FM10 Small Club to Big Club Big Euro Nation Challenge

[el sid]

I have a problem. Last season I finished third with Casa Pia, not yet updated here, and qualified for Europa League. Now I can´t register my team for play there because we only have three homegrown players. This despite the U19 obviously is filled with players that are homegrown. What should I do?

Leave spaces

[Flashman\'s School Days]

Flashman's School Days - CF Portugalete - Season Summary 10/11

League

Predicted - 18th

Actual - 16th

Relegation Play-off - Won

Graph

Squad

The Season

Well the writing was on the wall as soon as pre-season began with my assisstant manager guiding the team to a 7-0 defeat against fellow Second Division B2 strugglers Sant Andreu. When I arrived at the club almost none of the exisisting team could possibly make te grade so off I went to sign as many players that could fight relegation for me. 19 players in total came in before the deadline passed the best of which was Revy Rosalia.

Unfortunaltly the team took a while to gel together and we conceded 28 goals in the first 10 games and gaining only 5 points. This was the story of the season as we seemingly shipped goals for fun, 72 in total the 2nd worst record in the league. (Also I don't know what was wrong with the strikers but they can't finish to save their lives ). After that we conceded in almost every game but only more than 3 twice, which compared to the first 10 games where that had happened 4 times was encouraging.

The team was in the relegation zone for almost the entire season and with a late surge it appeared that we may be able to haul ourselves to automatic safety, however, with a win needed on the last day to finish 15th and playing against the 2nd placed team Leganes, despite them going 1-0 up we pulled it back to 1-1 but after dominating for the rest of the game Leganes scored a winner and so we had to go to a relegation play-off.

The first game of the play-off finished 1-0 to Alcala and my dutch CB Martijn Kuiper got a sending off that just happened to make me livid enough to fine him a weeks wages. This upset the majority of the first team who all felt it was unfair, added to this increasing numbers of players during the season had been declaring they were dismayed by the lack of harmony within the squad. I still don't know what that lack of harmony has come from :confused: Despite all these problems the players pulled their fingers out and came up with a 2-0 win in the home leg and we duely stay in the Second Division B2.

Players

The most important players of the season were:

GK Jose Carlos

D/MR Josep Manuel Ayala

D/WBL Josue

AMLC Revy Rosalia

ST Christian Okpala

And the only player I payed money for is one to watch:

DC,DM,MC Antonio Cuenca

Misc.

Finances - More or less steady going.

Transfers

Plans For Next Season

• Improve defence
  
• Improve striking personel
  
• Finish higher than this season
  

[rancer890]

Dear all Big Euro Nation Challenge participants:

As some of you may know, I have created a signup challenge that involves the best players to have come out of the 5 Small Club to Big Club Challenges. For those of you who are not familiar with this signup challenge, I intend to create a challenge utilizing the best talent that the Small Club to Big Club Challenges have seen. From participating in this challenge last year, I know that some of you have very good players but haven't nominated them in the thread yet. Additionally, a couple of you have already completed the FM10 Big Euro nation challenge so I would be delighted if you have a player or two that you can nominate. I hope that some of you nominate your players, and behind my own challenge, this is my 2nd favourite challenge in CSE, so I'm really hoping the Big Euro All-Stars can show 3 of the 4 other challenges who has the best team!

Although, if I do get a lot of nominations (although highly unlikely), I will sort the players out by regions, and if I have enough teams I will be able to create a league only with SC2BC teams and players. You can choose any version of FM for this challenge, but I can only check your hidden attributes for FM09 and FM10.

'So don't wait, nominate!'

Thanks for reading this,

rancer890

[iacovone]

Nice one rancer

Can't reiterate this post enough. For all the Big Euro challenge success stories we've had we owe each other to combine and create the greatest CSE side out there!! C'mon chaps, pull together . Don't wait, nominate !!

[Uffe Johansson]

Have you tried using the Auto-Select option. That usually found a selection that worked when I hit similar problems.

I have tried that. Does not work.

Going on holiday for a day can solve the problem as well I think.

I have not tried this. I will...

Leave spaces

Does not work. Have to be 4 homegrown players.

[Uffe Johansson]

Going on holiday for a day can solve the problem as well I think.

It worked. Thank you, thank you, thank you...

[ghostwriter]

Renato Curi Angolana - Serie C2/B - 2011/12

Some bad pre-Christmas form found us in a slightly unstable 12th place

First up in the New Year was a tricky visit to Juve Stabia who were 6 games without defeat and unbeaten at home. We totally forgot abot our post-Xmas form and strolled to a very impressive 2-0 win. This was followed by a slightly unfortunate home defeat to Cisco before we picked up another away win at a dire Chieti. There followed 2 satisfactory 1-1 draws at play-off chasing teams. We then visited Aversa Normanna and were dire and lucky to escape with a 1-3 defeat.

This meant that we had slipped dangerously close to the playouts, only 2 points above 14th now but despite that only 9 points from the playoffs with 10 games to go. Next up was another home game without a win as we drew with Pro Vasto. Then we visited and thrashed Arzachena, the worst team in the division. Next up were matches against the top 2 teams in the division; the aggregate result was a shocking 0-8 , the 1st 0-4 was undeserved, the 2nd very much so. Suddenly we could not score and the result was 0 goals and 1 point from the next 2 games and a slide into a playout position .

Finally we sorted ourselves and were 4-0 up at home to Gubbio. That said, obviously our defence attempted to throw it all away but we managed to hang on to a 5-4 win; our first home win for over 5 months. Unfortunately everyone else around us won leaving still in the playouts. An unlucky defeat in our next match did not helped. There followed a visit from Foligno; in 2nd and chasing the title. We went 1-0 down against the run of play but 2 goals in the last 20 minutes gave us a vital win (which in the end prevented them from winning the title) especially as Barletta, our challengers, lost so we moved 1 point clear. Our final match was away to Pisa but given that Barletta were at home to the unspeakably bad Arzachena we had to win. A penalty after 40 seconds helped, a red card are 30 minutes did not. However we managed to hang on and confirm safety.

So 13th it was and this shows our downhill spiral nicely. Well, that was a lot more difficult than it should have been. We are better than our final position shows; a better team, positive GD, more wins than defeats and only 3 points less than last year's 7th place should not equal relegation struggle. What this has confirmed is how dangerous this division is; 8 points between the playoffs and playouts last season, 12 this season. Also 50 points got me 7th and nearly the playoffs last year, it would have got me relegation worries and 12th this season. Most of the clubs are so evenly matched that it is very easy to get dragged down into trouble before you even realise it. To be fair, last season also showed how easy it is to get "dragged" into a promotion race without realising it .

Our main issue this year was scoring goals; we had a better defensive record but scored 14 goals less, we also had far too many draws and a horrific home record, 5 months without a home win is just plain embarrassing.

Squad

Summary

Finances - still going down but the Summer income more or less covered the continual monthly losses, can see this pattern continuing until we obtain something ressembling acceptable gate receipts

Transfers - pretty much total success, the only ones who did not play much were 2 of the loanees (so did not cost me anything) whilst the other 2 were pretty much every present at fullback, the new midfield and central defence were good as well whilst Melinte picked up after a slightly poor start

The better players were:

Best GK - Ricardo Giorgi - again satisfactory, 1 clean sheet every 3 matches is not bad, made a few great saves as well, my assistant manager only gives him 1 star though so it is probable that I might replace him

Best Defender - Pietro Resta - one of my loanee fullbacks, both my new DCs were not bad at all but the fullbacks were better, ever present apart from 1 Serie C Cup match, was solid throughout, out of contract at Siena in the Summer, would like to sign him up permanently if possible or if he signs a new contract another season on loan here would be nice

Best Midfielder - Francesco Della Rocca - good MC for this level, came in from Bologna and after a slow start he really started to impress, great vision and created a fair few goals, only issue is that he not always the fittest player and is a little injury prone as well

Best Winger - Cristian Melinte - a £10k buy from Palermo, he did not really impress to begin with but I knew he was the best MR here so I persisted and it paid off, most assists at the club and chipped in with a few goals as well, more of the same please

Best Strikers - Liborio Bongiovanni and Carlos - both had same rating, both scored a similar number of goals, both were vital to our team, I think Bongiovanni is slightly more important given the number of assists and that he is younger but Carlos is the better player and picked up his first Venezuela cap as well, given that he is pushing 35 I am not too sure how long the latter will stay first choice but if I have to stick with these 2 again next season I will have no complaints.

I would like significantly better next season. A playoff push has to be the aim and with a couple of additions it should, in theory, be possible. With the loanees leaving, the fullback situation will have to be sorted out whilst upfront both my backups will probably be leaving so strengthening there will be necessary. Might have a look around for a GK as well.

Best 11

Overall Best 11

10/11 - Serie C2/B - 7th

11/12 - Serie C2/B - 13th

Team I Would Like To Play Every Week - Arzachena - H3-0, A4-0 (very very last, awful team)

Team I Would Not Like To Play Every Week - Cisco - A0-4 (Serie C Cup), A0-1, H0-1 (Serie C2/B) (10th)

[Jack no Coke]

Ok first season in with Montevarchi

After a very difficult start to the campaign,we turned it around in the second half of the season going 12 games unbeaten.This moved us away from the relegation battle and into a more comfortable midtable finish.http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/7547/finaltableseason1.jpg

Ciro Immobile was the clubs top performer with 18 goals but his loan finished and he opted to join Piacenza instead of a second season on loan at the Brilli.i couldn,t afford the 200k asking price with my transfer budget of 0k Luca Castiglia also returned to Juventus after a great second half of the season.

Heres my transfers from the first season,some turned out to be good players,some not so much. http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/5143/transferhistory2.jpg

Allesandro Frau,Marco Di Fatti and Emanuelle Marzocchi all deserve honourable mentions as they had fine seasons.

So 11th position after my first season,I'm happy enough with that after my poor start.Next season my aim is to push for a playoff spot,which should be a realistic target.Here's my best 11 from last season http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/9264/best11x.jpg

[deltablue]

As I'll remember very few details doing a retrospective report at the end of the season, I'm adding bits as I go along. As that means having a fair bit of detail, I thought I'd split updates up to cover half a season each. Most of the screenshots will be in the second half update.

Deltablue – Sannois SG – National - 2010-2011 (Part 1) (Sorry, had it in bold in the word document but it didn't seem to come out)

Predicted position: 15

So the adventure begins. With no other members of staff, that was the first priority. I soon filled up all the slots with an Ass Man, 2 coaches, 2 scouts (one of whom I immediately send off around France, for though I could do all of central Europe and a fair few other countries I reckoned that was a good place to start) and a physio. The squad looked small but otherwise would have made for a good starting 11 on their own. I was blessed with 200k in the bank, had 20k for transfers and over 2k spare on a wage budget of just under 12k. Before I started spending I got an out of contract 25yr old D RC from Beauvais named Ritchie Makuma (which doesn’t sound very French though that’s his listed nationality), another potential free signing rejected me for someone else (which has already happened to my first choice general coach).

The signing of a 2.5k Luxembourger failed as he was also a youth coach so the board blocked it, however once the trialists game passed I made a raid for 4 of the best players. The addition of 3 paid-for players (5k Madagascan forward from Romorantin, 1.5k French winger from Switzerland and a £425 backup keeper from first opponents Paris (F.C.)) gave me a squad of 21 with only 1/3 of the budget spent (though was £40 over wage budget). As the first game loomed I hoped I hadn’t been too cautious with the transfers, saving what cash I had from when I could get some more and when I needed it.

One of the experiences that’s both the most exciting and most nervewracking in the world is the opening game of a season, especially if it’s also your first with a club. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, aside from the fact that we were expected to survive, which I needed to do anyway. Being out of trouble was enough for me, being at least close to the promotion places would be nice but I wasn’t really expecting it.

A home game with Paris FC was a tight one to call. New forward Claudinho got the opening goal and had a second ruled out before taking a knock later on. Paris applied a fair amount of pressure but we held out for a successful first result. Going away to Creteil was going to be much harder, especially with Claudinho not fully fit. We took the lead early on nonetheless before being 2-1 down at half time. We equalized (and got a knock to another forward) but they scored a winner right at the end. That was the beginning of a run of only 1 point from 5 game before another win came, against Rodez taking us above them and out of relegation for now. After 2 defeats from 2 tough games, 7 points arrived courtesy of 3 games against the bottom 3 teams, giving a 4 point and 3 team cushion from relegation after 12 games. These were the sorts of games we needed to get the points in but we sadly couldn’t play them every 3 weeks (twice at home as well) and there were tough teams to come.

After 1 point in 4 games (and that at home against the remaining team in the relegation zone) something amazing happened. We were away at top club Bastia, very much a mission impossible. Claudinho (who since his opening day goal had been disappointing) got a goal after a record 16 seconds. They equalized, partly thanks to another disappointing showing from my DM, Perez, who was having just the latest of his frequent costly-bad displays (and was soon subbed). We retook the lead and never looked back, ending up winning 5-1! However just like with his good debut, Claudinho got a knock and is out for 4-5 months. The fact we were just 3 points clear even after that highlighted how important that result may well be. Holding Stade Lavallois (who had replaced them at the top) was also good by a last minute defeat against Stade Plabennecois was very disappointing.

League

Not much to say so far (contrary to the length of the above report). Struggled against many sides, got points where I needed to. There is a pretty fine line between success and failure given how most defeats were pretty close (in score at least) and many of those I didn’t lose were definitely a case of riding my luck. Pretty nerve-wracking stuff but at least I’m on the right side of the line so far.

[minisav]

Good stuff guys

Scraped through to the German Cup 3rd Round. 2nd Division side Augsburg pulled out a 2 goal comeback in the 2nd half. A goal wrongly chalked off for us in ET. We won 7-6 on pens though!

Gladbach in the next round. In my division. Hoping I can sneak through though. Would do wonders for the finances. I'm hoping to finance a deal fro a better striker. Milevskyi is my only target atm as I know of no others

[deltablue]

Wow, must have been quite a nervous cup tie. I'm actually constantly swapping places on either side of the relegation line.

[minisav]

Just smashed first place Wolfsburg 3-1

[yababo]

I have not had internet access for the last 5 days it has been torture. However I cracked on.

1.FC Saarbrucken Season 2

Upon gaining promotion we were simply brilliant. We went on an 18 game unbeaten run and secured promotion as Champions.

League Table

1.FC Saarbrucken Season 3

After living the high life last season it was back down to earth with a bump. A season of grinded out results meant we avoided relegation on the last day of the season. A great accomplishment considering no players of note or the required skill wanted to sign for us.

League Table

I spent a great deal of time scouting players during the season. As such I decided that I would play a very young side the following season. 19 Games in we are bottom but seem to be turning the corner now. I will post a more complete report at the end of the season.

Congrats to all the guys that have achieved successes

[deltablue]

Deltablue – Sannois SG – National - 2010-2011 (Part 2)

Predicted position: 15. Actual position: 17. French Cup: 8th round.

League

No rest for the weary. Half-way through and it’s only mid-November. Creteil threw up a surprise. They had already played Steve Marlet in the first game, but trumped that with Jari Litmanen (now 39) in the return game. He got a penalty and 2 assists in a 3-3 draw. A cup win over Racing Levallois was the only win I’d see for a while and I dropped into the relegation zone. But I was starting to draw against a few teams that had beaten me the first time, and throughout each match I’d switch between in and out of it a few times (even when losing). A 3rd draw in the last of the 5 league games (and defeat in the cup to Vannes) before the winter break, coupled with results elsewhere lifted me out by a point. Unfortunately an attempt to get a few reinforcements was hampered by a rule that the January window can’t be used to sign players from the same division or below. An away win against 5th placed Gueugnon (playing Carsten Jancker) was my first since Bastia, but yet again results elsewhere meant I didn’t gain any extra breathing space.

There was the signing of an out-of contract Sibierski which didn’t prevent back to back home defeats which dropped us firmly in the zone but in the return games against the relegation strugglers another 7 points were gained, being a rather closer call then before, to get out again by 3 points. But with a tough run in for most of the remaining 8 games, that meant little. In 16th I was the lowest of 3 teams on 32. Paris and Beauvais both just 3 points behind. Of the 5 teams mostly considered to be involved in the scrap, 3 would survive. Reims and Cassis-Carnoux were 3 points further ahead and behind respectively, with another side 1 point from them. They were unlikely to change their situation but it wasn’t impossible. 4 games later and only 1 point meant we were back in the zone and with top 2 clubs Bastia and Lavallois next there was a sense that the game was up.

Or was it? 2 defeats later and Stade Plabennecois were sent home with a 3-0 defeat ringing in whatever part of the body defeats ring in. For a while that lifted us to provisional safety. Though that wasn’t the case at the end of the match. Plabennecois and Cassis-Carnoux were on opposite sides of the line, both on 37 points with Cassis in safety. I was just a point behind with Paris (who I faced in the final game) just 1 behind me, while Beauvais were just 1 ahead. The first half was mostly ours, with a fair few chances missed, including a penalty. At half time Cassis and Beauvais were safe on 37, with me, Plabennecois and Hyeres (who only had a faint chance before and were probably winning) all on 36 and Paris bottom on 35. They had a player sent off and more chances came. Then finally there was a goal, for Paris. We got another penalty and this time it was scored but some more chances failed an in the end just we fell by just 1 point.

Transfers

Squad

Unfortunately I was sacked when I went back to the main screen so I couldn't get a finances screenshot. But it had been a season of loss so I estimate it was around 100k in debt. Though in the end it doesn't really matter. I don't regret having a go, and after pretty much lowing hope near the end, to come back to nearly do it was quite an experience.

[minisav]

Unlucky You going to try again/see who gets promoted next?

Kind of scared. Managers are being sacked left, right and centre. Went on a 5 match unbeaten run and getting a couple of wins. Got a new striker coming in January. Also trying a trade for Milevskyi as Roma want my best striker.

[deltablue]

I will probably try again. My initial backup plan wait to see who gets promoted and continue doing that but it wouldn't seem right going with a club in the same league as my previous one, which is why I don't do it normally, even if it is technically a different manager. Having done a challenge season (from the first match since mid-afternoon) I'll probably go back to my main save for a season, as I'd always planned to alternate, then I'll try somewhere else. Probably Germany (as I like a simple structure, one of the reasons why I went for France over somewhere like Spain or Italy), though Italy (which will few automatic places and many playoff/playout places would be interesting) or Scotland (where at least I'll have time to build without relegation worries) are also on my list of potential places to try.

[cookie15]

Deltablue - Hard luck mate, better luck next time around!

Minisav - Hope you manage to keep your job, the board will regret it if they sack you!

As for me, i've managed to finish my first season in Serie A and will give a more detailed report later. As a summary though, we finished 13th (not too bad), have been granted planning permission for a new stadium and been given a whopping £36.5 mil transfer kitty to boost the squad and they only want a mid-table finish

Here's something for you though, until i update later!

I've splashed out heavily on one player (£17.5 mil ), he plays AML/ML and was voted in the World Cup Dream Team 2014. The question is, who is this illustrious player that will be plying his trade for Pisa this season?

Answers on a postcard!

I might put some clues up through the day, depending on responses.

[el sid]

Is he a real player?

[minisav]

Well how could we guess otherwise El Sid?

Got Bayern at home next. Praying that I don't get mauled. Although we did get a win here against their main challengers...

Oh and Roma looking at my best striker Scaring them off with a high-price tag plus trying to do a swap deal for Milevskyi

[Willy Wonka]

Bayern seem to be easier to beat than Schalke/Stuttgart/Werder or Leverkuesen. To my team, anyway. I did the double over them this season *smug

Also how much did you get as a transfer kitty in your first Bundesliga season? I barely got £5mil

[minisav]

6.75m

Although I have made a lot of sales to add that too.

[cookie15]

OK, time for a few clues!

Clue 1 - I bought him from Bordeaux, but they got him from a club in Portugal.

Clue 2 - He's 26 years of age.

His Nationality would probably give him away!!

[minisav]

J Moutinho?

[cookie15]

J Moutinho?

Good guess, but he's from South America

[StellaF1]

Hospitalet - Season 4 - 2013-14 - Liga Adelante

Table ¦ Graph ¦ Squad ¦ Transfers ¦ Finances

Pre-Season

After the disappointment of not improving in the league last season when compared to the season before that I made a few decisions as to what needed doing to see the team move forwards as I had decided I should be aiming for a top half finish in the up-coming season.

After finding out that we cannot expand the capacity of our ground (6400 total - 6000 seated) due to council planning permission or something i realized that we were never going to have one of the big wage budgets in the league due to the lack of revenue we could potentially bring in. As a result of this I have focused more and more on bringing in mainly younger players with the quality to progress with the team or make the team a bit of money. I had also noticed in the previous season that we had only managed to keep the club with a positive bank balance due to the money we had received in transfers. So therefore when anybody put in a bid anywhere near 1m the chairman was always going to accept the bid on my behalf!

The Season

We started the season with 2 league wins and victory in the Spanish cup 2nd round. We then struggled going 9 games without a win as the mainly new team wasn't playing well together and we came up against several of the better teams in the league. This poor form saw us drop down the league table to 19th and just above the relegation places, we were also knocked out in the 3rd round of the Spanish cup 2-0 at home to Celta. Then as we played some of the weaker teams our form improved and we managed to then go 11 games without defeat as we rose up the league table.

We then settled into a top 7 position in the league and as other teams faltered we came closer and closer to the promotion places eventually finishing in 5th place 4 points off promotion. If only our form had been better at the start of the season!

Compared to the previous season we had managed to finish 10 places better, obtaining 19 more points, Scoring 11 more goals and Conceding 8 less goals.

The Players

Bas Van Duijn - GK - With the sale of my previous number GK (Daniel Romero) for 1.3m I had gone on the lookout for a replacement. I brought Bas in for 40k from Vitesse and he had an excellent first season and has the ability to improve further.

Daniel Opare - DR - Had another good season and contributing more than last season

Luca Bianco - DR - Brought in on a free from Lazio. He played occasionally when Opare was injured or needed a bit of a rest and showed his potential by getting a better average rating than Opare.

Ricardo Alonso - DL/DC - I brought in Ricardo for 130k from Marbella and with his huge potential this was a bargain buy. Being only 16 years old and making 30 league starts Ricardo was excellent and a major prospect for the future if i can keep hold of him!

Vasily Ignatjev - DC - Brought in on a free in January to provide cover he actually played a lot more and a lot better than I was expecting.

Massimilano Sala - CB - Was one of my first choice centre backs at the start of season but a 950k bid from Ipswich was too much for my chairman to turn down!

Ivan Benitez - CB - My other first choice centre back who had another excellent season. Unfortunately despite trying all season i couldn't get him to sign a new contract despite his willing to discuss terms.

Juan Carlos Alvarez - DMC - An excellent season for the 17 year old who was much improved from the previous season

Francesco Viola - MC - An absolutely fantastic season for Francesco who picked up the Fans player of the year. His 10 goals and 14 assists was a fantastic contribution.

Josip Knezevic - MC / AML - Brought in to provide quality on the left wing and as cover for Viola. He cost 525k from Osijek. His 12 assists made him good valuable for money and added a lot to our midfield.

Zoltan Bagi - AMR - His second season for the club was much improved and he looks to be developing into an excellent player.

Mihajlo Zaric - AML - Brought in for 275k from Red Star he is only 22 years old and the fans really like him. Had a good season with 3 goals and 9 assists.

Fabio Caracciola - ST - Highly recommended by my scouts i was slightly dubious due to his finishing attribute being 12 and heading attribute being 9. I feared he was going to be a flop as he only scored once or twice in his first 12 games. He then seemed to settle in the area and with the team which resulted in him playing much better finishing the season with 12 goals.

Ivan Bolado - ST - He was again my number 1 striker and top goalscorer with 24 goals. His 24 goals gave him 3rd place in the Liga Adelante Top Goalscorers. He has now scored 44 league goals for the club and looking at the club history the record league goalscorer for the Hospitalet has 45 goals. So hopefully if I can keep hold of him he can break this club record for me!

Jean-Pierre Kremer - ST - Young striker i brought in for 230k from Anderlecht showed some of his promised as he contributed with 6 goals this season.

Next Season

Well after being only 4 points off a promotion place I am hoping that we can at least challenge for promotion if not achieve it. We are more secure financially now as well are making a profit every month at the moment and hopefully in the near future we can invest some money into the facilities at the club.

[PaulHartman71]

FC Libourne-Saint-Seurin, 2018-19, Ligue 2

League Position - 7th: Past Positions

Squad

Transfers

Summary

This season was our best ever season. At the end of last season our star left midfielder 'Di Dio' was bought by Sion. Anything around 1M or higher is far too good to turn down when you're a club like us, and I would have accepted the 1.2M offer even if the Chairman hadn't. There seemed to be at least some sort of progress amongst the squad, as I only brought in a few players this season. One being our new right back Svec, brought in on the cheap. The others being a striker, Vafougbe Dosso and a new central defender, Michael Blanc. Despite having around 2M to spend, I only spent 250K because there wasn't a player worth spending a lot of money on. I also renewed the loan of Vivaldy Joaquium, I didn't expect Monaco to accept, but they did, so that saved me having to bring a new player in. I think next season could be the first season we push for promotion, although the board will probably buy a new stadium or something.

Key Players

Vivaldy Joaquim - The homegrown hero's loan contract was renewed and he stayed at the club. This season he played primarily on the left of midfield, which is why his goal and assist tally isn't as impressive as last season's. He also won the prestigious 'Ligue 2 Player of the Year' award.

Sergio Marbus - The Dutch central midfielder had another solid season in the heart of midfield, scoring 8 and assisting 5.

Geslin Schafer - The 23 year old Belgian striker had a quality season, scoring 21 in 39 games, also assisting 10.

U21 Player of the Year

Jérôme Hebert - The 17 year old home grown player didn't have as many starts this year as he did last year, but he still did well in the 5 games he did start. He was a prominent figure on the bench as well, coming on 16 times,

Career Overview

Season     League   Position   Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11  National    4th       None
2011/12  National    5th       None
2012/13  National    7th       None
2013/14  National    2nd       Promoted 
2014/15  Ligue 2    18th       Relegated
2015/16  National    3rd       Promotion
2016/17  Ligue 2    13th       None
2017/18  Ligue 2    12th       None
2018/19  Ligue 2     7th       None




[b]Trophies won:

[/b]

[Willy Wonka]

SV Stuttgarter Kickers - German Bundesliga 2012/13

After an easy climb up the leagues, I was fairly confident that with a few quality signings we would stay up this year.

Table http://img25.imageshack.us/i/fmgermantable2.jpg/

Progress http://img96.imageshack.us/i/fmgermanprogress2.jpg/

A great season from start to finish. We were floating around the top spot for a while, but there was no chance of us holding on to it. We ended up in 5th place, which guaranteed us a place in the Europa League next season, which will make life more interesting. This season we owed alot to the front two, who chipped in with the lions share of the goals. Kramaric was an incredible buy, and we fought off some big names to keep hold of him in January.

Squad http://img96.imageshack.us/i/fmgermansquad2.jpg/

Heavy on the centre backs I guess. As is obvious, we relied a huge amount on Kramaric and Fomin, who luckily remained almost completely injury free throughout the season. We were shakey at the back, despite the multitude of CBs. It's an inexperienced squad, who I hope to keep together for many years to come.

Transfershttp://img59.imageshack.us/i/fmgermantransfers2.jpg/

We started with a fairly small budget, but that grew with sales of over priced, under talented players. Gutted to lose Zidane for so little though, I really thought he had a future. Bloody French. Kramaric and Gyenes were great buys though, and for such small fees can count as bargains.

A really good first season in the top division of German football. Next year I'll look to push onn in the league and hopefully make my way into the Champions Leauge. The Euro Cup should prove fun.

Season     League   Position   Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11  Division 3    3rd       Promoted through play offs.
2011/12  Division 2    2nd       Promoted, Lost in German Cup 1st Round
2012/13  Bundesliga    5th       Qualified for Euro Cup.

[deltablue]

Cookie- Cheers, and I'm sure you're going to enjoy all that money with relatively low expectations.

Stella, PaulHartman - Surely it won't be long before promotion

WillCarruthers - Enjoy a long european adventure, will be very useful once you reach the CL.

[daemonic]

Montevarchi Calcio Aquila - Italian Serie B 2013/14

Transfers - I finally had a transfer kitty and the ability to scout outside Central Europe so I went Brazilian shopping although the rule allowing only 1 non-EU signing per season did mean I had to pick and choose a bit. I also smashed our transfer record paying 500k for a 16yr old, but he's rated as having leading Serie A potential and Man Utd were already interested by the end of the season.

Italian Serie B

Predicted: 22nd | Final Position: 3rd | Graph

Predicted to finish dead last the fixture calendar was kind as we faced fellow strugglers in the early games and it helped us kick start our attempt to avoid relegation in fine style. So much so that we spent the first half of the season in or around the promotion spots and every time I thought we were about to slump we'd bounce back.

With 12 games left we were only 3 points off top spot but bouncing around between 3rd and 4th. A few too many draws saw us lose ground on the leaders but we bounced back again and with 4 games left we climbed to 2nd. That was as high as we got however as a few tough games to end the seaoson saw us pick up only 4pts from the last 4 games so into the playoffs we went.

A poor first leg away to Ascoli in the semi-final left us needing to overturn a 3-1 defeat. 2-0 down after 22 minutes in the 2nd leg, we managed to pull it back to 2-2 but we were staying in Serie B.

Italian Cup - 3rd Qualifying Round

Other News

Finances - Not bad, TV money made the difference.

Club Records

Stars

Most Assists: Anaílson - 15

Most Goals: Edgar - 17

Most MoM: Zvonomir Mostarlic - 5

Highest Avg Rating: Domenico Oliveri - 7.26

Fan Player of the Year: Domenico Oliveri

Best Eleven: Season | Overall

Montevarchi Calcio Aquila Trophy Room

Serie C1/A x 1 - 2012/13

Serie C Cup x 1 - 2012/13

Serie C2/B x 1 - 2010/11

Italian C1 Super Cup x 1 - 2012/13

Italian C2 Super Cup x 1 - 2010/11

Career History

Season   League      Pos.  Serie C Cup  Cup       Europe         Achievements
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
2010/11  Serie C2/B  1st   2nd Rnd      N/A       N/A            Serie C2/B Champions, C2 Super Cup
2011/12  Serie C1/A  7th   2nd Rnd      1st Qual. N/A            None
2012/13  Serie C1/A  1st   Winners      4th Qual. N/A            Serie C1/A Champions, Serie C Cup,
                                                                Italian C1 Super Cup
2013/14  Serie B     3rd   N/A          3rd Qual. N/A            None

Next Season...Same again would be fine by me.

[el sid]

J Moutinho?

Moutinho isn't an AML/ML. Is it Angel di Maria?

[cookie15]

Moutinho isn't an AML/ML. Is it Angel di Maria?

Well done, my friend, it is ....................Angel Di Maria!

After only one season in Serie A, i've managed to persuade him to join me and my commercial manager loves me.

Didn't get a chance last night to do my season review, but will ensure it'll be up tonight. I'll also post screenies of my new acquisitions to the squad!

Daemonic - A very good season all in all, i reckon you'll get promoted next season.

WillCarruthers - A very good season all round there, congrats on the Euro Cup qualification, that's my aim for next season.

PaulHartman - Congrats on your best season to date.

StellaF1 - Good luck next season, hope you manage to get yourself promoted.

[rlipscombe]

daemonic - unlucky in the paly-offs but great first season in Serie B

willcarruthers - great first season in Bundesliga.

stella - great season there and good progress made. good luck next season.

paulhartman - congrats on best season, as cookie said. might see you pushing for promotion next season?

As for my Venezia game, i have 4 league games to go and hopefully i might get that done tonight. need to see how high we can finish.

[daemonic]

Daemonic - A very good season all in all, i reckon you'll get promoted next season.

daemonic - unlucky in the paly-offs but great first season in Serie B

Thanks, although I think i was lucky not to get promoted

The club needs a little time to grow as I'm still heavily reliant on a first 11 with very little by way of decent backup options. Another season or 2 in Serie B will probably be better in the long run.

[Willy Wonka]

SV Stuttgarter Kickers - German Bundesliga 2013/14

A gret first season in the Bundesliga, finished 5th and qualifying for the Europa League. The main aim pre season was to keep the core of my squad together, and try to add some quality in midfield.

Table http://img689.imageshack.us/i/fmgermantable3.jpg/

Progress http://img43.imageshack.us/i/fmgermanprogress3.jpg/

Well, after a horror start, we went on a superb 6 match winning run, propelling us briefly to the top of the table. With a better squad than last year I expected to push for a Champions League spot, however we had some bad patches, in particular an 8 match winless streak which ended any realistic hope of European qualification (from the league at least ). I was happy to finish mid-table in the end, as at one point there was a chance we would be sucked into a relegation fight.

Squad http://img18.imageshack.us/i/fmgermansquad3.jpg/

As you can see, all the goals coming from the front 3. Ruslan Fomin, my saviour for the last two seasons looked out of his depth here and with his strength fading, it might be time to move him on. A mid season injury crisis made me realise I have nowhere near enough strength in depth, especially in midfield, where I was reduced to recalling some fairly rubbish loanees to fill the gaps.

Transfers http://img14.imageshack.us/i/fmgermantransfers3.jpg/

Of the £13m spent, only Tarik and Grlic were really worth the money. Diouf was a dreadful buy and disrupted the squad almost instantly. Going out, it was a shame to lose Philli, as I had high hopes for him, but our finances weren't good and I thought at the time we had decent replacements; this turned out to be a mistake.

Europa League http://img97.imageshack.us/i/fmgermaneurocup.jpg/

Roma were the only team to really outclass us here, which is promising. I enjoyed this tournament, but the prize money is rubbish and we really need to graduate to the Champions League.

German Cup http://img69.imageshack.us/i/fmgermancup.jpg/

My first silverware as the StuKis manager. It was a real battle to get through to the final, but a timid Bayern didn't overplay us as they usually do, and we managed to claim a cheeky late winner,and ensured another season in Europe. (Kramaric's goodbye present )

Finances http://img97.imageshack.us/i/fmgermanfinances.jpg/

Obviously going fairly well. They've taken a hit since I took this, as we've expanded the stadium and upgraded the youth system. Still, nice to have money in the bank, and I've broken just about even with transfers every season.

Next year I want to qualify for the Chamions League, simple.

Code:

Season     League   Position   Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11  Division 3    3rd       Promoted through play offs.
2011/12  Division 2    2nd       Promoted, Lost in German Cup 1st Round
2012/13  Bundesliga    5th       Qualified for Euro Cup.
2013/14  Bundesliga    9th       Won the German Cup, Euro Cup 1/4 Finals.

[MikaelS]

I've taken a short break from my Chippenham game and travel to Germany where I will be leading SC Preussen Münster to glory.

Wish me luck.

[rlipscombe]

welcome and good luck MikaelS...

[cookie15]

2014 Season Review - Serie A

Following last season's somewhat unexpected promotion from Serie B, the aim this season was to avoid relegation and secure ourselves in the topflight. This meant bringing in a few new faces, but no-one spectacular as the budget was a little tight.

The season started better than expected and saw us win 2 of our opening 4 games, drawing one of the others. Unfortunately, this wasn't to be the case for the first half of the season. Entering into December we were in free fall and hadn't won a game in 10 matches. We had edged ever closer to the relegation zone and were in 17th. I was hoping to do a little wheeler dealing in the January window - when BAM out of the blue, a takeover is launched!

This went on for a couple of weeks, and in late December the dreaded Transfer embargo was placed on the club. This typically finished with a matter of days remaining in the window and with a new chairman unsure to my credentials the embargo remained in place. So basically, we weren't able to strengthen the squad in the slightest, Pisa would have to do it the hard way!

The new owners then decided to announce planning for a new stadium costing about £70 million, great we'll become debt ridden. By this time in the league we were bouncing around the 15th/16th position. A string of good results in the final few games of the season would see us finish somewhere around mid-table, and that's exactly what we did. This secured at least another season in Serie A.

League Table 2014 - http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/League2014.jpg

New Stadium - http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/NewStadium.jpg

Players

Well the lads really outdid themselves this year and played well above themselves. The following are the lads who stood out for me:

Victor - My young Spanish keeper, whilst conceding loads, had a cracker of a season. He developed nicely, although i'm not sure whether i will need to strengthen in this area. http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/Victor.jpg

Sukuta-Pasu - The young ST ended up scoring a few essential goals for the club and managed to become the main strike partner for Gallardo. http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/Sukuta-Pasu.jpg

Keko - The Spanish AMRC had a really good season scoring a few and creating a number too. He looks to have a bright future although i'm not sure whether he'll and up as a MR for me next season. http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/Keko.jpg

Brek Shea - The American ML had another good season, and his value has really soared. A good squad player really and i'll be looking at bringing someone new in. http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/BrekShea-1.jpg

Ahmed - The young Egyptian AMR had a very good first season at the club. I'm hoping he'll continue to develop and become quite a player in the future. http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/Ahmed.jpg

As you may have read in an earlier post i've been given quite a transfer budget (£36.5 million) and here are my transfer buys and bargains that have joined the mighty Pisa!

Angel Di Maria (£17.5 million) - AML/MLhttp://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/DiMaria.jpg

Jajalo (free) - Squad DMC/MC http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/jajalo.jpg

Hyland (£8 million ) - DC/DMC/MC http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/Hyland.jpg

Marzorati (free) - DR/DC http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/marzorati.jpg

Mariga (free) - MC http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/mariga.jpg

Pereda (£8.75 million) - GK http://i387.photobucket.com/albums/oo315/marcus_cook_2008/Pereda.jpg

I've also added a couple of young prospects for the future, so i'll add screenies at a later date when the squad is finalised.

Aim - European qualification in some form.

[Willy Wonka]

Sukuta Pasu has been a real handful for me when I've played against Leverkeusen, so good buy. Well done on staying up.

[rlipscombe]

some good signings there cookie. like the look of Pereda. good luck for the new season. what's the spec of the new ground?

[cookie15]

New stadium will have undersoil heating and have an all seater capacity of 25651.

It'll cost £66.69 mil to build, but we've already secured sponsorship £32.34 mil!

The stadium is going to be named after a Pisa favourite Nicollini.

That's all i know currently.

[minisav]

I hate Sessegnon. We were cruising towards a credible 1-1 draw against Bayern. He then pops up with his 2nd of the day in the 85th minute

Revenge shall be all the sweeter once I am champions

[Willy Wonka]

How's your season going Minisav?

My third has started brilliantly, striker Tarik is on fire.

[minisav]

Currently 11th at the half-way stage. Just got in a new striker. My main strikers and Filkor have become subject to a lot of attention.

[threelions1goal]

OK, as I'm doing so badly in Dafuges challenge, I may as well do as badly in this challenge

I fancy Scotland and after trawling through umpteen pages of this thread I still have two unanswered questions - if anyone can help, please??

1) The re-set date for Scotland??

I've seen games saved at June 1st, June 16th, I've read a post with a new manager posting a screenie on 25th June......... which is the best date to holiday until (preferably one day before the re-set date, so I can reload!!)

2) The DDT file....... I'm aware of where to save it to etc etc....... but, would I have to "untick" the dafuges ddt file on the "extra files" preferences screen, or would it not matter??

Just want to play by the rules!!

If anybody can help me please, I'll get this bad boy going over the weekend!!

Thanks!!

[el sid]

I've taken a short break from my Chippenham game and travel to Germany where I will be leading SC Preussen Münster to glory.

Wish me luck.

Welcome to Munster

[Lower Leagues Rule]

1) The re-set date for Scotland??

I've seen games saved at June 1st, June 16th, I've read a post with a new manager posting a screenie on 25th June......... which is the best date to holiday until (preferably one day before the re-set date, so I can reload!!)

2) The DDT file....... I'm aware of where to save it to etc etc....... but, would I have to "untick" the dafuges ddt file on the "extra files" preferences screen, or would it not matter??

1) There is no reset date per se, because it is just whoever finishes last in the league, there is no relegation from the third division. So to get a new team to finish last you would have to reholiday from pretty early. June 1st is about the last day of the previous season I believe.

2) You should untick the dafuge challenge ddt file as it will keep players in england that you will have an advantage with.

[MikaelS]

Welcome to Munster

beware of the german Monster

[Jack no Coke]

Montevarchi Calcio Aquila season update 2011/12

Well I've finished my second season in charge at the Gastone Brilli Peri,here's the final table http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/4582/season2tablea.jpg A slight improvement on the previous season.I picked up 47 points last season and 53 this season,so we are edging ever closer to those coveted playoff spots.I brought in a lot of players on loan in my first two seasons and while some of them turned out to be great aquisitions,they departed at the end of the season as I couldn't afford to buy them outright.So I've kinda struggled to find a consistant 11 over the last two years.

My defence improved on the first season and I conceded a lot less goals and scored a few more also,this is mostly down to some great performances from the new keeper I brought in from Albinoleffe http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/1999/keeper1.jpg I know he doesn't look the best but he does perform

After losing Ciro Immobile the seoson before I searched franticaly for a replacement and brought in Villalva,he managed 16 goals and 8 assists in 30 games but to be honest he scored 2 or 3 in one game and then nothing in the next three.So even though he was a good enough striker,he was a little too inconsistant for my liking.

One player who I have managed to secure after a very sucessful loan season is Juventus Domenico Pirotta http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/8817/pirrotta.jpg He put in some great performances last season and I'm delighted to secure his services on a full time basis,free transfer at that

On to the finances......well there is none I've just started my third season in a row with 0K to spend in the transfer market,well looks like another 'Arry Rednapp wheeling and dealing transfer window.

Finally I've let my ass man's contrack run out,so I'm on the look out for a new one.Anybody know any good ones that will accept less than £400 a week

Season 2010/11 - C2/C 11th pld 34 won 13 drew 8 lost 13 for 49 agst 60

Season 2011/12 - C2/B 7th pld 34 won 14 drew 11 lost 9 for 56 agst 46

[daemonic]

Have you managed to get a parent club Jack? In my first season at Montevarchi I asked the board for one and got Fiorentina and that was a great help in getting loans in the first couple of seasons. Some I was able to get for 2 or 3 seasons in a row so it gave the side some semblance of being settled.

The other tip would be get your scouts off to Spain, nigh on half my team are Spanish now, great players who are either free or available at knock down prices.

[rlipscombe]

i agree completely. there are lots of Spaniards out there who are good and would apparently love to play in the Italian lower leagues.....