FM10: Official FC Groningen Thread - Pride of the North!

FC Groningen is a football club from Groningen in the Netherlands. The club was founded in June 16, 1971 by the Groningen Football and Athletics Association (GVAV, founded January 26, 1921). They enjoyed top flight football for most of their existence, although the club was relegated to the second division after the third season.

The club was then propelled back into success by the Koeman brothers, Ronald Koeman and his elder brother Erwin Koeman together with defending midfielder Jan van Dijk resulting in qualification to European football for the first time in the 1982/83 season. Their best season in the Eredivisie was during the 1990/91 season when they finished third.

FC Groningen's home colors are green and white. The club plays its home games in the 22,000 seat Euroborg stadium. In December 2005, the club played its last match ever in the 12,500 seat Oosterpark Stadion after having played there for 72 years. The average attendance in 2004/05 was 12,500 people. This has risen to just below 22,000 people in the new stadium. There are plans to expand the stadium to a capacity of 30.000 or 40.000. The Euroborg Stadium is known to be one of the more atmospheric of all Dutch stadiums. Despite its relative short existence, it has already earned the nickname the Green Hell. In the season of 2008-2009 they almost set the Euroborg on fire with burning toilet paper. At the end of the 2009-2010 season Ron Jans, who has been the manager of FC Groningen for 8 years, is going to stop managing FC Groningen.

2005-06 season

The 2005/06 season turned out to be one of the best in a long time for FC Groningen, with the club finishing 5th place in the league. This allowed Groningen to enter the play-off tournament for the UEFA Champions League third round qualification. However, they were beaten by Ajax in the finals who scored a goal two minutes before the final whistle.

By finishing fifth in the league, FC Groningen qualified for European football for the first time in 14 years, where they were defeated 4-3 on aggregate in the first round by Partizan Belgrade.

2006-07 season

In the 2006/07 season FC Groningen again managed to get an entrance for the UEFA Cup. They ended the season on an 8th place but thanks to the play-off tournament system, in which they beat Feyenoord and FC Utrecht, they qualified for the UEFA Cup where they faced ACF Fiorentina in the first round. Both matches in Groningen and Florence ended in a draw, 1-1. FC Groningen were defeated after penalties and knocked out in the first round.

2008-09 season

Groningen only just missed out on reaching Europe last season. They finished in 6th place – eleven points ahead of Dutch giants Feyenoord and four points behind rivals Heerenveen, who qualified for the UEFA Europa League playoff round 1. They were then entered into the Eredivisie play-off tournament for the one spot in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League 2009–10, along with Feyenoord, Utrecht and NAC Breda. They beat Utrecht over two legs in the Semi Final, but then lost to NAC Breda over the two legs of the Final, agonisingly missing out on their last chance of entering Europe for the coming season. High points included home wins over Ajax and Feyenoord, putting five past Volendam at home (

) and smashing Vitesse 4-0 away. To add to the misery of missing out on European football, they were then to lose their star striker, Marcus Berg, to HSV Hamburg. Berg was Groningen’s top goalscorer in the 2008/09 season – bagging 17 league goals, just short of his 18 league goals from the previous season. It is reported that Hamburg paid €10.5M for Berg, the highest fee ever paid for a Groningen player.

Groningen In Action – 2008/09 Season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xZD7U8FJ-4

Goal 1 – De Roover

Goal 2 – Levchenko (no longer at Groningen)

Goal 3 – Granqvist (amazing solo goal starting in his own half)

Goal 4 – Berg

Goal 5 –

Goal 6 –

Goal 7 – Garcia (I think)

Goal 8 – Berg (after great skill from Garcia)

Goal 9 – Berg (amazing lob)

Goal 10 – Garcia

Goal 11 – Holla

Goal 12 - Levchenko (no longer at Groningen)

Goal 13 – Holla

Goal 14 – Granqvist (ANOTHER great solo goal)

Goal 15 – Berg

Goal 16 – Berg (nice volley)

Goal 17 – Berg (again)

Goal 18 – Berg (chips the keeper)

Club Information

Year founded: 1971

Legends: None

Icons: Hans Westerhof, Arjen Robben, Jan van Dijk

Favoured Personnel: None

Fierce Rivals: None

Other Rivals: sc Heerenveen, Ajax, FC Twente

Estimated Value: £24M

Continental Competition: None

Media Prediction: 7th

Squad Personality: Professional

Affiliated Clubs: None

Average Age: 22

Top Earner: £10.75k – Fredrik Stenman

Most Capped Player: 8 – Morten Nordstrand

Domestic Player Bias: 57%

Current Internationals: 4

Current Under-21 Internationals: 3

Stadium Name: Euroborg

Capacity: 22,329 all-seater

Year Built: 2006

Corporate: Top facilities

Training: Good facilities

Youth: Average facilities + Academy

Current wage total: £150k

Budget options: Top half finish - £155k wages / £2.6m transfers

Continental qual. - £170k / £3.3m transfers

Title challenge - £175k / £3.6m

Winner - £180k / £3.9m

There is no work permit system in Holland and no league rule which limits the number of ‘foreigners’ you may buy or have in your team. The only rule is that you cannot have any non-EU players under the age of 18 in the first team squad. This shouldn’t be a problem because it’s very rare to find a 17 year old ready for the first team anyway. Make the most of the transfer freedom by raiding South America and Eastern Europe for their cheap talents.

Squad Analysis

Luciano - GK – 29 years old – Brazil – 2.5/2.5

Van Loo – GK - 34 years old – Holland – 2/2

Nienhuis – GK - 19 years old – Holland – 1/1.5

Andreas Granqvist – D C – 24 years old – Sweden – 3/3

Fredrik Stenman – D/WB L – 26 years old – Sweden – 3/3

Gibril Sankoh – D C – 26 years old – Sierra Leone – 2.5/2.5

Sepp De Roover – D/WB R – 24 years old – Belgium – 2.5/2.5

Michael Jansen – D LC – 25 years old – Holland – 2/2

Ondrej Svejdik – D RC – 26 years old – Czech Republic – 2/2

Mike Zonneveld – D/WB/M L – 28 years old – Holland – 2/2

Tom Hiariej – D RC – 20 years old – Holland – 1.5/3

Petter Andersson – AM C – 24 years old – Sweden – 2.5/3

Danny Holla – DM, M C – 21 years old – Holland - 2.5/3

Thomas Enevoldsen – AM RLC – 21 years old – Denmark – 2.5/3

Femi Ajilore – DM, M C – 24 years old – Nigeria – 2.5/2.5

Goran Lovre – AM RC – 27 years old – Serbia – 2.5/2.5

Gonzalo Garcia Garcia – AM RLC – 25 years old – Spain – 2.5/2.5

(Tim Sparv – M C – 22 years old – Finland – due to join on 01.01.2010)

Koen van de Laak – AM R, ST - 26 years old – Holland – 2.5/2.5

Morten Nordstrand – F C – 26 years old – Denmark – 2.5/2.5

Nicklas Pedersen – F C – 21 years old – Denmark – 1.5/2.5

Tim Matavz – ST – 20 years old – Slovenia – 1.5/2.5

Serhat Koc – ST – 18 years old – Turkey – 1.5/3

Notable Reserves / Youth

Leo Bacuna – AM RC – 17 years old – Holland – 1/3

Joell van Nieff – DM, M C – 16 years old – Holland – 0.5/3

Lucas Bijker – D C – 16 years old – Holland – 0.5/2

Pepijn Kluin – ST – 19 years old – Holland – 1/2

Goalkeepers

Luciano is your number one. He is a typical Brazilian goalkeeper – quick, agile, great reflexes, but also a quite eccentric.

Brian van Loo is an adequate and experienced backup for the first season, but at 34 he isn’t getting any younger. His contract is up at the end of the season so you might want to be keeping an eye out for a new backup.

Leonard Nienhuis is the young third choice keeper but it is doubtful he will ever be good enough.

Targets

Edwin Alberto Villafuerte would make a good backup and is a few years younger than Brian van Loo. Alexandre Martinovic can be signed for under £100k if you can beat off competition from the other teams chasing him (Auxerre, Monaco and Bordeaux among others on my game). Maxim Shumailov is one for the future and available on a free at the start. Andres Felipe Mosquera, Thiago Regis or Johan Walens should all cost less than £50k each.

Defenders

Andreas Granqvist is your best defender and you should try to keep him at all costs. The giant Swedish centreback will be most likely be wanted by Ajax, Liverpool, Sporting Lisbon and a few others, but he will be hard to replace if you let him go.

Fredrik Stenman is your other solid Swedish defender. The leftback is very good defensively and his crossing ability also means he is a threat in the final third of the pitch.

Belgian rightback Sepp De Roover is the right sided version of Stenman. De Roover may not have Stenman’s pace, but he has the work rate and stamina to get up and down the pitch all day.

There are three other first team centrebacks competing for the place alongside Granqvist, however none of them are exceptionally pacey. Gibril Sankoh would be my choice – he has some mental stats and would provide a good contrast to the big Swede. Ondrej Svejdik and Michael Jansen are quite similar – both are good in the air and can cover the rightback and leftback positions respectively, making them valuable squad players.

Mike Zonneveld is on loan from PSV and is extremely handy at freekicks and penalties. He is probably best used in the ML position but would also make a good attacking fullback with good crossing and passing attributes.

Targets

Depending on how you operate your defensive line you may want to invest in a quick centreback to partner Granqvist – such as Jorge Guagua, Gabriel Santos, Cristian Alvarez, Christian Ramos or Donny Neyra.

If you can’t keep hold of Granqvist, then Dmitriy Verkhovtsev is a fantastic replacement. Gustavo from Cruzeiro is usually transfer listed for under £500k. Sebastian Coates would be a great signing but he won’t be cheap!

Serginho Green and Theo Lucius are both available on a free to provide competition for De Roover at rightback. Manuel Ruz can be got for £100k.

Pablo Lima from Velez is a great leftback is you can get him cheap.

Midfielders

There is only one natural wide midfielder in the Groningen team, making a narrow midfield the best option.

Femi Ajilore is you best destructive midfielder, with some very good physical and mental attributes. I would play him as a DM or a defensive-minded ball winning MC.

Danny Holla is best played as a deep lying playmaker in a supporting MC role. His best attributes are his flair, creativity, teamwork, decisions, passing and long shots. He is a natural DM but his low tackling and determination means he is not the best choice for this role. I imagine most of your goalscoring opportunities will start with Danny Holla, who is almost a young Dutch version of Milan’s Andrea Pirlo.

Goran Lovre is the most experienced midfielder you have, at 27 years old. I am still unsure whether he would be best as MC or AMC. His high stamina, strength, teamwork, determination and work rate would make him a good box to box midfielder. But his decisions, off the ball, passing and dribbling attributes make a good case for him being used as an AMC. I personally use him as a supporting MC and training up his tackling to maybe use him as a box to box midfielder.

Petter Andersson is my AMC. He has good pace and a deft first touch, can dribble with the ball and shows good movement off it, while also having good creativity and composure. Andersson is also very versatile and is competent on either wing or up front.

Gonzalo Garcia Garcia is best used as a winger (particularly an AML set as inside forward) due to his good fitness, pace, acceleration and dribbling. His other strong points include his technique, touch and creativity. If you choose to play a narrow midfield then you may find Garcia Garcia surplus to your plans as there are much better options in the middle.

Danish midfielder Thomas Enevoldsen is another versatile player, capable of covering many positions. His attributes are not so different from those of Danny Holla - excelling in dribbling, passing, creativity, long shots and first touch. I find him at his best as an advanced playmaker at either MC or AMC.

Tim Sparv is due to join the club on 1st January 2010. The 6’4” left footer is a good all round midfielder. Possibly best used in a box to box midfielder or central midfielder role.

Targets

If you wish to play with wingers then you will probably want to bring in some new players out wide. Beasley from Rangers, Kiko Femenia from Hercules and Hugo from Sao Paulo should all be transfer listed for between £450k and £650k each. Carlos Alberto Souto can be got on a free.

Other than that, all you really need is cover for Ajilore in the DMC position. Spanish teenager Edu Ramos is rated by my best scout as having 4-star potential and is up for sale for £600k. Previously mentioned Serginho Greene can do a decent job at DM as well as rightback. Diego Rivas on loan for £210k would bring valuable experience to the team. Fabinho from Fluminense can be bought for under £130k. A one-season fix is Karim Bagheri, transfer listed at £5k normally. Former Lyon player Fabio Santos (full name: Fabio dos Santos Barbosa) can be snapped up on a free, as can Mexican veteran German Villa who still has great attributes despite his age, or Ghanaian international Stephen Appiah.

If Sergio Canales is transfer listed at the start of your game then get him if you can (I got him on loan for the season for £200 with a future fee of £1.2m. He has great potential.) Marek Sapara should be available for about £1m if you want an instant impact rather than potential at AMC. Ex-Ajax legend Jari Litmanen is a short term solution, his physical attributes are poor but his mental and technical attributes are almost world class – he can be bought for £140k immediately or approached to sign for free on 30th November 2009.

Strikers

Koen van de Laak is a very talented striker. He is the strongest player in the squad in terms of mental attributes and would make a great tutor for any young promising strikers. A high work rate, fitness and determination means he will chase lost causes to carve out goalscoring opportunities all day long, so it may be an idea to have his closing down instruction on high. His heading ability makes him a serious danger in the air and he also takes a good penalty. If you don’t use Koen as a targetman, then a deep-lying forward role would utilise his good creativity, decisions and teamwork.

Morten Nordstrand is on loan from FC Kobenhavn and can either play just behind a striker or lead the forward line himself. He is comfortable using his left or right foot in front of goal and his strengths are his pace, acceleration, finishing, composure and off the ball attributes.

Nicklas Pedersen is a basically a younger version of Nordstrand. He is not as developed as Nordstrand though and heavily favours using his left foot. He also prefers to drop deep off the front line and move into wide areas.

The only outstanding ability of Slovenian striker Tim Matavz is his speed. My assistant does think he has the potential to be as good as Koen van de Laak though.

Serhat Koc is probably the most promising striker at Groningen. He is able to use both feet well, shows good composure in front of goal. He reads the game well thanks to his good anticipation, while also being quick and agile enough to make the most of it.

Targets

I don’t think strengthening here is a major priority but Amr Zaki would be a good signing if you can get him cheap, Lacina Traore for about £650k, Gardar Johannsson from Fredrikstad can be had for £10k and is a great targetman, or Ebi Smolarek is available on a free.

Staff

For some reason there seems to be a lot of staff on the books at Groningen, many more than the Board actually want you have. So even if you sack four coaches, the Board still might not let you sign any more. They also seem to be mostly rubbish and on very high wages and have long contracts.

This is not good.

HOWEVER.. there is a way to reduce the cost you have to pay to get rid of you rubbish staff. If one of your coaches is on £3k per week until 2013 and the mutual termination would cost £200k or something, don’t accept the mutual termination. Instead offer him a new contract, on the same wages, but reduce the length of the contract offered to June 2010. If he refuses, you may have to offer £3.1k til 2010 (or £3k til 2011) to tempt him to sign. If he accepts the new shorter contract, you will notice you don’t have the mutual termination option, BUT if you hit continue then the following day you can mutually terminate the contract again – this time it will cost you a lot less.

This is the formation I have chosen to use and the players I use in my first choice XI.

Its basis is the Complete Dominance tactic (credit to original creator), with a few tweaks to suit the players Groningen have.

Danny Holla – I have changed the role to Deep Lying Playmaker (support)

Koen van de Laak – I have changed the role to Deep Lying Forward (attack). If I am struggling to create chances then I will change to (support) mentality.

Fullbacks – at home and when I am clear favourites I may use the (support) mentality instead of (defend) as both fullbacks are decent going forward.

Keep an eye on the movement of the players and how many clear cut chances the other team are creating, you may need to adjust the ‘Philosophy’ and ‘Starting Strategy’ of the tactic slightly. If I am at home against a big team like Ajax or PSV, I change to ‘Fluid’ and ‘Control’. If defending a lead and under pressure, I change to ‘Rigid’ and ‘Defensive’.

Overall, I think a top 6 place is achievable in the first season if you spend your money wisely and keep hold of your best players.

Remember to keep an eye on promising youngsters for the future – Zuculini, Torric, Keko, Koke, Pulido, Nikao, Mats Rits, etc. Help your youth star Bacuna to develop, try him in cup games and get someone to tutor him.

And check out Dutch youngsters – Lesley de Sa, Xandro Schenk, Adam Maher, Bruma, Sporkslede, Rodney Sneijder, van den Hurk, Alakmak, ten Voorde, Hupperts, Klaassen, etc.

Good luck to anyone who chooses to play with the Green-White Army!!

-TV-

Great OP Tony

Great detail there mate well in

Thanks. First time I've done a club thread so wanted to make sure it was a good one.

Brilliant OP, alot of work has gone in to that.

Hope this inspires people to start a Groningen save Nice work

Thanks Tyoldinho.. Yep, it took me ages to do.. I just hope a few other people get a Groningen game going otherwise I'll be talking to myself!

Transfers

I'm six games into the first season.. the transfer window has just closed and I'm impressed I managed to keep hold of my best players despite a lot of interest from other teams and managing declaring their interest in the media. The only person I wanted to offload was Gonzalo Garcia, due to him being a natural winger and me using a narrow formation. Ajax were kind enough to give me £3.4m for him - very generous!

The first player I bought was Lacina Traore - who is best described as a mix between Peter Crouch and Emmanuel Adebayor! He has a professional personality so shouldn't cause any drama in the dressing room or with the media, and he also has the potential to become a leading Eredivise striker according to my Assisant Manager (Tommy Craig). I plan to ease in him with a few starts but mainly sub appearances until he picks up the language.

Sergio Canales is a player with a lot of potential and was transfer listed on my game. I brought him in on loan with the option to buy for £1.2m - bargain! He is fairly professional and looks like he will develop into a great advanced playmaker or attacking midfielder. Two strong feet and comfortable at MC and AMC.

I bought Dmitriy Verkhovtsev because I initially thought there would be lots of offers for Granqvist that either I, or my board, wouldn't be able to refuse. This didn't happen, but first Ajilore got injured and now Sankoh wants £20k a week to sign a new contract! Dmitriy has started at DMC and done a very good job, but i will eventually have him as a partner to Granqvist because of his aerial dominance.

I've had Marek Sapara on other saves and don't normally like signing the same players all the time but he is so good for his price that I couldn't resist. Whether as an attacking midfielder (attack) at AMC or advanced playmaker (attack) at MC, he has been nothing short of top class so far. Petter Andersson was injured at the start of the season and I don't think he will be getting his place back too soon!

Edu Ramos has been brought in on loan with an option to buy for £500k. He can do a good job at MC as the deep lying playmaker (suport) or at DMC as the anchor man (defend). Looks like he has good potential.

The others have all really been brought in for the future and put in the reserves, I will keep you updated on their progress.

Games

I've actually started better than I expected.

Preseason went well generally and we even pushed Bayern Munich all the way and only just lost. Really pleased that we managed to beat Ajax 2-1 and PSV 3-0 at home, but a bit disappointed to only get a point from the northern derby against Heerenveen.

League Table

I'm currently 2nd in the league after six games.

Willem away next, who Feyenoord have just beaten 1-0. Next big fixture after that is in four games time, at Steve McClaren's FC Twente.

Player Ratings

Here's how my players have been performing so far..

Three out of the four players I highlighted in my opening post are proving I was right to single them out - Luciano, Granqvist and Holla. Koen van de Laak can't buy a goal though and is averaging only 6.88 so far. I'm going to keep a close eye on him to see what's going wrong... Is he not getting the ball enough and needs to come deep to pick it up and get involved? Is he giving away the ball? Is he not getting shots in? Is he not hitting the target? Is he having too many long shots? Losing out in the air? I will find out! Marek Sapara has been great as expected. And look at Lacina Traore - 4.41 dribbles per game with two goal and two assists, the role of Deep Lying Forward (attack) seems to be working well for him as he is dropping off to get the ball and running at the defence with it.

All going well so far.. really enjoying it!

-TV-

That is a great start, especially beating PSV and Ajax. Might start one to keep me going before the new patch, but not for a couple of days, I want to finish my ES Setif season.

Nice op mate

Il start one when the patch comes out,i had a save in 09 and managed to win the league in the 2nd season with them.

Same again i hope:)

Ive started.

Signings so far have included:

Tamir Cohen- Season Loan

Andranik- Season Loan

Alvaro Dominguez- Season Loan

Dmitriy Verkhovtsev- £675k

Magnus Eikrem- Season Loan

Jozsef Varga- £300k

Teko Modise- £350k.

Brilliant OP, alot of work has gone in to that.

I never really knew Groningen had any decent players until I was scouting for midfielders for my Man Utd save and came across Holla and Ajilore. They've got quite a young squad too, which means I don't have to make wholesale changes at the start, shipping out all the oldies. Average age of only 22.

-TV-

Ive started.

Signings so far have included:

Tamir Cohen- Season Loan

Andranik- Season Loan

Alvaro Dominguez- Season Loan

Dmitriy Verkhovtsev- £675k

Magnus Eikrem- Season Loan

Jozsef Varga- £300k

Teko Modise- £350k.

Good choice getting Verkhovtsev in, I'm sure you won't be disappointed Suggy. Have you sold anyone yet? What formation are you using? I will have a nosey at the other players you've signed when I'm back on my game tomorrow.

-TV-

Good choice getting Verkhovtsev in, I'm sure you won't be disappointed Suggy. Have you sold anyone yet? What formation are you using? I will have a nosey at the other players you've signed when I'm back on my game tomorrow.

-TV-

I'm sure you'll be famillar with Eikrem

Im playing a 4-2-1-2-1 formation, very central. I didnt actually sell anyone, since Im playing on an update, so that Garcia guy was already out on loan.

First 4 games 0-0, 2-2, 1-0, 0-0. Not too great, although the fitst 0-0 was against Ajax.

Im playing a 4-2-1-2-1 formation, very central. I didnt actually sell anyone, since Im playing on an update, so that Garcia guy was already out on loan.

First 4 games 0-0, 2-2, 1-0, 0-0. Not too great, although the fitst 0-0 was against Ajax.

Looks like it might be a little too defensive, are you creating many 'clear cut chances'?

-TV-

Awesome thread mate. Very well done.

Quick update..

I’ve finally managed to get Van De Laak to break his scoring drought – I’ve changed his role to Target Man (attack) and his match ratings seem to be improving too.

Noticed that my bank balance has gone down quite a bit, think this is a combination of the wages and the fact that I’ve mutually terminated a fair few staff recently. The terminations were needed though. As they were overpaid staff who couldn’t train my players to tie their boots, let alone to become world class footballers! On the wage bill side of things, I recently got Luciano to sign a new contract but I had to up his wages from £6k to £15k a week, so to offset that I’ve sold Van Loo (who was on £8k per week) for £300k up front, Shumailov will be my cover now. I’m also planning to send Nordstrand back to his club, as he is costing me £6k a week. Yes he is a good player but he has only contributed 3 goals so far and I’m hoping Van De Laak’s improved performances will help, plus I have Lacina Traore, Pedersen, Skavysh and Koc who will all benefit from extra playing time. Plus a lot of my goals seem to come from midfield – Sapara, Andersson, Lovre and Holla all get on the scoresheet regularly.

Since my last update I’ve only played three league games and a cup game. Won the cup game 2-1 using my reserves/youth. Won all three league games: 4-0, 4-1 and 4-0. With a good defensive record - Luciano tied down to a new contract and two giant centrebacks in Granqvist and Verkhovtsev, I may also sell Sankoh before January. His contract is up in the summer and he wants £20k a week – not happening!

-TV-

nice thread mate,might try these tonight,hows your team doing

The team is doing really well actually.. i'm just a bit worried about the finances at the moment. I think it's just a case of surviving the first season and getting shut of all the garbage staff on high wages and long contracts.

Just approaching the January transfer window and this is the table..

I definately recommend getting a game going with them, its easily the most fun save i've got going at the moment.

-TV-

Cahais screenshot anyone?

Cahais screenshot anyone?

As requested. Although Cahais isn't at Groningen on FM10.

Scout thinks he has the ability to be as good as Granqvist and would cost only £425k.

Hi Tony, first of all compliments for this great thread, last year I had a nice save with Groningen and I could start another this year.

By the way, you're doing really well in the league, winning the league in your first season would be a terrific achievement.

I think you should have sold Luciano instead of renewing his contract, 15 per week is really too high and not so deserved.

Hi Tony, first of all compliments for this great thread, last year I had a nice save with Groningen and I could start another this year.

By the way, you're doing really well in the league, winning the league in your first season would be a terrific achievement.

I think you should have sold Luciano instead of renewing his contract, 15 per week is really too high and not so deserved.

Thanks. I've had a few shakey results since Christmas but still top of the league so far. I think I might sell Luciano in the summer and find someone with a lower wage.. although he has just been voted Eredivisie Goalkeeper of the Year.

Update coming soon...

-TV-

Right..

I'm 24 games in and still top of the league, six points clear of Feyenoord. But i've just suffered my first defeat of the season, a 3-0 mauling by NEC.

I have however been crippled by injuries! The current injury list includes:

Stenman, Sapara and Andersson - all short term.

Edu Ramos, Lovre and Skyvash - all long term.

And after they both picked up their fifth yellow cards of the season, I've also got Holla and Granqvist suspended for the next league game... AGAINST FEYENOORD!!!

Great.

I won - wooooo!

1-0 with a header from Verkhovtsev

can you get a screenie of sparvy please

Thanks. First time I've done a club thread so wanted to make sure it was a good one.

Well done mate

Nice to see a second thread regarding a Dutch club (after my Ajax thread).

Your tactics in post #3 are very similar to the one I used at Ajax the first two seasons.

Good luck on winning the league.

ps how are you doing in the Cup (I think I mised that), took me 4 years before I finnaly won the Dutch cup with Ajax,

Thanks Micado.

I was actually looking at your Ajax thread before I started my Groningen game. I saw that Groningen were quite high up the table in a lot of people's Ajax save so checked them out.. and i'm glad I did! The tactics I use are based on the Complete Domination tactic (credit to original creator) but with a bit of tweaking for my players.

I got beat 3-1 in the semi final of the Dutch cup by........ AJAX! Haha. Oh well, maybe next year. It's looking good in the league though - 8 points clear of Feyenoord with 30 games gone.

Also..

Sparv screenshot as requested:

(April 2010)

-TV-

Won the league!!

Didn't realise there is only 34 games in a Dutch season. I beat Willem 4-1 and Feyenoord drew 1-1 with PSV, making us champions! Incidentally - Sparv got man of the match.

Bring on the Champions League! (And some much needed money!)

-TV-

Well if you not finish in the top 3 (or how ever it is coded in the game) you have to play playoffs for a European ticket.

Congrats with the title.

nice thread matey , may give it a go

I love this save!

I managed to get myself the Ivory Coast job before the World Cup started.. the first time i've managed a nation in FM10..

My own expectation was to qualify from my group (Argentina, Mexico, Poland)..

This is how I am doing so far...

Also beat Italy 2-1 in the Quarters, they had Giovinco sent off after 30mins.. and won a dramatic 10-9 penalty shootout against Mali in the last 16.

Brazil in the Final.. I'm not too optimistic!

-TV-

Meh.. got beat 2-0 in the Final, no surprise really. Pato scored early on, then they scored a penalty as I was pushing for an equaliser in the last ten minutes.

However, I have managed to get their ranking up from 14th to 7th - above England, France and Argentina!

Start of Season Two

Managed to sort the finances out thanks to my success in Season One. Was able to sell the likes of Pedersen and Andersson who, despite being quite high value players for Groningen, were only putting in average performances. I also sold Stenman (season one - 7.31 average rating) because he only had one year left on his contract and didn't want to negotiate a new one. I've actually struggled to find an out-and-out replacement but Jansen and Contento are doing well between them. Mainly signed regens and young players for the future.

Also in negotiations to sign Ochoa for £6.6m and loan out Luciano to Barcelona for £925 with a view to a perm move for £3.1m.

So far i've beaten Ajax 2-0 in the Dutch Super Cup.. and Ajax again 3-2 on the first day of the new season.

-TV-

Good save you have going, nice to see you are doing well

How about that final, how did you do?

Beating my Ajax twice at the start of the 2nd season

Think im going to take charge of Groningen! It was a close call between them and Feyenoord but the fact Groningen have this good team guide, they win. Ill be adoptinng the same formation as -Tonyvain- and trying to get a few freebie bargains, anyone else still going with Groningen and how are they doing?

After getting to the 2nd knockout round in the champions league twice I was glad to finish 3rd in eriedivise to get the chance to win in europe.

Good to see more people taking on the challenge at Euroborg! Keep us updated with your progress.

-TV-