FM 2009: VfB Stuttgart

First off, I'm not a Stuttgart fan and I don't even follow the Bundesliga regularly so if any Stuttgart fans want to start a new thread I'll kindly let this one die.

I decided to start a game in the Bundesliga today and I didn't want to go for the usual suspects like FC Bayern and Werder Bremen so I chose Stuttgart. I've seen how club threads are in this forum so I'll try my best.

(credit to Wikipedia)

VfB Stuttgart

Full name: Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V.

Nickname(s): Die Roten, Die Schwaben, Die jungen Wilden

Founded: 1893

Ground: Mercedes-Benz Arena,Stuttgart (Capacity: 55,896)

Chairman: Erwin Staudt

Manager: Markus Babbel (team boss)

League: Bundesliga

2007–08: Bundesliga, 6th

Introduction:

Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart, is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. With 43,000 members (as of September 2007), VfB is the largest sports club in the state and the fifth largest in the country. The club is best known for its football team, which has participated in all but two Bundesliga seasons. The team has won the national championship five times in total—most recently in the 2006–07 season—and the DFB-Pokal (German cup) three times.

The football team plays its home games at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, situated in the Cannstatter Wasen sports complex. Its reserve team, VfB Stuttgart II, currently plays in the 3rd Liga, two divisions below the first team.

Honours:

International competition:

* Cup Winners' Cup finalists: 1998

* UEFA Cup finalists: 1989

* UEFA Intertoto Cup winners: 2000, 2002, 2008

National competition:

* German football champions: 1950, 1952, 1984, 1992, 2007

* German runners-up: 1935, 1953, 1979, 2003

* German Cup winners: 1954, 1958, 1997

* German Cup finalists: 1986, 2007

* German Supercup winners: 1992

* League Cup finalists: 2005

Regional competition:

* Oberliga Süd (I) champions: 1946, 1952, 1954

* 2nd Bundesliga Süd (II) champions: 1977

* Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden champions: 1927, 1930

* Gauliga Württemberg champions: 1935, 1937, 1938, 1943

Stadium:

The home ground of VfB Stuttgart is the Mercedes-Benz Arena which was originally built in 1933. It lies close to the River Neckar on Bad Cannstatt's Mercedes-Straße near the new Mercedes-Benz Museum and Mercedes-Benz factory. After being renovated several times, the stadium can hold a maximum capacity of 55,896 spectators (50,000 for international matches). Unlike most other Bundesliga stadiums, the former Neckarstadion retains the traditional athletic track around the playing field despite intentions to convert it into a football-only stadium. As for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion was one of the venues for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, hosting five preliminary round matches, a First Knockout Round match (England vs. Ecuador) and the third place play-off (Germany vs. Portugal). From the 2008–09 season, the stadium will be renamed the Mercedes-Benz-Arena, starting with a pre-season friendly against Arsenal on July 30, 2008.

Current First Team Squad:

1 GK Jens Lehmann

3 DF Ricardo Osorio

4 DF Khalid Boulahrouz

5 DF Serdar Tasci

7 MF Martin Lanig

8 MF Jan Šimák

9 FW Ciprian Marica

10 MF Yıldıray Baştürk

11 MF Thomas Hitzlsperger (captain)

12 GK Alexander Stolz

13 MF Pável Pardo

15 DF Arthur Boka

16 MF Sebastian Rudy

17 DF Matthieu Delpierre

18 FW Cacau

19 MF Roberto Hilbert

21 DF Ludovic Magnin

23 FW Manuel Fischer

24 GK Sven Ulreich

25 MF Élson

28 MF Sami Khedira

29 MF Georges Mandjeck

33 FW Mario Gómez

35 MF Christian Träsch

38 FW Danijel Ljuboja

40 DF Marijan Kovačević

42 DF Marco Pischorn

Star Man: Mario Gómez

Trivia:

* The merger that created VfB was held in the Concordia hotel in Bad Cannstatt, a district of the city of Stuttgart.

* VfB are nicknamed "the Reds" for their team colours, featuring a red chest ring on white jerseys. Local rivals Stuttgarter Kickers, wearing blue and white, are "the Blues".

* In the 2006–07 Season VfB Stuttgart started using the song Bro Hymn by Pennywise as their goal celebration music.

So if anyone has any tips and stuff for Stuttgart I'd really appreciate it!

I haven't even really seen the team in action that much so I'm not too sure who are their first teamers save Gomez and Lehman.

Matthieu Delpierre is hopefully quite a good player, what is he like stat-wise? He is fairly highly rated in France.

Just started an unemployed game, and applied for the Stuttgart job which I got.. Not much to spend a mighty £80,000.

Just started a gma ewith Stuttgart,

Anyone else playing?

They only have one decent winger Roberto Hilbert, so I think either a 5 -3 - 2 formation would be good or a diamond shape 4 - 4 - 2 with no wingers may adviseable.

I would suggest offloading a few of the Central Midfielders Elson, Simak or Lanig.

I would suggest keeping Gomez and building a new team around him.

Also with Jen's age i would suggest a new Keeper as he only has a one year contract but not an immediate priority.

I think the board are being slightly ambitious with their TOP 5 finish but I'm not too sure how strong the rest of the German league are minus Bayern.

Here is my assesment of the squad

GK - Jen's Lehmann at 38 he is hardly the future of the team but there is no real need to replace him yet as I'm sure his stats are good enough at this level and is experience will be valuable to the youngsters in the team. I will be looking to replace him in the summer of 09 or 10 depending on targets and the progress of Sven Ulreich who looks like he could develope into a good goalkeeper given the right training. Alexander Stolz should priovide adequate backup for the season.

DR - Khalid Boulahrouz is the strongest rightback in the squad but is naturally a centre back so looking into purchasing a new right back in the next year should be a priority. He did play for Holland in Euro 2008 at right back so he can do a job there but does lack pace. Ricardo Osorio does work hard but lacks real quality so should be sold if the right offer comes in.

DL - Whilst neither are outstanding both Ludovic Magnin and Arthur Boka are good players. Neither will be good enough in the Champions league which should be the aim within 2\3 seasons. Depending on the system you like to play I would suggest Magnin as a Defensive FB or if you like Attacking FB's Boka should be your man.

DC - Marijan Kovacevic should be sold he is an awful player. The worrying concern is that Stuttgart lack pace in the CB position so you should look to play a fairly deep line. Serdar Tasci looks like he will develope into a future German international with the right training one concern is his lack of positioning which will need to be worked on heavily esp as he lacks blinding pace. Mathieu Delpierre is in my opinion the best centre back Stuttgart have and you should build the defence around him. Stuttgart lack depth in defence and you should look into bringing in a player or two on loan to provide cover for any injuiries.

DM - Pavel Pardo is good enough for a season or two but you should be looking to bring Sami Khedira into the team in the future who has the potential to be better then the Hammer Hitzlsperger. Pardo has great leadership skills so should be kept in the squad at least aswell as made vice captain.

MC\AM - You're first choice in the centre of midfield has to be Thomas Hitzlsperger what he lacks in pace he makes up in effort he is also German and is the ideal candiate for Captain. Ensure you set his long shots to often as he should get at least 6 or 7 long range screamers a season.

Yildiray Basturk is definately a player who needs an arm around him. On his day he can be a monster, with his great passing skills and creativity he can open up even the best of Defenses in Germany, unfortunately he is fairly incosistent and you never know which player is going to turn up on the day. He is the better of the attacking midfielders in the squad and you should look to keep hold of him.

Jan Simak is similiar to Basturk but who has great creativity and passing ability. Unfortunately he is very lazy and lack's pace. You should look to offload him within a year.

Elson is very average and excels in nothing. Sell him immediately.

Martin Lanig - He is fairly average and at 23 his stats aren't good enough for Stuttgart. I will use him as a backup for the next couple of seasons and if he doesn't improve I would suggest selling him. He's lucky he's German and I that I like to have alot of Nationals in my team otherwise he would be off.

Wingers - Depending on your team system Roberto Hilbert will either be vaulable to your team or unless retrained useless. I am thinking of retrainig him as a AMC due to the system I am thinking of playing 4 - 4 - 2 diamond. His crossing skills are poor as is his creativity and finishing. On the plus side he is German and he posses great pace and determination.

Sebastien Hofmann - Doesn't even deserve a mention awful player.

Strikers -

Mario Gomez - You should keep Gomez at all costs as he has the potential to be one of the top 5 strikers in the world. He is strong, quick and is finishing is second to none. His only real weakness is his lack of positioning sense and his heading skills aren't great. Your whole team should be built around him.

The second striker really depends on your system, whilst Stuttgart lack a quality target man Danijel Ljuboja is the best one in the squad. He is very average though and a replacement should be looked at within the first season. Ciprian Marcia was a monster on Fm08 but does look toned down on 09, I will be looking to him as my second striker purely because of the good experiences I had with him on 08. He is very quick but his finishing skills are terrible so I would suggest making a training schedule just for him with shooting set to intensive. Stats wise Cacau does look much better then Marcia but Marcia is young and will improve with the right training. When using Cacau ensure run with ball and long shots are set to often and he is bound to get goals.

I would say up front is where Stuttgart are strongest so a Kevin Keegan score one more goal approach would be adviseable for the first season, when signing players will be difficult due to the lack of money. The 09 summer will be vital to your team and you should look to use Bosman signings very wisely.

i would suggest improving the following positions

Pacey CB

Defensive midfielder

at least 2 Left sided wingers and one Right winger depending on the formation you wish to play

A target man

Started a new game with Stuttgart. I've enjoyed successful era's with Dortmund and Wolfsburg on FM09 and hope to replicate that with this club.

I've taken a slightly different approach to what most people might do. I sold Mario Gomez for as much as possible up front in order to gain funds to improve the squad overall. Barcelona paid me £13m up front with £5m over 24 months which should help towards the loan payments. Mathieu Delpierre wanted a new challenge so I sold him to Sunderland for £7m up front. On top of that I requested additional transfer funds from the board and they gave me a further 5m to spend.

OUT:

Mario Gomez - 17m

Mathieu Delpierre - 7m

Danijel Ljuboja - 1m

Georges Mandjeck - Loan

IN:

Oscar Cardozo - 6.5m

Axel Witsel - 5.5m

Miranda 6.5m

A.R. Traore - 625k

A. Di Maria - 7m

I feel i now have a decent enough squad to challenge for a top 4 finish this season whilst aiming for a good run in the UEFA Cup. There's still a few days to go until the transfer window closes and there may be more activity in the shape of Ciprian Marica (unsettled) moving to another Bundesliga club and Igor Budan (transfer listed by Palermo) arriving as his replacement for around £3.3m.

In terms of the future, I plan to buy Sergio Asenjo at the start of next season if possible as Lehmann's replacement.

Great transfers in mate. You should be able to do a top 4 finish easy.

Cheers mate. I realise Gomez is a quality striker and only gets better, but i've had Cardozo outshining Torres on my Liverpool save so with that in mind I thought I might aswell sell up and improve the squad as I said.

The transfer window closed without any further activity for my team, Marica will stay and I couldn't quite afford Budan.

I've played 3 league matchs so far. Beaten HSV 3-0, drawn 0-0 with Karlsruhe and beaten Hertha BSC 4-1. Cacau and Cardozo already seem to be forming a good partnership scoring 4 and 3 in 6 games.

I'll post my progress once i get to around Jan/Feb.

Already started 2nd season with Stuttgart. Last season I finished second level on points with Bayern who finshed first. I wont the German Cup beating my beloved Dortmund 1-0 in the final. Got to the Uefa Cup semi final and was beaten 2-2 on aggregate by AC Milan. Overall I'm very pleased with my first season considering my team suffered alot of injuries and had to make do with some below par players filling in.

One particularly pleasing piece of news i recieved at the end of the season was that due to the impressive amount of prize money we had won, all debts had been payed off which will obviously allow the teams finances to grow naturally rather than relying on prize money for future income.

The highlight of my career so far is signing Royston Drenthe from Real Madrid for £4.7m during the January window. I already had A.R.Traore and Di Maria for the left but felt it was too good an opportunity to miss out on. And so far he's proven me right. I rotate him and Di Maria on the left and have since sold Traore. I've also managed to sell off the deadwood in the team and brought in the type of players I feel can move us closer to being the dominant team in the Bundesliga and a force to reckoned with in Europe. Also, as expected I bought Asenjo activating his 8.25m release clause. He's obviously the long term replacement for the aging Lehmann.

IN:

Bosko Jankovic - Free

Mattia Cassani - Free

Pablo Hernandez - 1.9m

Pavel Pogrebnyak - 4.5m

Sergio Asenjo - 8.25m

Lukas Sinkiewicz - 3.1m

Jeremy Mathieu - 5m

Sinama-Pongolle - 5.75m

OUT:

Martin Lanig - 5m

A.R.Traore - 1.5m

Arthur Boka - 2.5m

Ricardo Osorio - 1.5m

Cacau - 4.5m

Timo Gebhart - 1.4m

Current Squad:

Guess not many people play as Stuttgart

Guess not many people play as Stuttgart

Congrats on the season Walk on.

I definately need to start a game with Stuttgart but I started a game with Valencia and have been addicted to it.

How much you got for you 2nd season to spend

Cheers for the response Jimbo

As far as I can remember I had around £17m for a title challenge at the start of season 2.

I've actually just started my third season. I won the Bundesliga, got to the Champions League semi finals, and was beaten in the German Cup final by Bayern. A good season considering the league victory but still plenty of room for improvement on the european front.

With that in mind i decided to further improve my squad as much as possible during the summer transfer window and have negotiated the following:

IN:

Simon Rolfes - Free

Neymar - 3.1m

Gonzalo Higuain - 18.5m

Lorenzo De Silvestri - 12.5m

Out:

Thomas Hitzlsperger - 10m

Roberto Hilbert - 5.5m

Sven Ulreich - 1m

Ludovic Magnin - 1m

Sinama-Pongolle - 7m

Rolfes has replaced Hitzlsperger as my main midfielder and will be partnered by either Khedira or Mandjeck who has developed well during last season. Higuain is now my first choice striker to be partnered with either Cardozo or Pogrebnyak with Manuel Fischer making the odd appearance against smaller teams.

I feel I now have a squad capable of making a serious Champions League challenge and hopefully retaining the Bundesliga title. I also hope to start managing an international team soon.

Current squad:

Good ins and outs mate.

Higuain is

Yeah I had great success with him on a PSG save not too long ago. I saw he would be interested in joining Stuttgart so placed a bid to activate his release clause which was £18.5m. Rolfes for Hitzlsperger seemed an obvious one. Basically I made a £10m profit and brought in a player of the same age and nationality but who is slightly better imo. Made Sinkiewicz captain with Rolfes vice captain.

Things seem to be going good so far aswell. This will probably be my last season with Stuttgart then i'm probably going to start a new game.

Started off unemployed with international footballer as set reputation, applied for the Stuttgart job and got it easily.

Like the guys above im on 9.3.0 update but not the one with Hleb in my squad. Only 1 winger worth mentioning (Hilbert), so its either a diamond formation or a more accustomed attacking 4-4-2 meaning i must sign some wingers. With only 90k to start it does'nt look good.

I asked the board for more funds, got 4 million pound so here are my transfers for 1st season with a media prediction of 6th place.

Out: Osorio (1.6M), Kolinger (Free), Marica (3.6M), Hofmann (Released).

In: Pasanen (3.2M), Alipio (Free), Salihamidzic (800k), K. Gibbs (Loan), Ochirosii (300k), Krivets (725k).

So now with my squad finalised it was time to start the season. My aim was a top six finish and then hopefully build on that next season. I have a good blend of youth and experience with some amazing prospects for the future such as my new signing Alipio for free from Real Madrid youths. He has amazing stats for a 16 year old and will hopefully be challenging Cacau and Gomez for a starting spot by end of season. Also i inherited some good prospects such as Samir Khedira (touted as the next Ballack) and also Gebhart looks reasonably promising as well as Lanig. Will post end of season update soon even though nobody cares about poor Stuttgart.

I'm playing with Stuttgart too, on an updated datebase though, so no Gomez, but I have Hleb and Pogrenbyak.

I'm playing a 4-4-2 attacking with an AMR and AML, basically looking to score more than the opposition, and create loads of scoring chances so Marica and Cacau will at least score some. I sold Osorio and some dead wood in Stuttgart II.

Try and develop Manuel Fischer, he looks at real good prospect. Iv got Pogrenbyak tutoring him, so hopefully he can become my Klose.

I'm playing with Stuttgart too, on an updated datebase though, so no Gomez, but I have Hleb and Pogrenbyak.

I'm playing a 4-4-2 attacking with an AMR and AML, basically looking to score more than the opposition, and create loads of scoring chances so Marica and Cacau will at least score some. I sold Osorio and some dead wood in Stuttgart II.

Try and develop Manuel Fischer, he looks at real good prospect. Iv got Pogrenbyak tutoring him, so hopefully he can become my Klose.

Thanks for the advice its nice to know others are out there. Will have a look at Fischer, is Pogrebnyak good? Also any tips on the midfield, basturk is good but very incinsistent, i like Khedira and Simak. What season you in and how are you progressing.

hi to all . i played with stuttgart with the new update means without super mario[mario gomez] but with hleb and pogrebynak i am first in the league after 22 matches and 2 knockout stage in uefa cup and i play 4-4-2 with attacking in home and 4-1-2-2-1 away and it works very good >>>

transfers:

in:

mascio 30k [the next pirlo]

charstitus from hsv a good nigerian with have a bright future 700k

nery castillo 4.3 [shakhtar]

onyewu loan [ milan] with buying option 3.5m

out:

osorio 5m to benfica

fischer loan

schwarz loan

kolinger 26 k

kovacevic 2k hhhhh

ikeng loan

but i suffer alot of injures too too much

Same here joker, dont know what it is with Stuttgart but at start of my season for 4 matches running i had to take 2 players off per match due to niggling injuries. Maybe all my team are whimps. I still have Gomez and he has 20 goals already and only in beginning of Feb. Currently in 4th positon, level with Leverkusen in third and hoping to clinch at least third and qualify for Champs League. I signed Pogrebnyak (9M), Buonanotte (5M), Di Maria (6.5M), Veloso (10M), Pasanen (3.2M), Salihamidzic (Loan), Krivets (625k) and Alipio (free). I sold Cacau (7M), Hofmann (released), Kolinger (100k), Ulreich (2M) Simak (3M), Lanig (3.6M). Have a pretty good team but as i said injuries are a problem. Pasanen broke his leg 2 weeks after joining. Will update when i finish 1st season.

Some good promising talent at the moment in my 1st season as Stuttgart. Tasci and Khedira are coming along very nicely, but Hitzlsberger, Basturk and Marica are flattering to deceive. Anyone having similiar things happen in their Stuttgart save.

i have finished my first season ... i have won the league and the cup [ do the double] and i have knocked out at 2 round of uefa cup .... here is the league :

http://img14.imageshack.us/i/germanwinner.png/

and the cup:

http://img37.imageshack.us/i/germancupwinner.png/

and first season transfers was: in

banega 2.7 million euro

nery castillo 4.7 million euro

onyewu loan from milan with buying opyion 3.5 million euro

christanus from hsv 800k euro

mascio 75 k touted as the next pirlo

out:

trasch 275k

kovacevic 1k hhh

fischer loan

schipplock loan the two to Aachen

schwarz loan to 1860 munchen and ikeng

kolinger 10k

elson 600k to sturm graz

osorio to benfica 5 million

klauss to ahlen loan

but in the 2nd season the transfers is:

in:

lugano free

nuri sahin free

wellenberg free from twente

dos santos 9 million from tottenham

out:

simak 1 million to hertha

rudy 50k

and alot of players from 2nd team and youth to be free

and i have 1 million left for transfers what is u opinions stuttgart players

You have done excellent to win with Stuttgart in your 1st season, i have a better team than you and am trying to pip Leverkusen into 3rd place with 4 matches to go. Will post update maybe tomorrow. Im finding my central midfielders under-perform (eg Yildray, Hitzlsberger, Simak, Lanig) with exception of Khedira and Veloso who i signed. What tactics you using joker. Im planning a major overhaul of the midfield in my 2nd season, hoping to bring in Moutinho and maybe a good right winger if possible. My defence seems ok with Tasci developing nicely. KUTGW joker

sambos .. i play home with the normal 4-4-2 with attacking mentality but away versus strong teams only i play 4-1-2-2-1 with with two attacking midfield [wingers] and one striker who is of course pogrebnyak who is fantastic .. now i am in the 2nd season in november i first sharing with hoffenheim when i reach january i will sent screens

SEASON REVIEW 08/09:

Signings: Veloso (10M), Pogrebnyak (7.3M), Di Maria (6.5M), Krivets (600k), Buonanotte (4.2M), Pasanen (3M)

Outgoings: Cacau (7M), Hofmann (released), Gebhart (2.4M), and few other players totaling 1M altogether.

With a media prediction of 6th place i envisaged a tough season even though i made some good transfer signings. A bad start to the season confirmed my suspicions, but eventually my team began to gel with some promising results. Schalke ran away with the league with there decent squad but no amazing players, so this indicated a strong squad was needed for next season. I fought for third place all season with Leverkusen and thankfully there awful run in of fixtures meant that i pipped them to 3rd and a Champion League place. I went on a 13 game unbeaten run at end of season with 9 of them draws, so with marginal improvement i would hopefully be challenging for a title next season. Pogrebnyak scored 22 goals with Gomez scoring 19 but too many late equalizers cost us deeply.

League: 3rd

German Cup: 3rd Rd

UEFA Cup: 2nd Knockout Phase

Already have been busy signing some excellent prospects for next season and so far doing well, will update soon.

SEASON 09/10 PREVIEW:

I have signed a mixture of excellent prospects and wily top-class professionals to give my squad some much needed balance this year. One signing in particular has amazed me with his performances and i highly recommend him to anyone who reads this. His Name is John Fleck from Rangers and he is well known on these forums but i only discovered how good he is with 15 goals so far and im only at end of October and he is 18. Im currently challenging for top spot with Bayern and Schalke and am just about top of my Champs League group containing Chelsea, Galatasaray and Porto. I have stamped my authority on the first team with me releasing a number of underperformers from last season.

Signings: Gorlitz (825k) - good right wingback previously with Bayern will give some competition with Magnin

Ze Roberto (free) - how Bayern let him leave for free when he was Bundesliga player of season last year i dont know

Jankulovski (350k) - classy old wingback to provide experience for Champs League assault

Romaric (Loan) - ex-Sevilla midfielder with power and pace to provide strength in my skillful midfield

Fleck (5M) - what can i say about this guy other than buy him and play as right forward

Ekici (3.5M) - Young Bayern attacking midfielder with bags of potential

Rodwell (5M) - dubbed the next Rio Ferdinand is a snip at 5M and already looks classy

And the wasters i got rid of were:

Marica (3.5M), Hitzlsberger (4.2M), Basturk (500k), Lanig (1M), Simak (1.2M), Delpierre (5M), Mandjeck (loan) and i released some pathetic youth players and loaned out most of Stuttgart II. Will update further as season progresses. But i reckon i need 3 more quality players such as Akinfeev, Obasi and Keirrison to complete my team.

SEASON 09/10 UPDATE:

I have played up until late march and so far season has been quite good. At start of the season i was informed of a possible board takeover and that actually happened around December time just in time to invest 25M into my transfer kitty. The outstanding performers so far have been John Fleck, my best signing ever, and Mario Gomez who have 27 and 28 goals respectively this season, keeping Pogrebnyak and Fischer well out of my team. Struggling to keep hold of Veloso with Man Utd courting and unsettling him, but will force him to stay at least another season. As of today im 3rd in the league 3pts behind Schalke and 7pts behind Bayern. Im also in the Semis of the German cup against Frankfurt but surprisingly my Champions League form has been incredible as i qualified top of my group including Chelsea, Galatasaray and Porto, then defeated Lyon 5-3 agg (4-0 at home) and am currently 2-1 up against Bayern in the Quarters after we beat them at their own ground.

With the investment the new chairman gave me i wasted no time in adding to my squad badly needing a new keeper, a better right winger and another pacy striker. I failed in attempts to land Keirrison and Obasi but managed to bring in Marquinhos (AMRLC)- 9.75M and Yannick Djalo (10M) and also Akinfeev to shore up my defence for 11.25M. Im hoping to win the german cup, beat Bayern in Quarters of Champs League and finish at least 2nd in the league. And as usual my new signing Marquinhos got injured in his 1st match and is out for 3 months.

Will update end of season tomorrow or next day

SAESON 09/10 REVIEW:

LEAGUE: 3rd

GERMAN CUP: Winners vs Bayern 2-1 aet

CHAMPIONS CUP: Quarter Finals vs Bayern 2-3 agg

I expected us to mount a serious title challenge this year with the additions i made and all looked good for a couple of weeks until we could not win away from home. It seemed alot of teams scored from long shots outside the box so i knew Lehmann was getting the cut. Also a board takeover at beginning of winter injected some cash into the club, enough for me to splash the cash to get Akinfeev as replacement for Lehmann. After Xmas with our new keeper and modified formation we started to keep clean sheets and win away from home but struggled to challenge Schalke for 2nd. All in all i know have in place a team capable of winning the league next year and i expect us to after i strengthen wingback and centre back positions we will have a seriously good team.

The final of the German cup was a great story. Bayern dominated the 1st half leading 1-nil and i dominated 2nd half equalising. In extra time i had made all substitutes when Gomez got injured then in the 119 minute Boka was sent off for giving away a penalty. Amazingly before the peno was taken i changed tactic assuming they would score so put seven players of my nine high up the field, but, they missed ad before i could change to a defensive tactic to see out closing minutes, Khedira scored to win me the match in the dying seconds. Waht a result and what a match.

SEASON 10/11 PREVIEW:

From a reasonably successful year last time out, my main area to improve the side was in defence with Boulahrouz a liability sometimes and my wingbacks not giving me all that i wanted in both defence and attack. So my signings reflect this.

SIGNINGS: Marcano - strong/young centre/left back for 14.5M

N'Bengue - good defensive and attacking full back to compete with Boka, signed from Toulouse for 10M

Zimmerman - WB/RL with good defensive and attacking abilities, Brazilian regen costing 10M

Cotelo - spanish regen from Barca for 2.5M and looks to be a good striker already

Mazzanti - Italian regen 17y.o can play anywhere on the left side of the pitch, and 1 for the future

2 other German regens totalling 1.5M

LEAVING: Boulahrouz - (9M)

Lehmann, Ze Roberto, Jankulovski, Magnin and few no-hopers all released for free

Yannick Djalo - bought 6 months ago for 11M and sold to Liverpool for 0 upfront with 32.5M after 1 international appearance

Hilbert (1M)

SEASON UPDATE:

The signings i made proved successful with only 12 goals conceded after 20 games and me sitting pretty on the summit of the table by 2 pts. I have a run of easier games for a while but my run-in is very difficult, and will finish with an away fixture against 2nd place Bayern which could prove crucial for my title ambitions. Im currently still involved in all competitions with an away tie in the Quarters against Rostock in German Cup and have the mighty Arsenal to contend with in the Champions League last 16.

Top Scorer: Gomez 17goals

Top Assists: Veloso 11

Top Rated: Marquinhos 7.27

Will update again at end of season if anyone reads this tripe

Will update again at end of season if anyone reads this tripe

I've been reading, just not posting.

Starting a game as Stuggart, any reconmended players to sell/sign?

Updated database or original ?

On both look to strengthen the fullback positions as Osorio, Magnin and Boka are not good enough for the Champions League. Also Cacau and Ciprian Marica are only decent at best, so a new striker is needed, either to partner Gomez or Pogrebnyak - depending on the database you use.

Left wing could also use a decent player - on the updated database you have Hleb on loan, but on the original, maybe look to sign some young eastern european talents like Ochirosii and Krivets, as German youngsters are expensive and hard to sign.

Voidz - look to develop Tasci and Khedira by giving them a ru in the team. Strengthen defence and wingers as i found that Lehmann and Boulahrouz were a liability sometimes. To avoid this i spent alot of money over the years bringing in Rodwell (5M) Marcano (14M) and Akinfeev (10-15M). If there is just 1 player i can recommend it would be John Fleck - he is immense playing as right forward and can be got for as little as 4-5M Pound.

I've been reading, just not posting.

Thanks its good to know people do sometimes read these things. Dont think ill be able to post here much longer, was offered the Liverpool job in March and postponed my decision to end of the season which they accepted. So if i win the league this year (7pts ahead at the moment) then i will become the Liverpool manager as they should be a reasonable challenge languishing in 13th in the Premier League.

Im on 9.0.3

I asked the board to increase transfer budget so i got 4M

so far ive signed a spainish youngster ( cant remember hes name atm ) for wing cover

and Beevers for the defence,

currently 2nd after 10 games, keep Lehmann for this season and next season hopefully bring in a fresh GK

Thanks its good to know people do sometimes read these things. Dont think ill be able to post here much longer, was offered the Liverpool job in March and postponed my decision to end of the season which they accepted. So if i win the league this year (7pts ahead at the moment) then i will become the Liverpool manager as they should be a reasonable challenge languishing in 13th in the Premier League.

Oh, well I hope you win the league and end on a high.

Im on 9.0.3

I asked the board to increase transfer budget so i got 4M

so far ive signed a spainish youngster ( cant remember hes name atm ) for wing cover

and Beevers for the defence,

currently 2nd after 10 games, keep Lehmann for this season and next season hopefully bring in a fresh GK

You could try to sell players and bring in much needed money. How is Marica and Cacau performing they were hopeless on my save. With your 4M sign John Fleck trust me.

Oh, well I hope you win the league and end on a high.

Cheers pretty much have it wrapped up 2 games left with 5pt lead and have Rostock at home and 2nd placed Bayern away. Nobody else in with a chance. Might start a career thread though didnt save any screenies to post alongside my career.

SEASON REVIEW:

League: 1st (85pts)

German Cup: Quarters (1-2 vs Hannover)

Champions Lge: 2nd Rd Knockout (2-3 vs Arsenal)

Finally my squad building lans came to fruition with me in 2nd or 1st for most of the season and only losing 3 matches and drawing a small amount also. Young players i brought in have really began to develop into world stars (e.g Veloso, Fleck, Ekici, Buonanotte, Akinfeev, Marcano, Rodwell etc..)

Sadly im leaving this adventure as Liverpol approached me during the last few months of the season and i have now agreed to join them s they represent a challenge due them languishing in mid-table obscurity.

So i bid farewell to Stuttgart, it was a good adventure and i may start a career thread soon as my career post Stuttgart has taken an unexpected twist. Thanks for reading to anyone that bothered.

Congrats on finishing first mate and good luck at Liverpool.

Congrats on finishing first mate and good luck at Liverpool.

Thanks i did well with Liverpool got them to 2nd after 15 matches or so, but there finances are in an awful state with the new chairman taking out loans like crazy so i decided to take the Ireland international job and inter milan job who were struggling in 12th place in Serie A under Mourinho, but have a much better financial package. Plus i got a pay rise of 60k.