[FM10] 10.3 The World Is Mine Chico

[sambos]

Hey everyone, this is my first careers thread although i have been reading these forums for quite some time. This is basically my Journeyman career game i have recently started and i hope it makes for an enjoyable read.

10.3 Update

Tuggs Training

Leagues Loaded: Top Divisions from Argentina, Brazil, England, Scotland, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal and Italy.

Medium Database

Automatic reputation

Aims(1) To win all domestic trophies in each of the top divisions of the 10 selected leagues.

(2) To attempt to win a continental trophy with each club.

In Journeyman fashion I began unemployed but hoped to begin my career in South America then eventually attempt to conquer Europe. Several jobs came available in Brazil and Argentina but they refused to consider me. It was just before Christmas when i accepted my first job.

[sambos]

DECEMBER 09 - MAY 10

Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League was the first club to take a gamble on the ex-portuguese professional David Kavanagh after dismissing Craig Brown. The club were languishing in 12th (last position) on 8pts after 17 games and 5pts of 11th place Hibernian. After assessing the squad i concluded that a good solid WB/R and a ST were needed on loan as very limited transfer funds were available. So, Seamus Coleman and Fabian Brandy were loaned in from Everton and Man Utd respectively. Surprisingly, Motherwell were still in both domestic trophies and in the quarter finals of the Scottish League Cup so a small outside chance of some silverware!!!!!!!!!

Of the 21 league games, we won 10, drew 4 and lost 7 which was good enough to save the club from relegation and eventually finish top of the second tier (when league splits in 2 after 33 games) in 7th position on 42pts. Hamilton Academical were the unfortunate team to be relegated.

A good league cup run saw us reach the final at Hampden Park in front of 65,000 fans, but we were up against the might of the blue side of the old firm. Not surprisingly the match finshed 6-1 to the Gers.

TOP SCORER Jamie Murphy 12 goals

TOP PERFORMER Ross Forbes 7.19 (32 games)

With the job done and even though i only signed a 3 year contract extension in April, i decided enough of miserable Scotland and i resigned in the hope of accomplishing my original goal of becoming a success in South America before my assault on the European front.

[RichG]

Are you going to take a new job every year?

Take a peek here about linking and images. Also set up a photobucket account for image hosting. Its free for ages (based on volume) and depends how big your game gets (saved images).

Also set screenshot to PNG in preferences and you are up and running.

[sambos]

Are you going to take a new job every year?

Not necessarily, when I win all that i wish to win (e.g Domestic leagues and cups) aswell as continental trophies if possible then I will decide to leave. Or if I get sacked of course. I generally wont stay in one place for more than 3 seasons. I will be posting my progress at Internacional tomorrow evening, but just wanted my page to be more than just text thats all. Thanks for the help. Are you doing a similiar career game yourself?

[sambos]

Sport Club Internacional, known simply as Internacional or Inter, is a Brazilian football team from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, founded on April 4, 1909. They play in red shirts, white shorts and socks, the first of which gives the team its nickname of O Colorado. The club play at Beiro-Rio stadium with a capacity of 56,000 and have top of the range youth and training facilities. Juventude and Gremio are the clubs fiercest rivalry in the Gaucho State. Internacional have only won the Brazilian National 1st Division 4 times, with victories in 1975, 1976 and 1979 capping a glorious decade for the club and once more in 1992. More recently in 2006 Internacional won the Copa Libertadores and also the Fifa Club World Championship for the first time in their history.

July-December 2010 Brazilian National first Division

Reputation: Continental.

Finance: Good.

Ticket Price/Season Ticket Price: £6.60/£46.

Ground Capacity: 56000 (35000 seated).

Facilities: Adequate Corporate, Good Training and State of the Art Youth and Youth Academy.

Feeder Clubs: Sao Jose, Sao Carlos, Nautico and Chico FC (Columbia).

Legends: Dunga, Taffarel, Elias Figueroa, Falcao, Fernandao.

Icons: Lucio, Valdomiro, Tinga.

Favoured Personnel: Abel Carlos, Clemer, Paixao, Rafael Sobis, Carlos Gamarra, Daniel Carvalho.

Club Value: £79M (Loan Debt: £6.75M).

Squad Personality: Determined.

Captain: Bolivar (DC).

Media Prediction: 6th.

Signings

Hernanes - £8.75M over 24 months - DM/AMRLC, Manoel (regen) - £220k - DC.

Outgoing

Numerous players totalling 3.3M including loanees.

So lets start. We are 8 games into the National Championship sitting in 12th position, 8 points behind Atletico Paranaense when i began my career as the Internacional manager. My reputation is now Continental after beginning with National reputation in Scotland with Motherwell. Our first game was away to Corinthians and we put in an excellent defensive performance to leave with a 0-0 draw. This lead to an upturn in performance with 3 consecutive wins and another draw, all without conceding. Morale is suddenly high and the players continue this form until end of the season only losing 3 matches of our last 25 which means we win the league by a couple of points (screen shots will be posted later!!!!). These poor Brazilians hardly get no break and after a few friendlies we are ready to compete in the Gaucho State Championship were our only competition seems to be Gremio.

Will update on how Gaucho championship is proceeding aswel as the Copa Libertadores and any transfers that may have happened over the course of christmas in Brazil.

[RichG]

Yeah my game is the Italian Legacy

U.S Pro Vercelli Calcio. Just got promoted to Seire B

There is also a Metalic badge pack for good images. Takes ages to download but worth it. Just be careful when loading it up that you merge files and don't overwrite them

[sambos]

Yeah my game is the Italian Legacy

U.S Pro Vercelli Calcio. Just got promoted to Seire B

There is also a Metalic badge pack for good images. Takes ages to download but worth it. Just be careful when loading it up that you merge files and don't overwrite them

Like your layout for your career game, stole some ideas so hope you dont mind. Must take you a considerable amount of time to make them posts.

[sambos]

Here is how the league table finished. As you can see a great season for the team and some excellent signings for next season coming soon.

[sambos]

It should be noted that after the National Championship was won we signed 2 major players along with some excellent youth prospects. Diego Tardelli was purchased for £9.6M aswell as Nicolas Otamendi for £7.8M over 24months and a lucrative international appearanced add-on. To raise funds there was a mass exodus of reserve players which are plentiful in the current squad and these helped the raise £5.2M. To add to this i sold our promising striker Taison (£6.5M) to make may for Tardelli. Our team is now strong in all departments except wing-back were players are performing well with reasonable ability.

[sambos]

Only the Brazilian Cup left to win before i will feel the need to move onto another club and country although it will be with a heavy heart as im enjoying my spell in Brazil.

[RichG]

Fiorentina are very good on my game.

I got offered the Atalanta job with a 37m budget and 450k per week wages allowance so money is good in italy so i would go for it

[sambos]

Fiorentina are very good on my game.

I got offered the Atalanta job with a 37m budget and 450k per week wages allowance so money is good in italy so i would go for it

cheers i decided to stay for one more season purely to attempt win the brazilian cup and the recopa.

[sambos]

INTERNACIONAL 2011 SEASON IN REVIEW

GAUCHO STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

This championship consists of two groups of 8 teams from the Gaucho State and has an opening stage and closing stage with quarters, semis and finals to decide each stage after the group stage and runs from early January until April or May. The winner of the closing stage is the overall state champion. Now in Internacionals particular state there is really only 2 teams i consider a threat and that Juventude but in particular, Gremio. As expected we cruised through both group stages as winners but in the opening stage lost away the Gremio 1-2 in the semi final. However, in the important closing stage we managed to reach the final with our opponents being Gremio with this Result. This ensured our qualification for next years Brazilian Cup.

So, in an entralling two-legged fixture i managed to secure my second league title in under a year with my 1st title being the national division last year. This state championship is ideal for blooding some young talent i purchased and also the promising players from the youth academy as the oppsosition is generally quite weak.

Eduardo Melo is one of a number the yth players i used and is receiving interest from the likes of Real Madrid already in his career. Other prospects will make their senior debuts include Da Silva and Ulisses, who represent the most promising youth players at the club.

COPA LIBERTADORES

As national division champions in 2010 we secured automatic qualification to the group stage of the South American equivalent to the champions league. The other 3 teams in the group were the dangerous Brazilian side, Palmeiras, the Paraguayan team, Olimpia and the relatively unknown Colonas (cant remember the actual name). After 5 games us and Palmeiras were level on 13pts after drawing with each other previously. The winners would be afforded the favourable draw of a group runner up in the 2nd stage. Eventually we won 3-1 away from home to secure top position in the group and set-up a 2nd stage match against Cruz Azul of Mexico. A 4-1(agg) win ensured a quarter final berth against Colo Colo which we duly won 5-0(agg). Palmeiras were our semi-final opponents and i knew from previous meeting that they would provide tough opposition. The first leg ended 2-2 with us going a goal down each time only to claw ourselves back into the game. The second leg at home was easier after going two up in the first 25mins, eventually winning 3-1 and 5-3 on aggregate. Next was the final and Argentinian powerhouse Boca Jnrs. The tie was memorable considering the scoreline and a landmark achievement for me. This success brought my managerial reputation to world class.

BRAZILIAN NATIONAL 1ST DIVISION

I was expecting a tough fight for this division as other teams around us strengthened well and as defending champions we were able to lure Nicolas Otamendi, who provides an excellent pertner for team captain Bolivar in the heart of the defence. Diego Tardelli, another big name signing was brought in after selling 10 fringe players from the reserves. Now i was confident that with a decent size squad and with strength in every area of the field coupled with some good youth coming through that the future was bright for Internacional. The 1st 5 games saw us start sluggishly as we were in the midst of fixture congestion thanks to our Copa Libertadores success, only winning 1 game and drawing 3 others. After the Copa Lib. was over our form increased dramatically as we went on an 18 game unbeaten run. An excellent season continued and we were crowned national champion for the 2nd time in succession with no major teams pushing us that far. And here is the league table. As you can see we won by a considerable margin. I think 1 more year in Brazil will be enough and then hopefully get a good job offer in Argentina or Portugal.

CLUB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

As winners of the Copa Libertadores it was our duty to represent South America in Japan at the inaugral club world cup. We duly accepted a bye into the semi-finals and our opponents were the winners of the North American Champions League (NACL), Club Universidad Nacional of Mexico. Any ideas that we would easily qualify for the final against Juventus were quickly dispelled when Nacional used counter attack to effect scoring twice in the opening half hour. After this surprise we got our focus back and dominated them for large periods, pinning them inside their own half. Nonetheless, we just couldn't score for love nor money, especially with their keeper having a heroic day in between the stick. The tie finished 2-0, but we can feel slightly aggrieved considering we had 2 goals ruled out for offside.

TEAM AWARDS

Hernanes, the attacking midfielder signed last year was remarkable this season with 20 goals and 11 assists and was rightly awarded South American Player of the Year and the 1st Division Players of Year.

A number of the team made the 1st Division Team of Year and i was awarded Manager of the Year.

SUMMARY

All in all a hugely successful season with 3 major trophies coming our way. I wanted to win all domestic and continental trophies with Internacional but it seems the Brazilian Cup is not possible as teams who qualify for Copa Libertadores cannot play in it apparently. Anyway i still want to win all i can if that means waiting for another crack at the club world cup and the Recopa then so be it. Here is the Brazilian end of season summary.

[sambos]

Just prior to the Copa America Bruce Arena was sacked as head coach and it was me they asked to replace him.

COPA AMERICA JULY 2011 - USA

When i took charge the competition squad was already selected so i could not change anything. There were several useful players including Dempsey, Altidore and Jones but i knew i had a job on my hands trying to qualify from a tough group consisting of Columbia, Paraguay and Peru.

USA 1-1 PARAGUAY

A match dominated by Paraguay and they deservedly took the lead from a corner kick with their big centre back heading home in the 32nd minute. To make matters worse, in the 45th minute our anchor man Jones was sent off for 2 bookable offences. We battled away and created some chance and to my surprise Donovan scored a diving header in the 82nd minute with the match ending 1-1.

USA 2-2 COLUMBIA

We were up against a good columbian side who took the lead early on through a Guarin bullet of a shot. We equalised after Altidore was left unmarked in the box. Clint Dempsey then had th be stretchered off leaving us short of quality in the middle of the park. Hernandez then seized on an error from De Merit to slot home and give Columbia a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute. Again a late battling equaliser was scored by Freddy Adu this time and give us a deserved draw.

USA 3-0 PERU

An easier game which we had to win to give us a chance of progressing to the knock-out stages. A hattrick from Jozy Altidore capped an awesome team performance and ensured our next game was Mexico in the Quarter final stage.

USA 0-1 MEXICO

We produced a good display in a match Mexico dominated, my team were never good enough to win this competition and a goal from Guardado sent us packing.

In the final Brazil played the hosts Argentina with the argentines winning 3-1. For the second International tournament in a row Brazil sacked their manager 2 games into the tournament, but strangely this time they actually won their opening 2 games. Some people are never happy!!!!!!

I resigned after the tournament as USA were a team going nowhere fast. The board were reasonably happy with the teams performance in the tournament.

[sambos]

SEASON 2012

TRANSFERS

Neymar arriving for £13.5M this classy young striker will give excellent competition to Tardelli and the emerging Leandro Damaio.

Tiago Santos £2.3M spread across 3 years was used to lure this promising striker from Goias and we have agreed a £1.2M deal to bring Virgilio to Internacional and he looks the part already. Here is the transfer dealings for 2012.

BRAZILIAN GAUCHO STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

As defending champions in this state i at least expected us to qualify for the finals again. As with the previous year the opposition is quite weak and i would only class our arch rivals Gremio as real threats barring a major upset. Like previous years i used this competition to field some promising young playes and in particular Manoel impressed at right and left back as you can see from his stats. Another excellent young player that was here when i arrived Giuliano is having a splendid season and is attracting huge interest from Europe with clubs like HSV, PSV and Spurs looking for his signature. As expected we coasted through the opening stage and eventually won the opening stage beating Pelotas in the final 4-0. The closing stage, which is the important one, saw us enter the semi-final after an easy group series again the play Gremio with the result giving us the impetus to claim our 2nd straight Gaucho State Championship. So thats 2 Gaucho Championships and 2 National Championships and a Copa Libertadores, this team is phenomenal to manage!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sambos]

SEASON 2012

COPA LIBERTADORES

As the groups were drawn the media claimed Atletico Nacional of Columbia were our stiffest opposition with the other teams just cannon fodder. Well this result suggested that nobody should listen too carefully to the media. In an otherwise uneventful group we finished off the rest of the teams and topped the group with maximum points thus qualifying for the 2nd round of the tournament as top of the 1st place teams. Our challengers in the 2nd round were the worst placed 2nd team of the previous group stage and a pretty convincing 4-0(agg) scoreline with the tie dead and buried in the 1st leg thanks to 2 Diego Tardelli goals. Finally, Tardelli was proving why i spent nearly £10M bringing him to Internacional. The quarter final was actually our toughest 2 games of the season thus far agianst America of Mexico. The Mexicans battled and created numerous opportunities but in the end their lack of a quality finisher proved pivotal and we were deserved 2-0(agg) winners. Similiarly to last years Copa Lib. the semi-finals pitted us against Palmeiras with the winners in the final against Boca (Argentina) or Chivas (Mexico). Predictably, and all too easily it seemed the same outcome and it was us who played against Boca in the final. The final scoreline was quite flattering, but in the end it was back to back Copa Libertadores titles. There is not much left for me to achieve other than winning the Recopa. I will then look for a new job. Several of my players had an excellent tournament especially Giuliano who has emerged as a creative force in south america.

Players stats.

[sambos]

SEASON 2012 UPDATE

RECOPA: INTERNACIONAL VS. INDEPENDIENTE JULY 2012

So, this essentially was the last trophy i could win with Internacional considering im unable to qualify for the Brazilian Cup. And it was Copa Sudamerica 2011 winners Independiente of Argentina against 2011 winners of the Copa Libertadores Internacional. The Recopa is the South American equivalent of the European Super Cup but over 2 legs instead of 1. The first leg was in Argentina and i was expecting a tough match even though Independiente are struggling in their national league. In the 25th minute, despite early pressure from the home side Hernanes managed to curl a shot in from outside the box (an all too regular occurrence). Young striker Walter crept in at the far post in the 53rd minute to give us a 2-0 lead. 2-0 soon became 3-0 when Tardelli beat the offside trap and slotted home in the 57th minute. A consolation goal for the Argentines which kept their slim title hopes alive arrived in the 75th minute courtesy of a header from their centreback. Roll on the 2nd leg!!!!!!!!!!!

The second leg saw us go through the motions as we couldnt keep errors from our play. 2 errors from our defence gave Independiente the 2 goals they needed, the only problem was that we scored 3 at the other end the win the tie 6-3 on aggregate. And in doing so win the 4 trophies (2 national and 2 continental) that i wanted to achieve barring the Club World Cup. The team now is quite formidable and their seems nothing else challenging me to stay here so hopefully in the coming months i can find a suitable job. I have been linked to several jobs including the Valencia job, but would prefer to start my european adventure in a smaller nation to begin with.

NEWS FLASH

New signing Neymar has recently being attracting attentions from European powerhouses, including Atletico Madrid who made a substantial offer which would of doubled my money in only 6 months between me signing the player. Unfortunately, i had to reject as the money was over 36 months and therefore no use to me, plus i like to keep young exciting players. Obviously Neymar was angry i rejected the offer but his chance will come eventually.

Brazil U23 also won the Olympics with Giuliano, Sandro and Neymar crucial to their success.

[sambos]

INTERNATIONALMANAGEMENT 2012

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

I took on this job in the New Year but had no pre-arranged matches until a friendly against Serbia just before the tournament which ended 3-3 thanks to a hattrick form attacking midfielder Miralem Pjanjic of Lyon. This team possess strong attacking options particularly Edin Dzeko, the aforementioned Pjanjic, Muslimovic etc. However, the defense leaves alot to be desired and seriously lacks quality. In a group containing France, Croatia and Bulgaria our chance of progressing seemed quite slim. A battling 2-1 loss to France in our opening games did nothing to dispell those fears but a draw between Croatia and Bulgaria kept us in the hunt. Another decent display against Croatia gave us a point in a 1-1 draw. France drew with Bulgaria so the group was nicely poised entering the last game against Bulgaria. A superb effort by the team and 2 goals from Dzeko ensured our progress to the quarter finals as 2nd place team. We were up against the might Italians in the quarters and unsurprisingly lost 1-0 with a suspiciously looking offside goal form Rossi ending our hopes. The Bosnian FA were delighted with our efforts and i was now able to speak a little Bosnian. I resigned

from the post after the tournament once the england and spain jobs became available. Unfortunately, they didnt want my services and Serbia did so im now the manager of the newly formed Serbia.

[sambos]

SEASON 2012

END OF AN ERA UPDATE

NATIONAL 1ST DIVISION

This was certain to be my last campaign as the Internacional manager so the aim was to secure a 3rd consecutive national division title and 8th title since my spell here. As the National Division begins at the tail-end of the Copa Libertadores a bit of sqaud rotation was used. This lead to a very poor performance in the league for the first 6 games with only 1 victory and 3 draws and 2 losses. After this spell our form picked up dramatically with 9 wins in our next 12 games to put us in a good position at the half-way point. For the remaining 18 league games our form was patchy at best and we finished 14 points behind last years winning points haul but was it enough to win the league.

PLAYER PERFORMANCES

Again the basis of our team was formed from consistent displays form Otamendi at centre-back and the really promising DRL 17 year old Manoel who won the young player award. Hernanes won best player award and is a goal machine at this level, as I won best manager awards in analogous fashion to the previous year. Neymar has been unsettled by speculation and demanded a transfer which I duly obliged considering his form was only hit and miss this season with only 15 goals in over 50 games. I set an asking price of £25-30M

[sambos]

THE FINAL CRUSADE I PROMISE

CLUB WORLD CUP

I forgot all about this tournament, but i owed it to myself to try and win it before i left. As Copa Libertadores winners we qualified straight through to the semi-final where we faced the North American Champions League winner - Pumas of Mexico. In last years tournament we were dumped out at this stage but my team were determined to get to the final this time and our two young strikers settled the tie. In the final we would meet the reigning European Champions - Genoa . Although possessing a good team they were no Barcelona so i fancied our chances. This result ensured my status as a legendary Internacional boss as in the 2 and a half years we managed to win 3 x National titles, 2 x State Championships, 2 x Copa Libertadores, 1 x Recopa and 1 x CWC. All in all i enjoyed my time thouroughly but it was time to move onto a different challenge.

[sambos]

NEWS FLASH DECEMBER 25 - XMAS

The respected boss David Kavanagh has decided to call time on his illustrious career as Internacional manager and will surely go down in history as one of their most successful managers in recent times. Speculation as to where Kavanagh will move onto next is rife but HSV and Valencia are two such clubs with the prestige to attract the Portuguese boss.

National Hall of Fame and Continental Hall of Fame.

Watch out Jose Mourinho!!!!!!!!!!!

[sambos]

So after leaving my post as Internacional manager i was declared my interest in several jobs, but one club in particular, sacked their manager immediately after i declared an interest and offered me the job.

[sambos]

JANUARY 2013

THE SPANISH CHAPTER

HISTORY

Valencia Club de Fútbol (aka. Valencia C.F., Valencia or Los Che) is a Spanish professional football club based in Valencia, Spain. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful clubs in Spanish football having won 6 La Liga titles, 7 Copa del Rey trophies, 2 Fairs Cups, 1 UEFA Cup, 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 2 UEFA Super Cups and 2 Spanish Super Cups. Valencia used to play their home games at the 55,000-seater Estadio Mestalla since 1923, but have recently moved into the 75,000-seater Nou Mestalla (see above) in the north-west of the city. Valencia have a long-standing rivalry with Levante, and Villarreal.Valencia are the third most supported football club in Spain, only behind Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

KEY PLAYERS

David Villa - with 17 goals in 24 starts it is pivotal that Villa maintains form and fitness as he is one of the best strikers in the game.

Juan Mata - a young spanish player with alot of talent, will form the basis of any title challenging team i can assemble.

Butra - one of the best 19 year olds on the game with huge potential as a midfielder. I plan building a strong spanish midfield around him and Mata.

Salvatore Bocchetti - talented 26 year old central defender will play alonside another talented 24 year old David Luiz in the heart of defense.

SQUAD ANALYSIS

The squad is quite good already and should be capable of achieving a top 4 finish in the league considering the Liga BBVA table as it stood upon my arrival at the club. Only 25 players and 3 foreign players may be registered at any one time. The team has a plethora of attacking midfielders and wide wing players including Alba, Hernandez, Joaquin and Vicente all vying for a place with Mata and David Silva. So its apparent i need to cut a few high earning wing players and bring in some good quality strikers and wing backs. I am also developing a new tactic for this side at present as the players at my disposal will not fit well with my previous tactic at Internacional.

AIMS FOR SEASON

Valencia are not far behind in the title race but a top 4 position is a more realistic target. The club are also still in the Spanish Cup and the Euro Cup so still a considerable amount to play for. My aim this season is to qualify for Champions League and hopefully get to a cup final. I have already signed two quality players for next season and will update the transfers at season end.

[sambos]

VALENCIA 2013 END OF SEASON UPDATE

LIGA BBVA

Upon taking over in January after 17 games the club was sitting in 8th position but, not too far off the champions league positions. It became evident quite quickly that if i was going to rise the table that i would need to ensure David Villa's fitness. I dont think i have ever had a striker as good as him in any game!!! Initially, i discovered my tactics with my previous club Internacional were not useful as i didnt have enough decent strikers to make it work. I tried several formations before deciding on an attack-minded 4-2-3-1 with 2 central mids, an attackiong mid and 2 inside forwards and of course David Villa as poacher. This formation made use of the attacking creativity abundant in our midfield players.

An easy run of fixtures early on in my Valencia career saw us remain unbeaten for ten games before Espanyol spanked us 3-1 at home with some devastating counter attacking football. Overall in the 21 games we managed 13 wins, 6 draws and 2 losses to ensure 4th position in the final

table and champions league football. The title challenge between Real and Barca went right to the wire with Real emerging victorious on head to head encounters and winning their 3rd title in 4 years. Barcelona incidently have not won the league since 2009 which led to my name being linked to the job. We can owe our good form almost entirely to David Villa with 43 goals in 54 starts, his form was truly remarkable and i need a striker next season to ease to goalscoring burden somewhat. Overall i was happy with the squad performance.

AWARDS

David Villa won the spanish player of the year as Cristiano Ronaldo won league player of the year with his 28 league goals. Also 2 players made the team of the year.

CUPS

When i took the helm the team were still in the hunt on the domestic and european fronts in the spanish cup and Euro cup respectively. We progressed to the Quarter finals of the spanish cup beating Sevilla in the 5th Rd only to lose 3-2 (agg) against Malaga. But the Euro Cup was a different matter in the 2nd Knockout Rd we played Benfica. The two legs were highly entertaining with goals galore including a 3-3 draw in Benfica coutesy of 2 Villa strikes and in the deciding leg at the Nuevo Mestalla, a 3-2 home win meant we progressed to play England's Tottenham Hotspur. This tie the 1st leg was at our home and the match was nail bitingly tight. Only a David Villa free-kick in the 75th minute could settle this leg but the 2nd leg was not much better for the football purists, as an efficient Valencia performance saw a 0-0 stalemate but this was enough for our progression into the semi-finals agianst Napoli of Italy. In Naples, a great attacking display by Valencia saw us nick the 1st leg 3-2 with a Villa hattrick (God this guy is good). In the 2nd leg a 1-0 win and an amazing David Albelda 30 yard strike meant we could book our tickets to the final in Switzerland. Albelda who is retiring at the end of the season delighted his manager with this performance. So, onto the final against Bordeaux who had amassed a very useful team with Negredo in attack and wendel on the wings sure to offer us some nervy moments. This was one of those classic FM matches and ill let the stats do the talking. In the end it was an excellent match and im happy with our end of season form. With the right signings i can see us get closer to the big two next season and hopefully win a trophy.

[jackripper]

always loved managing valencia so good luck in breaking the barca/real mould.

[sambos]

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!

Manchester United continued their poor recent form with a 3rd place finish this season to compound the dire 6th position last year and are currently in takeover talks with a former legend who has amassed a considerable amount of money. Whoever said players in the old days were'nt payed well was lying as Bobby Charlton can testify to.

Also my old club Interncional had an interesting start to their season. Neymar was signed by Atletico Madrid for £32M representing a huge profit on the player i only purchased less than 12 months ago for £13M. Also they won the Gauch State again beating Gremio 5-3 on aggrgate in the final and also won the Copa Libertadores for the 4th consecutive time. It seems the team i left there still has the hunger for success.

[sambos]

Also does anybody even read this or am i just doing it for nothing. I admit my writing style could use a bit of work, any feedback would be excellent.

[sambos]

always loved managing valencia so good luck in breaking the barca/real mould.

Thanks jacktheripper, so far so good in the new season am progressing very well and will update accordingly. Also have read your thread it very cool.

[RichG]

I read all threads. don't always have time to post though

KUTGW

[sambos]

I read all threads. don't always have time to post though

KUTGW

Cheers RichG i try to read all myself, enjoying the journeyman save immensely and enjoy your thread the italian legacy.

[sambos]

INTERNATIONAL UPDATE 2012/2013

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

So i left Bosnia and took over newly formed Serbia who boast such quality players as Vidic, Kuzmanovic and Stankovic. My first goal was to qualify from the world cup qualifying group containing Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Wales, Bulgaria and the mighty England.

12-9-2012 WCQ VS. BULGARIA (A) 4-0

Not the easiest of games to start the group or so i thought, but Bulgaria had slipped alarmingly down the world rankings (86th) and this match reflected the gulf in the rankings with Serbia ranked 11th starting this game. Playing an attacking 4-2-3-1, Ljajic and Co. were allowed too much time and space with Ljajic scoring twice, either side of a Krasic free-kick and a Kacar piledriver from 25 yards sealed an easy victory against a dispirited Bulgarian outfit.

13-10-2012 WCQ VS. KAZAKHSTAN (H) 2-1

Surprisingly tough match considering the opponents and a home fixture but in the end a curler from 18 yards for Kuzmanovic in the 78th minute ensured 3 more points.

17-10-2012 WCQ VS. WALES (A) 0-0

A bore draw, not worth talking about with neither side creating man chances although Wales had a goal disallowed for offside.

27-3-2013 WCQ VS. ENGLAND (H) 3-1

Couldn't believe how well the team played and we dominated large parts of this match to give the team the head start in automatic qualification for the World Cup with goals from 6'8'' Zigic, the ever impressive Kuzmanovic and attacking midfielder Sulejmani. Defoe gave England a late consolation goal.

8-6-2013 WCQ VS. AZERBAIJAN (H) 6-0

Following from our historic defeat of England the Serb were relentless in this match which was specials considering our holding midfielder, Kacar, scored 4 goals :eek:. 3 of which were screamers from outside the penalty area. Other goals came courtesy of DLC Lukovic and striker Lazovic.

12-6-2013 WCQ VS. BULGARIA (H) 3-1

Lazovic, Milijas and Aleksic provided the gloss on an otherwise shaky and nervy performance. Nonetheless and excellent run of form from the Serbs.

It was at this time that the Argentina job became available, for which i applied and was offered the job 2 days later which i accepted. It was with a heavy heart, as i enjoyed my 11 months as Serbian manger having gone 8 games undefeated (including 2 friendlies against Slovakia and Chinese Taipei). I kept a close eye on the teams progress and they won 3 of their last 4 games with 1 loss away to England. Here's the cruel part, Serbia finished on 25pts after 10 games with a goal difference of +19. Amazingly, England had the exact same record and topped the group thanks to them beating Serbia 5-1 at Wembley and thus progressing on games against. With luck like that the playoffs were always going to be tough and it was to be Switzerland in the knockout ties. Both games finshed a draw but it was the Swiss who progresses on away goals. How cruel for the Serbians. Im sure their luck would have run better with me at the helm but screw them Argentian are heading for Brazil 2014.

[RafaTheGaffer]

Good work mate, im currently in Brazils top division with Vitoria and enjoying it. Like the news flash as well.

[sambos]

Good work mate, im currently in Brazils top division with Vitoria and enjoying it. Like the news flash as well.

Thanks RafaTheGaffer, the Brazilian top division can be very competitive, what sort of budget do you have to play with in Vitoria.

[sambos]

2012/2013 SEASON PREVIEW

ASSAULT ON BARCA/REAL DOMINANCE

With the signings i have made and a formation i am settled on i strongly believe a challenge on Barcelona and Real Madrids dominance in La Liga can be achieved. Three signings were made before this season with last years transfer budget and they include:

SIGNINGS

Rafael Sobis - former Betis striker signed from Al-Jazeera provides pacy cover for David Villa as i seriously lacked an adequate replacement last season. Although his stats are not outstanding he was signed on a free so a bargain in my book.

Andrea Consigli - young Italian goalkeeper who my scouts reckon is alot better than the previous No.1 Renan and is very young for a GK at 26. Signed from Atalanta for £6.25M he represents an astute investment for the future.

Sergio Canales - young spanish AMC with huge potential and bags of ability will form the basis of a strong spanish midfield im assembling at Nuevo Mestalla. Signed from rivals Real Madrid for £7.5M i think its an excellent piece of business.

Zdravko Kuzmanovic - signed on last day of the transfer window and only signing with this years transfer budget. I felt i needed another hard-working midfield player to complement the flair we already have in abundance. Impressed me during my managerial spell with Serbia he alongside Spanish protege Butra will help stabilise the team. Signed for a whopping £12.5M over 24 months from Fiorentina as Marchena and Albelda had been moved on.

OUTGOINGS

Many players including golden oldies Marchena, Albelda, Miguel, Renan, Vicente, Fernandes, Moya and two crap strikers totalling £14.25M. Here is the

transfer history for this season.

AIMS

After an impressive end of season last year and with the signings i have made i think i can challenge strongly for the title and certainly hope to reach the knockout stages of the champions league. Also at least a semi-final appearance in the spanish cup would be expected. Quite high expectations i know but i must aim for the stars.

[sambos]

MID-SEASON UPDATE 2013/14

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Finishing 4th last year ensured qualiification into the qualifying round for the champions league. Our opponents were drawn as the mighty Dutch outfit, PSV Eindhoven, and this would be a couple of games for the football purists with the winners qualifying for the champions leage group stages. The 1st leg was in Eindhoven and was a hugely entertaining game with my new settled formation providing excellent attacking situations and in particular Joaquin as inside forward on the left wing providing 4 goals in this match. Needless to say we polished off the tie with a 3-2 victory at home. A tough group containing former winners Genoa of Italy aswel as the greek and swiss champions. Still i fancied my team to have too much in an attacking sense for most of these teams. And so it proved we won 4 matches comfortably including beating Genoa away 3-1, drew away against Basle 0-0 after having a player sent off and lost at home to Genoa 0-1 with pretty much a reserve side in the last game as we had already secured top spot in the group stage. So a good start in this years champions league with hopefully more excitement to come in the knockout stages.

LIGA BBVA

A tough opening fixture in the league in the Bernabeu against Real Madrid would be a sign of things to come. This start set in motion a series of excellent results and form, including beating Barcelona 1-0 at home and Betis 6-0 away, culminating in 10 wins from 10 matches. This form couldn't continue with Real Madrid only 3 points behind and they eventually overtook us in the last few games courtesy of a well deserved defeat where we lost 3-1 in Atletico Madrid. I hate playing against Aguero!!! Anyway our form has been excellent i couldn't of asked for more from my players, the only issue is the 2 sides from Madrid are exceptional particularly Real who tend to destroy most of their opposition. This makes a serious title challenge less likely but we'll continue to play the way i believe we should play and see what happens.

The league table looks like this at the half-way stage whilst this is how the players are performing. As you can see Villa is still a goalscoring beast but is some way down on this stage last year where he had 24 goals. Instead he has chipped in with 18 assists also and no doubt had a hand in right inside forward Mata's 16 goal haul thus far. Other players to catch my eye was Joaquin and his re-emergence has proved crucial to the relative success this season. I have been somewhat disappointed by Canales in the AMC role and will look to get the best out of him in the next half of the season. Of my other new signings Consigli and Kuzmanovic have been very impressive whilst Sobis has done enough to warrant me paying £0 for his signature in his bit-part appearances thus far. Role on the rest of the season.

SPANISH CUP

Nothing major surprising to tell other than we reached the quarter final stage thus far beating Mallorca 5-0 on aggregate to progress were we will play Elche or Sevilla i think.

[sambos]

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!

1-1-2014 - Valencia have spent their transfer budget and snapped up a replacement for the ageing David Villa. £6.25M has been spent bringing 21 year old Giacomo Beretta from AC Milan and it is hoped that he can replace Villa when he decides to retire.

[sambos]

Will be updating shortly was at the download festival in donington followed by a holiday to greece so have not had the time to play much. Argentina and Valencia updates coming soon.

[sambos]

ARGENTINA WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION

WORLD CUP QUALS 2013-14

Upon taking over the helm of the argentinian national side the team had just moved up 6 places to 1st in the world rankings courtesy of winning the Confederations Cup in Brazil. I also took charge after 14 of the 16 games had been played in the qualifying campaign and with the team sitting pretty having already guaranteed qualification. My last 2 matches were to be played against last team Bolivia and 2nd team Peru. Victories would ensure the team qualified in 1st position with no losses in the campaign either. With the talent at my disposal i decided on a 4-2-2-2 formation with a flat back 4, 2 central mids, 2 attacking wingers with 1 as inside forward and 2 strikers.

ARGENTINA 2-0 BOLIVIA

The match was played at a leisurely pace with both sides content with a stroll in the park considering their futures had already been decided. We dominated possession but did not create too many chances. In the end 2 pieces of magic from Messi cutting in off the right wing gave us the goals needed for a comfortable but uninspiring performance from my players. Javier Pastore shone in midfield though.

PERU 1-2 ARGENTINA

We finished the campaign with no losses but the scoreline could have been alot different. Peru caused us plenty of problems and hit the woodwork twice in the 2nd half. Tevez gave us the lead in the 23rd minute with a poachers goal, set-up by his striking partner Aguero. Peru equalised almost immediately with a corner kick and powerful header from their centre back. Substitute Higuain managed to put us ahead in the 70th minute with a classy finish hitting the inside of the left post. We hang on to remain unbeaten in the group and in my 1st 2 matches.

Group Standings

The draw for the World Cup group stage was made and could have been easier. If only England were as bad in the game as they are in real life. USA my old team should also prove a stern test whilst Saudi Arabia i would expect to beat.

Roll on the World Cup in Brazil, althought the hosts will take some beating.