as soon as I've finished work.

I signed Zuculini in my 1st season and can highly recomend. I signed for 400k and have turned down co-ownership bids worth around 8m. He wants to move to a bigger club now but I'm hoping my promotion will solve that.

Good luck with Empoli. I can highly recomend Serie B to manage in, it's very good.

OK, so I'm 2 games into the season.

Signings-wise, I've picked up a few players.

In

Stefano Fiore (Free)

Franco Zuculini (£180k from Racing Club)

Henri Anier (£35k from Flora)

Radja Nainggolan (£150K c/o with Piacenza)

Ivan Franceschini (£120k from Torino)

Fabio Celestini (£240k from Getafe)

Yago (Loan from Juventus)

Nicolo Buono (£18k c/o from Sampdoria)

Guiseppe Genchi (free, signed after performance on Trial Day)

Antonio Chimenti (Loan from Juventus)

Out

Francesco Marianini (£975k to Ascoli)

Davide Moro (£250k to Livorno)

Luca Saudati (£950k to Modena)

Pietro Arcidiacono (£400k to Benevento)

I have cover pretty much everywhere now, whilst playing a modified 4-3-3 formation in a 4-2-1-2-1 style.

---------------Bassi-------------------

Mazorati--Vargas--Franceschini--Sabato

--------------------------------------

--------Celestini-----Zuculini-----------

-------------Vannucchi----------------

Lodi------------------------------Fiore

----------------Pozzi------------------

First two games were Italian Cup games. Both were quite favourable draws, the second Qualifying round was against Arezzo, where a dominant 2-0 win was easy enough. The Third Qualifying round was against Serie A's Reggina where we came away with a 2-1 win AET.

I'm not managing as Empoli but I am in Serie B. I am in my 2nd season as manager of Pisa. 1st season I only managed to finish mid table but I am now in the Play-off final against guess who....Empoli! I have the advantage of the higher ranking after finishing one place infront of Empoli.

I will be playing the final tonight as soon as I've finished work.

I signed Zuculini in my 1st season and can highly recomend. I signed for 400k and have turned down co-ownership bids worth around 8m. He wants to move to a bigger club now but I'm hoping my promotion will solve that.

Good luck with Empoli. I can highly recomend Serie B to manage in, it's very good.

Thanks for the reply! Hope you won on penalties! Then I can claim you were lucky

OK. It's 21st October 2008, I'm 10 games into the season, and I'm sitting pretty well in 4th place, with the rest of the league playing up to 3 games more than me.

After 7 league games, I've won 5, drawn 1 and lost 1. The 0-1 reverse was against Salernitana and, quite frankly, we were shocking. Then came a 0-0 vs Triestina. Slight alarm bells ringing. Then came wins against Vicenza (2-0), Brescia (3-0), Mantova (1-0), Bari (1-0) and finally Modena (2-0). Piacenza were also dispatched 2-1 in the cup which gave me a first round tie against.... Inter. . Great.

To close out the transfer window, I have Josh Lambo (£20K) from FC Dallas coming in during January, as is Ricardo Villar from Unterhaching (£10k). I also got in Francisco Merida (AMLC) in on loan from Arsenal. Other loan signings were Antonio Chimenti (GK) from Juventus, Nicolas Mazzola (ST) from Independiente and Roman Burki (GK) from Young Boys. I also signed Eugenio Corini (MC) from Torino for £26k to be my linchpin playmaker in the middle and, arriving at the end of the season, Michele Paolucci (ST) from Juventus for a whopping £725k.

Only one departure and that was Alessandro Vinci to Siena for £500k.

There was also a feeder link up with FC Winterthur in Switzerland as I felt they had the best chance of getting promoted to the top league and getting better players. I also severed links with 75% of my original feeder clubs.

30th December 2008. I've managed to get Empoli to the winter break with only the Salernitana defeat on the first day of the season so far! I'm currently sitting pretty on top of Serie B by 2 goals from Bari and Livorno, a further 2 points back.

I sacked my AssMan Claudio Selmi and replaced him with Horst Hrubesch. I also overhauled my training and coaches, getting in specialists and replacing my coaches that were already at the club.

I sold Antonio Busce (D/WB/AMR) to Parma for £1m. Which I'm quite worried will come to back to bite me on the ass. Also I junked a deadweight reserve ST, Claudio Coralli for £180k to Taranto. These are in order to fund a raid on Milan in January for Matteo Darmain.

Results-wise, I've had 5 1-1 draws against the likes of Cittadella, Piacenza, Rimini, Livorno and Grosseto. The best win so far was a 4-1 win against Treviso and then two 3-1's against Sassulo and Frosinone. I lost, however, in the first round of the Italian Cup against Inter (bizarrely) 2-0, but it was a decent enough performance.

Top scorer at this point is Nicola Pozzi (ST) with 7. Second place is Francesco Lodi (AMR) with 6, despite the fact he's a back up right winger!!

Francesco Lodi you should keep hold of at all costs as he is amazing and will still be grat in Seire A, also look at loaning Vuidez from MIlan he is class at AMR darmin could be got in on,loan with a future fee agreed, look at the inter and Juve youths some great quality there you could loan and in Jan you should be able to get Cristiano Lucerilli from Parma on loan or for bout 100k

Fancy starting a new save. Might start with these, if I do I will post updates

Fancy starting a new save. Might start with these, if I do I will post updates

I hope so! It's certainly an enjoyable challenge. I start with them in every FM.

Could you tell me some of the chants/ songs they have to get me into it

Could you tell me some of the chants/ songs they have to get me into it

Unfortunately, I've never been to a home game (being English and all) so I can't really help on that front. :o:o

Oh well I'll make some up lol. I am starting now so I'll update soon.

Mazi announced as new Empoli boss

I have taken the challenge and I have a 700k budget to work with. Come on Empoli!

End of Jan 2009 Transfer Window.

I'm still top of Serie B, still on my now-23 match unbeaten run and now 2 points ahead of Livorno.

2 wins and 2 draws in the 4 games since the turn of the year. A 0-0 against Parma and a 1-1 against Salernitana was offset by a 3-1 win against Ascoli and a 3-2 win at Triestina. The team is playing well, the midfield triumvate of Corini, Vannucchi and Fiore is dictating games for me. The only slight problem is up front where it seems a little light on replacements for Pozzi if he's injured or suspended

Signings-wise, the transfer window was a bit mad. Signed Josh Lambo and Ricardo Villar as previously stated. Then sold Giuseppe Genchi for £350k to Bologna. This, and the Busce/Coralli transfers stated previously, funded a £500k co-ownership bid for young DC Matteo Darmain from AC Milan. This was swiftly followed by another £50k co-ownership signing of a brilliant young regen D/WBR from Serie C1/A side Carpenedolo, Fortunato Calabrese. I then bought the other half of Nadja Nainggolan from Piacenza for £300k. Noticing a lack of cover at DM, I got in Francis Coquelin from Arsenal on loan. I terminated Nicolas Mazzola's loan as he didn't bring enough to the squad when he played, although he got an 89th minute equaliser earlier in the season.

Francesco Flachi's ban finished on the 28th Jan, so I had cover at ST. I then had a selling blitz, selling Adam Kokoszka (DC) to Taranto for £450k, Rocco Sabato (my first choice LB) to Mantova for £500k and a double sale to Catania of Vittorio Tosto (D/WBL £250k) and Ricardo Villar for £500k. Villar had played two games and averaged 7.5 when they swooped. All these sales funded an audaciuos swoop for ST Alberto Paloschi who cost £525k from both Parma and AC Milan. I was absolutely made up!!!

So my aim is to keep up this run, as Livorno and Bari are grinding out wins all over the place!

Well done mate. Have you been taken over?

Well done mate. Have you been taken over?

I have. but the new owners said there will be no financial boost to the club

Hard luck. I'm still waiting

Paloschi great signing, will tear up serie B.

Paloschi great signing, will tear up serie B.

I'm already in love with Big Al!

Saturday 23rd May 2009

"Empoli are crowned Serie B Champions 2009!!!"

Stats: P42 W27 D14 L1 95 pts

And what a way to emphasise it! A thumping 7-0 win, which condemmed an admittedly injury-ridden Frosinone to Serie C. Bari, after hounding me so for long this season, lost their nerve and promotion with a 1-0 defeat to promotion rivals Livorno.

Top scorer this season was, you guessed it, Alberto 'Big Al' Paloschi. Ever since he joined in January, I've ripped up defences around the league. In 17 games, he managed to plunder a massive 20 goals, set up 7 and collect 8 MOM awards! Oh, and get an average rating of 7.94!!. Second was Francesco Lodi with 17. I'm hoping Lodi wins the Italian Serie B player of the year award.

Paloschi , congrats on winning the league.

1st September 2009

Well, it's been a busy time here at Carlo Castellani over the summer and here's why!

Board Aims

The board want me to avoid relegation. Doable. They also want a minimum of me qualifying for the first round of the Italian Cup. Now, I know that's definitely doable, but if you meet a good team, you're screwed!

Board Finances

I was given a £6m budget and a £349k wage budget. Bearing in mind, my wages last season were only 99k.

Players out

21 players left on free transfers, including Francesco Flachi, who just didn't fit in last season and wouldn't get a sniff with my current strike force. Sold Mirko Valdifiori to Cesena for £180k and in a shock move, sold co-ownership of Alberto Paloschi to Roma for £15.75m for 2 years, with him staying at Empoli and having a £31.5m buy-out clause. I also rejected numerous co-ownership bids for Franco Zuculini.

Players In

Having a decent (but aging) starting lineup for Serie A (IMO), I sent my scouts out to the various youth championships about the globe. In come a previously bought player, ST Michele Paolucci from Juventus. I also signed Igor Pita for £26k from Madeira in Portugal to cover my decimated left back spot. Felice Piccolo and Niccolo Buono came for free at the end of their co-ownership deals, as did Fortunato Calabrese from Carpenedolo.

The scouts at the various youth tournaments dug up the following players to join the Empolesi revolution. Spainards Jose Angel from Sporting for £50k as a left-back cover and ST Emilio Nsue for £2k from Mallorca, Italian MRC Francesco Di Tacchio for £250k co-ownership from Ascoli, Brazilian DM Renan from Atletico Paranaense for £350k and Russian AMC Victor Svezhov for £6k from Dinamo Moscow.

Big signings came (well, not unknown youth and over £500k) and they were AMC Daniel Parejo from Real Madrid for £650k to replace the aging Eugenio Corini, AML Leonardo from Ajax for £1.7m and to solve the lack of GK cover, 32-year old Luca Castellazzi for £1.2m from Sampdoria and 26 year old Federico Agliardi from Palermo for £1.6m. I was also besieged by offers for my half of Alberto Paloschi by the big Serie A clubs. However, I saw that Roma accepted a £4.3m bid for their half of Paloschi, so I tried the same as a cheeky bid. They accepted! So I 'sold' him for £15.75m and 'bought' him back for £4.3m . Finally I loaned in Clement Grenier from Lyon for a fee of £300k and Kerlon from Inter for £200k

Fixtures

Pre-season passed without any great shakes, had a 7-0 win against Xerez and a 3-3 draw on TV against Benfica. The season started with a Italian Cup 3rd Qualifying Round 2-1 win against Vicenza, with Parejo getting both on his debut. The opening day of Serie A brought a 1-1 draw against Torino, with Leonardo missing a 78th minute penalty.

Nice update, nice transfers and good start of the season. Plus it seems you have more then enough money left to buy some players (if needed) in January.

Check Dario Venitucci from Juventus, I loaned him out to Empoli and he won young player of the year award, seem to be really good.

Board aren't going to be happy. Lost 3-2 in extra time to Atalanta in the 4th Qualifying round....

Board aren't going to be happy. Lost 3-2 in extra time to Atalanta in the 4th Qualifying round....

In my game with Empoli the board keep bringing up my loss in the second qualifying round to Mantova. It went into extra time 1-1 then i scored in the first half of extra time only for it to be cancelled out minutes later off a penalty conceded by Cupi. Then in the second half of extra time Cupi gave them another penalty and the game ended 3-2 to Mantova.

However i am first in the league by 11 points after 30 games, seriously if anyone wants some amazing 4-4-2 tactics, i have only lost once in the league so far.

PS: i should also mention that Pozzi and Saudati are occupying the top two leading goalscorer spots with 16 goals each.

1st February 2010

End of the January transfer and it's been an up and down season so far for my tenure at Empoli.

Results

We currently sit in 11th, but struggled mightily in the beginning, culminating in a run of games (and mostly defeats) against Roma, Milan, Juve and Inter (that was a 1-1 draw) respectively. Highlights include an 8-0 win over a goalkeeper-less Catania (who lost their only keeper in the first 3 mins to a red card!) and a 4-0 win over Udinese. Lowlights include the 3 defeats on the spin described above (0-4, 1-2 and 0-3) and a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of rivals Fiorentina. We've only been beaten twice in 8 at the minute too (Lazio and Milan).

Jobs

I tried applying for the Lazio job after Delio Rossi was sacked, but the board got wind and offered me the chance to resign instead of being sacked (I was 17th at the time). I refused and carried on. The next day the board gave me a £2.7m increase in my transfer budget! Odd much?

Transfers In

A quiet month for me saw only a few new additions. GK Vincenzo Fiorillo from Sampdoria for £1.2m. This was joined by the loaning of AMC Leandro Romagnoli from Sporting CP and the signing of full backs Massimo Oddo and Marek Jankulovski from AC Milan for £275K and free respectively.

Transfers Out

Departure-wise, Andrea Cupi stopped whining for enough time to move to Modena for £250k and Ighil Vannucchi was put out to pasture at Benevento for £550k. Also 'leaving' was half of the rights to Franco Zuculini for £8.75m to Roma again.

Team

We've been conceding a lot at the back this season and my thoughts were the defence were not up to the task, so I gave Darmain and Calabraese their heads and a permanent spot. Darmain stayed afloat, Calabraese didn't much. Also the battle of the left back spot wasn't settled either with both Pita and Jose Angel not performing to their best. These problems led to the signings of Oddo and Jankulovski as experienced players that the others can learn off and adapt to life in Serie A.

Elsewhere on the pitch, Daniel Parejo seemed to be troubled by niggling injuries, which, again, led to the loan signing of Romagnoli as cover as Corini (playing his 600th game recently) wasn't as effective as he had been.

Imagine my surprise when I checked my inbox on Jan 1st and found a message saying "Paloshi voted European Striker Of The Year".. I nearly fainted. Then came the kicker. "Paloshi named European Footballer Of The Year"!!!! I couldn't believe it! Big Al, the best in Europe. And he's all mine!! Currently he's Serie A's top scorer too with 17!

I reccommend buying Sebastian Rusculleda from Tigre. I got him for £240K and he ended the season with 11 goals and 21 assists and won Serie B player of the year. He's an excellent solution to the weak left midfield position at empoli and would be excellent for any serie b side or small serie a side. Now, at the start of the second season, he's valued at £3.8 million and West Ham are interested in signing him. Great Buy!

30th May 2010 2009-2010 season end

Stats: P38 W12 D9 L17 45pts

Results

Our first season back in the top flight ended in success (comparatively) with a final finishing position of 11th. We were above Atalanta on goal difference and 5 points from Torino in 10th. Again, an up and down finish to the season with a run of one defeat in 6, but with a number of heavy defeats including a run of 4 defeats; 1-4, 0-5, 1-2 and 1-2 against Roma, Udinese, Juventus and Palermo respectively. Inter won the title by a point from Roma, with Juventus a further point back. Genoa were relegated with only 15 points. Catania and Bari were also relegated.

Squad

European Footballer Of The Year 'Big Al' Paloschi was again my top goalscorer and indeed, Serie A's top goalscorer with 29 for the season. This haul allowed him to become the club's record league goalscorer within a season and a half! Also Daniel Parejo topped the assist chart with 12. Big Al also had his first full Italy cap against Paraguay and, unsurprisingly, scored. Long-term injuries to Massimo Oddo and Franco Zuculini put paid to any thoughts of a top 10 finish however.

Transfers In

Only two players in at the end of the season alongside Venutucci and that's D/WBR/DM/MC Anthony Vanden Borre from easily-relegated Genoa for £2m and AM R/L/C Duda from Sevilla on a Bosman free.

Transfers Out

GK Davide Bassi was sent packing on a Bosman to FC Twente as he just wouldn't make it past Castellazzi, Agilardi and Fiorillo in the pecking order.

More to come in the season start update!

charlo116: Thanks for the info mate, I'll have a butchers!

Is Bartosz Salamon co-owned by Empoli ? He looks like an exciting player and a good prospect for the future. Brescia owns his 'other half' I havent seen any transfer fees in his history so Im assuming he is co-owned from the begging of the game by there 2 clubs?

Genoa have some good players you can get for probably a low fee.

Ok i thought i'd add my input because i have had a lot of success so far with Empoli so i decided to post season updates of my save file.

2008-2009 Season

League Table

Transfers

In:

Sebastian Rusculleda - Tigre (£240K)

Davide Santon - Inter (£450K CO)

Roberto Mirri - Mons (£40K)

Franco Zuculini - Racing Club (£800K)

Out:

Lino Marzorati - Torino (£475K CO still playing at Empoli)

Claudio Coralli - Taranto (£180K)

Alessandro Vinci - Catanzaro (£30K)

Matteo Negrini - Reggiana (£40K)

Andrea Aperuta - Foligno (Loan)

Plus at the end of the season i also released most of the youth and reserve players to make way for better talent as well as releasing Cupi.

A very successful season finishing top of the table and ending the season on a 35 match unbeaten run. Rusculleda was named player of the season for Serie B and was also named the fans player of the season. He finished the season with 41 appearances, 11 goals, 21 assists, 5 MoM and an average rating of 7.29. Luca Saudati managed 2nd place in the golden boot race with 23 goals second only to Laurito's 27 goal haul while on loan at Livorno. Nicola Pozzi finished just outside the top three in 4th place with 16 goals in the league and 18 goals for the season. Gracefully accepting manager of the year i was excited about the season ahead in serie a.

So far in the 2009/10 season i have massively changed the face of the team thanks to last years board takeover that generated a £9.5 million transfer budget and a £300K wage budget. After a bit of tweaking i lowered the wage budget to allow more expenditure on transfer fees. I frantically bought a bunch of new defenders to strengthn the team but my most notable signing has to be Paloschi.

After reading the success Deisler26 has had with him i signed him up to see him score a goal on debut against Parma in the 3rd qualifying stage of the Italian Cup followed by a hattrick in a demolition of Livorno in the serie a at home which ended 5-1. Hopefully there is a promising season ahead for this Empoli team.

1st September 2010 - End of August transfer window

Board

The board want a mid-table slot for us this season and are prepared to pay handsomely for it. I was given a new contract for £12,500 p/w and a sizable war chest, £24m to be precise. The wage budget stayed the same at £315k and the club's balance stood at £19.58m

Team

Alberto Paloschi won the Serie A Golden Boot and the European Golden Boot award. Envious eyes were cast over the team with Michele Paolucci complaining about no game time. Stefano Fiore and Eugenio Corini both retired from professional football with Fiore becoming one of the club's favoured personnel. Big Al also went to the World Cup, where a respectable 3 goal haul and a starting place in every game until Italy's quarter-final elimination was more than adequate!

Transfers In

Matteo Darmian's co-ownership was bought up by me for £1.1m, DM/MC Dario Venitucci arrived from Juventus for £325k, AMR/L/C Duda came in from Sevilla on a free, as did Anthony Vanden Borre from Genoa for £2m. Other signings included DC Andrea Ranocchia for £70k from Genoa and Brazilian regen DM Willian on a free. MC Przemyslaw Kazmierczak was signed on a free on the back of an excellent World Cup for Poland and on the final

day of the transfer window, I signed a re-trained AMR/L/C/FC Kerlon on a permanent deal from Inter for £625k.

Transfers Out

More free transfers than I could shake a stick at as usual, including notable club servants like Jorge Vargas and Ivan Franceschini. Goalkeepers were on a mass exodus with Davide Bassi leaving on a free to FC Twente, Federico Agliardi for £3m to Sampdoria and Renato Dossena to Fiorentina on a free. After studying my striking options, I sold SC Nicola Pozzi to Hellas Verona for £2.5m. A number of players were gifted to other clubs under co-ownership rules, the most notable being SC Eder to Frosinone. Loan-wise, AML Leonardo left for Cagliari for a fee of £375k, GK Josh Lambo to Pistolese and AMR/L/C Radja Nainggolan was shipped out to Verona. I also accepted a £42m co-ownership bid from AC Milan for Big Al, but he didn't like Milan's terms.

Results

A good pre-season was had by all, the highlights being an 11-0 win at KV Turnhout and no goals conceded in 6 games. The season started with

the Italian Cup Third Qualifying Round match against Serie B Ancona. A squad consisting of the backups and new signings was taken to extra-time

but eventually won through 2-1 with goals from Emilio Nsue and Michele Paolucci. Then came the first Serie A game of the new season. Napoli were

destroyed 5-0 with a hat-trick from Big Al and also goals from Daniel Parejo and Massimo Oddo from the spot.

What instructions do you giv Paloschi mate

With him as a target man, but not ticked, instructions for ball to feet!

Nice updates Deisler.

1st January 2011 - Start of January transfer window

Board

Board confidence has me as 'untouchable' at this point in time, with a 79% rating overall. Squad harmony is a thing on their agenda with only a 'Good' rating, where as wages are 'Superb'.

Team

£22m-rated Alberto Paloschi won the World Footballer Of The Year award and came second to Goran Pandev for the European crown and for European Striker Of The Year. The boy really is something special for me! I've started rotating the players a lot more and there is now no dissent within the ranks, although Anthony Vanden Borre is unhappy about the large amount of midfielders in the team. Siena have now become a 'fierce rival' to us on the screen!

Transfers In

Only two signings in this window, Massimo Ambrosini in for £170k from AC Milan to add steel to my DM position and AMC Martin Galvan from Cruz Azul for £750k. This transfer was done in the Jan 2010 transfer window, however Galvan wasn't eligible to move until now. I also bought out Franco Zuculini's half-share from Roma for £5m

Transfers Out

No-one is tipped to depart yet, however I have just accepted a £6.5m bid plus 30% sell-on clause (not profit) from Olympique Lyonnais for regen DM Willian. Mainly as, although he has been a rock at DM this season, I have enough younger talent to cover and a £6.5m profit on a free transfer is not to be sniffed at.

Results

We currently sit in 4th in Serie A, thanks largely to Big Al, again currently Serie A top scorer with 14. Highlights include a 6 match winning streak, a 7-0 win vs Fiorentina and a mean defence (on occasion). Low points include heavy beatings to Roma (1-3), Inter (2-4) and AC Milan (3-5). We are through to the Italian Cup Quarter Final against AC Milan, thanks to a brilliant 4-0 win at Palermo!. Atalanta, Udinese and Napoli are the teams in freefall at the minute, whilst Inter run away with it all at the top.

Nice updates Deisler.

Thank you!

You are a crack at transfers tbh. Nice ones.

You are a crack at transfers tbh. Nice ones.

I don't know about that, it's mostly my own knowledge tbf. Those early mornings watching Trans World Sport and Channel 5 have finally paid off!

Yeah but still you are achieving nice things with this team.

1st June 2011 End of 2010-11 season

Stats: P38 W23 D6 L9 72pts

Board

Board are delighted with my leadership qualities apparently, due to our fantastic performance in Serie A. Commercial links were forged with Tokyo Metro Felitz in Japan and Rochester Rhinos in the US.

Team

A lot of injuries in the second half of the season (including Big Al) meant I scaled down training in intensity in order to keep my remaining players in an acceptable condition for the rest of the season. Alberto Paloschi was again Serie A Top Goalscorer with 33, yet ignored for the Serie A Player Of The Year awards, despite an average of 7.74 and 13 MOM awards, 5 clear of the nearest challengers! Francesco Lodi came 3rd in the player of the year award with Franco Zuculini finishing second in the Serie A Young Player award.

Transfers In

I signed the previously mentioned two, along with AM R/L/C Sofiane Feghouli for £6.75m from Grenoble Foot 38. My scouts in France unearthed him and, judging by the reviews on the forum, he's a bit special!. Also brought in was regen AM R/L Sebastian Kessler from Pro Vercelli for £2k. He is tipped to be a future key member of the squad!!

Transfers Out

So much for no sales in January! DM Willian departed for Inter who gazumped Lyon by offering £9.25m for him! Four of my U-20's team departed for Castel Di Sangro on loan and another four went to Leixoes in Portugal. I also sold Dario Venitucci to Atletico Madrid for £1.5m with a 35% sell on clause. Again, with Zuculini, Ambrosini and Vanden Borre ahead of him, he wouldn't cut the mustard! Felice Piccolo also left without much ceremony for £3m to Atalanta.

Results

We finished in the highest position any Empoli side has ever reached, 6th place. It could have been even better, but a run of 5 defeats in 7 games (Milan, Juve, Palermo, Roma and Milan again in the Cup Quarter Final) started the slide. I had various draws, the odd win, then came two 0-2 defeats to Lazio and Inter in between a 1-0 win at Bologna. We finally limped over the line with a 1-2 defeat against Caligari which sealed our place in 6th, not 5th that season as we were above Fiorentina on goal difference up until that game.

Wow great results there ! Check some more youngsters who became awesome like Salvatore Foti in my game a worldclass Target Man in 2012. Can be bought for a really cheap price, and he could work really good with Paloschi.

Great result mate. Well done.

1st September 2011 End of August transfer window

Board

The board want a top half slot for us this season and are prepared to pay handsomely for it. I was given a sizable war chest, £39m to be precise. The wage budget increased to £425k.

Team

Nothing to report, team-wise, other than Alberto Paloschi winning the European Golden Boot for his 33 goals last season

Transfers In

MRC Francesco Di Tacchio's co-ownership was bought up by me for free, DC Michelangelo Albertuzzi arrived for £1m from AC Milan. Maniche came in on a free transfer as did Brazillian AM/FC Coutinho. Tomoharu Yano, a Japanese DR arrived for £1.2m from Nagoya Stolz and DLC Mathais Cahais came in on loan for the season for £1m from Boca.

Transfers Out

AML Leonardo went bye-bye to Bologna for £2.2m. Then came some financial jiggery-pokery. First, I sold half the rights to Sebastian Kessler to Roma for £2.6m. Then promptly bought him back for £1.1m, making a £1.5m profit! This was chicken feed compared to the big one. Alberto Paloschi. £45.5m to Roma co-owned. Then promptly signed back for £25.5m. Naughty, but it swelled the coffers by £20m. Sent two players on loan to Parma too

Results

I've only played 3 games, two were the two legs of the qualifying round of the UEFA Cup. Myself vs Sweden's Malmo FF. I went into the away leg with a plan, let the established players rest a little more and ignore the first leg, then kick ass at home. So I set up with a team that, if it wasn't for the presence of Maniche (33) and Kazmierczak (27), the average age was just under 19!!. The young turks completely blew away Malmo 4-0 with young Italy under-19's striker Mauro Maccari getting a brace, Sebastian Kessler hitting an early opener and a Tomas Huber own-goal completing the rout. Sofiane Feghouli struck the only goal of the second leg as we disposed of Malmo 5-0 on aggregate. This put us into the Group stages of the UEFA Cup, against Sporting CP, Dinamo and FC Twente. A very tough group.

Our first game of the season was a killing. 7-1 at home against Genoa. They looked like the team that got relegated in my first season in Serie A, not the team that just ran away with Serie B!

Tough group but you should qualify mate.

Great result mate. Well done.

I hope so. I've never done the UEFA Cup before!