Oktober Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Its not so much the money, I was just really struggling to attract anyone decent and now have got a couple of good players in who said they were motivated by playing in Europe. 6702 extra seats going into the Olimpico without me asking, meaning yet another big loan. By the time its finished in December, we'll have a 20,702 seater stadium, no longer the smallest in the division and bigger than Brescia's and overachieving Mantova's. Sadly my grand total of 4 youth players were all utterly appaling Looks like the future of the club will be in the hands of my scouts rather than the academy, not good though for the country Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Oh wait, I apparently cant add 6 to 13. We'll be just under 20,000 then, second smallest. Loan repayments per month now are over £110k... could be problematic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 You bugger my stadium's still under 16,000 in 2020 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizan Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Season 2011-12 Second season in Serie B began with so much promise, we were in the top 6 for most of the season. But I was worried that we didnt have our slump in form going to the last third of the season. I was right, our slump did come! It was in March and we lost 5 games. Coupled with key injuries, loss in form for my strikers. Nothing went my way. We finished 11th, 2 places higher than last season, but it was dissapointing considering that the teams in the playoffs were beateable. Looking forward to next season, star striker Davis Curiale left for Kaiserslauten, as two key players Rincon and Ozcelik (didnt want a new contracts). Given a healthy £3m transfer kitty and 85k wages, we can strengthen. But the rep of San Marino is costing me as no one wants to come. Stadium expanding again, training and youth also being improved. Cant wait for the season to start! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I've just noticed a huge reason for my teams terrible form; Our away record, it seems that despite losing only one home game all season and the 3rd best home record in the league away from home our record was played 19, won 5, drew 5 and lost 9 horrible Is anyone else esp. those in Serie A having such dreadful away form? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Home form 11th, away form 8th, so not at all... Very interesting season update to come in a couple of weeks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Final table, Serie A 2015 Overall an above-average season, but with massive frustration right at the death as we missed a penalty and threw away a lead at home to Palermo to lose 2-1 and miss out the backdoor to Europe. Two of our best results away at Inter and Lazio showed a great deal of promise, but we couldnt keep it up well enough to make anything more of our season than mid-table. Runs to the quarters of the Coppa Italia and 2nd knockout stage of the UEFA Cup were above expectations, but ultimately futile as we couldnt repeat our success against Inter, then Udinese respectively. The biggest off-pitch news though happened in January. Despite work on the Olimpico finishing and leaving us with a near-20,000 seater, the monthly payments from the sale of Giacobbe came to an end, leaving us with a lot more going out each month than coming in. However, it was Canini to the rescue there, as we managed to negotiate a co-ownership with Lazio for the second time - this time though, for £8million. However, merely a week later, Real Madrid and Chelsea stepped in, offering £11m to each of us for him - our chairman couldnt accept fast enough, and Lazio accepted an instant £3m profit for us to sadly finally wave him goodbye, but with over £20m profit in 3 sales and 5 amazing seasons of service since joining us in Serie B for free. With the money from his sale to be invested in our youth academy, Marco Canini was the first of the new golden generation in San Marinese football, but hopefully will not be the last by a long way. As the list shows, there was a lot of movement both in and out of Serravalle, most of it with an eye to the future as a number of promising youth players were snapped up. At senior level however, the pick of the bunch was Young Player of the Year Yorick Antheunis, whose stunning performances ensure that Canini wont be missed too badly going forward. Despite what his stats may say, I wasnt entirely impressed with big-money signing Gabriel RodrÃguez, as despite his goal return and average rating he had a tendancy to go missing in big games, but score 2 in comfortable low-pressure routs against the likes of Chievo and Brescia while the team was carried from midfield. Perhaps part of his inconsistency can be put down to trouble settling, but next season we'll be joined by a new, even better Argentinian to hopefully spark some real competition for the sole striker spot in our successful 4-5-1. Internationally, we've done about as much as expected of us. Despite putting up good showings in all our games, we've conceded a very disappointing amount of goals - but this should be the season to rectify that, as club goalkeeper Fabio and defensive midfielder Roma both gain their passports, and should become key players. We pushed Slovenia to the wire but couldnt quite get an equaliser in a 2-1 loss, but finally recorded a competitive and comfortable win after hammering Azerbaijan 3-0 in Baku. Spirits buoyed, we had great expectations for the rest of the campaign, but were very disappointed to quickly lose 3-0 at home to Georgia, in a match we should really have been trying to get a result from. Friendlies against Qatar and Australia were surprisingly competitive, ending 2-2 then only 2-0 in Adelaide, but the new year has started very poorly with 17 goals conceded in a 6-0 loss at Wembley, 6-1 in Piraeus to Greece and then the closest 5-1 you would ever see in Maribor against Slovenia, where we actually held a lead for 49 minutes before our defence finally cracked. With Georgia losing all their other games, including to the Azeris where we won in Baku, a result against them should definately give us a respectable 4th place, but Greece and Slovenia are too far away to catch even with a miracle. Alechenwu will miss the next two winnable games against Azerbaijan and Georgia after stupidly getting sent off against Greece, and I'll be praying for some decent wide regens in the summer to help the defence hold out without him. Incidentally, I greatly envy the Faroe Islands, as out of nowhere they've somehow manage to produce this beast of a left winger - if only he'd been born to a different European minnow... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnc007 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Been reading through this thread past couple of days and thought sounds interesting so decided to give it a go. I'm only as far as november 07 but things aren't going too badly so far. Was a bit inconsistent at the start of the league using my traditional 4-4-2 after some pretty impressive preformances in pre-season against the likes of cesena and lecce. Decided to experiment with a 4-2-3-1 formation and looks like i've found my system as its allowed the fans to witness some moments of beautiful football. Signing of the season so far has to be the capture of 34yr old Salvatore Fresi on a £250 per week contract. I guess his experience does make a difference. And for a 34yr old his physical stats are still quite impressive. Also signed a young AML/ST 18yr old by the name of Valerio Zappa and he's fast becoming a fan's fave. Just one last thing. I noticed at the start of the season i only sold 80 season tickets. Was just wondering was this the same for everyone else? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Yes, attendances in Serie C were just dreadful. 80 sounds about right, just dont expect gate receipts to make you any sort of money. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mannster Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Unless you get to the Serie C Cup Final Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Or if you win the thing, then inadvertantly have to pay out a giant cup bonus for winning the C2 Super Cup... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Originally posted by Oktober:... have to pay out a giant cup bonus for winning the C2 Super Cup... This has been logged at SI Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mannster Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Arghh. Just starting 2nd season. Found a wonder striker from Kaiser Chiefs on a free transfer, he agreed a deal and everything. Turns out we can only sign one non-EU player a year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Originally posted by The Mannster:Arghh. Just starting 2nd season. Found a wonder striker from Kaiser Chiefs on a free transfer, he agreed a deal and everything. Turns out we can only sign one non-EU player a year. Quite possibly the worst thing about this challenge given that currently only non-EU players take up San Marinese nationality, which I only discovered after signing around 50 non-San Marinese kids from Italy, Germany, Switzerland, England, Austria, etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Just adds to the challenge lads! I've got one so far, one considering citizenship and one due in December, plus a couple of decent homegrown kids... bring on the World Cup qualifying groups! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 In my 13th season and so far only one non capped player has become San Marinese slow times but I've sorted my finances hopefully and it looks like I could make the Champions League so then I'll have tons of money which is already being invested in the youth development which is now Top Training Facilities and Good Youth Facilities + Youth Academy both of which will be invested in at the end of the season, which will be the when I ascend into the San Marino National Team Job Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Could also end up with: Chelsea Vs. Barcelona Liverpool Vs. San Marino In the UEFA Cup Semi Finals Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the insider Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Started this challenge at the weekend, really enjoying it. Doing very well progressed from the group stage of the cup and then won in the next round after that and im sitting top of the league Transfers so far: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Doudin, once you've got him the C2/B is a piece of pee-pee and C1 isn't too challenging for him either! Pablo Paz is another must have in the first season! Cristea is a quality player and I actually bought him back once I got into Serie A, if You'd like a player to help you out in C1/A or B just drop a lil' line because there was one man who stood out for me... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Oh yeah and don't think I can't see you checking out my mate Pomazan! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Pah, a series of international setbacks Roma finally got his passport, but was declared for Brazil - something you have no way of telling, just whether the players 'declared' box in the database is ticked or not. Clearly his is. Also, two of my non-EU signings that I'd been hoping would star in the future have been called up to Russia and Brazil, and theres little hope of me managing to keep the best right back in Serbia under the radar before he's eligable Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Oh, btw just to make Jamie jealous - 46068 all-seater, Top training facilities, Excellent Youth facilities + Youth Academy And getting both improved at the end of the year, surely for the final time... I've not been asking for extra seats, if youre eligable and have the money the board will do it anyway - if you ask them they'll try and put seats in, but might get refused, if you dont ask they might do that, or they might build a new stadium. Thats what I've found anyway. No point asking for more seats if they put in an extra 500 to fulfil your promise instead of getting a new ground! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 * ... thats 26068. Not 40. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Phew! 46K and I would be crying! Stadium capacity I can survive without hopefully this season I've just got 5 and 1/2 league matches left and I think I'll need 3 wins to secure Champion's League Footie next year that will sort my finances out! My board have agreed to expand everything for next season just hope the council don't block the expansion again and youth dev. would be cool seeing as I'm finally gonna get my hands on Mozza's job I'm a bit worried cos the best SM players are now around the 31 mark which means problems... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Had to say, I laughed at a news report I got about Napoli's impending takeover hitting the rocks. Apparently the head of the Fans' Trust group was unhappy at being denied access to the club's financial records. Considering they've been bankrupt twice now and still have a wage bill the size of Vesuvius, I can see why the current chairman might be keen to keep the full scale of it rather quiet Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Devastated.... UEFA Cup Final 2020, San Marino Vs. Wait for it...... Portsmouth!! ****ing Cunty ***** bastard ***** beat me again in the final after one of my old players scored against me and then my centre back hacked down one of the strikers clear on goal so had to play 55mins with 10 men and 1-0 down... (why is there no cry emocon) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Oops.. thought the swear filter would do a better job than that... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 That's actually cheered me up a touch Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Final Serie A table, season 2015/16 A quite frankly stunning season, where we defied the odds and finally split the dominant big 5 to take a podium place and Champions League football this season. Highlights along the way included horsing Inter twice, as well as wins at home to eventual runners-up AC Milan and away at Roma. In the cup we had a great run to the semi finals, but despite beating Inter for the 3rd time at home, they matched our 2-1 in the Giuseppe Meazza then took a late, late 3rd in extra time when I was gearing up for penalties. Despite the disappointment (for me) of being called up twice for Brazil before he got his passport, young player of the year Joao was one of the stars of the campaign, time and again destroying teams with his pace and skill and knocking in more than a few goals in the process. Canary Island born Iriome on right wing more than proved worth his £5m fee from Zaragoza, and our biggest gamble up front Franco di Santo eventually justified his extremely hefty £15m fee after a brief, but scary settling period. Looking to the future, Greek wonderkid Vasilis Christopoulos should be set to make his way into the first team next season, barring AC Milan stealing his services. Internationally, things are looking bleak. Two big hopes for the future, domestic goalkeeper Fábio and holding midfielder Roma both turned out to be declared for Brazil, and possible future stars Joao and Sidorov were both called up for Brazil and Russia respectively long before their passports were due. Our only real current prospects are right sided defender/winger Marco Antonio and Serbian right back Marko Paunovic in my youth team, assuming they arent called up before then. However, with Excellent facilities and upgrades promised, the standard coming from the club's academy should skyrocket, with our reputation boost from playing in the Champions League. For Spain 2018 qualifying, we were drawn in Group 6 with Poland, Portugal, Israel, Albania and the Faroes - a difficult group, as even the smaller sides have decent players, with the Faroes having the best left winger in the world at the moment. Most hope for the future then rests on the club's successes dragging up the profile of the national team, slowly but surely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 After 13years of hard work I've finally got the toughest job in world football, San Marino national team, I decided to try and arrange friendlies against teams that were higher ranked than me but that I thought I could beat so first up was a friendly against Solomon Islands, around 50 places higher than me in the World Rankings. So after about 5 hours of checking every player in the world who is eligble to play for San Marino and filtering the 500+ list down to 25 (there wasn't a 26th player good enough!), we lost. 2-0 . So things weren't looking good for my first competitive match against Denmark in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers, Denmark ended up leaving the Olimpico with only a point to show for there efforts as we drew 1-1 and were very close to matching them in every aspect a very promising start to things and a good start to meeting my own personal target of getting 7 points from the group! (Let's hope Moldova suck!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnc007 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Ok first season finished. Came 5th in the league with 53 points. Ended up getting promoted through winning the playoffs. Have to admit though didn't think I deserved to get promoted, but I suppose that's football - I'm not complaining! Signing of the season has got to be AML Valerio Zappia on a free transfer and of course Alex Fernandez who I only signed in January but his goals kept me in the playoff places and ended up coming third in player of the year I think my aims for this season are not to go straight back down and then look to challenge for promotion the next season, as I am really struggling in finding any suitable defenders or GKs.... I may as well have one last look for a new GK and CB and if no luck I suppose I'll just have to hope that my current crop are good enough to scrape through Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnc007 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Oops seems that I need some help in the art of posting screenshots! Anyone know what i've done wrong??? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 face above the text box while posting to be sure I got the coding right. Well done on promotion - to be honest, I didnt find the Serie C1 to be a huge step up, but with the reputation increase you should definately be able to stay in the division. Promotion really just depends on how tough the teams coming down from Serie B are - I got extremely lucky, if I recall rightly in my first season I didnt get any of the Serie B teams in my section, then made it up via playoffs first time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnc007 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 So how do I do that then? Do i just remove the bits? Sorry for being so thick its just i've never postd screenshot on here before Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
442to445 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Originally posted by cnc007:So how do I do that then? Do i just remove the bits? Sorry for being so thick its just i've never postd screenshot on here before Ok, to post them as a link, just type (without the underscores...) [_url_]Your URL[_/url_] i.e. [_url_]http://sigames.com[_/url_] == http://www.sigames.com if you want to be Fancy and put text where the URL normally is you can do: [_url=Your URL_]Your text[_/url_] i.e. [_url=http://www.sigames.com_]Sports Interactive Website[_url_] == Sports Interactive Website Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnc007 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Ok first season finished. Came 5th in the league with 53 points. Ended up getting promoted through winning the playoffs. Have to admit though didn't think I deserved to get promoted, but I suppose that's football - I'm not complaining! League table 07/08 Signing of the season has got to be AML Valerio Zappia on a free transfer and of course Alex Fernandez who I only signed in January but his goals kept me in the playoff places and ended up coming third in player of the year Zappia profile Zappia history San Marino transfers 07/08 I think my aims for this season are not to go straight back down and then look to challenge for promotion the next season, as I am really struggling in finding any suitable defenders or GKs.... I may as well have one last look for a new GK and CB and if no luck I suppose I'll just have to hope that my current crop are good enough to scrape through Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnc007 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Cheers Oktober and 442to445. Much appreciated Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Here's the virtually impossible World Cup Qualifiers Group that has been given to me! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Also delighted to find out Denmark whom I drew 1-1 with are ranked 9th in the world!!! (Guess that means I should be 10th ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Ouch. I doubt you could have got harder ones from each of the middle 4 pots! I'm doing fairly well in mine after 3 days, but could be doing better. Drew 2-2 with Albania after conceding yet again in the final 10 minutes, was 2-0 up at half time but they clawed it back undeservedly. Faroes gave us a good game but we added them to the scalp list 2-1 in Torshavn, and we gave Poland a hell of a scare with a narrow 3-2 loss. Clearly no problems going forward, but defence most definately needs to be worked on. International scalps so far: Ireland, Faroes, Azerbaijan competitively, Cape Verde, Bhutan and Fiji in friendlies. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Ireland seem to love to lose against small teams in FM08 from what I've seen! I can't remember who but someone posted a screenie in this thread where SM beat Eire, and I saw Liechtenstein beat them in my game as well! I reckon the Rangers fans at SI have been tinkering! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Nice result, huh? Typically though we get that kind of performance in a match that was essentially meaningless - the winning margin means we finish top of the group so get better seeding, but really that kind of performance would have been a lot more beneficial in the league against Mantova or Fiorentina. We've suffered horribly first half of the season due to di Santo picking up an injury while off playing for Argentina - can I complain and demand compensation for that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 It's a good result I'll give you that but how about THIS!!! You were the first to confess your match was meaningless but mine was a World Cup Qualifier which had the pen gone in would have made me a double record breaker in just my second competitive match, it would have been San Marino's biggest ever win and the other record which I can claim is San Marino's longest run without defeat... 2 Games Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Damn, well done! Now that is impressive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Ah, well, my Champions League campaign looks to be ending at the First Knockout Stage, seeing as I drew Man United... who have won the past 4 in a row. It'd take something very special to pull this off, but at least plenty of money and interest in it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Haha! It just gets better! Check These out!! Uh huh! Oh Yeah Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiechuter Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 And I just drew 0-0 with Hungary who were group leaders with me until our match now Finland have leapfrogged both of us, I'll have to give them another pumping at the Olimpico to put them back in their place! Was really annoying against Hungary as my striker who scored a brace against Finland was out injured and his replacement had tons of great chances but kept blazing them over or wide and of course those chances just wouldn't fall to Barcelona's £13M San Marinese Striker to bury would they? Oh well 3 games and no losses a great start!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butts Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Decided to give this ago as i can't really get into an FM game atm hopefully i will be able to get into this. Profile Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Final Serie A table, season 2016/17 A tough season, we had to battle for the final Champions League spot almost right up to the end, until my mate Avram Grant and his Milan team finally ended the runs of Roma and Inter to give me some breathing space on the last day. While nothing remarkable happened on the pitch (save for my win over Barcelona earlier in the thread), a couple of harsh realities set in off it. The type of players I need to step up and win it are generally likely to cost around £10-20m - where I could put that kind of cash up for them in England before, its just not possible now. At the very most I can probably scrape to about £15-18m over 2 years, while the top teams can easily throw that kind of money around every transfer window. This was really hammered home in January as we spotted a world class 22 year old centre back at Portsmouth - while he was willing to come, they wanted £18m for him, and after much negotiating the price down, planning to use my entire budget for several years, AC Milan came in and nonchalantly chucked £20m at them, stealing the whole deal and sitting a very expensive backup on the bench for the rest of the year. Ungrateful, unloyal Russian right back Sidorov refused to sign a contract and is buggering off to Barca next year, so thats a priority position. I'm also on the look out for centre-backs and maybe a world-class keeper, plus any promising youngsters in general. I've also now got a lot of cash in the bank and promises of youth and training upgrades to the max, and a continental reputation should help recruitment and youth development. Internationally, we claimed another scalp to go 3rd in the qualifying group! Albania and the Faroes were both 2-1 wins away, so I'm very hopeful of getting something from them back at Serravalle. Poland was an unlucky loss, but Israel was a fairly even 1-1 away. Going by away form, if I can manage to take 9 points from the three home return games left (and with some luck and help from Poland losing), then qualification via 2nd place isnt entirely unrealistic. Unfortunately long term, the future looks a lot less bright, as yet another Brazilian has been called up - this time Marco Antonio. What makes it more frustrating is that he's only 3 weeks away from his passport, and I kept him despite being unhappy all season for the good of the coutnry, when I could have made £5m or so transfer funds from him. With the new batch of nationalised youngsters taking at least 3 years, the very first one will no doubt be gone by then, so I'll be back at square one. I can only hope that we somehow manage to squeeze to Denmark 2020 to give Alechenwu the send off he deserves! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 On the 26th of January, at the league halfway stage and with the Euro qualifying groups drawn, this seems like a good enough place to update. The World Cup qualifiers were looking very promising indeed, as with our first match after the turn of the domestic season we managed a stunning 2-1 away win in Poland. With the Faroes and Israel at home still to play, it really did look like we had a chance of taking 2nd in the group to go through to the playoff. However, we undid all our good work with a dire 3-0 home loss to newly crowned World Player of the Year Heini Danielson's Faroe Islands. Things were technically still in our hands as if Poland did us a favour it would be possible to pass Israel by beating them, but a win for Israel left us out of reach and sadly with nothing to play for in our final games. Still, 4th place is very respectable, and with wins over Poland and Albania, plus running Israel to the wire means we clearly have a lot of promise for the future. Fastforward to the Euro qualifying groups, and things are looking up. In order of seeding, San Marino drew Liechtenstein, FYR Macedonia, Austria, Greece and Czech Republic - with the exception of the Czechs instead of the Swiss, almost exactly the group we would have chosen to maximise our chances. At the very least another 4th place should be managable, and if we can give Austria and Greece a real test then qualification for Denmark 2020 may well be in our sights. Sadly imageshack appears to be down as I'm typing this up, but domestically, things are looking good for feeding the national team in future. The club's academy brought through two highly promising teenagers in the summer, one of whom has supposed 'good Serie A potential'. With 17 pace at only age 15, and at least 11s in crossing, dribbling, passing and creativity, 14 flair and 17 agility, its looking like we may well have spawned a gem of a right winger. One of last years crop has unexpectedly also started showing immense potential, with almost all key defensive mid stats at at least 13 and his physical attributes coming on leaps and bounds as he matures. Added to three youngsters nationalising and our youth facilities maxed out at State of the Art, things look good off-field for both San Marinos. On the field, we're destroying almost anyone put in front of us (domestically at least) with a style and confidence I've never seen from the lads before. Currently sitting in 4th, but some way from the chasing pack, our games in hand against the big teams are no longer to be dreaded, but eagerly anticipated that we might have the chance to finally slow them down. Aiding us is a new world-class goalkeeper signed from Reggina - who was anointed European Goalkeeper of the Year the day before he made his £11m transfer. We also cheekily took advantage of Torino's financial strife to steal their top quality defensive pair for under £5m each, and an intended budget backup from Milan clearly felt he had something to prove, and is on course for all kinds of awards due to his form for us so far. di Santo is fully settled and scoring at will, and generally things are setting up to be very positive indeed for the second half of the season. A poor spot however was our performance in the Champions League, as we never even looked like contending tricky matches against Porto and Liverpool. A better head to head record put us at least into the UEFA Cup ahead of Brondby, but I'd still rather have put up a better showing against the European elite. At least our exploits in the group stages will have earned us our share of the TV money, as now we chase two cups and maybe even an outside shot at the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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