San Marino "double" Challenge 2008

[Oktober]

I played on as normal, and took the same result from the Spain game as last time - this time a 1-1 draw instead of 2-2. However, Saudi Arabia made no mistake on their second chance and thrashed Ghana 4-1 to take the spot I had gone through with previously. I wasnt so bothered, I'd rather have gone out earlier than later since it would have felt like cheating to get further on the second attempt. Still, I've documented exactly what it took and how I managed it, and I hope I've set the bar high enough for the 8.02 generation to challenge

The season domestically has started nice and smoothly - very comfortable wins over AC Milan and Blackburn have added two Super Cup trophies to my rapidly-filling cabinet, with the fun of the World Club Championship still to come. As usual, I've spent a fraction of what the other teams did, with only one £9m signing, whereas they've all thrown £20-40 million about. Hopefully though, like Lazio, my continued dominance will force them into the red with me taking up all the prize money and European spots - call me cruel, but I do love seeing the big clubs fall from grace

[minisav]

Half-way Update

International:

Nothing. Waiting to play Moldova in about 90 days.

[Club:]

They are doing fantastic!

League Table

Best Tactic & Team

Affiliates

Finances

Okay the finances aren't too great but we're coping.

Serie C Cup

Table

Fantastic turn around after two boring draws. I wasn't confident ahead of the last game against an all gray Boca San Lazzaro but we pulled off a 3-0 win.

Round 1 Leg 1

San Marino V Perugia: 4-1

Fantastic performance. Even after Moretti's sending off we still managed to sneak 3 goals.

Round 1 Leg 2

Perugia V San Marino: 3-1

I wasn't confident, even with the 3 goal lead, as we are a bit shaky away from home. I was almost proved right until loan signing Gronchi snuck in a late goal to put us through to the 2nd round.

Round 2 Leg 1

Avelino V San Marino: 1-1

Another late goal means we go back home with an away goal meaning a 0-0 is all we need to progress.

Round 2 Leg 2

San Marino V Avelino 2-0

Although they were a better side I always thought we were going to win as we were at home which has been a 'Fortress' for us.

A Quarter Final with Monza awaits. Uh-oh. I think the run will come to an end. Hopefully the prize money will be decent-ish.

KUTGW Everybody

[Muzgrob]

Just started this challenge will start giving update when I play it more.

[sergent21]

I have just started this challenge today, had played half a season before 8.0.2 to get a feel and whatever for tactics and players.

Umming and arrghing whether or not to sign a few San Marinese players and get them onto F/T contracts, thus maybe scuppering my own chances of progressing

Hoping to get the 1st season completed by tommorow, and will post regular updates on progression.

Started as club and international manager, as it seems pretty difficult to get the job any other way.

Well done Oktober, had me regulaly reading and wanting to take up the challenge so..

[DodgeeD]

End of Season Report (2007/8)

January Transfer Window

I'll start here as three key signings made my season.

First up, Adrian Pit (thanks for the tip there Oktober ). He was the holding man I'd been looking for to make my tactic work.

Then I was offered Fabrice Catherine by Stade Rennais for free. At 34, he's not a long term investment but certainly better than Dei.

My final freebie was Alessio Alberto Tombesi who came in from Parma. Only 25 years old so hopefully he will peak while we try to go up the divisions

Serie C2/B (Second half)

Final Position: 1st!!

With our new goalkeeper between the sticks, Tombesi partnering Diaw in defence and Pit in the holding role ahead of the back four, we stormed through the second half of the season. At one point we went 14 games unbeaten and Catherine kept 7 consecutive clean sheets. We only won most games 1-0 or 2-0 but it was comfortable as most opponents didn't pose much of a threat. It all went a bit starnge in the last few games after we'd secured promtion as we suddenly started getting scores of 4-3 and 5-4 with the same tactics and same team . A slight dip at the end as we lost 3 of our last 5 but it was already in the bag.

Serie C2 Super Cup

I didn't even know this competition existed until I was in it The board wanted me to 'secure a safe mid-table posiiton' in a group of three with two matches each, hmmm... I finished bottom but the board were happy that I'd secured a mid-table position. OK then

Team Round-Up

The fan's best eleven for the season looked like this. I was suprised Tombesi wasn't included but I guess he only played half a season..

Oh yeah, and I got the manager of the year award (or at least the Serie C2/B version )

International Round-Up

Old Mazza failed to lead the boys to Euro 2008. However, he didn't fail miserably as San Marino recorded two home wins against Cyprus and Slovakia gave the national team 6 points. Still finished bottom though...

San Marino were drawn in Group 1 for the World Cup Qualifiers along with Germany (another 13-0 on the cards?), Sweden, Bulgaria, Albania and Lithuania. Bottom spot beckons again!

On a side note, England qualified for Euro 2008 but lost all 3 group games against eventual champions Switzerland, Sweden and Turkey. The FA responded by sacking McClaren and giving the job to this guy. Oh, what might have been...

Anyway, time to bolster the squad ready for Serie C1/A

[DodgeeD]

Really got into this yesterday so I've ploughed on

2008/9 Season Halfway Update

Transfers - I was after defenders and a back-up goalie as well as trying to renew my loanees from Cesena for another year. The board gave me absolutely nothing to spend; even if I'd promised great things for the season they would only increase the wgae budget so I had to check out the freebies. The scout I managed to hire (a regen with a 14 for judging potential - best I could find at this level) had been sent to scout central Europe as was still out there a year later (gave me visions of the guy touring Europe in his Fiat Uno going fromt raining ground to training ground ). He'd spent most of that time in France and Germany and was just moving onto Spain, meaning most of the options were french.

So I picked up these guys:

Ismael Traore - a French U-21 central defender

Rune Hansen - a Danish U-21 central defender signed from Wolfsburg

Ritchie Makuma-Mpasa - a French right-back, signed as back up but has since made the spot his own.

Karim Robin - French (again ) full-back, only playing back-up though

Doudou Diaw - last year's rock at the back on loan from Cesena was available on a free so we snapped him up. Hopefully, he'll add to last year's 6 goals too!

Nermin Celikovic - a Bosnian midfielder, looks really good for this level

Valentin Haguet - a young attacking midfileder recommended by Traore.

We also got Villar and Cristea back on loan from Cesena (who are now in Serie A, hopefully they will send us some better quality loanees next year )

I let a lot of the youth players and reserves go on frees. It was a bit of a shame to let some San Marino nationals go, especially as I didn't bring any in but I doubt most of the guys above will ever represent their own nations so maybe they will take up nationality after 6 years and get in. We can but dream

Serie C Cup

I was hopeful of a better performance this time but it wasn't to be. A poor defeat to Masesse cost us dear and a draw with Ravenna meant we couldn't get top spot. Agonisingly, one more goal would have given us a good enough record for one of the best runners-up spots

Serie C/1

Halfway through and it's looking pretty good. We started with a big worry as an injury crisis left us without a goalie and no fit defenders or strikers for the subs bench. Then, Pit got injured - a torn calf muscle ruling him out for 6 months. However, we pulled through, even though we had to play a 16 year old regen with a one grey star in goal for the first two games

I'm optimistic of securing the automatic spot for promotion atm. If not, the play-offs will do!

[mizan]

EU nationality players rarely take up the San Marino nationality.

More chance with Non- EU.

[DodgeeD]

Originally posted by mizan:

EU nationality players rarely take up the San Marino nationality.

More chance with Non- EU.

Hmmmm, I was wondering about that. In my other games on FM 08 it seems that older EU players may take up nationality when they are eligible - maybe thinking about settling down for retirement Well, these are a good bunch anyway, especially for Serie C1 and Serie B, (though I may have to let them go when/if we make it to Serie A and bring in some quality non-EU regens!) I have a New Zealander coming on a Bosman at the end of my current season: 18 year old striker, looks pretty good. I was going to sign a Chinese player too but he got called up and capped for his nation so I decided against it.

I'll post another season update later

[mizan]

Best advice I can give you for Serie C is that get players on loan.

Save money, no hassle of letting players who cant play higher level.

I got promoted to Serie B with only 2 registered players, everyone else was on loan.

Another tip players listen on loan- offer 50% of wages- will be accepted!

[jamiechuter]

The FA responded by sacking McClaren and giving the job to this guy. Oh, what might have been...

Hehehe... Yeah that happened all the time in testing!

He was manager of Inter for ages in my game and I kept saying how we were best mates an all and he said the same back and managed to get on his favoured personnel so when he got sacked from Real Madrid I asked my mate Jose if he fancied being Assistant Manager of the San Marinese National team and of course he agreed

[sergent21]

I have nearly finished my 1st season and will post a full update once it's complete

Was wondering thouh, what is everybody doing regarding helping the International side?? Are you just winning games and getting the club side promoted and hoping that the International team will succeed or are you like me, trying to sign the better one's from the International side and blend them in with your club squad, thus meaning FT training and hopefully better chance with the International side.

Would be intrested to know???

[Oktober]

I didnt bother until about 2014ish, once my academy was at least Good in the Serie B and producing decent youngsters. By the time I had a squad that was decent enough to not embarrass themselves, it was all regens as all the starting players had long retired.

Thanks for all the kind words, good luck to everyone new to this challenge and congratulations on the huge amount of promotions! I'll have a new update in a few weeks in-game, an interesting end to the season beckons...

[Oktober]

Oh and, at the top level I've only got one SMR player in my first team squad, and he was a nationalised Serbian who's being sold in the summer. I figured that it'd benefit the team more to let them play first team football in the Serie B or lower A than to sit on the bench at my team... I've even let a couple of youngsters go on the cheap instead of making any profit from them so that they can develop in the Brescia, Palermo etc first teams instead of my reserves.

[DodgeeD]

Season 2008/9 Round-Up

January Transfer Window

I wasn't as active as last time as I was fairly happy with the squad in the first half of the season. Plus, Pit and Cristea were due back from long-term lay-offs (Pit 5 months and Cristea 6 weeks), which would bolster the team enough. The only worry was Diaw, who, after a great first year on loan, saw his stats and form drop alarmingly once he came on a permamnent deal. As Sburlea had broken into the Romanian U-21s, I asked him for a reccomendation and he directed me to Darian Andronic, a 19 year old central defender with Serie A potential.

Serie C1/A

Final position: 3rd

We were unable to maintain our form from the early part of the season at one point even losing 5 in a row. That coupled with Novara's dominance meant we lost our grip on the top spot pretty quickly. Form picked up towards the end of the season though turning 5th into 3rd and giving us the higher position advantage for our play-off semi.

Play-Offs

We were pitched against Padova in the semis. Like us, they had been in great form up to the New year and faded slightly after that.

1st leg: 4-4!!! An unbelievable game as we came from behind 3 times to secure a vital away draw.

2nd leg: 2-0 win!!! Failure to win in the first leg had knocked the wind oout of Padova's sails and we comfortably dispatched them by two goals at home for the 6-4 aggregate win. Onto the final to face Hellas Verona!

Final 1st leg: 1-0 win!!! A jammy jammy result as they pegged us back most of the match. One lucky break, one lucky goal, one lucky win

Final 2nd leg: 1-1 San Marino win 2-1 on aggregate for promotion!!! A tight, tense game. Verona got the goal they needed in the first half but we came out fighting after the break. the pressure finally told as the excellent Celikovic hit a 20 yard screamer into the net with 2 minutes left. After just 2 season, San Marino are going to Serie B!!

Other news

The fans best XI looked like this with Sburlea chosen as Player of the Year. Sburlea and Cristea got 2nd and 3rd respectively in goal of the season. Sburlea is attracting a ölot of interest but luckily the offers are mainly co-ownership, which I can refuse without upsetting him

The overall best XI had 3 new additions those being Makuma-Mpasa, Celikovic and Fernandez.

The board reacted to promotion by deciding to expand the stadium. Their genorosity holds no bounds - I'm sure the extra 180 fans will really intimidate the big guns in Serie B

All in all a surprising season. I'm just a bit worried now that we've gone up too early. Cesena were relegated from Serie A so that link will be cancelled and a few players are getting old or just not good enough to step up so I'll have to do some restructuring over the summer and hope we get more cash by being in Serie B. An epic season awaits!

[Oktober]

Congratulations on the promotion!

Bit late since my net was down earlier, but...

Final Serie A table, 2022/23.

Decent season, but an injury crisis at the worst time dumped us out of both major cups and cost us the league. Roosenburg in DM, Calabrese at AMC and Araújo up front all missed the whole of Feb and March, Araújo missing the entire end of the season. Dropped points with youth backups ended up allowing AC Milan to open a pretty big gap, and although we closed them down fast time eventually ran out on us. Away goals are not our friends either, as we went out of the Italian Cup to Inter and the Champions League to Sheffield United on them. However, wins in the Italian and European Super Cups, plus the Club World Championship expanded our reputation at home and overseas, as well as adding three new trophies to the ever-expanding cabinet.

Over the summer the board agreed to expand the stadium again, another 3000 seats taking us now to 43,333 all-seated. The big news was the arrival of the biggest transfer to date, £28million AMC Yusuke Mori to partner Calabrese from Leicester. With an English passport he doesnt use our non-EU slot, and my accountants are rubbing their hands with glee at the marketing oppertunities he brings. Now if we can just find a decent feeder club - say Urawa Reds, who've been free for 3 years now - he should pay for himself in merchandising alone, before we even come to the performances we're expecting of him on the pitch.

Internationally, things are looking more positive than we would have thought when our nightmare group was drawn. Aided by the arrivals of several new talents who were previously holding out for Italy, San Marino sit in a qualifying spot for the upcoming Euros in Scotland and Wales. With both Germany and Serbia games out the way, Denmark provide what should probably be the only real test left for us so long as we can keep a cool head against the likes of Cyprus and Liechtenstein. A 6-0 victory in Vaduz became our strongest ever competitive result, and a magnificent 3-0 home win over Germany could well prove vital by the campaign's conclusion. Incidentally, if we hadnt lost 3-2 to Denmark, we would now be 17 games unbeaten - 19 if counting the original, not replayed World Cup campaign.

Targets for the following season are to find a merchandising feeder club, attempt another league win and to replace some of our aging squad, particularly in finding a DC partner for Alin. Provided we can hold out in the final few games of qualifying too, we should be off to the European Championships, where as the Germany game proved, we really are in with a chance of picking up our first silverware.

[Oktober]

Ah, how awesome is this?

[sergent21]

I have finally completed my 1st season (or have I ) Finished it a bit later than I was hoping, but things cropped up!

Serie C2/B - Season 1

So here it was, a unkown Welsh manager took over the unenviable task of restoring past glories. Co-incidentally his brother took over the International side.

First thing I did notice was the general age of the team, it was rather high, so set about lowering it. After numerous failed bids from anybody half tidy, I the decieded that loans would be my friend. Also scouted the whole of the International squad, and realised that a couple could come in handy throughout the season.

By the start of the season I had dubbed my team "loanee XI". Started the season so slowly with 3 defeats on the spin. After tinkering with the formation and tactics I finally settled on a fomation, which actually worked out rather well.

Half way through the season, my lone striker got himself injured, and with the team strugglig up top, I decieded to play Emporio Carrezoula. All I can say is wow!! Evetually he ended with more goals than games started. If he had started the season I feel that promotion would have been a cretainty.

As You Can See the season was a relative success, and am abjheout to start my playoffs so here goes

Will post results

[sergent21]

Completed the playoffs last night, and due to genuine dissapointment, I forgot to do a playoff update.

Beat SPAL in the Semi Finals, due to the fact that I finished higher in the league seems slighlty odd but I was happy about getting to the final.

I hadn't realised that the final was 2 legs so at the end of the 1st leg, I piled everybody forward in search of an eqaliser, but ended up losing 1-0, and was bitterly dissapointed.

Got to the news screen and then realised that there was a second leg. I thought that fate would help me and after going 2-0 up after 50 minutes, I thought it was just meant to be. This clearly wasn't the case, and my normally solid defence went to pieces, conceding 2 goals and only managing a draw, thus meaning I didn't gain promotion

Board want me to make the playoffs, so going on the hunt for a couple of loans, and going to scour the bigger clubs for released players.

Here we go again

KUTGW everybody, and another good sason Oktober, hopefully San Marino will become a massive force in International football, and I am currently trying to emulate your progress so..

[jamiechuter]

Finally got my internet at home working so I could upload some pics from last season, so here we go:

Second Best team in Europe over the last 5 years although come the end of the season we'll be first

The league table at the end of our second league win (Check out the goals for column! )

Manager of the year again!

San Marino claims all three foreigners of the year places

And all three Player of the year awars (and all are different players!)

build up to the Champions League Final

This is what we aspire to!

Then we can get the praise we deserve!!

And then watch the job offers pour in! Don't worry though, I stayed loyal to San Marino!

Here's the club's Info screen from the end of our treble winning season

And Finally My Info/History Screen!

[bergeroo]

Fantastic Jamie - worshipped in San Marino!

Can you or anyone else direct me to where I can get the San Marino badge and kit...

Thanks

[jamiechuter]

Originally posted by jamiechuter:

Also I found this Logo Pack for all Italian Leagues thought I'd share it as it's made San Marino alot more colourful

http://www.sortitoutsi.net/index.php?page=downloads&area=file&fileid=4779

This is for the logo's

[Swindon69]

Hi - just a quick question - on starting this what were your boards expectations?

[DodgeeD]

Originally posted by Swindon69:

Hi - just a quick question - on starting this what were your boards expectations?

For the 'two-year plan': Be a major player in Serie C/2B by the end of two years.

Season expectations: Promotion

[Zellix]

Originally posted by DodgeeD:

For the 'two-year plan': Be a major player in Serie C/2B by the end of two years.

Season expectations: Promotion

Yeah I thought that was rather odd myself. Still trying to figure out how that works

[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!

[DodgeeD]

San Marino's Serie B Struggle - End of 2009 Update

I'm halfway through season 3 of the challenge and my first season in Serie B and it's proving tough so far...

Pre-Season

I was hopeful that promotion would bring in more money and allow us to attract better players. It all seemed good when 1.5mil of TV money came in, wiping out our debts in one go. The board also out the wage budget up to 22k a week so all looked good. Unfortunately, the board refused to give any transfer funds, (not even if I were to promise the Serie B title!!). As for the increased wage budget, it was all wiped out once the mandatory 25% wage increase had been enforced for promıtion The really frustrating thing is, we sold 3500 season tickets, every home game is sold out and we are making a profit every month yet the board won't release extra funds for wages or transfers

Loanees were difficult to come by too as our parent team Cesena were relegated back to Serie B meaning the link was cancelled. I asked the board for a new parent team and the only cjhoÅŸce they gave was Almeria of Spain. They sent me three 17 year olds who are only making sub appearances in the U-20s at present. I did, however, manage to get Cristea on loan for a 3rd season.

Anyway, I manged to make a couple of free signings (thankfully there were a couple of players with low wage demands). First up, Romain Bregerie. He's been fantastic so far, racking up 7 league goals from corners mainly but open play too Lauri Dalla Valle started to appear in the Italian U-19s and was out of contract so I snapped him up.

Italian Cup

It was always going to be tough to progress here. An unkind first round draw pitched us against former parent club Cesena. We pushed them all the way to extra time but ultimately, they were too good and got the 2-1 win.

Serie B

At the halfway stage, we are occupying the last relegation spot having just lost a crucial relegation battle against Navaro 1-0. The season stared fairly well with 3 draws and a win in our first four gmaes. We were then hit by injuries as Sburlea, Giuliatto and and Cristea were all ruled out for 4-8 weeks, leaving us short of wingers and points.

We have played fairly well in most games, often losing by just one goal. There has also been a problem with international call ups. I have 4 players who are called up for San Marino and 5 or 6 more who get U-21 call ups. However, games are not postponed when clashing with internationals, which has left me with a limited matchday squad on a few ocassions.

Pit has turned into Vinnie Jones getting sent off twice and giving away five penalties, three in the closing stages of matches

On the plus side, Andronic has been playing really well and an unattached Spanish regen I signed 2 seasons back is starting to break into the first team. Since our injury crisis has passed too, performances have been better. I'm quite hopeful we can hang on to a Serie B spot. We have Novara at home on the last day of the season. Could be a massive game.

[DodgeeD]

San Marino 2009/10 Round-up

January Transfers

Still hampered by the board's tight-fisted approach, I couldn't spend any money. I managed just one signing. Samuel Huber, a Swiss U-21 right back (recommneded by my reserve goalie - also a Swiss U-21 international) was available on a free from Aarau so I signed him but that was it.

Serie B

Final position: 17th We survived The team played much better in the second half of the season. After the loss to Novara, we won the next four and never dropped lower than 18th after that. We even managed to beat Lecce 3-1 away and Siena 2-1 at home. We were safe with about three games left and rounded off the season in style with a 5-1 win over relegated Novara

Final Serie B Table

2009-10 Season Best XI

Overall Best XI

Romain Bregerie was the fans' player of the year and made the Serie B XI. He was our top scorer too with 17 goals - not bad for a centre back (just to point out, I played most of this season before installing 8.0.2 as I know a lot of people are saying defenders are scoring too many from corners - not the case here!)

The season ahead: The board have decided to upgrade the stadium to full capacity (7500) meaning we will ground share with Rimini till February. They are also investing in the training facilities over the summer. Both of these improvements came about without me asking for them, which is nice

But better than that, the wage budget has been more than doubled and I've been given 1.5mil to spend on the condition that I avoid relegation

I've also noticed that players with expiring contracts who were 'not interested in a move to San Marino' back in Jan/feb are now willing to discuss terms so I'M hoping to make a few good additions on the cheap.

Other news

The national team managed just one point in World Cup Qualifying.

The qualifying group draw for Euro 2012 means San Marino will face Germany (again ), Switzerland, Scotland, Wales, Macedonia, Moldova and Estonia. Should be a few chances for points there.

Oh, and Portugal won the World Cup beating England in the final on penalties!! So unrealistic - should have been the quarter final

[DodgeeD]

A few days into the news season and the board offer me the chance to start a feeder link with Andorra F.C. They are listed as in the Spanish third division - not playable in the game I believe but maybe there is the chance for an 'Andorran Double' challenge in the future

[Oktober]

Final table, Euro 2024 Qualifying Group A

A very pleasing performance from what was a very difficult group.

Straight off the back of our brilliant World Cup campaign, we didnt let up, tearing through the group with no respect to the supposed stature of our opponants. As documented last time, wins included a 3-0 over Germany and putting 6 past Liechtenstein and Slovenia. The season started with a squeezed out home win over Liechtenstein, where we seemed to visibly struggle with most of our players still in pre season and distinctly lacking match fitness. However a great comeback in Copenhagen put us in a great position, and the following Wednesday kind results elsewhere after a 2-1 defeat of Slovenia put us 7 points in the clear and qualifying for Euro 24!

With the remaining two matches against Iceland and Cyprus away it was really expected to just be a formality, but with nothing to play for commitment and drive seemed to be lacking as we lost 1-0 and threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2. While it wasnt really important, I would still have prefered to have put up a better showing.

A milestone of note coming up belongs to legendary striker Luca Matteoni, who is now on 95 caps. With two friendlies scheduled and a minimum of three games in the group stage, I can only hope that he remains free of injury at Espanyol to become the first ever San Marinese player to reach 100 caps! However, I doubt he'll remain the record holder for long - realistically he cant really cut it at the top level any more, however goalkeeper Albani is only one appearance behind him and at 32, probably still at least has another qualifying campaign in him. Nationalising this winter is 'continental' reputation AM/FC Gustavo Santana, domestic U20s captain who I've been deliberately keeping very quiet. Thankfully though, my own two strikers are keeping him out of the Brazil team! So hopefully I'll be able to take him along to Scotland and Wales and allow Matteoni to reach the magical century from the bench.

[Oktober]

Final Serie A table, 2023/24

Very very solid season domestically, as I finally loosened the purse strings and spent some of the £60+ million that I'd accumulated in Champions League revenue and prize money. Yusuke Mori blitzed club records with his £28m move, and proved an extremely good investment as he came third in the Foreign Player of the Year award behind my own Márcio Araújo. Wonderkid Piet van Kesteren won Young Player of the year despite spending most of the season in a huff about refusing to be allowed to move, and Bombardieri won Goalkeeper of the Year ahead of former mentor and international rival Sacco at Juventus. It'll be interesting to see who is picked as Italy's number 1 for the upcoming Euros! I quite comfortably got Manager of the Year too, although the fans are not 100% pleased with me as the jury remains out on my second big money signing, Luke Curtis from Birmingham. However, towards the end of the season he seemed to have settled nicely and with age on his side, he should continue to impress into next year and beyond.

The big upcoming event though, is the European Championships! Hosted jointly by Scotland and Wales, we've been drawn against Russia, Scotland and Czech Republic in the group stage, with all 3 games to take place at Celtic Park. We may be 5000-1 shots, but after last year's performances in Argentina I really fancy our chances here. Worth a few quid on I reckon, and its own update bringing hopefully good news as we go for our first international trophy!

[Oktober]

Sadly this time around, it wasnt quite the adventure.

Group stage went very well, as we easily qualified as top of group A after just two matches.

Euro 2024 Group A: Czech Republic 0 - 1 San Marino

Czech Republic were surprisingly docile, and although there was only one goal in it it had to go down as an easy win. They gave us something of a scare very late on, as they scored their first shot on target in the 86th minute, only for it to be ruled out for offside.

Euro 2024 Group A: Scotland 2 - 3 San Marino

Scotland up next though, gave us far more of a scare. An unlucky deflected goal was followed quickly by an unstoppable rocket, and we went into half time trailing and looking poor against the co-hosts. A very well worked goal clawed one back, and for the second tournament in a row we scored a magical equaliser at 2-2 in the second game. A nothing through ball intended for Luca Matteoni on his 99th appearance somehow managed to wrong-foot the previously excellent goalkeeper and trickled slowly into the empty net. It was a miracle when it happened in Argentina last time around - this time in extremely similar circumstances, its just bizarre. Content to settle for a point we pulled back, but while trying to just hold the ball in their half, substitute Ugolini of Fiorentina used his fresh legs to surge into the box, and was cynically pulled back for an incredible 94th minute penalty, duly converted to guarentee us the top seeded qualifying place!

Euro 2024 Group A: San Marino 1 - 3 Russia

With qualification and seeding assured, this match was able to fully serve as a true testament to the amazing 100th cap of national legend, Luca Matteoni. While Russia took the lead very early on, it only took 9 minutes for him to truly get the send off he deserves, with a goal on his 100th appearance, and what will no doubt now be his last as we look to the future. In the end Russia won comfortably, but the result was meaningless to us and an excellent tribute to one of our all time legends.

Euro 2024 Quarter Final:Portugal 2 - 0 San Marino

To the quarter finals now, and we were drawn against runners up of Group B, Portugal. After Matteoni reaching his century, solid goalkeeper Riccardo Albani equalled the record, but sadly did not mark it in quite the way he would have wanted. Portugal proved incredibly tough to break down, however we were by no means out of it at half time. We looked strong, but a cruel deflection gave Portugal the lead early in the second half. Portugal seemed content to shut up shop, and we struggled to break their strong and organised defence down. With our backs to the wall, we went all out for the equaliser, but a free kick late on sealed it and we were left yet again wondering what might have been.

So, the second quarter final in a row, and attention will have to sadly turn to England for the 2026 World Cup. In our way are Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Austria, Sweden... and our only real rivals, Italy. I'm fairly confident about the first three, but as last seasons campaign showed, the scandanavian countries can be something of a wildcard. Italy will be extremely difficult though, probably the toughest country we've had to date standing between us and Wembley. However, the Italy game will be the first international played in front of upwards of 50,000 fans, as my club's board are adding another massive ten thousand seats to the Olimpico, taking its total capacity to the astounding 53,990, all seated.

[Muzgrob]

Wow, nice going oktober.

Hopefully when I get more time to play, I can get to a decent league.

Surely your ground has more seats then San Marino has population.

[Oktober]

Final Serie A Table, 2024/25

Decent enough season but there was a frustrating lazy streak seemed present, as most of our dropped points could have been avoided. There were no real players to blame for it though, just the usual 1-1 or 2-1 loss where everyone gets a 7 and the goalscorer an 8. However, we finally picked up the last trophy missing from our cabinet with an easy 3-1 win over Chievo in the Italian Cup, after destroying Inter in the semi final.

Our season's big signing was the return of former youth player Antonia Mantovani, after activating his £20.5m release clause at Barcelona. Joining Calabrese (World Player of the Year), we now have a home grown, world class attacking midfield pairing, along with Yusuke Mori and Luke Curtis taking our total world class reputation players to 4. Good for merchandising... if only we could finally get Urawa Reds to help market Mori in Japan, we could make an absolute killing.

Internationally, qualification for England '26 is looking unlikely. With losses at home to Sweden and Italy, albeit narrow, and an away loss to Bulgaria, we'll struggle to even slip into the playoff unless we win all our final games - including the away returns to Stockholm and Milan. However, our 4-3 home loss to Italy, including a 94th minute winner by my own Max Calabrese was watched by a crowd of 53,969 fans, with a further expansion to the Olimpico promised at the end of the season. Be very interested to know if anyone else can break that record with the nation

[DodgeeD]

Congrats on your success Oktober. It's surely just a matter of time before you get that international triumph

My second season in Serie B has started well. We are sitting comfortbaly in mid-tbale as we approach the halfway stage. I had a bit of a clear out in the summer of those players who had helped us out of Serie C but weren't making the grade higher up. I also had to let the impressive Giuliatto go as he was after a move to a bigger club and only had a year left on his contract. Managed to get a million punds for him though Strangely, his chosen 'bigger club' was Modena who currently sit 22nd in Serie B Serves him right I guess

I managed to raid some Serie A clubs and snap up their out of favour squad players, giving a much needed boost to midfield. It was a lot easier to attract players. I guess surviving in Serie B increased our appeal

The main highlight of the season so far has been an impressive cup run. We even knocked out our new parent club, Piacenza I write this as I am about to embark on my toughest match as San Marino manager so far - away to AC Milan in the 1st leg of the first round proper. Wish me luck....

[DodgeeD]

Match Report - Italian Cup 1st Round 1st Leg

AC Milan v. San Marino

San Marino arrived at the San Siro as underdogs with AC Milan 1-8 favourites for the win. However, San Marino had spent the last season and a half defying the odds by staying clear of the relegation zone in Serie B. Could they provide an upset?

The main worry for San MArino in th build up was the suspension of first choice left-back Alessandro Bastrini. A lack of depth in the squad meant 18-year old Emiliano Fiore, a summer 1k signing from Verona would make his first competitive start at the San Siro. Anticipating Milan would opt for a 3-5-2 line up, San Marino went with a 4-5-1 to try to keep everything tight in midfield.

As expected, AC Milan fielded many fringe players and youngsters but the team still included the likes of Pirlo, Gatusso, Kaladze, Pato and new signings Modric and Van Der Vaart.

Milan dominated the first half with Degre (a loan sigining from Lazio reserves) playing the game of his life in goal for San Marino. The superb Romain Bregerie was in form too making many cucial tackÅŸes and interceptions. San Marino held out until the half hour mark when a poorly cleared cross was smashed home on the half volley by Pirlo. A second followed just before half time as Pirlo latched on to a parried save by Derge to make it 2-0.

Milan relaxed a bit in the second half and after about an hour, began to pull off some of their bigger names and give a couple of youngsters a run out. With Pirlo and Van Der Vaart now off the pitch, San Marino made and attempt to gain control of the midfield. Lone striker Sburlea was moved out to the right wing and Dalle Valle pushed up front as Haguet came into the midfield. It paid off as Haguet laid on a through ball for Dalla Valle, who lined up to shoot then cleverly laid the ball off for Sburlea to chatge in from the right and stroke it into the back of the net. San Marino thjen proceeded to dominate the last 10 minutes with Dalla Valle hitting the post and Haguet and Sburlea forcing the Milan keeper into two fine saves.

Final score: 2-1

San Marino held their nerve in front of 79000 Mialn fans and are still in with a shout as they take a vital away goal back to Rimini (the Olimpico is currently under redevelopment).

Second leg takes place on Jan 19th (one month from now).

[shaggy61]

Going to join the gang and give it a go as

San Marino appoint new manager

profile

[trundler]

im giving this a go....

not doing too well at the moment - lots of injuries have placed me mid-table after 15 games.

One question though. IT says my foreign players are working towards Italien citizenship...

Do i have to be playing with a patch for them to become San Marinese?

[JamesW]

Having finally got FM08, I'm taking up this challenge!

Pre-season went pretty well, I think. I was pretty successful at getting the squad size and overpaid players down, and I was able to bring in a fair few good players too.

That said, the season started abysmally. I took one point from six, and then proceeded to get cruelly knocked out of the Serie C Cup after a 94th minute winner (for the other team) in the final game of the group stage moved me off the top spot. However, after the 1 point from 6, I proceeded to take 30 from 36, remaining unbeaten through that period. Now, halfway through the season and the table looks like this.

However, I'm developing an issue - injuries. My squad is only 19 players strong, and with 5 injured right now I'm seriously lacking depth. Another, perhaps more serious long-term issue, is that out of 17 games so far I've only managed to keep 3 clean sheets. And it's not like I'm conceding unfortunate late goals, I'm consistently conceding a goal or two each game.

Formation is 4-4-1-1. However, all four of the midfielders (5 if you count the man behind the striker) are very attacking-minded. On the plus side, I have 5 people banging in loads of goals - hence my poor defensive record not keeping me off the top spot. In addition to barely keeping any clean sheets, I've also been able to score in every single game, win, lose or draw.

Things are looking bright!

[JamesW]

And as I say that, the next game is a 0-0 draw.

[Scoham]

Originally posted by trundler:

im giving this a go....

not doing too well at the moment - lots of injuries have placed me mid-table after 15 games.

One question though. IT says my foreign players are working towards Italien citizenship...

Do i have to be playing with a patch for them to become San Marinese?

Pretty sure you do yeah.

[DodgeeD]

Match Report - Italian Cup 1st Round, 2nd Leg

Sorry it's taken me a while to get back to this but I got into Gundo's Challenge with Blsany. And I was delaying the inevitable as this journey ended in an expected defeat

After the heroics of the first leg, I was a bit too bold in the return game and it showed as we went 2-0 down almost immediately. I then re-adjusted my tactics and we started to create more chances but we couldn't match the clinical finishing of Milan. There was a glimmer of hope early in the second half as new signing Mendy scored his first goal for the club. We then had the better of the chances in the second half but lacked that punch to put them away. All hope was killed off as we gave away a stupid penalty on 80m mins, which Pirlo cooly slotted home. Final score: 1-3 making for a 5-2 aggregate defeat.

This ahs given me hope however, as we were not dominated by Milan and matched them for extended periods of the tie. If my youngsters can develop a bit more and I can attract one or two more quality players to the club, I can compete in Serie A

[sergent21]

Hey all, haven't had much time to play FM recently, but when I have had a chance, have been plowing on through my seasons

Currently in Siere B at the present moment, and not doing too badly in it. Mid table IIRC, and pushing hard for a playoff position.

Going through a phase of signing the best potential players from the amateur teams in San Marino, and 2 players I have from doing this is my leading scorer, and another is being chased by PSG, Monaco etc..

Internationally we are in and around the 120 mark, having won our 1st game, 2-0 at home to Armenia. Other than a couple of bore draws, not progressing as well as I would have hoped we would have.

I shall finish the season, and will then give an update for the current season.

[sergent21]

On a side note, trundler and JamesW, welcome

Its a very enjoyable, if untimately annoying at times, but I love it, even when the chips are down.

Was wondering though, are either of you playing with both managers, or are you starting as the club and hoping to work up to becoming the International manager as well??

Would be intrested to know

Unlucky Dodgee D, I had a 1 off game against Milan, in which I dominated, but lost on penalties.. Sooo lucky.. Also unlucky Oktober, have immensly enjoyed reading your expeditions so thanks

[DodgeeD]

It seems my season has taken a downturn since out cup defeat and we are now in the bottom half... I think I need to make a few changes to recover.

I'm just concentrating on the club at present and I'm biding my time for the international hotseat .

[sergent21]

Originally posted by DodgeeD:

It seems my season has taken a downturn since out cup defeat and we are now in the bottom half... I think I need to make a few changes to recover.

I'm just concentrating on the club at present and I'm biding my time for the international hotseat .

Unlucky, surely promotion won't be too far away.

I figured that I would start as the International manager because of the low reputation and low low expectations, that it would be pretty hard to get the job, and always planning for the future. Good youngster with good potential, regulaly gets caps and game time experience. It'll surely help in the long term.

[JamesW]

Originally posted by sergent21:

On a side note, trundler and JamesW, welcome

Its a very enjoyable, if untimately annoying at times, but I love it, even when the chips are down.

Was wondering though, are either of you playing with both managers, or are you starting as the club and hoping to work up to becoming the International manager as well??

Would be intrested to know

Thanks. I'm looking forward to the challenge - normally I don't stray out of England.

I'm just club manager - I'm in no rush to take over the national team, on the grounds that they won't be any good for about 10 years anyway. I'm happy to build up my reputation, youth and training centres, then go for the position when I'm likely to actually accomplish something!

Progress update:

As I said before, I was top at the halfway point. This continued into about february time, noone looking too likely to catch up, and I with the use of some more defensive strategies I was able to get some clean sheets (albeit at the expense of a few goals).

Then, with ten games to go, my players proceeded with opreation "drop like a stone". I took 2 points from 15, and my lead at the top cut from 10 points to there being only 4 points between the top 5 (with me top by 1). Can't begin to tell you how frightened I was at this point.

Thankfully, things turned out okay. I won 4 out of the final 5 games, the other one being a 0-0 draw, and all the teams directly below me still had to play each other - I only had to play one, Teramo, who I was able to eek a vital win off.

After that, it was time for the C2 Super Cup, a tournament I didn't even know existed! My first match was a harsh 3-2 loss - an 89th minute equaliser was unfairly ruled out for offside. That left me pretty much out of it already, so I decided to have fun in the second match and went back to my tactics from the first half of the season - and promptly won 4-1. That left the winner out of my hands. It was Nuorese (the team I hammered) at home to Igea Virtus (the team who beat me). I needed Nuorese to win - anything else and Igea Virtus would win. Also, I needed them to win by less than 6, not that that was going to be an issue <_<. Great Success!

So, all in all a very successful season. I'm pleased at how comfortable we looked in the Super Cup (even if the result of the first match didn't reflect it), too. It bodes well for next season.

Key Players:

Alexandru Chipciu

Christian Cristea

Doudou Diaw Federico Capece Franco Micco Giampiero Maini Job Bulters Michele Marani Michele Moretti

A few are Cesena loanees, then one or two were already at the club. Otherwise they're all people I brought in. Though, in fairness, I think I discovered most through this thread.

Roll on Serie C1!

[GalwayUnitedFC]

when managing both club and country,i was expecting foreign players to accept San marinian(?) nationality,but its Italian because the club is based in italy.is it possible for players to gain nationality otherwise?

[JamesW]

I'm in October now. After 6 league games I'm 3rd in Serie C1, which sounds more impressive than it is considering I'm only 3 points above 11th. Everyone's pretty bunched up.

Pre-season was pretty good. After I off-loaded all the dead weight and brought in some Cesena people on loan again, I found I only had one striker - Cristea. I also lacked a quality centre-back. I was able to sign Doudou Diaw for a free after Cesena let his contract run out, then brought in Jidayi and Bova on loan against as well as Mirko Drudi; however, none of them stand out as stars in Serie C1, just "pretty good" players.

In other news I used up my non-EU signing for the season on this gem of a player. Artim Polozani's arrival at the Olimpico excited the fans, and no wonder - my scouts say he would make a good Serie A player! So far he's got 4 goals and 6 assists from 10 games - although in fairness 4 of those assists and all 4 goals were from the Serie C Cup, which I'll get to in a bit.

I had a massive Wage surplus, some of which I diverted to my transfer budget to bring in Polozani - however, I still had my budget at about 10k per week with the maximum budget allowed being over 20k. I tried to use some of it to bring in two players - a strong centre-back, and a back-up striker. The back-up striker quest went well - I was able to loan in Samuel Di Carmine from Fiorentina, a player rated as good as Cristea, and I also bought another cheap (3k) back-up in the form of Ignazio Mirabelli, who I won't provide details for because he's nothing special, just a cheap back-up. The issue with the centre-back, however, did not go so well - with one scout hunting for strikers (and eventually finding Mirabelli), I sent the other to Germany to look for a defender. That, however, turned out to be a fatal mistake, because I stupidly forgot that I also had him on the constant mission of scouting my next opposition. As a result he spent the entire time travelling and never produced a single report before the transfer deadline passed. I'll try to bring in someone of quality in the January window, but in the meantime I'm going to be relying on a defensive line-up that wasn't THAT solid in Serie C2.

However, that won't matter if my strikers (translation: Cristea) can keep up their current form. In pre-season he got 13 goals in 5 appearances, and he proved it wasn't just a "pre-season" thing by banging in 8 in the four Serie C Cup games. The Serie C Cup...well, I got a favourable group drawing, and was the only Serie C1 team in the group. I anticipated an easy qualification and my players proved more than equal to it, scoring an incredible 20 goals in the 4 games to result in an emphatic qualification. A goal difference of +18 bodes well for the defence too, even if they were aided by the opponents not being up to much.

League has been mixed so far, but I'm certainly not going to complain about the current position!

So to sum-up:

Success in Competitions - Good

Finances - Great (a rare feat with San Marino it would seem!)

Signings - Good

Future - Rosy .

[sergent21]

Originally posted by JamesW:

The back-up striker quest went well - I was able to loan in Samuel Di Carmine from Fiorentina, a player rated as good as Cristea

Samuel Di Carmine is amazing, definately worth keeping if you can. When I load my game up after I will post a screenie of the time he spent with me on loan. Scored IIRC in excess of 90 goals in just 2 seasons.

He know plays for Chievo in Siere A, and is a regular starter.

Also I have loaned Christea, for the 1st time in Siere B and he's a tidy player at this level too. Is my first choice winger at present, although I am trying to bring in a couple of permanent signings, and he will one of the players to feel the cull, should I find a replacement.

Will try to post screenie later. KUTGW though mate

[JamesW]

Wow, you're certainly right about Di Carmine - 11 goals in 5 games! I think I may have found a new hero here!

In other news, I sent both my scouts to Germany for the centre-back, and they both returned with one defender - the same one . Assani Lukamyi was rated as "good for Serie B" by both scouts, can be left-back or (more importantly for me) centre-back, and was out of contract at his old club. He'll be joining in January now.