SI Staff Ter Posted March 7, 2007 Author SI Staff Share Posted March 7, 2007 I had enough players for a reserve team in my last season and just arranged friendly matches for the day after my main team had played to keep all my reserve players match fit. I changed my selection system as well and only had the players in my first team squad that were going to play that match (apart from suspended players etc). Injured players got dropped down to the reserves. Think it worked out quite well to be honest. Got a new sponsorship deal as well which eclipsed the pathetic £7.5k per year deal I had before. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
g3n1u5 Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 Season 09/10 so my promotion to serie b lasted one year as i was rock bottom for most fo the season, i managed to draw 19 iirc but had trouble finishing teams off. the board are still delighted by my performance and i am favorites for the league this year managed to pick up quite a few good frees and some loan signings from the big clubs, but im in trouble with the finances and wage budget so im trying to get rid of the under performers on more than £750 a week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzl Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 Oh no, I've been sacked! 2 February 2014, with the team struggling in Serie B, and not much warning, either. I mean, I'd have sacked me, but, still. I'd been keeping an eye on my status and it was "safe" in late January. That wacky Werther Cornieti. Just because our meteoric rise to greatness appeared to have stalled, and a fresh perspective was so obviously needed, was no reason to ruin my game! The sad summary: I made it as high as ninth in B; a vast overachievement with a team that ought to have been relegated, that probably contributed to my downfall. Perhaps the most painful commentary on my terrible reign was the non-development of one Mr Luca del Prete, who never turned into any kind of good footballer. I eventually sold him off to another Serie B team for about 100K euro plus future percentages. He spent the glory years of his early twenties wasting away on some reserve squad and at last look was unemployed and valueless. At least the national team was in good shape when I left. I'd turned out a few quality youngsters that had moved on to some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Honestly, it wouldn't have surprised me a whole lot to see the national half of the challenge achieved without my help. Okay, it would have been a long shot, but, you never know. I may come back and try this again one day. It might be interesting to try starting out at the national job instead, or maybe even at some high-profile club with good youth facilities. Stuff to think about, I guess. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastbasher Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 Hard luck bzl, why dont you add the second manager now by taking over the National job. Heck, the San Marino club job is vacant. Apply for it with your National manager and you may have a good shot at completing the challege still. Nice update, shame about Del Prete. He is drifting between starter and backup for my Serie A team dependin on who is injured or if I am between signing a new right back (he is retrained for DC now though) 82 caps into his national career as well. Yet to score a goal though, but he did set one up in their recent 5-0 demoliton of Luxembourg. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzl Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Fastbasher: Hard luck bzl, why dont you add the second manager now by taking over the National job. Heck, the San Marino club job is vacant. Apply for it with your National manager and you may have a good shot at completing the challege still. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> I dunno, that kinda feels like cheating. You know, any other "challenge," you get sacked and you start over from the bottom, not with a decent team in great financial shape that has already been promoted once. I'm more of a "fresh start" kind of guy, anyways. I made a half-hearted attempt to start out as the national manager this evening. Lost that first game to Germany 8-0. If I remember correctly, that game went 13-0 in real life*, so it was actually a pretty decent showing, right? Unfortunately, the "You did much better than your real life counterparts" post-match team talk option wasn't available, and I didn't relish any more of that sort of beating, so I went on vacation for a few years. The club side was relegated but their manager was still safe and what little interest I had in the game dissipated completely. * I actually watched about half of this game, which, for unknown reasons, was televised. I even checked my TiVo to see if it was still there, but, no luck. Too bad, because it would have been a lot more interesting now than it was at the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastbasher Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 bzl,, I know what you mean and completely understand your reasons for not continuing. I know at the start of the challenge, Ter said it was ok to use two managers (given the obvious difficulties of the San Marino national job becoming available), but to me it also doesnt seem right. I would like to take it over with the same manager. Having said that, the draw for Euro 2020 qualifying has just come out, and San Marino is in a group with Scotland, Croatia, Belarus, Turkey and Estonia. With all due credit to those teams, none of them are really big players on the European football stage, and I cant see a clear favourite. Given San Marino's exploits against France and Belgium in the World Cup qualifying, I actually rate their chances here. Second place is a playoff spot remember. I am really tempted to take up the 'second manager clause' and have a decent go with the national team. They are actually quite reasonable now. Much better than when I started the challenge. I have had two very high quality players come through my youth ranks, but unfortunately, they were both Italian. I just did the unthinkable and sold Luca Del Prete. I got 1.4m for him though, so not too bad. To Giulianova in Serie B. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georginho_juventusygr Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Thx for all replies for me lads. I'll continue my game every weekend I think because of school stuff. Tonight I'll rebuild my team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flightless Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 like fastbasher i don't really like the idea of having two managers, is it possible to create another manager as san marino national manager then retire, then apply as the one I have been playing as? i know it may sound stupid but i like the idea of having just one manager rather than two, keeps the realism alive Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoham Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 That would work, and I would think Ter wouldn't have a problem with it, since you can play with 2 managers anyway? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georginho_juventusygr Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Ter has already said, "This is just for fun." I'm still rebuilding my team lads. It's a little bit difficult. I've finished the rest of my last-season transfer budget, i.e. €1K for 1 scouted DM. See you later. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flightless Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Decided to take the plunge and create another manager .... Alfredo Del Cueto replaces Giampaolo Mazza as san marino manager... ...Shock and Disbelief after Alfredo Del Cueto retires a few hours after getting the job... ...Front runner for the job, San Marino's Craig Wilson so basically it is just a wait till mazza retires, as the other contenders are by no means in the same league as us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastbasher Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Ok, I couldn't resist the lure of this chance to qualify for Euro 2020. Giampolo Mazza had to be 'relieved' of his position. The first thing I found was that he wasn't that great anyway, being a part-time manager I guess. San Marino's best goalkeeper had reached 33 without a single cap (and looks unlikely to get one as I opted for a 24yr old, and put him on the bench). Also, several decent San Marino players I had trained or were keeping an eye on at club level were not even in the National Pool. My first job was to bring all the San Marinese from my shortlist into the pool. I then set up a cautious tactic I thought could work. Our first three games went: A, San Marino 1-0 Belarus A, San Marino 0-0 Croatia H, San Marino 0-0 Scotland Maybe a little too cautious. However, San Marino, Scotland and Croatia are leading the group all on 5 points. Belarus and Turkey on 4, and Estonia on 0. I will wait and see how results pan out. Maybe we need to go a bit more offensive in the last few games, or maybe if we continue to not concede a goal, then cautious will get us into a playoff spot. This really is a group with no favourite. Apart from against Estonia, nobody is really scoring any goals. The cautiousness came about due to San Marino having no decent strikers, so 1 up front was the only option. There is a 17yr old striker who looks really promising though. I did another shopping spree for any San Marinese youngsters I thought looked good. They are going to my feeder clubs (of which my board refuses to have more than 6) and will hopefully feature in coming seasons. Maybe the 2020 European Championship. My club team is still occupying mid-table obscurity, I splashed out 11m on a new striker to break the club record though. He hasn't really performed yet though, as Nuti continues to chip in 12-15 a season and increase his club goal record. He also overtook Luca Del Prete for the record league appearances as well. Del Prete is 2 games away from equalling the most caps for his country (88). At age 29, you'd have to say he will notch up at least 100. Especially with his favourite manager in charge of the national team and having just been made captain and all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SI Staff Ter Posted March 12, 2007 Author SI Staff Share Posted March 12, 2007 I've just played my first match in control as manager of the San Marino national side (been on holiday since the start of the game) and didn't expect this to happen! Nine of the starting eleven are owned by me (some are out on loan) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georginho_juventusygr Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ter: I've just played my first match in control as manager of the San Marino national side (been on holiday since the start of the game) and didn't expect this to happen! Nine of the starting eleven are owned by me (some are out on loan) </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Sensational, Ter! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKA Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Sounds interesting so thought I'd give this a whirl. Got to season 3, playing to LLM rules so more than happy with my finishes of 2nd and 8th. 500k debt is more problamatic though. Question on the newgens, what nationality are peoples turning out? I've only had 1 San Marinese newgen even though my nationality is SM (with Italian as 2nd) and 4 of my 5 coaches are SM, along with both physios and scouts. Not impressed! Especially as i nearly bankrupted myself terminating the contracts of Italian staff at the beginning. Anything i can do to increase the odds of getting San Marinese regens? Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavinkil Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 I found before the latest patch you got a lot more san marines newgens dont really know what has happened. Finished another season in serie B finished 3rd by 1 point and got beat in the playoff finals by bologna yet another season of slight disapointment. But starting with a fresh setup for next season, lost the chinese keeper wang to inter as he wouldnt sign a new contract. So went and picked up 2 hot prospect keepers. Over the seasons I have never really forked out any money and i decided my weakest link for the season ahead was the centre of defence. So I splashed out 2.8 million on a young serbian defender my scouts recommended. And picked up floro flores on a free for upfront after 14 games I am sitting top by 1 point and looking pretty solid. My financial position is fine there is about 5 million in the bank and loads of budget on the wages. This is due to having to sell most of my best players season after season though Will post screenies later Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vessey Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Keep up the good work guys Will have a go at starting this when I get home later although also got 5-a-side tonight Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterspud Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Here we go again... Tried this challenge last time and enjoyed it loads, so it's time to have another go. Played a season already and I have to say that the San Marino club setup and quality of the squad seems better than on FM06. Had a rocky season, starting very strongly, we were hovering between 3rd and 8th for the first third. With injuries piling up, the middle of the season became a disaster, during which we couldn't buy a win. Went 9 games without a win and dropped into the Play-out zone, where we struggled for some time, until we managed to pick up a couple of hard-fought wins, strangely against teams in the top 6, to push us back up a little. Eventually finished 11th after losing the last two games aginst weaker sides that we dominated. Firepower is a definate area for improvement next term. As everyone has already said, finances are looking like they'll be a problem, at least short-term. I'm aiming to use just one manager, if possible to complete the challenge, so I'm comfotable with slow, steady developement of the club and maybe I'll concentrate on using my youth players for a few seasons, backed up with some loans to strengthen and coach them and any San Marinese youngsters I can pick up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flightless Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Crap, I was hit by the dreaded "save game won't load" message on my San Marino game and it's backup, was going to start off with a different challenge, then thought this challenge was to good not to finish, so starting from 2006 again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vessey Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Started a new game tonight but not had chance to advance very far. It looks pretty tough I must confess. The staff particularly shocked me. What's with the 3 goalkeeping coaches they start with??? Cost me over 100k to bin 2 of them plus another useless waste of oxygen I'm trying to get a good player in each position with a promising youngster as backup but I think it's gonna play havoc with my wage levels, even with the kids on just £75 per week. Oh well, onwards and upwards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SI Staff Ter Posted March 13, 2007 Author SI Staff Share Posted March 13, 2007 I just kept all those coaches until their contracts expired. You are going to go into debt anyway so you might as well use the money bringing in some players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavinkil Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ter: I just kept all those coaches until their contracts expired. You are going to go into debt anyway so you might as well use the money bringing in some players. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Same, no point spending what you cant afford approach. After I lost 9 games in a row with san marino I plumeted from top spot to 5th. I have since re-worked my tactics a bit and managed to get some wins on the board again and currently sit 2nd nearing the end of the season. Hopefully I can hold out and gain promotion to serie A finally its getting a bit depressing just missing out season after season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKA Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 in season 3 my wage bill has been slashed by 7k to 18k p/w, ouch! Picked up a few promising youngsters and a couple of decent loans so hopefully can make the palyoffs. Shame RL stuff's cropped up so won't be able to play till next week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vessey Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Coming up to Christmas in my first season so thought i'd post a quick update: We're hovering above (and occasionally dipping into) the play-out zone. Ordinarily i'd be reasonably happy with this but some of the reasons why we're down there have really annoyed me. Dei is next to useless! He can make good saves from time to time, but his desicion making is terrible! He routinely comes for balls he has no hope of getting and its starting to cost me dear. Gonna give a young Italian signed on a free a chance. Pleasingly I don't think we're out of our depth and have competed well in most games. Too many draws have cost us, most of which we should have won, including one where my left-back controlled a ball on his own penalty spot before turning and smashing it into the top corner of his own net to equalise for the opposition I have a nice blend of youth and experience and some quality in there, so hopefully a change of luck will see us push towards mid-table. It might be tough to strengthen in the areas I want to because the finances are a mess, this despite operating comfortably below the salary max (I had read about the financial woes of other people attempting this challenge and consciously did this, but we're still leeking cash alarmingly quickly ). For some reason i'm enjoying this challenge a lot though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKA Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Dei is next to useless </div></BLOCKQUOTE> i was expecting more from him as well, stats look ok for this level but performance wasn't there at all. get rid! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vessey Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by AKA: <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Dei is next to useless </div></BLOCKQUOTE> i was expecting more from him as well, stats look ok for this level but performance wasn't there at all. get rid! </div></BLOCKQUOTE> I'm on the case (or I will be when I get home)! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georginho_juventusygr Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Vessey: <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by AKA: <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Dei is next to useless </div></BLOCKQUOTE> i was expecting more from him as well, stats look ok for this level but performance wasn't there at all. get rid! </div></BLOCKQUOTE> I'm on the case (or I will be when I get home)! </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Dei isn't good enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vessey Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 Relegation Undeserved over the season, got really sick of all the stupid mistakes, own goals, everything. Plus the two-legged play-out final finished 1v1 on aggregate but I was the one who went down (fancy deciding something as big as relegation on home record or whatever it was). Got some good players coming next season but think i'm gonna be in deep **** with the finances. Will keep plugging away and see what happens Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterspud Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Plus the two-legged play-out final finished 1v1 on aggregate but I was the one who went down (fancy deciding something as big as relegation on home record or whatever it was). </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Actually, games drawn on aggregate are decided by the clubs' league position. Seems perfectly sensible to me. If you were the better team over the season, surely you should carry some advantage? Better idea than decision on away goals anyway, IMO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
betterspud Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 Finished my second season. Not good. I really expected to improve steadily each year, but being crippled by finances makes this really tough. Spent almost the entire season in the bottom five, with long winless runs. (A huge amount of games that I dominated ended as draws and there were loads of own goals/penalties given to my opponents. Also had numerous refereeing decisions against me, which the press noted as unfair. It felt as though everyone was conspiring against us.) Finally ended up 14th and had to Playout Vs the 17th place team (Masesse). Took a 2-1 lead in the away leg, so felt pretty confident, especially since we had taken all the points from all four of our meetings in my short career. Second leg, took a 2-0 lead, making it 4-1 on aggregate. Feeling safe, I swapped out a few tiring players and shut up shop ready for their inevitable siege. Sure enough they threw everything they had at us and, amazingly, pulled back THREE GOALS(!!!) to level at 4-4 on agg. The last seven minutes of that game were possibly the most nerve-racking I've ever had on FM, but through Masesse's own errors and some heroics from my keeper, we stopped it there and saved ourselves from the drop, due to our superior league position. (Such a sensible way to decide a drawn game.) During the close season, I've had to let loads of players go, due to the financial restrictions I'm under. Some 'cos I can't afford to offer them the wages they demand to extend their contracts. Some simply because they didn't get into the first team and I can't afford to carry deadwood. I've also released most of my youth players, 'cos, on the whole, they don't look like they'll really ever amount to anything. Signed a bunch of young hopefuls to fill some gaps for little wage. I have to admit that, in order to try to ease the clubs debt, I decided to try the old trick of setting up a bunch of friendlies versus bigger clubs at home to generate gate receipts. Even this seems to only have slightly dented our debts. I think we need to get promoted soon, in order to start earning enough to stay afloat. Started the new season already and it has been quite frustrating so far. 3 draws and 3 defeats in the first six! And I was the better team in just about all of them. I really do need another couple of strikers... Managed to pick up 2 wins and a draw from the next three, after radically changing tactics, and things are looking more promising. I'll report back at season end, hopefully with news of a Playoff finish at least... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vessey Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 Getting relegated and having to sell many of my high-earners has seemingly done wonders for my performance. Qualified from the group stages of the Serie C Cup with ease I should add that tactically I think I sorted things out a bit toward the end of last season but it was too little too late. Oh, and i've got a keeper that appears to have realised his purpose is to STOP the ball rather than watch it fly past him Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramm0 Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Vessey: Dei is next to useless! He can make good saves from time to time, but his desicion making is terrible! He routinely comes for balls he has no hope of getting and its starting to cost me dear. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Dei did wonders for me in the first season! (that's what i remember anyways). Perhaps it was because i played a rather defensive tactics, and he couldn't come out for any balls since my defenders were so far back. At the moment my laptop isn't working, so I can't give any updates, but I made it to Serie A after 3 seasons in Serie B. Won the last season. In serie A i was actually in first place after 16 games and 45 minutes , (being up 1-0 against former league leaders Torino), but Torino scored to tie 1-1. It has been very close in the top, and with fewer than 5 points separating the first 6-7 teams. Think we're about 6th or 7th place after 20 games. Haven't had a lot of talented San Marinese, but got a young striker worth more than 1 million £, so I'm hoping he will become good. I'm using Del Prete as right back though, and he is probably the best San Marinese player. The national team still haven't won any games, but i think they tied a game against somebody like Moldova, as their best result so far after 4½ seasons. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzl Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 Dei is about as good as it gets to start out with. By year two you will probably want to have replaced him with someone younger and talenteder (get your scouts looking around Central Europe!) but is there really any better available to you in July 2006? Maybe, but I haven't found anyone. So anyways, I wanted to try out some 3-5-2 ideas, and where better than the lower leagues of Italian football? Here we go again. 2006-2007. A difficult first season for two reasons. Heavy injuries: I lost four players in the season opener, and at one point my first choice eleven was E. Dei and ten injured guys. League-wide parity: At the end of the season, the difference between a play-off spot and a relegation play-out was a mere thirteen points. That has to be abnormal. I was in the mix at both ends of the table and finished the season eleventh, on 44 points. 2007-2008. The first time I tried this challenge I was moved into the C1/A for the second season. This time, no such luck. (Best guess so far is that, for whatever reason, C1/A is far more profitable to be in than C1/B. Expect your attendance to triple, or more.) The team continues to struggle financially, but at least we're winning games, perhaps because I'd found a replacement for Dei. Finished fourth, on sixty points, but I get a little lucky in the playoffs and win promotion to Serie B ahead of a couple of teams with far more talent than mine. Defensive record has been excellent, and I'm creating a respectable amount of scoring chances as well. Overall I'm pretty happy with this tactical formation and it will be interesting to see if it continues to work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
g3n1u5 Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 Season 2016/17 So after about 5 years of yoyoing between Serie B and C1/A i made it to Serie A and for the last two years i have just avoided relagation. Had a few good cup runs, semi finals in one year (beat inter 1-0 in first leg but lost 6-2 in the second). Atalanta have been an awesome parent team even tho they are a division below me. I have had alot of good strikers from them and they have kept me in the league. Anyway the reason for the post is i have been sacked and unlike the last time i was sacked i wont be trying the challenge again, or atleast not for a while(uni work gettin in the way of FM) I have enjoyed the challenge and will follow the progress of Ter and Fastbasher, as well as everyone else so until FM 08 farewell to the San Marino challenge from g3n1u5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramm0 Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 Did a big update, but it got deleted before i clicked Post . So now i will give a less detailed update without to many screenshots... I'm currently 4½ seasons in to the challenge, occupying 9th place after 24 games in my first season in Serie A. Season 07/08 - First season in Serie B. Finished 14th without ever facing relagation or competing for the play-offs. Signed 9 players, including two keepers who i still use in serie A, and a talented young San Marinese who can't quite make it in serie A. Finances increased, and the stadium was expanded to 15778 seats at the end of the season. Abate was topscorer with 13 goals. Season 08/09 - Second season in Serie B. Finished just inside the play-offs in 6th place, despite losing the last two games. Lost both play-off games to Remini, who got promoted. Started scouting scandinavia picked up some good young scandinavians who were some of the reason for the good finish. Also picked up a talented San Marinese,Canini, who is a good sub in Serie A. Abate scored 7, while Nossa was voted Fans Player of the Year. Season 08/09 - Second season in Serie B. My season of glory! Can't really explain what went right, but i think it was my new scandinavians who did a big part of the job. We captured the 1st place after 25 games, and just kept it for the rest of the season, never leaving a doubt that we would win. Still played Abate, who scored 8. After 15½ games in serie A, this happened Unfortunately Torino, who were league leaders, scored to tie 1-1, and we didn't get to keep the 1st place. I was wrong about the national team when i wrote they hadn't gotten any wins. They beat Andorra once and tied 4 other games. Only lost 34 games Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vessey Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 I'm a little way into my third season now, second in C2. Last season we made the play-offs but lost in the semis. I had to cut loose some of the high earners like Abate (he was only playing because a Spanish target man I found appears to be injury prone), and as a result i'm now operating at only just over 10k as a weekly wage . Thats about 7k under my total max salary I think. Been spending hours scouring for youngsters on frees but i've got the nucleus of a good side and i'm optimistic for this season, sporting three San Marinese with another decent left-wing prospect in reserve. We've been on top in every game and even hammered one side 8v1, and my parent club Treviso even came through by sending me three strikers for the year (none are first choice but one is a brilliant sub/reserve as he has 16 pace and acceleration which is dynamite at this level) . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastbasher Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Season 2018/19 - Serie A update Well, just got back from holiday, and now have time to update the season I was finishing as the missus was nagging something about 'about to miss the train'. League Our best season ever. We finally managed to compete with the big 4, scoring 2 wins, 4 draws, and 2 losses against Roma, Milan, Inter and Juve. We were competing for most of the season and slipped off the pace in the last few weeks. The final standings were: 1st Juventus 74pts 2nd Inter 73pts 3rd Milan 72pts 4th San Marino 66pts 5th Roma 63pts Champions Cup football next season. I have been hoping for a European adventure for a few seasons now, but never dreamed it would be straight into the Champions Cup. Guess this is the finances taken care of for a while. Cup Sucked again. Beat Foligno 1-0 in the first qualifying round, then lost on penalties to Mantova after a 0-0 draw. I hate being knocked out of a cup without conceding a single goal. Players In Ignazio Pelusso, 11m Roma, 20yo ST. My first big signing turned out to be a flop, scoring just 2 goals from 18 appearances, with an average rating of 6.33. The previous season he scored 15 from 30app on loan to Fano (av. 7.20). Maybe he will come good, plenty of teams were after him, and my scout reckons he is the next Francesco Totti. Dmitry Pugachev, 2.4m Lokamotiv Moscow, 18yo DL DM MLC, very versatile. Excelled at left back in his first season with a rating of 7.05 from 40ap. The best is yet to come, a star for the future. Brice Koné, 55k Lazio, 22yo GK. The young Ivorian keeper stood in when Montiel was injured and only conceded 15 goals in 29 appearances. Best buy of the season. Gennaro Corvino, free, Domagnano. 17yo San Marinese keeper. I hope to develop him for the national team. He already had 8 U21 caps before I took over and purchase him, so is probably the best prospect between the sticks for SM. Bruno Mularoni, free, Murata. 20yo San Marinese DC. Nothing special, has gone on loan to hopefully develop for the national team. Finances aren't great, sitting on just over 4m in debt since Jan. But, with the European football next season, this should take care of itself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastbasher Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by g3n1u5: Season 2016/17 So after about 5 years of yoyoing between Serie B and C1/A i made it to Serie A and for the last two years i have just avoided relagation. Had a few good cup runs, semi finals in one year (beat inter 1-0 in first leg but lost 6-2 in the second). Atalanta have been an awesome parent team even tho they are a division below me. I have had alot of good strikers from them and they have kept me in the league. Anyway the reason for the post is i have been sacked and unlike the last time i was sacked i wont be trying the challenge again, or atleast not for a while(uni work gettin in the way of FM) I have enjoyed the challenge and will follow the progress of Ter and Fastbasher, as well as everyone else so until FM 08 farewell to the San Marino challenge from g3n1u5 </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Sorry to hear g3n1u5. I wondered a few times what I would do if I got fired. Probably move on to something else as well. It has taken too much time to get this far to do it again. I was close to getting fired when the club got taken over, and again after 7 successive relegation battles. Things seem safe now though. I not so sure on Fabio Ballardini now. He just made his first sale over my head. One of my top midfielders, Kamel Gal, to Roma. We were 4m in debt, and he got a club record 11.75m for him, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. The national team is on fire, recording a 2-1 away win to Estonia and a 1-0 home win against Croatia. They are currently top of their Euro 2020 qualifying group with 14pts from 6 games. Belarus and Turkey are back on 10, while Scotland and Croatia sit on 8 and Estonia with the doughnut. The 2019 Estonian team have the worst defending I have ever seen. Even worse than conference N/S teams. (No offence to any Estonians reading this). They have conceded 16 goals in 6 games, and the opposition weren't even top teams. Even playing away, they gave us so many chances. Del Prete has 91 caps, and will hopefully celebrate his 100th during Euro 2020. If not, I have arranged a friendly shortly after against the Northern Mariana Islands. Should be a goalfest, I will make him the penalty taker, and hopefully he will score his first national goal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vessey Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Quick update: I'm top of the table at Christman and things seem to be going ok. My Spanish target man is staying fit and healthy and is banging the goals in. Its tight up there so i'm not getting my hopes up, but its a solid base to build on in the second half of the season. Oh, and a Swiss centre back who my scouts found has been brilliant after a rocky introduction to the team where he scored and own goal and got sent off in his first two games Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georginho_juventusygr Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Quick update. I've just begun my 1st season in Serie C2. I've finished my friendlies. Results are the following. San Marino 1 - 2 Cesena Bitonto 1 - 1 San Marino Castelletto Ticino Calcio 2 - 1 San Marino Montichiari 2 - 0 San Marino San Marino 0 - 0 Livorno They are quite not-good results, especially because I find it difficult to score goals and my defense is still conceded. I'm in Italian Serie C Cup Group E with Fano, Montevarchi, Sanremese, and Prato. I hope that the luck will come. I do need it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKA Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Season 08/09 Serie C1A Flirted with the top spot for most of the season, however a disastorous run of form in the last couple of months saw me only scrape in to the play offs on the last day of the season. Drew the first leg 1-1 but there was an international scheduled for the day after the second leg which saw 6 of my San Marinese players called up for that! Coupled with injuries I was forced to field a reserve team and got stuffed 4-1.... Ah well, its a fun league to be in anyway, your only ever a game or 2 away from promtion on relegation. Intend to sell one of my star players to balance the books, but to try and keep the San Marinese guys. Just need to get rid of the OAPS hoovering up my meagre resources and I'll be sound. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastbasher Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Season 2019/20 Serie A and National - update Ok, first the best news in the history of San Marino. Euro2020 qualifying table. Challenge half complete. After 7 games we were 4 points out in front and cruising, then we tried our hardest to throw it away with consecutive 1-0 losses to Turkey and Scotland in games 8 and 9, leaving us in 2nd with 17 points, and Turkey in 1st with 19 points. Luckily we were at home to whipping boys Estonia in the last round, and disposed of them 4-0, while at the same time, Turkey lost to Croatia, allowing us to sneak back into the top spot. As predicted, this was such a close group with only 2 points seperating 1st to 4th. This report would not be complete without a profile of San Marino's favourite son, who is still on course to celebrate his 100th cap when San Marino crash out of Euro 2020. One of the pleasant surprises is the rise of a new goalscorer in San Marino. I am putting my faith in him to be the leading national goalscorer in the future. This is largely by default as we have no decent striker, so I will stick to my 4-1-2-2-1 defensive tactic. Champions Cup Well, the first shock was to discover that San Marino were unseeded for the third round qualifying draw. This led us to get a tough draw against Man Utd. At least we'll get some gate takings I thought. The first leg was at Old Trafford, where they still had Pique, Rooney and Ronaldo playing for them. It was a fairly even game throughout, with Ronaldo having a goal disallowed in the 75th minute. We had a penalty awarded in the 91st minute and I was jumping up and down thinking we could sneak this one. Alas, it went wide and didn't even test the keeper. So probably a fair 0-0 was the result. I was left thinking that it might be possible as we entered the home leg. When Vantaggiato scored in the 33rd minute, we went into half time in the drivers seat. Unfortunately Rooney equalised in the 55th minute, leaving them ahead on away goals. I waited patiently as we were still dominating them, then made a few late substitutions which paid off when Cerrea scored the winner in the 87th minute to send us through. What an amazing result. The group stage saw us as a 4th seed, meaning we got a group with Liverpool, Berlin and Benfica. So far we have had an away loss to Berlin, home draw to Liverpool and a win and draw with Benfica. With two games to go, the group looks like this: Berlin 8pts Liverpool 5pts San Marino 5pts Benfica 2pts Unfortunately I have an away game against Liverpool, and a home game against Berlin, but Benfica have to play the same teams and a Euro Cup spot looks likely. Serie A With 3 wins, 6 draws and 1 loss, we currently sit in 6th spot. Our top keeper, Jose Montiel, has once again had several niggling injuries. Luckily, our young Ivorian star has continued to perform well, and may be our number one from now on. Still early days, but the big shock is Milan sitting in 15th with a 3-3-4 record. Including a 1-0 loss to the mighty San Marino. The chairman has agreed to expand stadium, but the council blocked it last time, so I'm not sure if it will happen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKA Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Apologies for the double post, but was going to mention that in my game Preston beat a full strength Chelsea 2 - 0 to win the FA Cup and Man City won the Premiership! Reckon Flintoff would have been on serious ****-up after those results Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKA Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Challenge half complete </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Good work Fella! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramm0 Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Fastbasher: Challenge half complete </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Wow, very nice! When I first saw this challenge I never thought anyone would complete that side of it! Perhaps the next step is to win a major international tournament with the national team? (and the champions league... sounds like you got the teams for it) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavinkil Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Little update, I gained promotion from serie B and after a up and down season in serie A I finished 10th. Its been a hard battle to keep a hold of some players and find a tactic that is effective. I have lost 2 of my hot prospects one to milan (chairman flogged him) and one to werder on a free he wouldnt sign a new contract. But apart from that we are looking pretty good for the next season as I managed to pick up cassano who is now 30 on a free Another plus point is I have a young san marino winger zotti coming through the ranks and looking promising. I have also had to sell a young centre defender who was looking good due to him not getting a game. I am currently contemplating taking over the san marino team as I feel I can do something with them. Another plus point is my finances are still stable although in the last two seasons I have had 2 training and youth upgrades and recently a stadium expansion of 9000. Leaving two bank loans to pay off. But things are currently looking positive and I hope this will continue Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastbasher Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Gramm0: <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Fastbasher: Challenge half complete </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Wow, very nice! When I first saw this challenge I never thought anyone would complete that side of it! Perhaps the next step is to win a major international tournament with the national team? (and the champions league... sounds like you got the teams for it) </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks Gramm and AKA. To be honest, I dont think I can take full credit for the national team. The previous manager, Mazza, was only 3 points away for getting a playoff spot in the World Cup 2018 qualifying. As I mentioned, I could have taken over if he got them, then just have to play two games to complete half the challenge. I think that with one decent (not fantastic, but decent) San Marinese player coming through my youth system each season, Mazza would have qualified for one of these tournaments himself sooner or later. Maybe being a full time manager compared to him being a part-time manager makes a difference. Not sure. A better Ass Man and better coach must surely have helped. Regarding the club side, they certainly could challenge for the Champions Cup in the near future. Any low Italian team could eventually win it as the league has a high enough reputation. This season I finished 3rd in the group stage at first attempt: 1st Berlin 9pts 2nd Liverpool 8pts 3rd San Marino 8pts 4th Benfica 6pts A tight group, and was only 1 goal off getting to the next stage, just losing on tie-break to Liverpool. I am now playing Belenenses in the 1st knockout stage of the Euro Cup. Regarding the National team, I think it would be some time before they have enough decent players to win one of the major trophies. I'm not even sure it's possible to raise the regens of San Marino to this level. The club side is based in the Italian competition, so I think the San Marinese league sides have more impact on the level of regens. You would probably have to be very lucky to get enough decent players in a 10-15 year period. Speaking of luck, my group for Euro 2020 has England, Romania and Denmark. Second place here is wide open, so the quarter-finals is not unrealistic (with a bit more luck). The national team had dominating 5-0 and 4-0 wins over Belarus and Estonia in qualifying, as well as being able to grind out 0-0's and 1-0's against some of the better teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastbasher Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Just one more thing, I think San Marino are ranked about 97th or 98th in the world to start with. (Not sure exactely, it has been a while since I started). Mazza had already got them up to 45th in the world before I took over. After the 7th qualifying game, they were up to 26th in the world, but have now slipped back to 36th. It shows they improve even just managed by AI. This is probably due to retaining San Marinese players, and having more San Marinese regens and starters in the game than usual. ie, it is a distorted representation of real life. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavinkil Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 In my time I have noticed not bad san marines defenders and midfielders seem to regen every now and then. But I am still to see a good striker or goalkeeper perhaps this is just in my game but it certainly makes things difficult Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzl Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Fastbasher: Just one more thing, I think San Marino are ranked about 97th or 98th in the world to start with. (Not sure exactely, it has been a while since I started). </div></BLOCKQUOTE> No, they start around 190th (in the game, anyways). They are in what is basically a big tie for last place with all those other little and/or non-footballing nations. <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Mazza had already got them up to 45th in the world before I took over. After the 7th qualifying game, they were up to 26th in the world, but have now slipped back to 36th. It shows they improve even just managed by AI. This is probably due to retaining San Marinese players, and having more San Marinese regens and starters in the game than usual. ie, it is a distorted representation of real life. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Absolutely true, and the distortion only seems to grow with time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.