San Marino "double" Challenge 2008

[JamesW]

Don't really have time for a proper update, here, but I just thought I'd pop in to say that things are going very swimmingly .

[Ter]

Nearly finished my third season now (yeah, I play slowly ) and will be spending another season in C1. Got quite a fair bit of young talent at the club now, although the 1 foreign player per season rule is a right pain in the arse. I reckon I could have got promoted if I had brought in some good Brazilians I could have got

It was quite a tight season. I can't finish any lower than 12th (got one more game to play) and have 41 points. Could finish 10th but at the moment I'm only 7 points off a play-off place so it's not as bad as it may look.

I'm already looking forward to next season and getting rid of some more dead wood and boosting the squad. Hopefully I'll be able to attract some better quality players now I've managed to avoid relegation after being written off at the start of the season.

My U20s won their league quite easily again, so that's a good sign. I've got 9 players valued at over £100k as well, with one valued at £425k so I'm not at all worried about my financial situation. I'm only £34k in the red and well under my wage budget.

[AcidBurn]

Peter Griffin

Thats my manager profile I didnt post straight away as I never knew if i would get into the challenge or not. Glad to say I have I like the fact thaqt theres not that many rules I loaded all players from a few countries and ran leagues from Italy(obviously) England, Scotland and Spain. I like to see how my Sunderland and Crewe do in their leagues which puts me off other challenges.

Results So Far

Pretty good pre-season although conceeding a few too many goals but some good wins for the team.

I converted all the transfer funds into wages and signed all my players on free transfers. This lad looks the best

Gigliotti

He has poor stamina but I am hoping that his pace, composure and finishing will see him get a few goals although he has no Carrezzo to play off as he is injured for 3 months.

This is a good challenge and has come at the right time I was just starting to get a bit bored of FM. Hopefully this has re-ignited my passion and will help me work out how to manage ADESG(a low level Brazilian team)to glory as lower league teams are something I have not tried properly.

[JamesW]

Update!

Last time I updated I'd finished 7th, getting Intertoto qualification and with good hopes for the next season. Those hopes soon proved justified as I was constantly in the fight for champions league spots. Helped strongly by Roma, Juventus and Fiorentina all having poor spells, in the end I was able to clinch a phenomenal third place in only the second serie a season! Sadly, Roma got their revenge - first by knocking me out in the semi-finals of the Uefa Cup, then by beating me in theh final of the Italian Cup. All in all though, not a bad season!

Next season, though, was much better.

I didn't make too many transfers over the summer. I brought in Sergey Malakhov and Edgar Barreto for around about £6M each. I also bought back Antonio Pecorino for just over £2M, getting a £2M profit in a season. Good ol' co-ownership deals. The big signing going the other way was Lenny, who was shipped off to Juventus for just over £10M.

In the Champions League, I was drawn with Shakhatar, Werder Bremen and Liverpool, who rather frustratingly are now pretty much the best team in the world - a strike trio of Carlos Vela, Fernando Torres and Rafael Sobis leading the way. I was hammered 6-1 at the new Anfield and suffered a frustrating loss away at Shakhtar, but two wins against Werder Bremen, a win at home to Shakhtar and a 0-0 draw at home to Liverpool (the only team Liverpool didn't take 6 points from) sent me through to the next round in 2nd place. Sadly, that meant I was facing a tough draw in the first knockout round - Real Madrid. This proved too much, and the first leg pretty much confirmed that when Real Madrid beat me 1-0 at the Olimpico. That meant I'd need to win at the Bernabeu at all places to qualify, and this was made twice as hard when Robinho put them 1-0 up (2-0 on aggregate) in the 59th minute. I was ready to throw in the towel at that point, but just two minutes later Davis Curiale pulled it back to 1-1 (2-1) - and suddenly, I just needed one goal to go through! I gave everything I had, but Real Madrid gave everything they had defensively - and it worked well. As the clock reached injury time they'd completely nullified the game. However, I got a nothing free kick near the halfway line. Everyone went forwards, and the ball was hoofed up to Curiale...penalty! Real Madrid protested, but the referee waved away the complaints, booking Lassana Diarra for dissent. Zoltan Hornyak steps up...

GOAL FOR SAN MARINO!!!!

The Titani did it! Full time 2-1, 2-2 on aggregate and San Marino go through on away goals, knocking out second-favourites for the whole tournament Real Madrid! Sadly, in the quarter finals I drew Liverpool. Yeh, that was game over. A 3-0 defeat at New Anfield pretty much confirmed the inevitable loss, and despite a 2-1 win at the Olimpico (in a match I really should've won 4- or 5-0) I crashed out. Still quarter finals, knocking out Real Madrid and giving Liverpool (the eventual winners) a run for their money certainly isn't bad for a first Champions League campaign!

In the Italian Cup I marched to the semi finals with no trouble at all where my opponents were Juventus. I lost 2-0 away, which gave me everything to do. It wasn't helped when Juventus got a goal in the fifth minute, meaning I needed 4 goals to go through. Even at home, that was always going to be a tall order. However, I went about it the right way, equalising in the 8th minute. I then continued to go about it the right way with a second in the 18th minute. Evidently worried, Juventus went very defensive and suddenly scoring became about twice as hard. However, it became slightly easier when Juve lost Marcos Pereyra to a red card in the 30th minute, taking them down to a 4-4-1 formation. Confident I could press forth without so much fear of repercussions, I then went all-out attack. Just after half time, the third arrived, and now it was 3-3 on aggregate - but I was still standing to go out on away goals. There was still fourty minutes left though. However, Juve now stuck EVERYTHING back. I was not getting through that. Or maybe I was. Injury time, Arturo Vidal with a near-post header from a corner, 4-1, 4-3 on aggregate. The Italian Cup final beckoned!

And then Juventus scored a minute later. 4-2, 4-4 on aggregate, I went out cruelly on away goals. Easy come, easy go! Still a tremendous match to watch though, one of the most exciting I've ever seen on FM.

I've summed up the cups; finally, the league. It was all VERY tight at the top, as this halfway table demonstrates. Fiorentina and Inter had a slight lead, but everyone else were switching around regularly. Here's how it developed:

27 Played

32 Played

35 Played

37 Played

And finally...

Final Serie A Table (2015)

Slightly better than I was expecting! Inter looked like certs for the title, but suffered losses to Roma and A.C. Milan near the end of the season. I still had it all to do - Roma away and Juventus at home were my final two games of the season, and Inter had taken 6 points from me so I couldn't rely on head-to-heads. I suffered a loss to Roma, looking certain to have blown it, but Inter shockingly only drew away at Empoli, and I was able to JUST scrape a completely undeserved 1-0 win against Juventus to take the league! As you can see from the league table, it was completely undeserved - Inter completely dominated, winning many matches by 3 or 4 goals where as I almost always only won by 1 or 2. However, they just got very unlucky at the end of the season, and I STOLE the league! San Marino, Serie A Champions in 2015!

Over the summer, I both spent and received a fair amount of money. Firstly my purchases - Ariel Martinez, a promising striker, for his minimum release clause of £13.5M, Mamadou Sakho for £12.75M, Geoffrey Jourdren for a free, promising Mexican striker Jesus Castillo for a free, and then just before the transfer window shut I bought Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for £2.7M after both Martinez and Curiale were injured, leaving me needing another striker. On the selling standpoint, it was the man I'd only just brought in the previous summer, Sergey Malakhov. Pretty much every big team wanted him. I didn't want to sell, but I thought there was no harm in accepting a co-ownership deal with Roma, £14.75M with him staying at San Marino for the next two years. I thought that was the end of the matter, but nope - Arsenal came in and offered £14.25M to both of us, which the board stepped in to accept on my behalf. Rather bizarrely, Roma accepted too despite it meaning a net loss of 500K for them, and Malakhov went to Arsenal, me making a combined profit of £29M - not bad considering he only cost £6M the previous season.

Since then I've done well. This is how the league table currently looks. The draw came on the first day of the season, and since then I've put together a nifty winning streak in the league, including victories over Roma and A.C. Milan. Oh, I won the Super Cup too, before I forget .

In the Champions League I was drawn in arguably the hardest group - Goteborg, Sevilla and (to my great annoyance) Liverpool. Liverpool quickly established their dominance (and Goteborg their status as fodder) with this result. I've done well though - a draw away at Sevilla, 6 points from Goteborg and, valuably, a win at home to Liverpool! After 4 games, I'm 1st on 10, Sevilla are 2nd on 7 after a remarkable win of their own against Liverpool who are 3rd on 6, and Goteborg are rock bottom with 0 points and a G.D. of -16.

Finally, an overview of the team.

Geoffrey Jourdren

Piotr Czaplinski

Arturo Vidal (Vice-Captain)

Omer Ozcelik (Captain)

Mamadou Sakho

Arne Vaneslander

Yoni Buyens

Antonio Pecorino

Francesco Clemente

Andrea Bernardini (San Marinese!)

Zoltan Hornyak

Edgar Barreto

Alexandru Chipciu

Giovanni Volpinari (San Marinese!)

Michal Janota

Ignacio Gonzalez

Ariel Martinez

Yusuke Kato (Could nationalise at the end of the season)

Jesus Castillo (Potential to nationalise (though no time soon))

Davis Curiale

Klass-Jan Huntelaar

I think that's everything!

2007/08: Serie C2, 1st, 69 Points

2008/09: Serie C1, 1st, 68 Points

2009/10: Serie B, 8th, 64 Points

2010/11: Serie B, 7th, 69 Points

2011/12: Serie B, 1st, 105 Points

2012/13: Serie A, 7th, 60 Points

2013/14: Serie A, 3rd, 77 Points

2014/15: Serie A, 1st, 81 Points

2015/16: Serie A, 1st, 25 Points (9 games played)

[llama3]

james when do i get a mention for my tactical input and advice!

what an amazing feat though, seriously i do place this above any of the stuff i have done!

[AcidBurn]

I am in my first season and am 4th I really dont see me getting promoted, I dont know how the hell you guys get them to Serie B let alone winning Serie A. I guess my tactics much suck and all the downloadable ones seem to be for better teams and not ones with bad stats.

[sosidge]

Originally posted by Ter:

San Marino Challenge 2008

It's back and it's, er, more or less the same as it was before. As before, the challenge is pretty simple. Take the San Marino club side from the lower Italian leagues to Serie A and the second part is to qualify for an international tournament with the international side. You can do this in any order you please and have two managers if you want.

Setting Up Your Game

Leagues: Italy down to Serie C2 and any others you want to choose

Database Size: Your choice

Retain Players From Nation: San Marino

Rules

This is just for fun so there aren't really any rules. If you want to cheat to enjoy this challenge then go ahead and cheat, but don't come on the forums boasting about your progress if you have cheated.

Good luck guys!

Could someone explain...

1. How do I become manager of San Marino at the start of the game - I only get the option to manage about 20 major nations.

2. What is the "retain players" option? I can't find it.

Thanks.

[sosidge]

Originally posted by sosidge:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ter:

San Marino Challenge 2008

It's back and it's, er, more or less the same as it was before. As before, the challenge is pretty simple. Take the San Marino club side from the lower Italian leagues to Serie A and the second part is to qualify for an international tournament with the international side. You can do this in any order you please and have two managers if you want.

Setting Up Your Game

Leagues: Italy down to Serie C2 and any others you want to choose

Database Size: Your choice

Retain Players From Nation: San Marino

Rules

This is just for fun so there aren't really any rules. If you want to cheat to enjoy this challenge then go ahead and cheat, but don't come on the forums boasting about your progress if you have cheated.

Good luck guys!

Could someone explain...

1. How do I become manager of San Marino at the start of the game - I only get the option to manage about 20 major nations.

2. What is the "retain players" option? I can't find it.

Thanks. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry, I mean San Marino national team, I am already manager of the club side.

[AcidBurn]

You can use two managers or wait for the current manager to be sacked, retire or resign and then apply for the job.

[Scoham]

Originally posted by sosidge:

2. What is the "retain players" option? I can't find it.

Thanks.

When you start a new game, on the screen where you pick the leagues to load, there's an option called 'load all players from'. You need to tick San Marino, that way all their players are loaded and the national side is manageable.

[sosidge]

Thanks for the help - I am now two managers and looking forward to the challenge.

I see someone else has won Serie A in 2015 - that is a pretty astonishing acheivement. I will be very happy if I can get into Serie A within 6 seasons, let alone win it in 7!

[JamesW]

8 seasons overall, but thanks . I'm pretty sure it was a fluke - I'm sure Oktober and the like will be able to attest to how unusual it is to win the league with a solitary 81 points . I was fortunate in that the teams just below me seemed to delight in taking points off each other.

Always good to see new people starting the challenge, also. Good luck!

A tip for the first season - outside of Capece and maybe the striker who's name escapes me, there's noone worth keeping. Not a single player. Loan in everyone you can get from Cesena, particularly Cristea (they'll all be 0% wage contribution due to Cesena being the parent team, so don't worry about whether they'll be worth it), then look for players who'll accept good deals on wages. At Serie C2 level there're enough good players on free transfers for you to be able to rebuild the team pretty well, it's just a matter of putting in the time to do it.

[Quacky]

Eupremio Carruezzo you mean, that guy was a legend for me in C2 and kind of back up/ super sub in C1 before he retired. You're right though, the team is a bit rubbish but theres guys you can pick up, I grabbed a few San Marinan guys straight away and that was enough to get promoted.

[JamesW]

Carruezzo, that's it. Personally I didn't bother keeping him because my formation for Serie C2 only used one striker and I already had Cristea for that, but as many others have said he definitely does the business, at least for Serie C2.

[AcidBurn]

What sort of formations do people play? Just as my team get used to one tactic we go on a run of losing 3, 4 or even 5 games in a row.

[JamesW]

In C2 I used a 4-4-1-1, C1 a 4-3-2-1 (only with the 3 all central and the 2 out wide), B and A I've primarily used a good ol' fashioned 4-4-2. I've got a few different tactics for each formation - all-out defense, defensive-counter, defensive-possession, attacking-possession and all-out-attack.

[Quacky]

How long did it take people to get more coaches, I'm up to serie B and still have limit 3 (5) coaches.

[JamesW]

You can get 6 in Serie A, but I just pretty much ignored the coach limit in Serie B and brought in one or two more to make sure I had quality coaching in all departments.

[Marky Mark!]

Hi Ter,

Just noticed that you shut down the 2007 San Marino challenge page. Whilst I was the only one updating it, and possibly the only one reading it as well, I would like to keep updating my progress (the national team is around 45 in the world and currently 2nd in their World Cup qualifier group with 4 games to go... getting closer to finally completing the chalange) and see if I can become the only person to complete the chalange on FM 2007.

Seeing if you had a problem with me updating my FM2007 progress in the FM2008 thread, or if you wanted to re-open the FM2007 thread?

Let me know.

Cheers,

Marky Mark

[OriginalCMmanager]

This challenge sounds like fun, think I will give this a go, and start my italian adventure.

[Marky Mark!]

As the San Marino FM2007 thread was shut down, and I still wish to update my progress on my FM2007 game, I'm going to update my progress here, hope nobody minds!

[OriginalCMmanager]

Mini Update - transfer window closed.

Well my Italian adventure has started in a somewhat mixed fashion. I have signed a new coaching staff including Neri as Ass Manager (he is also contracted to England.

Signings.

Ramon Buhler GK

Esmir Sabic Def

Emil Salomonsson Mid

Loans

Christian Jidayi Dm

Nebil Caidi Def

Ricardo Villa AM

Preseason.

Played 7 Won 3 Drawn 1 Lost 3

A 7-2 home win against Siena Reserves was quickly forgotten by defeats to SVW Mannheim and Cesena both 3-1 at home.

Let the fun begin. after preseason i was a bit unsure and a tough Serie C Cup Group was not helpful.

Perugia, Ancona, Gubbio and Fano

The season:-

My first game was a cup game against Ancona.

and a surprising 2-0 home win.

Goals from Turchetta and Carruezzo

Next up was the 1st league game against Poggibonsi, an early goal from Meloni was enough to secure a 1-0 win

The action the turned back to the cup and a must win game if I was to stand any chance of progressing against Gubbio, after scoring early, i was pegged back before a 85th minute winner by man of the match and 2 goal hero Carruezzo. A lucky win from a misfiring attack (12 shots 2 on target).

A 100% record so far but it is early and with the free scoring Perugia up next in the cup it could soon be over.

[Marky Mark!]

2016/17 Season Update - Marky Mark! (FM 2007)

2006/07 - Serie C1/B: 5th

2007/08 - Serie C1/B: 1st

2008/09 - Serie B: 3rd

2009/10 - Serie B: 2nd

2010/11 - Serie A: 6th

2011/12 - Serie A: 3rd

2012/13 - Serie A: 5th

2013/14 - Serie A: 1st

2014/15 - Serie A: 3rd

Pl 38, Won 19, Drn 12, Lst 7, For 45, Ag 22, GD +23, Pts 69

CL: 1st Knockout Round

Italian Cup: Winners!

2015/16 - Serie A: 1st

Pl 38, Won 24, Drn 8, Lst 6, For 51, Ag 22, GD +29, Pts 80

CL: Champions, 2-0 v Man United

Italian Cup: Champions, 3-2 (Aggregate) v Milan

<A HREF="http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/28/leaguezo7.jpg" TARGET=_blank>2016/17 - Serie A: 1st

Pl 38, Won 23, Drn 11, Lst 4, For 55, Ag 18, GD +37, Pts 80

CL: 1st Knockout Round

Italian Cup: Semi-Finals

Club World Championship Winners

Euro Super Cup Winners

Italian Super Cup Winners

</A>

Whilst the season was no-where near as convincing as last season, where I took out a treble, it was still a sucsesfull season none the less.

It started with a 2-1 win against Werder Bremen in the Euro Super Cup and a 1-0 win after extra time against Milan in the Italian Super Cup. I would end up playing them 5 times that season, with 2 wins, 2 losses and a draw (overall from 26 matches they are 13-12 ahead, with one draw - we have also met in the last 5 Italian Cups, the past 3 meetings have been SF, Final, SF - now if that doesn't justify a rivalry I don't know what does!)

Then came the Club World Championship, where we comfortably beat Jubilo (Japan) in the semi's and Salt Lake (USA) in the final, both 2-0.

When it came to the Italian Cup, I cruised through the first few rounds, but then drew Milan in the semi's, who was my only rival for the League title, and they managed to knock me out of the cup, with two 1-0 defeats.

The Champions League was another disapointment, after finishing top of my group with 4 wins and 2 draws, I had Barcelona in the 1st knockout round, and after a 0-0 away leg, I lost 1-0 in the home leg in a match that I dominated.

However, despite me not defending either of the 2 cups I won last season, my league form was much better. I managed to string a record 10 wins in a row heading towards december to establish myself in 1st place, and whilst my 2nd half of the season wasn't as convincing, with way too many draws for my liking, I still managed to win the league with a game to spare, ending up 4 points clear of Milan in the end.

The squad that defended the title

I also had a great year financially, hitting around $360m (AUD), before dividends brought that down to $322M.

They are now 4th in the World Rich List with a net worth of $670M (AUD), behind only Barcelona (worth a staggering $1,01B AUD), Real Madrid and Milan.

2016/17 Finances

2016/17 Player Awards

Cosimo Albertini

1st Serie A Young Player of the Year

3rd Serie A Top Goalscorer (18 Goals)

2nd World Footballer of the Year

At 22, he is already my star player, worth a record $88M AUD and breaking the club record for to goalscorer in a season (28) and most total leage goals (56), has also been Fans Player of the Year for the last few seasons. With a good 10 years of football left in him, who knows what he can achieve?

Almir

Serie A Team of the Year (starting XI)

3rd Serie A Foreign Player of the Year

2nd Serie A Defender of the Year

Sold Brazilian defender who, whilst not having amazing stats (although they are pretty handy), get the job done every week, and has topped the highest average rating for the club for the last 3 seasons!

Emanuele De Rosa

Champions League Dream Team

Despite a great European campain, he wasn't actually in my starting 11, however constant injuries to other players allowed him to have 26 League apperances

David Loose

1st Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year

At 21 years of age, he started the season playing for the U21's, but has ended up as 1st choice GK, and at 21, should have many years ahead of him at San Marino

Raffaele Longo

1st Serie A Italian Player of the Year

Together with Albertini, they would ahve to be one of the most potent striker combinations in Serie A (although Pato is still the dominant striker in Europe)

Espen Evenstad

Serie A Team of the Year (starting XI)

Having picked him up on a free 6 years ago, the 27 yr old is now worth $66M, and has been a key part of my side for many years... an amazing find by my scouts!

Frances Fabregas

Serie A Team of the Year (starting XI)

He cost $56M to prise away from Milan on a co-ownership deal, which for a 29 year old is a hell of a lot, but he hasn't let me down, slotting straight in as captain and playmaker

Marky Mark - Serie A Manager of the Year (2nd year running)

Ok, seeing as 7 of my players ended up collecting awards this year, that took a lot longer to prepare than I thought, I might not be doing that again in a hurry... although I always do enjoy seeing my players clean up the awards!

New Records - Domestic Team

Most Games Won in a Row: 10 - 27.9.2016 to 9.11.2016

Most Games Without Scoring: 6 - 19.11.2016 to 7.12.2016

Most League Goals for Club: Cosimo Albertini - 56

Highest Transfer Fee Paid: $56M - Francesc Fabregas from Milan (co-ownership) - 30.8.2016

Highest Transfer Fee Received: $29.5M - Lauri Dalla Valle to Inter - 1.7.2016

Total Transfer Spending: $232M

Total Transfer Income: $165M

International team update to follow

[Marky Mark!]

2015/16 International Update - Marky Mark! (FM 2007)

World Rankings

June 2008: 180(ish)

June 2009: 134

June 2010: 132

June 2011: 102

June 2012: 102

June 2013: 86

June 2014: 73

June 2015: 65

June 2016: 65

Oct 2016: 45 (Highest Ranking)

June 2017: 53

Well, the national side has certainly come a long way since I first took them over at a world ranking of around 180 in the world!

That said, in previous qualifying campaigns we were normally sitting 2nd last by the end of it (ahead of a Georgia or Kazakhstan of the group), but this year's world cup qualifying group appears differnt.

After 6 games I am equal 2nd (with Norway) in the group of 6, having beaten N Ireland twice and Georgia once, drawn with Norway and Russia once, and lost to Italy who leads the group.

If I can manage a win against Norway (the remaining leg is at home) then I should finish 2nd and qualify for the '2nd placed team' playoff, a draw and it will depend on how or other games go... a loss against Norway and it will probably be all over. I will be sure to keep you posted!

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/8287/euroqualifiersag7.jpg]2018 World Cup European Qualifying Section - after 6 games[/url]

Whilst the quality of the national side has steadily been increasing, with 3 products of my youth academy now being part of the national squad, Im still surprised at how well this qualifying campaign is going compared to others, but no doubt it is partly due to my 'once in a generation' player:

Mario Moroni

Whilst he's not quite a Serie A material yet (in fact not even close), at 18 he is already one of the better San Marino players I have to choose from and if he continues to improve as he has been the last year or so then it's only a matter of time before he leads into World Cup / Euro qualification!

[Marky Mark!]

Lets try that link to the World cup qualification group again shall we...

World Cup European Qualifying Section - after 6 games

[JamesW]

Update!

First, a summary of the remainder of the 2015/16 season. Despite being first at the time of my last update, I couldn't hold it for one simple reeason - Inter. They were just on another level to the other teams. I was able to just about keep in touching distance of them for most of the season, but when they beat me with just a few games to go (making it 6 points for them and 0 for me from our encounters) it confirmed that the chance had gone. I suddenly had to look behind me at a resurgent Juventus and A.C. Milan, only just holding on to second place.

Final 2016 League Table

In the Champions League and Italian Cup I progressed far but not far enough, falling to Roma in the Quarter Final of the former and Juventus in the Semi Final of the latter. All in all, it was a season of competence but not excellence, as there were no trophies to add to the cabinet.

Oh, and I also picked up Patrice Leclercq from Juventus for £7.5M, simultaneously selling Antonio Pecorino to Napoli for £8M. Basically a straight positional swap, except that Pecorino could also play MR whilst Leclercq can also play DC. That gave me a very strong backline of Jourdren in goal with Sakho, Ozcelik, Vidal and Leclercq in front of him (from left-back to right-back). That was quite helpful, as I'll show next season.

In the summer the board very generously gave me a transfer budget of just over £30M. However, I didn't spend a penny - my only transfer in was Jose Silva, a player who since joining has become a Wonderkid.

Anyway, the reason I chose not to spend my transfer budget? It was twofold - firstly, my main transfer target, Alessandro Cilli, proved unattainable when Lyon refused to sell him for under £40M; secondly, the club had taken out a bank loan of £31M for some reason! Yup, this following season would be the farewell season for the Olimpico. My mission to say goodbye with a bang .

Firstly, the cups. In the Champions League I got a reasonably easy group, and was able to take 18 points to comfortably qualify first. I then beat Benfica in the first knockout round before coming up against my major scalp from two years previous, Real Madrid. A 2-1 loss at home meant I needed to score two goals to win at the Benerbau without conceding, something that just didn't happen - a 0-0 draw saw the campaign end timidly with a third successive quarter final appearance.

Similarly in the Italian Cup, I marched to the semi-finals (despite a monstrous first round tie against Inter) before faltering just before the final for the third successive year. This time it wasn't to Juventus at least - an utterly abject 6-1 defeat away at A.C. Milan killed off the tie, basically. This was not helped when, in the home leg, I went down to 9 men, Francesco Clemente being sent off for an elbow and Jose Silva for a second yellow. Despite this I was able to win 2-0, a result which normally would have been utterly incredible but in this instance meant I stumbled to a 6-3 loss.

However, whilst the cups didn't go according to plan (who PLANS a 6-1 loss?!), the league could not have gone much better. Pretty much immediately it was Roma and San Marino running away with it, the defending champions Inter being shockingly poor and Fiorentina far worse even than that. The league table at the halfway point shows the complete dominance pretty nicely. This didn't let up (although I did eventually lose to Napoli, ending a 38 game undefeated streak), as I'd almost won the league title after only 30 games! I started to stumble slightly at that point, taking 4 more matches to confirm it, and only picking up 5 more points from the final 4 matches - but really, who cares?!

Final 2017 League Table

A very good season, in conclusion. Well, when is it a bad season if you win the league? Next season promises a move into the San Marino Stadium (my only regret is that it wasn't named after me). Hopefully I can christen the new ground with my third league title!

One final note, on summer transfers. Inter came in with an offer of £30M for Ariel Martinez, my promising Argentinian young striker. I just couldn't turn it down, and so accepted, immediately looking for a suitable replacement and finding Eugenio Arcari for £17M. Poor physical stats, but otherwise very promising. Only problem is, Martinez didn't move - he turned down Inter's contract offer. So I've now neutered my transfer budget for the next season . Still, hopefully I should bag a few goals!

Also, losing a lot of my transfer budget didn't matter too much, as I picked up a ton of competent free transfers. I can't be bothered to post pictures of all of them, but I got Edgar Andrade, Anes Mravac, David Gascon, Gabriel Obertan and Lukasz Fabianski on free transfers. Not a bad haul! I also picked up a few young defenders as back-ups for my ageing back line (the youngest being Sakho at 27) - Paolo Liverani for £6M, Chris Ross for £4.5M and Mario Villa for £12M. A few older players have been released on frees or transfer listed, so my team now consists pretty much entirely of either quality players or promising players. I also had a massive overhaul of my youth team, releasing on frees the unpromising players (including those who had been promoted to the reserves) and offering up the promising ones for loans, quite a few of whom have now had loan offers in. A total streamline of the squad, basically. The future's subsequently looking pretty promising.

First Team Overview

2007/08: Serie C2, 1st, 69 Points

2008/09: Serie C1, 1st, 68 Points

2009/10: Serie B, 8th, 64 Points

2010/11: Serie B, 7th, 69 Points

2011/12: Serie B, 1st, 105 Points

2012/13: Serie A, 7th, 60 Points

2013/14: Serie A, 3rd, 77 Points

2014/15: Serie A, 1st, 81 Points

2015/16: Serie A, 2nd, 81 Points

2016/17: Serie A, 1st, 87 Points

[AcidBurn]

Was just trying to find some good regens for my girlfriend so we sent her scouts out to Italy(she is Valencia) and we got a san marino youth player at Sampdoria that would become a leading Serie A star. Checked him out on mini scout and he had a PA of 185. Hope I get some like that.

[Swindon69]

Damm - just starting out on this - signed Pagotto who looked a handy gk. Didn't notice his global ban 'till 2009.

[STFC will rule again]

Going for the ultra difficult way of only having San Marino qualified players and staff only . Probably won't last beyond my inital two year deal but we'll see how things go .

[STFC will rule again]

My first half decent scout find was in the first season and I moved quickly to bring inMatteo Bugli on a free transfer to help deliver the final ball that was desperately needed and he's made the right wing his own for over three seasons.

My scout picked up on a half decent keeper called Maurizio Bollini on a free transfer in the second season and he's developed nicely with training into a very capable keeper. I also picked up centre back Marino Barducci from the same team as Bollini and he's done a great job in defence so far.

I brought in Alessandro Della Valle in the January transfer window for 22k in the 2009/10 season to take over from Luca Nanni in central defence and he has made the team alot more solid at the back.

The main man though is Matteo Valli who despite scoring only five goals in the first season, has turned into a goal machine with 28 goals in 2008/09 and 32 goals in 2009/10 making him vital to the team's success.

2007/08 - Serie C2/B 2007/08 Table

Final Position = 4th, 57pts

Top Goalscorer = Andrea Ugolini, 17

Top Assists = Maiani, 9

Transfers In = 17 Players, £62k

Transfers Out = 22 Players, £275k

A pretty good season saw us make it to the play-off final but we just didn't turn up over the two legs which was disappointing but at least the team looks promising.

2008/09 - Serie C2/B 2007/08 Table

Final Position = 7th, 52pts

Top Goalscorer = Matteo Valli, 28

Top Assists = Federico Nanni, 10

Transfers In = 3 Players, £0

Transfers Out = 9 Players, £24k

A run of twelve matches without a win destroyed the season completely so another season in C2/B for us.

2009/10 - Serie C2/B 2007/08 Table

Final Position = 2nd, 68pts

Top Goalscorer = Matteo Valli, 32

Top Assists = Federico Nanni, 12

Transfers In = 3 Players, £22k

Transfers Out = 9 Players, £0k

We were fighting it out with Juve Stabia in 1st for most of the season as we went on a twenty one match unbeaten run but had to settle for the play-offs in the end and we deserved to win the final over the two legs and finally made it out of C2/B and moved onto C1/B which will probably be tough.

I've relented with the all San Marino policy for staff as the players just weren't be trained well enough and I need to get every ounce of ability out of each player with the lack of a decent pool of players to choose from but I'm determined to stick with the all San Marinese players.

I'll do updates in three season blocks as I'm really into this game and can't stop playing .

[STFC will rule again]

Knew i'd get the tables wrong, it's the right links but not the right season number .

[JamesW]

Good luck in Serie C1. The all-San Marinese policy is certainly an 'interesting' one! I'm guessing you're going to have to develop your youth and training facilities whenever possible to produce as many good youngsters as possible, because I don't see you finding quality San Marinese players elsewhere in the long-term.

[STFC will rule again]

It's not too bad so far, been finding the odd decent one but yeah, I'll be onto the board to keep upgrading the training and youth and hopefully get some luck with a few decent players coming through .

[Oktober]

I dont think its impossible to have an all San Marinese team - the problem will be keeping your job if you dont get promoted instantly, no time! If you could get up to C1 and then try, with luck from youth players and decent free transfers, you could probably have a decent team.

I've restarted, and found the first season far harder under the new patch than it used to - basically, theres no players under 33 any more! A very 'experienced' side of mine struggled a lot before rallying and coming 2nd, then infuriatingly lost our 11-wins-in-a-row streak in the playoff final. Another C2 season beckons, but I should get it this year now I've picked up a couple of youngsters, finally. I suppose it depends on my 44 year old ex-AC Milan keeper managing to hold onto his form before senility kicks in!

[Frazza Pee]

Hi I'm going to give this a try as it looks quite hard

[Marky Mark!]

2018 World Cup European Qualifying Section Update - Marky Mark (FM2007)

Well, after my last international update, I was equal 2nd with Norway after 6 games, with 4 games left, I had Norway, Russia, Italy and Georgia, whilst Norway had San Marino, N Ireland, Russia and Italy.

It looked like I had a slightly easier draw, but a lot was dependant on the San Marino v Norway match, lose that and my hopes were over...

After a close game, 0-0 was a fair result, although I did get more shots and shots on target then them.

Next up I got a 4-1 win over Russia (biggest win by the national team), but Norway scored a 1-0 win in injury time, to keep the points level.

The 2nd last game of the group saw me up against Italy, who had only dropped one game, and beat me 3-0 when I first played them, but, somehow, I managed a 1-0 win, whilst Norway could only manage a 1-1 draw with Russia.

2 points ahead, a win against Georgia would guarantee a spot in the 2nd place playoffs, although unles Norway could cause an upset and beat Italy I would be through regardless of my result. In the end I could only manage a 1-1 draw with Georgia in a game where I hit the post 3 times, but it was enough, as Norway fell to Italy 1-0.

I was now 2 games away from the World Cup!!

World Cup Qualifying Section Group Stage - 2nd place!

I was drawn against Tukey in the playoffs, which wasn't a great result, seeing as they were 29th in the world (San Marino is in the mid 30's), however at least I wasn't against England (3rd) or Switzerland (15th).

[Marky Mark!]

2018 World Cup European Qualifying Section Playoffs Update - Marky Mark (FM2007)

Ok, my earlier screenshot probably gave the result away, so I won't beat around the bush, San Marino are playing in the 2018 World Cup!!!

With my main striker out, and playing a superior side, I decided that defence was the way to go, so I changes from my usual 4-1-3-2 formation to 4-1-4-1 formation.

The first leg went ok, I can't say we played well, but we did enough to score a 0-0 draw away from home.

Going into the home leg, I put the nation's 2 best penalty takers on the bench (who had otherwise terrible stats and would never make the national squad) in anticipation for another 0-0 draw, but then, in the 76th minute, a goalmouth scramble resulted in my left back, Nicola Della Valle, scoring his first international goal in 40 caps, and putting San Marino in front!

Turkey threw everything at us for the remaining 14 minutes, but with me now playing a 5-1-4-0 formation, we held on for the win! The greatest sporting moment in San Marino history, the team are now 23rd in the world!

I will give you a more thorough update closer to the World Cup proper, but for all of you that said it was impossible (of which there were a few in the original FM2007 thread), I have now completed the FM2007 San Marino challenge!!

[Marky Mark!]

Marky Mark - San Marino 2018 World CUp Update

Well the 2018 World Cup groups have been announced and I have been seeded 2nd for the draw (which is odd seeing as I am normally seeded last for the qualifying groups, and in the world cup 3rd seed Ghana is actually ranked higher than me - 15th - I'll never get how this seeding works).

2018 World Cup Groups

At the moment I am ranked 23rd in the world, and should be able to beat China, who are 36th in the world (I have beaten them before) Ghana (15th) and Denmark (5th) are going to be much harder... to be honest I'll be happy for a 3rd place finish (althoguh of course I'll be doing everything I can for a top 2 finish).

I'll post a more thorough update closer to the Cup, but until then wish me luck!

Cheers,

Marky Mark

[iacovone]

Hi guys, I fancy starting this challenge. What leagues have people loaded? I know Ter said its up to us but just wondering what the general consensus is?

[aaberdeenn]

I've just started this.

I'm mid-September at the moment, things going reasonably well.

I did get knocked out of the Serie C Cup group stage finishing 3rd out of 5 and missing out on going through by a point. A poor performance and defeat in my final game cost me.

I've played four games in the league; won 2 drawn 1, lost 1. The one I lost was the opening day so my form is pretty good. I also won my most recent game 1-0 after going down to 9 men with the score at 0-0 and 34 minutes remaining. Great result.

And iacovone; I just went with all Italian leagues only and loaded all San Marinese players.

[sergent21]

Originally posted by iacovone:

Hi guys, I fancy starting this challenge. What leagues have people loaded? I know Ter said its up to us but just wondering what the general consensus is?

I run the English, Spanish, French and Spanish leagues when I did the challenge, as I thought that was the general consensus at the time.

Regarding the managers, I started the game as the club and national manager, although I'm not sure how everybody else was doing it.

Its a relatively ruleless challenge, but it is definately one of the harder challenges, especially regarding the International side.

Good luck iacovone and aaberdeenn and good luck in the World Cup Marky Mark, make San Marino proud

[minisav]

Originally posted by minisav:

Minisav - 08/09 - C2/B

I won the league!

Table

Fixtures 1

Fixtures 2

Fixtures 3

Serie C Cup

Quarter Final:

Leg 1

Destroyed them. Late 4th goal makes the 2nd leg a little easier.

Leg 2

After the sending off I expected to struggle. 2 free kicks from loanee Gronchi kept us going.

Semi Final:

Leg 1

Away from home and dipping in form, i wasn't confident. A late winner sets up an interesting tie at home.

Leg 2

Even again and we snatched an even later goal. They then got a player sent off and we were through.

Final:

Leg 1

With a goal that wasn't a goal for them and losing a late one I thought it was all over.

Leg 2

Blooming 'eck! What a close one. After getting an equaliser they were still winning on away goals. Up steps Gronchi and fires home a winner!

Italian Super Cup

Alto Adige V San Marino

San Marino V Cisco Roma

Summary

We played fantastic. Slight dips in form meant we didn't win the league earlier.

Next Season...

Promotion again? I just hope to stay up first season then build on from there.

{B]International[/b]

San Marino V Moldova: 1-1

After going 1-0 they equalised and it was very even from then on.

Up Next...Bosnia!

Just picked this one up again today. Haven't done anything but San Marino are currently 105th in the World Rankings

[aaberdeenn]

I'm also playing by LLM rules and I'm managing the club side only. I'll pick up the national job as the same manager later on.

10 games into the league campaign and we're 7th out of 18. My record is; 5 wins, 2 draws, and 3 defeats. Reasonably happy so far. Unless we seriously pick up some form I think the playoffs will be my best bet which I'd be happy with anyway.

[Oktober]

I'm running Italian leagues only, but with a ton around the world on basic since I like to just keep an eye on them.

I'm finding it much, much harder since the patch, for some reason! First season lost the playoffs after coming second, second straight up comfortably, but now in C1 I'm back to the 07 method of finding it seriously difficult, after I breezed through it first time around.

Oddly, while I'm very much noticing that there seems to be a huge shortage of talented players, I have 6 San Marinese kids now in my first team, a lot of them seem to be spawning without a club who are really very good.

I'll maybe do a full update once I'm back into Serie B and into 'stage 2' of the challenge, once I've finally got some options to bring in talented players!

[aaberdeenn]

I've just finished my first season in charge.

Final Serie C2/B Table

[iacovone]

Is your job insecure aaberdeen? Aren't the board intent on promotion first season? Playing by LLM rules myself for those that didn't know. I also made my manager San Marinese and have loaded just the Italian Leagues

[aaberdeenn]

My media prediction was 5th and the board wanted promotion yet I finish 8th and they are delighted. The only thing at the club they aren't happy with is the finances/wage bill.

Into the second season and the board want a safe mid-table position despite the initial two year aim of being a major challenger within two years I got at the start. :/

I'm also still playing by LLM rules. I'm in the off season between season one and two at the moment.

How's your game coming along?

[Marky Mark!]

2017/18 Season Update - Marky Mark! (FM 2007)

2006/07 - Serie C1/B: 5th

2007/08 - Serie C1/B: 1st

2008/09 - Serie B: 3rd

2009/10 - Serie B: 2nd

2010/11 - Serie A: 6th

2011/12 - Serie A: 3rd

2012/13 - Serie A: 5th

2013/14 - Serie A: 1st

2014/15 - Serie A: 3rd

2015/16 - Serie A: 1st

Pl 38, Won 24, Drn 8, Lst 6, For 51, Ag 22, GD +29, Pts 80

CL and Italian Cup Champions

2016/17 - Serie A: 1st

Pl 38, Won 23, Drn 11, Lst 4, For 55, Ag 18, GD +37, Pts 80

Club World Championship, Euro Super Cup and Italian Super Cup Champions

<A HREF="http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2830/leagueyx3.jpg" TARGET=_blank>2017/18 - Serie A: 2nd

Pl 38, Won 26, Drn 4, Lst 8, Fpr 56, Ag 22, GD +34, Pts 82

Italian Super Cup Winners - 3-1 v Roma

Champions League WInners - 1-0 v FC Bayern</A>

Well, despite getting the most league points in San Marino history, and the 3rd highest amount of points in Serie A history (the previous highest amount of points scored was 83 by Inter back in 06/07), I ended up finishing 2nd to runaway leaders Milan, who were simply too good, racking up a stunning 93 points, leaving me 11 points adrift. Interestingly enough, 3rd place Roma were 27 points behind 1st place Milan, showing their domanance.

That said though, the team did take home some silverware, the Super Cup, and more importantly, the Champions League, convincingly beating Arsenal in the QF, Valencia in the SF, and then Bayern in a close final, 1-0 in the end.

That said I was still disapointed to not take out the Serie A after winning it the past 2 years, and there were 2 main reasons for that.

First of all, I had an injury toll like no other. When you have your first 7 choice strikers out at one time you know your in trouble, and in the end I couldn't get anyone to score my goals, it always seemed to be my strikers getting injured!

Secondly though, and more worrying, my once invincible team is now aging, and is illustrated best by looking at my midfield, which consist of:

John Obi Mikel - 31

Francesc Fabregas - 31

Nani - 31

Rudy Gimenez - 30

Emanuele De Rosa - 29

Ismael Aissati - 29

I've also got a 28 yr old and a couple of 27 yr olds, but whilst Ive got quite a few other younger midfielders, there just not up to the standard yet... so lets hope they start improving soon. That said, I do have a transfer budget of over $400M, so I can afford to buy a few good youngsters, so thats what I might do, in fact I'll try and poach a few of Milan's quality players to try and cripple them in the process (I don't really care if I have to pay $100M+, I don't want them winning again next season!).

Once again we are 4th in the rich list at $656M, with Barcelona and Real Madrid still leading the way.

Time to start spending big this season I think!

New Records - Domestic Team

Most Games Won in a Row: 11 - 4.10.2017 - 26.11.2017

Whilst the domestic season was a little bit of a disapointment (if you can call taking out the CL a disapointment), the national side were in the World Cup of course, so stay tuned for their update!

[Marky Mark!]

2017 / 18 San Marino International / World Cup Update - Marky Mark

As mnetioned earlier, the 2018 World Cup sees me in Group F with Denmark, Ghana and China. Hardly the group of death, I actually had hope of making it past the group stage.

However, before the group games, I'll give a preview of some stars that could win it for San Marino by picking the best player from each position:

Goalkeeper: Aldo Simoncini

Ok, I wouldn't call this guy a star, and in fact he's probably the weakest link, but this 31 year old vetran with 94 caps to his name is the best I could find from the country (sadly only two other half decent GK's are also in their 30's).

He's played most of his career in Serie D, however made a move to Ternana in 2013/14 for $250k, and helped them gain promotion to Serie B.

He's solid enough in goal for San Marino, with perfect Agility and Balance (20), however all of his other GK stats are under 15, which isn't ideal.

Key Defender: Claudio Gasperoni

At only 19 years of age and with only 15 caps, it may be a big call having him as the star defender (and in truth there are a couple that could have gotten that label), however this product from the San Marino youth academy has big numbers in most of the key atributes (Heading, Jumping, Decisions, Tackling, Bravery, etc) - although he does also have a lot of very low attributes, which is a worry.

He is still in the San Marino U20 domestic side, and whilst he is staring in the national side and has imrpoved quite a bit, he's a long way from breaking into the domestic side... I'll give him a season or two more to see if he's going to improve much more (hopefully he does), but if not I'll have to offload him for some cash, but more importantly so he can get some more game time.

Key Midfielder: Mario Moroni

Another youngster, however at 19 years of age he has already gathered 21 caps and would be arguably the most skilled player to have ever played for San Marino (definitely in the top 3 of all time). He also came through the San Marino domestic youth academy, in fact from the same year as Gasperoni (2014/15), and he was labled by my assitant as a once in a generation player.

I've been tracking his progress over the last few years, and this year he has come on in leaps and bounds, and no doubt still has a lot of improvement to come.

He's yet to make an apperance for the domestic side (and in fact is far from the standard required), however if he keeps improving it might only be a couple of seasons away. Nationally he has been staring and with a number of 14+ stats, he is really showing the others in the national side how its done.

Key Striker: Giangiacomo Morganti

A more experienced player to round out my top 4, this 29 year old veteran of 80 caps and a record 28 goals can play either as a target striker or as a defender, with excellent stats for both (and in fact often swaps from attack to defence as needed during a game).

He was picked up by the San Marino domestic side on a free in 2008/09 when we were in Serie B, but after being out on loan for a couple of seasons he didn't show the improvement that was needed and was shipped off on a free. He's been to a few clubs since, picked up for $775k by Serie C1 club Modena, and then moving again to Serie B side Cesena, where he helped them gain promotion to Serie A with a solid 40 game 7 goal 1st season (they got relegated back to Serie B in their next season).

Nationally, he is the all time top goalscorer with 28 goals, despite spending a large amount of his career in defence (generally earlier on).

If these 4 can stay fit during the World CUp campaign, then I seriously do think we can get past the group stages... maybe a little ambitions, but who would have thought San Marino could have thought San Marino could have climbed to 14 in the world rankings? (I have no doubt that there are many more than 13 nations in the world that are better than us, but I'm happy to take the 14th world rankings whilst it lasts).

Thats a brief rundown on the national side, stay tuned for our progress through our first World Cup!

[DodgeeD]

Good luck in the World Cup. The group certainly seems to give you a chance of reaching the next round.

For no particular reason, I've been playing my San Marino save for the first time in a while. Still in Serie B and halfway through the season at the moment. Will try to get finished and report soon.