FM10 Small Club to Big Club Big Euro Nation Challenge

[el sid]

Congratulations Ohanzee on completing the challenge

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Wow I go away for my Mum's 50th and come back to 2 1/2 pages and the first completion, I will read all of it when I get a chance.

Congrats Ohanzee

[DodgeeD]

Well, we enter Liga Vitalis 375k in debt but we finally get TV money and a transfer budget! Oh, wait... The TV money is 75k and the transfer budget is a whopping 375 pounds. I've been given a generous wage budget of 7.5k though, which has absorbed the compulsory 25% wage increase for the full-timers and left me with some room to bring a few freebies in. I have an active reserve team innow so I can by a few prospects and not have to worry about game time for them.

[el sid]

My scout finally earns his wage. Recommended this guy highly. Signed for 1.8 million - release clause

[rlipscombe]

My scout finally earns his wage. Recommended this guy highly. Signed for 1.8 million - release clause

Wow, that's a bargain!! he looks like he'll be quality.

[berty1978]

Good Luck with Cerro Reyes bjoggi.

Well done DodgeeD, that's such a tough league to get out of.

Congratulations on the completion Ohanzee, great win in the CL final, weird venue as you said though.

This is the table with two games to go, damn it's tight. Whatever, I've got to be happy with our debut Liga Adelante season.

[brambleten]

I tried this challenge last year and fell out with the Spanish leagues after two games, so im going to try again, this year with Germany. dont expect me to go anywhere with this, as my PC is rated half a star for performance, and either one and a half or a half for speed with either a small or medium DB. and going for medium, that means half a star all round.

off to start my holiday now

[iacovone]

Love that new signing el sid

Berty, what a great first season! Are you professional or semi-professional? If its the latter you've put me to shame .

3 games til the January window for me. Then the cavalry arrive including the wondrous talent of Oscar Juarez!

[minisav]

I tried this challenge last year and fell out with the Spanish leagues after two games, so im going to try again, this year with Germany. dont expect me to go anywhere with this, as my PC is rated half a star for performance, and either one and a half or a half for speed with either a small or medium DB. and going for medium, that means half a star all round.

off to start my holiday now

Don't worry about the stars. I have only half a star with a large db but it runs fine tbh.

[iacovone]

I have half a star with large as well actually. 9 seasons later \o/

[PRDH]

**Season Update - SO Romorantin - 2013/14 Season**

Transfers

Again I didn't trouble the club's accountants too much this season. More free transfers. Amadou Meite left after the chairman accepted a £600K bid for him on my behalf. I would have held out for more, but wasn't too upset as Mensah and Agbo are both more than capable at this level. If not the next.

By far the biggest transfer of this season was the Italian right-back Nicola Maglione - of whom more later - he arrived at the end of last season on a free.

League

What can I say. It started poorly, we lost. But then we started our climb up the table. We hit the top first for a brief spell after a quarter of the season, but dropped down again. However, unlike most seasons, I did not have the spell of catastrophic form that destroys all hope. Instead I just dropped down to fifth very briefly. I fought back and battled it our with the big boys for the rest of the season, hitting the top with a couple of games to go to win SO Romorantin's first piece of silverware. The board were thrilled, and I was proclaimed a miracle worker by former fans' favourites.

Cup

We won our first game in the cup this year against some minnows fairly comfortably, but then went out in the next round. Not too disappointed as it meant I had nothing to distract me from the serious business of promotion.

Players

Ok. I'm instituting a new system for players this update. This is mainly because I'm going back to the report size of the Domegliara days. I will upload screenshots of all the players. I will put the first choice player in each position in bold, and will italicise the players I think most important or interesting. So here goes:

Goalkeepers

Kola Agbo - first choice through most of the season and did a decent enough job.

Cedric Mensah - played second fiddle to Agbo, but performed well when called upon.

Anthony Basso - brought in on a free to deputise when all three other keepers were away on international youth duty. Surprisingly that was for 5 games or so!

Jason Payne - very young, but looks like a good keeper in the making. Especially for a number 3 who is willing to sit on the bench or in the stands for large chunks of the season.

Defence

Nicola Maglione - top quality player. He started the game whenever he could and very rarely disappointed. I'd have made him our best player.

Joachim Ichane - displaced from his regular left-back spot as Maglione's arrival shunted van Peppen across the back four.

Hassan El Mouataz - only played in emergencies and usually reminded me why. Not a good season for the Moroccan.

Sebastien Bregand - brought in in the midst of a defensive crisis, was adequate back up, no more.

Vito Wormgoor - probably our best centre-back. Physically strong and no mug technically either. Probably should score more goals.

Ard van Peppen - did a good job on the left of defence supporting Fernandes and later Roca.

Claude Dielna - the weakest first team defender, but still isn't bad for this level.

Lucien Owona - first choice replacement for either Dielna or Wormgoor played very well when needed.

Midfield

Julien Pinard - didn't get on the pitch, and left on a free.

Abdou Fofana - brought in as a useful versatile sub, didn't play much.

Fabrice Fernandes - started the season as first choice on the left wing. Got injured towards the end of the season allowing Roca in and didn't get back.

Steef Nieuwendaal - or Steve Neanderthal as I like to call him - shows the level of the defence crisis, brought in as another emergency defender when Bregand injured himself too.

Jorn Vermeulen - another of the stand out performers. He really was too good for the National, hopefully he'll be one of the players to stick around and help tackle Ligue 2.

Stephane Marseille - another decent season for the captain in the defensive central midfield slot. He's a bit of a square peg in a round hole, but does a more than decent job there.

Amin Arroub - after his goalscoring exploits last season would have expected to be first choice, and was up until Boateng arrived who well and truly pushed him out of the side.

Nathan Dalton - back-up to Marseille. He's a pretty talented lad, and as he matures hopefully the mental side of his game will improve too.

Mitchell Donald - back-up right winger. Did a decent enough job when called upon.

Rajab Kiemba - another right winger, didn't get on the pitch, but I'm hoping he's got some talent to develop into.

Marcos Roca - started the season on the bench, but got a chance towards the end of the season and was first choice for the last 10 games of the season.

Kevin-Prince Boateng - a great presence in the centre of midfield. He can surely compete in Ligue 2 as well as he has this season.

Attack

Mohamed Soly - didn't get on the pitch - left before the end of the season.

Marko Stevanovic - played once maybe, found it difficult to dislodge the first choice front four and was released before the end of the season.

Shola Ameobi - the only one I can truly call first choice. Top scorer and played whenever he could. His physical abilities are deserting him. I'm not sure he'll be good enough next season - 21 goals.

Georgio Zanetti - played the least of the first choice rotation but still chipped in - 6 vital goals.

Ladislas Douniama - if he gets a run of games you can basically be sure he'll score a few. He's got pace and a decent finishing ability. At 5"4 he's not much cop in the air to say the least - 14 goals.

Claudio Keseru - he's probably the best technically of the strikers and shows it with some sublime goals, but does sometimes disappear during games - 14 goals.

Awards

Top Scorer - Shola Ameobi - 21 (a new record for the club)

Fans' Player of the Season - Shola Ameobi - it seems the fans of SO Romorantin just look at the scoring tables to decide the prize winner!

Youth Watch

Home-grown

No-one worth mentioning yet.

Non-home grown

Jason Payne - played a few games when Mensah or Agbo were injured or on international duty. He does well enough for an 18-year-old.

Aims For This Season Were

"A few exciting players already lined up, which means I'd like to at least put pressure on the top teams." - I think without exaggeration that I exceeded my aims.

Aims For Next Season

Well with the new stadium on the way in a year I'd like to have Ligue 2 football to greet it. So:

1/ Survive in Ligue 1

2/ Try to rebuild my finances

3/ Generally strengthen the team

4/ Convince the board to improve the youth set-up.

Other News

So what else happened then. Well this:

1/ As I've told you all we have started the construction of a new 12,434-seater stadium which will be called the 'SO Romorantin Stadium' it will replace our current 6200(2600 seater) Stade Jules Ladoumegue.

2/ With our promotion the board have decided to make us into a professional team.

Best Elevens

10/11

11/12

12/13

13/14

Overall

Story So Far

Season			League			Position			Achievements/Wins
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11			National			15th				Avoided relegation
2011/12			National			10th				Consolidated
2012/13			National			8th				Steady progression
2013/14			National			1st				Champions!

Trophy Cabinet

French National - 2013/14

Previous Updates

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

[rlipscombe]

F.C. Unione Venezia - Season Preivew - Serie C1/A - 2012/13

"The invasion of the Spanish Armada..."

So as you will remember we have been promoted to the Serie C1A. I have decided to speculate to accumulate in terms of finances in order to try and establish ourselves in the league. As a result, we have push the transfer and wage budget to the max. if we get relegated we're in trouble!! our transfers are as follows:

Transfers

Henny Ahn - Young Belgian GK brought in for two reasons - to cover while Poncelot is at the Olympicas and because he is highly rated. A bargain really.

Angel - Spanish RB signed from Racing for £90k. provide competition for Semenxato

Alex Goikoetxea - Spanish CB with experience. our best CB as per our assistant.

Raffaele Alcibiade - young Italian released by Juventus. initially the starting partner for Goikoetxea.

Oscar Moran - young Spanish CB who is highly rated.

Balasz Borbely - Slovakian DM brought in for his wealth of experience. a great signing for us.

Javi Ros - young Spanish DM to battle with Borbely.

Lloyd Sam - rated by my scouts as a must buy. not performed yet though. will give him a chance though.

Luca Gerbaudo - Italian RM relesead by Juventus.

Mark Christie - this one is for LLR - New Zealand LM signed after being released by Fulham. solid if unspectacular.

Sergi - Another from Racing in Spain, will provide competition on the left.

Michael Noone - signed to provide cover from GH academy

Esteban Schmitt - young Belgian who is already supposed to be our best striker, despite only just turning 18. not bad for free.

Jaime Garcia Diaz - the big transfer signing, signed from Valladoild. stats are great - shame his attitude ain't. says team should be rebuilt around him. that would mean breaking up the PAP strikeforce.

So, you will notice the strong Spanish influence there!! As for pre-season, it's gone pretty well. we have beaten Banik Ostrava and Sao Paulo at home and have performed well against our peers in general after a slow start to pre-season. We progressed to 2nd qualifying round of the Coppa Italiawhere we lost to Serie B Empoli. the backroom staff have been improved also

On to the season we go.....

[rlipscombe]

congrats on the tile PRDH - some great players there too. i see what you mean about Maglione and Boateng. reckon you'll be ok in Ligue 2.

[PRDH]

Right just caught up after writing my review and a fairly long day yesterday.

First up - Ohanzee - That's a stunning performance. Congratulations. Especially considering how long it took us to get a completion last year. Hats off to you sir. Filippo Ferri is certainly a thread legend. He must be in with a shot at the awards come next year. The big question though. Is he better than LLR's Radakovic?

DodgeeD - well done on promotion. Time to start moving up the leagues for a few of us now.

el sid - He looks like a quality player and at £1.8M a real bargain could be the difference in a lot of games.

[brambleten]

So the challenge begins....

SV Waldhof Mannheim

a little history...

The club was founded 1907 and played in the second division of the Westkreis-Liga just before the First World War. Waldhof became part of the Kreisliga Odenwald in 1919 and won this league in 1920 and 1921. In each of those two seasons, the club failed to advance in the Southern German championship because it was grouped with all-powerful 1. FC Nuremberg at the time. The club took out a Bezirksliga Rhein championship in 1924 before joining the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar in 1927, where it won five out of the next six division titles without ever performing particularly well in the Southern championship.

Its enjoyed its best performances in the Gauliga Baden, one of sixteen top-flight divisions established through the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. Waldhof dominated the division through the 30s and into the early 40s by capturing the title five times and consistently finishing well up the table. They were unable, however, to translate that into success at the national level. Their best result came in 1940 when they went out in a semi-final match against FC Schalke 04, the dominant side of the era, before settling for fourth place after losing a consolation round match to Rapid Vienna.

After World War II, Waldhof picked up play in the Oberliga Süd where they earned mid-table results until being relegated to the 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1954. They bounced up and down between first and second division play until the formation of the Bundesliga, Germany's new professional football league, in 1963. The next season saw them in the tier II Regionalliga Süd alongside local rivals VfR Mannheim. A string of unimpressive results finally led to relegation in 1970 to the Amateurliga Nordbaden (III).

SV Chio Waldhof Mannheim ca. 1972-78.

Support from a new sponsor, snack chip maker Chio, revived the team and helped their return to the second division where they played as SV Chio Waldhof Mannheim from 1972 to 1978. They continued to play as a middling side there until an unexpected breakthrough to the Bundesliga in 1983. Waldhof spent seven seasons competing at the top flight until a 17th place finish saw the club relegated at the end of the 1989-90 season. They delivered another seven seasons as a decent 2.Bundeliga club until slipping to the Regionalliga Süd for two seasons in 1997-99. A merger with VfR Mannheim was considered in 1998 but the club walked away from a deal at the last minute. Their return to the 2.Bundesliga in 1999 after a season long struggle with Kickers Offenbach was cut short in 2003 when financial irregularities saw the DFB deny the team a license, dropping them to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (IV). Another attempt at a merger with VfR failed that same year. The club played in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg until 2007-08, when a third place finish allowed them qualification for the Regionalliga.

After coming fourth in the Regionalliga Süd in 2008-09, the club was moved across to the Regionalliga West in 2009-10 in an effort to balance out the three Regionalligas.

since the squad is massive, i cant get a good screenshot of them. i have 3 staff members. me, the chairman, and a player/GK coach.

The Facilities, which arent bad for a professional club with an average ticked price of £9.50

and my Personal and Profile screens. its automatic rep as it wouldnt let me be the lowest one, and ignore Rachel Stevens, i find her easier to look at than a shadow of a manager.

[PRDH]

Right. Sorry another post in this flurry of activity. But I'm determined to keep up this time. And with 3 hours left on the train now seems as good a time as any!

**Pre-Season Update - SO Romorantin - 2014/15 Season**

Transfers

Right let me start with the bad news of this pre-season's transfers.

After all my talk of Nicola Maglione being good enough for Ligue 2 it seems others thought so too and Aberdeen swooped with a £625K bid which my Chairman accepted on my behalf. I must say I'm annoyed by it. He is worth at least double that and is very difficult to replace at this level.

The other exits? Nothing particularly exciting. The aging Fabrice Fernandes left for £35K and Mohamed Soly left for £100K. Turns out I was wrong in the update. Shows how useful he was that I thought he left though!

Now for the more exciting part. Transfers in. I had a bit of money to play with and used it to strengthen fairly widely.

First through the doors at Romorantin was Vangelis Katsaros. He's Greek, he can play on both sides as a full-back and is technically pretty good if a little naive defensively but at £120K he is young enough and cheap enough to be worth a punt.

Next in was an Australian who I had been looking at on trial. Jimmy Sama is not necessarily world-class and probably never will be but at £26K he will do a decent job as back-up.

Then came Krzysztof Krol, an experienced defender who should add some steel to the back. He arrives on a free.

Next we have Axel Ngando who arrives for £250K from Saint-Etienne. He is a skillful winger who should be a handful at this level.

The next transfer is the one I'm most excited by. Marko Kresic, a young Croatian striker, arrived for £110K. He looks to be the complete striker in the making. He's young, reasonably quick, good in the air, and with good skills with the ball at his feet. He reminds me of a young Diego Pastore. And many of you will know there is no higher praise than that!

Then came more experience, Ivan Stevanovic, technically a replacement for Maglione, he arrived on a free. He's a decent player, no more, but can hopefully help guide the youngsters that have mainly been arriving.

The penultimate signing of the window saw me return to Eastern Europe after my scouts found Darko Knezivic, an 18-year-old central defender who look like he can make an impact in defence straight away and should be a fixture for a few years at least. He cost £300K.

Finally, in the dying moments of the transfer window Romorantin pulled off the most expensive signing in the club's history. Richard Hue is a right sided or central defender who joined for £900K. He is another young player and has just recovered from an injury.

[Liverbird93]

If I can't scout a player but i can offer them a trial am I ok to sign them?

[PRDH]

If I can't scout a player but i can offer them a trial am I ok to sign them?

If you can actually get them to come to the club on trial then that is fine. As long as you can get a report on them somehow is basically the gist. So either be able to scout them, or get them to spend some time at the club on trial.

[Liverbird93]

ok thanks ill try that now.

[iacovone]

Guys does anyone know how to reset the confirmation options for things like making offers, releasing players on frees, etc. Hard to explain but when you do either of the above the game asks you to confirm, and then you can tick a box to not ask that question again. I'd like to reset that as I did it for releasing players and I now don't get the message telling me how much it'll cost to do that. Anyone know?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Ummm not sure Iacovone, I would think about checking in the Team Settings page, but not sure if its in there or not...

[brambleten]

just a quick question for you guys - i got a couple of regens through that look like they could be alright, but do i start using them first season?

Wagner supposed to have the potential to be a quality player, and Neubert, who is supposed to be able to become fairly good.

Also, i've never played in Germany before, so i have no idea what quality of players to expect from low level German football. BSN/BSS level or League 1/2?

[Lower Leagues Rule]

I would use them from the bench is season 1, leave them in the youth side, but use them on occasion from the bench. Then in season two I would increase the games they play. Then after that in Season 3 they would either start, or if they lag behind the seniors still I am likely to send them on loan for a season. And then build from there.

[iacovone]

Ummm not sure Iacovone, I would think about checking in the Team Settings page, but not sure if its in there or not...

Found it in the preferences screen. Totally reset now. Woo.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Found it in the preferences screen. Totally reset now. Woo.

That is good to know for later haha, I am sure I will stuff it up at some point

[Polar Bear]

SEIZING THE MOMENT - 1.FC MAGDEBURG German 3. Liga 2013-14

Summer signings

The press predicted 7th, the board asked for comfy mid-table - but I knew I'd strengthened the squad that recorded title-winning form in the second half of last season, and my thoughts were focused on finishing in the top three.

An unwelcome opening day defeat at promoted Elversberg was followed by a close win over Aue and a series of draws which established us in mid-table. Neither Kullmann nor Durak were really firing, but the league remained tight with nobody pulling away. Initially tentative, new signing Jose Semedo soon established himself as a steely presence in midfield and revealed an aptitude for pouncing on the loose ball at corners as our revised set-piece routines began to bear fruit, culminating in that magical moment when central defender Martin headed in during a victory over Braunschweig - the first headed goal I'd had from a defender in three full seasons of FM10!

As Xmas approached we were in decent shape, but signs of a disparity between home and away form were evident as we were hammered on our travels - 1-4 at Burghausen and 1-3 at Aue. In between times we secured important and gritty 2-1 wins at the Ernst Grube Stadion (Dusseldorf and Elversberg) to go into the winter break well in touch with the leaders.

Fixtures part one

Winter break table

I had anticipated a quiet transfer window, but Ingolstadt, their wallet and my chairman had other ideas. A shame, but not a fatal blow, and a quick profit to put us back in the black.

I celebrated by netting a bunch of 'for the future' players on frees:-

Luca Grosso and Gianni Marconi are both Italian goalkeepers, rated as being potentially considerably better than Thoms.

Alessandro Bressan - I know, yet another left-back, but this Italian looks just as good as Puente and they can fight it out.

Marcello Serafini - the Italians challenge the Spanish at Magdeburg! I like the look of this centre mid, he seems more attack-minded than the players I have at the minute.

Sebastian Person - ah, a German. Another promising defender for my stable, he can play centre-back or, erm, left-back.

Javier - unwanted at Atletico Madrid, this kid could be a star.

Transfer window roundup

Resuming after the winter break Kullmann was in form - unfortunately our defence wasn't, and more away pastings ensued (2-4 at Oberhausen and Lubeck). That particular rot was stopped with an edgy 1-0 at wooden spoonists Union Berlin, and one of our trademark comebacks preserved our pride in a six-goal epic against rivals Dresden, but a dreadful 0-2 at relegation-bound Pfullendorf left me convinced that we weren't quite good enough for promotion. By now Dusseldorf and Oberhausen were pulling away from the pack, leaving only 3rd place and a playoff against the 3rd-bottom Bundesliga 2 side up for grabs - and we would need to improve to have a chance of that.

Happily, that's just what we did, and four wins on the spin - including this accomplished demolition of hapless Munster - saw us into third with just four to play. A draw at home to Kassel, a bad injury to Kullmann and defeat at Braunschweig had me cursing, but rivals Aue's form had completely collapsed and now only our deadly enemies Dresden could deny us. Our last game was away to Dusseldorf, already crowned champions - Dresden needed to win at Munster and hope we lost.

In front of over 40,000 fans Dusseldorf swiftly raced to a three-goal lead, leaving me praying for a favour from Herman's boys. Happily they obliged, equalising Dresden's opener and holding on. Despite our embarrassing 1-4 we had finished third. But could we really hope to best struggling giants 1860 Munchen in a two-leg playoff, missing our top scorer and target man? I was not optimistic.

Normally I would play Kullmann up top, supported in the hole by either Durak (playmaker), Francisco Javier (att mid) or both. I wasn't happy at the thought of either of them alone up front, though they can play there. So I settled on a 'strikerless' formation, fielding both in the hole, but no target man. Durak seemed to take to the role With a quarter of an hour of the first leg left, the tie was all but over, but 1860 striker Lauth gave his team a chance for the return. Nevertheless, we had one foot in Bundesliga 2 and had given a full house a day to remember

We did not even pretend to attack in the second leg, seeking only to frustrate an astonishing crowd of 58,760. When Fischer put us in the lead on 25 that really did seem to be that, despite the home side equalising before half-time. However, Munchen kept plugging away in the second half and supersub Lauth made it 2-1 on 54. We kept defending. Into the 88th minute... and that man Lauth struck again - 3-1. Two minutes plus stoppage time to hold out, could we do it? Yes! We were promoted into Bundesliga 2, and mighty 1860 Munchen had descended into the third tier of German football!

Fixtures part two

Final league table

Squad stats

Manager Of The Year runner-up

League Team Of The Year - only Durak featured. Kullmann was third in the Player Of The Year list.

Our Team Of The Year

All-time (well, two seasons) XI

An unexpected post-season message saw us become an affiliate of Toulouse. If they send me anyone then fair enough, but we already have large Spanish and Italian communities here, I don't know if I want to add a French one!

Some heroes:-

Christopher Kullmann - after winning promotion, the sweetest moment was signing Kullmann for another season. He is a superb centre forward, a constant threat, and I'm sure he can make the step up with minimum fuss.

Dzenan Durak - still only 22, our playmaker is the jewel in our crown, a dancer with the ball at his feet and lethal with his placed shots. He was overjoyed to win his first cap and score his first goals for Bosnia this season. I worry about keeping him.

Boban Grncarov - the defence is still creaky, and the tough Macedonian does drop the odd ricket, but far more often he is to be found diving fearlessly in to hook away a goal-bound shot or make a last-ditch tackle.

Francisco Javier - former Spanish U21 captain, FJ is a player who can make a difference. He needs to be more consistent, and I'd like more goals, but it's good to have him around.

Rene Gewelke - last season's anchor moved seamlessly to right-back this term, and put in a steady stream of quality performances.

Alexander Voigt - ousted from his left-back berth by the youngsters Puente and Bressan, the club captain has slowed up greatly and will probably be released this summer. But he shone as a def mid after Semedo's departure, bringing a calm head to our ultimately successful run-in.

I hope this review isn't too long - I like reading detailed ones. Anyway, a great season and I've already made a couple of good-looking signings for our debut Bundesliga 2 campaign. All will be revealed in due course

[PRDH]

I hope this review isn't too long - I like reading detailed ones. Anyway, a great season and I've already made a couple of good-looking signings for our debut Bundesliga 2 campaign. All will be revealed in due course

I don't think anyone on this thread is ever likely to take issue with an update being overlong. Certainly LLR's posts are massive and brilliantly put together. And mine are on the long side, without necessarily being brilliantly put together!!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Des Tiny's Lets look at everyone update

el sid - Blind, haha, did you purchase him? Or try to? Ok now the Champs League Quals against smaller nations get no crowds it sucks.

Iacovone - I hate chairman accepted bids. (Stella as well). Congrats on survival, even if it was barely above the bottom in the end. At least now you can move up towards the Liga proper. If you don't take Oscar Juarez can I have him?

Bjoggi - A pretty good second season to finish 8th, the finances don't look so good, Nooo way how did you get fired? What led to it?

Uffe - Congrats on the promotion, a great run home there, good luck in Liga Sagres. I found 2DA & Liga Vitalis similar last year as well, 4 seasons in 2DA then 2 to get out of LV. I did then spend 13 years in LS before I got the title.

Rlipscombe - Congrats on the finals win, and promotion.

PRDH - Good work on slowly improving yourself up the lower leagues, at least you are getting better. Congrats on the win of the National.

G Wiz - Very nice to see another promotion, keep it up and you should survive in C1.

DodgeeD - Disappointing to see you sliding one rung down each season in Portugal, but at least you have a solid line going forward.

Jobnik - A good solid first season there, at least it was good enough to end up in the top section.

Welcome aboard Liverbird

Right I have now read everything and am up to date as we go for 2000+ posts, keeping up the challenge for Dafuge this year I see haha. Good Luck everyone I may get some Turkey time in today as I am home sick.

[Polar Bear]

Many congratulations to Ohanzee, a superb achievement. Also to the others who've won promotion and generally made progress.

Commiserations to bjoggi - my first German job ended in flames but I've picked up with my second attempt. Good luck at Cerro Reyes.

el sid, if you can keep making signings like that then you may well be next

brambleten, unless they have massive potential I don't think those youths look good enough. Look at some of the players I posted screenshots of to see the quality you're looking for.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Congrats Polar Bear - Great to see a solid report, and even more a great promotion, awesome work. Also I love the long reports, the more detail about your season the better, it gets me excited about it.

[brambleten]

LLR - cheers

Polar Bear - Wagner is apparently 3 and a half stars potential, but that doesnt mean he is going to get anywhere. i was just impressed by his physical stats for how old he is and the clubs pathetic facilities, even if the stats he needs to be a good DC he doesnt have.

[Polar Bear]

Thanks LLR. I'm really into this save - as you can possibly tell, Kullmann and Durak are already well-loved players, and that's always the key for me, makes it feel more real. That's why I like long reports, I like getting to know other challengers' stars too

[Uffe Johansson]

Yes LLR you are right about Liga Sagres being a really tough league. Not a lot of money to upgrade team and really strong teams. It´s winterbreak and I´m 2nd last with only 9p from 14 matches.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Just keep pushing for that avoiding of relegation Uffe, it is very tough to avoid, I came 14th my first season there last year, but built one step at a time from there...

[iacovone]

Hmmm getting annoyed at the restrictions on 2 non-EU players in the Liga Adelante. Its only 3 non-EU's in the Liga BBVA as well, that's going to be an issue.

[berty1978]

Well done PRDH, good luck in Ligue2.

rlipscombe -Lloyd Sam did a great job for me in the Spanish Second B, he plays fairly well as a striker if needed.

Excellent promotion Polar Bear.

Good luck in Germany brambleten.

Berty, what a great first season! Are you professional or semi-professional? If its the latter you've put me to shame .

Thanks, although I have been professional since the start, which sort of puts me to shame. What an unbelieveable end to the season though, try not to give too much away but I'm shaking, so I'll do the update when I recover.

[Liverbird93]

Well. Last game of the season. 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th go down. Im 12th. 1 point ahead of 13th and 14th. Im playing 14th away and 13th are playing away at 4th. Here we go. Come on Casa Pia.

[Liverbird93]

i got away with it i drew and so did 13th. Season report to follow when i have the time

[DodgeeD]

Off to a good start for the new season. Won through to the 2nd round of the League Cup and just beat Santa Clara (recently relegated from the top flight) away in our opening league match!

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Well I am trying to sign some plsyers in Turkey, lots better than my current players, but they all want $2k a week, max I can give is 1.4k a week, so now we have a problem...

[DodgeeD]

Off to a good start for the new season. Won through to the 2nd round of the League Cup and just beat Santa Clara (recently relegated from the top flight) away in our opening league match!

It gets better - just played Vit. Guimarãres, also recently relegated, also away, also won.

[rlipscombe]

sounds like a good start DodgeeD!!

we've just won our first Serie C1A game, in the 3rd game, 3-0 at home to Cremonese. \o/

[rlipscombe]

sounds like a good start DodgeeD!!

we've just won our first Serie C1A game, in the 3rd game, 3-0 at home to Cremonese. \o/

and we follow it up with another 3-0 win, this time away at Spezia.

[iacovone]

Well I am trying to sign some plsyers in Turkey, lots better than my current players, but they all want $2k a week, max I can give is 1.4k a week, so now we have a problem...

Des is back

sounds like a good start DodgeeD!!

we've just won our first Serie C1A game, in the 3rd game, 3-0 at home to Cremonese.

\o/

Good work, always nice to get your first win.

We're trudging along nicely in our 2nd season in Liga Adelante. Perfectly safe from relegation, sitting 12th after 24 games. Looks inevitable it'll be a mid table season, which is fine by me. Lots of players leaving at the end of the year too so plenty of room for the summer transfers in!

[minisav]

Just beat St. Pauli 3-0 away

Got my hero, Baufeldt. 2 (2) appearances and 5 goals so far \o/

[DodgeeD]

Indeed: just got Manager of the Month for August and signed a certain Luis Boa Morte as a coach!

Time to call it a day for now - I'll give an update of my summer signings tomorrow.

[minisav]

Darmstadt 4 - 1 RW Essen

Strike force. ST1, 5 games 4 goals. ST2, 2 (2) games 6 goals

[iacovone]

Indeed: just got Manager of the Month for August and signed a certain Luis Boa Morte as a coach!

Time to call it a day for now - I'll give an update of my summer signings tomorrow.

Look forward to it. Especially a screeny of the great Boa Morte

[Ohanzee]

S.D Noja Season Review 2019/20

1st in LIGA BBVA (pred: 4th) | Transfers | Finances | Graph

The Start

We started the season great winning the Spanish Super Cup against Espanyol. Two very good games from us. Before the league started we also played Chelsea in the European Super Cup. Even though I didn't expect much, we managed to win 2-1 and it was well deserved. Two trophies and the season had not even begun for real.

The League

The league season started off with two home games, and we got off to a good start. The first 5 games we won 4 and drew 1, playing really well. Then we lost 4-3 away to Real Madrid, in a very entertaining and annoying games where they where 4-0 up just after halftime. After that our league form was amazing. We did not lose a single game for the next 17 rounds. The next loss came away to Barcelona who where the only team still fighting with us for the title. That was our last loss of the season in the league. Even though Barcelona where on our toes until the last game, we won it in amazing style with 96 points! We got up to 100 goals again, but personally I was most happy with only letting in 23. A huge improvement.

The Spanish Cup

Another season for the youngsters and second string players. They did well, but once again they where beaten by Real Madrid in the end. This time in the Semi Final, and it was very close. A 1-1 draw at home and a 1-0 loss away. Good experience for the youngest players.

The Champions League (fixtures)

• It started off amazingly well with a 2-0 victory away to Rapied Wien. Then came one of the results of the season when English giant Man Utd was beaten 5-1 at La Caseta. Then came what could have been the end of our campaign. My personal nemesis Porto beat us both home and away. Although I feel we deserved better in both games, we now where in a tight spot.
  
• We easily beat Rapid Wien at home, and luckily Porto took another point against Man Utd in Portugal. This meant we had to get at least a draw from Old Trafford. And we did, a 1-0 win away secured the 2nd spot in the group behind Porto and we where going to Germany for the 1st KO round.
  
• When we where 3-0 up at half time against the German giants I feared the worst. My players had shown time and time again how bad they'd play with such a strong lead. Sadly I was correct. Pascal Laurens scored twice in the second half to make it 3-2 and giving us a very difficult away match. It turned out to be a great game for us though. After 70 minutes we where 3-0 up and Bayern had to score 5. They pulled one back, but we where through to the Quarter finals.
  
• I was excited before the draw, but that faded quickly when Porto where drawn from the bowl. Having won only 1 and lost 3 of our previous meetings I feared the worst for our away game. But my players shocked me. At half time we where already 3-0 up and this time we did not lay down in the second half. An amazing 5-1 win and we already had more than one foot in the semi finals. We controlled the home game and Porto never really tried, it ended 1-0 and we where drawn against another English giant in the semi finals.
  
• Arsenal have some great players especially in attack, so I was praying they would not get an away goal since we had the home game first. It was a tense match with no big chances to either side and in the end two long shots made the difference. Estevez and Ramon scored the goals as we won 2-0 giving us a great result for the replay. At the Emirates Arsenal got off like a rocket and scored after just 3 minutes. I was shouting to my boys to keep it together, and they did. It took 90 minutes for the next goal to come and it was we who got it. 3 minutes after 90' Petrenko scored. And just to make it perfect Vlceck added another 5 minutes into injury time. We where in the final.
  
• Olympique de Marseille of France where waiting and I felt like we had a real chance when the bookies gave us a 2.50 favorite odds. They turned out to be right as we completely dominated the game and even though it took a while before the first goal came there really was never really any doubt. Goals from Pardini, Petrenko and Marquez in the second half secured a legendary Champions League trophy for S.D Noja. (You can read about the final here)
  

The Squad

It didn't really change much from last year, so I'll just point you in the direction of my 2018/19 review. I went through the first choices in that review and it's the same players that's been first choice this year, with one exception. Since Giulio Rossi left, Bianchi and Ribeiro shared the job on the right-wing this season.

Here's the team ratings for the season. My player of the year is obviously Filippo Ferri, even though he lost the Champions League final with a broken foot. 42 goals in 43 starts, that's the best ratio I've ever had for a striker I think. At least since the "Diablo" days with Orri Freyr Oskarson scoring 150 a season if anyone remember that.

Our defense was solid this year. The same back line as last year although Clayton had to play a lot when Krasnov got a injury early in the season. The midfield was really strong and even though Calzado is the real star, my own favorite is Pardini. He didn't score as much or make as many goals, but he just makes the rest of the team good and gave us so many late wins with his runs into the box. With Estevez, Dzagoev and 17 year old Carlos backing them up we never had a bad day in midfield.

Stella also deserve a mention. He doesn't look like a world beater, but his reflexes and handling seem to be enough. 24 clean sheets in 42 games is amazing. His throwing ability also started countless counter attacks leading to a goal.

The Awards

• LIGA BBVA Goalkeeper of the Year : 1st Paolo Stella
  
• Spanish Manager of the Year : 1st Tommi Helm
  
• Spanish League Player of the Year : 1st Pedro Calzado | 2nd Ramón
  
• LIGA BBVA Team of the Season : 5 starters, 1 sub
  
• LIGA BBVA Top Goalscorer : 1st Filippo Ferri (29 goals)
  
• Spanish Player of the Year : 1st Pedro Calzado
  
• Spanish Young Player of the Year : 1st Pedro Calzado | 2nd Ramón
  
• European Champions Cup Best Player : 1st Filippo Ferri | 2nd Pedro Calzado | 3rd Zdenek Vlcek
  
• European Champions Cup Golden Boot : 2nd Filippo Ferri
  
• European Champions Cup Dream Team : 6 players
  

The Finances

• Winning the Champions League means instant wealth. £21,739,000 we got from TV-rights cause we played all the way to the final. We also picked up £19M in price money over the season.
  
• Our average attendance is getting close to maximum now with 8,737 this season. I dunno why the board don't just build a new stadium already!
  

The Future

Well it's all laid out. Filippo Ferri is the oldest player in the first choice team at 28. So S.D. Noja will have a team capable of great things for years to come. Even if some of the big names leave the finances are at place to keep building and there's already some younger players knocking on the door.

I've mentioned it already, but I'm surprised at how easy it is to keep a hold of talented players in the top division in Spain. Had I played in France (like last year) I doubt Ferri for instance would have signed a new contract with the likes of Juventus, Liverpool and Valencia wanting him. But he did, and I didn't even have to throw in a treat. He wanted to stay.

I think that's the main part of our success. With the exception of the two center backs (who's been here 2 years) the entire team have been together for 3-5 years (some even longer). Most of them had the potential to be good->leading players for this division, and now they have become that. It's been fun, but it feels a bit like once you're established in the top division in Spain the real challenge is over.

Not sure how long I'll keep it up to be honest. Part of me wants to see how the careers of some of these guys turn out, but part of me wants to do something else. We'll see.

SEASON	LEAGUE	POS	S-CUP		EUROPE		NOTES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10/11	2D-B1	15th	-		-		Almost relegated
11/12	2D-B1	11th	-		-
12/13	2D-B1	2nd	-		-		Promotion!
13/14	LIGAa	10th	3rd rnd		-		Stayed up
14/15	LIGAa	1st	2nd rnd		-		Promoted!!
15/16	LBBVA	12th	4th rnd		-		Stayed up!
16/17	LBBVA	12th	Semi Final	-		Nothing exciting
17/18	LBBVA	6th	Winners		-		Won Cup! Europe qual.!
18/19	LBBVA	1st	Qtr Final	ECup Winner	Won League, Super Cup, EURO Cup
19/20	LBBVA	1st	Semi Final	CHL Winner	Won Champions League!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2D-B1 = Second Division B1 | F-CUP = Federation Cup | S-CUP = Spanish Cup
LIGAa = LIGA adelante | LBBVA = LIGA BBVA |

[iacovone]

On a great run of form at the moment, our whole squad's finally fit and the new boys are in and doing well. We've defeated Numancia (h), Recreativo (a), Ferrol (h) and Elche (a). The Elche game we went 2-0 down in the first half. Turned it around and won 4-2 \o/

Up next is Levante - relegated last season they started the year well but are now struggling big time in 10th. Should be a good one for the cameras