[FM11] Messi? Nah...

[MattSpurs94]

Barcelona are our opposition in the next round, a very tricky draw.

Thats gunna be interesting. one of the biggest matches of your career, dare I say?

[hrbfcrule]

I don't want to rule you out for anything this season but the league looks pretty difficult now and you've got Barcelona in the next round of Champions League. There's always the Coppa Italia and I hope you do cause an upset against Barcelona, Good Luck

[SnakeXe]

Yeah it'll be a heck of a task! Perhaps if our January signings gel quickly and we get a bit of luck we might not lose by more than 4 goals

[DaveAzzopardi]

Wow. Great read. You will win it someday.

[ImOnFire15]

Can you tell us who won World Cup, Euro Cup, Champions league and World Player of the Year? Do something like every 5 years?

[Arianyr]

Love this story!

Getting to the serie A in 6 years is nothing short of impressive.

Do you have any anekdotes so far? Madrid relegated?

[SnakeXe]

Thanks for the kind words guys

Can you tell us who won World Cup, Euro Cup, Champions league and World Player of the Year? Do something like every 5 years?

World Cup

2014 - Winners: England, Runners Up: Belgium, Third: Senegal

2018 - Winners: Portgual, Runners Up: Spain, Third: France

2022 - Winners: England, Runners Up: Ghana, Third: Argentina

European Championships

2012 - Winners: England, Runners Up: Portugal

2016 - Winners: Belgium, Runners Up: Portugal

2020 - Winners: France, Runners Up: Italy

2024 - Winners: Turkey, Runners Up: Spain

Champions League

2011 - Winners: Real Madrid, Runners Up: Valencia

2012 - Winners: Barcelona, Runners Up: Real Madrid

2013 - Winners: Lyon, Runners Up: Fiorentina

2014 - Winners: Lyon, Runners Up: Real Madrid

2015 - Winners: Real Madrid, Runners Up: Barcelona

2016 - Winners: Barcelona, Runners Up: Chelsea

2017 - Winners: Barcelona, Runners Up: Man Utd

2018 - Winners: Man Utd, Runners Up: Real Madrid

2019 - Winners: Palermo, Runners Up: Lyon

2020 - Winners: Real Madrid, Runners Up: Barcelona

2021 - Winners: Sevilla, Runners Up: Real Madrid

2022 - Winners: Real Madrid, Runners Up: Sevilla

2023 - Winners: Porto, Runners Up: Lyon

2024 - Winners: Man Utd, Runners Up: Arsenal

2025 - Winners: Arsenal, Runners Up: Barcelona

Europa League

2011 - Winners: Tottenham, Runners Up: Juventus

2012 - Winners: Inter, Runners Up: AC Milan

2013 - Winners: Man Utd, Runners Up: Roma

2014 - Winners: Atletico Madrid, Runners Up: Arsenal

2015 - Winners: Marseille, Runners Up: Atletico Madrid

2016 - Winners: Arsenal, Runners Up: Schalke

2017 - Winners: Arsenal, Runners Up: CSKA Moscow

2018 - Winners: Lyon, Runners Up: Tottenham

2019 - Winners: Arsenal, Runners Up: Malaga

2020 - Winners: Lille, Runners Up: Werder Bremen

2021 - Winners: Arsenal, Runners Up: Bordeaux

2022 - Winners: Atletico Madrid, Runners Up: Juventus

2023 - Winners: Stuttgart, Runners Up: Atletico Madrid

2024 - Winners: Zenit, Runners Up: Atletico Madrid

2025 - Winners: Real Madrid, Runners Up: Lyon

World Golden Ball

2010 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid

2011 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid

2012 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid

2013 - Cesc Fabregas - Arsenal

2014 - Jesus Navas - Sevilla

2015 - Lionel Messi - Barcelona

2016 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid

2017 - Lionel Messi - Barcelona

2018 - Nenem (regen D/WBL) - Barcelona

2019 - Nenem - Barcelona

2020 - Nenem - Barcelona

2021 - Nenem - Barcelona

2022 - Nenem - Barcelona

2023 - Nenem - Barcelona

2024 - Nenem - Barcelona

2025 - Mehdi Benchergui (regen ST) - Tottenham

Do you have any anekdotes so far? Madrid relegated?

Unfortunately Madrid are alive and well (as you'll see in the next update)! I only have the Italian leagues loaded so there's not really much to say on the foreign clubs.

The most amusing thing in Italy would probably be AC Milan nearly getting relegated last year - went down to the final day! Brescia, who are in Serie A IRL were relegated to Serie C2, the lowest playable league, although they won promotion this year. Cesena and Chievo are in Serie C1.

[Wavelberry]

Who is Nenen SnakeXe? He must be immense.

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Messina - Season 15 - 2025/26

Story of the Season:

Serie A - 4th, Qualified for Champions League

A tricky opening set of fixtures meant it took us until the 4th game of the season to register our first win. We played catchup pretty much all season, and it was a very stressful one as we threatened to throw a pretty serious spanner in the works by missing out on the Champions League. We snuck into 4th by the winter break though, so I thought that we'd turned the corner, especially with reinforcements coming in.

It wasn't the case, as we fell down the league again, ropey result after ropey result exacerbated by our complete inability to find the net. A brilliant result in the Champions League sparked a mini-revival as we won 7 games in 8 in all competitions, but then a setback in the Italian Cup precipitated a 6 game winless run.

This left us with 2 games left to secure a Champions League space from 3 points behind the incumbents. We managed to win the next game, drawing us level on points, but ahead on head-to-heads, and a 2-0 win away at rivals Catania was good enough to save us. Hopefully that'll be the catalyst that makes us sort ourselves out next season, because we've regressed horribly from the 3rd place finish 2 seasons ago.

Coppa Italia - Semi Final

Easy games against Siena and Udinese led us into a tricky semi-final with Palermo. I didn't expect much from it, so put out a bit of a shadow side in the first leg. An early lead and Palermo going down to 10 men meant I was pleasantly surprised to begin with, then tearing my hair out as the ten men turned it around to win 2-1.

We played well in the return, but could only draw 1-1, meaning we missed out on a 3rd successive final.

Champions League - Semi Final

We had a qualifier to negotiate this year, Portuguese side Braga definitely a potential banana-skin. A 3-1 win in the away leg put us in charge, and we were never really in trouble in the home leg, despite a weakened team losing 1-0.

For once we didn't have an English club in our group, and actually it was one that looked like we could win - Valencia, Dortmund, and Porto were all beatable for us. A last minute equaliser for Dortmund in our opening game dented our spirits, then a last minute winner for Porto away in the next game were annoying, but a 2-0 win over Valencia finally got us going. Another last-minute goal denied us any points in Spain, before wins over Dortmund and Porto ensured we qualified for the next phase - in 2nd place again though.

Spanish giants Barcelona lay in wait - a mighty challenge indeed! We made incredibly light work of it to begin with, racing to a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes - amazing considering how poorly we were doing in the league! It couldn't last though, and we conceded twice to hand the advantage squarely to Barca with the second leg at the Nou Camp.

The stage was set for a hero though - could we do it? We dug deep and held on throughout the opening onslaught, before edging further forward to offer our own threat. Half time came and went and we were still level, then Walter Aguero popped up to smash home a goal on the 67th minute! We lined up the two banks of four and got ready to defend - but the onslaught never came. We hung on easily to claim quite possibly the most famous result in the club's history!

Our reward was a Quarter Final against familiar opposition in Lyon - we beat them 4-3 on aggregate in the group stage last year, so I was actually quite confident for a change. A fantastic 2-1 win in the away leg meant we just had to be sensible in the home leg, and a 0-0 was plenty to see us through.

Perennial winners Real Madrid were our Semi Final challengers - and unfortunately it followed a similar path to our previous attempt at a European Semi Final back in the Europa League against Zenit. We shipped 3 goals early in the home leg to basically end the tie before a quarter of it was gone. We stopped the rot, and only lost 1-0 in Madrid, but we were out of Europe in ignominious fashion considering what had gone before.

At least we lost to the eventual winners, as they beat Man Utd 3-1 in the final.

Results 1 - Results 2 - Results 3 - Results 4 - Squad

Transfers - £25m Loss

Did most of our business in January this time, Arguelles was probably the pick of the bunch, a creative forward from Barcelona. Not much going on with the outs again.

5 Most Important Players:

5. Jose Alberto Loureiro - DR - Another solid season

4. Jon Pagola - AMLC - Wasn't quite as influential from the left wing, but still one of our best players.

3. Filippo Vitone - AMRC - Got onto the scoresheet consistently well for a midfielder.

2. Rene Kooiman - DC - Was our best player for most of the season.

1. Walter Aguero - ST - Finally came into his own in the second half of the season - we've been waiting long enough!

History:

Season    League                  Position  Achievements                   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12   Serie C2/C              2nd       Serie C Cup Runners Up, Playoff Finalists
2012/13   Serie C2/C              1st       Serie C2/C Champions, Promoted
2013/14   Serie C1/B              5th       Playoff Semi-Finalists
2014/15   Serie C1/B              2nd       Playoff Winners, Promoted
2015/15   Serie B                 12th      
2016/17   Serie B                 2nd       Promoted
2017/18   Serie A                 20th      Relegated
2018/19   Serie B                 2nd       Promoted
2019/20   Serie A                 7th       Qualified for Europa League
2020/21   Serie A                 6th       Qualified for Europa League
2021/22   Serie A                 9th
2022/23   Serie A                 5th       Qualified for Europa League
2023/24   Serie A                 3rd       Qualified for Champions League, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2024/25   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2025/26   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League

Messina 100 Club:

A list of those Messina players who make 100 or more appearances for the club under my management.

Name                Pos        Era                    Apps   Goals     AvR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abel Petrillo       ST         2016-Present            327     142    7.13
Victor Amoruso      MC         2018-Present            321      29    6.98
Rene Kooiman        DC         2019-Present            283      16    7.06
Mauro Quiroga       DM/MC      2019-Present            260      14    6.98
Filippo Vitone      AMRC       2018-Present            253      49    7.08
Jon Pagola          AMLC       2019-Present            240      52    7.25
Mauro Vigorito      GK         2011-2023               217       0    6.82
Stefano Tulino      D/DM/MRC   2019-Present            217      13    7.14
Patxi Rodriguez     DM/MC      2017-Present            203      14    6.87
Jose A. Loureiro    DR         2020-Present            199       0    7.10
Nenad Lukic         MLC        2021-Present            188      23    6.98
Walter Aguero       ST         2021-Present            187      61    6.96
Nicolas Amodio      DM/MC      2012-2018               183      12    6.93
Remi Thouvenin      DL         2021-Present            181       0    7.06
Mauricio Martin     D/DM/MC    2020-Present            181       9    6.96
Antonio Marino      DLC        2013-2021               180       5    6.88
Adem Ljajic         AMRLC      2019-Present            170      26    6.91
Mario Ortiz         DM/MC      2013-2021               169       5    6.83
Nicola Ravaglia     GK         2018-2025               164       0    6.90
Enzo Scorza         ST         2012-2018               159      82    7.24
Nicolas             D/DM/MC    2015-2022               159       5    6.85
Juan Jose Godoy     GK         2023-Present            158       0    6.96
Rosario Licata      D/WB/ML    2011-2016               146       3    6.92
Francesc Alcalde    AMLC/ST    2014-2020               145      45    6.98
Luca Tedeschi       DC         2012-2018               139       8    7.09
Mogi                DRC        2017-2022               134       0    6.76
Diego Farias        AMRLC      2015-2019               126      19    6.90
Gonzalo Valdez      ST         2022-Present            126      34    6.87
Davide Testa        AM/ST      2011-2015               121      40    7.04
Ruben               AML        2015-2019               103       7    6.86
Fausto Rossi        AML        2016-2021               102      18    6.97

Next Season:

We need to do something because our heroics in Europe aside, this was a serious regression, and if there were more than 2 competent teams in the league we wouldn't have made Champions League qualification. New players are a must, as well as a new style of play. I still can't find a system I'm happy with, so I need to work that out before I start buying players for it. I think at this stage we should be mounting a title challenge, as well as going deep into the Champions League - Quarter Finals minimum.

Forza Messina!

[SnakeXe]

Who is Nenen SnakeXe? He must be immense.

Yeah he is quality, one of the best regens I've ever seen, basically a left-sided Dani Alves. His average rating is above 8 in all but one of the season's he's played - and that was 7.71. His best season was 8.96 from 33 matches - incredible!

[MattSpurs94]

8 Seasons in a row.........

that aside, im pleased to see spurs won something

EDIT: and a world player of the year! what's gotten into them?

[Ljuba82]

Can you post a screenshot of Nenem?

[GioGio85]

Amazing result vs Barcelona. What style of play are you looking to encorporate next season?

[ImOnFire15]

You can't beat Real Madrid. REAL MADRID IS THE BEST!

[SnakeXe]

8 Seasons in a row.........

that aside, im pleased to see spurs won something

EDIT: and a world player of the year! what's gotten into them?

I know, stupid unrealistic game...

Can you post a screenshot of Nenem?

Profile History Biography

Amazing result vs Barcelona. What style of play are you looking to encorporate next season?

Thanks! Probably going to stick with the 4-4-2, try and get at teams a bit more - that was how we got better results towards the end of the season. Need to do it appropriately though as we lost some badly that we should have got something from.

You can't beat Real Madrid. REAL MADRID IS THE BEST!

Well they are for the moment... one day it'll be Messina standing over Europe and laughing scornfully!

[Ljuba82]

Profile History Biography

Thanks

Yep, he is awesome...complete player for that position. Only weaker spot is physical section (but it's not bad). Also he is 33 on this picture so I imagine he had better physical stats 3, 4 years ago when he was beast

[Nobby_McDonald]

You can't beat Real Madrid. REAL MADRID IS THE BEST!

Who are the current Champions League holders?

[ImOnFire15]

Thanks for the kind words guys

World Cup

2014 - Winners: England, Runners Up: Belgium, Third: Senegal

2018 - Winners: Portgual, Runners Up: Spain, Third: France

2022 - Winners: England, Runners Up: Ghana, Third: Argentina

European Championships

2012 - Winners: England, Runners Up: Portugal

2016 - Winners: Belgium, Runners Up: Portugal

2020 - Winners: France, Runners Up: Italy

2024 - Winners: Turkey, Runners Up: Spain

Champions League

2011 - Winners: Real Madrid, Runners Up: Valencia

2012 - Winners: Barcelona, Runners Up: Real Madrid

2013 - Winners: Lyon, Runners Up: Fiorentina

2014 - Winners: Lyon, Runners Up: Real Madrid

2015 - Winners: Real Madrid, Runners Up: Barcelona

2016 - Winners: Barcelona, Runners Up: Chelsea

2017 - Winners: Barcelona, Runners Up: Man Utd

2018 - Winners: Man Utd, Runners Up: Real Madrid

2019 - Winners: Palermo, Runners Up: Lyon

2020 - Winners: Real Madrid, Runners Up: Barcelona

2021 - Winners: Sevilla, Runners Up: Real Madrid

2022 - Winners: Real Madrid, Runners Up: Sevilla

2023 - Winners: Porto, Runners Up: Lyon

2024 - Winners: Man Utd, Runners Up: Arsenal

2025 - Winners: Arsenal, Runners Up: Barcelona

Europa League

2011 - Winners: Tottenham, Runners Up: Juventus

2012 - Winners: Inter, Runners Up: AC Milan

2013 - Winners: Man Utd, Runners Up: Roma

2014 - Winners: Atletico Madrid, Runners Up: Arsenal

2015 - Winners: Marseille, Runners Up: Atletico Madrid

2016 - Winners: Arsenal, Runners Up: Schalke

2017 - Winners: Arsenal, Runners Up: CSKA Moscow

2018 - Winners: Lyon, Runners Up: Tottenham

2019 - Winners: Arsenal, Runners Up: Malaga

2020 - Winners: Lille, Runners Up: Werder Bremen

2021 - Winners: Arsenal, Runners Up: Bordeaux

2022 - Winners: Atletico Madrid, Runners Up: Juventus

2023 - Winners: Stuttgart, Runners Up: Atletico Madrid

2024 - Winners: Zenit, Runners Up: Atletico Madrid

2025 - Winners: Real Madrid, Runners Up: Lyon

World Golden Ball

2010 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid

2011 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid

2012 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid

2013 - Cesc Fabregas - Arsenal

2014 - Jesus Navas - Sevilla

2015 - Lionel Messi - Barcelona

2016 - Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid

2017 - Lionel Messi - Barcelona

2018 - Nenem (regen D/WBL) - Barcelona

2019 - Nenem - Barcelona

2020 - Nenem - Barcelona

2021 - Nenem - Barcelona

2022 - Nenem - Barcelona

2023 - Nenem - Barcelona

2024 - Nenem - Barcelona

2025 - Mehdi Benchergui (regen ST) - Tottenham

Unfortunately Madrid are alive and well (as you'll see in the next update)! I only have the Italian leagues loaded so there's not really much to say on the foreign clubs.

The most amusing thing in Italy would probably be AC Milan nearly getting relegated last year - went down to the final day! Brescia, who are in Serie A IRL were relegated to Serie C2, the lowest playable league, although they won promotion this year. Cesena and Chievo are in Serie C1.

That's what I'm talking about!

[hrbfcrule]

Unfortunate in the league again but you seem to be improving in the Champions League. Great result against Barca as well.

[SnakeXe]

Cheers hrbfc league needs sorting out!

Thanks

Yep, he is awesome...complete player for that position. Only weaker spot is physical section (but it's not bad). Also he is 33 on this picture so I imagine he had better physical stats 3, 4 years ago when he was beast

Yeah his physical stats used to be tip-top as well. One of those players you wish you could have managed...

[Nobby_McDonald]

That's what I'm talking about!

Strange, last time I knew it's still 2010 and Inter Milan are the current European champions.

And if you're insisting on going by Snake's game, then Arsenal are the reigning champions.

[SnakeXe]

Actually Nobby, they are the current holders in my game (see my last seasonal update, after the rundown of past winners).

I'll make sure and knock them off their effing perch for you though.

[SnakeXe]

The Squad: 2026

Goalkeepers

Juan Jose Godoy - GK - Argentina - Chilled out after having decided he wanted to leave, perhaps the Champions League run convinced him we were going places.

Filippo Pedersoli - GK - Italy - Rubbish backup.

Defenders

Jose Alberto Loureiro - DR - Italy - Won a call-up for adopted nation Italy. Wonder why he didn't get one for Portugal first?

Rocco Signore - D/WBR - Italy - Keep getting decent offers for him, so must be a decent prospect. Looks good enough, I probably trust him more than most of my other backups.

Jose - D/WB/ML - Spain - Probably more of a midfielder, but I'm a fan of attacking fullbacks, so couldn't resist. He's not brilliant, but the best I could get for a (relatively) reasonable price.

Henrik Jorgensen - DL - Denmark - The other part of my left-back revolution, similar sort of prospect to Signore on the other flank.

Rene Kooiman - DC - Holland - If his composure and tackling were better he'd be perfect.

Stefano Tulino - D/DM/MRC - Italy - Adds aerial presence.

Aurelien Maire - DC - France - Does okay when required.

Philipp Egger - DC - Austria - Very good backup.

Arturo Zapater - DC - Spain - Don't think I'll keep him too much longer, but he is home-grown, so useful for European requirements.

Midfielders

Filippo Vitone - AMRC - Italy - Missed out on the World Cup with Italy, slightly unlucky as he's one of our better performers.

Adem Ljajic - AMRLC - Serbia - Only played once last year, retiring at the end of the season.

Javier - AMR - Spain - Started last season in the team, but Vitone edged him out by the end.

Gianmarco Di Donato - AMR/ST - Italy - Hopefully if we can perform a little better we can offer him more game time.

Jon Pagola - AMLC - Spain - Not as much influence from the left, but still does well.

Yohan Sallaberry - AMLC - France - Finally getting in the team more, he deserves it, excellent crosser of the ball.

Mauricio Martin - D/DM/MC - Argentina - Doesn't really get many games despite being our best DM. We just don't use one.

Mario Quiroga - DM/MC - Argentina - Finally got his cap for Argentina right around the time he lost his place to Celso.

Celso - DM/MC - Brazil - Signed from Real Madrid, he's settled in very quickly.

Victor Amoruso - MC - Argentina - Despite being called up for an Italy squad, he ended up with his first cap for Argentina.

Maamoun Hasan - MC - Sudan - A good player, but I probably shouldn't have spent the sharp end of £10m on him.

Albert Negrin - MC - Spain - Needs more game time to progress, I might have to sell Hasan or Amoruso for that to happen.

Nenad Arnautovic - MC - Serbia - A big signing for us at £13.5m, he looks worth it so far. An incredible engine on the guy, the definition of a box-to-box player.

Forwards

Abel Petrillo - ST - Italy - Spent almost the entire of last season injured, hope he can turn it back on this time around.

Walter Aguero - ST - Argentina - Finally started living up to his ability, he'd better keep it up!

Fininho - AMR/ST - Portugal - Played a lot of football and did very little. Might consider selling him on soon.

Sergio Real - ST - Argentina - Third choice behind Arguelles and Aguero now.

Joaquin Arguelles - AMC/ST - Spain - Bargain signing from Barcelona, the youthful Spain international has formed a blossoming partnership with Aguero.

Leavers

Remi Thouvenin - DL - France - The weakest part of our back four leaves.

Ferdinando Leonardi - D/WB/ML - Italy - Has gone on loan, would have preferred a permanent transfer, just not good enough.

Patxi Rodriguez - DM/MC - Spain - After many years of sterling service, he moves on for first team football.

Nenad Lukic - MLC - Serbia - Still good enough, but not for much longer, and on big wages.

Gonzalo Valdez - ST - Argentina - Good player, but a casualty of the competition.

Overall

Significant changes to the first team for the first time in a few years will hopefully revitalise the club. Make no mistake, we've been regressing for a couple of years, and it needs to change. I hope this team can finally make a proper challenge for the title.

Forza Messina!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Actually Nobby, they are the current holders in my game (see my last seasonal update, after the rundown of past winners).

I'll make sure and knock them off their effing perch for you though.

No, it says Arsenal are the Champions League winners in 2025.

[SnakeXe]

No, it says Arsenal are the Champions League winners in 2025.

Yeah, but I then finished 2025/26.

[SnakeXe]

Season 16: Winter Break Update

We started off with a win in the league for the first time in 3 seasons, a 3-2 away win over Udinese. We first lost 3 games later, away to then bottom club Lazio - a very disappointing result given the circumstances. However, another 3-2 home win over Inter sparked off a great run of 2 defeats in 12 - 8 wins - to leave us 3rd at the winter break. The table is incredibly tight though, Juventus are 8 clear at the top, then 2nd to 5th are separated by a single point. Hopefully we can continue our form over the next half of the season and end the season a little closer to Juve.

In Europe, we smashed Lille 4-1 in the playoffs to qualify for the group stage again. We were 2nd seeds for the first time ever, and were rewarded with a tantalising group. Basel and Fenerbahce wouldn't provide much opposition, but the chance to get revenge on Real Madrid after they knocked us out in last year's Semi Final was mouthwatering.

3 wins from the first 3 matches put us in pole position, home against Fenerbahce and Real, and away to Basel, meaning we needed just a point at the Bernebeu to qualify. An early goal put us in a great position, but Real fought back to take a 2-1 lead. A late equaliser from ex-Barca man Joaquin Arguelles completed our revenge over Los Merengues in almost perfect style.

We secured top spot with a 4-0 thumping of Basel at home, before a dead-rubber against Fenerbahce ended 1-1 to complete the group. We'll face Lyon in the 1st Knockout Round, familiar opponents that I have every confidence in us overcoming once more.

Results 1 - Results 2 - League Table - Squad

[hrbfcrule]

A good start in Europe but not so good domestically

Hope you can fight back against Juve although it looks like you need a miracle with them in that form.

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Messina - Season 16 - 2026/27

Story of the Season:

Serie A - 4th, Qualified for Champions League

Starting the season for the first time in 3 years with a win was nice for a change, and we continued the good form (an embarassing 1-0 loss to bottom club Lazio in my 700th game in management aside) well into the winter months. By mid-February we were slap bang in a title race, just 3 points off Juventus at the top.

However, a serious set-back in the Champions League (see below) allied to a ridiculous injury crisis in defence sent our season into a bit of a tail-spin, and we won just 3 in 9 to not only fall out of the title race, but put our requalification for the Champions League in doubt. We dug deep though, and a few tactical tweaks as well as a massive personnel change (precipitated by a 4-0 home loss to Roma) saw us return to our early season form, taking 14 points from the last 18 available to secure 4th with plenty to spare.

We actually got some recognition in the individual awards this year, with Rene Kooiman and Joaquin Arguelles earning a place in the team of the season, and the Spaniard taking the golden boot award.

Coppa Italia - Quarter Final

Serie B AlbinoLeffe were no match for our reserves in the 1st Round, before a dominating performance over eventual double-winners Juventus was undone by a ridiculous last minute defensive error. I don't actually know what happened, because I looked away as our keeper came to collect a routine over-hit through ball, and when I looked back they were knocking it into an empty net from 30 yards, cancelling out our opener.

Nevertheless, we continued to press throughout injury time, but it inevitably went to penalties. If it's even possible, the penalties went against the run of play, as we had so many chances to win, but missed them all, whilst Juve took their only chance to go through. A horrendously frustrating way to go out.

Champions League - 1st Knockout Round

Lille were out opposition in the Best Placed Playoff, and we made short work of them with a 4-1 aggregate demolition. The group stage afforded us a great chance for revenge for last season's elimination at the hands of Real Madrid, with them as the first seeds, us second for the first time ever, and Fenerbahce and Basel rounding out the group.

3 fantastic wins put us in command of the group, the final 1-0 over Real Madrid a very sweet result, before a draw in the Bernebeu secured qualification. A win over Basel in the next game won us the group, before a dead-rubber away in Turkey finished 1-1.

Familiar foes awaited in the knockout rounds in Lyon, and I was pretty confident of doing the job against them again. A horrifically bad performance (the one I mentioned in the league section) in the away leg saw us lucky to get away with a 2-0 loss. A mammoth job awaited at home - but not an impossible one. We made it look easy to begin with, surging into a 2-0 lead after just 7 minutes, but Lyon came back into the game and got a killer away goal after 29 minutes. Gonzalez equalised just after half-time to end the tie.

Or was it over? Top-scorer Joaquin Arguelles got one back on 72 minutes to give us a bit of hope, but couldn't find another until 92 minutes. The 30 seconds of play left wasn't time enough to grab an unbelievable 5th, and we crashed out on away goals.

Yet again, though, we lost to the eventual winners. How irritating.

Results 1 - Results 2 - Results 3 - Squad

Transfers - £17.5m Loss

Jose and Jorgensen were the two components of my left-back revolution, whilst O'Donnell and Gonzalez are both for the future. A load of squad players left again for not much.

5 Most Important Players:

5. Jose Alberto Loureiro - DR - The Portuguese right back became a regular for Italy this year. Weird.

4. Filippo Vitone - AMRC - Contributed important goals and the odd assist. Italian Player of the Year.

3. Walter Aguero - AM/ST - Formed a great partnership with Arguelles.

2. Rene Kooiman - DC - Outstanding in defence.

1. Joaquin Arguelles - AM/ST - Top scorer in Serie A, came up with the goods consistently.

History:

Season    League                  Position  Achievements                   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12   Serie C2/C              2nd       Serie C Cup Runners Up, Playoff Finalists
2012/13   Serie C2/C              1st       Serie C2/C Champions, Promoted
2013/14   Serie C1/B              5th       Playoff Semi-Finalists
2014/15   Serie C1/B              2nd       Playoff Winners, Promoted
2015/15   Serie B                 12th      
2016/17   Serie B                 2nd       Promoted
2017/18   Serie A                 20th      Relegated
2018/19   Serie B                 2nd       Promoted
2019/20   Serie A                 7th       Qualified for Europa League
2020/21   Serie A                 6th       Qualified for Europa League
2021/22   Serie A                 9th
2022/23   Serie A                 5th       Qualified for Europa League
2023/24   Serie A                 3rd       Qualified for Champions League, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2024/25   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League, Coppa Italia Runners Up
2025/26   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League
2025/26   Serie A                 4th       Qualified for Champions League

Messina 100 Club:

A list of those Messina players who make 100 or more appearances for the club under my management.

Name                Pos        Era                    Apps   Goals     AvR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victor Amoruso      MC         2018-Present            338      31    6.98
Abel Petrillo       ST         2016-Present            330     142    7.13
Rene Kooiman        DC         2019-Present            326      26    7.08
Filippo Vitone      AMRC       2018-Present            295      58    7.08
Mauro Quiroga       DM/MC      2019-Present            287      14    6.96
Jon Pagola          AMLC       2019-Present            280      53    7.20
Stefano Tulino      D/DM/MRC   2019-Present            254      15    7.12
Walter Aguero       ST         2021-Present            230      75    6.99
Jose A. Loureiro    DR         2020-Present            229       1    7.11
Mauro Vigorito      GK         2011-2023               217       0    6.82
Juan Jose Godoy     GK         2023-Present            207       0    6.96
Patxi Rodriguez     DM/MC      2017-2026               203      14    6.87
Nenad Lukic         MLC        2021-2026               188      23    6.98
Mauricio Martin     D/DM/MC    2020-Present            187       9    6.96
Nicolas Amodio      DM/MC      2012-2018               183      12    6.93
Remi Thouvenin      DL         2021-2026               181       0    7.06
Antonio Marino      DLC        2013-2021               180       5    6.88
Adem Ljajic         AMRLC      2019-Present            170      26    6.91
Mario Ortiz         DM/MC      2013-2021               169       5    6.83
Nicola Ravaglia     GK         2018-2025               164       0    6.90
Enzo Scorza         ST         2012-2018               159      82    7.24
Nicolas             D/DM/MC    2015-2022               159       5    6.85
Rosario Licata      D/WB/ML    2011-2016               146       3    6.92
Francesc Alcalde    AMLC/ST    2014-2020               145      45    6.98
Luca Tedeschi       DC         2012-2018               139       8    7.09
Mogi                DRC        2017-2022               134       0    6.76
Diego Farias        AMRLC      2015-2019               126      19    6.90
Gonzalo Valdez      ST         2022-2026               126      34    6.87
Davide Testa        AM/ST      2011-2015               121      40    7.04
Yohann Sallaberry   AMLC       2021-Present            117      10    7.01
Ruben               AML        2015-2019               103       7    6.86
Fausto Rossi        AML        2016-2021               102      18    6.97

Next Season:

We certainly improved this year, even if our final position in each competition was actually equal at best to last season. If we continue this improvement then I think we can produce the title challenge I crave next year.

Forza Messina!

[EdSB]

Top 3 next year - do it! Seriously though, I can see how much more challenging it's been to crack the top 4 of Serie A than to get to Serie A in the first place. Best of luck to go one step further next season.

[hrbfcrule]

A decent season, no improvement but also no decline.

I predict another 4th place next season but I really hope you can finally win the title. Pity about the defensive injury crisis seems like you could have had a real chance at the title if it weren't for that.

You've spent as many seasons going from 7th to 4th in Serie A as going from Serie C2/C to Serie A shows how difficult it is at the very top

[Nobby_McDonald]

You've firmed established yourself in the upper echelons of calcio.

Do you think the Scudetto is within your grasp any time soon?

[Ljuba82]

Hmmm I don't know why are you strugling so much, I carefully examined your players, most of them are fine (altough you have very few world class players).

Your best part of team is attack, Arnautovic is also world class, Kooiman is one of better, but still no world class (like Pique, Vidic...)

Try to sign only best players (or young players who can turn to be best), I think you are investing much money in let's say average players, you really have enough dept, now it's time to improve alll areas!

[GioGio85]

Congrats on getingback into the top 4, next yr the title

[Flamers]

I don't know if this will work for you but it has for me, try and play a 4-1-2-3 at home, 4 defenders, 1 DM, 2 CM and 3 strikers. That is working well for me

Flamers

[SnakeXe]

Top 3 next year - do it! Seriously though, I can see how much more challenging it's been to crack the top 4 of Serie A than to get to Serie A in the first place. Best of luck to go one step further next season.

It's pretty ridiculous! Normally you can just get a good team together, wait a season or two and then bang, you'll click and storm the title. It is much harder to make that final step and win things, for which I can offer only praise to SI, much more realistic and challenging.

A decent season, no improvement but also no decline.

I predict another 4th place next season but I really hope you can finally win the title. Pity about the defensive injury crisis seems like you could have had a real chance at the title if it weren't for that.

You've spent as many seasons going from 7th to 4th in Serie A as going from Serie C2/C to Serie A shows how difficult it is at the very top

Yeah that injury crisis was pretty gutting. Had to play DMs at centreback and right fullback against Roma, along with my 4th choice centre-back and lost 4-0 at home.

You've firmed established yourself in the upper echelons of calcio.

Do you think the Scudetto is within your grasp any time soon?

I think it is, all the ingredients are there now, particularly with the couple of tweaks I've made over the summer. With the form we were in last season, I think we would have had a very good go at it had we had 4 fit defenders over that spell where we fell away. We could win it next season, or it could take 5 more.

Hmmm I don't know why are you strugling so much, I carefully examined your players, most of them are fine (altough you have very few world class players).

Your best part of team is attack, Arnautovic is also world class, Kooiman is one of better, but still no world class (like Pique, Vidic...)

Try to sign only best players (or young players who can turn to be best), I think you are investing much money in let's say average players, you really have enough dept, now it's time to improve alll areas!

Yeah I definitely overspent on the likes of Hasan and Jose, neither of them are £10m players. The problem is, as Fergie would say, there's no value in the market. I am trying to buy young players who will improve to be better than what we have long term, and the likes of Negrin, Javier and Gonzalez should become top class.

Congrats on getingback into the top 4, next yr the title

Cheers Gio, I certainly hope so!

I don't know if this will work for you but it has for me, try and play a 4-1-2-3 at home, 4 defenders, 1 DM, 2 CM and 3 strikers. That is working well for me

Flamers

I stumbled upon that on FM10 with Tiverton and it seemed to work very well, especially as I had brilliant strikers but no wingers, but the players I have at Messina are geared towards a 4-4-2 now. Thanks for the tip though!

[Flamers]

No problem I am a big fan of the narrow formations and thats how my teams always seem to be geared

Flamers

[SnakeXe]

The Squad: 2027

Goalkeepers

Filippo Pedersoli - GK - Italy - Was going to leave the club before Godoy threw his latest hissy.

Daniel Martin - GK - Argentina - Agreed his transfer at the end of his contract with the idea of having 2 top-class keepers. Then Godoy irritated me once too many, so Martin is simply a like-for-like replacement.

Defenders

Jose Alberto Loureiro - DR - Italy - Now an Italy regular.

Rocco Signore - D/WBR - Italy - Very decent backup.

Jose - D/WB/ML - Spain - Not quite as good as I'd hoped. Might change his role to Wing-Back and see if that helps.

Henrik Jorgensen - DL - Denmark - Very similar to Signore.

Rene Kooiman - DC - Holland - We really notice it when he's not playing.

Stefano Tulino - D/DM/MRC - Italy - For the first time in a long while I'm debating his place in the team, thanks to Da Silva's quality.

Philipp Egger - DC - Austria - Very good backup.

Da Silva - DC - Brazil - Another great free transfer, should compliment Kooiman very nicely.

Midfielders

Filippo Vitone - AMRC - Italy - Pops up with fantastic headers at the far post.

Javier - AMR - Spain - Good prospect.

Gianmarco Di Donato - AMR/ST - Italy - Did quite well on loan to Serie B club Benevento last year, might send him out again in January.

Jon Pagola - AMLC - Spain - Getting towards the end of his top-class career now, going to be a hard man to replace.

Yohan Sallaberry - AMLC - France - Needs to pick up his game, didn't play great last season.

Walter Gonzalez - AMLC - Argentina - Excellent prospect picked up for a pittance in January last season. Already pushing for a first XI spot.

Mario Quiroga - DM/MC - Argentina - Not as good defensively as Celso, but useful when playing possession football with his great passing stat.

Celso - DM/MC - Brazil - Really adds steel to the midfield.

Victor Amoruso - MC - Argentina - Back up to Arnautovic now, but he has great quality.

Albert Negrin - MC - Spain - We have to give him more game-time if he's to fulfill his awesome potential, so Hasan was sold.

Nenad Arnautovic - MC - Serbia - Probably our one world-class performer.

Forwards

Abel Petrillo - ST - Italy - Didn't really get in the team last season. He's 5th choice now unfortunately. Still a legend.

Walter Aguero - ST - Italy - Quite why Argentina never capped him I don't know, but their loss is Italy's gain.

Sergio Real - ST - Argentina - Did really well coming off the bench early last season then completely tailed off.

Joaquin Arguelles - AMC/ST - Spain - Top-scorer in Serie A last year, fabulous player.

Tom O'Donnell - ST - England - Bargain £4.7m signing from Aston Villa last January, replaces Fininho, who never really hit the heights for us.

Leavers

Juan Jose Godoy - GK - Argentina - Sold him (for £13.75m) rather than losing him for nothing when he threw another hissy fit with 1 year left on his contract.

Aurelien Maire - DC - France - Sold him on for peanuts to trim the squad.

Arturo Zapater - DC - Spain - Ditto Maire, but with a buy-back clause.

Adem Ljajic - AMRLC - Serbia - Retired, excellent player for us over the years.

Mauricio Martin - D/DM/MC - Argentina - Allowed his contract to expire as he was getting old and not playing much, he went to Inter.

Maamoun Hasan - MC - Sudan - Took a huge hit on his transfer fee, but he was a bit of a waste of space in the squad. One of my bigger mistakes in the transfer market.

Fininho - AMR/ST - Portugal - Just didn't ever score or assist in great enough quantity. £11m coming into the coffers makes it a smart decision to sell. I hope.

Overall

After improvement last season, I figured the squad had become a bit bloated, so I trimmed as much of the fat as possible. The idea behind it is that the overall morale of the players will be better as fewer players will be missing out on first team football. This is probably the best set of players I've ever had at the club, so hopefully we can do something this season.

Forza Messina!

[Ljuba82]

Wow.....world class keeper, much better than Godoy....you will notice that soon

...and very good CD (Silva). Also good striker, I know he is cheap, but try to improve midfield (only Arnautovic is world class).

Good luck

[GioGio85]

Agree with above, Daniel Martin is a quality GK.

Nenad Arnautovic looks like my kinda player too!

[SnakeXe]

Yeah Martin is that bit better than Godoy was, would have been nice to have two that I could trust though, haven't had that since Muslera and Ravaglia. I think with Pagola and Vitone reaching the end of their careers in the next few seasons it'll give me a good opportunity to spice up the midfield again, I've had Vitone since we were in Serie B, and Pagola wasn't bought too long after we came up.

Take a look at this. Looks like a routine CL group stage win right? Wrong. They came out with a crazy 4-2-4 which we just couldn't deal with in the first half. We managed to get to half time at 0-0, I spent a good 10 minutes thinking of how to counter it.

Took a striker off and went 5 at the back to give us a spare man to help us build, then 10 minutes in to the second half shifted the midfield to a 3-1 rather than a flat 4, that was the result. Felt very . Not that I'm bragging or anything .

[Ljuba82]

...actually I enjoy when they come with 4-2-4 (if they don't have better players than me).

Simply you have to instruct all your back 4 not to have any forward runs (rarely), and you need one player for cover on DM or MC spot just in any case (with ultra-defensive mentality, so he will track back to help your DC's). Also it's advisable to have 2 more players on CM to counter their 2 CM's (so that makes 3 CM's or DM with 2 CM's). Than 2 wingers (doesn't metter much where do you place them, on MR, ML or AMR, AML spot), and your best quick ST.

Very important is to tick counter attacking button, it's key!!! If you have better team you can play with slightly attacking mentality (1st notch of attacking for example) or if they are similar you can change to normal (middle). Defensive menatlity is advisable only at the end, cause if you employ it too early, you risk high pressure on you!

Passing shouldn't be short, cause you want to quickly send ball to their half (miixed is better than direct if you want to have some possesion).

So, advisable formations are 4-5-1 (with wingers or wide midfielders and very defensive central MC), 4-1-2-2-1 (with wingers, like Barcelona tactic), 4-1-3-2 (with DM and 2 MC-s), 4-3-1-2 (with AMC and cental MC with very defensive menatality)...

[SnakeXe]

I was never really able to counter it on FM10, but had such a superior team at the point I was encountering it that it didn't really matter so I never actually thought about it before.

All the formations you suggest would work well too, as you have the man over in the middle of the park, but I preferred the security of the spare man at the back to offer the defenders a simple out-ball when we're under pressure. It helped that my spare man was Stefano Tulino, who if you take a look at his stats on my last Squad update has a decent passing stat for a DC.

When we went to the 5-3-1-1 we also had the spare man in midfield, plus the AM as well, so we completely overran them in all but the final 3rd, and the breaking fullbacks and midfielders were good enough to support Arguelles. 5 at the back sounds defensive, but we were actually far more attacking with that change because we had effectively 3 spare men.

The way they should have countered was to make their fullbacks really attacking, because they had loads of space and time on the ball, but they didn't. The away leg will definitely be interesting if they choose the same approach.

[SnakeXe]

Season 17: Winter Break Update

We're getting into a good habit of winning our opening fixture now, after having failed to do so for 3 season in a row we've now succeeded in the last 2, this time a battling 1-0 away at Bologna. We remained unbeaten (though with a few disappointing draws along the way) until a galling 2-0 home loss against then-16th-placed Napoli. We dominated but couldn't score, then they got one lucky one and rounded off the win on the break when we had to throw more and more men forward.

We responded with a great 4-0 demolition of Sampdoria though, a pattern which was repeated with our other two losses this half-season. A 3-1 loss away at Lazio was followed by a 7-2 thumping of AlbinoLeffe, whilst the gutting 3-2 away at Inter (gutting because all 3 of their goals were from 30 yards or more) preceeded a 4-3 win in Udine.

A fantastic 1-0 win over Juve in the final game before the break meant we headed into the festive period just 1 point off the top, despite an almost identical record to last season when we were 8 points away. If we can kick on in 2028 I think we have a real shot at the title this year.

In Europe, it was a familiar tale as Fenerbahce were dispatched with ease in the playoffs, 5-3 on aggregate being flattering to them. The group stage saw the return of a familiar pattern, with Arsenal heading up our group. We again ended the group unbeaten, but this time too many draws left us second to surprise winners Montpellier, whose 4-2-4 system left the other teams stumped, meaning even taking 4 points off them wasn't enough to ensure top spot for us. Incredibly frustrating last minute concessions in the two games against Arsenal made it even harder to take.

The penalty for our profligacy comes in the shape of a 1st Knockout Round tie against Real Madrid. The outcome of the tie will probably be determined by whether we face the Madrid who we blasted out of the water in last season's group stage, or the Madrid who absolutely humped us in the season before's Semi Final.

Results 1 - Results 2 - League Table - Squad

[Nobby_McDonald]

Tighter than a virgin's fanny...

[hrbfcrule]

Tighter than a virgin's fanny...

^ sums it up pretty well

[GioGio85]

You can do it mate,I believe in the Messina dream.

[SnakeXe]

Four games to go

Remaining fixtures for us are:

Mantova (19th) - A

Udinese (10th) - H

Juventus (1st) - A

Portosummaga (15th) - H

We know if we win all our remaining games, we're champions. Could come down to that Juve game.

[GioGio85]

Best of luck, 4 games and al to play for. It's still tight atthe top I see, good that you have Champs League guarenteed though.

[SnakeXe]

Cheers Gio, actually that's just Europa League at the minute. Would be surprised if we don't get Champions League though at this stage, considering our remaining fixtures.

Smashed Mantova 5-1, with Arguelles getting a hattrick only bad point was Kooiman picking up an injury that rules him out of the rest of the season. Luckily Tulino was just 1 day away from reentering training otherwise we'd have had to start with Quiroga or Celso at centre-back again, which did not go well last year!

Juve and Palermo keeping up the pressure though.

[SnakeXe]

Juventus drew in the early kickoff, giving us and Palermo a chance to leapfrog them. We were up against Udinese, and as Jon Pagola was one yellow card away from a ban I decided to start with young Walter Gonzalez, to ensure the Spaniard was available to face Juve.

In a tight game, it looked like it had paid off, as Gonzalez struck to give us the lead. With just 6 minutes remaining, Udinese swung a ball into the box, upon which Stefano Tulino, in his first game back from injury, inexplicably shoved the opposition striker in the back. Penalty. Martin got a hand to it but couldn't keep it out.

Luckily Palermo drew as well, so it's still as you were. Very much opportunity missed though. We probably would have needed it anyway with Palermo in such close proximity, but a win over Juve is really a must now.