JoseRR's FM09 Big Euro Nation Challenge!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by iacovone

Monster's return would be epic. I seem to remember you writing a report based on how he "Monstered Porto" or something along those lines

You mean

The Presentations

The first award presented was for the Liga Vitalis
Team of the Year, shockingly only one AD Fafe name was called out, that of Monasteiro "The Monster" this caused Tiny to nod thoughtfully, he was quoted later as saying, "Hopefully next season he will be Monstering Porto"

Up next we saw the presentation for the leading helper of the season, the crowd went silent before erupting as The Monster picked up the award for the Most Assists. Tiny was gathered in the small group that went up with The Monster to accept this award, The Monster's acceptance speech thanked the club, but most of all the players, without them I could not assist on goals.

This was the season of my promotion to Liga Sagres.

Edit: Holy over 4000 posts. & Page 41?

[rlipscombe]

bring back the Monster!!!

4000 posts is insane......

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Just an interesting look at my squad in the October International Window. The following players are out representing their nations.
Ukraine - Kiselev (U21), Tarasenko (Sen)
Lithuania - Pantovic (Sen)
Portugal - Mendes (U21), Alexio (U21), Rocha (U21)
Switzerland - Stein (Sen)
Italy - Di Guiseppe (U21)
Brazil - Tiago (U21), Marcel (U21)
Norway - Shala (Sen)
Serbia - Radakovic (Sen)
U.S.A. - Crawford (Sen)
Greece - Filis (Sen)
Sweden - Persson (U21)
DR Congo - Costa (Sen)
Slovenia - Gresovnik (Sen)

Quite a line up really, and it leaves me bare, so I assume every game will be moved in the next week haha.

[iacovone]

Well it didn't happen to me so don't be surprised if you have to select your youth team for the game!

41 pages

[rlipscombe]

thats quite a spread of nations there Des... i don't think mine is quite as much, although numbers wise it's similar, if not slightly more. especially on the youth sides.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by rlipscombe

thats quite a spread of nations there Des... i don't think mine is quite as much, although numbers wise it's similar, if not slightly more. especially on the youth sides.

AD Fafe are the United Nations. Its quite interesting to see how its all over the place, but they are representing at all levels.

[rancer890]

Des, where are those Asians?!?!

I currently employ a Chinese physio, and currently have a Japanese DM. I have previously signed a Chinese right back, and I of course, am half-Asian.

[TanO]

Just got done by a Slovakian Ref in our first Champions League home game vs Inter !

We took the lead 5 mins before half time and looked their equal. So the ref gave my CB a second yellow in a very dodgy decision just after we returned from the break. They equalized on 57 minutes... BUT WE STILL HELD ON FOR THE DRAW !!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by rancer890

Des, where are those Asians?!?!

Ummm I have no idea, guess I haven't found any yet, maybe I need to widen my scouts dragnet, but the ones I had in Asia were always finding nothing so i bought them home haha.

I am currently in a dilemma, I cannot win a game at all. I even drew with St Mirren, and I am plummetting down the league, I think I have rested too much on the players I have. Yes I spent a fair bit of money, but it was deliberate and directed purchasing. I think I am going to sell all the fringe players first and then also try and replace anyone who doesn't have a future in the club, so come January I may redo a few major spots, but more likely the end of this season if I still have a job. I need to do something desperately.

[rlipscombe]

Originally Posted by Lower Leagues Rule

Ummm I have no idea, guess I haven't found any yet, maybe I need to widen my scouts dragnet, but the ones I had in Asia were always finding nothing so i bought them home haha.

I am currently in a dilemma, I cannot win a game at all. I even drew with St Mirren, and I am plummetting down the league, I think I have rested too much on the players I have. Yes I spent a fair bit of money, but it was deliberate and directed purchasing. I think I am going to sell all the fringe players first and then also try and replace anyone who doesn't have a future in the club, so come January I may redo a few major spots, but more likely the end of this season if I still have a job. I need to do something desperately.

i agree that that is the best thing to do. Anyone who doesn't play (but isn't promising youth) or that isn't fairly replacable, i'd look to get rid of. Then use this money (and wage budget) to try and increase the quality of the starting XI. the players you have will be more than adequate replacements no doubt.

i found this worked for me. i had a vastly over inflated squad, many of whom would never play due to the 25 man squad restrictions. i cleared then out for a healthy profit, and re-invested this into quality rather than quantity. worked ok for me!!

[nubei]

Hi, im trying to start this challenge but my laptop is going rediculously slow in holiday mode. I dont suppose anyone has a save game uploaded for either the italian or spanish league as i would much appreciate it? or if you could point me towards a save game. i tried a search but i found nothing. Thanks

[rlipscombe]

had a quick look on my computer and i don't have one i'm afraid..... not sure about other people....

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Sorry nubei I only have Portugal & Holland games saved.
Yeah Rlips I am tempted to dump a large number of my current XI as well that are only 4 star as I have a group of 18-20 year olds who are so close in quality that they can probably replace them, so I am tempted to play them and take a hit for a season or so. I have managed to fight back to 7th this season so far, but I am out of Europe (2 group games left).
As for the save game I will start one running now if you like.

[nubei]

Originally Posted by rlipscombe

had a quick look on my computer and i don't have one i'm afraid..... not sure about other people....

Thanks for looking. Hopefully someone will have a holiday game.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by nubei

Thanks for looking. Hopefully someone will have a holiday game.

Got spain on holiday 2 months gone in 16mins, but sadly I have to go to work in 40mins, so its going to be very close...I am trying for you though.

[DodgeeD]

LLR - I noticed while doing updates for my sign up that Liga Sagres only has 30 games a season. Do you find the seasons go quickly in Portugal or is it the same as any other league once you include cups and Europe? Just asking as, if all goes well at Yalovaspor, I may need a new challenge soon

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by DodgeeD

LLR - I noticed while doing updates for my sign up that Liga Sagres only has 30 games a season. Do you find the seasons go quickly in Portugal or is it the same as any other league once you include cups and Europe? Just asking as, if all goes well at Yalovaspor, I may need a new challenge soon

Sometimes they seem to go quicker, but now that Europe is involved my season is starting in mid June and not finishing til mid-late May. Last year my players played sooo many games it almost killed me. But in the early years it all goes faster, I must say I also liked the 2nd Division set-up, 4 groups of 12, then top 6 from each group go to Promotion playoff and face each other 2 more times. Then the winners of the 4 promotion stages face each other in the promotion semis, winners of which go up. It does make getting out of there harder, but I love Portugal. If I can't crack it in FM09 I will be back in FM10.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by nubei

Thanks for looking. Hopefully someone will have a holiday game.

Originally Posted by Lower Leagues Rule

Got spain on holiday 2 months gone in 16mins, but sadly I have to go to work in 40mins, so its going to be very close...I am trying for you though.

If you can wait til I get home from work tonight I will have one for you in Spain. Hit Feb in 45mins,

[yababo]

Nubei try this link to a Spanish reset game http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XU65MHCE

[rlipscombe]

Originally Posted by Lower Leagues Rule

Sorry nubei I only have Portugal & Holland games saved.
Yeah Rlips I am tempted to dump a large number of my current XI as well that are only 4 star as I have a group of 18-20 year olds who are so close in quality that they can probably replace them, so I am tempted to play them and take a hit for a season or so. I have managed to fight back to 7th this season so far, but I am out of Europe (2 group games left).
As for the save game I will start one running now if you like.

i say go for it Des.....

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Portugal Save Game
Spanish Save Game

There you go guys. And Rlips I am going to sell players and try and make some money.

[d-machine]

My season has been very boring so far, been sitting outside the promotion playoffs all season. Currently in Febuary, hopefully I will make a late push for promotion. I'm still yet to find a consitent striker.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Keeping the Fafe
Liga Sagres 2020/21
Mid-Season Review

Pre-Season

The Preseason for 2020 saw us in the qualifying stages for the Euro Cup, coming in at the 2nd Qualifying round we faced Gyor (HUN) for the second time in our history, and again walked away with the victory, 3:0 on aggregate. Next up we faced Fehervar also of Hungary, this one was expected to be a little tougher, but Fafe managed to score another victory, 6:2 on aggregate. In the 4th and final qualifying round we faced FC Sochaux-Montbeliard, the bookies put us as an outside chance, but it as very close. Leg one at home saw us take it out 2:1, but then we headed to France knowing they had an away goal, in the end Mendes & Radakovic both scored to make sure we got through 4:3 on aggregate. This took us into the Group stages, but before that we faced Liverpool in a friendly. A nice tight game was really only won by them in the later stages as Torres stepped past Mendes to score.

League Early Stages

In the league early on I had been hoping for an improvement on last season, in particular I was hoping to make it into the top four where we had been a season earlier. Early form was a worry even after a great start. That start was disappointing in reality as we managed to take victories at home, but away we couldn't even steal a point.
Fafe 2:0 Boavista - Shala (2)
Sporting 2:0 Fafe
Fafe 2:1 Nacional - Mendes (2)
Braga 2:1 Fafe - Di Giuseppe
Fafe 1:0 Leixoes - Mendes
Maritimo 1:0 Fafe
Benfica 4:1 Fafe - Rocha
So with a disappointing 9 points from my first 7 games I was disappointed with that start, but knowing that I had already player Maritimo, Benfica, Sporting & Braga Away meant I was actually in a better position than it looked.
Goal of the Month in August saw Tom Shala come third. October then saw seventeen players line-up for international sides as we attempted to take over the world. And a delight from our Youth side as Rocha got the goal of the month in his very first game. We also saw Di Giuseppe come runner-up in a huge Player of the Month.

European Cup Group Stage

Early on I was hopeful that I could actually take out second in this group and advance. Lining up against Kobenhavn, Basel & St. Mirren, I should easily wrap up 3rd, so the battle would be with Basel to see if I could grab second.
Kobenhavn 4:1 Fafe - Tarasenko
Fafe 1:3 Basel - Radakovic
St. Mirren 2:2 Fafe - Mendes, Radakovic
Fafe 1:2 Kobenhavn - Tarasenko
Basel 1:0 Fafe
Fafe 2:0 St. Mirren - Radakovic
With only 4 points in the entire group I was disappointed, but I had lived up to expectations to make the group stage and no further, in the lead in to January I am planning on selling players to try and make some money so i can bolster the squad. I must say I did well against St. Mirren, but the other teams should've been closer.

The European Travel Log

June 2017 - Marijampole, Lithuania
July 2017 - Gyor, Hungary
July 2017 - Cork, Ireland
August 2017 - Milan, Italy
July 2019 - Maribor, Slovenia
August 2019 - Elbasan, Albania
August 2019 - Liege, Belgium
July 2020 - Gyor, Hungary
July 2020 - Szekesfehervar, Hungary
August 2020 - Montbeliard, France
September 2020 - Copenhagen, Denmark
August 2020 - Paisley, Scotland
August 2020 - Basel, Switzerland

League: A Turnaround?

Was it possible to turn around my season in November and December before cracking into the new year? Could AD Fafe make the difference and bring us back into the European Cup Competition? I had decided to try and make it a rebuilding year, so i started by selling several players as I headed towards January, planning to sell more as we continued.

Fafe 2:0 P.Ferreira - Rodriguez, Rocha
Fafe 2:0 Setubal - Shala, Moreira
Rio Ave 2:2 Fafe - Crawford, Moreira
Fafe 1:0 Gil Vicente - Rocha
Belenenses 2:2 Fafe - Mendes, Moreira
Fafe 3:4 Porto - Radakovic (2), Shala
Academico 0:0 Fafe
Guimaraes 3:1 Fafe - Tarasenko

Well a slight improvement on the first quarter of the season, but pretty impossible for us to actually have come back. Our away record is still very poor at 0-3-5, while at home we are 6-0-1, if we are going to come anywhere near the top of the table we need to do something about our away record. Though Des Tiny did finish as runner-up in the Manager of the Month for November. A huge improvement is needed from here to make it home, but rebuilding and hopefully a bit of patience from my board may see me through.
League Table

Hand of God? I am currently chasing Maradona, the name alone drew me in, but he looks stunning.

The Under 19s also had a heartbreaker in the cup, as they lost to Benfica on penalties.

The Players I have Sold

Rodriguez has left for 1.4M.
Sigursson has left for 150k.
Kouakou has left for 170k.
Filis has left for 1.6M.
I think this clear out has got rid of the four players on the fringe that were not playing, but could get me a little income, next question is whether I sell more players. Shala is currently going to leave on a Bosman and is rejecting my contracts, so I expect him to drop out as well.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by d-machine

My season has been very boring so far, been sitting outside the promotion playoffs all season. Currently in Febuary, hopefully I will make a late push for promotion. I'm still yet to find a consitent striker.

I have struggled for 12 seasons to find a consistent striker and really I still haven't found one. But good luck in your push to the playoffs.

[iacovone]

Originally Posted by Lower Leagues Rule

I have struggled for 12 seasons to find a consistent striker and really I still haven't found one. But good luck in your push to the playoffs.

Finding a consistent striker really is one of the big challenges here I'd say. Even Rotunno wasn't what I'd call consistent!

Des - enjoyed your mid season review. Maradona . Shame your away record is so poor compared to your home record as you'd be flying. The Porto game (3-4) sounded like a cracker!? Or is that a sore subject? Also the travel log is an excellent section , everyone loves a stamp in the passport...!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by iacovone

Finding a consistent striker really is one of the big challenges here I'd say. Even Rotunno wasn't what I'd call consistent!

Des - enjoyed your mid season review. Maradona . Shame your away record is so poor compared to your home record as you'd be flying. The Porto game (3-4) sounded like a cracker!? Or is that a sore subject? Also the travel log is an excellent section , everyone loves a stamp in the passport...!

Losing 3-4 to Porto was gutting, halftime was 2-2, but shortly after they got 2 in 5 minutes and that was game over, stole one back late, but needed to get at least a draw. I am now in 7th, but 4pts off Maritimo in 6th. I need to pick up some points off the big boys when they come to visit, otherwise this season is pretty much over. Just scored a late 94th minute goal to beat Boavista 2:1. My first away win of the season.

[iacovone]

I bet it was.

Good job on the first away win, hope there are more to come

[rlipscombe]

Des, hopefully you can turn that away form around with that Boavista win, and push up the league a little.

a consistent goalscorer is vital in this challenge IMO. i've been lucky to date in that always had at least one striker score 20+ goals a season (first King Rodriguez, then Gorro and now Dixon). can't deny it helps. good luck finding yours.

[DodgeeD]

Originally Posted by Lower Leagues Rule

Sometimes they seem to go quicker, but now that Europe is involved my season is starting in mid June and not finishing til mid-late May. Last year my players played sooo many games it almost killed me. But in the early years it all goes faster, I must say I also liked the 2nd Division set-up, 4 groups of 12, then top 6 from each group go to Promotion playoff and face each other 2 more times. Then the winners of the 4 promotion stages face each other in the promotion semis, winners of which go up. It does make getting out of there harder, but I love Portugal. If I can't crack it in FM09 I will be back in FM10.

Cheers for the heads up. The Portuguese 2nd Division set up sounds similar to the Turkish one. That was fun but it took me ages (6 seasons iirc) to get promoted...

I'll likely head to either Portugal or Germany sometime soon.

[Ohanzee]

Preseason 2011/2012 FC Mulhouse

Player squad - Transfer History
Busy preseason saw 22 players go out and 17 new ones come in. Quality of the squad have gone up tenfolds in my opinon. Hopefully they don't take to long to "gel".

First eleven
GK - Vincent Briant
Brilliant goalkeeper and my fans thought it was a great bargain. He's got lots of experience in all levels of French football and as all our transfers he came on free after his contract ran out.
DL - Julien Ielsch
Looks steady. My assistant says he's 6 star. Played 25 games for Stade de Reims in Ligue 1 last season so he should be quality.
DR - Bafodé Diakhaby
Came from Paris Saint-Germain Reserves. My kind of fullback, though his passing skill needs some work.
DC - Ismaïla N'Diaye
One of the biggest bargains we got. Great centreback who came from Caen reserves. Can also play DMC and MC which is handy.
DC - Anthony Ouasfane
Came from Toulouse FC who released him. Great defender, brilliant in the air. Should complement N'Diaye very well.
MC - Martial Riff
Great box to box midfielder who prefers running with ball through center and taking long shots. I have high hopes for him. Came from Ligue 2 side Amiens SCF.
MC - Yann Jouffre
Biggest star in my squad according to the assistant, and my fans where thrilled when he came. Joined from FC Lorient Bretagne Sud who where in Ligue 2 aswell.
AMR - Fatih Atik
Not sure if he'll play here or AMC mostly, but he can play 5 different positions in my tactic (including MC and competent AML). He's been in French football his whole career and look quality.
AML - Benoit Leroy
I'm really pleased to get this guy, he's just perfect for the AML role of my tactic. Came from Stade Brestois 29 in Ligue 2.
AMC - Benjamin Psaume
He's the kind of AMC I want, but he's not brilliant. There's 3-4 players fighting for AMC and AMR atm, but this guy will get the chance first. He came from AC Arles in National.
SC - Babacar Gueye
Not sure how good he is, but looks alot better than Vareilles who was my topscorer last year. Came from FC Mets reserves.


Reserves (Just the new ones)
Landry Bonnefoi (GK) - Dijon FC
Francois Bellugou (DM, MC) - Guingamp
Rachid Hamdani (AMC) - Clermont Foot Auvergne 63
Nicolas Maurice-Belay (AMLC) - FC Sochaux Montbeliard
Florent Ghisolfi (MRC) - Sporting Club Bastia
Romain Gasmi (AMRL) - Strasbour Res.

And I also have the whole back-4 from last season, a few of the same midfielders and the striker Vareilles. All in all I'm extremely happy with the squad and even though the first eleven is now 100% new-comers I think we should do well. Every player who arrived have lots of experience in French football and all talk french, so the gel time should not be to big.


Backroom staff
- 10 coaches now and we got 4-6 stars in every training category. Should finally see my players actually improve in training.
- Still have William Prunier as Assistant, but I think I have to let him go in a season or two. His ability to judge players potential annoy me.
- Got one more Physio, so I'm hoping having 2 of them will cut down on the injuries. Not looking like it based on pre-season though.
- 8 scouts traveling all around the world. Well most of it. I still cant look into Australia, Asia and Africa (much). But I can't wait to see what they come up with in the rest of Europe and some of South America

Finances
Selling so many players put me into black, but I'm £21k over my wage budget so I'm slightly worried. It migth be just fine though as July so far indicate I'm getting enough tv revenue to more or less break even. I'm not sure how tv revenue is balanced over the season though, but it seems to be evenly spread.

Conclusion
Media predicts we'll finish right above relegation in 17th. That would be good, but I'm hopeful of a mid-table finish if my first-eleven stays fresh and avoid to many injuries.

Cheers.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Some nice signings there Ohanzee hopefully they can lead to your team being able to avoid relegation at least this season and then you can build up from there and see where it takes you.

[PRDH]

Hello all. I've spent most of my time so far on 09 on a long-term career game. And it has eventually got too big for my current computer to run at any speed, so I've stopped in 2021 with 6 leagues loaded. I've wandered aimlessly a bit had a go at Gundo's in Russia, got bored, taken over my own team - Norwich and done them proud, and I'm now ready to throw myself totally into a new challenge. So I'm holidaying in Italy and will update you when it finishes.

[rlipscombe]

welcome PRDH - lets see if you can emulate iacovone and match his achievements...

Ohanzee - some really good players there! Once the squad settles you SHOULD do really well in Ligue 2. Really like the look of Riff and Diakhaby.

DodgeeD - looking forward to your arrival. will be good to have you here.

As for me, i'm a few days away from closing of August transfer window. Will post a pre-season round-up when i get a chance.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

PRDH - Welcome aboard, I hope you have as much fun here as the core group who have been here since day 1, and enjoy the banter and fun this challenge brings.

Rlips - So we going to see some new boys in the Oveido colours?

[rlipscombe]

Originally Posted by Lower Leagues Rule

Rlips - So we going to see some new boys in the Oveido colours?

we have a few newbies but the squad is largely in tact from last season...

[Walcott\'s Wonderkids]

Hi all,

I've decided that after a while away from the forums and FM to get back into it by doing one of the challenges. I've always enjoyed playing in Italy (mainly I think due to playing as Castel Di Sangro a few seasons ago - alas they went bust and are too low down to play now), so I decided to go for this challenge.

Have to admit that the task of managing Messina was too tempting - touch wood should give me a flying start!

Brucie Bonus


The thing I discovered with Messina, is that due to their earlier fame in Serie A / B, their reputation still has a bit of gravitas - the chairman seems to think so anyway and allowed me the chance to scout anywhere in 'Central Europe', a massive plus.


Star Signing

Over the summer months I set about assembling a half decent squad to take on Serie C2C. However, I think my best signing of the summer was a non-player - my scout Volfango Patarca!!


With him at my disposal, I set him out across Central Europe to unearth some gems for me.

Meanwhile, I got back to looking through the unattached lists and came up with a few handy players, my best buys probably being:

Viviani - Solid centre half who should do ok for me at this level.

Montesin - Wizard on the left wing. Can't believe he's come down to this level, could surely play at a higher division. Must be the lure of Messina!


Overall I pick up a few more freebies at the start of the summer and then when Patarca reported back throughout the summer I made a few selected bargain buys for youngsters. This was particularly crucial as Serie C2 has rules limiting the number of over 21s and over 23s you can have registered in your squad.

Summer 2009 Transfers

I think the best buy of the summer for the long term will be Aitor, Patarca picked him out with less than a week of the transfer window remaining and I wasn't going to hang around for just £9k.

Already in the Spainish U19 team, god knows why he came to Messina, but this guy has potential legend written all over him (frantically touch wood and prays he doesn't become break his cruciates). He's played one game for me - well 30 minutes as a sub and he scored after 4 minutes!!


Squad

Squad has a blend of experience and youth.



Results so far

Results so far have been excellent, bar the one annoying slip up in the opening league game - conceded in the 80th and 94th minutes.

Sailed through the group stages of the Serie C Cup, winning all 4 without conceding. Draw for the next rounds hasn't been made yet but I will keep you informed!

Hopefully this will be the save game to really get me into FM09 again!!

[tomsmith1989]

Welcome back to the forums WW, and good luck with Messina.

Patarca is a brilliant scout. I got someone similar in my Mirandes save although he wasn't a perfect 20/20

Montesin looks brilliant as well, and you got him for free. Aitor certainly looks like he has some great potential. A good start

[PRDH]

Thanks everyone!

Here we go. I found it tough resisting Messina, but thought I'd go for a real minnow. So. . .

Unknown manager Pete Harmer has taken over Domegliara.

"Founded in 1931, Domegliara are a professional Italian club currently playing the Serie C2/C. The club play there home games at Montindon (a 1020 all-seater stadium) and possess average training facilities and an average youth set-up.

With no real competition history of note (in fact none at all), Domegliara are a club with a trophy cabinet waiting to be filled."

I have a transfer budget of £10K, and a wage budget of £6.75K p/w with the club currently spending £681 per week on wages.

The team is based in Domegliara, a frazione of Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, Veneto in Verona (NE Italy). It has a population of roughly 10500 and is North-West of Venice.

[rlipscombe]

great to have you in the challenge WW. goodluck with Messina. looking for a flying start from you!! Montesin is a real star and should tear C2 up and Aitor has bags of potential.

good luck!

[rlipscombe]

PRDH - Des is going to love you for picking them!! He had a game with them on FM08.

[iacovone]

WW - I had Patarca as scout too - what a legend :*)

PRDH - Domegliara are back \o/. Such joyous scenes!

Good luck to our latest participants

[PRDH]

Originally Posted by iacovone

WW - I had Patarca as scout too - what a legend :*)

PRDH - Domegliara are back \o/. Such joyous scenes!

Good luck to our latest participants

Thanks. First order of business is to try and get some back room staff into the club. An assistant would be nice.

[rancer890]

Welcome and good luck WW and PRDH.

[rlipscombe]

Originally Posted by PRDH

Thanks. First order of business is to try and get some back room staff into the club. An assistant would be nice.

always helps!! good luck.

[yababo]

Hi guys,

Pleased to see more people taking up the challenge. Personally I am not making much progress due to work and stuff. Keep finding myself assessing my squad during meetings. Hopefully will get some done this weekend.

[d-machine]

Good luck to all the new participants.

I saw Patarca's name mentioned before - He's also one of my scouts.

I'll try and get my 4th season finished this arvo after school.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by PRDH

"Founded in 1931, Domegliara are a professional Italian club currently playing the Serie C2/C. The club play there home games at Montindon (a 1020 all-seater stadium) and possess average training facilities and an average youth set-up.

I must say I wish you the best of luck, Domegliara are my most supported club in Italy and I will back you for life. Wooohoooo.

Originally Posted by Walcott\'s Wonderkids

Have to admit that the task of managing Messina was too tempting - touch wood should give me a flying start!

Brucie Bonus

Hopefully this will be the save game to really get me into FM09 again!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Good Luck WW.

Originally Posted by rlipscombe

PRDH - Des is going to love you for picking them!! He had a game with them on FM08.

Hell yes I am

Originally Posted by iacovone

PRDH - Domegliara are back \o/. Such joyous scenes!

Joyous scenes outside the clubrooms in Fafe as the boys celebrate a kindred spirit joining the race.

[TanO]

Good to see some new faces on this challenge, good luck WW and PRDH

Ohanzee - Reinvented Mulhouse looking good for next season…. Best of Luck !

[d-machine]

4 games to go in the season, and i'm outside the playoffs on head-to-head results Just won my first game in a month and a half though (I drew heaps).

The takeover still hasn't been resolved, first the consortium fell through, then the promotion from within fell through

[PRDH]

Well. Things are falling into place. I have a packed back room staff. It's a tight knit group. There's me, my assistant, a coach and a physio. We'll be 'bff's in no time. The playing staff has coem together reasonably well. I have enough players to fill a match-day squad - just. And in my first competitive game (a Serie C Cup game against sleeping giants Messina (who I'd so nearly taken over)) an early goal sealed a 1-0 victory for Domegliara.

More details to follow soon. I'm off to the gym.

[d-machine]

Just made the playoffs on head-to-head results, we play Portosummaga in our first promtion playoff.

We beat them 2-0 at home and drew 1-1 away in the regular season, hoping for similar results again. I hate playoffs

EDIT - I got similar results alright, 0-0 draw at home, then a 2-0 away win Through to the final playoff against Varese, who also got relegated last season.

Another Edit -
We drew 0-0 at home again, then won the 2nd leg 3-0 away! Briels scored a goal, but my 3rd goal was scored by my 16 year old CB Fabio Capaccione on his debut, with a shot outside the area. Just noticed he has 7 star potential.

So after last season disappointing relegation, we've been re-promoted to the C/1A!

[d-machine]

Casale - Italian Serie C/2A, 2012/13 (Season 4)

Media Prediction - 6th

Casale began the season with one clear objective - Get promoted back up to Serie C/1A. The campaign started relatively well, with Casale topping their Serie C Cup group, and notching up wins in their first 2 league games.

After this decent start, however, they started to drop the points that mattered, and at the halfway point of the season, were sitting in a midtable position. Having already been knocked out of the Serie C Cup in the 1st Round, they only had the league to focus on.

In January, they started an unbeaten run that lasted until Febuary 21st, where they were undone by league favourites, Pro Sesto. That loss started a 6 match winless run.

With 5 games to go, it was a miracle that they were still only 2 points outside the Playoff spots. They went on to win 4 out of 5 matches, and clich the final playoff spot by finishing 5th. Their up-and-down season finished on a high, but could they do well in the Playoffs?

The Promotion Chase

4 teams remained in the promotion race. The match ups where 2nd placed Portosummaga v 5th placed Casale, and 3rd placed Pro Sesto v 4th placed Varese. In a tough tie Casale prevailed with a 2-0 away win after a 0-0 home draw. They went on to face Varese, who were with them in the Serie C/1A last season.

Again Casale started of with a 0-0 home draw, and pundits questioned whether or not they would be able to get promoted. But yet again, the away leg proved to be the winning leg, with Casale running out 3-0 victors. So now that the playoffs were finished, Cassale were promoted again, and their fans where pleased.

Players of the Season

Jordy Briels - Another spectactular season, scored in both playoff wins.

Dani Rado - I really found out how much he meant to the team last season, this time he didn't get a broken leg, and his presence lifted the team whenever we were down.

Julio Viola - After last season big disappointing seaon which left the fans questioning whether or not he was worth 20k, he responded by having a pretty decent season.

The Search for "Casale's Next Top Striker" will be remaining next season. This Year Contestant, Marcus Hanikel, proved to be a major flop, 9 goals in 27 game recieves a lowly 4/10 score from me.

Squad

(I forgot to do screenies of the club overview/facilities this seasson, sorry!)

Finances | Transfers | Transfer Centre

The Story So Far...

Season      League                   	Position       Achievements
___________________________________________________________________
2009/10     Serie C/2A			   13th
2010/11	    Serie C/2A			   1st		Promoted
2011/12	    Serie C/1A			   17th		Relegation via Playouts
2012/13	    Serie C/2A			   5th		Promoted via Playoffs

Next Season

1. Stay in C/1A, defintely need to stay up
2. Sort out my finances a bit
3. Find a consistent striker

[tomsmith1989]

Congratulations on promotion d-machine! Viola is technically brilliant. If he could improve his physicals a little then he would be a brilliant player.

You had quite the fluctuation in league position this season, but at least it ended well. Good look in your second attempt at Serie C/1.

[rlipscombe]

congrats d-machine. touch and go for a while but well done on getting back up.

loving the "Casale's Next Top Striker" competition too!!

[d-machine]

Originally Posted by rlipscombe

congrats d-machine. touch and go for a while but well done on getting back up.

loving the "Casale's Next Top Striker" competition too!!

I've got the next contestant A young french striker, I'll post his profile tomorrow, going to bed now.

For most of the season, there were about 8-9 teams within 4 points of each other, it was very tight in the middle, a couple of slip up and you could potentially be gone. We were lucky that we had our slip ups when we did, or else we could've finished 9th or something.

Another consortium is planning a takeover, hopefully this time it won't fall through, I'm sick of my chairman.

[Walcott\'s Wonderkids]

Cheers for the good luck messages guys.

Now at the end of Sept and Messina have just gone to the top of the table - 13 out of 15 points from the first 5 games, although I have played 3 of the bottom 4 predicted sides so far, so that could skew things slightly.

Got Serie C1A side Ancona away in the first round proper of the Serie C cup, which could prove a task too far.. we'll see!


Well done on promotion d-machine, timed your playoff run to perfection!


Montesin Update

The guy is becoming a fan's favourite already - helps when in 5 games you have 4 goals, 4 assists and 2 MoMs to your name!!
Note: He is my penalty taker though.

[PRDH]

So my squad is completed. It took a fair bit of renovation as you can see from my transfers.

The new stars of the Domegliara team are:

Luca Minopoli half of my midfield pairing that look (to me at least) good enough to make a big impact this season.

Nichola Iachemet is, I think my star player, both footed and skilful.

Giuseppe Casisa is the other half of the midfield pairing and my captain.

And whilst I've been doing that, I've emerged victorious (3-1) from my first league game of the season. A result which has seen me hit the top of the table. Too early to make predictions, but at least it shows I can compete.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by d-machine

Casale - Italian Serie C/2A, 2012/13 (Season 4)

Julio Viola - After last season big disappointing seaon which left the fans questioning whether or not he was worth 20k, he responded by having a pretty decent season.

Definitely a good season there D, and I agree staying up is important, as for Viola watch out for jump ropes he will have a problem with them.

Originally Posted by PRDH

So my squad is completed. It took a fair bit of renovation as you can see from my transfers.
The new stars of the Domegliara team are:
Nichola Iachemet is, I think my star player, both footed and skilful.
Giuseppe Casisa is the other half of the midfield pairing and my captain.
And whilst I've been doing that, I've emerged victorious (3-1) from my first league game of the season. A result which has seen me hit the top of the table. Too early to make predictions, but at least it shows I can compete.

I do like Casisa & Iachemet, look like the perfect players to continue the fame of a Domegliara club that needs some success, congrats on the early win, hopefully it continues and you can build a great legacy.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by Lower Leagues Rule

Hand of God? I am currently chasing Maradona, the name alone drew me in, but he looks stunning.

And Maradona has agreed to join AD Fafe and shall be coming as my fourth striker in January 2022. (thats one year in game).

[PRDH]

Originally Posted by Walcott\'s Wonderkids

Now at the end of Sept and Messina have just gone to the top of the table - 13 out of 15 points from the first 5 games.

Just played my first 5 games, and I too have picked 13 out of 15 points.

[PRDH]

I realise I'm posting a lot. But a quick update on my progress. 8 games into the season and I have picked up 22 points from 24.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by PRDH

I realise I'm posting a lot. But a quick update on my progress. 8 games into the season and I have picked up 22 points from 24.

Very nice start there. Currently I am 20 games into my season on 30pts (8 behind 7th, and 6 behind 6th(Euro), fighting hard). Currently playing against Maritimo (5th) at home a win here is most important, then its time for the run home, 9 games left after this.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

And Radakovic has his 50th League Goal for AD Fafe, only the second player to achieve that after Garcia the leading goalscorer of all time for Fafe.

[iacovone]

PRDH don't worry about posting a lot . I've had times where I've posted 5/6 in a row just because I got so into my game. The more posts the better for a thread as wonderful as this . Excellent start too keep it up

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Portuguese Cup Quarterfinals

AD Fafe (8th) 2:3 Benfica (1st)
Boavista (11th) 0:3 Sporting (2nd)
Santa Clara (2DD) 0:2 Maritimo (5th)
Porto (3rd) 3:0 Guimaraes (4th)

I have never beaten Benfica, record against them is 0-1-13, 6 goals for, 36 goals against. My worst record against any team in the division.

10 min - A huge shot from Marcel bounces off the woodwork and goes wide, while in other games Sporting take the lead.
12 min - AD Fafe are under sustained pressure from Benfica as Sporting stretch their lead, Boavista are in trouble early.
37 min - Costa is taken off with an injury, with no left backs available they go to Alexio to play the opposite side.
40 min - Radakovic puts a header off the crossbar and it drifts wide.
Halftime - 0:0 - Have to be happy to have kept them scoreless through the first half, they have been all over us, but we have withstood it all and had a couple of chances of our own. Sporting lead 2:0, and the other game is tied at 0:0 still.
50 min - Gutwrenching as their striker got free in our area and sent it home 0:1. At the same time Porto finally took a 1:0 lead as well.
53 min - And they doubled their lead just 3 mins later, a gutting series of events.
55 min - Di Guiseppe fires it in from the right edge of the box and into the net, GOAL!!! 1:1 a chance is still on.
60 min - Radakovic runs past the defenders as the ball lands at his feet, the goalie comes out, he steps off one foot and heads the other way, past the keeper, the net is open.....and.....Sporting extend their lead as Radakovic misses.
70 min - A bit of back and forward as Fafe try to equalise, Porto manage to put their game beyond doubt and Boavista drop to 10 men.
87 min - With both strikers nursing injuries the game looked over, but a cross from Rocha to Kiselev on the right was fired back at the goal, the Benfica goalie didn't see it coming and the late equaliser is in.
89 min - The curse strikes again, just as they thought they had extra time, Benfica put a ball into the box and pushing Kiselev out of the way they head it home. 2:3. But the goal is disallowed for offside, the game continues.
90+1 - Another cross into the box, this time they climb all over Tarasenko, and head it home, goal and that should wrap the game up with only injury time to play.
Fulltime - 2:3 - I really can't be disappointed with that, a huge game all around, and imagine what could've been if Radakovic had sunk into the open net. Oh well we played well and they played a little better. My favourite game so far this season, and to me proof that I am not far off the top teams now. And my team is very young.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Fans/Attendance - Top League

I am baffled I came 4th & 5th in the last two seasons, I have a 15000 seat stadium, but I can only attract 4500 fans to my games. This is a little ridiculous haha, I may have slumped this season, but it is still a little strange that I don't have more fans, what is wrong with football in Portugal? Oh and my joke of a 38k sponsorship when Sporting get 38M, the gap is huge...they also have huge crowds compared to mine haha.

    Club      Average   Highest  Capacity  
 1 Porto      38,632     50,201   50,476
 2 Benfica    37,557     60,116   65,647
 3 Sporting   29,380     40,659   50,466
 4 Guimarães  19,578     30,000   30,146
 5 Braga      15,614     25,745   30,286
 6 Académica   6,872     19,068   30,075
 7 Marítimo    5,791      8,440    8,922
 8 Boavista    5,385     17,875   28,263
 9 Leixões     5,038     12,710    9,821
10 Setúbal     3,256      4,850   18,694
11 Belenenses  2,810      7,889   19,980
12 U.Leiria    2,252      8,960   23,850
13 Naval       2,202      4,981    9,116
14 P.Ferreira  2,035      3,390    5,172
15 Nacional    1,568      4,711    5,132
16 E.Amadora   1,407      4,503    9,288

Its actually similar to real life, hmmm wonder why it is sooo bad.

[Ohanzee]

Walcott\'s Wonderkids and PRDH - Good luck in Italy
yababo - I'm having trouble finding time to play aswell between work and other commitments, but I'm in no rush. I'll take my time and enjoy it when I can. Got a long weekend now with Monday a holliday here in Norway.
d-machine - Congrats on getting back up. Good luck on the next season. Hope you can get a foothold in the division now.


I've played 21 games of the new season in Ligue 2 and it's gone amazingly well so far. Started out shaky with 1 win in the first 6 league games, but 4 of them where draws. We picked up more draws after that aswell and at times I felt we played really bad even against teams we should beat. But I stuck with the tactics and now we've won 5 in a row making it 10-8-3.

That's actually enough to put us 4th. This league is as even as the National was. There's 10 teams within 9 points of eachother. So it dont take much of a slip before you're below mid-table again. Only OGC Nice Côted'Azur have pulled ahead a bit. No wonder looking at their players. They should not be in this division at all.

Martial Riff who I had high hopes for have only played 8 games. He's been injured twice for 3-4 weeks and have missed 4 games due to u21 internationals. Really annoying, cause he's played extremely well when he's been available. In fact I think 8 of my 10 wins have come with him on the pitch.

Gueye, the striker I was hoping would be a consistent force have been the biggest dissapointment. 2 goals in 15 starts and I've had it with him really. I might put Leroy up front. He's my top scorer with 7 so far from the wing.

My scouts have found lots of players I would love to have, but all of them cost money and I dont have any in my budget. Also the few free ones wont come cause my wage budget dont allow me to give them any sort of good deals atm. Finances however are on the up. Even beeing £23k over our wagebudget we're making a steady profit. This is due to the attendance and TV-rights. I said I was hoping to double last years attendance, but it's actually been 4x that. We're an average of 4099 so far in home matches. Really promising.

Getting close to the January transfer window, but it will likely be very quiet for me. I'm gonna search for a striker, again, but with no money to spend and pocketchange of wages to offer I dont expect much.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Ohanzee - A nice start there in Ligue 2, I must say long weekends are great, I have one here in New Zealand so I am hoping to crack out a couple of seasons. I'm a little worried about being fired though. I have been below expectations all season, and for some reason my team are completely inconsistent, we got close to beating Benfica, the Champs twice, but we kept failing against the easybeats meaning we are sitting 8th with 4 games left.
Expectations vs Results
League - ^6th - 8th
Euro - Group - Group
Cup - Semi - Quarter
League Cup - Semi - Quarter
My Job is still listed as secure, but it is sliding, good thing I am 15k under on wages, and I have lifted the clubs stature or I would be in serious trouble.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Deleted EoS Report...

[d-machine]

Originally Posted by Lower Leagues Rule

For a little more insight Fafeful Moments Now had an interview with Des Tiny to discuss the season and his hopes for the future.

I knew people would start using it in challenges Pitty i'm on a computer without sound at the moment, so I can't hear it When I get my new computer (hopefully next week) I'll start making my own

Unlucky season Des, hope you can improve next time. Portugal looks like a really interesting and frustrating place to manage if your not one of the Big 3.

Casale Pre-Season Report

After getting repromoted, Casale's manager David Machine didn't go out of the way to improve the squad, claiming that it already capable of surviving as long as the players performed well. The one notable signing was that of young french striker, Christian Gambini.

His other notable deal was that his full back, Massimo Carella, is now co-owned by Perugia, a deal costing the Serie B side 275k. That lifted Machine's finances out of the red.

And onto the friendlies he went. Unfortunately, mot of his friendlies ended up being cancelled due to Italian Cup or Serie C Cup games. However, his game against Chievo went wasn't cancelled, and Casale went on to manage a wonderful 2-1 over the top Serie B club.

The Italian Cup draw favoured them as well. As was the case 2 seasons ago, they faced Sasuolo in the First Qualifying Round, and went on to win 3-1 thanks to a brilliant headed goal from Julio Viola.

They then faced Serie B club Cesena in the next round. Despite going a goal and a man down by the 60th minute, they fought back to lead 2-1, and looked set to upset their host. However, Cesena made their numerical advantage payoff, scoring an equaliser, before scoring again in extra time. Final Score 3-2, but all-in-all, a great effort.

Casale then went on to win their first league game 1-0 over Legano.

A bit of drama was to follow. Another consortium is looking to takeover the club. Wil the chairman leave Casale this time? Or will it fall through for the 3rd time in a year? And more importantly, if the consortium goes through, will Machine still be in charge?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by d-machine

I knew people would start using it in challenges Pitty i'm on a computer without sound at the moment, so I can't hear it
Unlucky season Des, hope you can improve next time. Portugal looks like a really interesting and frustrating place to manage if your not one of the Big 3.

Its completely ridiculous being outside the top three, and yeah I loved the video idea, and it is so much fun to do it all. I can't believe how much my season was worse than the one before. Hopefully I can pick it up.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

I have now completely finished updating my Season Update...

[d-machine]

Consortium takeover was successful, now to see if I keep my job...

EDIT - Yikes! Just lost 5-0 to Rimini, that won't please my new chairman...

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by d-machine

Consortium takeover was successful, now to see if I keep my job...

EDIT - Yikes! Just lost 5-0 to Rimini, that won't please my new chairman...

Ouch thats not a good way to start under a new boss, hopefully you can do something to impress him.
Edit - Well I just grabbed a new contract extension of 3 years, now signed on til June 2024.

[d-machine]

I kept my job after a dominate 2-0 win in the Serie C Cup. He only gave the club 130k Won't last long seeing we're losing around 50k a month.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by d-machine

I kept my job after a dominate 2-0 win in the Serie C Cup. He only gave the club 130k Won't last long seeing we're losing around 50k a month.

Keeping the job is the most important thing. I have found m money is coming mainly from buying every young star I can find and then selling them on in a couple of seasons. I get only 1mil a season for Transfers and I am in the top 100 clubs in Europe. I NEED to get more people coming to my games to boost my books so that I can move up, this season i have a bunch of Youth who will be future stars who i am going to try and hold onto forever.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

...My Computer just crashed...autosave is sooo going back on now, I just lost 3 months of the game...Back to April. I will get through that bit quickly I think just basically ignoring the team, or trying to better my 8th spot, as unlikely as that seems...

[PRDH]

Originally Posted by Lower Leagues Rule

...My Computer just crashed...autosave is sooo going back on now, I just lost 3 months of the game...Back to April. I will get through that bit quickly I think just basically ignoring the team, or trying to better my 8th spot, as unlikely as that seems...

It's so irritating when that happens. You've made me save my game again as a precaution.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by PRDH

It's so irritating when that happens. You've made me save my game again as a precaution.

Well it looks like I should still hang onto 8th, and a huge result in the last game may get me one place higher, but I have auto save on once a month now so I won't lost half what I did before. Updated Season Update coming very soon.

[rlipscombe]

unlucky on the crash Des - luckily it doesn't seem to be too damaging.....

[iacovone]

Bad luck with the crash Des. I love the interview with Fafeful Moments Now , absolutely brilliant

"I am a man of Fafe" - hahahahaha brilliant!!

Don't worry too much about taking a backwards step this season, it happens. I found the best thing to do is to keep your squad together as much as possible and let them gel over the summer. If you think your players are good enough, they probably just need more time to mature together.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by iacovone

Bad luck with the crash Des. I love the interview with Fafeful Moments Now , absolutely brilliant

"I am a man of Fafe" - hahahahaha brilliant!!

Don't worry too much about taking a backwards step this season, it happens. I found the best thing to do is to keep your squad together as much as possible and let them gel over the summer. If you think your players are good enough, they probably just need more time to mature together.

Thanks for the liking of the video clip Man of Fafe had to come into it haha... Yeah I think that they do really just need some experience and gelling to be a team worth challenging for the title. Shala has left, but the rest are here for the next season.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Keeping the Fafe
Liga Sagres 2020/21
End of Season Update

Predicted: 7th
Actual: 8th
League Cup: 3rd Round
Portuguese Cup: Quarterfinals
Euro Cup: 3rd Group L
European Rank: 88th (157th) (6th of Portuguese Clubs)


The Season in General

We had a poor start to the season, but this improved. Never really in contention for Europe this year as a little bit of infighting and inexperience led us down to become a mid table team. Also with a large number of younger players in the side the sheer amount of football was taking its toll as well. The only competition where we met our expectations was in the European Cup where we made it to the group stage and finished third. We very nearly got further in the Portuguese cup, but Benfica managed to score late in the game to make it into the Semi-finals. The Cups were a little disappointing and our bad run in the group stage of Europe is what lead to our first drop down the table. My job looked stable but anything can happen after such a disappointing season.

For a little more insight Fafeful Moments Now had an interview with Des Tiny to discuss the season and his hopes for the future.


The League

In the league we were never in contention, and the only reason i can see us failing is our away form, at home we played great football. We even got close to knocking over the top teams, but away from home we are dreadful.

The Awards

Fans player of the Year: Radakovic
Best XI: Gresovnik, Kiselev, Pantovic, Mendes, Tarasenko, Crawford, Di Giuseppe, Tiago, Shala, Moreira, Radakovic. Subs: Cubukcu, Stein, Janssen, Rocha, Marcel, Costa, Rodriguez.

Overall XI: Carrasso, Novak, Esnaola, Tarasenko, Monasterio, Perdigao, Shala, Aguero, Moreno, Garcia, Radakovic. Subs: Cubukcu, Pantovic, Coentrao, Crawford, Barros, Aakre, Melim.


The Squad

The Squad

Goalkeepers

Cubukcu - Started the season as the number one keeper, but was surpassed during the season. He also gained Portuguese citizenship during the year.
Gresovnik - He started poorly, but a great middle season saw him take the top spot and become Fafe's number one keeper. With many years to come he is going to take it home.

Defense

Pantovic - Pants is the best left back in the squad by a long way, and probably one of the best in the division as well.
Mendes - The new boy showed himself up, and really was a rock at the back, considering his age he will be a star in the future.
Tarasenko - The Vice-captain of the squad is the cement that holds us together. He still needs a bit of experience, but working together the current squad can do it. Captain next season.
Kiselev - The starting right back in our squad is a bit of a star, and showing hmself as such. Still young so he has many years ahead of him, hopefully we can hold onto him.
Stein - He is the oldest man in our team, he is basically now a back-up, but he still gets a bit of game time with the boys around him.
Costa - Reserve fullback and winger, Costa is getting a little annoyed that he is not getting first team football. He will probably remain a back-up and if we find a replacement he will be sold.
Alexio - He was originally brought in as cover for centre and right backs, but by the end of the season following injuries he had stepped up to challenge for the top spots.

Midfield

Shala - He had a stunning season, but he would not sign a new contract, and with the interest from other clubs it was not a surprise when he left.
Tiago - He had an ok season, nothing spectacular, but he has a lot of seasons left in him. One of the young guns who will be taking over.
Edevair - This guy is going to be a back up right across the midfield, I am not sure if he will start, but definitely accurate cover when he is needed.
Janssen - In and out of the squad all season, he looks like he may have what it takes in the future, but like the rest he needs some experience.
Di Guiseppe - He played more on the right than anyone else this season, but he still has a way to go, and is likely to be replaced in the Summer.
Juan - He started the season behind Crawford, but in just a few short games he had trained his way into the squad, and took over showing everyone else how to play in the middle.
Crawford - The american is a man for the future, but his performances still need to improve somewhat before he is ready.
Rocha - This guy is the next big thing in attacking midfielders, without a doubt he will take the number one spot this next season, look out for some stunning work.

Strikers

Radakovic - My player of the season, but he is still not the striker we need, 15 goals is not quite enough. He has finally made it to 50 league goals as he chases down Garcia at the top of the Fafe all-time lists.
Marcel - The youngster didn't have the best of seasons, and really needs to get in a goalscoring groove, but he is young enough that in the future he should star in this team.
Moreira - This boy started the season in our youth team, he is a product of our academy, and he ended up playing as we were a little short. He showed some skill, but did play over 20 hours without a goal at one point.


Around the Traps

World Club: Chelsea
Euro Super Cup: Chelsea
Champs League: Real Madrid
Euro Cup: Bayern Munich

Liga Sagres: Benfica
Liga Vitalis: Leiria
2nd Division: Oliveirense
Portuguese Cup: Porto
League Cup: Maritimo

Sponsorship Increase to 650k per annum and the Chairman has loaned us 1.8mil to help with running costs.
Finances are up and down as always.


Associação Desportiva de Fafe Club History

|----------|-----------|-----------------|---------------------|
|  Season  | Division  | First Phase Pos | Promotion Phase Pos |
|----------|-----------|-----------------|---------------------|
| 2009/10  |   2nd A   |       4th       |        2nd          |
| 2010/11  |   2nd A   |       3rd       |        4th          |
| 2011/12  |   2nd A   |       1st       |        2nd          | League Champions
| 2012/13  |   2nd A   |       1st       |        1st          | League Champions & Promotion
| 2013/14  |  Vitalis  |       5th       |        N/A          | 
| 2014/15  |  Vitalis  |       1st       |        N/A          | League Champions & Promotion
| 2015/16  |  Sagres   |      13th       |        N/A          |
| 2016/17  |  Sagres   |       8th       |        N/A          | Euro Cup via Sporting Play
| 2017/18  |  Sagres   |       8th       |        N/A          | 
| 2018/19  |  Sagres   |       4th       |        N/A          | Euro Cup via League Finish
| 2019/20  |  Sagres   |       5th       |        N/A          | Euro Cup via League Finish
| 2020/21  |  Sagres   |       8th       |        N/A          | 
|----------|-----------|-----------------|---------------------|

Associação Desportiva de Fafe Players History

The Best of the Best



The 100 Club



David Moreno, Jonathan, Tiago Rodrigues, Kipulo, Hector Garcia, Josu Esnaola, Ruben, "The Monster", Paulo Ricardo, Nicolas Aguero, Tom Erik Shala, Ernesto, John Astrup, Aleksandar Radakovic, Mykola Tarasenko and "Pants"

[PRDH]

**Mid-Season Update** 2009/10 - Domegliara Serie C2/C

I have reached the mid-point of my first season in charge of Domegliara. Out if interest does anyone know their nickname? If not I'm going to christen them 'The Domes' unless anyone has a better idea, possibly something more Italian, they play in red and black stripes, so I suppose the obvious would be to call them the Rossoneri, like AC Milan, but it seems unoriginal. Anyway to the more important issues.

League

The season started fantastically with a run of 7 wins in 8 games taking me quickly to the top of the table. Unfortunately, an injury crisis struck down the key players all at once. Casisi, captain and definite star, was out as were his first choice midfield partners. It was a makeshift midfield. I struggled on, and fell off the top of the table. It looked like the media might be right, and the early form disappear to confirm me as mid-table also-rans. BUT, the players started to get fit again, and with their return so the form lifted. Leaving me 1st after 17 games with 17 left to play. The media are even starting to jump on the bandwagon. No longer suggesting any fans of 'The Domes' are foolhardy to expect anything, and instead saying we are beginning to make people believe it could be a successful season. Incidentally, the board also already love me, and my signings.

Cup

The cup was a bit of a damp squib. It started well enoguh with a victory over Messina, but quickly collapsed and I didn't get past the group stage. Still, I'd have willing sacrificed it for a good placing in the league approaching Christmas.

It is nice to be at Domegliara, where there are no records of note existing. So I am able to build up the history basically from scratch.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by PRDH

**Mid-Season Update** 2009/10 - Domegliara Serie C2/C
I have reached the mid-point of my first season in charge of Domegliara. Out if interest does anyone know their nickname? If not I'm going to christen them the 'Domes' unless anyone has a better idea. Anyway to the more important issues.

I don't know of a nickname for the club and a quick search brings up none either. A great start there, hopefully you can keep it up and make the step up.

In the meantime I have made some changes to my scouting network, and I now have the following team scouting the world (Name JA/JP): Louro 19/20, Andre 20/20, Teixiera 20/20, Cardosa 20/19, Real 19/19, Baptista 19/19, Matos 20/20, Borges 20/20, Alves 19/19, Silva 19/20, Vilela 19/20, Rodrigues 20/19. (In the rest of the world there are only 20 other scouts with 20 JA or JP).

[Lower Leagues Rule]

The way to start a season off right...vs Bustelo, yes I travelled to a Portuguese non-league team to give them a hiding. Even better is that 800 of their fans turned up to see it.

[PRDH]

Originally Posted by Lower Leagues Rule

The way to start a season off right...vs Bustelo, yes I travelled to a Portuguese non-league team to give them a hiding. Even better is that 800 of their fans turned up to see it.

That's brutal. I love it!

[Ohanzee]

LLR - Nice result there. I usually do a friendly tour of the Faroe Islands myself. Those kind of results really boost the morale I feel. Hope you can back to the top next year. If away games are the main problem mabye try a different tactic? I dunno if you're staying with the same one through and through, but I found playing alot more caucious away helped me alot when playing in Croatia and Romania. At home I play extremely offensive and usually dominate most teams, but it didnt work at all away, so I changed to 1 more central midfielder and played more narrow and counter attacking and I started seeing results away to.

I'm busy working my way through the January transfer window at the moment. Searching like a madman for a striker that will net me 10+ goals in the last 17 games.

My scouts found a spanish 20 year old called Rubén Rochina. Apparently Barcelona B let him go on a free this summer and noone has picked him up. He looks promising in all ways to me, but I'm worried about the fact that noone has picked him up. Something must be wrong with him surely Anyways he's joined us and hopefully he'll do better than the disaster called Gueye.

Scouts also found this guy, Marko Pantelic. 33 years but looks amazing to me. He wont join though as my idiot board wont let me give Key Players more than £950k a week atm. Really annoying since we're making a good profit each month just from gate receipts and tv-rights, so they could have done well to adjust the budget. Marko is 33 years anyways, so probably for the best I dont get him, but he might just have lift me into promotion already this year

I've also secured two 18 year old regens in Maldonado and Herrero, but they will both join in the summer for free when their contracts run out. Herrero especially looks promising to me. Maldonado I'm not sure about but his acceleration caught my eye. Did I mention I love beeing able to scout so many parts of the world now

Also my board decided to sell Maurice-Belay to Ligue 1 side Lille for £500k. He was worth £250k so I guess I should be happy. He might get tough to replace before the window ends though, and I only got £80k of the £500k in transfer budget.

*goes back to wading through the endless amount of players looking for that uncut diamond*

[rlipscombe]

great start PRDH - as for nicknames, what about 'new' (in italian obviously) rossoneri.

Des - great overhaul of scouts. will really help.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Originally Posted by rlipscombe

great start PRDH - as for nicknames, what about 'new' (in italian obviously) rossoneri.

Nouvo Rossoneri - New Red-Blacks
OMG 25 seconds

[PRDH]

I like it. 'Il Nuovi Rossineri' it is

[Ohanzee]

Transfer window is over. We did not find a instant replacement for Belay, but a future one I hope. Petr Fojtik a 20 year old Czech Republic under 21 international. My scout says he has the potential to beceom a good Ligue 1 midfielder so I'm very excited to get him this summer.

Last day of the window saw lots of interest in my central midfielders Riff, Jouffre and Bellugou. It peaked in a £1 million bid for Bellugou who is only worth £110k. I thought a bit about it, but in the end decided to reject. I could not have replaced him and Martial Riff is injured so much I need him here. 1 games later Martial Riff once again got a 3-4 week injury (his 3rd of the season *sigh*), so I'm glad I rejected the offer.

Rubén Rochina got off to a good start scoring in his debut giving us a vital 1-0 away win, but he's not scored in 3 after that, so I'm not convinced. At the moment we are 3rd in the Ligue 2 table 3 points clear of #4, but just 6 points down to 9th. So it'll be another close one.

[tomsmith1989]

All this recent talk about Portugal has made me decide to re-visit my Oriental save in Portugal. I'm going to do a 'Story So Far' update to get you all up to speed with it. It'll get me re-acquainted with the team as well.

[Ohanzee]

After 31 games, it's so close...

Really liking how close the teams in the National and Ligue 2 are in quality. We've just been hammered 4-0 and 3-0 away to Stade de Reims and Stade Brestois 29, and we're still in the race.

[tomsmith1989]

Originally Posted by Ohanzee

After 31 games, it's so close...

Really liking how close the teams in the National and Ligue 2 are in quality. We've just been hammered 4-0 and 3-0 away to Stade de Reims and Stade Brestois 29, and we're still in the race.

It is close. Those two results ddn't help, but it looks like it's going well Keep it up!

[tomsmith1989]

Does anyone have a problem with me using my Oriental save? I don't mind if you do. Something i've just realsied is I took charge straight away meaning they are a playable team to begin with. The reason I took charge of them is because they were the newly promoted side in real life. Is this a problem?

[Ohanzee]

tomsmith1989 - I don't have a problem with it, but I guess the guys that's played this challenge since the beginning are the ones to ask really. Personally I think it's just as good to start with a club that was promoted in real life.

Just had a extremely vital away win. 2-0 away to AJ Auxerre who where 2 points behind us. So now we are 5 points clear of them, and 4 points clear of 4th. I'm starting to think this might actually happen. Riff have been able to play 5 games in a row now and he's been MoM in two of them scoring 2 goals.

[tomsmith1989]

Originally Posted by Ohanzee

tomsmith1989 - I don't have a problem with it, but I guess the guys that's played this challenge since the beginning are the ones to ask really. Personally I think it's just as good to start with a club that was promoted in real life.

Yeah, that's what I think, and so I don't to take away from the challenge by reporting on a save that isn't considered to be in the spirit of the challenge. I'll wait for some more feedback before I do any sort of update.

[Ohanzee]

Promotion! With 2 games to go we've won promotion!

I love France. No playoff crap, just 3 teams straight up. And we'll be one of them! *cheer*

[iacovone]

Originally Posted by tomsmith1989

Does anyone have a problem with me using my Oriental save? I don't mind if you do. Something i've just realsied is I took charge straight away meaning they are a playable team to begin with. The reason I took charge of them is because they were the newly promoted side in real life. Is this a problem?

Hmm difficult one Tom but I'd say it negates the point of the challenge tbh. Shame as it'd be nice to see you get back to Oriental, but rules are rules .

Lets see what the others think though, we are a democracy in here