[FM10] The fool wanders, the wise man travels

[Raware]

You should know by now about the forum curse iacovone!

Nice work with the Germans . I know you've no interest in moving at the minute but please if you ever do decide to go, don't take over Derby!

[iacovone]

The wheels on the bus are falling off, falling off, falling off

December 2020 - 1st in Division 2

vs Braunschweig (h) - won 2-0

vs Dresden (a) - lost 2-0

vs Oberhausen (h) - lost 2-1

Notes: After spending the whole season unbeaten we went and lost to lowly Dresden away. No idea what happened, we just didn't turn up and got rolled over. As expected we came back strongly and took a 1-0 lead into half time against Oberhausen. I encouraged the players which for some reason completely deflated them as we capitulated to another defeat. Back to back defeats means we now sit 3rd in Division 2 as Bielefeld and Augsburg continue to win

[iacovone]

Brilliant. I just signed a Greek striker from Burnley for £1k (he was worth 2.6m) called Nikos Pappas. In the unveiling I was asked whether I thought him not speaking Greek would be an issue, I said no.

Next question: It has been noted that Nikos Pappas is someone in your squad who does speak Greek, are you going to look at the likes of him to help Pappas settle more in the area?

Erm.

So I looked and I have a youth team player called Nikos Pappas too . Had no idea!

[DodgeeD]

Haha! That's class. Cousins perhaps?

How did you answer by the way? In my game, the players seem to be 'unhappy at my answer' whatever I say!

[MeLikeFM]

The wheels on the bus are falling off, falling off, falling off

December 2020 - 1st in Division 2

vs Braunschweig (h) - won 2-0

vs Dresden (a) - lost 2-0

vs Oberhausen (h) - lost 2-1

Notes: After spending the whole season unbeaten we went and lost to lowly Dresden away. No idea what happened, we just didn't turn up and got rolled over. As expected we came back strongly and took a 1-0 lead into half time against Oberhausen. I encouraged the players which for some reason completely deflated them as we capitulated to another defeat. Back to back defeats means we now sit 3rd in Division 2 as Bielefeld and Augsburg continue to win

Dresden are former giants of German football if it makes you feel any better

[iacovone]

Haha! That's class. Cousins perhaps?

How did you answer by the way? In my game, the players seem to be 'unhappy at my answer' whatever I say!

Think I said I'll be looking for him to help out.

Dresden are former giants of German football if it makes you feel any better

It doesn't. We've lost 4 in a row. I hate FM in times like this, there is absolutely no indication as to why we're suddenly conceding for fun and not scoring . Reverting back to Ronnie Vaughan's patented 3-2-2-2-1 formation for the massive game away at top placed Bielefeld. Mon.

[MeLikeFM]

Think I said I'll be looking for him to help out.

It doesn't. We've lost 4 in a row. I hate FM in times like this, there is absolutely no indication as to why we're suddenly conceding for fun and not scoring . Reverting back to Ronnie Vaughan's patented 3-2-2-2-1 formation for the massive game away at top placed Bielefeld. Mon.

Kaiserslautern > Dresden anyway. Fritz Walter

[iacovone]

January 2021 - 3rd in Division 2

vs Augsburg (a) - lost 1-0

vs Freiburg (h) - lost 3-1

vs Bielefeld (a) - drew 0-0

Notes: What an utterly disappointing month. I'd hoped the Winter Break would have given us a chance to regroup following last months two consecutive defeats but it didn't. We were poor in all areas this January and I hope it has something to do with the transfer window unsettling my players and not a deeper lying problem. Patrick Laux (of pre-season fame) has moved to Bundesliga side Hoffenheim for £2.5m after a pretty abysmal 4 goals in 17 games so far. No great loss as Pappas has come in. The Freiburg game was upsetting. We had the opportunity to nick a win and as we pressed on at 1-1 we were hit twice on the break to lose at home for the second time this year. Ironically we then took a point from our toughest game in the fixture list - away at leaders Bielefeld. We had a goal disallowed and I've unfortunately been banned from the touchline for the next game for complaining to the media .

We now sit 4th in the Division and face a real battle to climb back into the promotion spots. Aachen and Augsburg are catching us whilst Igolstadt and Gladbach are ahead of us in 2nd and 3rd.

Here's the top 7 (cheers Crouchy )

| Pos   | Inf   | Team                   |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Bielefeld              |       | 20    | 12    | 6     | 2     | 35    | 13    | +22   | 42    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Ingolstadt             |       | 19    | 11    | 4     | 4     | 37    | 22    | +15   | 37    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Gladbach               |       | 19    | 10    | 5     | 4     | 30    | 18    | +12   | 35    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Kaiserslautern         |       | 20    | 9     | 7     | 4     | 25    | 16    | +9    | 34    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Aachen                 |       | 19    | 8     | 9     | 2     | 30    | 21    | +9    | 33    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | Augsburg               |       | 19    | 9     | 6     | 4     | 34    | 32    | +2    | 33    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th   |       | Hannover               |       | 19    | 7     | 8     | 4     | 29    | 18    | +11   | 29    | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Top two go up automatically, 3rd plays the promotion playoff with 3rd bottom in the Bundesliga.

[crouchaldinho]

What have you done Iacovone! 8 points from top spot!

Can you turn this poor form around, do you think? You're going to have to work hard to motivate the players and perhaps shake things up. A real test of your management skills!

[iacovone]

I know, I know

I'm gutted at this slip in form. We were 4 points clear before the 4 defeats in a row. Its currently 6 games without a win as my assistant could only manage a 0-0 draw with Dusseldorf at home .

Need a major turnaround asap. I'll state this now - if we don't get promoted I will resign!!

[joshb729]

Good stuff here!

[rlipscombe]

theres a statement mate!!

[iacovone]

theres a statement mate!!

I know, it is rather bold. But I gave my self 1 year to get promoted when I originally signed my 3 year contract here and failed at that (albeit by a playoff) so to then fail again and be a year away from my ambition of Bundesliga football would be unacceptable in my book. I need to stay ambitious and determined but most of all honest if I'm going to make it to the top!

[iacovone]

Well my first task tonight was to devise a season saving tactic

My 2-3-2-2-1 formation is a variation of my patented 3-2-2-2-1 effort but much more attacking. I'm going to rely on the strength of my CB's for sure and hope the extra CM will provide us with more opportunities in front of goal

I should get a February 2021 update going tonight

EDIT: We also have had the German Cup Quarter Final draw and will face fellow D2 rivals Freiburg at home. Its one leg and a real chance for a cup semi final appearance!

[rancer890]

You're thinking about leaving iacovone if you don't get promoted? Very bold statement on resigning...

Hope you can turn it around though (and please finish in the top 2 to avoid the promotion playoff ).

[crouchaldinho]

I want a cup final appearance Iacovone, especially after the disappointment of your faltering league campaign.

[iacovone]

Well I'm into the Semi-Final now so who knows \o/

£790,000 for winning that game . There's a lot of prize money in Germany! We are now the only 2nd Division side left in the competition and will face either Hoffenheim (who beat Bayern Munich), Koln or Osnabruck. Its wide open!

[MeLikeFM]

Well I'm into the Semi-Final now so who knows \o/

£790,000 for winning that game . There's a lot of prize money in Germany! We are now the only 2nd Division side left in the competition and will face either Hoffenheim (who beat Bayern Munich), Koln or Osnabruck. Its wide open!

You sound surprised but sure dont you run the Big Euro challenge. Minisav is always going on about his prize and TV monies

Keep going, you can definately claw this season back

[crouchaldinho]

Well done Iacovone! Getting to a final will really boost your reputation.

Just don't let it distract you from the promotion campaign.

[iacovone]

I'm not sure I can claw this season back, we've not won in the league in 7 now I think

[iacovone]

Got linked to the Stuttgart job. For the first time at Kaiserslautern I declared interest in it through the media

[iacovone]

Erm I just got offered the Stuttgart job in the Bundesliga . What do I do fellow FMers?

They're 14th out of 18 in the top flight and have offered me £16,250 p/w to take the job on a 1 and a half year contract. £5,750,000 to spend.

I'm in a tough spot with Kaiserslautern as I can sense promotion drifting away. The cup run does keep me interested. Stuttgart have refused my request to take the job at the End of the Season.

[MeLikeFM]

Erm I just got offered the Stuttgart job in the Bundesliga . What do I do fellow FMers?

They're 14th out of 18 in the top flight and have offered me £16,250 p/w to take the job on a 1 and a half year contract. £5,750,000 to spend.

I'm in a tough spot with Kaiserslautern as I can sense promotion drifting away. The cup run does keep me interested. Stuttgart have refused my request to take the job at the End of the Season.

Go for it.

16k a week is alot more than I ever got

[rancer890]

Erm I just got offered the Stuttgart job in the Bundesliga . What do I do fellow FMers?

They're 14th out of 18 in the top flight and have offered me £16,250 p/w to take the job on a 1 and a half year contract. £5,750,000 to spend.

I'm in a tough spot with Kaiserslautern as I can sense promotion drifting away. The cup run does keep me interested. Stuttgart have refused my request to take the job at the End of the Season.

Take it!!! NOW!!

[iacovone]

I think I have to. I feel like I'm letting down Kaiserslautern but the players have let me down too... I had big plans at Kaiserslautern but as said previously that was dependent on promotion...

Going to wait for a couple more responses

[DodgeeD]

Hmmm, tough call. If you think you can turn them round and they've got a decent transfer kitty, go for it. If they look like they deserve to be struggling, think again.

[crouchaldinho]

Can you keep Stuttgart up? By that I mean do you think that you'd have a good chance of survival?

That's the main question.

[rancer890]

What's 16k a week in annual salary in US dollars? I only make 575k US at Zenit. I think Stuttgart are offering you alot more than what I'm making.

[iacovone]

Its $1,400,000 annually

[iacovone]

VFB Stuttgart

This was a tough decision. I had hoped to restore Kaiserslautern to the top flight but things were beginning to go wrong. I'm not sure it was an inherent problem at the club or whether it was me. Bottom line? I wasn't about to stick around and find out. I have built a good reputation but not a great reputation and to do that I need to make the most of job offers like this.

The club were founded in 1893 and play at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena. We possess top training facilities and an excellent youth setup. We are known as Der Vfb (imaginative )

Our best spell was in the 1950s and have won the top flight 5 times. We've won the German Cup 4 times and come runners up in both the Uefa Cup and European Cup Winners Cup. It has been 11 years since we last won a trophy.

As I join there are 11 games to go. Here is the table:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team          |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Dortmund      |       | 23    | 16    | 2     | 5     | 54    | 27    | +27   | 50    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | FC Bayern     |       | 22    | 14    | 4     | 4     | 50    | 24    | +26   | 46    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Frankfurt     |       | 23    | 12    | 5     | 6     | 38    | 27    | +11   | 41    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Hertha BSC    |       | 23    | 11    | 5     | 7     | 43    | 35    | +8    | 38    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Hoffenheim    |       | 23    | 10    | 7     | 6     | 37    | 31    | +6    | 37    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | Köln          |       | 23    | 10    | 7     | 6     | 35    | 30    | +5    | 37    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th   |       | Leverkusen    |       | 23    | 10    | 6     | 7     | 39    | 32    | +7    | 36    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th   |       | Werder Bremen |       | 22    | 10    | 5     | 7     | 41    | 34    | +7    | 35    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 9th   |       | HSV           |       | 23    | 9     | 6     | 8     | 31    | 31    | 0     | 33    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th  |       | Rostock       |       | 23    | 9     | 4     | 10    | 37    | 41    | -4    | 31    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th  |       | Bochum        |       | 23    | 9     | 3     | 11    | 30    | 37    | -7    | 30    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th  |       | Wolfsburg     |       | 23    | 7     | 7     | 9     | 34    | 39    | -5    | 28    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th  |       | Schalke       |       | 23    | 7     | 7     | 9     | 34    | 41    | -7    | 28    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th  |       | Stuttgart     |       | 23    | 7     | 6     | 10    | 32    | 33    | -1    | 27    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th  |       | Nürnberg      |       | 23    | 6     | 5     | 12    | 29    | 41    | -12   | 23    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th  |       | Karlsruhe     |       | 23    | 5     | 6     | 12    | 23    | 46    | -23   | 21    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th  |       | Fürth         |       | 23    | 4     | 5     | 14    | 24    | 45    | -21   | 17    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th  |       | Osnabrück     |       | 23    | 4     | 2     | 17    | 34    | 51    | -17   | 14    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

We have a great chance of survival

Bring on the next chapter of my career

[crouchaldinho]

I thought you'd end up taking the move in the end. It's certainly a decent move and you are in a good position to survive.

[rancer890]

Bloody cheap Russians!

Good luck iacovone. I would have joined regardless because of the $1.4 million salary.

[iacovone]

Cheers chaps. I had to take it in the end. Can't turn down that sort of money. We have an aging squad and a lot of dross eating huge amount of wages. Looking forward to summer already so I can have an entire clearout.

Also going to check back in at Kaiserslautern and pinch a couple of my Red Devils

[Dalbeider]

Cue Stuttgart relegating and Kaiserslautern promoting .

Seriously, I'd have taken it without doubt, but then again I'm quite trigger-happy when offers from higher divisions come. And yeah, not a very imaginative nickname, but then again, this is Germany after all .

[rlipscombe]

congrats on the new job iacovone - for what it's worth i'd have taken it too.... good luck.

[Raware]

Nice move iacovone . Definitely the right decision IMO. Just don't get them relegated now!

[iseemonsters1]

I like the move! Hopefully you shouldn't have too much trouble surviving and then you can push on next season!

[DodgeeD]

Good call. Survival should be straightforward. I guess the best thing you can do now is to send your scouts out to find gems for next season.

[Elrithral]

Very disappointed with the way things have gone in this update I absolutely despise Stuttgart, I don't wish you luck

[iacovone]

Yeah that's the plan DodgeeD. I should survive, though we haven't won in my first two games in charge. I'll throw up some screenshots tonight if possible of a couple of my stars. We have one excellent CM called Andreas Schumacher. The defence and keeper are fairly ropey though and I haven't got a decent goalscorer. The squad is aging and there is very little pace throughout. I can understand why we are nearer the foot of the table than the top

I scouted my stars at Kaiserslautern and only Miodrag Ilic was considered a 'good' signing. The rest were 'fairly good' . Guess my side wasn't as strong as I thought . Also we pay 8% of our gate receipts as rent but our stadium is owned by us :confused:. Unless we're paying it to Mercedes-Benz!!

[crouchaldinho]

I scouted my stars at Kaiserslautern and only Miodrag Ilic was considered a 'good' signing. The rest were 'fairly good' . Guess my side wasn't as strong as I thought .

It was probably pretty good for the division you were in though.

My Carrarese team is mainly made up of players who are rated as 'decent' for Serie B, with 4 who are 'good' for Serie B level (D'Alessandro, Lacalamita, Philliskirk and Eusepi) according to my scouts.

EDIT - you've reached 5,000 posts Iacovone.

[iacovone]

5000 posts \o/

Thought I'd quickly show you my three best players here at Stuttgart. There's no point in showing anyone else as I envisage a complete revamp of my squad in the summer. I'm aiming to raise £20m.

Here is the star player Andreas Schumacher. He's been at the club for 5 years after signing for £3.7m from Schalke.

Alongside him is American Hunter Hayden who emerged at Fredericksburg Gunners before moving to Seattle Sounders. He stayed in the MLS for 3 years before making his move to Europe with Israeli club Beiter Jerusalem. He has since played in Turkey with Bursaspor and Ukraine with Dynamo Kiev before moving to us last summer for £8m.

On the right wing is Englishman Dan Lund who has been at the club for two years. He came through the Derby youth system 3 years ago and has only had one season as a starter - the year before we bought him, in the Championship.

[rancer890]

An American on your squad \o/. Good news that you're keeping him. :thup:

Welcome to the 5000 post club iacovone. Keep Stuttgart up!

[iseemonsters1]

Schumacher looks very special! 46 caps at age 25 says it all, I think. He looks like the sort of player I'd consider building a team around.

[psychonaut]

Great career so far, 4 pages of reading pleasure. Good luck with der Vfb!

[iacovone]

iseemonsters - I plan on building the team around him. Although he is currently unhappy and has just a year and a half left on his deal so I may be forced into moving him on for a good amount of cash.

February & March 2021

vs Nurnburg (h) - drew 1-1

vs Leverkusen (a) - lost 2-0

vs Dortmund (h) - lost 3-0

vs Rostock (a) - lost 3-1

vs Frankfurt (h) - won 1-0

vs Osnabruck (a) - lost 3-2

Notes: Far from a good start at Stuttgart has led to a number of players doubting my ability already. This is a team devoid of confidence and so below the standard of the league they deserve to go down! Leverkusen and Dortmund are two of the strongest sides in the league so those losses were more or less expected. However the last minute goal conceded against Nurnberg meant I couldn't start with a win, whilst the Rostock game was a disaster. We may have been down to 10 men after 20 minutes against Frankfurt but we showed some mettle and gained our first win. The Osnabruck was awful. They are bottom by a long way and despite taking the lead twice, we conceded 3 times to lose a vital game.

We remain in 14th and are 7 points ahead of the relegation zone. With just 5 games remaining it'd take something remarkably poor to see us go down. I'm just looking forward to the summer now to completely gut the squad and begin again .

[crouchaldinho]

At least you sound as though you are more or less safe. Time for a rebuilding this summer.

What's the financial situation at the club like?

[Nobby_McDonald]

Good career move there Iacovone.

[iacovone]

Financial situation is good - £20m or so in the bank. Only £5m to spend though so I'll try and up that for the summer. Hopefully I'll get into that tonight. I also have the result of my first World Cup Qualifier with Nigeria. Only one emoticon can summarise that one:

[Nobby_McDonald]

I'd like £20 in Hednesford's bank account.